#zhang tsinghua

[arcticboirealis]

Posting my Decapolice miiverse yeahs here

[decapolicemoment]

decapolice trailer

surprised that they confirmed he was top of his class (i knew he could do it). i wonder what carl placed

also going by their dynamic yk boston’s gonna be worrying about harvard later in the game (father figure of the year)

2. in most of the stuff we had before, the order was always harvard carl zhang mani mikey, though ig they log in the order harvard carl mani mikey zhang. does it mean anything? probably not

3. “My world is starting to move forward again”

☹️ therapy arc will go crazy

4.

two things. one, did they change where the bear comes in or is it going to be a reoccurring criminal? or does the bear stand for something else, maybe a criminal who they don’t have the identity of, so the bear’s a placeholder until they get better footage.

other thing is the lyric: “A line, once crossed. But compulsion’s strong.” He’s definitely going to go too far, or do some morally dubious things.

5.

i’m wondering if the hacker can take over characters data, in the sense that he can control them, cause it seems to be a Decasim employee who hands them the box/bomb/hack. Harvard had a gun pointed at him, so he was probably acting suspicious, and then the hack opened and changed stuff, like a trojan horse virus

6.

(i love her design) her hair reminds me of the clown’s, possibly related? she’s also the only one to have hair i wonder why

6.5, the lyrics at that moment “wings stained white as shadows descend without a trace” while showing her. in most cases (cause stained glass windows) things don’t get stained on purpose and they don’t stain themselves, usually it’s an outside force (staining a shirt, etc). perhaps she’s painted as a good person w/o her doing anything, while her true self (the clown) keeps doing things without anyone noticing. or maybe i’m reaching

7.

going back to 5, if the hacker’s able to override controls, then ig he got taken over or it’s js really convenient lighting. that or carl’s going to betray us/knows more than he should

8.

the lighting makes him look like he has eyebags go to sleep silly

9.

she might be human?? no name but atleast we have a full design

10.

the cat plush means smt im js wondering what. ❌’s for eyes, is harvard gonna almost die. maybe the clown has a lil harvard cat plush, for whatever reason he/she may need one

also “Just one thing remains”, his whole family is dead ig, but he only seems to care about his mother, probably because she was the only one murdered.

11. the thing that i still can’t understand

just about everything is confusing with this photo. why is his father ugly, and why does he have zero traits from him? why are his eyes GREEN?? neither of his parents have it so what’s up with that. why does he have the cat plush, and is there an in game reason why Harvard looks like it? who’s the cake for, it can’t be for him.

my biggest guess is that the hacker made it in his mother’s house in decasim, maybe as a way to mess with Harvard, show him what could have been or smt. maybe he’s trying to convince harvard to stay in decasim for whatever reason, showing his family alive and well, celebrating him becoming a detective, and the lil boy is his brother.

and finally 12.

who is telling him “we’ll meet again”? chances are it’s the clown, but maybe it’s his brother/clone/fakevard

anyways 10/10 trailer except for the 2026 release date

[acsisz]

Park vs Mall

These 4 has the Park background.

These 2 suddenly has the Mall background.

Idk if this is a Park, but they're all together at least. Why the change in the background shoots?

[call-me-rucy]

So I know fuck all about video edition or hard subbing or Youtube, but I tried to share what I spent today doing: a translation of the Decapolice demo.

I hope you can forgive the terrible quality and have fun watching Harvard and co. solve the robbery.

[orangerosebush]

Prime example of screenshots of articles being less-than-ideal means of understanding news. "Every single one [sic] needs to adapt to this immediately".

Yet in the first paragraph of the screenshotted article, it is explicitly stated that "the [PBR] design [incorporated in the HTR-PM plant] can’t be adapted to existing nuclear reactors around the world, but could be a blueprint for future ones".

PBRs, or pebble-bed reactors (PBR), are a relatively "new" reactor design in which a large number of low-energy-density “pebbles” are used as fuel; these "pebbles" contain a small amount of uranium surrounded by graphite, which can slow the nuclear reaction and withstand high temperatures in crises. According to the article, necessarily, "old" reactors cannot adapt to PBR design, and research is still being conducted into optimizing PBR design (such as the referenced work of Zhe Dong and other researchers at Tsinghua University)

Below is the text of the article, as well as a link to an unpaywelled version of the article. Additionally, I have attached a citation of the paper by Zhang et al. 2024 ("Loss-of-cooling tests to verify inherent safety feature in the world’s first HTR-PM nuclear power plant") wherein the pebble-bed reactor (PBR) design and a loss-of-cooling test are explored in more detail.

(Also, "they intentionally turned off the cooling and the reactor cooled itself down, no problem"...

1) Vastly oversimplifies the tests

and 2) Doesn't do justice to the effort undertaken by Zhe Dong and other researchers on this project.

Conversely, here is how the cooling tests are described in Zhang et al. 2024.

"To confirm the presence of inherent safe reactors on a commercial scale, two natural cooling tests were performed on the #1 reactor module on August 13, 2023 and the #2 reactor module on September 1, 2023. During the entirety of the tests, the reactor modules were naturally cooled down without emergency core cooling systems or any cooling system driven by power. Although the feasibility of realizing inherent safety has been shown by the safety tests carried out on the test reactors of 45-MWt AVR17 and the 10-MWt HTR-10.18 The inherent safety at a commercial scale, such as the 200-MWt reactor power level, has not been verified before because the major bottleneck of decay-heat removal is managing the power level."

Paper citation:

Zhang, Z., Dong, Y., Li, F., Huang, X., Zheng, Y., Dong, Z., Zhang, H., Chen, Z., Li, X., 2024. Loss-of-cooling tests to verify inherent safety feature in the world’s first HTR-PM nuclear power plant. Joule. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.014

News article text:

"A large-scale nuclear power station in China is the first in the world to be completely impervious to dangerous meltdowns, even during a full loss of external power. The design can’t be adapted to existing nuclear reactors around the world, but could be a blueprint for future ones.

All modern nuclear power plants rely on powered cooling mechanisms to take excess heat away from reactors or, in the event of an emergency, human intervention to shut the plant down. Water or liquid carbon dioxide are often used as coolants, but these typically rely on external power supplies to function.

If these systems fail, then the reactors can become too hot and lead to explosions or overheating, causing the plant to literally melt from the excess heat. This was one factor in the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, where a loss of both standard and emergency power systems led to a meltdown.

A relatively new kind of reactor design, called a pebble-bed reactor (PBR), has the advantage of being passively safe, which means that if power for cooling systems is lost, then the reactor can safely shut down by itself. Rather than use highly energy-dense fuel rods like many other reactor designs, PBRs use a large number of low-energy-density “pebbles” as fuel, which contain a small amount of uranium surrounded by graphite. This can help slow the nuclear reaction and withstand high temperatures.

This lower energy density means any excess heat will be spread out over all of the pebbles, and so will be easier to transport away using natural cooling processes like conduction and convection, says Zhe Dong at Tsinghua University in China.

While small working prototype reactors have been built in Germany and China, no full-scale PBRs have been shown to work and be passively safe – until now. Dong and his colleagues have demonstrated that the system works with a full-scale nuclear plant, the High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Pebble-Bed Module (HTR-PM) in Shandong.

“Up to now, every commercial reactor except HTR-PM has had an emergency core cooling system,” says Dong. “However, due to the inherent safety, there is no emergency core cooling system in the HTR-PM plant.”

To test this, which became commercially operational in December 2023, Dong and his team switched off both modules of HTR-PM as they were operating at full power, then measured and tracked how the temperature of different parts of the plant went down afterwards. They found that HTR-PM naturally cooled and reached a stable temperature within 35 hours after the power was removed.

It is rare to be able to test a working power plant fully by removing its cooling power supply, says Mamdouh El-Shanawany, formerly at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Because the emergency cooling system doesn’t depend on any complicated technology, it is very safe, he says.

Other countries might want to look into adapting this technology for their own future reactors, but we will first need more extensive measurements about the plant as it cools down, such as pressure and higher-resolution readings, says El-Shanawany."

