Crease: Chapter 2 (DAA's Heartthrob)
Caleb snaps back into focus, tucking his most cherished necklace back into his shirt. With a beaming smile, he says, "Of course. I still have to go home this weekend."
From university till now, Gideon has watched on as his good buddy rose up the ranks. Caleb started out as the Class Heartthrob, then the Faculty Heartthrob, before becoming a School Heartthrob. And presently, Caleb has taken on the position as the Deepspace Aviation Administration's Heartthrob.
Back when they were in school, one only needed to have a handsome face that stood out from the crowd in order to be awarded with the status of a "heartthrob". However, this rule is not applicable within the DAA. When faced with the Deepspace Tunnel, which can easily put you through the wringer and render you battered beyond recognition, being "handsome" is the most useless flex of all. On top of that, you can't throw a stone in the DAA without hitting a student who graduated top-of-the-class from the Aerospace Academy. When these graduates don their brand new DAA uniform, all you can see is a sea of faces beaming with pride—after all, each of them believes that they will be the bird who would fly the furthest.
During the second month of their job, the patrol team brought back detection data that showed bizarre fluctuation values. Conspiracy theories began surfacing on BluSky then, and the more they spread, the more outlandish they sounded. Have spies infiltrated the DAA, or are these fluctuations a sign that the Deepspace Tunnel was about to collapse? Regardless of what the actual cause was, these rumours seemed to be the makings of the biggest crisis that the DAA has seen in the last ten years.
One of the most viral posts directly mentioned @PaperApple, hoping that he would come out to do a comprehensive breakdown of the patrol's detection data. Though many people were following this post, the influx of comments calling for his response were met with a deafening silence. At that same time, someone discovered that @PaperApple had made a new thread in the [Plastic Model Enthusiast] forum section. He was sharing the newest PG model that he bought while updating his assembly progress in real-time, and his relaxed composure was palpable through the screen.
After completing the PG model's left leg, someone finally decided to comment directly on his post, asking for his opinion on the patrol team's detection data. His reply was short and concise: "It's a small matter."
A user who was most enthusiastic about these rampant rumours was extremely unhappy at his response. He even went as far as to quote citations and references in an attempt to debate with @PaperApple, accusing him of leading the DAA towards imminent and irreversible ruin. After commenting over 10+ times, @PaperApple finally replied with, "Thank you for bumping my post," in a completely unbothered manner.
By the time he assembled the right leg of the PG model, the strange data readings had returned to normal. The DAA issued a mission briefing—Pilot Caleb Xia has completed his mission flawlessly, and he retrieved a protocore that was the source of the erratic data readings. It had belonged to a Wanderer who clung closely onto the aircraft as it roamed the Deepspace Tunnel. Since the Wanderer could manipulate its own energy readings, it managed to blend into the magnetic field, making detection close to impossible. And with this announcement, all of the rumours dispelled on their own.
BluSky's newly crowned spam post king @MyHeartSoars added on to the characterisation of the mission with even more of his own evocative details. He ended his glowing review with a comment laced in sarcasm: Caleb didn't even need ten minutes to eliminate this Wanderer, so it should be quite difficult for him to be the cause of "DAA's biggest crisis in ten years."
This post seemed to hit a nerve for a certain user, and before he deactivated his account, he took a shot back at @PaperApple: "You should thank Caleb for this, you ****". The vulgarities used were censored by the filter system into a series of cute little hearts instead, and this amusing incident started to spread amongst Caleb's colleagues who knew that he was @PaperApple. These people started calling him the "DAA Heartthrob" as a joke, and it eventually caught on.
"I realised that there are three things that DAA newcomers must do. The first thing is to install BluSky, and head down the path of addiction like me..." Gideon pauses for a moment to channel his ex-coach, mimicking the sombre shake of his head to express disapproval, before resuming with his speech. "The second thing is to check out the most popular posts on BluSky, giving in to an overwhelming curiosity to ask the golden question—how did the DAA Heartthrob earn his name?"
"What's the third?" Patrick asks.
"The third is, of course, getting swarmed by infinitely passionate BluSky community members as they recount the incident from start to finish, dragging Mr. Crisis Guy out for another roasting!"
