In the early morning of the third day, Ye Xuan opened his eyes from his drowsiness.
"So fast? And it's still midnight?"
He walked out of the cell door in a daze, looked around, and saw the commissioner of the committee waiting at the door.
"The research office made a formal report an hour ago." The commissioner said, "The captain is waiting for you."
"Well, thank you."
Ye Xuan nodded and followed behind. When he went out, he heard the guards spitting disdain. He didn't have eyes behind his back, but he could guess that the eyes those people looked at him were not so friendly.
Along the way, the faces of everyone on the roadside showed a hint of gloom, without the joy and joy of a few days ago.
Of course.
The crew members who originally found the new earth were ignited with hope, but were extinguished by a sudden accident. Not to mention the lifelessness on the ship at the moment, if there is no mutiny, the captain has done a good job in suppressing it.
As Ye Xuan, who single-handedly caused the accident, he can naturally understand everyone's anger and hatred towards him.
Even in confinement, he heard many rumors about the ship.
Regarding the mysterious "unknown substance", there are countless weird hypotheses circulating among the crew.
Some people said it was a conspiracy by other immigrant ships, some said it was a faked accident, and some even more ridiculous people thought it was an alien weapon launching an attack on humans.
As for the reason for the attack, some people simply brought out the dark forest theory from hundreds of years ago.
The science fiction novel that had long been forgotten in the database was also dug out. The debate about "the existence of a mysterious weapon that can turn the universe into pieces of paper" is not uncommon even in the virtual space...
Even in today's era, even though humans have been floating in the sea of stars for fifty years, even though no one has seen an alien hair so far...
Along the way, Ye Xuan's mind was filled with random thoughts.
Only after the elevator door opened did he realize: "We went to the wrong place."
"That's right."
The commissioner stood at the door and replied expressionlessly: "This is it."
Now, there was a bad thing, a good thing, and something that he didn't know whether it was good or bad but that made him very uneasy was in front of Ye Xuan.
They should go to the conference room, but unfortunately, this is not the way to the conference room.
Fortunately, it does not lead to the "clean zone" - generally after violating the most serious regulations, the crew will be sent there after a committee vote, trapped in iron chairs, injected with sedatives, and bleeding Drool, waiting for someone in another room to press a button, and he will be broken down into particles, thrown into the incinerator, and disappear.
And that was what made him uneasy.
It was not an exaggeration to say that he was executed secretly for the mistakes he made, but now, he was not going to the conference room where the sentence was pronounced, nor was he in the clean area where the execution was secretly executed.
But it leads to the captain's private area.
—Bridge.
There is no so-called first mate and second mate on an immigration ship. If things on the ship are agreed by the crew committee, then the captain decides how to sail the ship.
Even if no one is driving the ship, Prince Dong, Nibelung and Hermes will coordinate with each other to sail the ship safely down.
Most of the time, it's on autopilot and the captain just has to make the decisions.
Because of this, the bridge is the highest expression of the captain's authority.
Not to mention Ye Xuan, it is impossible for other committee members to enter this layer of space without permission, let alone enter the bridge.
Now, the Commissioner sends himself here...
Ye Xuan's head started to stir.
He doesn't like political struggle, but that doesn't mean he's not good at it. He is the person in charge of the mind control room, and it is instinctive to profile and monitor people's minds.
So, now there are two possibilities.
The most likely possibility is that someone wants to kill him and use the topic to create some trouble, or... a riot
His scalp tightened.
Riots are possible.
The disaster that occurred on the new land made everyone feel depressed and violent to the extreme, like a powder magazine, with only one spark missing.
But he didn't want to be the victim of the first shot of change.
What's more, he feels that the current political system on the ship is very good - especially after seeing the dictatorship on another ship. He didn't want Steve's miserable behavior of guarding against even a drink of water to happen to him again.
Even if he is already dead by then.
