Chapter 567 Torturing the Sloth

[The Tortured Sloths have manifested in various forms of non-live media, including movies, television, magazines, and in some cases, personally recorded videos or images. ]

[The Tortured Sloths are usually located in the background of the media. In one incident in North Carolina, the Tortured Sloths appeared on local television broadcasts, resulting in the relocation of over 4,000 people to Site-116. ]

[The anomalous properties of the image only remain if it contains red and green colors. As a result, people with semaphore or other types of color blindness are not affected by the Tortured Sloths. ]

[The Tortured Sloths are believed to have memetic properties, with their effects increasing with the number of people affected. The frequency of Tortured Sloths increases with the number of surviving victims. After the implementation of Protocol-XXJ9, the number of manifestation reports has dropped significantly. ]

[Protocol-XXJ9 is that all online visual media has been monitored and scanned for Tortured Sloths through the network screener A03G32 to identify the presence of Tortured Sloths and alert the recovery team if detected. ]

[Team personnel are assigned to monitor the Internet and television broadcasts for Tortured Sloths. If discovered, a recovery team will be dispatched immediately. [Any personnel exposed to a Tortured Sloth for more than 5 seconds are to be administered a Class-C amnestic and temporarily relocated to Site-116. Due to the nature of Tortured Sloths, it is recommended that researchers with Beta-colorblindness1 be assigned to Tortured Sloths. ]

[Testing has shown that Tortured Sloths do not affect the majority of the viewing public, including colorblindness. Approximately 40% or less of those exposed are actually affected. This percentage is also directly affected by the number of Tortured Sloth-exposed subjects who survive. ]

[After being affected by Tortured Sloths, victims appear to act solely based on muscle memory and have slower reaction times. They become passive and submissive, willing to respond to basic questions and follow instructions, but lacking in emotion. ]

[Although appearing conscious, victims are unable to control their actions in any way during this period. ]

[After entering the 150-second lucid phase, victims always become extremely agitated and fearful. ]

[Victims may behave irrationally during lucidity. Those affected report having full memory of the period without cognitive function, but are unable to comprehend or influence their actions in any way. Upon initial awareness of regained cognitive ability, most express fear of being in this condition permanently. ]

[In multiple cases, affected individuals report observing the Torture Sloth during their body's automatic movements. Perception of reality appears to be lost during this period. Subjects are considered unstable while regaining consciousness, and are to be handled and treated without contact at any time. ]

[Individuals relocated to Site-116 have expressed an affinity for Torture Sloths. Art, literature, and sculptures are often found in the corners of the subjects' rooms. It is assumed that the subjects created these items during their unconsciousness. Subjects trade these items during their free time. All such items are to be removed and incinerated, and their creators and any other subjects found imitating Torture Sloths are to be terminated. ]

[Containment personnel have been studying Torture Sloths to understand how it appears in video media, how it is transmitted, and whether it actually exists in reality. ]

[Unfortunately, the shelter has been studying for several years, but still can't figure out the origin of the tortured sloth. It can only passively monitor all video software, websites and media on the Internet. Once the tortured sloth is found, the video will be deleted forcibly, causing a lot of trouble. ]

[But compared with the expansion of the scope of victims, these are already trivial matters. ]

[As for whether the people who are tortured by the sloth can be cured, this is probably an unknown. ]

When seeing this, everyone had to comment.

Mordo: This is a curse! This is something of a curse! It's actually spread through videos!

Tony Stark: I think it's more like a virus.

Rhodes: Tony, computer viruses can't spread to humans.

Tony Stark: That's hard to say. Who knows what the computer virus in that universe is like? Maybe it can really invade humans.

Bruce Wayne: This is a very dangerous thing. In the era of advanced technology, there are networks everywhere, and the streets are full of people watching small videos. That means this thing can be spread to billions of people! It will cause a huge crisis!

Doraemon: Ah, that's a bit strange. If it's really that scary, why are there only a few thousand victims?

Moroboshi: This video says that there is a probability, and the spread depends on the victims. That is to say, the smaller the victims, the lower the infection probability and spread frequency.

Diana: I think this sloth must be a demon from another dimension. It replenishes its own strength in this way and waits for the number of victims to reach a certain level before it appears.

Ancient One: I think so too.

Mei Terumi: Although I don't understand what the media and the Internet are, I'm afraid it's useless in our world. After all, we don't have such things.

Garp: We watch videos here just to watch Den Den Mushi, and I'm afraid the impact will be very low.

Piccolo: Then there is a problem. If this thing really appears, how should it be contained? Monitor all the videos?

Tony Stark: I'm afraid this is the only way.

While everyone was talking, the video was still playing.

[The following will play the treatment process of half of the sloth patients. People with poor psychological quality please avoid it. ]

Then the screen switched to a video, a table, and sitting on the left was an older-looking doctor wearing a white coat, with a name tag on his chest that read Dr. Chung.

There is a patient sitting on the right.

Several security personnel with assault rifles stood in the room.

[Dr. Chung: Hello David, if you can answer a few questions, it will be more helpful for us to cure you. Are you ready? 】

[Patient-0866: I-I don’t know. Come on. 】

[Dr. Chung: Since time is limited, can you tell us your specific experience... during the uncontrolled period? 】

[Patient-0866: Okay, okay...Okay, I guess it's like this. It's like, when you're sitting in a car, your hands and feet are tied and you can't move. You - you can't feel your body. The scariest thing is that you can't hold a thought for more than five seconds. It was hell. 】

[Patient-0866 takes a deep breath and stretches. 】

[Dr. Chung: Are you okay? We can continue tomorrow. 】

[Patient-0866: It’s okay. This... I just want to enjoy a little more time in control of myself. When you're stuck there, in your own head... you just want to shout. But you can't. You try for hours and hours. Move your hands and feet and make sounds. It's no use. You can't even control your breathing. Then, there are hallucinations. That sloth. I just...]