[seriously-mike]

Midha and Stoica are not the only ones who view AI regulation as existentially for the industry. Open-source AI has powered the most thriving Silicon Valley startup scene in years. Opponents of SB 1047 say the bill will benefit Big Tech’s closed-off incumbents instead of that thriving, open ecosystem.

From Gizmodo's article on new California bill designed (essentially in practice, let's cut the bullshit here) to give the major players like Microsoft, Google and Midjourney the monopoly on AI.

Because hey, I said it multiple times and I'll say it again: all the attempts at curbing AI development were dictated by either those who want to maintain the monopoly, like Microsoft by way of OpenAI, or those who want to jump on the AI bandwagon, cash out and kick everyone else off the bandwagon, like Manbaby McEmeraldmine.

I pointed out how full of shit the "miraculous" Nightshade is. It doesn't protect your art from the corporations by design - if it did, it would be SLAPPed into oblivion under flimsy pretenses like "unlawfully reverse-engineering proprietary software". Now we have a horde of Butlerian jihadists, egged on by self-proclaimed "AI experts" whose "expertise" ends on listening to sales pitch bullshit and reading decades-old science fiction novels, push an act to punish AI developers "for the potentially catastrophic dangers of their AI systems". I'm sorry, what "potentially catastrophic dangers" are we talking about in regard to tech that nobody trusts to do serious work? Are they expecting an explosion of fad diets involving rocks and Elmer's glue? Do they really think someone's gonna measure an important structure in kilotomatoes and uses a buffalo heart tomato as a reference instead of cherry tomato or the other way around? Are they preparing for airline chatbots stating it's okay to bring gallium, firearms or explosives onto an airplane?

"Potentially catastrophic dangers" is the usual term of "we have no idea how to grab you by the nuts and bring you to your knees, so we're making some new bullshit up". This can be compared to papal bulls against railroads or any homicidal bullshit the Khmer Rouge cooked up when left unattended. This is what the conservatives are making up in response to transgender people existing, and homosexual people existing in earlier decades, and women wearing trousers even earlier. Alarmist bullshit based on some sick fantasies, with no base in reality at all.

And who sponsors this bill? Oh boy.

Demis Hassabis (CEO, Google DeepMind)

Sam Altman (CEO, OpenAI)

Bill Gates (Gates Ventures)

Kevin Scott (CTO, Microsoft)

That's just the beginning of the list. We will be fed a lot of corporate bullshit about how the billions of dollars the corporations have mean that every half-assed algorithm they push is perfectly safe, but basement-dwelling nerds who own nothing but a gaming PC and a box of Kleenex should be essentially forbidden from tinkering with open-source algorithms, because, uh, reasons. Like, cutting into a $250 million a year profits of a corporation.

But, the list doesn't end here. Who also signed the laughably brief and meaningless statement by, hahaha, "Center for AI Safety"?

Ya-Qin Zhang (Professor and Dean, AIR, Tsinghua University)

Yi Zeng (Professor and Director of Brain-inspired Cognitive AI Lab, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Xianyuan Zhan (Assistant Professor, Tsinghua University)

Albert Efimov (Chief of Research, Russian Association of Artificial Intelligence)

Alvin Wang Graylin (China President, HTC)

Jianyi Zhang (Professor, Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute)

Hongyi Zhang (Research Scientist, ByteDance)

Amazing, all of them not just outside of California, but also outside of the US and with a stake in AI research performed by US' direct economic competitors. This reminds me of the recent revelations about "Green" parties and movements in the EU, chiefly Germany, who received covert funding from Gazprom for fucking decades, all in the name of opposing clean nuclear energy and buying more and more Russian gas to be used for generating energy in the EU.

We're still not done, though. More names I'd like to point your attention to:

Vitalik Buterin (Founder and Chief Scientist, Ethereum, Ethereum Foundation)

Thuan Q. Pham (Former CTO, Uber, Board member, Nubank)

Josh Wolfe (Co-Founder & Managing Director, Lux Capital)

Miles Palmer (Founder, 8 Rivers Capital)

Crypto bros, bank board members, vulture capitalists, in one word: frauds. They want a return on their investment in the major corporations and can't afford any more shocking reveals that shitposts from Reddit are served as genuine advice and that corporate data models still contain shittons of copyrighted images from Disney et al. They also can't afford localized open-source models cutting into the corporate profit margins by virtue of barely working and still providing comparable results for less.

Don't get duped, folks. This bill is just another corporate-sponsored hit piece, and basted in alarmist bullshit three feet thick.

[bpod-bpod]

Noise Abatement

New microscopy tool called DeepSeMi enhances fluorescence imaging by 'de-noising' without loss of resolution and is suitable for live imaging of cells in culture and whole organisms

Read the published research paper here

Image from work by Guoxun Zhang, Xiaopeng Li and Yuanlong Zhang, and colleagues

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Nature Methods, November 2023

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

[pi-ying-xi]

The Hope (2023) with Zhang Ruoyun has been consistently good for the ten episodes that I've watched, but ep 10 is on another level.

Five kids, beaten down by life and their particular circumstances are selected - or have selected themselves - to be a part of Class 11, with Zhang Ruoyun's Lei Ming, when their schools are merged at the beginning of an academic year.

The kids are in their last year of high school and the gaokao is looming ahead. These particular kids are there for reasons of their own,, and not because Lei Ming has promised the school to take these struggling children and get them into Qingbei (Tsinghua, and BeidaBeida respectively; the top of the top and extremely difficult to get into).

In episode 10, these five return home after a ten day camp where they stayed in school and gradually moved from being indifferent to their success or failure but marking time, to being disappointed in themselves after their first test and determined to do better because they know they can.

So far so chicken soup, right?

Wrong! Because none of the circumstances that beat them down in the first place have changed: each kid goes back to homes where they have to help run a business; worry about money as well as negotiate the awkwardness of being the domestic help in the house of a school mate; be very careful around relatives who makes it clear they're doing you a favour by housing and feeding you; watching your divorced, or might-as-well-be-divorced parents squabble.

You'd think Lei Ming - so confident, persuasive but also tough at school - would have it easier. But his dad, who has Alzheimer's, has locked himself into his bathroom in the care facility where Lei Ming has put him and when he breaks in, finds he's soiled himself.

I won't describe what happens next, or what's happening here, but it's enough to know that every person in class 11 (except perhaps the psychologist assistant teacher, Sang Xia) is dealing with incredible stress and violence of one kind or another.

When they head back for their three day break, the kids keep in touch, checking in and reporting on their studies etc. On the first day, with chirpy enthusiasm, but on the last day with exhaustion and all the spark gone.

I really like this drama so much for how it doesn't shy away from showing how circumstances, money or it's lack, social class and privilege all act in different ways upon children. When you add gender or mental health to the mix, there's a lot these kids are dealing with, and the only difference between them and the adults, sometimes, is how long they've been at it.

[crystalspinez]

Harvard Marks (#2185457) Carl Oxford (#2185463) Zhang Tsinghua (#2185471) Manimani Manoa (#2185475) Mikey Princeton (#2185481)

[jaguarmen99]

　中国最大の都市・上海では、中心部のウルムチ通りで26日夜から27日未明にかけ、「習近平退陣」「共産党退陣」などと叫ぶデモが行われ、警官隊との衝突に発展した。 　朝までに解散させられたが、午後には白紙と花を手にした数百人が通りに集まり、黙って立ったりスローガンを唱和したりした。 　夕方には警官隊が通りを封鎖し、人々に立ち去るよう指示。AFPの記者は、複数のデモ参加者が逮捕されるのを確認した。匿名で取材に応じた外国籍の目撃者によると、警察はデモを主導した人物を探しているようだったという。 　一方、BBCは、中国駐在のエド・ローレンス（Ed Lawrence）記者が上海でのデモ取材中に「手錠を掛けられて」逮捕されたと発表。数時間拘束され、殴られたり蹴られたりした後に釈放されたが、「中国当局からは正式な説明も謝罪もない」として懸念を表明した。 　新型コロナ感染が最初に確認された中部・武漢（Wuhan）や、広州（Guangzhou）、成都（Chengdu）といった大都市でも抗議デモが行われ、動画がインターネットで拡散した。 　デモは各地の大学でも行われた。北京の名門大学、清華大学（Tsinghua University）では、200～300人の学生が「民主主義と法の支配、表現の自由」と叫ぶなどした。 　北京大学（Peking University）や、南京（Nanjing）、西安（Xi'an）、広州などの大学では、28日未明にかけてろうそくをともすなどの抗議集会が行われた。(c)AFP/Matthew Walsh, with Laurie Chen and Michael Zhang in Beijing