But what about the eldest grandson
So, who wants to take advantage of themselves? Or... kill yourself
Bai Nan? That annoying guy does end up probably, but that guy lacks IQ in everything but technique. He has always been used as a weapon, and his brain has limited IQ. If he doesn't like it, he just thinks that psychology is pseudoscience. He is a cheater, and there is no reason to use scheming to kill himself.
So, Liu Dongli? Didn't he want to put the mental monitoring room under the medical institution for a day or two, or should I say, Zhao Qian? That guy always smiles when he sees him and looks good at dancing, but in his heart he has an extremely narcissistic personality and doesn't care about anyone at all.
Or…
Standing in silence, the commissioner waited quietly outside the elevator, but Ye Xuan remained motionless.
Until the elevator prompt sounded.
Ye Xuan still didn't move.
"Sorry, my stomach hurts a little."
Ye Xuan smiled: "I want to go to the toilet."
"Stop talking nonsense, Ye Xuan, use your brain where it should be used."
Captain Xiao Huan's voice rang out from the elevator announcement: "Either come in or get out. I don't want to spend time waiting for a loser."
Well, the last person who might want to kill himself is the captain.
Ye Xuan shrugged helplessly.
Then there's really nothing we can do.
Xiao still wanted to kill himself without even a look.
In short, there is no way to avoid disaster...
He sighed, mentally prepared for the commissioner to pull out a small pistol at any moment, put it to the back of his head and pull the trigger, and strode towards the bridge.
His head hadn't exploded when the bridge door opened.
Congratulations, congratulations.
Then he saw the huge starry sky.
Behind the almost suffocating floor-to-ceiling portholes, the dark universe was dotted with endless stars. Directly opposite, the land of the huge planet shone with silver light.
The silver light flows, stirring the ocean, showing off the gorgeous iridescence to outsiders.
It seemed as if it had awakened from a long sleep and was no longer silent.
"It's so beautiful."
Xiao was still sitting on the chair next to the porthole and looked back at him: "Isn't it?"
"Is there hot water?"
Ye Xuan found a place to sit down by himself and pulled out two tissues to wipe his nose.
They come, the security.
Moreover, now he was particularly curious as to why the captain suddenly summoned him to the bridge.
"Being beaten?" Xiao still saw the bruise on his face and gloated: "Would you like someone to arrange a private room for you?"
"Forget it, now that I have been beaten a few times, at least I feel better."
Ye Xuan sighed: "But what do you think? The crew's emotions have reached the warning line, right? According to the normal handling method, we should have started to enforce emotional stability long ago."
"Isn't it because someone in the mental management room was put in a solitary room? Even if the committee passes the vote for forced stabilization, let alone letting you get an injection, the crew will riot just by seeing your face, right?"
"My fault."
Ye Xuan sighed.
As a psychiatrist, you have completely failed when your patients regard you as your enemy. Although treatment can be forced when necessary. But Ye Xuan really wasn't interested in that.
If psychotherapy is regarded as art by him, then electric shock and lobotomy are the explosives that destroy art. The damage to personality and consciousness is no different from killing people.
Perhaps, he should have chosen a successor earlier
he thought inexplicably.
Anyway, after this incident, he won't be able to do his job in the mental monitoring room for long. Looking back, I'm afraid I can only look through the information on the hibernating talent pool and find someone who can take over, right
"We'll talk about your business later."
Xiao also put out his cigarette and said, "Let's get down to business first."
A thick stack of information was placed in front of Ye Xuan.
Just came off the printer, still steaming.
Unfortunately, Ye Xuanguang's eyes hurt just looking at the large number of professional terms on the cover. As technology develops, each branch of research becomes increasingly distant. To a certain extent, the lines are no longer as separated as mountains, but there are almost a few more solar systems in between.
"can't read."
Ye Xuan rolled his eyes: "Captain, can you tell me something simply and straightforwardly?"
