Chapter 8 summer of doomsday rumors

I hadn't seen Jason in years since the last sledding party parted ways.Still, we kept in touch.During my medical school year, we met again at a summer cottage in the Berkshires, Massachusetts.It is about 20 minutes' drive from Tanglewood, the famous music sanctuary. I've been very busy.I completed four years of undergraduate work, volunteered in a local private practice, and took the AMA admissions test.I started preparing for it years before the official exam.The result of the entrance examination is called the weighted average of grade points and credits, or GPA for short.I had a GPA, and as usual, I asked the university advisor and some other highly respected people to write a stack of recommendation letters, coupled with Edward's generosity, so I was finally allowed to enter the State University of New York. Four more years of medical school.Those four years are over, it's over, and it has become history.However, I will have at least three more years of residency before I can officially practice.

After my residency, I would, like most people, carry on with my life, pretending that the end of the world never happened. Perhaps things would have been very different if the countdown to the end of the world had only been days and hours left.We can choose the theme of our performance, we can panic, or wait like saints for God's call, grasp the right moment, keep our eyes on the clock, and play out the history of mankind. However, what we are facing is not the immediate apocalypse, but rather something like the final extinction of humanity, as the solar system will soon become an uninhabitable environment for humans.NASA's space probes have captured images of the sun's expansion.Perhaps, there is nothing that can protect us forever and prevent the sun from destroying human beings. However, there is still a protective shield protecting us from the sun.Why protect us, no one knows.Even if there is a so-called crisis, that crisis is elusive.As far as our eyes can see, the stars are gone.This is the only evidence that humanity is facing a crisis.The disappearance of the stars is an evidence, but this evidence proves nothing.

So, facing the threat of extinction, how should human beings live?This question is the best portrayal of our generation.To Jason, that seemed like an easy question.He took the lead and jumped into the dilemma himself to find the answer.Time gyrations soon became his life.And that seemed like an easy question to me, too.Anyway, I've always studied medicine.We live in an era where crises can erupt at any time. In such an atmosphere, studying medicine seems to be a wiser choice.However, if the end of the world is indeed coming, just not so soon, then whether saving lives is just wishful thinking on my part.If everyone is doomed to die in the end, what difference does it make whether we can be saved or not?If the entire human race is going to be extinct, why bother to save a life?Of course, doctors aren't really saving lives, they're just prolonging them.If it cannot be extended, we can give the patient palliative care and relieve the patient's suffering.That's probably the most useful of all medical technologies.

In fact, from university to medical school, although it is a series of long and severe tortures, it can divert your mind and let you escape the troubles of all living beings in the outside world. So, I can handle it, and Jason can handle it.However, most people have a hard time.Diane is no exception. ☆ I was packing and cleaning out the small rented apartment in Stony Brook when Jason called. Just after noon, the illusion of a real sun in the sky was shining brightly.My luggage is already loaded in my Korean Hyundai sedan, ready to drive home.I plan to stay at home with my mother for a few weeks, and then spend a week or two slowly driving across the United States at a leisurely pace.I'm about to start my residency at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.This is my last free time.I'm going to use this time to take a good look at the world, at least, the halfway between Maine on the east coast and Washington state on the west coast.However, Jason seemed to have other plans.If he hadn't let him show off the plaster sold in the gourd, he wouldn't have let me go so easily, asking me to say hello and say goodbye.

He said: Taylor, this opportunity is too good to let go.Edward rented a summer cottage in Berkshire, Massachusetts. Yeah?He is very comfortable. It's a pity he can't enjoy it.He was visiting an aluminum extrusion factory in Michigan last week when he fell off a loading platform and cracked his ass. That's unfortunate. Fortunately not serious.He is slowly recovering now.But he's still going to be on crutches for a while, and he won't want to go back to Maine just yet, because he can relax and get by on strong painkillers every day.As for Carol, she hadn't been too keen on the cottage thing from the start.This is no surprise.Carol had become a professional alcoholic.I can't think of anything other than drinking more, her and Edward.What will Lawton do when he arrives in Berkshire.Xiaojie continued: So, the current situation is like this, the house has been rented, and the contract cannot be breached, so no one will live in that holiday cottage for three months.So I was thinking, now that you're out of medical school, maybe we could get together there, for a couple of weeks anyway.Maybe we can call Diane along.We can go to concerts and go for walks in the forest, just like before.I'm already on my way.What do you think, Tyler?