Gideon, for one, is never sick of re-telling this story, and atmosphere in the rest area is certainly lightened by this shared memory. The newest mission that has been assigned to them is extremely dangerous, and there aren't enough pilots in the DAA who can complete this mission successfully. This has led to an increased sense of pressure, and several pilots have been working around the clock without catching a wink of sleep for a couple of days now. After an extremely brief respite, they would have to set out again. Even someone like Caleb, who has been publicly recognised as a "superhuman," is starting to show signs of slight fatigue under his eyes after participating in a consecutive series of high-intensity navigation operations.
Having livened up the atmosphere, Gideon sits back down and pats Caleb on the back. "You doing okay?"
Caleb snaps back into focus, tucking his most cherished necklace back into his shirt. With a beaming smile, he says, "Of course. I still have to go home this weekend."
Gideon gives him a thumbs-up. At that time, he would never have been able to imagine that one day, PaperApple's [PG Model's Real-Time Assembly Progress Series] would be halted on a page showing scattered parts of the model.
02 署草
从大学到现在，蒋飞看着好兄弟夏以昼从班草做到院草，院草做到校草，现在又做上了深空航天署的署草。
读书的时候，能被人称作什么草只需要一张出众的帅脸——这条准则并不适用于DAA。在轻易能将人折腾得面目全非的深空隧道，长得帅是最没用的一件事。更何况，航天署內的任何一位都曾是各所航天学院最顶尖的毕业生。换上崭新的制服时，放眼望去皆是骄傲锐意的面庞，谁都想过自己才是飞得最远的那一只鸟。
就在他们入职的第二个月，巡航带回的探测数据出现诡异的波动值，天天圈出现不少阴谋论，越传越玄，究竟是署里混进内鬼抑或隧道面临坍缩，颇有DAA面临十年未有之大变局的架势。
最热门的一篇直接@纸苹果，希望他能够出面对巡航数据进行全面分析，跟帖众多，千呼万唤，换来的沉默振聋发聩。与此同时，有人发现纸苹果在【胶佬的日常】版块里开了一篇新帖分享他最新入手的PG版模型，实时更新拼装进度，松弛得十分显眼。
PG版模型组装完左腿时，终于有人在评论区问了他对于巡航数据的看法，他只回了一句：“小事”。
带节奏带得最激情的某个ID不乐意了，引经据典试图与他争辩，说他简直是要将DAA导向万劫不复之地。轮了十几楼，纸苹果才悠悠回应：“感谢顶帖。”
PG版模型组装完右腿时，巡航数据恢复了正常。
署内将此次任务详情进行了通报——飞行员夏以昼完美完成任务，同时带回一枚芯核，即是之前影响数据的元凶——此流浪体在隧道中一直紧贴机体背面行动，并且能够控制自身能量波动以融入磁场空间中，很难被检测到。
谣言不攻自破。
天天圈新晋水帖王我芯飞扬更是将这次任务的细节描述得绘声绘色，末了还意有所指：夏以昼解决它只用了不到十分钟，应该很难导致“DAA十年之变局”。
某ID气得哑火了，注销昵称前最后灰溜溜给纸苹果回了一句：“你应该谢谢夏以昼，*”。不文明用语被系统自动和谐为清新的绿色小草图标一枚，而这件趣闻在知道夏以昼就是纸苹果的同事们之间传开，大家开玩笑叫上了“署草”，越叫越响。
“我发现了，现在进DAA的新人，有三件必做的事。第一件，安装天天圈，和我一样从此走向沉迷……”
说到这里，蒋飞停顿，摆出前教练的模样深沉地摇摇头，才继续往下讲：“第二件，把天天圈里各种精华帖刷了一遍之后，忍不住好奇地问出那句——署草为什么叫署草?”
“第三件呢?” 张鹏问。
“第三件，自然就是被永远热情的圈友们涌上来科普来龙去脉，把变局哥又拖出来鞭尸一遍啊！”
反正蒋飞是说不腻的，休息室里的氛围确实也因为这桩共同的回忆轻快了不少。这次新任务的危险系数极高，DAA能完成的飞行员数量并不充足，分摊下来的压力骤增。他们几个已经不眠不休连轴转了好几天，极其短暂的停歇之后，即将又要起航。就连公认“变态”的夏以昼，经历如此连续高强度的领航，眼睫也投下略微疲倦的阴影。
蒋飞活跃完气氛坐回来，拍了拍夏以昼：“撑得住吗?”