「ゼロコロナ」抗議、中国各地に拡大 上海では「習近平退陣」叫ぶ　写真14枚　国際ニュース：AFPBB News

[sunaleisocial]

Accelerating particle size distribution estimation

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/accelerating-particle-size-distribution-estimation/

Accelerating particle size distribution estimation

The pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has long struggled with the issue of monitoring the characteristics of a drying mixture, a critical step in producing medication and chemical compounds. At present, there are two noninvasive characterization approaches that are typically used: A sample is either imaged and individual particles are counted, or researchers use a scattered light to estimate the particle size distribution (PSD). The former is time-intensive and leads to increased waste, making the latter a more attractive option.

In recent years, MIT engineers and researchers developed a physics and machine learning-based scattered light approach that has been shown to improve manufacturing processes for pharmaceutical pills and powders, increasing efficiency and accuracy and resulting in fewer failed batches of products. A new open-access paper, “Non-invasive estimation of the powder size distribution from a single speckle image,” available in the journal Light: Science & Application, expands on this work, introducing an even faster approach. 

“Understanding the behavior of scattered light is one of the most important topics in optics,” says Qihang Zhang PhD ’23, an associate researcher at Tsinghua University. “By making progress in analyzing scattered light, we also invented a useful tool for the pharmaceutical industry. Locating the pain point and solving it by investigating the fundamental rule is the most exciting thing to the research team.”

The paper proposes a new PSD estimation method, based on pupil engineering, that reduces the number of frames needed for analysis. “Our learning-based model can estimate the powder size distribution from a single snapshot speckle image, consequently reducing the reconstruction time from 15 seconds to a mere 0.25 seconds,” the researchers explain.

“Our main contribution in this work is accelerating a particle size detection method by 60 times, with a collective optimization of both algorithm and hardware,” says Zhang. “This high-speed probe is capable to detect the size evolution in fast dynamical systems, providing a platform to study models of processes in pharmaceutical industry including drying, mixing and blending.”

The technique offers a low-cost, noninvasive particle size probe by collecting back-scattered light from powder surfaces. The compact and portable prototype is compatible with most of drying systems in the market, as long as there is an observation window. This online measurement approach may help control manufacturing processes, improving efficiency and product quality. Further, the previous lack of online monitoring prevented systematical study of dynamical models in manufacturing processes. This probe could bring a new platform to carry out series research and modeling for the particle size evolution.

This work, a successful collaboration between physicists and engineers, is generated from the MIT-Takeda program. Collaborators are affiliated with three MIT departments: Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. George Barbastathis, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, is the article’s senior author.

[decapolicemoment]

Operation Carlvard

or How to get your stupid friends together who act more like a couple than actual couples you’ve seen

Being close to your best friend is normal.

Being that close isn’t.

Now, when she first met the two, seeing them bounce ideas off each other and talk made her come to two conclusions.

They already knew each other.

 They were boyfriends.

A short talk with Carl told her that only one of those things is true. 

It made no sense, they acted as if they were dating for years, but they insist that they’re simply friends, which confuses her to no end. Sure, shipping your friends is odd, but if they wanted her to think they weren’t dating, they needed to act differently.

The two seemed clueless about the other’s feelings for the other, which baffles her because how?? Do neither of them hear the way they talk or see how they look at eachother? You would think one of them would have asked the other out, but Harvard can’t handle an emotional talk to save his life and she doubts Carl realizes he’s bi.

So, if those two idiots can’t get together by themselves, it’s up to everyone else to get them together.

“Which is why I have proposed Operation Carlvard,” Manimani finished, ending her slideshow. She, Mikey, and Zhang were all in her apartment, the males sitting on her couch. 

“Carlvard? Seriously?” Zhang questioned, raising an eyebrow at the name. 

“You come up with something.” After getting no response, she continued, “I can’t stand their pining, we need to get them together. At least if they act all lovey-dovey they’ll actually be a couple.”

“I don’t know…” Mikey rested his head on his hand, leaning forward to look at her. “Maybe they are just good friends.”

“They’re roommates Mikey. Roommates. They are not just good friends.” She put her laptop down as she paced. “Did you see those two last week? When we had that sleepover.”

“No?”

“They were cuddling! Like arms around each other. Neither mentioned it the next day, but both still swear they aren’t together. Hoping that they get together themselves is wistful thinking, and we don’t step in, they’re doomed.” She flopped down on the couch between them, dramatically putting a hand to her head.

“Alright alright,” Zhang moved her other arm closer to her, “What’s your plan?”

“I’m so glad you asked!”

 3 Ways to get your friends together:

1.

Slow days at the station were uncommon, yet the past week had been filled with them. The SIU rookie team was relaxing in the break room, piles of paperwork put aside to make way for snacks and card games. It was mostly silent, the air conditioner being the loudest thing in the room. Everyone was concentrating on the cards in front of them. 

Mikey glaced to the side, trying to guess what Mani would put down next as she sat in thought. She had the least cards in her hand, and smiled as she removed one from her hand, placing it on top of the red card in the middle of the deck. 

“Uno! Color’s green.” She tapped the deck of face down cards, waiting for Mikey to pick up what he owed. Yet she had a look in her eye, one that told him he had to put down the draw 2 he was given by her, in order to make Harvard quit. 

“If we do this right, he’ll already have too many cards. He draws more, he has to quit, and you know the rules if someone quits. So just make sure you have a plus 2 or plus 4 on you.”

He chuckled, moving her arm to place the green plus 2 he had in his deck. The plan was faulty, there being way too many ways it wouldn’t work, but she was convinced it would. He still wasn’t completely on board with her trying to play matchmaker, and if he blew up in their faces, he could always blame Mani.

“Sorry Zhang, but I’m not taking that.”

“Not my problem,” he said as he placed down a  blue plus 2. 

“Sorry Carl, but you gotta take it.” A plus four was placed on top of everything, a sly smile on Harvard’s face.

“You can’t do that!” Carl exclaimed from next to him, grabbing the card and sliding it back to him.

“Someone doesn’t know how to play UNO.”

“Plus two on a four works, but not the other way around.”

“It literally does, those are the rules. If it’s a multiple of 4 you can place one down.”

“Now you’re bringing math into this, just take your eight.”

“You mean, your twelve?”

“Just. Take. The. Cards.”

“Guys guys, it’s not that serious. Carl, you gotta take 12. Or, of course, you could just quit. You are almost at 20 cards,” Mani reasoned, hoping that he took the bait. It wasn’t that she originally planned, but it could still work in her favor.

“Sure, I’ll quit. But that means you have to take the twelve now,” he said, sitting back down in his chair. He was right, with him out, it fell on Mani to take what he had to. She gasped, realizing her slight mistake. Sulkingly, she drew twelve cards, the color changing back to red.

“So, if you could date anyone at the station, who would it be?”

“Huh?!”

“You heard me. Quitter rules are rules, unless you wanna do a dare instead.”

He rested his head on his palm, a slight blush on his cheeks. “Well, I mean…,”

“If you were a girl, I’d date you, Harvard.”

Oh?

Everyone but Carl himself seemed to know he was bisexual, but he was not expecting Mani to actually be right. That there was a chance he had a crush.

But did Harvard feel the same?

“Oh really? I’d date you too, if I was a girl of course.” He looked…

crushed? like he wasn’t expecting that answer? No..

disappointed.

He kept his smile though, as if he was simply bantering with Carl, who smiled back at him.

Mikey turned to see Mani’s reaction, who seemed a minute away from crashing out. She looked at the two of them, then back at Mikey and Zhang, as if she was saying, ‘Are you seeing this shit?’