I wanted to thank him for his kindness.But I thought of Diane.I thought about the past few years, only when certain festivals came, we would write letters and talk on the phone.I thought about the mountains of unresolved issues between us.I know that the wisest decision is to decline politely.Unfortunately it was too late, my mouth had already betrayed me. ☆ So, I stayed in Long Island for an extra night.Then I stuffed the last of my mundane possessions into the trunk of the car and drove down North State Avenue onto the Long Island Expressway. There were no cars on the road and the weather was unbelievably good.It was already afternoon, the sky was unbelievably blue, and the temperature was very warm and comfortable.I would sell tomorrow to the highest bidder and live on the second of July forever.I feel a kind of silly happiness, a comfortable happiness all over my body.Long, long ago, I also had that kind of happiness.

Then I turn on the radio. I was born early enough to remember the days of radio stations.In those days, radio stations had transmitters and antenna towers.At that time, the radio once hit big cities and small towns like a flood, and then gradually fell silent like a low tide.Many stations are still there, unfortunately the traditional analog radio in my car has been broken for a week and the service warranty has expired.Now, only the digital channels are left in the car (these programs are still relayed through Edward's high-altitude aerostat, which may use one or more aerostats).Usually I download and listen to 20th century jazz.I rummaged through my dad's collection of CDs, and before I knew it, I fell in love with jazz.I like to comfort myself that this is the real asset my dad left me.Duke Ellington, Billie.Holiday, Miles.Davis, these music, even in my father Marcus.When Dupre was young, he could already be called an antique.The music has been quietly passed down like a family secret.Right now, what I want to hear is Harlem Air Shaft by Duke Ellington.Unfortunately, before I set off on the road, the guy who serviced my car wiped out the channel I had set, so he was smart enough to set a news channel for me.He probably thought I shouldn't miss that channel.So, I was forced to listen to a bunch of news about natural disasters, gossip and scandals about some big names.There was even a time twirl being discussed on the show.

At that time, we had already begun to use the time to convolute the name. It's just that the vast majority of people in the world don't believe in this thing. This can be clearly seen from the opinion polls.The night Jason told Diane and me the truth, NASA had already released the orbital data.Europe also scrambled to launch a bunch of detection boats, confirming the conclusions of the Americans.However, even though the truth of the time warp has been announced for eight years, only a very small number of people in Europe and North America take it seriously, thinking that the time warp will threaten the lives and property of themselves and their families.In most parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, most people firmly believe that the whole thing was an American conspiracy, or an accident.It may be that the Americans accidentally screwed up the defense system of the Star Wars project.

I once asked Jason why everyone didn't believe it.He said: "Think about what we're forcing them to believe.That group of people is almost the entire population of the earth, and their knowledge of astronomy is almost still in the pre-Newton era.If the only thing you can do in life is find a way to find enough food to feed yourself and your family, do you need to know that much about the moon and the stars?If you want those people to understand what time gyration is, you probably have to start with the beginning of the world.You have to tell them first that the earth has existed for billions of years.The number of one billion years alone is enough to trouble their brains, maybe it's the first time they've heard it.This knowledge alone is enough for them to digest for a long time, especially if you were educated in an Islamic theocratic state, an animistic village, or a public school in the Bible Belt of the American South. .

Next, you have to tell them that the earth is not forever.Long ago, there was an era longer than human history.At that time, the sea was a hot steam, and the air was poisonous.You also have to tell them that living things are naturally generated, evolved by chance for three billion years, and then evolved into the most primitive human beings.Then, you have to teach them about the sun.Nor is the sun eternal.In the beginning, the Sun was a condensed cloud of gas and dust.Counting from now, billions of years from now, there will be a day when the sun will expand and engulf the earth.Eventually, the outer layers of the sun will explode, and the core will collapse into a small mass of ultradense matter.Look, does this look like "101 Astronomical Knowledge You Must Know"?You've read a bunch of science fiction, so you know it, and it's almost second nature to you.But for most people, that is a new worldview, and it may even offend some people's core beliefs.So, you have to let them digest the knowledge slowly, and then tell them the real crisis.

