Ending: The Ship of Theseus
"Qingyan, what are you talking about? I don't understand..."
Chen Chuxuan observed his friend's expression. The light and lifeless feeling he had felt for the past two months was gradually disappearing. It seemed that because of A Yin's life and death just now, Mu Qingyan's entire condition was returning to normal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She was happy about this change, but she couldn't help but worry.
"Chu Yan, I'm not crazy..."
Mu Qingyan tried her best to speak every word clearly, but her body had been overdrawn too severely during this period, which almost drained all her strength.
"I'm not sure if my idea is right, but to save Xiao Yin, we can only try."
"Yan, did you think of a way to kill Kinsley?" York was surprised.
Mu Qingyan nodded.
In fact, she was not pretending to be crazy or stupid in the past two months, but was in a state where she could not find herself at all.
Looking at Xiao Yin, who had finally returned to his sight and was lying there lifeless, besides sadness and fear, he seemed to be more surrounded by an endless feeling of exhaustion.
She just felt very tired, so tired that she wanted to fall asleep with Xiaoyin.
But when she almost lost him again just now, Mu Qingyan realized how wrong she was.
——Xiao Yin must live well. She had promised him when they were children that she would accompany him to the amusement park and see every corner of the world. She must not break her promise no matter what.
So she has to cheer up.
"Chu Xin, your people found Lawrence Bedford's cubic crystal statue in the ruins of BI, right?"
"Yes, it's in another constant temperature room."
When Shen Chuxuan saw that thing in the video for the first time, he felt curious, and Mu Qingyan was naturally even more so. For such a long time, hundreds of millions of nanorobots were still wandering in a three-inch square space, and it was a spontaneous reaction that did not require any energy to drive it. Theoretically, this was impossible.
At first, she thought that the nanorobots were using the same catalytic ability as prions, and the external air, moisture, dust, etc. were the catalysts for the nanorobots. After being implanted into the human body, human blood, cells, tissues, muscles, etc. also played the same role.
But in this case, with the replication speed of nanorobots, it is impossible for it to remain just a three-inch cube for so long.
Mu Qingyan has been listening to the research of her three friends during this period, but processing this information has become an additional burden, so it is completely illogical and unsystematic.
Just now, when she heard Xiao Yin's body scan report saying that the nanorobots in his body were growing wildly again due to temperature changes, she suddenly remembered something.
When the dead people in the community were dissected before, the interiors of several early bodies had been completely occupied by nanorobots. It stands to reason that with the adaptability of these nanorobots, they could break out of the body and continue to replicate even without the human body as an energy source.
——Nano gray mist, that’s how it should be.
But this did not happen.
If we think of the cubic crystal again, the principle becomes easy to understand.
"Chu Xin, have you ever taken that thing apart? Tell me what you found."
Upon hearing this, Shen Chuxuan called up the previously stored images and data and began to explain them one by one:
"A total of approximately 1.73 × 10 nanorobots were found within the entire crystal, but their number isn't constant as we've seen. In fact, some nanorobots can be reduced due to malfunctions after long-term use."
"But they don't look like they've changed?" York asked.
Dustin looked at him, clearly having the same doubt, but he quickly came up with an explanation:
"As nanorobots die, new ones will surely be created to fill their vacancies, so—"
"So they keep their numbers stable and are self-sufficient!"
Shen Chuxuan nodded: "These nanorobots are programmed with specific activity times, maintaining a balance between death and rebirth, forming a stable cycle."
"The same is true for those who have nanorobots implanted in their bodies. Once the number reaches a point where it completely covers the human body, it will begin to remain unchanged." Mu Qingyan added.
"So, Yan, what do you want to do? Does this have anything to do with you? Why did you let Vasile Guan perform the surgery on you?"
"I worked in a BI lab when I was a kid, and I've always wondered what they wanted to do with me. Until I saw that girl..."
Mu Qingyan paused, thinking for a long time but still didn't tell Dustin the truth. She continued, "BI must have implanted some strange things in my body before, but I've undergone countless scans and nothing abnormal has been found. One reason for this is that, like the people in the community, these nanorobots can't be detected by ordinary scans. Secondly, perhaps the teacher has successfully developed a method to eliminate the nanorobots in order to save me."
"Yan, are you saying that Professor Qi might have injected the 'antidote' into your body before he died? Is that why Vasile Guan had to perform the surgery on you?"
"That's right."
"I disagree."
"Chuxuan?"
"All of this is just speculation. Qingyan, you're well aware of the relationship between Vasile Guan and Lawrence Bedford. How could you risk your life? Besides, given your current physical condition, do you really think you can handle such a major surgery?"
"Chu Xin is right! I don't agree either!" York echoed.
Mu Qingyan understood the dilemma her friends felt better than anyone else, but she had no choice but to do this.
"I can't let Xiao Yin live like this. He can be saved this time, but what about next time? I can't wait until the nanorobots completely take over his body before I start to worry, right?"
Even if the probability is one in ten thousand, she must find a solution, not only for Xiao Yin, but also for so many people frozen in the ice room who need to be rescued.
And she believed that the teacher would not let her down and would definitely help her.
As for Dr. Guan, she believed that with her friends around, the doctor would not dare to do anything wrong.
…
Later, just as she expected, Dustin held a gun to Dr. Guan's head and threatened him before he entered the operating room. There were also several human doctors and robot assistants supervising him.
Before Mu Qingyan was anesthetized, she only spoke to Dustin:
"Next time you make a new robot, why not use that photo as the facial model?"
"Huh? Why?" Infinity CEO expressed confusion.
——Because she must be very happy that you can actually meet her.
…
When Mu Qingyan woke up again, the sun was still shining brightly outside the window. The hyacinths and sunflowers on the table were swaying together, looking extremely pleasing.
When she turned her gaze, she saw a familiar face looking at her with a smile.
It seems like I can watch it forever.
But soon, tears began to fall from her beautiful eyes.
"Xiao Yin, don't cry..."
Later, Chu Xin said that her persistence was indeed right. Dr. Guan found a small shadow in her heart, where there was a small amount of substance that could block the replication signal of the nanorobot.
But after all, so many years have passed, and it is still unclear whether it is effective. Therefore, Chu Xin, Dustin and York mobilized all the power of Shen's and Infinity to conduct repeated research and experiments, and made countless upgrades and improvements, finally making its effect reach the most stable state.
Chu Xin also said:
"Even if we've successfully stopped the nanorobots in Ayin's body from replicating, the remaining ones have already taken over half of his body, completely replacing his original cells to maintain his life activities. Their complex characteristics make them impossible to remove, so—
From now on, Ayin will be half robot and half human.
So, can you accept this fact?"
There is a famous paradox in philosophical theory called the Ship of Theseus.
When people replace decaying parts of a ship with new ones, is the ship still the same? If so, why? If not, when did it stop being the same?
Mu Qingyan thought about it and started laughing.
"Xiao Yin," she stroked the eyebrows of the man in front of her, her tone light, "Let's go to the amusement park?"
"good."
———End of text.
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