Chapter 24 go home before nightfall

I spent a few days in a small hospital in Miami.I only suffered a minor injury and am gradually recovering.In those few days, I also accepted the investigator's questioning and described the situation at that time.On the other hand, I also began to really feel that Van Novin was dead.It was also during this time that I decided to leave the foundation and open my own clinic. I'm going to wait to tell anyone about this until after the replica is launched, though.I don't want to upset Jason at this critical moment. ☆ Compared with the actions of transforming Mars in the past few years, the replica launch plan seems a bit more thunderous and less rainy.It would achieve greater and more subtle achievements, and yet, just because the whole project used but a few rockets, the timing need not be too precise, too easy to execute, and too little money to have dramatic effect.

President Romes intends to make this project an American monopoly.President Romes let the high-level personnel of NASA and the Foundation control the replica technology and refused to share it with other countries.His move has angered the European Union, China, Russia and India.In the public version of the Martian database, the relevant passages were deleted by order of Romes.To quote Lomes, artificial microbes are a high-risk technology that could be used as a weapon. (In fact, he was right, even Wanowen himself admitted).Therefore, the Americans are obliged to take the responsibility of custody and control intelligence, so as to prevent the proliferation of nanotechnology and become a new deadly weapon.

The European Union cursed the Americans for foul play, and the United Nations convened an investigative team.However, wars are raging all over the world's four continents, and there are small-scale wars everywhere. Under such circumstances, Lo Mais' words have a certain weight.However, if Vanovan is still around, he may counter that the same technology has been used by Martians for hundreds of years, and everyone is fine, and Martians are as human as their Earth ancestors. For all these reasons, in late summer of that year, on the day of the rocket launch at Cape Canaveral, there were very few spectators and the media were indifferent.After all, Wan Nuowen is dead.Since the mass media coverage of the killing of Van Novin, there is not much news value left.Today, four heavy Delta rockets stand majestically on the launch pad at sea, which feels as if it is just a little explanation for Van Novin's memorial service.Or, sadder, it will become a rehash, a reworked version of the seed rocket launch of the year.However, in this day and age, people have become less and less hopeful.

However, even if it is just a sideshow, it is still a show after all.Ramesh flew in from Washington to attend.Edward.Lawton was also invited politely. This time, he was willing to obey the rules obediently.So, on the morning of the scheduled launch, Jason and I drove to the beach east of Cape Canaveral and sat in VIP seats in the bleachers. The stands face the sea.Those old launchers were still standing on the sea back then, and they could still be used, but there were some red marks because they had been corroded by seawater for many years.It was a product of the seed launch era, capable of carrying the largest and heaviest rockets.The brand new Delta rocket there looked much smaller by comparison.We sat too far away from the launch pad, and couldn't see every little detail of the rocket.From a distance, we could only see four white pillars standing on the misty summer sea, dotted with a few unused launch pads and connecting rails.Service and support vessels are moored at a safe distance.It was a bright summer morning and the weather was hot.There were occasional gusts of wind, not strong enough to interfere with the launch, but strong enough to crackle the flags and mess up President Lomez's elaborate hairstyle.Luo Maisi stepped onto the podium and addressed a group of dignitaries and media reporters.

His speech was surprisingly brief.He cited Van Novin's legendary deeds and expressed his confidence in the replica project.He said that humans are about to deploy a network of replicas on the edge of the icy solar system, and he believes that this network will find out the purpose and truth of the time spiral in the near future.He said it was an act of heroism for humans to leave their mark on the universe.Speaking of this, Jason secretly said to me: He should have said Yinhe, not Ningzhou.And what does he mean by leaving traces?Like a wild dog pissing on a fire hydrant?He really should get someone to polish his speech first.Next, Romes quotes a poem.It was written by the nineteenth-century Russian poet Tyutchev.Chutchev couldn't even imagine what time gyrations were, but he wrote poems as if he had seen them with his own eyes.