Time itself is fluid and unpredictable.Although we have just learned new things about the earth and the sun, our world still looks normal.However, this seemingly normal world has recently been locked away in some sort of cosmic freezer.Why should we be treated like this?We can't be sure yet.We believe it was intentional by some unknown intelligent being.Their power is so great and so remote, maybe we could call them gods.If we lose our temper with God, God may withdraw their protection.Before long, the mountains will melt and the oceans will boil.However, you don’t have to believe our words, don’t believe what you see, don’t watch the sunset still go down in the west, and don’t care about the snow on the mountain tops in winter.We have evidence.We have calculations, logical inferences, and photographs taken by instruments to prove it.This is the highest standard of testimony in court.Jason smiled, a little teasingly, a little sadly.Strange, why didn't the jury believe it? However, it's not just the ignorant who don't believe it.On the radio, I heard the president of an insurance company complaining.He said: The so-called time gyrations have been raging endlessly, but no one has been criticized.He added that this has had an economic impact.Everyone has started to take it seriously.This has a big impact on the insurance business.Everyone began to become reckless and impulsive, regardless of the consequences.Time spins lead to moral decay, rampant crime, and extravagance.To make matters worse, the financial actuarial system was completely paralyzed.He also said: If the world does not end in thirty or forty years, we may face a catastrophe. A large cloud billowed in from the west.An hour later, thick clouds had covered the magnificent blue sky completely, and raindrops started beating the windshield.I turn on the lights. The news on the radio extended from financial calculations to other topics.What everyone is talking about is another recent headline.Outside the isolation layer of time gyrations, there is a silver flying object hovering hundreds of kilometers above the earth's north and south poles.The huge flying object that looked like an entire city did not circle the orbit, but hovered over the north and south poles at fixed points.The object can indeed be synchronized with the speed of the earth's rotation, orbiting the orbit above the equator, and achieve the effect of fixed-point stop.Synchronous satellites use this principle.However, according to the laws of motion of fundamental physics, no object can remain stationary in orbit above the Earth's north and south poles.However, those flying objects are just hovering over the North and South Poles.Radar detected the flying objects, and then an unmanned aerial vehicle took pictures of the flying objects during a point-fly mission.The time spin adds another layer of mystery.The mystery is equally incomprehensible to the ill-informed public.This time, including me.I want to talk to Jason about this.I think, I hope he can help me make a point. ☆ The rain was pouring down, and the muffled thunder came from the other side of the mountain.I finally made it outside Stockbridge and stopped at Edward S.The front of a vacation cottage for short-term rentals in Lawton. The four-room English country cottage is painted with green arsenic-based protective paint and is surrounded by hundreds of hectares of conserved woodland.The cabin shone like a storm lantern in the evening mist.Jason had arrived, his white Ferrari parked under the roof walkway, dripping from the pergolas above. He must have heard me pull up, and he opened the big front door before I even knocked.Taylor!He called me and grinned. I went inside and put my rain-soaked suitcase on the tiled floor in the hallway.I said: long time no see. We've been in touch via email and also on the phone.For nearly eight years, I have seen him at the big house on several holidays, but only for a quick meeting.It was the first time in eight years that we were in the same room.I guess, as time goes by, the two of us probably have left traces of the years, and there have been subtle changes.I almost forgot how awesome he looked once.He has always been tall and nimble.It is still the same now, but it seems to be a