"I came to you just because I wanted you to listen to the laboratory's analysis of the 'unknown substance'." Xiao also said calmly: "I think you might be interested."
"I'm the only one?" Ye Xuan looked at the empty surroundings: "What is this? Early version? I heard that the picture quality of the gun version is not very good."
The captain did not answer his question directly, but just knocked on the table:
"Don't worry, I've also found someone to help you explain."
So, the floor cracked.
A huge vessel rose from under the floor. It was a vacuum containment vessel that was almost three meters high and two meters wide.
Through the thick glass, he could see the "unknown substances" collected from the lander. They were deposited on the base like falling snow, with a certain metallic texture and the luster of mercury flowing.
No sign of activity was visible.
A rickety researcher walked in from the door, as if he had not been active for a long time. His eyes were dark and skinny, which perfectly fit Ye Xuan's impression of the people in the laboratory.
A huge screen was projected from the ceiling, next to him.
"I have already received the specific briefing from Nibelungen. This time I will mainly introduce it to you. If you don't understand anything, you can ask directly."
Xiao also finished speaking to Ye Xuan, lit a cigarette again, and waved to the researcher: "Time is running out, Mr. Roland, let's get started."
"So, let me explain for you two - what a great miracle the discovery of unknown substances is."
The skinny researcher held up the information in his hand and his eyes became fanatical: "Believe me, gentlemen, in comparison, even if the sacrifice in the early stage is ten times, no, a hundred times, it is still acceptable!"
Ye Xuan frowned.
He thought for a while and said nothing.
Although it could be seen that the other party was trying to excuse his mistake, no matter what, he couldn't be happy.
Don’t say ten times…
If his eldest grandson dies, he may not be able to forgive himself for the rest of his life.
Xiao also knocked on the table, interrupting Roland's excitement:
"It's better to say less if it's irrelevant."
"Ahem, then I'll start."
The researcher coughed twice awkwardly, and after thinking about the words, he said: "At the beginning, the research room was actually as many people imagined, guessing that the unknown material covering the entire planet was created by an alien civilization. Weapons. In fact, this conjecture was rejected at the beginning of the research, so please don’t worry.”
Not an alien weapon
Although he had long scoffed at this set of hypotheses, Ye Xuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard this, and a big stone fell in his heart.
That's great, it's not an alien conspiracy.
Fortunately, fortunately.
If Yuan Eryi's gorilla were here, he would definitely be very unhappy. He had long been looking forward to finding some enemies to fight with.
Ye Xuan also relaxed a little.
Although he is very restrained on the surface, he is as curious about unknown substances as anyone in his heart.
"As long as it's not a Zentraedi weapon, otherwise we have to choose a little girl to sing "Do You Remember Love"." After relaxing, he started to make some cold jokes that no one knew.
"Well, correct your view."
Roland said seriously, "As for unknown substances, they are actually... alien civilization itself!"
silence.
Ye Xuan hadn't reacted yet, looking at him blankly and then at Xiao Huan.
Don't understand what it means.
"Although under high-power microscope observation, their individuals are almost identical without any difference, but their essence is not an autonomous machine like a 'Von Neumann machine' that can reproduce itself."
Roland said:
"—They're living things."
"alien?"
In an instant, Ye Xuan almost jumped up from his chair, dumbfounded, and pointed at the vacuum vessel in the middle of the room.
"Is this the alien we used to tell stories about when we were kids?"
He looked at Xiao Huan, and finally at Roland, with a rare loss of composure: "Are you fucking kidding me?"
He had been waiting for this answer for so long, making many conjectures in his mind, and was even prepared that he might not survive the day when the answer came.
As a result, after solving the confusing mystery, you tell me like those authors who liked to cheat royalties hundreds of years ago: Are these all aliens
"Are you kidding me?"
Roland coughed twice awkwardly and continued: "Mr. Ye, the term alien is not accurate. Although they are extraterrestrial creatures, they do not meet the definition of human beings, and..."