∮ The vast universe disappears like a phantom lonely, naked, alone That man is like a homeless orphan Facing the boundless and unfathomable darkness Now he finally knows where he suddenly sees the light far and strange night his unknown fate It is doomed and everything is taken for granted All life and light are like ancient dreams ∮ Then, Ramesh stepped off the podium.Next, the tedious countdown begins.When the count reaches zero, the first rocket shoots out a huge flame and rushes to the universe that is gradually enlightened beyond the sky, rushing towards the doomed unknown destiny.That is our natural destiny.

Everyone looked up at the sky, but Jason closed his eyes and folded his hands in his lap. ☆ We walked to the reception room with some other invited guests, ready to be interviewed by the media.CNN was scheduled to interview Jason for twenty minutes, and to interview me for ten minutes.My identity is the doctor who fought to save Vanovan's life.I didn't tell them until the reporters had finished asking questions. In fact, I just put out the fire on his shoes, and after he was shot and fell to the ground, I dragged his body out of the hail of bullets.I quickly gave him a basic physical examination.Including trachea, breathing, pulse.After the inspection, it was obvious that I couldn't save him.At that time, I could only lower my body and wait for rescue.

President Romes walked around the reception room, shook hands with all the guests, and left in a hurry surrounded by his entourage.Edward caught Jason and me by the buffet. He said: Your goal has probably been achieved.He was talking to Jason, but his eyes were on me.Now things are irreparable. Jason said: In this case, there is probably nothing to argue about. Van Noven and I both agreed that Jason had to be observed for several months after his life-extending treatment.I've run him through a battery of neuropathology tests and a few sneaky MRIs.From the results of the examination, I cannot see any neurological defects.The only noticeable physical change was his recovery from atypical multiple sclerosis.In other words, he was completely new and absolutely healthy.Once upon a time, I could not have imagined that this was possible.

However, there seemed to be a subtle change in his whole person.I once asked Wan Nuowen whether people in the fourth year will have psychological changes.He said: In a way, yes.On Mars, the fourth year of life-extending treatment should behave differently.This is an expected result.However, the word anticipation has a subtle double meaning.Yes, fourth year is expected (likely) to be a little bit different, but society and people his age expect (demand) him to be different, Vanovan said. Where did Jason become different?For example, his body movements are different.Before, Jason would deftly hide his cirrhosis, but now, from the way he walks and the way he moves, you feel as if he has gained a new kind of freedom.Like the spaceship-shaped bio-tin man in Star Trek, his body is powered by a post-petroleum fuel.He still has occasional bad moods, but the emotional reactions are less intense.He swears less.In other words, he won't fall into that kind of extremely bad mood, and he just wants to curse people with the three-character scripture.He loves to joke more than ever.

It sounds like everything is going great.Good indeed, but only superficially good.In addition to Jason's transformation, other things have also changed.These changes are worrying.The Foundation removed Jason from day-to-day management.His men did not brief him once a week, or did not brief him at all.He began poring over preliminary translations of the Martian database, studying Martian astrophysics.He walks on the edge of the secrecy regulations, exploits the loopholes in the regulations, but does not violate the regulations.His mind had gained an unprecedented peace, and the only thing that would stir his heart was Wan Nuowen's death.Why did Wan Nuowen's death bring him so much trouble and pain?I still can't understand it.