little thinner, but it is not so thin that it is too weak.He was so thin that he looked like an upside-down broom.His hair was cut very short and flat, only about half a centimeter long, and looked like a harvested wheat stalk.Even though he drives a Ferrari, he's equally clueless about his personal taste in clothing.He was wearing ripped jeans, a baggy knit jumper, and discounted espadrilles.The pullover is full of hairballs. Have you eaten on the way?he ask me. Late lunch. Will you be hungry? I'm not hungry, but honestly, I want coffee like crazy.Life in medical school gave me a coffee addiction.Jason said: Luckily for you, I just bought half a kilo of Guatemalan coffee here.Despite the impending doomsday, Guatemalans are trying to grow coffee.I'll make a pot.While the coffee is still brewing, I'll show you the house first. We walked slowly around the house.The frivolity of the room was twentieth-century, and the walls were painted in shades of apple green and ripe orange.Antique desk chairs and brass bed frames were purchased second-hand from a garage sale and look solid.Lace curtains hung over the curved glass windows, along which rainwater trickled.Modern equipment in the kitchen and bedrooms: big TV, stereo, internet connection.It feels comfortable even on rainy days.When we got back downstairs, Jason went to get the coffee.We sat down at the dinner table, eager to find out how each other had been over the years. When Xiaojie talked about his work, he was vague, maybe he was pretending to be modest, or he had safety concerns.In the eight years since the truth of time gyrations was revealed, he had earned a doctorate in astrophysics, then abandoned his studies to work for Edward's perihelion foundation, taking a low-level position.Perhaps this was a good move, since Edward was already a senior member of President Walker's elite committee.This committee deals with global and environmental crises.Xiaojie said that the perihelion foundation was originally an aerospace think tank, and it will be upgraded to an official consulting organization recently, which can hold real power and formulate policies. I asked him: Is that legal? Tyler, don't be naive.Edward had long distanced himself from Lawton Industries.He resigned from the board, and the shares were committed to blind trusts that did not have to be disclosed.Our lawyer said he had no legal conflicts at all. So what are you doing in the Foundation? He smiled and said: I just need to concentrate on listening to the senior's instructions, and politely make suggestions when necessary.Hey, tell me about your medical school. He asked me if it was disgusting to see so many human weaknesses and diseases.I told him a story from a second-grade anatomy class.I dissected a corpse with a dozen other classmates.We categorize offal by size, color, function, and weight.That was not a pleasant experience.The only consolation is that I have learned the truth, and the only advantage is that it is very practical.However, that is also a milestone, a process.After this point, childhood is bye bye. God!Tyler, is the coffee strong enough?Want something stronger? I'm not saying it's a big deal, but what struck me the most was this: it really wasn't a big deal, you just turned around and went to a movie. The big house is already far away from us. Very far away.Kudos to us both.I raise my glass. So, the two of us started talking about the past.The tension of the original conversation was gone, and we talked about our childhood.I find we fall into a pattern.Jason would start by talking about a place, such as a basement, a shopping mall, a creek in the forest.Then I'll go on to tell a story.For example, that time we secretly opened the wine cabinet; that time, we saw Kelly, a girl from Rice Middle School, at the Times Square Pharmacy.Wins, she stole a box of Trojan condoms; Diane insisted on reading us a passage that summer, as if she had discovered some great lesson in life.That is the British female writer Christina.Rossetti wrote it, and it's almost suffocating to listen to. Jason said, the grass.I just said, the stars were gone that night. We were suddenly silent and didn't speak for a while. Finally I spoke.Then will she come or not? Xiaojie said calmly: She hasn't decided