Chapter 86 Epilogue
"Hey, wait for me to drink some water. Even when you're interrogating a prisoner in the police station, you have to give him some water, right?" Facing the questioning from the people around him, Lao Zhao calmly picked up the water cup from the coffee table, gulped down a big gulp, then let out a long sigh and slapped his thigh hard. "I was so damn tired, but I finally got it done. All my efforts paid off. Do you know how many miles I ran, how many people I met, how many rejections I got, how many times I kowtowed, and how many connections I used?"
"We don't care about these. I just want to know what you did." Wang Ning said.
"Speak, leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist!" Bai Zhen said righteously.
"What kind of attitude..." Zhao Bowen rolled his eyes. "You all have to thank me, understand? If I hadn't pushed forward this matter so hard, who knows how long it would have taken. The people in the Eighth Hospital would hate me to death because they worked overtime for a week... Come on, applaud! Everyone, applaud! I won't say anything if the applause isn't enthusiastic."
Wang Ning, Bai Zhen, Bai Yang and the others had no choice but to applaud.
"More passionate! More passionate!"
The others clapped their hands until they turned red, but Zhao Bowen was still not satisfied. Old Bai got angry, "You idiot, are you done yet?"
"Hey, pay attention to your manners. How can you swear in front of a child?" Zhao Bowen fell back and collapsed on the sofa, saying leisurely, "I actually only did one thing, which was to set off fireworks for the little girl."
"Go on."
"Yang Yang, do you still remember the three laws of time that we discussed before?" Zhao Bowen's eyes fell on Bai Yang, who was stunned and nodded.
"Remember."
"To sum up the three laws of time slow delivery, the essence is to weaken the purpose, right? If the purpose is greatly weakened, the big filter can be fooled." Zhao Bowen explained, "But this statement is too vague. It is only of reference value and has no practical use. So after I went back that day, I started thinking about this problem. I hoped to find a mathematical method to describe this mechanism. Later, I visited some old friends and discussed this issue with them. Finally, we came up with a model and a formula. The model is very complicated. It was built with the help of the supercomputer of Shanghai Jiaotong University. There are three most important parameters in the model. One is correlation, one is time distance, and one is space distance. If we draw it into a simple coordinate system..."
Zhao Bowen straightened up, picked up the pen on the coffee table, and drew a rectangular coordinate system on a piece of draft paper. The horizontal axis is L, representing spatial distance, and the vertical axis is T, representing temporal distance. The distance from the origin represents correlation.
"We simulated and constructed many scenarios and used convolutional neural networks to learn. The method is simple and crude, but very effective. AI's judgment speed is much faster than the human brain."
Zhao Bowen began to make dots on the coordinate system, then straightened the draft paper to show the people around him. He evenly made dense dots in the first quadrant of the coordinate system.
“Each point is a scene, an event, an experiment. They are discrete and have no relationship with each other.”
"We input them all into the model for calculation and conduct the first screening. The criterion for this screening is whether Time Slow Delivery can pass the big filter. The results of the first screening are as follows."
Zhao Bowen drew a diagonal line in the coordinate system, from the high point of the vertical axis to the far point of the horizontal axis.
"All parts below this line fail. They are too closely related to the origin and too purposeful, so they will be captured by the filter. Only the parts above this line, which are far enough from the origin, can escape the filter."
"The farther an event is from the origin, the less relevant it is to the origin. The less relevant it is, the less purposeful it is," Zhao Bowen explained. "This is consistent with our human intuition, right? The farther something is from you, the less likely it is to be relevant to you. A supernova explosion at the edge of the Milky Way will have nothing to do with any of you here at this moment."
"So the optimal solution to this problem is the point diagonally opposite the origin?" Bai Yang asked, "That point is the farthest in both space and time, so its purposefulness is the weakest."
"Wrong, we need to conduct a second screening next."
Zhao Bowen waved his hand and drew another line on the coordinate system, which was very close to the first line and parallel to it.
"The goal of this screening is to see whether the Time Slow Delivery can be retrieved after it is sent out. Pay attention to the second line. The part above this line can escape the big filter, but because the correlation is too weak, it will be lost in the vast world and can never be found." Zhao Bowen explained, while shading the part between the two lines with a pen. "The final result is a very, very narrow interval between the two straight lines. If it is below the lower limit, it will be found by the filter, and if it is above the upper limit, it will be lost and scattered. In mathematics, there are two thresholds, one is 1.256748931, and the other is 1.256748932. They only differ in the ninth decimal place. Only between them is there the highest probability of success."
Bai Yang nodded, not quite understanding.
"I don't quite understand." Bai Zhen said.
"It doesn't matter. I don't really understand it either." Zhao Bowen said, "This is the result given by AI. It's normal that the human brain cannot understand the brain circuits of the computer. We can only input and adjust parameters. As for the output, it all depends on their mood."
"In this very narrow interval, we got three events." Lao Zhao poked the shaded band on the paper with the tip of his pen. "Only one event is similar to our situation. In this experiment, AI set up such a scenario with a time interval of 20 years and a spatial distance of 70 million kilometers."
"Is this the prototype of your plan?" Wang Ning asked.