Edward said: Do you understand.The rocket that just launched represents the end of the Foundation. He is right.The Foundation's role as a civilian space agency is over.Its only remaining folk function is to interpret all the information sent back by the replica.They're really starting to lay off workers.More than half of the assistant staff has been fired.The rate of reduction of technical personnel is relatively slow.The foundation uses lures to get them to leave their jobs, for example, to teach at a university, or to accept high-paying positions in contractors. Then let it be.Jason said.The way he showed, I don't know if it is the innate calm of the fourth year, or the hostility he has suppressed for many years towards his father.What has to be done has been done. How can you write off the Foundation's past so easily?How do you explain to me? That's the way it is. You ruined my hard work all my life, don't you care? do i care?Jason thought for a moment, as if Edward had asked a good question.At the end of the day, nothing seemed to matter. God, what the hell is going on with you?do you know what a terrible mistake you made I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong. Don't you know what consequences you have to bear? I probably know. If the plan fails, they will blame you. I know that. They will kill you. If so, I also admit it. Edward said: I can't protect you anymore. Jason said: You've never been able to protect me. ☆ I ride back to the Foundation in Jason's car.Xiaojie recently drives a fuel cell car made in Germany, which is quite a good car.Most people still drive gasoline cars.The companies that make those cars don't believe the future has anything to worry about.Some commuters whizzed by the freeway next to us, seemingly desperate to get home before dark. I told him I was going to leave the foundation and start my own practice. Xiaojie didn't speak.His eyes were on the road ahead.Steam was steaming on the road, as if the edge of the world had been softened by the heat.After a while, he said: But, Taylor, you really don't have to go.The Foundation will spend years with them, and I still have a little leverage to keep your job.I can also hire you privately if necessary. Xiaojie, that's the problem.There is no need at all.I haven't had much real work to do in the Foundation. You mean, you're bored? A change of environment might make me feel useful and more comfortable. Do you think you are useless?If it weren't for you, I'd probably be in a wheelchair by now. That's not my credit, it's Wan Nuowen's credit.I just gave you a shot. Can't say that.You took care of me during that difficult time and I am grateful.What's more, I really hope that there is someone around me who can talk to me, and that person will not try to buy me or betray me all day long. How long has it been since we had a proper conversation? Even if I survived a crisis and got better, it doesn't mean that I won't have another attack in the future. Xiaojie, you are now in your fourth year. In the next fifty years, you probably won't need to see a doctor anymore. The only people who know about it are you and Carol.This is another reason why I don't want you to leave.He hesitated.Do you want to do life extension treatment for yourself?At least another fifty years to live. Maybe I can do the same.However, even if we live another fifty years, the sun will have become very large by then, and the earth will have been engulfed by the solar atmosphere.Wouldn't that be superfluous.I'd rather I be of some use now. Have you made up your mind to go? Edward will definitely say: stay.Edward would have said: It is your duty to take care of him. Edward could talk a lot. I have decided. Jason gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared at the road ahead with infinite sentimentality in his eyes.He said: In this case, I can only wish you good luck. ☆ The day I was leaving the Foundation, a group of assistants threw me a farewell party in a conference room that is now rarely used.They send me many presents.There are fewer and fewer people in the Foundation, and now one more person is leaving.These gifts are well suited.A miniature cactus in a clay pot, a coffee mug with my name engraved on it, and a fancy tie clip.The pattern of the tie clip is the snake rod held by the Greek god of medicine, Asculbill. That evening, Xiaojie came to my house and gave me an even more headache-inducing gift. It was a cardboard box tied with rope on the