yet.She originally had an appointment with someone, but now she is struggling with how to change the time.She should call me tomorrow. Is she still in the South?This is the last time I heard, my mother told me.Diane went to a college in the south, I don't remember what, it seemed like urban geography, oceanography, and some other weird stuff. Yeah, still in the south.Jason said.He squirmed in his chair.Tyler, you know what, Diane has changed a lot. This should come as no surprise. She was, so to speak, engaged and about to be married. I acted very gracefully upon hearing the news.I said: well, she will be very happy.should i be jealousI have nothing to do with Diane.relation?If these two words represent the relationship between men and women, there has never been any relationship between me and her.Also, while at Stony Brook, I almost got engaged myself.She is a second-grade student named Candice.Booni.We loved saying I love you to each other until we finally got tired of saying it.Candice got bored first, I guess. But what counts as being engaged?That is how the matter? I couldn't help but want to ask.Jason was clearly uncomfortable talking about these things.I think of a past event.When he was in the big house, Jason took the girl he was dating home once to meet his family.She looks ordinary, but very kind.She had met Jason in Rice's chess club.She was too shy to know what to say.That night, Carol was still quite sober, but Edward was obviously very dissatisfied with the girl, and his attitude was very rough, very obvious.After the girl had gone, he gave Young-Jack a bad rap for dragging that kind of freak into the house.Edward said that with great ingenuity comes great responsibility.He didn't want Jason to be abducted into a traditional marriage.He didn't want to see Jason drying diapers on the clothesline when he could leave his mark on human history. A lot of people in the same situation as Jason are at best just stop taking girls home with them. Jason, on the other hand, has stopped dating since then. ☆ When I woke up the next morning, no one was in the house. A note was left on the kitchen table.Jason went out to buy some things for the barbecue.He wrote on the note: Come back at noon, maybe a little later.It was half past nine, and I slept so comfortably, staying up so late.The lazy atmosphere of summer vacation has overwhelmed me. The house itself seems to exude a laid-back vibe.Last night's storm had passed, and the morning breeze was refreshing through the cotton drapes.There is a meat cutting board on the kitchen counter, and the texture of the surface is not smooth under the sunlight.I sat by the window and ate breakfast slowly, watching the clouds in the sky like a magnificent multi-masted schooner sailing slowly across the distant sea level. Just after ten o'clock, the doorbell rang suddenly.I was startled, thinking it was Diane.Could it be that she decided to come early?As soon as the door was opened, it turned out to be a worker from the Mike Gardening Company.He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and a colorful Mexican scarf.He just came to remind me that it was time to weed.Because the lawn mower was loud, he was afraid of waking up the people in the house.He said that if it was not convenient, he could come back in the afternoon.I said, it's very convenient now.So, a few minutes later, he was driving the green John DeRay mower around the outer courtyard.The old lawnmowers were burning thickly, making a mess of smoke.I was still a little drowsy and started thinking wildly.It occurred to me that Jason likes to describe the place beyond Earth as the entire universe.No idea what a job like mowing the lawn would look like from the perspective of the universe.From the eyes of the entire universe, the earth looks like a planet whose blood flow is almost stagnant.Those blades of grass seemed to have grown through countless centuries, and the movement of growth was as long and magnificent as the evolution of stars.The workers of the gardening company, like a force of nature born billions of years ago, cut those blades of grass with great and uncontrollable patience.The broken blades of grass seem to feel the extremely slight gravity, slowly drifting down between the