She might have been onto something…

2.

Mani must have been on a semi-lucky streak this week, because her plan seemed to start to work without her even interfering.

“If we set them up on a date, it might push them into getting together,” she explained, pulling up normal date locations.

“This feels like a last resort. Don’t we want one of them to ask the other on a date instead of one of us putting them together?”

“No no no, we’ll give one of them the idea, and he’ll ask the other. I have tickets to a movie, I can give them to Harvard and get him to ask Carl.”

When she went to give him the tickets, she was told no, much to her surprise.

“Sorry, I already have plans that day.”

“Oh?”

“What’s with the shock?”

“Well, I wasn’t expecting you to have plans, that’s all. Whatchu doin?”

“Why do you wanna know?” He squinted, starting to regret even mentioning that he was doing something.

“Can’t I be curious? Why so mysterious?” 

“I’m just hanging out with Carl, nothing to be curious about.”

She nodded, making a mental note to ask Zhang for help later.

“You done with your interrogation now?” 

“Yeah sure, have fun with Carl~,” she walked past him, Harvard staring at her until she was out of sight. 

“That place was good, where’d you even find it?” The two were walking back from the small restaurant they dined at. Carl moved closer to Harvard, resting his head shortly on his shoulder.

“Saw it while I was running errands, looked like a good place to eat at.”

“Well, thanks for inviting me out. If I didn’t know any better, I would think it’s a date,” he laughed, lightly elbowing Carl. 

“Dude, we eat together every day, of course I would take you.”

“Isn’t it odd that we’ve gone on better dates than most people we know?”

“You don’t know many people.”

“Touché.” He grabbed his phone from his pocket, checking the time. “Still though, we’ve taken each other on a lot of dates together.”

“Yeah, but so do Mani and Mikey. They go on little friendship dates all the time.”

“True. Have they been good dates though?” A cheeky grin spread across his face, as he leaned into him.

“Yeah. If I’m being honest, they’re probably some of the best,” he chuckled, thinking about the past dates he’s been on.

“Oh? Am I one of the best people you’ve been on a date with?”

“Hmm, maybe top 3.”

“Ouch, you wound me. Not even top 2?”

“Maybe,” he got cut off by Harvard’s phone vibrating. He checked it, the smile wiped off his face before he shut it off. 

“Forgot to charge it, I’ll do it when we get home.” He waved it before putting it back in his pocket.

“Well, am I one of the best people you’ve been on a date with?”

“You’re the only person, so I guess you win by default.” He shrugged, the smile back.

“Winning by default; the best way to win.” The two laughed, not realizing how close they were. His lips were right next to Carl’s cheek, as he felt his cheeks heat up. He turned to face him, realization hitting him as well.

“Can I…?” Carl’s hands shook a little as Harvard nodded, slightly picking up what he was implying. His lips gently pressed into his, arms wrapping around Harvard’s head. Worry coursed through his veins, wondering if he shouldn’t have done this until he felt Harvard kiss him back. 

When he pulled away, he gasped for air, his entire body feeling warm, not just his face. “So…”

“Can I kiss you again?” They kissed again, more confidently this time. When they split, both were grinning hard, uncertainty still on both of their faces.

“Are we dating now?” Carl whispered, embarrassment filling his body for doing this in public.

“If you want to.”

“What makes you think I don’t? Can I..”

“How about you wait for us to get home?” They were almost at their car, and when they got there, Harvard dramatically opened the door for him, getting a snort out of Carl as the two prepared to drive back. 

“Should we tell the others?”

“Mm, nah.”

Her phone was blowing up next to her, as she rubbed her eyes. She grabbed her phone, seeing missed messages from Harvard.

catboy: Mani

catboy: Mani

catboy: Mani wtf

catboy: Manimani

catboy: Manimani Manoa

catboy: if you don’t answer I will show up to your house

bunnimani: omg can i not sleep

catboy: sure when you tell me why you bugged my phone

Shit, he found out. She had a suspicion that he realized when it suddenly stopped working.

bunnimani: no clue what ur own about

catboy: cut the shit i alr asked zhang

bunnimani: snitch

bunnimani: erm

bunnimani: it was his idea blame him not me ☹️

catboy: it was not his idea be so fr

bunnimani: im sorry 😢 😢

bunnimani: curiosity killed the cat (lol) and satisfaction brought it back so i had to know

catboy: and you couldn’t js ask??

bunnimani: ermmmm

bunnimani: you wouldn’t have told me it was the easiest way 😭😭

catboy: cause it’s none of ur business

bunnimani: always so secretive smh

bunnimani: did anything happen??

catboy: no we js hung out

bunnimani: sighh 

catboy: ???

bunnimani: you wanted smt to happen didn’t u

catboy: go back to sleep

bunnimani: u can’t avoid ur feelings 🗣️

            Catboy has muted the conversation 

She snickered before getting out of bed. Plans 1 and 2 failed; it was time for the final plan.

3.

Carl didn’t know the full story, just to keep their relationship a secret for now. It’s not that So when Mani came up to him, a smirk on her face, he knew he was about to be even more confused.

“Heyyy,” she caught up with him, patting him on the back. “I have a new bet for you.”

Oh god.

Whenever she had something new to bet on, he knew she already had something up her sleeve, to take it with caution. 

“What’s up?”

“$20 if you ask out Harvard by the end of the day.”

“Huh?!”

“Listen,” she sighed, removing her hand from his back, “we all know you like him, and everyone knows he does too, so can yall just hurry up and take him out?”

“And what happens if I don’t?”

“Then you owe me $20, that simple.”

She didn’t know.

This was an easy bet, he didn’t have to do a thing and it’s an easy $20. 

“Deal.”

“Alright alright, hopefully I’m giving you $20 today.”

“I mean, you can give me it right now.”

“Hell no.”

+1

Carl took the bait hook line and sinker.

Now, all she had to do was wait for him to tell her that they’re going on an actual date and her plan would be complete. Sure, she’s losing $20, but that’s barely anything when it comes to love.

The end of the day came by faster than she expected, and she quickly met up with Carl to see whether or not he succeeded. He was packing his bag when she found him, Harvard nowhere to be seen.

“Soo?” She leaned on the table, hoping she would hear what she wanted to hear.

“What?”

“Do I owe you or nah?”

“Oh yeah, I asked him out,” he answered, holding his hand out. The enthusiasm she thought he would have was gone, replaced by exhaustion, which made sense. Still, a small smile was on his face as she received the money.

“Carl, you ready to go?” Harvard strolled over to the two of them, lighting up the moment he saw him. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” He waved to her, walking off while holding Harvard’s hand and-

Wait what?

Carl’s hand was intertwined with Harvard’s, neither acknowledging it or looking awkward. Even if he asked him on a date, there’s no way they would do that already unless…..

Carl turned back to Mani before going through the doorway, and she realized

She’d been played

The two of them were already together beforehand. 

Well, if it worked it worked she supposed.

Even if she got cheated out of $20

[acsisz]

Real DecaP DARK Fanfic.

Warning: contains quite a bit of violence, blood, some swearing.

This isn't DecaP fluff fanfic (there's a bit at the end tho), I wrote this while imagining a DARK DecaP game. Harvard is an actual merciless bastard, and his teammates don't have a good time.

Writing this caused me some emotional pain, so be prepared.

(Also I'm so tired, this is like 5,500 words long... I didn't beta read it, no energy left 😅 I'm sorry if there're any wording mistakes)

Plot: The team experiences Harvard's darkness firsthand.

*Huff puff*

Carl was running alone in an abandoned building.

'Where is everyone?' Carl thought as he went around a corner.

*BANG*

'What was that?!' Carl heard a loud sound coming not far from where he is.

'Are the others in trouble?!' He tried to once again contact his teammates through his special police assigned phone, but it still didn't work.

'Damn it... I guess there's no other choice...' Carl began to turn the other way and started running to the source of the loud sound he had heard.

'Everyone... please be okay...!'

