The waveform on the terminal screen is still jumping.
Chen Hao didn't move, staring at the thin wire as he lifted it upwards, tapping it gently in rhythm. Click, click, click. The same vibration frequency as the recording Karl had made earlier.
Nana stood in the corner, the machine hummed softly, and the camera slightly rotated to capture her movements.
“You’re mimicking the rhythm of a signal,” she said.
"It's not imitation," Chen Hao said in a low voice, "it's just a test to see if we can connect the dots."
Susan emerged from the medical room, a whiteboard in her hand. She glanced at the screen, then looked at Chen Hao: "You're planning to use this rock as a walkie-talkie?"
“I don’t want to contact it,” Chen Hao looked up. “I want it to do the work.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
Then Susan laughed: "Last time you said you could make the reactor ignite on its own, and it ended up burning down half the lab."
“That time was an accident,” Chen Hao frowned. “But this time is different. Look at this waveform—it’s stable and regular, which means it’s not just random vibrations. Since it can respond to external stimuli, it means it can be controlled.”
Nana accessed the database: "Search keywords: minerals, light, energy release".
The progress bar slowly advances, and a few incomplete data entries pop up.
Experiment on the photoresponse of deep crustal crystal clusters (incomplete)
A Preliminary Study on Fluorescence Phenomena in Zirconium-Titanium Ores under Ultraviolet Excitation
Correlation Analysis between Polarized Light Sources and Subsurface Resonance Structures (Data Loss)
“These are all scrapped cases,” Susan said, flipping through the records. “Nobody finished them.”
"It's because no one has finished it." Chen Hao pointed to the second item. "It mentions 'transient fluorescence' here, but doesn't specify the conditions. If we try it now, we might be able to fill this gap."
“But we don’t have enough samples,” Susan cautioned. “We only have a few fragments right now, not even enough for a single complete extraction.”
“That’s why we can’t follow the old path.” Chen Hao stood up. “We’ve been thinking about how to disassemble it and extract its energy. But what if it could generate electricity itself? Like solar panels, which don’t need to burn coal and just generate electricity by shining on them.”
“You mean… drying stones?” Susan looked at him.
"More or less." Chen Hao nodded. "As long as we find the right light, it might start emitting light on its own."
Nana pulled up the parameter model: "Based on the existing data, if the ore has photoelectric conversion potential, the required excitation wavelength may be concentrated in the ultraviolet to near-infrared range. It is recommended to prioritize testing three types of light sources: narrowband ultraviolet lamps, thermal radiation infrared sources, and linearly polarized visible light devices."
"It sounds like a parts list from a repair shop," Chen Hao grinned. "But I understand it. Let's start with the simplest one."
Susan hesitated for a moment: "But Carl is still in bed, and we only have this much material left. What if we mess it up..."
"It won't break." Chen Hao had already walked towards the equipment cabinet. "We won't touch the main body, we'll just shine the light on it. At most, it won't react, but what could we possibly lose?"
He opened the drawer and took out a palm-sized ultraviolet lamp. This was the tool he had previously used to detect the aging of sealant; it wasn't high-powered, but its wavelength was within the specified range.
Nana simultaneously activated the monitoring system: "Start the basic sensor array and record light intensity, temperature, and electromagnetic fluctuations."
Susan walked over to another terminal and sat down: "I'll monitor the temperature control. If this thing suddenly gets hot, we have to cut off the power immediately."
"Okay." Chen Hao placed a piece of ore into a transparent container and fixed it on the platform. "Turn it on when it's ready."
Nana nodded: "Light source activation countdown, three, two, one."
The lights came on.
A pale purple light swept across the surface of the ore.
At first nothing happened.
Three seconds later, a faint curve on the screen flickered slightly.
"There's movement!" Susan immediately leaned closer. "The local temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius; it's not due to environmental factors."
Nana reported simultaneously: "An extremely weak fluorescence signal was detected, with a wavelength of 420 nanometers and a duration of 4.3 seconds, after which it disappeared."
"It lit up?" Chen Hao's eyes widened.
“Yes,” Nana confirmed. “Although the intensity is less than three percent of the standard reading, it is indeed a valid response.”
Chen Hao laughed: "I knew it could understand what I was saying."
“Don’t get too excited.” Susan looked at the data. “This is just emitting light, not providing energy. What we want is electrical output, not glow-in-the-dark stickers.”
“But the direction is right.” Chen Hao didn’t stop. “We were using the lowest setting just now. What if we used a stronger light source, or adjusted the angle of the beam?”
Nana pulled up the structure diagram: "I suggest trying cross-light source coverage to simulate multi-directional incident conditions. At the same time, a pulse mode can be introduced to match its original signal frequency."
"Let it get used to its rhythm." Chen Hao stroked his chin. "Just like waking someone up, the alarm clock ringing three times is more effective than yelling once."
He turned around, rummaged through his toolbox, pulled out another infrared heating lamp, and connected the cable.
"Do you want to assemble a desk lamp?" Susan asked.