sun and the earth, and after countless seasons, they fall to the soil.Caenorhabditis elegans wriggling in the soil.The 144-day lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans is equivalent to 500 years of human beings. It is the Methuselah among microorganisms, and the human beings lived 969 years in the Bible.When the Methuselah worms were wriggling in the soil, in the depths of the vast universe beyond the sky, perhaps a galactic empire had already experienced prosperity and decline. Of course, Jason was right, that was hard to believe.Or, the word "believe" should not be used, because no matter how absurd things are, people will believe them.Therefore, it should be said that it is difficult to accept a fundamental fact, to accept the truth of the world.I sat on the porch in front of the house, on this side, just avoiding the earth-shattering lawnmower.The wind was very cool, and I raised my face to the sun.Even though I know that the sun is fake, I still feel the warmth and comfort of the sun.Sunlight is filtered.The real sun is spinning at an astonishingly out-of-control speed.In that world, countless centuries are wasted in the blink of an eye, as if it were only a few seconds of ours. You don't want to believe that's true.However, that is absolutely true. I thought again of medical school, and the anatomy class I told Jason about, and the girl I was almost engaged to, Candice.Booni.She was also in that class at the time.During the dissection, she had been calm and self-controlled, but it was different after class.She said that the human body should have love, hate, courage, cowardice, soul, and heart instead of the red and blue mess like the mud in front of me. I don’t know whether it has feelings or whether it is important.That's right.And we should not be reluctantly involved in that future, a cruel and deadly future. However, this world is like this, there is no room for compromise.That's all I can say about Candice. She said I was so cold.Still, that's about as close to wisdom as I can come up with. ☆ The minutes passed in the morning.The workers had finished weeding and drove away.There was a dampness in the air, a silence.After a while, I pulled myself together and called my mother in Virginia.She said that the weather there is not as good as in Massachusetts. Although the storm has passed, it is still cloudy.Last night's storm knocked down many trees and utility poles.I told her I had arrived safely at Edward's summer cottage.She asked me if Jason looked all right.In fact, during this time, Jason went back to the big house several times, so she may have seen Jason earlier than me.But I still told her: He is a bit older, but Xiaojie is still Xiaojie. Will he be worried about China? Since the October incident, my mother has become addicted to watching the news.She doesn't watch CNN for entertainment, or even for information.She was mostly trying to comfort herself, like a farmer in rural Mexico who always keeps his eyes open for the movement of a nearby volcano, hoping not to see smoke.She told me that at this stage, the China incident is nothing more than a diplomatic crisis, but China has begun to use force.The whole thing seemed to spark controversy because they were going to launch a satellite.You should ask Jason about this. Is it because of what Edward told you that you are worried? not him.But Carol would tell me something every once in a while. I'm really not sure how much of what she said is listenable. Xiaotai, don't do this.She likes to drink, but she is not stupid.Especially, I am not stupid. I did not mean that. These days, I have heard about Jason and Diane from Carol. Did she mention that Diane was coming to the Berkshires?Xiaojie couldn't tell. My mother hesitated for a moment.In the past few years, no one could guess what Diane would do.I think this is probably why Xiaojie can't explain clearly. You said that no one can guess, what exactly do you mean? Oh, that's it.School work doesn't seem to be doing very well, and also, seems to have committed some crime crime? No, she's not going to rob a bank or something.I mean, she went to the New Nation Rally and things got out of hand and she was arrested by the police several times. What was she doing at the mass meeting