*bang*

"Hm? That was..." Zhang muttered to himself as he checked his laptop for any contacts from his teammates.

"It was quite loud, but still far off from where we are," said his partner, Manimani.

Her tone of voice signaled worry, yet still radiates a strong calmness.

"Any news from the others?" Manimani asked her partner.

"No, not yet..." Zhang shaked his head and began typing on his laptop.

"We've been separated from them for quite some time now... Did Mikey contact you?" asked Manimani again.

"Nope... This is just speculation on my part, but I think this old building is jamming our signals," Zhang begins to explain.

"Mikey just went in to search for Carl and Harvard, so maybe he hasn't had any new info to tell us," he continued.

"...but it's weird that Carl or Harvard hasn't contacted us at all, is what you're saying right?" Manimani said.

"Exactly," said Zhang as he finally tears his sight away from his laptop screen to face Manimani.

"Especially Carl," Manimani emphasized.

"Especially Carl... he's the biggest worrywart of this team," Zhang agreed.

"So, what should we do know? Me going in after them won't solve any problem," Manimani puts her hands on her hips, slightly annoyed.

"Right..." Zhang begins to think.

"Honestly we were so lucky to be regrouped with Mikey, only for him to immediately went off in search of those two," Manimani briefly remembers when they managed to accidentally find Mikey in this labyrinth of a building.

"Mikey!" Manimani shouted a bit to get her teammate's attention.

Mikey was running, about to turn around a corner when he heard Manimani's voice calling him.

"Goodness! What a coincidence! Good to see you two!" Mikey, noticing Manimani and Zhang, began to ran over to them whilst shouting a bit.

"A coincidence of great effort, this place is like a maze!" Zhang said, "Why didn't you contact us?"

"Oh! Yes, contact! Sorry, I forgot!" Mikey admitted, an embarrassed smile began to form on his face.

Zhang and Manimani sighed at the revelation, 'Knew it,' they both thought at the same time.

"Putting that aside for a moment, did you find anything? Where are our leader and his partner?" Manimani asked.

"Very weird. I found nothing, not a single person. And no Harvard or Carl either," Mikey said, perplexed.

"Wait, not a single person? But you came from the other way. We also didn't find anyone, so thinking logically, you should've had more chance in encountering those members!" the news shook Manimani.

"Yes, very weird. This is hideout of a big crime organization, correct?"

"Right, but we also didn't find a single person..." Manimani looked to Zhang for correction, and he only nods.

"Could it be that they already fleed?" Zhang raised a possibility.

"No way, Harvard clearly told us they'd be here. He was sure of it," And Harvard was rarely wrong when he's that sure, Manimani added in her mind.

"Damn it, this is turning into a mess. I thought we'd be able to instantly raise our achievements if we're able to caught a big crime organization by ourselves," Zhang sighed.

"I told you so," Manimani said perturbed.

'What a mess... This is what happens when you don't listen to Carl and me, we're like the only functioning brains with common sense in this team...!' Manimani swallowed her words, making the situation worse is the last thing she wants to do right now. Scolding Zhang can come after they're all together and safe.

"How about we search for leader and Carl together?" Mikey asked, sensing the disturbance in the air.

"Can't do, I wanna try contacting headquarters," Zhang said, rejecting Mikey's offer.

"I see, what about you Manimani?" Mikey turns his focus to Manimani.

"I want to, but Zhang's horrible at fights. Can't risk him getting jumped by the enemies while he's working on contacting headquarters," Manimani shook her head, a bit disappointed she couldn't go searching for her teammates.

"That's okay I understand, Zhang's the worse at fights in our team. I would also be worried if I were to left him alone in the middle of enemy territory," Mikey agrees.

Zhang didn't mind being spoken off like a deadweight at fights, he's good at other things after all. And he's about to demonstrate that other things right now as he opens his laptop and begins working.

"Alright, then see you guys later!" Mikey said as he began to run off to find Harvard and Carl.

"Ah, don't forget to contact us with updates!" Manimani shouted at Mikey's running figure that's getting farther and father away from them in just a few seconds.

She could see him making an 'OK' sign with his hand, and lets him leave, hoping he wouldn't forget again.

"Maybe we shouldn't have let him leave after all..." Manimani said a bit dejected.

"Don't say stupid things like that, if that happens then we three'll be sitting ducks here when there might be something happening to our two missing teammates," Zhang debated, he's already working on his laptop again.

"Right, Mikey's strong anyway, he'd be able to handle himself just fine. You say some pretty good stuff sometimes too, huh?"

"Yep, glad you understand," Zhang answer as he types on his laptop.

"How's the progress with contacting the headquarters?" asked Manimani.

"No luck, we're sitting ducks," Zhang answered, his typing stopped.

"Figures," Manimani sighed, "Still, what was that noise anyway?" she asked.

"Don't know, but it seems to be coming from the way Mikey ran off to, so he may be close to it. We're definitely far off though," Zhang said.

"Should we go there?" suggested Manimani.

Zhang closed his laptop with a clicked, "Sure, it's not like we're making progress here," and stood up.

*Huff puff*

Carl could hear himself breathing.

The building he's in is old and so very quiet.

He could only hear his footsteps and rapid breathing.

'That source of that noise should be close... Damn it!'

Carl thought about how it all came to this, and almost swore to himself to give Harvard a good beating when he sees him next.

'Harvard, you stupid...!'

He remembers when Harvard came to them with surefire proofs on a crime organization and a plan to catch them all by themselves.

He and Manimani tried to convince him otherwise and to at least tell their higher-ups, but Harvard wouldn't listen.

Not only that, he managed to gain Zhang's support by luring him in with talks of achievements and promotions or whatnot.

With Mikey not really supporting one or the other, they were at a tie.

But Harvard was reckless enough to tell them that he would even go by himself, so there's no use stopping him.

Carl has been friends with Harvard for at least 3 years and he had an ability to understand other people's hearts and, through them, their thoughts and personalities.

He understands his friend and partner's personality very well.

So he knew he couldn't stop him, but, "Okay, we'll come with," Manimani gasped, shocked at his decision.

"But, let me contact our instructors first. At the very least, they should know if we're about to attempt this. Things may go south after all, we may need their help," Manimani's relieved sigh reached his ears.

Harvard gave him a look, indicating 'not bad', then smirked and shook his head, "If they know, they would first stop us from going, then issue a formal request to their higher-ups to be allowed to catch them. It could take DAYS. There could be an information leak, and the entire organization could be gone from that building by the time that venerable permission comes out."

Carl couldn't say anything, especially when he thought about what's going on inside the force currently.

There were talks about traitors inside Broadstone Police Force.

"We're going, NOW," was what Harvard said last before he left the room.

Carl wasn't about to let that kill them all though, so he whipped up his phone and was about to call one of their instructors, Misae or Granger.

But just then, a message came in. From Harvard. Carl pales and closed his phone, he then followed the others and left the room, chasing after Harvard.

*BANG*

'It's that noise again, I'm getting close!' Carl thought as he fasten his pace.

*BANG BANG BANG*

'It's increasing?! What are they from? Gunshots? It's so loud, like metal...'

*SCREAM*

'What in the-?! I need to hurry up, someone's life could be in danger!'

Carl slowed his pace as he gets closer to the source of the loud metal noises and screams.

He very carefully peeked inside the room where the noises originated from.

'What is... ugh-!' Carl held his breath.

*BANG BANG BANG*

"Agh! Spare me!" pleaded a bloody man covered his head with his hands.

"Sure, once you tell me what I want to know!" a voice resembling his partner's, Harvard's, told him.

"I already told you, I don't know anything- UGH!" the man's words were cut short by a metal pipe hitting his side.

*BANG*

"Harvard...?" Carl stood shocked, unable to let a single word out.

"I'll give you another chance!"

"I don't know, please-"

*BANG*

Carl reflexively turned his face away and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he took a glance at the room they were in.

There was a lot of red splattered on the floor and the wall, and...people. Unmoving people. Dead people.

Carl felt nauseous.

"C'mon, spill it!" Harvard demanded.

No, if this goes on...!

"Harvard stop...!" Carl heard himself scream.