outside.I opened it and saw that inside was a pile of documents densely packed with text, weighing about half a kilogram in total, and there were six optical memory cards without labels. Xiaojie, what is this? He said: medical information.You can treat it like a textbook. What kind of medical information? He smiled mysteriously.Medical files in the database. Martian database? He nodded. But isn't this confidential information? Technically, that is indeed classified information.However, as long as Luo Maisi thinks that he will not get into any trouble, even the emergency report phone number will be classified by him.The data here might be bad enough to shut down two major pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Eli Lilly, but I wouldn't worry about breaking the law.And you? no, but Moreover, I think Wan Nuowen definitely does not want these materials to be hidden by others.So, without anyone noticing, I took some data from the database one after another and handed it over to someone I trusted.Taylor, you don't really have to do anything with the data.Watch it or not watch it up to you.It doesn't matter if you put them away and feed them to the moths. marvelous.Thank you, Jay.This gift might cause me to be arrested and locked up by the police. He smiled even more.I know you'll make good use of it. I don't know what to do now. One day you will know.Taylor, I have faith in you.Since my life extension treatment What did you say? He said: I can see many things more clearly. He said no more.In the end, I stuffed that box in my suitcase as a keepsake.I suddenly had an urge to write the words "souvenir" on that box. ☆ The functioning speed of the replica is very slow, even slower than the speed of transforming a dead planet back then.Two years ago, we launched replicas into the outskirts of the solar system, scattered among the countless small stars in the Oort Cloud.Two years have passed, and we still can't detect the signal sent back by the clone. However, those replicas are busy.They are barely affected by the sun's gravity and are gradually performing the functions for which they were originally designed.The superconductor structure in their bodies is equivalent to human DNA, which contains the instructions we implanted at the beginning.They follow these instructions and reproduce bit by bit over long periods of time.Just give them some more time, as long as you add enough ice and trace carbon elements, and when the time comes, they will send the information back.We launched several satellites into orbit outside the dialysis membrane.When those satellites fell back to Earth, no signals were recorded on them. During those two years, I managed to find a partner.His name is Herbert.Hagin is a soft-spoken Bangladeshi.The year Van Noven visited the Grand Canyon coincided with the end of his residency.There was a GP in San Diego who was retiring and transferred the practice to us.Harkin was a very straightforward man and very kind to his patients, but he had very little company and few friends.He seemed to prefer to keep things simple.Except during the day when we see a doctor together in the clinic, we seldom spend the rest of the time together.He hardly ever asked me any personal questions, the closest he came was asking me why I had two cell phones. One is for normal use.I'll have another phone because that's the number I left Diane with last time.The phone never rang, and it never occurred to me to contact her again.However, if I stop using that number, she will never be able to reach me.I always feel like this seems uh, not quite right. I love my job, and I could even say that I love my patients.I have treated more patients with gunshot wounds than I expected.However, after all, this is a difficult time when time revolves.Local murders and suicides began to skyrocket.In this day and age, people under the age of 30 seem to be wearing some kind of uniform, such as: military uniforms, uniforms of the National Guard, the Ministry of Homeland Security, private security, etc., and even young people can be seen wearing the uniforms of the Youth Rural Protection Corps. amulet.After all, the fertility rate is getting lower and lower these days, and young people are like birds of fright.In this era, Hollywood produced a large number of extremely bloody and violent or extremely religious movies.However, these films never explicitly mention the term time warp.The word time gyration, like sex and descriptive words, is expressly