Chapter 22 Chapter 21

Turk spent the rest of the morning by the window sorting through the strange things growing out of the dust.To know your enemy, he thought.Liz stood by him most of the time, asking him what he saw before she woke up, with short, to the point questions.Dr. Duvaly switched on the small, dark-green telecommunications receiver and listened for sporadic reports from Port Magellan.From Turk's point of view, he was at least doing something useful, unlike other fourth-year guys who didn't do anything but talk.Talking endlessly and aimlessly.Turk finally discovered this shortcoming of fourth-years, who may occasionally be wise, but they are hopelessly talkative.

Now they are criticizing the Martian woman Su Lian.Moai, she seems to know more about Luochen than others, but she refuses to tell everyone what she knows.Mrs. Rebuka insisted: Although you don't want to bring up the past, there is no taboo here. We must know all the information we can.That's what you owe us, at least the kid. The words sound gentle, but by the standards of fourth-year people, they are already close to punching each other. The Martian woman wears a pair of oversized denim trousers that make her look like a surprisingly skinny oil driller.She sat on the floor with her hands on her knees.If you have questions, just ask.she said sullenly.

You said that the dust on Mars created strange shapes, is it Living beings, Mrs. Rebuka.Just say it.why not? Is it like the life forms we see outside? I don't recognize the flowers, or the predators that eat them.In this respect, there is no similarity.But it is conceivable that the forests of Ecuador will not be like the forests of Finland, but both places are forests. What is its purpose?said Mrs. Rebuka. I've been working on hypothetical intelligent beings since I was a kid, and I've heard a lot of pretty well-founded speculation, but I still can't guess its purpose.Fallout on Mars is an independent event.The life it produces is vegetative, and its life is always very short, and the longer it is, the more unstable it becomes.What conclusions can be drawn from such isolated incidents?very few.She hesitated, frowning.Hypothetically intelligent beings, whatever else they might be, are almost certainly not prudent entities, but the result of the collating configuration of numerous interconnected processes.In other words, they are an ecological environment.Fallout can be a mundane part of the process, or it can be a nonsensical outcome.I don't believe they represent any higher conscious, meaningful strategy.

Mrs. Rebuka said impatiently: Yes, but if your people know enough to bring the technology of hypothetical intelligent beings to humans You also have this ability.Su Lian.Moai looked directly at Isaac. Because that's what Van Novin gave us. Our work on Mars has always been purely pragmatic.We were able to grow specimens from the fallout and observe their ability to interact with human proteins at the cellular level.Such observations took centuries to provide insight into the ways in which human biology might be manipulated. Yet you supervise the creation of what you admit to be hypothetical intelligent biotechnology.

You could say technology, or biology.For this example, I'm not sure the difference between the two makes sense.Yes, we have grown alien life or technology, if you like to call it that, on a microscopic level.Because this alien life will grow, reproduce, and die.We can select and manipulate certain qualities to produce certain characteristics.Over the years, we have created engineered cultures that extend human lifespan.There are other germ cells.The most extreme of these is the therapy you used on Isaac while he was still in the womb.In your womb, Mrs Rebuka. Mrs. Rebuka blushed. Turk understood that the things they were discussing were significant, if not important, but they seemed ridiculously remote as the living problem loomed.In fact, the problem is right outside the door!Is it safe to go outside?That's the question they should be asking.Sooner or later they still had to leave the room, because their food was running out.

He borrowed a small radio from Dr. Duvaly, put earphones in his ears, and listened to something else, blocking out the whining fourth-years. The radio could only pick up a narrow band from Port Magellan.People from two local media unions read the UN status report and the latest reports.This fallout was slightly worse than the last, at least in terms of weight and duration.The roofs of houses collapsed for several kilometers to the south of the city.Most roads are currently impassable.People with breathing problems fell ill from inhaling the dust, and even healthy people spit out a gray residue.But what everyone is afraid of is not these, but the strange things that grow out of the falling dust.The radio called these things growths, and said they could be found everywhere in the city, especially where the dust was thick or where the dust was flying.In other words, they emerge from the dust, like seedlings emerging from the mulch that lays on the soil to retain moisture, and although they survive only briefly and are quickly reabsorbed into the local environment, they still have Some objects, like trees or giant fungi, can reach incredible heights.

Such reports sound like a dream (or nightmare): at an intersection in the city center, a pink cylinder about fifteen meters high blocks traffic.According to eyewitnesses, a huge bubble that looked like a long thorn, something like coral, emerged from the roof of the Chinese consulate.Reports about these small moving organisms have yet to be further confirmed by the authorities. Although this situation is very scary, these things will not hurt people. They will only be dangerous at an unfortunate time and place, such as falling on someone.However, authorities advised residents to stay indoors and keep their windows closed.The dust had stopped falling, a breeze blowing towards the shore carried away the lightest particles, and the crews were ready to hose down the streets again as soon as they could do their work.Wash away the growths and the rest, Turk thought.

Unless this happens again and again, Basty will return to normal.But here lies on the other side of a series of mountains, connected only by a few passes that are now impassable, and the city must rely on the coast for supplies, just like every land between the hills and Lub El Khali. road town.How long will it take to pass these passes?A few weeks, at least, Turk guessed.The dust fall last time caused a lot of damage to these towns, but this time it was more serious and denser.That weird plant life (whatever it is) is bound to get in the way of the work necessary to restore business operations.Well, food will be scarce, what about water?I don't know how these desert settlements are supplied with water and where is the water source?Turn on the tap and there is water, but where is the reservoir?On the hills?Is the water still drinkable?Can this situation continue to be maintained?