in the new country? She hesitated again.You'd better ask Jason to be clearer. I was going to ask. She coughed a few times.From the phone, I can imagine her covering the receiver with her hand and turning her head slightly.I said: Are you in good health? a bit tired. Is there any further treatment from the doctor?She was suffering from anemia, and the doctor prescribed several bottles of iron for her to eat. Nothing, I'm just old.Xiaotai, everyone will grow old sooner or later.She added another sentence.If you think what I do counts as a job, I'm considering retiring.The twins were out, and Carol and Edward were the only ones left at home.Even Edward had rarely been home since the work in Washington began. Did you tell them you wanted to leave? not yet. A big house won't be a big house without you. She laughed, but didn't sound happy.Thank you, no need, I've almost had enough of living in a big house all my life. However, she never mentioned to me that she wanted to leave.I guess Carol persuaded her to stay. ☆ Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Xiaojie came in through the front door.Xiaotai?His jeans were too big and hung on his hips, making him look like a dead sail, with the rigging all down. There were vague gravy stains all over the T-shirt.Help me grill some meat, okay? I followed him out, to the back of the house.That's a standard grill that runs on propane fuel.Xiaojie never used that thing.He opened the fuel tank valve and pressed the ignition button.He was startled by the sudden fire, flinching back, and then grinning with his teeth bared.I bought the steak and also a three-bean mixed salad at the deli in town. I said: and there are almost no mosquitoes here. They sprayed it this spring.are you hungry? I'm hungry.Despite dozing off all afternoon, I suddenly had an appetite.Are you baking for two or three? I'm still waiting for Diane's call.However, I'm afraid I won't know whether she will come or not until evening.I guess, dinner was probably just the two of us. If China didn't come over with nuclear missiles. I want to catch his words. Jason was hooked.Xiaotai, are you worried about China?The crisis is almost over.nailed it. Then rest assured.I heard that there was a crisis that day, but I didn't expect it to be fine that day.My mother told me.Seems like it's on the news. The Chinese military wants to use nuclear weapons to attack flying objects over the North and South Poles.They have installed the missiles loaded with nuclear warheads on the launch pad, and they are on standby at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for launch.Their logic is that if they can destroy the flying objects over the North and South Poles, they may be able to destroy the entire shield.Of course, we really have no reason to believe they will succeed.Think about it, if other people's technology has the ability to manipulate time and gravity, is it possible for our weapons to hurt them? So we threaten China and they back down? Kind of like that.However, we also give them carrots.We give them a lift. I don't understand. Invite them to join our small project to save the world together. Xiaojie, you scare me a little. Give me the clip.Sorry, I know it sounds cryptic, I definitely couldn't say it, couldn't tell anyone. So I'm an exception? You are always the exception.he laughed.Let's talk about it after dinner, shall we? I walked away and left him to the barbecue alone.Smoke and the heat of the fire enveloped him. ☆ Two affiliated U.S. government agencies have come under fire from the media.The media accused them of doing nothing on the issue of time gyrations.But this kind of criticism is a bit trivial.Even if there were any practical solution, no one seemed to know what it was.Any apparent retaliatory action is dangerous and has disastrous consequences.For example, this is what the Chinese are going to do. The Perihelion Foundation is moving in a completely opposite direction. Xiaojie said: The secret of winning or losing is not in fighting, but in fighting.The opponent is bigger than you and you have to use his weight and momentum against him and that's the way we want to handle time spins. As he explained to me briefly, he sliced ​​the grilled steak as carefully as a doctor performing