prohibited by the Entertainment Media Dialogue Content Act.The agencies that issued the ban were the Lomes government's Culture Council and the Federal Communications Commission. During this era, the government issued many decrees to disinfect the contents of the Martian database.According to the president and fellow congressmen, Vanovan's Martian database contains a lot of knowledge that is inherently dangerous and must be sanitized and tightly controlled.Publicizing the contents of the database is like posting how to make a suitcase nuclear bomb on the Internet.Even anthropological data are censored.In the publicly released version, people in the fourth year are defined as respected elders, and there is no mention of extending human life through medicine. However, who wants to prolong life, or needs to prolong life?The end of the world is getting closer day by day. If anyone needed proof, the flash in the sky was proof that the end of the world was near. ☆ The clone project has finally achieved its first definite results.Half a year later, a flash of flames began to appear in the sky. A few days before the news about the clone was officially released in the media, Xiaojie had already told me.There was nothing surprising about the matter itself.A probe satellite jointly launched by NASA and the Foundation picks up a weak signal.This signal is transmitted by the Oort Cloud, which is far beyond the orbit of Pluto.It was an uncoded periodic message from a population of replicas that was about to be completed.It is about to be completed, and it can also be said to be about to reach maturity. It may seem insignificant on the surface, but there is a deep meaning in it. That is an unprecedented artificial biological cell.Those hibernating cells drifted down on a chunk of icy dust in the depths of space.Next, those cells go through some sort of metabolic process, very slowly and very strenuously.They absorb very weak heat energy from the distant sun, then use this heat energy to separate nearby water molecules and carbon molecules, and use these separated raw materials to start self-replication and reproduction. After many years, this replica group will grow to the size of a bearing ball.If an astronaut could make it through this impossibly long journey, knowing exactly what he was looking for, he would find little black holes in the regolith of the asteroid.The replica is lodged on the topsoil layer composed of rocks and ice dust.However, compared to the original single-cell replicas, the efficiency of these replica groups was slightly improved.It begins to grow faster and produces more heat.The temperature difference between these replicant populations and their surroundings is only a fraction of a degree on the absolute temperature scale of Kelvin.The only exception is that at the moment the replica bursts and reproduces, it releases latent heat into the surrounding environment.In such a cold environment, the replica will still survive indomitably. Another tens of millions of years passed, or months on Earth.The thermal gradient of the surrounding environment activates subroutines in the genetic matrix of the replicator, improving the growth of the replicator population and producing cells with different functions.Just like a human embryo, the replica population will not only produce more cells, but also the functions of each cell will be different, just like human heart cells, lung cells, hands and feet.The tendrils of the replica group invade the soft matter inside the small star, sucking up carbon molecules. Eventually, the clone population will begin to burst into steam.Although these steam explosions are subtle, they are precisely calculated.The steam explosion slows down the rotation of the small star until the side where the replica population hosts is permanently facing the sun.This process is very slow, taking hundreds of years.At this point, the replicant populations start to really develop different functions.The replica group will shoot out double-carbon junctions and carbon-silicon junctions, and then produce single-molecule filaments to connect these junctions in series to develop into complex structures.Those associations grow light-sensitive dots like eyes and can create microbursts of radio-frequency audio. Over the next few hundred years, these faculties have developed into a finer and more refined form, and they can begin to produce periodic tones, like those of a newborn sparrow.This is what our