At least there is food and bottled water in the car, enough to last them for a while.What makes Turk fidgety is that the car is parked in the hotel parking lot. Maybe someone will be tempted to share the contents of the car.This can not be ignored!He stood up and said: I want to go out. The others turned their heads and stared at him with wide eyes.Duvally said: What are you talking about? He explained about the food.Even if no one is hungry, I am. May not be safe.Duvally said. Turk saw some people in the street with handkerchiefs tied over their faces and mouths.One of them was within five meters of a plant life emerging from the dust, but the flower did not bother the man, and the man had absolutely no intention of messing with the flower.This is consistent with the situation in Port Magellan reported in the news.I'll come back just as far as the car, but I hope someone can keep an eye out for me at the door.I also want something that can be used as a mask.

Turk was relieved that no one objected.Dr. Duvali cut off the corner of the sheet with a pocket knife, and Turk tied it around his face, covering his nose and mouth.Mrs. Rebuka gave him the car key card, and Liz volunteered to be at the door. Don't stay too long.she says. Don't worry.He said. ☆ The sky was originally blue, but now it was covered in a layer of pink by dust.There was a sour, sulfurous pungent smell in the air.Needless to say what effect this would have on one's lungs.If the dust contained alien spores (as all the talk seems to suggest), wouldn't they take root in the damp interior of the human body?They don't seem to need a lot of water, Turk thought, since they can grow on a paved street in a desert town this dry September.But so far there have been no reports of deaths purely from dust.He shook his head, pushing those thoughts away, trying to focus on the task in front of him.

He felt alone as soon as he stepped out of the room.The hotel parking lot was a paved half-moon with a terracotta pool in the middle empty.Beyond that is Main Street, which is really just a short stretch of Highway 7 that leads to Rube Al Khali.Across the street is a row of brick shophouses.Everything as far as the eye could see was covered with dust, even the windows were piled with dust.Traffic signs and notice boards are gray and difficult to distinguish.There was still silence all around. It can be recognized from the box shape and the spring metal tires. The car is parked a dozen meters to the left of Turk.He stood for a while, looking back at Liz.Lise opened the door, leaving only one opening.He waved slightly at her, and she nodded.No danger.go. He took careful strides, trying not to raise too much dust.With every step, clear shoe prints are left on the gray-blue dust. He made it to the car unharmed.The distance between Liz and Liz only disturbed him a little.Store daily groceries in the trunk of the car.He brushed a layer of dust from the back of the car with his forearm, took Dr. Duvaly's key card from his pocket, and inserted it into the slot.Wisps of dust rose around the hands. He paused for a moment, lifted the cloth covering his mouth, spit out a mouthful of saliva, and quickly covered it again.The drool slapped ungracefully onto the dusty pavement surface, and he half expected something to rise from below and swim up like a fish taking a bait. He opened the trunk and picked out an ice bucket full of bottled water and a case of food cans (the kind you can eat without cooking them in a pinch), plus a heap of crepes, as much as he could get his hands on. moveable.That's enough for now.Otherwise he could get in the car and drive it closer to the room.But this will block the way of the hospital, and may also attract unnecessary attention Turk!Liz yelled at the door.He looks back at her.The door was wide open, and she was hunched over, her hair hanging about her face.She looked anxious and pointed with her finger: Turk!on the street He saw the thing immediately. Whatever that is, it doesn't look scary.In fact, it appears to be nothing more than a piece of paper or plastic blown by the wind, flapping in mid-air on the dusty dunes of the freeway next to the restaurant, at the height of a person's head.It fluttered, but it could not be said that it was flying, not like a bird's purposeful flight. But it was not a piece of paper, but something even stranger: the middle was transparent blue, and the four corners were red.Though clumsy in the air, it appears to be moving with purpose, gliding lightly in the middle of the road. Then, it flapped the tips of the four wings at the same time, raising it up a few meters, which seemed to be a bit like.When moving again, it changed direction. Fly towards Turk. Come back soon!Liz yelled. They said the stuff wasn't dangerous, and Turk hoped it was true.He dropped everything but the box of canned food and started running.Halfway through the run, he looked back.The flapping thing is behind him, about a meter to the rear right.too close!He dropped the last box and ran. The thing was bigger and much louder than it looked from a distance, like a sheet hanging on a clothesline in a high wind.He didn't know if it would hurt him, but it was clearly interested in him.He ran, and because the dust was fifteen centimeters deep, and in some places even deeper, he seemed to be running on a sandbar, or in a nightmare. Liz opened the door wide. For a moment, out of the corner of his eye, Turk could see the flapping thing, beating the air like a piston.Just move to the right and you'll pounce on him.But it kept its steady, odd line, alongside him, almost in a race against him.race with him See who gets to the open door first. He slows down.The flapping thing overtook him. Turk! Liz was still standing at the door.Turk tore the cloth from his mouth and took a deep breath.It was not a good move, because his throat was immediately blocked.close the door!He spoke in a hoarse voice, but she couldn't hear him.He opened his mouth to spit.Door, damn it, close the damned door! Whether she heard it or not, Liz finally realized the danger.She stepped back, trying to grab the doorknob at the same time, but missed, but staggered and fell to the ground.At this moment, the flapping thing in the air was no longer clumsy, and flew towards her as if guided by a laser.Turk charged forward, but she was too far away. She sat up halfway, resting on one elbow, her eyes wide open.Turk felt a stab of dagger-like fear under his ribs, so sharp it pierced his heart.She raised an arm to block the thing, but it ignored her as it had ignored Turk.In a flash, he entered the room. Turk couldn't see what happened next.He heard a muffled cry, and then Mrs. Rebuka's voice.She let out a wail (which was all the more startling because it was from a fourth year guy) and called Isaac's name.