Harvard seemed to hear him, his hand holding the steel pipe froze and he turned around to face him.

"...Carl," was all that Harvard said in this situation. Carl could hear the annoyance in his tone of voice.

"What were you doing?!" Carl asked, terrified.

"I was just beating information out of our suspect here," answered Harvard, his hand still holding the steel pipe.

"Oh goodness..." Carl could feel himself dizzier by the second, his partner was showing absolutely no signs of guilt.

"Look at all these people Harvard! Y-you... What did you do to them?! They couldn't be...dead?" Carl asked in disbelief.

"Don't worry, I made sure they're still alive," Harvard said, his patience getting thinner.

"That's not the problem you-"

"It was self-defense. They attacked me first with steel pipes, I just returned the favor," his voice exasperated.

Carl felt that Harvard is saying, 'Are you done yet?' with his body language.

"Harvard, j-just put down that steel pipe first," Carl begged.

Harvard sneered, "Or what? You'll beat me up?"

There was no way Carl could win against Harvard, his fighting prowess is second only to Mikey in their team, while Carl is only as strong as Manimani.

Beating Harvard in a hand-to-hand combat is like asking for broken bones and pain.

Yet, he can't use any of his official police assigned weapons, like his gun, he needs permission from their higher-ups.

And he for sure didn't even tell their direct higher-ups, their instructors, that they would even be here, in this mess.

'Harvard's mess...' thought Carl.

Carl stayed quiet, unable to answer Harvard's provocation.

"Just like I thought," sighed Harvard as he went back to terrorize the bloody man that couldn't even stand up anymore.

"Now, tell me what you know, or I'll bust your head open."

"I-I don't know, I don't know...-"

*BANG*

"UGH!!" the man let out a muffled scream and coughed out some blood.

"HARVARD STOP!!" before Carl realized, he was running to stop his partner.

Carl tackled him from behind.

Harvard's footing wobbled, but he easily pushed Carl away.

Carl landed on his back, "Guh...!"

"Carl, I'm warning you, don't get in my way," Harvard's voice was serious and laced with anger.

"You can't do this! This isn't right!" said Carl as he attemped to get up.

"And who decides on that?" Harvard sneered.

"The law does!" Carl yelled.

"Well, the law is wrong."

Harvard's eyes looked down on him, and Carl trembled from the fear and pressure.

Harvard's eyes were merciless, his eyes now were like the eyes of criminals they've caught together before.

Dark, cold, merciless, cruel...

Carl couldn't bear to look at them.

Harvard turned away from Carl and looked back at the man lying down in his own blood.

"Tell me, what do you know about the Clown case from 10 years ago?"

The man didn't answer and only laid still while covering his head with his hand pitifully.

"Answer me!!" Harvard screamed as he swung the metal pipe once more.

"HARVARD NO!!"

Carl ran over and gripped his partner's hand that's holding the steel pipe tightly, trying to get him to let it go.

"Harvard, please don't do this!" Carl cried.

"Carl, LET. ME. GO!" Harvard's strength outpowered Carl and he swung down the pipe to hit Carl's upper arm.

"Aagh!!" Carl wailed as he fell down.

Harvard sighed annoyingly as he steadied himself, he lifted his hand again to hit the man.

"Harvard no...!" Carl clenched Harvard's leg, pleading for him to stop this madness.

Harvard kicked him back and swung down his metal pipe on the man again.

*BANG*

"Harvard no! This is wrong! Please stop it already!!" Carl could feel tears streaming down his face.

"Is this your justice?! Harvard!!" Carl cried at the top of his lungs.

"That's right, this IS my justice," Harvard coldly answered.

Carl's heart fell.

Why am I so weak? Carl hated himself at this moment.

If only the others were here, any one of them could do a much better job at stopping Harvard than he could...

"Harvard STOP!!!" Carl forced himself to get up, the pain in his upper arm tearing through him mercilessly, but he hold it back.

Carl tackled Harvard from behind again, and he felt a sharp pain stabbing his stomach.

Harvard had elbowed his stomach.

Carl could taste blood in his mouth, but he held his ground.

"Har..vard!!" Carl swung his fist to Harvard's face, but Harvard caught it.

"Stand. Back. Carl."

Harvard kicked his stomach and threw him back.

The impact from hitting the ground made Carl gagged on his blood.

Carl felt pitiful.

If only anyone from his team were here, they could surely stop Harvard.

Carl couldn't, Carl never could. He was too weak, too fragile, too much of a pampered crybaby to do anything.

He was scared, terrified. He couldn't even properly look at his friend without trembling so much.

He wants to go home to his family. He wants to sleep in his soft and large bed, and have his parents and elder siblings tell him that everything will be okay.

He hated this. Why did he even go to Police College for? He should've stayed and continued his family's business. What dreams? Being a hero? Laughable.

"Uhh...uwaaaa..." Carl cried.

He couldn't even lift his arms anymore, one of them hurt too badly and he just has no more energy left to lift the other anymore.

'It hurts...' Carl's whole body was screaming in pain, he was coughing up blood, but most of all, his heart hurt.

His friend and partner is doing something so horrible, yet he couldn't even stop him.

Since he's 2 years older, he always feels like should show Harvard the way, that he should guide him on the right path.

But he failed, miserably.

He is a failure.

*Sniff sniff*

Unbeknownst to Carl, Harvard was silently watching him, his expression contorting slightly.

Harvard suppressed the feelings in his heart, and began to interrogate the man again.

"I'll ask again, what do you know about the Clown case from 10 years ago?"

The man curled up and stayed silent.

"I know you know something. I've obtained information that before you founded this criminal organization 8 years ago, you were in contact with Clown. My source even told me that you were sending hit list to them."

The man kept silent.

"Tell me, 10 years ago, were you the one that gave the instruction to kill a woman surnamed Marks?" his voice intensified.

"..." silence.

"Hahaha... is that how you wanna play? Fine."

*BANG BANG BANG*

"You know, maybe you'd be interested to know who's the source of all my information on you," Harvard gave a forced smile.

"Do you have any idea of an old woman and her daughter who's surnamed 'Hart'?"

"...!" the man responded slightly.

Harvard smirked, "The old lady has trouble with her left leg and walks with a cane, while the daughter has burn marks on her right hand. Do you suppose know who they are?"

'...You-" the man's teeth clenched.

"Willing to talk now?"

"What did you do to them?" the man face Harvard with a new fiery determination.

Harvard let out a geniune laugh, "Ahaha, nothing. Yet."

The man lunged at Harvard as if his wounds aren't bothering him.

"Heh!" Harvard easily evaded him, "If you tell me everything you know and did with Clown, nothing would happen to them."

"You...monster!" the man screamed as he lunged forward to attack Harvard.

Harvard just clicked his tongue and kicked him back, "Monster? If I'm a monster, then what the fuck are you huh?"

"You killed people, you terrorized them, you were so evil that you wife and kid left you AND told all of your wrongdoings to the police to get you in jail. You're a fucking PIG in a human society."

"SHUT UP!!" the man yelled and got up again.

"You're the shit of society, the least you could do is own up for being a shit and tell me everything I want to know from you."

The man attempted to tackle Harvard, but Harvard dodged and hit him hard with his metal pipe.

*BANG*

"Feel like talking now?"

*Cough cough* the man coughs up a lot of blood.

"Harvard...stop...he's gonna die...sniff," Carl tried to force himself to stand up again.

He's a failure, sure, but if he and the man were gonna die in his partner's hands, the least he could do is to reduce that kill count from 2 to 1.

He's used to cleaning up after Harvard anyway, one more time wouldn't hurt.

"Stand down Carl. What am I gonna tell your prestigious family if you get hurt any more than this?" Harvard sighed.

Carl clenched his teeth and forced himself to get up again, and, oddly enough, he couldn't quite feel the pain anymore. Is that good or bad? He was supposed to be knowledgeable about this, but he couldn't quite remember. He feels dizzy.

"ZHANG, MANIMANI, MIKEY, HELP!!!" Carl screamed loudly.

Carl couldn't do it alone, so he called for help. After all, that's what teammates are for.