satellites receive. This news was reported in the media for several days in a row, with some data images interspersed, such as: Van Noven, Van Noven's funeral, and the scene of the rocket launch.It didn't take long for the incident to be forgotten by everyone.After all, this is only the first stage of the replica's communication. Unless you think about it for more than half a minute, it will seem trivial and uninspiring. This technology is a technology with independent life, the immortal genie in Aladdin's lamp. ☆ A few months later, flashes of light began to appear in the sky. Flares are the first sign of changes or disturbances in the time-swirl dialysis membrane.Not long after the time gyration appeared, China launched nuclear missiles to attack the machines above the North and South Poles, causing some anomalies in the sky.If that time doesn't count, this Flash is the first time.These two anomalies can be seen all over the world.These two anomalies have some key things in common, but are not identical. After the Chinese missile attack, the time gyration dialysis membrane seemed to be interrupted for a moment, but it quickly returned to normal, flashing the rotating sky, multiple overlapping shadows of the moon, and swirling star trails. But this time the Flare was different. I was standing on the balcony when I saw Flare.It was a warm September night in my own home in a suburban apartment complex.Many of the neighbors happened to be on the balcony when the flare started.Later, everyone ran out.We were like starlings perched on a ledge, whispering to each other. The sky is bright. It wasn't the brightness of the stars, but a very thin golden streak of light appeared in the entire sky, like cold lightning, across the entire sky from the horizon to the horizon on the other side.The way the light streaks moved and changed was weird: some flashed at the same time, or disappeared at the same time, and occasionally some new light streaks slowly appeared on and off.The sight was bewildering and equally horrifying. Such a scene can be seen all over the world, not limited to certain places.In the daytime hemisphere, this view is less conspicuous, either invisible in sunlight or obscured by clouds.It was night in North and South America and Western Europe, and the sight of the night sky caused panic everywhere.After all, we've been looking forward to the end of the world for so long that no one has bothered to count it.The scene in front of me looked like the prelude to the end. In my city that night, hundreds of people died by suicide or attempted suicide, and there were two dozen murders and euthanasia.Globally, these numbers are too large to estimate.Obviously, there are many like Molly.People like Sigeland choose to escape.They chose to escape the expected boiling of the seas with an assortment of poisons.They also have excess poison for family and friends to share.Many choose to seek relief when the sky is lit up.Turns out, they were a little too hasty. The flash lasted eight hours.The next morning, I went to the emergency room of the local hospital to support.By noon, I had seen seven patients with carbon monoxide poisoning.Those people deliberately shut themselves in the garage and start the car engine.Several were dead by the time they got to the hospital, and those who survived were not much better off.Their brain damage can never be recovered, and they will have to rely on respirators for the rest of their lives and become vegetative.They are victims of clumsy evasion tactics.It's definitely not a pleasant experience.However, patients with gunshot wounds to the head are even more miserable.When I gave first aid to them, I unconsciously thought of Wan Nuowen.At that time, Van Novin was lying on the highway in Florida, his whole head was blown to pieces and blood was spattered everywhere. Eight hours later, the sky was calm again.The sunshine in the sky is like the best line in a bad joke. After a year and a half, Shining Flame appeared once. ☆ At one point, Harkin told me: You look like a man who has lost his faith. I said: Or should I say, I have never had faith. I'm not talking about belief in God.You seem to be a complete non-stick when it comes to religion.I'm talking about another belief, belief in something.I can't even tell what it is. His words sound profound.Later, when I talked to Jason again, I slowly understood what he meant. I was at home when he called.He was calling on my normal phone, not another orphan