Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty Six

Once the dust storm cleared, it was obvious where Isaac and the fourth-year women were trapped. Because this time the sandstorm is not just an abstract noun.It wasn't a sporadic fall of dust, Liz thought, like an early fall snowstorm in Vermont; nor was it some puzzling astrophysical phenomenon that swept away at dawn.Had it happened in Port Magellan, the city would have been closed for months.It was a catastrophe, especially because it happened in the evacuated Far West, with few eyes to see and no one to call for help. Worst of all, being trapped in the darkness where you can't see your fingers.Due to being separated from another car, Duvali's car didn't have many things on it, except for one or two flashlights.Although the flashlight was fully charged and the label said it was guaranteed to last for 100 hours, that little power could only illuminate a frightening pinch of light in the suffocating darkness.Dr. Turk and Dr. Duvaly insisted on carefully inspecting the three floors to make sure that all the windows were closed tightly to prevent dust from entering.It was scary, hard work, a constant reminder of how alone they were in this empty, windswept building.Even with the windows closed, dust still invades through the cracks and crevices and spills down the stairwell.Fine grains of dust linger in the flashlight beam.There was a stench in the air, on clothes, and on bodies.

In the end they settled on a room on the third floor.There is a window in the room to assess the situation outside: will the morning come?Will the sun ever shine on them again?Liz thought.Turk opened a can of corned beef with a pocket knife and served it to everyone on a plastic plate he found in a kitchen cupboard. The life of an oil driller is no different than that of a college freshman, Lise concluded.Angry, frustrated freshman.Evidence: empty wine bottles scattered here and there.Piles of clothes discarded in corners, and tattered posters of the world's largest breasts for them to adore.

Duvaly brought up Isaac again.Liz thinks he's been talking about Isaac for hours, uneasy that he's stuck somewhere, and anxious about what this latest meteor phenomenon means for his status as a communicator His words became more and more crazy, until she couldn't help asking: If you care about him so much, shouldn't you give him a last name? Duvaly squinted at her.We raised him together.Mrs. Rebuka named him Isaac, and that was enough. You can call him Isaac.A hypothetical intelligent being, in terms of his fatherhood.Turk said. I don't think it's funny.But at least he kept his mouth shut, Duvale said.

The dust was getting thicker and thicker.When she shined the flashlight outside, she could see the falling dust outside the window, but a step further away was just a hazy bright gray.More than Port Magellan, she thought. More than Basti. She didn't dare to think about what would grow out of it. ☆ The sundry storage room was not airtight enough, and it took a long time for the air inside to calm down.The air was still full of fine dust particles, but finally Diane felt her lungs were less painful, her throat less harsh, and the dizziness slowly becoming more bearable. How long has it been since the dust storm started?two hours?twelve hours?She's not sure.The sun was gone, in fact there was not even a gleam of light around.They didn't have time to get a flashlight or anything in the car, so they searched the tiny storage room by touch and memory, looking for something to wash the dust out of their mouths.They found a batch of carbonated drinks in PET bottles, the warm liquid frothing on the tongue, mixed with inhaled fines, and tasted like burnt flannel.But at least if you drink a little more, you can talk.

Three women surround Isaac.I saw Isaac lying on the concrete floor, breathing loudly.Isaac had become the litmus test for their hopes of survival, Diane thought.He had already drank a few drinks from the small bottle, but he still had a fever, and a frightening heat radiated from his skin again.Since Luochen started, he didn't speak, or couldn't speak. We are like the witches in Macbeth, Diane thought, and Isaac is our cauldron, the water boiling and rolling in it. Isaac, Anna.Rebuka said, Isaac, can you hear me? Isaac moved his limbs and murmured.It was an affirmative answer. Diane realized they might die here, all of them.The thought didn't particularly bother her, what she was afraid of was the pain and discomfort.Everyone in this room is a fourth year, even Isaac in a way.And one of the benefits of entering the fourth year is that you are no longer anxious about your own death.After all, she has lived a long time.She still harbored memories of the world before the time gyrations, of the lost Earth: the house, the lawn, the sky she had seen that last night when she was a child.Back then she believed in God, who put the world in order with love.

The god she misses may even be the god Dr. Duvaly unconsciously wanted to call out when he created Isaac.Oh, she'd seen it all, the broken longing for redemption: she'd lived with it, lived in it.It had driven her brother Jason, as it had driven her.Jason's obsession is not much different from Duvali, the difference is that Jason finally put himself on the altar to consecrate instead of sending a child to sacrifice. Isaac's breathing became deeper and his body became slightly cooler.Diane considered his reaction to Luochen.Of course, the link between them is through the machines of hypothetical intelligent beings, the half-life forms that arise from, dwell in, and manifest from the fallout.But what does this mean?What is its rationale?What is it intended to accomplish?

Although she was still in a daze, she must have said the last sentence aloud, because Su Lian.Moy said: "It's nothing, it's not intended to accomplish anything.Her voice was rough.This is a fact that Dr. Duvaly wants to deny.We generally agree that hypothetical intelligent beings consist of a web of self-replicating machines.But they are not a mind, Diane.They can't talk to Isaac the way I can talk to you. That's arrogant to say, Mrs. Rebuka said from the dark corner, and it's not right either.You're talking to dead boy Ash through Isaac.Isn't this communication?

The Martian woman was silent.Diane thought, how amazing it was to be able to talk like this in the dark, what a fourth year!How would she have reacted to this predicament before receiving this therapy?Perhaps fear overwhelmed her.Fear, phobias, and the sound of dust (and not just dust) falling steadily.Dust settled on the roofs, weighing down the beams and timbers of the building. Sulian said: "He told me he remembered Ash.Memory is also an attribute of machines.Modern telephone memories are stronger than those of some mammals.I guess the first hypothetical intelligent biological machines were sent into space for the purpose of gathering information, and I guess they still do it, in a much more sophisticated way.Somehow, Ash's memory was taken by the machine that killed him.He becomes a piece of information that Isaac can receive.

Then I think Isaac will also become a piece of information.Mrs. Rebuka said, suddenly very gentle.Diane thought, this is where her sincerity is revealed.Mrs. Rebuka knew Isaac was going to die, and there was no other possible outcome from his dealings with hypothetical intelligent beings.A part of her had accepted the terrible truth. Like he might remember Jason.Like Lawton, Su Lian.Moy said, Isn't that the question in your mind, Diane? Her observations are a nuisance!This Martian old woman.She is doomed to exile from her planet, her brethren, and even her fourth year.She was soaked in vitriol all over her body.To make matters worse, she was right.It was a question Diane was afraid to ask.Maybe it's best I don't know.

Dr. Duvaly wouldn't approve either, preferring to keep Isaac's epiphany to himself.But Dr. Duval is not here. It doesn't matter.said Diane, slightly alarmed. Isaac.Su Lian.Moy said. say no more.said Mrs. Rebuka. Isaac, can you hear me? Mrs. Rebuka said again to stop.But Isaac's voice came faintly, a soft whisper: Yes. Isaac, you remember Jason.Lawton?Su Lian.Moy said. Please, don't.Diane thought. But the boy said: remember. So what would he say if he were here? Isaac cleared his throat and said in a choked, hoarse voice: He'd say: Hello, Diane.he will say Say no more!Diane begged him.please.

He'd say: Be careful, Diane.Because that's what's going to happen.That's the last thing. What's the last thing?Before there was time to ask the question, though, this last thing was bubbling up from the limestone and bedrock deep beneath the earth.It shakes the building, shakes the ground, interrupts all thinking.did not stop.