*Huff puff*

"This place is a labyrinth!" Manimani said between breaths.

"Tell me about it," Zhang unenthusiastically replied.

"At least we are together!" Mikey added.

"I'm glad we found you! But why were you still so close to our location?" Manimani asked.

"I got lost! This place is a labyrinth!" Mikey said a bit too enthusiastically.

"Wow," Zhang replied.

*BANG BANG BANG*

"We're already so much closer to the source of those loud noises, just a bit more!" Manimani said.

"I hope Harvard and Carl are already there, I don't think I could manage to run around again to search for them," Zhang said, out of breath.

"Don't worry, I could still go for another run!" Mikey said with a reassuring smile.

"Gee, good for you," said Zhang.

*BANG*

"Another loud noise! It's so close now!" said Manimani.

"C-Can we take a short break?" Zhang pleaded.

"Not now! We're so close..." rejected Manimani.

"B-But I'm so tired...can't go on running...!"

"That's why we always told you to train with us! But you always refused!"

Manimani and Zhang were about to start a scuffle.

"ZHANG, MANIMANI, MIKEY, HELP!!!"

"Huh, that was...!" Manimani was suprised for a second, but immediately began to search for the source of the voice.

"Carl...?" Zhang added, surprised and out of breath.

"Here! Let's go!" Mikey acted first, the two then followed behind him.

"Carl!!" Mikey called back.

Carl could feel his heart literally jumped with joy and relieve hearing that voice.

Mikey was the strongest in their team, if anyone could stop Harvard, it's him!

Carl sniffled for one last time before steadying himself, 'That's right, this isn't time for crying. We need to stop Harvard. We need to help him!'

"Mikey! We're here!" Carl called out to Mikey again.

Harvard's expression showed his displease, 'More annoyances...'

"CARL!" Mikey's loud voice was even louder as he got closer.

And he finally managed to find them.

Carl almost cried again out of joy when he saw that Zhang and Manimani were also with him.

"Carl- What in the?!" Manimani spoke first, she scanned the room and immediately formed a hypothesis.

"What the..." Zhang was second, he turned paler as his gaze traced the people lying on the ground in blood.

"Oh goodness..." Mikey was the last as he looked between Harvard and Carl in confusion and horror.

"Carl, what is happening?!" Manimani asked agitated.

"Speak later! Mikey, you need to restrain Harvard!" Carl's orders were straight and sure without a hint of doubt.

That, coupled with Harvard's annoyed expression and his steel pipe, were enough to mobilize the three people who just arrived.

"I don't really get what's happening, but I need you to drop that steel pipe leader!" Manimani demanded.

Harvard sighed, and finally dropped the steel pipe.

"Mikey, go get that man lying beside Harvard!" Carl instructed.

Mikey carefully went over to Harvard's side.

As he bended over to grab the man, Harvard's kick swerved upward aiming right on Mikey's stomach.

Fortunately, Mikey managed to dodge at the last second due to his natural fast reaction and body control.

"Harvard...?" Mikey got into his fighting pose as Harvard picks his steel pipe up again.

"Manimani, Zhang! Help Mikey restrain Harvard. Subdue him if necessary," Carl quietly said.

Manimani and Zhang gave a short nod as they ran over to Harvard.

Harvard was now surrounded by his 3 teammates.

"I don't know what's going on, but I don't want any trouble," Zhang said to Harvard.

"Harvard, drop that steel pipe. I'm warning you," said Manimani.

"..." Mikey stayed quiet, his fighting pose maintained.

...

...

...

After some very long seconds, Harvard finally spoke up, "Try me."

Mikey went first, his fist aiming at Harvard's stomach.

Harvard dodged him as his steel pipe swerved to hit Zhang who's coming from behind him.

"Uugh!" Zhang grunted in pain as the steel pipe hit his side.

"Harvard!" Manimani yelled as she tried to kick Harvard.

Harvard dodged again and was about to hit Manimani's side with his steel pipe as Mikey suddenly came from behind Harvard and restrained him.

With his arms locking Harvard's torso, Mikey pulled him back.

Due to Mikey's height, Harvard was currently lifted a few centimeters off the ground.

Manimani rushed over and quickly tore the steel pipe from Harvard's hand.

She also put handcuffs on him to make sure he can't attack anymore.

"It's over, mister!" she said to Harvard as she turned back to check on Zhang just as quick as she came.

Mikey, relieved, let his guard down for a second.

Just then, Harvard tried to kick Mikey back.

"Mikey focus!" Carl yelled.

Mikey immediately let go of Harvard, swiftly pulled up behind him and, with one fell swoop, knocked him out.

The unconscious Harvard immediately fell, but is caught by Mikey.

Relieve washed over Carl as his legs buckled and he fell down himself.

Looks like his body finally gave up.

The last thing he could hear was Manimani screaming his name.

...

...

...

Carl woke up in a hospital room.

"You're awake?" a familiar voice called out from beside him, it was his eldest brother, Alfred.

"Elder brother...?" Carl called out sluggishly.

Alfred gave a nod, "Do you know why you're here?"

Carl tried to think back and remembered Harvard's madness.

"H-Harvard, what happened to him?" Carl asked, worried.

"Don't worry, he was just knocked out by your other teammate. No other external injuries were found, it's almost a miracle," his brother answered.

"How is he now? Will he be punished...?"

"Hm, it seems like his higher-ups will give him some sentences for going off alone and badly injuring a key person in the case," his brother calmly told him, "but, all of the other people he injured confessed that they attacked first, all of them just lost."

"So, it's really self-defense?" Carl asked.

"Yes, it seems so. The only injuries he caused because of his own agenda, were to the man who was the key suspect and leader of the crime organization that used the building as their base of operation and to his teammates, including you," explained his brother.

"But," Alfred continued, "none of the injuries he caused were life-threatening, case in point, the worst injury you got is a cracked left upper arm, and to the man, quite a bit of cracked and broken bones."

"He also caused injuries on your, the man's, and one of your teammate's stomachs, but none of it was life-threatening," Alfred concluded his explanation.

"I see..." Carl said as he quietly digest all of the information.

"Keeping a lion and disguising it as a cat is quite dangerous, sometimes it causes this sort of unexpected trouble, but the benefits it gives to the Police organization are also immense. It could even be said that this sort of trouble is just a small price to pay for all of its given benefits," Alfred continued, "The city has never been this peaceful in years."

Carl listened quietly.

"He didn't want to hurt you nor your other teammate, Carl. Trust me, I already had the chance to spoke to him for a lengthy while," Alfred puts a hand on Carl's shoulder.

"As for the man though, he was quite fortunate that your partner still wants to be on the side of the law, not against it."

"He still has use for it, you mean?" Carl asked with a painful smile.

"I don't have an answer to that, maybe you should ask your partner about it. Although, I doubt that, at this point in time, he knows the answer himself," Alfred pats Carl's head and gives him a soft smile, "Be there for him, why don't you? I know you could never leave him alone."

Carl clenched the blanket tightly.

"Harvard Marks could be the one to greatly alter Broadstone. As Oxfords, we will continue to be watching over him," Alfred said as he began to get up.

"...for the Oxford's sake?" Carl asked, almost bitterly.

His brother gave a smile and said, "A lion who obediently follows his owner, is nothing more than a cat. Harm his owner though..."

Somehow, in Carl's eyes, his brother's smile seemed terrifying.

The day is turning dark as Carl said farewell to his 3 teammates, Manimani, Zhang, and Mikey who came to visit him in his hospital room.

Zhang's injury was pretty light and had already healed fully, maybe Harvard really held back against them after all.

Carl too, aside from his cracked upper arm bones, all of his other injuries were healing rapidly.

"What did the doctor say?" Manimani asked.

"He said that I'm actually able to be discharged already, but my family wanted me to at least stay for another 3 days, jut to be on the safe side," Carl explained.

"Gee, your people sound great!" Manimani said with a smile.

"Yeah, we're a tight-knit family," Carl gave a wry laugh.

They had a pretty nice converstation.

The 3 were visiting after all of the 'Harvard caused' paperworks were done, and stayed for about an hour.