an operation.We opened the back door and ate steaks in the kitchen.A hornet hits the screen.The wasp was as fat as a knot of yarn. He said: "Imagine, maybe time gyrations are an opportunity, not an aggression. what chance?A chance to die early? An opportunity to use time to accomplish our goals.This is an unprecedented opportunity. Aren't they depriving us of our time? exactly the opposite.Outside of this tiny bubble of Earth, we have millions of years to put to good use.And we've got a very solid tool that's just right for that time. tool?I was confused.At this time, he poked a small piece of beef with a fork.This dinner is really simple and straightforward.There was a steak on the plate, with a can of beer beside it, and no other side dishes.Except, of course, the three-bean mixed salad, but that wasn't really his thing either. That's right, it's a tool.The obvious tool: evolution. evolution? Tyler, we can't talk like this.You can't keep repeating everything I say. All right.Well, using evolution as a tool, I still can't figure it out. How can we complete effective evolution and change the current situation in thirty or forty years? God, of course we didn't evolve, and it didn't take thirty or forty years.I'm talking primitive life forms, I'm talking billions of years, I'm talking Mars. Mars!my God. Don't be so brainy.think about it. 火星也許曾經有過原始的生命雛形，但現在是一顆沒有機能的死星球。自從十月事件之後，火星已經在時間迴旋的防護罩外面演化了好幾百萬年。膨脹的太陽暖化了火星。從太空軌道最近拍攝的照片看起來，火星還是一顆乾涸的死星球。要是火星有簡單的生命形態，有適合的氣候讓生命存活，我想，火星現在已經佈滿茂盛的綠色叢林了。可惜實際上並非如此。 傑森說：有人曾經討論過火星地球化。你還記不記得從前看過的那些天馬行空的小說？ 小傑，我現在也還在看。 這樣你就更有概念了。我問你，如果是你的話，你要怎麼把火星地球化？ 想辦法讓大氣層獲得充足的溫室氣體，使火星暖化。釋放冰凍的水，利用簡單的有機生物當種子。不過，最樂觀的估計，那也要花上 he laughed. 我說：你在消遣我。 他忽然嚴肅起來。不是，絕對不是。我是很正經的。 你們要怎麼 我們會先同時發射一系列的火箭，裝載基因改造過的細菌，用簡單的離子引擎慢慢飛到火星。我們刻意設計讓絕大多數的火箭墜毀，但單細胞生物剛好可以存活。另外一些火箭上有更大型的裝載，配備碉堡剋星彈頭，將同樣的有機生物送到地殼底下我們懷疑火星地殼底下埋藏著水。這是一場賭局，我們會兩頭下注。我們會發射很多次，而且我們有一整系列的有機生物可以選。我們的構想是，通過充足的有機作用鬆弛深藏在地殼中的碳，然後將碳釋放到大氣中。等個幾百萬年，差不多是我們地球上幾個月，然後再研究觀察。如果火星的溫度升高了，大氣層變潮濕了，而且產生了一些半流體的水，到時候我們會再重複一次流程。這一次，我們要用的，是依據這個環境改造的多細胞植物。植物會釋放氧氣到大氣層中，說不定會多增加幾毫巴的氣壓。必要的話，我們會再重複一次。再多等個幾百萬年，攪拌一下。就像看著時鐘做菜一樣，在剛剛好的時間裡，我們就會煮出一顆可以住人的星球。 這真是驚人的構想。我忽然覺得自己變成華生醫師，變成十九世紀英國偵探小說裡的那種助理角色。這種角色的台詞通常是：他想出來的計畫實在太大膽了，甚至有點荒唐。可是，我想破了腦袋也找不出半點漏洞。 只有一個，一個根本的漏洞。 我說：傑森，就算那是可能的，對我們有什麼好處？ 如果火星可以住人，大家就可以到那裡去生活。 所有七八十億的人口嗎？ He snorted.Not too possible.只有一些先遣隊。你可以用醫學術語來形容這些人，他們是繁殖的品種。 他們要做什麼？ 生存，繁殖，死亡。我們地球上的一年，他們已經繁衍了好幾百萬代。 目的是什麼？ 主要就是再給人類一次機會，在太陽系生存下去。最好的狀況是，他們會擁有我們所能夠提供的一切知識，而且他們有幾百萬年的時間可以進步改良。在時間迴旋的小泡泡裡，我們的時間不夠，查不出那些假想智慧生物的來歷，不知道他們為什麼要對我們做這件事。我們的火星後代可能會比較有機會。也許他們可以幫我們思考這個問題。 或者幫我們對抗他們？ （我確定這是我第一次聽到他們用假想智慧生物這個字眼。操控地球的假想智慧生物，一種從未見過的生物，幾乎只存在於理論上的生物，他們把我們放在時間的保險庫裡。好幾年的時間，一般大眾都不流行使用這個名稱。後來，當這個名稱開始流行起來，我反而覺得很不安。這個名稱有點無情，有一點抽象的意味，彷彿在暗示他們是冷漠無情的。真相似乎沒那麼單純。） 我問：你們已經有實踐這個構想的具體方案了嗎？ 噢，有啊。傑森已經吃掉四分之三的牛排了。他把盤子推開。而且經費還沒有貴到我們承擔不起。唯一的困難是基因工程，如何改造出生命力極強的單細胞生物。火星的表面寒冷乾燥，幾乎沒有空氣。每次太陽一出來，地表就會暴露在輻射線下，細菌會死光。儘管如此，我們還是有大量的嗜極端環境的菌類，足以應付這樣的環境。例如，存活在大西洋海底岩石的菌類，可以在核反應爐外洩物中存活的菌類。至於其他的問題，根據我們的經驗，純粹就只是技術問題了。我們知道火箭沒有問題，我們知道有機演化沒有問題，沒什麼新東西。真正唯一的新東西，是我們有了全新的視野。火箭發射後，我們只要等個幾天或幾個月，就能夠得到長期的結果。長期的意思是億萬年。我們稱之為目的論工程。 我試探著用他的字眼說：你們要做的事情，很像是那些假想智慧生物正在做的事。 沒錯，沒錯，差不多就是這樣。傑森忽然揚起眉毛看著我，眼神中充滿了敬佩與驚訝。即使過了很多年，想到他當時的表情，心裡還是有點得意。 ☆ 我在一本書裡看到過一段有趣的文章，描寫一九六九年人類第一次登陸月球。書上說，當時有一些年紀很大的人都不太敢不相信這個新聞。那些人有男有女，多半出生在十九世紀。他們太老了，老到還記得那個汽車和電視還沒有出現的年代。對他們來說，那樣的新聞感覺上很像童年時代的童話故事（今天晚上，兩個人在月球上漫步），電視上卻當成真實的事件在報導。他們無法接受。這條新聞令他們感到困惑，分不清什麼是合理的什麼是荒謬的。 現在輪到我糊塗了。 我的朋友傑森說，我們要把火星地球化，殖民火星。而且他不是在吹牛至少另外十幾個和他一起的人也不像在吹牛。他們都像他一樣聰明，一樣大權在握，而且顯然擁有共同的信念。所以，他剛才的構想都是真的。那個構想已經進入某些行政程序，已經是執行中的工作了。 晚飯後，我趁著天色還沒有完全暗，繞著院子裡散步。 那個園藝工人的成果是很令人滿意的。草坪鮮豔奪目，看起來像是數學家的夢中花園，種滿了五彩繽紛的花草。草坪再過去，森林已經逐漸籠罩在陰影中。我心裡想，森林的光影景致一定會令黛安十分陶醉。我又想起當年，那段流連溪邊的夏日時光。她會唸一些老書給我們聽。有一次，我們談到時間迴旋，黛安唸了一首小小的韻詩。那是英國詩人郝士曼寫的： ∮ 棕熊巨大狂野 吞噬孱孱幼兒 幼兒尚未知曉 已成大熊佳餚 ☆ 我從廚房的門走進來時，傑森正在聽電話。他看了我一眼，然後就轉身壓低聲音。 他說：不會啦。沒辦法也只好這樣了，可是不會啦，我了解。All right.我不是說好了嗎？好的意思就是好。 他把電話塞到口袋裡。我問他：是黛安嗎？ He nodded. 她要來嗎？ 她要過來了。她到這裡之前，我要先提醒你一些事情。你還記得我們吃飯時談的那些事吧？那些事不能讓她知道。或者說得更精確一點，不能讓任何人知道。消息還沒有公開。 你的意思是，這件事是機密？ 技術上來說，大概是這樣。 可是你已經告訴我了。 沒錯，所以那已經觸犯了聯邦法律。他笑了一下。我犯法，不是你。我相信你會守口如瓶的。有耐性一點，再過幾個月，ＣＮＮ就會有一大堆新聞了。更何況，我對你另有安排。小泰，基金會要找人參與一項很艱鉅的拓荒殖民任務，目前正在審查候選人的資格。我們需要目前正在執業的各科醫生。如果你可以來，我們就可以一起工作，那不是很棒嗎？ I was taken aback.小傑，我才剛畢業，還沒當住院醫生呢。 不是現在，還有的是時間。 我問他：你不相信黛安嗎？ 他忽然不笑了。老實說，我已經不敢相信她了。這幾年不再相信了。 她什麼時候會到？ 明天中午之前。 究竟是什麼事你不想讓我知道？ 她要帶她男朋友來。 Is there something wrong? Just wait and see.