Xiao became impatient and interrupted him by slamming the table: "Let's get straight to the point!"
"Yes Yes… "
Roland nodded frantically, and then continued to use a large number of troublesome technical terms, mixed with some words that were slightly understandable:
"... After careful research and testing, we believe that the 'unknown substance' is a silicon-based organism that is completely different from all the carbon-based organisms we know today. Please look at the screen, you see, all organisms and cells in the same earth circle , bacteria are completely different, it has its own unique bases and structure... You can rest assured that for ordinary people, this is just a new type of bacteria, and there is nothing to worry about."
After half an hour of rambling, there was only so much useful information.
Ye Xuan, who had long been impatient, took a rare cigarette to sort out his chaotic thoughts.
"Okay, let's admit that they are biological creatures... The natives of the New Earth, well, are just like the Indians in history... So, why do they attack us? Because we want to scalp them?"
"It's not an attack."
The researcher explained, "It's just their normal 'eating'."
"They eat people?!"
The impulse brought about by that moment was even greater than before. A terrifying trembling sensation came from his heels, body and back of his head, almost making Ye Xuan scream.
"No, no, no! Please listen to my explanation!"
The researcher quickly added: "They are so small that they don't even have any digestive system. The so-called eating is just to absorb energy, and the source of energy they absorb is 'sound'. According to our guess, because of this, the landing of the exploration ship, That would cause such a horrific aftermath. Therefore, I think your harsh criticism of Mr. Ye is innocent. Even without him, it would have been a matter of time before such a disaster occurred."
Finally said something humanly!
Ye Xuan's confused mood suddenly relaxed a little.
Not because he regained his innocence, but because he made his eldest grandson become that kind of person, not himself.
Otherwise, he would really have no shame in facing his eldest grandson again.
"We'll talk about your business later."
Xiao glanced at him, and then said to the researcher, "You continue."
"Ahem, the introduction just now continues... We don't know what environment formed their special form. I'm afraid this is a coincidence that is difficult to guess and recover. But there is no doubt that they are a group that occupies the main body of the planet."
Roland said: "Because of their existence, the sounds on the entire planet have all attenuated. Only the seaside areas still have traces of activity due to the tide. The rest of the areas have all fallen into a state similar to hibernation."
Until now, Ye Xuan's mood finally calmed down.
Okay, calm down a little bit.
As a human being and a colonist in the New World, the first thing that came to his mind was a question.
“So, is extermination and sweep possible?”
“Why extinction?”
The researcher was stunned for a moment, and his voice rose several degrees. Then he became more and more excited and raised his voice: "No! It must not be extinct! You don't know what a great discovery this is! We, no, the future of mankind will be affected by this." Discover what has changed!”
"But you also said that its food is sound? Then, it will cause harm to humans."
Ye Xuan asked curiously: "Leave aside the sound of speech, the internal organs of human beings have different frequencies. Just being alive will cause abnormal movements of this kind of thing. The circulation and balance of the human body are very fragile. If this kind of thing enters What will happen to human internal organs? Will the head explode with a bang? And what about the sound and infrasound waves released when our large engineering equipment, or even the spacecraft engine is running? Just the takeoff and landing of a landing ship can cause such a degree of disaster , then what will the sound of a large mining machine be like when it is running? And what about other super giant equipment? It will simply become a natural disaster by then, right?!"
The researcher's face turned pale and he stammered in reply: "Although it is indeed possible to form some unknown changes during calculations and simulations... But, but... it can also be used by humans... I mean... "
He looked at the captain as if asking for help.
Xiao also nodded: "I said, grant Ye Xuan all the rights to know, and show him that."
Roland nodded ecstatically, ran to the vacuum vessel, and began to adjust the parameters in it.
The operation is cumbersome.