It seemed like Harvard just acted like his usual self back in their office, much to their chagrin.

Harvard didn't tell them anything, or even if he was sorry.

He did, however, bought Zhang lunch today, which was a very rare occurence.

Maybe that's his way of apologizing, Mikey suggested.

Zhang, reluctant at first, soon maximized Harvard's offer and bought lunch enough for the other 2 as well, much to Harvard's chagrin.

Carl laughed at their story, and briefly wondered when he'll be able to talk to Harvard again, and how'll their conversation flow after this incident.

After the 3 left, Harvard immediately visited him.

"I thought they'd never left," Harvard said.

"You were waiting for them to leave? Why?" Carl asked.

Harvard awkwardly scratched his hair and said, "Explanation, I thought I owe YOU at least that much."

Harvard seated himself on the chair beside Carl's bed.

"So yeah, about your injuries..." Harvard started.

"My bad."

Carl waited to hear Harvard's continuation, but it seemed that there was no continuaton.

"Wait, that's it?" Carl asked baffled, "Where's the explanation?"

"Yeah, maybe I changed my mind," Harvard gave a joking smile.

"Don't joke around!" admonished Carl, still he's kind of happy to see Harvard back to his usual self.

"...10 years ago, my mom was killed by Clown," Harvard began.

Yes, Carl knew about that.

"The man I was trying to get info out of? 10 years ago, he was the one giving out hit lists to Clown."

"Huh? But, Clown was a serial murderer, not a hitman," Carl said confused.

"On the cover that is, I have information that suggested Clown actually took requests from big corporations," Harvard said serious.

"W-wait, are we alright with talking about this stuff here?" Carl looked to the surveillance camera on the corner of the room.

"Don't worry, I talked with your brother. This hospital belongs to the Oxford right? He'll be able to do something about it, besides, it's not really super-secret anymore. I heard the higher-ups plan to release this info to the masses soon, since Clown's long dead," Harvard calmly explained.

"A-alright, then please, continue."

"During the course of my investigation into Clown, I met the 'Hart' mother and daughter. The mother told me about her divorced husband being a possible carrier linking Clown to the bigshots."

"Though she said 'possible', her demeanor showed that she was sure of it," Harvard said while thinking back on the mother-daughter duo.

"Next, I researched into her husband's past and current whereabouts, and, lo and behold, turns out now he's the leader of a crime organization right here in Broadstone," Harvard eyed Carl meaningfully.

Carl doesn't need further explanation, he know that the divorced husband was the man from the building.

"So, it was all connected to your mother?" Carl asked after some time thinking.

"Everything, is connected to my mom. Everything I do is for her," Harvard answered, his eyes directly locking into Carl's.

"I admit, I lost control," Harvard remembered the state Carl was in, coughing up blood and crying on the ground. Something inside him hurted, "So, my bad."

Carl's right hand slowly reached up to the top of Harvard's hair, and he gently pat him.

"Next time, Harvard, we'll handle it together," Carl spoke gently.

Harvard made an expression like a sad and guilty kitty, making Carl smile a bit, "There, there."

As the youngest of the Oxford siblings, Carl only had older siblings, so he had always wanted to have a younger sibling.

When he met Harvard and, subsequently, as they got closer, Harvard's existence felt like the younger brother he had never had but always wanted to have.

Sometimes Harvard made him angry, other times he made him happy.

Sometimes Carl couldn't take his eyes from Harvard lest he'll make trouble, and sometimes Carl couldn't help but to depend on Harvard.

Being with Harvard was as frustrating as it was fun.

Carl both adore and admire Harvard, but deep in his heart, there was a sense of uncertainty and fear as well.

Carl knew Harvard so well, he fears himself getting too close to the darkness inside Harvard.

A deep, black, unending darkness.

It could consume Carl whole if it so wishes to.

He briefly wondered, what he means to Harvard.

And, if the time comes when the darkness inside Harvard is unleashed, would their bond endure?

------

Author's note: if you read this far, thank you!!

Also, before you ask, "Clown's dead?"

Yes, I headcanon (for this fic) that they're already dead, since at the end of the 'Concept Image Trailer', Harvard said that he wants to meet Clown in DecaSim.

That raises the question: "Why not just meet him in real life?" Unless he CAN'T.

[call-me-rucy]

Decapolice but it’s the Layton characters who share voice actors

Because Level-5 has just like 6 voice actors in payroll.

Harvard Marks is Souma Saitou, who is 25yo Luke Triton in the Layton Detective Agency Anime.

Carl Oxford is Yuuki Kaji, who is Leonard Bloom in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, and Azran Legacy. This guy was on Inazuma Eleven too and is very famous. If you have watched anime you have heard him.

Zhang Tsinghua ...okay, you got me, i got nothing for Yuu Hayashi.

Manimani Manoa is Sumire Morohoshi, who is Nina in Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva.

Mikey Princeton is Shunsuke Takeuchi, who has done Inazuma Eleven, so that counts, right...?

Granger Princeton is Kenta Miyake, who is Marco Brock in Professor Layton and Eternal Diva. All Might, anyone?

Misae Cambridge is Yuu Shimamura, who I got nothing about either...

[jcmarchi]

Accelerating particle size distribution estimation

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/accelerating-particle-size-distribution-estimation/

Accelerating particle size distribution estimation

The pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has long struggled with the issue of monitoring the characteristics of a drying mixture, a critical step in producing medication and chemical compounds. At present, there are two noninvasive characterization approaches that are typically used: A sample is either imaged and individual particles are counted, or researchers use a scattered light to estimate the particle size distribution (PSD). The former is time-intensive and leads to increased waste, making the latter a more attractive option.

In recent years, MIT engineers and researchers developed a physics and machine learning-based scattered light approach that has been shown to improve manufacturing processes for pharmaceutical pills and powders, increasing efficiency and accuracy and resulting in fewer failed batches of products. A new open-access paper, “Non-invasive estimation of the powder size distribution from a single speckle image,” available in the journal Light: Science & Application, expands on this work, introducing an even faster approach. 

“Understanding the behavior of scattered light is one of the most important topics in optics,” says Qihang Zhang PhD ’23, an associate researcher at Tsinghua University. “By making progress in analyzing scattered light, we also invented a useful tool for the pharmaceutical industry. Locating the pain point and solving it by investigating the fundamental rule is the most exciting thing to the research team.”

The paper proposes a new PSD estimation method, based on pupil engineering, that reduces the number of frames needed for analysis. “Our learning-based model can estimate the powder size distribution from a single snapshot speckle image, consequently reducing the reconstruction time from 15 seconds to a mere 0.25 seconds,” the researchers explain.

“Our main contribution in this work is accelerating a particle size detection method by 60 times, with a collective optimization of both algorithm and hardware,” says Zhang. “This high-speed probe is capable to detect the size evolution in fast dynamical systems, providing a platform to study models of processes in pharmaceutical industry including drying, mixing and blending.”

The technique offers a low-cost, noninvasive particle size probe by collecting back-scattered light from powder surfaces. The compact and portable prototype is compatible with most of drying systems in the market, as long as there is an observation window. This online measurement approach may help control manufacturing processes, improving efficiency and product quality. Further, the previous lack of online monitoring prevented systematical study of dynamical models in manufacturing processes. This probe could bring a new platform to carry out series research and modeling for the particle size evolution.

This work, a successful collaboration between physicists and engineers, is generated from the MIT-Takeda program. Collaborators are affiliated with three MIT departments: Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. George Barbastathis, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, is the article’s senior author.

[gaetaniu]

Uno studio rivela il violento processo di espulsione di materiale di una stella massiccia morente

SN 2023ixf e la sua galassia ospite. Un team di ricerca guidato dal dottor Zhang Jujia degli Osservatori dello Yunnan dell’Accademia delle Scienze cinese e dal professor Wang Xiaofeng dell’Università Tsinghua ha rivelato la massa stellare espulsa violentemente da un progenitore alla fine della sua vita osservando la supernova SN 2023ixf, che si verificava una volta ogni dieci anni. Questi…