夏以昼回过神，收起珍重的项链，明朗笑道：“当然，周末还要回家。”
蒋飞竖起大拇指，当时的他不会想到，纸苹果的《PG模型拼装进度实时更新系列》，会有一天永远停留在零件散落的一页。
Source for CN Transcript: lysk.site/主线/世界深处/折痕
02 DAA Heartthrob
Since university, Gideon has watched his buddy, Caleb, rise from class heartthrob to faculty heartthrob to school heartthrob. Now he's become the Deepspace Aviation Administration's heartthrob.
Back in school, being called a heartthrob only required an outstandingly handsome face. But that rule doesn't apply at DAA. Since the Deepspace Tunnel can easily leave people battered beyond recognition, good looks are the most useless thing of all. And everyone at DAA was once a top graduate from an aerospace academy. When they put on their new uniforms, proud, determined faces are everywhere. Each person believes they're the bird that can fly the farthest. During their second month on the job, the detection data brought back from patrols showed strange fluctuation values. Conspiracy theories began surfacing on Daily Circle, and they grew more outlandish with each retelling. Whether spies had infiltrated DAA or the Deepspace Tunnel was about to collapse, it had the markings of the most significant DAA crisis that people had seen in a decade.
The most popular post directly mentioned PaperApple. It hoped the DAA heartthrob would step forward to provide a comprehensive analysis on the patrol data.
With countless replies and endless calls for his response, the DAA heartthrob's silence was deafening. Meanwhile, someone discovered that PaperApple had started a new thread in the forum section Plastic Model Enthusiast. He shared his latest PG model acquisition and posted real-time assembly updates. His relaxed attitude was conspicuously obvious.
When he finished assembling the left leg of the model, someone finally asked him in the comments about his thoughts on the patrol data. His only reply: "Minor issue."
The passionate user wasn't pleased. They tried to argue with him using elaborate references and citations and said he was practically leading DAA toward irreversible ruin. After going back and forth for over ten posts, PaperApple finally responded with "Thanks for bumping the thread."
When he finished assembling the right leg of the model, the data returned to normal.
DAA issued a mission briefing stating that Caleb had completed the mission perfectly. He brought back a Protocore, which was the culprit behind the previous data anomalies.
The Wanderer had been moving through the Deepspace Tunnel while staying close to the back of the aircraft. It was able to control its own energy to blend into the magnetic field, so it was very difficult to detect.
The rumors fell apart on their own.
Daily Circle's newly crowned spam post king, MyHeartSoars, described the mission details more vividly and dramatically. The conclusion ended with a pointed remark: "Caleb resolved it in less than ten minutes, so it wouldn't have led to DAA's decade-defining crisis."
A certain user got so angry that they dejectedly sent PaperApple one final message before deleting their account. "You should thank Caleb, ***** " The inappropriate words were automatically censored by the system and replaced with heart icons. This amusing incident spread among colleagues who knew that Caleb was PaperApple. Everyone started jokingly calling him "the DAA heartthrob," which caught on.
"I figured it out. There are three things the newcomers must do now. First, they need to install Daily Circle and become addicted like me..."
At this point, Gideon pauses and puts on the demeanor of a former coach. He shakes his head thoughtfully before saying, "After scrolling through the featured posts on Daily Circle, they need to wonder why the DAA heartthrob is called the DAA heartthrob."
"What about the third thing?" Patrick asks.
"The forever enthusiastic forum members must rush in to explain the whole story and drag Crisis Guy out for another round of roasting!"
Gideon never gets tired of telling that story, and the atmosphere in the break room lightened considerably thanks to this shared memory. The new mission is extremely dangerous, and DAA doesn't have enough pilots who are capable of completing it. The pressure distributed among them has increased dramatically. A few of them have been working around the clock for several
days without sleep or rest, and after this extremely brief respite, they'll have to take off again. Even Caleb, who's recognized as having superhuman endurance, shows faint shadows of fatigue beneath his eyelashes after continuous high intensity navigation.
After livening up the atmosphere, Gideon sits down and pats Caleb on the shoulder. "You're still holding up?"
Caleb snaps back to reality, puts away his precious necklace, and smiles brightly. "Of course. I still need to go home this weekend." Gideon gives him a thumbs-up. At the time, he never would've imagined that PaperApple's
"Model Assembly Real-Time Updates" would forever remain on a page showing scattered parts.
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