"During the research, we found that they all respond differently to sounds of different frequencies, and there are fixed patterns that we don't understand, just like a formula gets a fixed answer after inputting parameters. It's like... It's like …”
Roland searched for an adjective, but could not find an appropriate description until someone next to him added a sentence for him.
"language."
Ye Xuan said.
"Yes, language!" The researcher nodded excitedly: "It's like language! We can influence them through sound, just like giving commands to a computer through 0s and 1s!"
He finally got rid of the obstructing panel, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and pressed the touch screen.
At that moment, a low melody sounded from the bridge.
It's the sound of a piano.
Like running water.
"Gymnopedies?"
Ye Xuan blurted out.
Because some psychotherapy involves classical music, he had some knowledge about it, but he didn't expect to encounter it here.
Sensing Xiao's curious gaze, he explained:
"This is a piano piece created by the classical musician Satie more than 400 years ago. Literally translated, it can be understood as '**Song and Dance'. It is taken from the melody of the Greeks in ancient times when they worshiped the gods.** After the body of the young man is anointed with holy oil, he performs a dance in front of the temple to the god... "
Before he finished speaking, he stopped abruptly.
Because in front of everyone, the "unknown substance" that was as silent as falling snow in the glass cover lit up with a glow.
They float slowly from the bottom, suspended in the center of the vessel, gathering together and expanding... just like snowflakes multiplying, forming magnificent crystals, with a faint glow extending in all directions...
In the pure glow, a beauty unique to mathematics and topology is revealed.
"Please bring this."
Roland distributed two pairs of heavy glasses to them. The glasses were specially made, and there was even a connecting line that was connected to the wetware socket on the back of everyone's head and connected to the brain.
Although he didn't know why, Ye Xuan still put on his eyes.
The plugin starts.
There was a sharp sound of friction between the seat and the floor.
Ye Xuan stood up from his seat, backed away in shock, staggered, and almost fell to the ground.
"What's this?"
His voice was shaking.
With the help of special equipment, he transcended the visual obstruction and observed the real changes in the "unknown substance".
It was a magnificent crystal that seemed to cover the entire world.
After the huge hexadecahedron crossed the dimension, it lowered its magnificent projection from the high-level dimension that is difficult for humans to reach, and "condescended" to form an insignificant shape in the human world.
The world is contained in its radiance.
What they saw with the naked eye was just a shadow cast by the huge thing. At this moment, with their mechanical perception, they were able to glimpse its possible changes.
Just staring at it is dizzying and difficult to understand.
After transcending the limitations of length, width, quantity and temperature, its shape slowly stretches in a higher dimension, like a brief awakening from a long sleep.
But when the piano music stopped, the magnificent glow finally dissipated, and the huge outline that suddenly appeared disappeared from the high-level dimensions and collapsed into "snow powder" less than one millimeter.
A long silence.
Ye Xuan took off his glasses.
"what is that?"
"That's what unknown matter really looks like."
No matter how many times he saw it, Roland still couldn't hide his excitement, and said with a trembling voice: "They 'unfolded'. They... entered the higher dimensions."
All was quiet.
"Don't you understand yet? Mr. Ye, they are different from us humans who are limited by vision, hearing and touch. They are not three-dimensional creatures! They have their own world. Their perception and interference can even enter higher dimensions. Among them. What you just perceived is even difficult to reach one ten thousandth of what they themselves perceive... For them that are fully awakened, space and even time are meaningless! - They themselves are 'string theory' and The crystallization of 'quantum physics', the miracle of evolution!"
Speaking of this, the researcher became more and more enthusiastic: "Not only that, according to our tests, they are also excellent information storage media! Although the individual information storage ability is not outstanding, their storage space is based on the number of individuals. , capable of making power-level jumps! And the interaction between them is carried out through high-level dimensions, even in theory, there is no delay! As long as the most basic network and structure are built through their deep connections and interactions , what we get is not only a new earth, but also an unprecedented planet-level chaos computing module!"
"soul… "
Ye Xuan murmured softly.