phone I carried around like a talisman.I said: hello?He said: You must be watching the news on TV right now. What news? You go to turn on the TV now and click on a news station.are you alone at home of course.I'd rather be alone.I don't want another Molly.Seagram made my end of the world messier.The TV remote is still on the coffee table.I always keep the remote in that place. A chart of many colors was shown on the news channel, with a low hum in the background.I cut the TV to silent.Xiaojie, what is this? Press conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.The message we picked up from the last satellite. In other words, it is the message of the replica.Then what? The show is about to begin.He said.I can almost see the smile on his face. Satellites detected several sources of signals.That was teleported back from the outer reaches of the solar system in a narrowcast manner.This means that more than one population of replicants develops to maturity.That message, Jason said, was complex and not singular.Over time, the growth rate of replicant populations will slow down, but their function will become better and more purposeful.They no longer just absorb energy toward the sun.They began to analyze starlight and calculate planetary orbits on neural networks made of silicon carbon fibers.We have implanted templates of galaxies in their genetic code.They will compare the calculated planetary orbits with this template.A dozen or so full-fledged replicant groups sent back the information we had programmed them to collect.In total we received four sets of two-bit messages. The first group: This is a galaxy with a single star, and the solar mass ratio of the star is 1.0. Group 2: This galaxy has eight large planets (Pluto does not reach the bottom line of detectable mass). The third group: There are two planets that cannot detect light and are surrounded by time gyration dialysis membranes. Group Four: The teleporting replicant population has switched to reproductive mode and is currently releasing common seed cells and projecting these cells to neighboring stars by vapor explosions on cometary bodies. They also send the same message to nearby populations of immature replicants, Jay said.These replicant populations stop developing the ability to transmit messages and use their energy for pure reproduction. In other words, Vanovan's semi-biological system has successfully taken over the outer reaches of the solar system. Now, they are starting to spore. I said: These messages still can't tell us what time gyrations are. Of course not that fast.However, these bits and pieces of information will soon converge into a torrent.When the time comes, we'll have a way of piecing together a map of the time gyrations that spans all nearby stars and, eventually, the entire Milky Way.With this picture, we should be able to deduce where the hypothetical intelligent beings came from, where they deployed the time gyrations, and what was the final fate of those planets when the suns of those time gyration galaxies expanded and exploded . Even knowing it doesn't solve the problem, does it? He sighed, as if I'd disappointed him by asking a dumb question.Maybe it doesn't solve the problem.However, wouldn't it be better to know the truth than guessing over there?Maybe we'll find we're not escaping the end of the world after all, though, maybe we'll find we have more time left than we expected.Let's not forget, Taylor, we've opened up another front.We've been working on theoretical physics in the Vanovan database.If you think of the time gyration dialysis membrane as a wormhole, the wormhole encloses an object that is accelerating at nearly the speed of light But we are not accelerating.We are still where we are.However, we are indeed accelerating towards the future. you are wrong.If you do the calculations yourself, you'll find that the results match our observations of time gyrations.Maybe I'll find some clues as to how far hypothetical intelligent beings can be manipulated. But, Xiaojie, what purpose do they have? It's hard to say right now.However, I believe that this knowledge will be useful. Have you forgotten that we are already dying? Everyone dies. I mean the human race is dying. That remains to be seen.Whatever the time gyrations are, hypothetical intelligent beings are going to such lengths not just to euthanize us.They must have some purpose. Maybe.However, I just lost faith in this.Lost faith in the great salvation. I have