"I'm going to build a sun." Chen Hao plugged in the power. "Anyway, there's nothing else to do at the base. We can't just wait for the sandstorm to blow people out every day and then come back with some broken stones."
Susan didn't speak, and continued monitoring the data with her head down.
The second test begins.
The ultraviolet lamp remains constantly lit, while the infrared lamp turns on every five seconds to simulate the day-night temperature cycle.
Thirty seconds later, the fluorescence reappeared, this time lasting for seven seconds.
Immediately afterwards, a new notification popped up on the main monitoring screen:
A slight current fluctuation was detected, with a peak value of 0.08 millivolts.
"It's out!" Chen Hao slammed his hand on the table. "Although it's pitifully small, it really does generate electricity!"
“The numbers are insufficient to drive any device,” Nana calmly pointed out, “and cannot maintain a stable output.”
“I know,” Chen Hao’s eyes lit up, “but at least it proves it’s not an inanimate object. It’s a battery, just not charged yet.”
Susan looked at the waveform: "Maybe we need more than just light. Yesterday outside, it only started flashing after the vibration. Do we need pressure, temperature, and light all to come together?"
"Possibly," Chen Hao nodded. "A single variable is too weak. We need to use them all at once."
He picked up the communicator: "Karl, are you still awake?"
A voice came from the channel: "I'm not asleep. It's as noisy as a construction crew starting work over there."
"We've found something," Chen Hao said. "Can you hear me now?"
"Barely," Carl replied. "Get to the point."
"What do you think we need to add besides light to recreate yesterday's situation in the wild?"
Carl paused for a few seconds: "The wind wasn't strong, but the ground kept shaking. Our footsteps were heavy when we ran, and the drilling equipment was vibrating... Also, the weather is getting colder, and the humidity is dropping quickly."
“Vibration and temperature changes,” Chen Hao noted, “and mechanical disturbances.”
Nana immediately updated the plan: "It can simulate a complex environment: use a small vibration platform to simulate footstep frequency, use a temperature control box to adjust the local temperature, and then overlay a light sequence."
"Hurry up." Chen Hao rearranged the two lights. "I want to see how long it can last."
For the next two hours, the three of them took turns operating the equipment.
The vibration platform is activated, with the frequency set to 120 times per minute, close to the pace of human running.
The temperature control module lowered the temperature of the sample area from 28 degrees to 22 degrees, simulating the cooling down in the evening.
The ultraviolet lamp was changed to intermittent flashing, with a period of 3.7 seconds, which was completely consistent with the initially captured signal.
The third test begins.
This time, the fluorescence lasted for eleven seconds.
The peak current rose to 0.14 millivolts.
More importantly, at the fourteenth second, a regular pulse signal suddenly appeared on the main screen—highly similar to the waveform automatically captured by the terminal last night.
“It responded,” Nana said. “The combination of external stimuli reached the trigger threshold.”
“It’s not a coincidence.” Susan stared at the replay curve. “It follows a set pattern. It only works when all three conditions are met.”
Chen Hao leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh: "So it's quite sophisticated."
“It’s not a machine,” Susan whispered. “It’s more like… waiting for a specific situation to occur.”
“It doesn’t matter who it’s waiting for.” Chen Hao sat up straight. “As long as we can get it moving now, that’s enough.”
He turned to Nana: "Save all the parameters this time and mark them as 'Activation Sequence A-01'. We can call them directly next time."
“Saved,” Nana replied. “I suggest increasing the number of repeated verifications to rule out random factors.”
"We'll test again tomorrow." Chen Hao glanced at the time. "That's all for tonight."
Susan stretched and said, "I'll go check on Carl and change shifts while I'm at it."
"I'll stay," Chen Hao waved his hand. "You go to sleep. I'm not sleepy yet."
Nana didn't move: "I don't need to rest, I can keep running."
"Then keep an eye on the data stream for me." Chen Hao reopened the recording interface. "I want to try short-frequency flash photography again to see if I can make it react faster."
The fourth test is ready.
The light source is set to flash once every two seconds, while all other conditions remain unchanged.
start up.
The light is on.
A faint blue light appeared on the surface of the ore.
The ammeter pointer wobbled slightly.
Suddenly, the pulse frequency on the screen increased.
It was no longer a slow, undulating beat, but a continuous, rapid thumping, like a racing heartbeat.
Chen Hao frowned: "Something's not right."
He reached out to turn off the light.
Just then, Nana issued a notification: "Remote signal enhancement detected. Source direction unchanged, intensity increased by 200%."
Chen Hao turned around abruptly: "Is it also emitting something outside?"
"Yes." Nana pulled up the comparison chart. "The synchronization rate between the local sample and the remote signal has increased to 89 percent."
“It’s not us who are waking it up,” Chen Hao said in a lower voice. “It knows as soon as we move.”
The atmosphere in the room changed.
No one spoke.
The instrument was still running, and the light swept across the ore again and again.
Chen Hao stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the close button.
He didn't press it.
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