lost faith in the great deliverance of all kinds.I no longer believe that at the last minute we can use technology to solve our problems and save ourselves.In other words, I don't believe that hypothetical intelligent beings are so benevolent and want to turn the earth into a peaceful country.Or rather, I don't believe that God can save all human beings, or at least those who truly believe.perhaps.perhaps.perhaps. Great salvation, that is a beautiful lie, a paper lifeboat.We'd kill each other just to get on that lifeboat.What kills our generation is not time gyrations, but the temptation and price of expecting a great salvation. ☆ The next winter, Flare reappeared.This time, the flare lasted for forty-four hours before disappearing.Many people began to think that it was a climate anomaly in the sky, unpredictable, but it should be harmless. The pessimists emphasize that the flashes appear at shorter and shorter intervals and last longer and longer. In April, the Flare reappeared.This lasted for three days and interfered with the aerostat's communications.This flash sparked another wave of suicides, only on a smaller scale.Some committed suicide, others attempted suicide.Some panicked not because they saw flames in the sky, but because their phones and TVs didn't work at home. I have stopped paying attention to the news.Some things, though, are hard not to know: renewed war in North Africa and Eastern Europe, a coup d'état by Quinta Bouvet fanatics, mass suicide in South Korea.Advocates of Islamic apocalypse won elections in Algeria and Egypt by a wide margin that year.There is a radical group in the Philippines who worships Vanovan as a saint of pastoralism, the Gandhi of the agricultural world.They were very successful in launching a strike in Manila. Then Jason called me several times.He sent me a phone that had some sort of built-in code key.Those phones, he said, were well-protected from being picked up by keyword search engines.Anyway, I don't understand what he's talking about. I said: You seem a little paranoid. This paranoia should serve us well. Maybe it would help if we were talking about some state secret.不過，我們並沒有談什麼機密，至少一開始沒有。傑森問我工作順不順利，日子過得好不好，最近聽什麼樣的音樂。我知道他想營造氣氛．重溫舊夢，像二、三十年前那樣無拘無束地聊天，彷彿回到進入基金會之前那段日子，可能的話，甚至回到時間迴旋之前的歲月。他告訴我，他去看過他媽媽。卡蘿還是老樣子，泡在酒瓶裡算日子。卡蘿堅持讓所有的東西保持原狀。家裡的傭人把所有的東西都整理得乾乾淨淨，擺在原來的地方。他說，大房子就像是一個時間膠囊，彷彿自從時間迴旋那天晚上開始就密封起來，與世隔絕。感覺有點陰森森的。 我問他，黛安有沒有打電話給他。 在萬諾文還沒有遇害之前，黛安就沒有再打過電話給卡蘿了。沒有，我也沒有接到過她的電話。 接下來我問他，複製體計畫最近有沒有什麼進展。最近報紙上都沒有看到什麼消息。 省點力氣，不用去找報紙了。噴射推進實驗室把所有接收到的訊息都封鎖起來了。 他的口氣聽起來有點不太開心。情況有那麼糟嗎？ 並不完全是壞消息。至少最近沒什麼壞消息。就像萬諾文所期望的那樣，複製體完成了所有的任務。這實在很驚人，泰勒，真的很驚人。真希望我能夠讓你看看我們拼湊出來的分布圖。可以用來導航的大型軟體星圖，裡面總共有二十萬顆恆星，涵蓋的球型空間直徑有好幾百光年。現在，我們對恆星與行星演化所具備的知識，是艾德華他們那一代的天文學家根本無法想像的。 不過，我們還是搞不懂時間迴旋是什麼東西，對不對？ I didn't say that. 那你究竟發現了什麼？ 第一，我們不是宇宙裡唯一的智能生物。在那個空間範圍裡，我們總共找到了三個肉眼看不到的行星，大小和地球差不多。從地球的標準來看，那些行星軌道的位置是可以住人的，至少從前是。距離最近的一顆所環繞的恆星就是大熊星座四十七號恆星，最遠的是 不用講這麼細。 如果我們衡量一下那些恆星的年齡，可以推論出一種相當接近真實的假設。假想智慧生物似乎是從銀河核心的方向來的。當然還有別的線索。複製體發現了幾顆白矮星，基本上也就是燒掉的恆星。幾十億年前，這些恆星看起來就像太陽一樣。奇怪的是，這些白矮星的軌道上有幾顆岩石般的行星。當初恆星膨脹爆炸的時候，那些行星應該早就毀滅了，怎麼到現在還在？ 你是說，那是時間迴旋的倖存者？ possible. 小傑，那些行星還活著嗎？ 我們沒辦法確定。不過，它們外面沒有時間迴旋透析膜，而且，從我們的標準來看，那些星系的環境是根本不可能住人的。 那意味著什麼？ I have no idea.Nobody knows.我想，等複製體網絡擴張之後，我們就能夠進一步比對，找出更多的含義。我們創造出來的複製體，其實是一個神經網絡，範圍大到難以想像。它們就像神經元一樣會互相聯繫，只不過，它們耗費的時間是好幾百年，彼此之間的距離長達好幾光年。它們展現出來的，是一種絕對的美，令人驚嘆的美。它們建構的網絡之大，遠超過人類曾經創造過的任何東西。蒐集情報，篩選情報，儲存情報，然後傳送回來給我們 那到底哪裡出了問題？ 他的樣子彷彿講到這些事情會很傷心。也許是老化了吧。任何東西都會老化，就連防護嚴密的遺傳密碼也不例外。也許它們的演化已經脫離我們原先的設計。Maybe 我知道，可是小傑，究竟出了什麼事？ 訊息愈來愈少了。我們從距離最遠的複製體收到了一些訊息，這些訊息愈來愈零碎，而且互相矛盾。這種情況有很多可能的原因。如果是它們快要死了，那意味著我們當初所設計的遺傳密碼有缺陷，而這些缺陷正慢慢顯現出來了。可是，連那些早期建構的聯結點也開始停擺了。 有什麼東西在攻擊它們嗎？ 先別急著做這種假設。我還有另外一個想法。當初我們把複製體發射到奧爾特雲去，創造了一個簡單的星際生態體系，一個由冰、星塵和人造生物構成的生態體系。然而，假如我們不是第一個動手的人呢？假如那個星際生態體系不是唯一的呢？ 你是說，銀河裡可能還有另外一種複製體？ possible.如果是這樣的話，它們一定會爭奪資源，甚至把對方用來當作資源。我們還以為，我們送複製體去的地方，是一個消毒過的閒置空間。只是沒想到，那裡還有別種生物在跟它們競爭，甚至可能是一種掠食生物。 傑森你是說有什麼東西在吃它們？ 他說：有可能。 ☆ 六月的時候，閃焰又出現了。這次持續了四十八小時。 到了八月，閃焰持續了五十六個小時，並造成電信通訊斷斷續續。 當九月末閃焰又出現時候，已經沒有人會覺得奇怪了。第一天晚上，我把百葉窗遮起來，懶得去看天空。我看了一部上禮拜下載的電影。那是一部老電影，時間迴旋之前的電影。看那部電影並不是為了想看電影的情節，只是想看看那些人，看看以前的人是什麼樣子。那些人活著的時候對未來不會感到恐懼。那些人講到月亮和星星的時候，不會露出嘲諷或懷舊的表情。 後來，電話響了。 不是我平常用的那部手機，也不是傑森寄給我的那部密碼電話，那是三音調的電話鈴聲。雖然我已經好幾年沒有聽到那個電話鈴聲，但我還是立刻就認出那個聲音了。我依稀聽得到鈴聲，可是很微弱。鈴聲微弱，是因為我把那部電話放在外套的口袋裡，而外套吊在玄關的衣櫃裡。 電話響了兩次之後，我手忙腳亂地把電話摸出來，說了聲：喂？ 我預料可能是打錯電話。我渴望聽到黛安的聲音。渴望卻又害怕。 可是，電話另一頭的聲音是一個男人。It's Simon.過了好一會兒我才聽出是他。 他說：泰勒？Taylor.Dupre?is it you? 緊急電話我已經接過很多了，所以一聽他講話的口氣，就知道他急瘋了。我說：是我，賽門。What's wrong? 我實在不應該打電話給你，可是我不知道還能找誰。這裡的醫生我都不認識。可是她生病了，泰勒，她病得太重了！我覺得她好像不會好了。我想她需要 這個時候，閃焰造成電信中斷，電話裡只聽得到雜音了。