"Yes, I immediately went to find a way to fly 70 million kilometers away, so my first stop was the Eighth Institute." Zhao Bowen nodded. "During this period, the intelligence Yang Yang passed on to me played a big role. It gave us a vague understanding and estimate of the impact of the black moon. The Eighth Institute discussed it for a long time, and no one could confirm what kind of impact the black moon would have on spacecraft in Earth orbit. We could only make the worst plan and believe that the arrival of the black moon would destroy all spacecraft in low-Earth orbit, synchronous orbit, and even lunar orbit... So we made a crazy plan."
Zhao Bowen slammed the pen on the coffee table.
"Let it fly 400 million kilometers away." Old Zhao was full of ambition at this moment, "To Mars!"
Lao Bai, Lao Wang and Bai Yang were all shocked.
"Awesome...awesome." said Wang Ning.
"But time was running out and we didn't have enough time to prepare another Long March 5, so we had to use local materials. We set our sights on a rocket that was about to be launched commercially, a Long March 6, to launch a telemetry satellite for a domestic company called Ningxia No. 1," Zhao Bowen said. "We snatched it up."
"Intercepted...intercepted?"
"We urgently requisitioned this rocket and replaced it with our own payload. The Fifth Academy was furious," Zhao Bowen said. "The payload design was very simple, even crude. It did not undertake any scientific research and observation work. Its only mission was to die brilliantly. It would spend 20 years visiting Mars, and then re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at midnight on November 15, 2040, and crash spectacularly over Nanjing."
"The thrust of the Long March 6 is too weak, so we installed the most powerful electric thruster currently available on it. It can slowly change its trajectory to Mars. Anyway, we are not in a hurry. It has a full ten years to fly to Mars and another ten years to fly back. It is equipped with a very accurate clock that starts counting from the moment it is launched until it enters the atmosphere at midnight on November 15, 20 years later." Zhao Bowen continued, "Let's set off an unprecedented fireworks display for that girl."
"How do you create colorful meteors?" Bai Yang asked.
"Simple, just like fireworks, flame color reaction." Zhao Bowen chuckled, "Speaking of this thing, we really spent a lot of brains, how to make it look best when it blooms. After a long time of research, we decided to use hollow metal balls made of different materials. When the satellite disintegrates when entering the atmosphere, the released metal balls will rub against the atmosphere at high speed, burning to produce flame color reaction. This is the meteor. The metal ball is sealed and filled with inert combustion powder. It decomposes at high temperature, causing the air pressure inside the ball to rise rapidly. When the outer shell of the ball is burned through, it will explode and become a firework."
"So, you spent so much time and so much manpower and resources just for a fireworks display?" Wang Ning asked.
"Yes, am I awesome?" Zhao Bowen asked.
"Awesome!" the three said in unison.
"Fortunately, the modular design of satellites is very mature now, and our ideas took shape very quickly. The satellite was launched yesterday afternoon at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. It is still called Ningxia No. 1 in the external publicity, after all, this matter is confidential." Zhao Bowen said, "In order to prevent human interference, it will close all external communication channels after entering orbit. As we speak, it should be on its way to Mars."
After saying that, he sighed.
"For the next twenty years, hundreds of millions of kilometers away, it will have to rely on itself."
This is really a big project.
In Zhao Bowen's words, he really moved the earth.
Bai Yang found it hard to imagine that Zhao Bowen could complete such a complicated task in just half a month. What a mad dog-like speed.
Zhao Bowen said modestly that people are forced to do things. If you don't force them, you don't know how fast they can move. He just did a small job and played a small role, such as turning into a vicious dog and chasing after them, and the big leader of the hospital was his distant cousin.
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The next day.
Bai Yang was finally going to start testing the image transmission system. He carefully selected more than a dozen photos, covering all the major scenic spots in Nanjing city. He also took a group photo with He Leqin and Yan Zhihan. Young Master He and Brother Yan looked disgusted.
Bai Yang returned home excitedly with his cell phone, only to find that there were more people coming to his house today than yesterday. If this was what Uncle Zhao meant by a mighty army, then he had indeed done it.
Zhao Bowen stood in the living room. People were coming and going around him. Some were wearing black coats, some were wearing camouflage uniforms, some were wearing white protective clothing with goggles and masks, and some were holding Geiger counters and hearing the sound of the clock everywhere. Bai Yang was stunned. At first glance, he thought there was a murder in his home.
He saw these people packing all the information, equipment, including his old Icom725 amateur radio, into boxes, just like moving house. However, the people from the moving company were definitely not as efficient as them. The people in white protective suits methodically unplugged all the cables from the radio and tied them up, then carefully placed the radio into a foam box, and then closed and locked the box.
Dad and Uncle Wang stood aside with their hands folded, watching these people busying around, with complicated expressions on their faces.
"Uncle Zhao...?"
Bai Yang stood at the door and called out.
"Hmm? Yangyang?" Zhao Bowen turned his head. "You're back?"
"This...what are you doing?" Bai Yang asked.
"Protect the transfer of important materials." A middle-aged man in black beside Zhao Bowen replied, "Your work is over. More professional people will take over next."
Bai Yang opened his mouth but didn't know what to say, so he could only clench the phone in his hand. A man in black stood in front of him holding a cardboard box. The two men confronted each other for a while, and Bai Yang dodged to the side, allowing them to file out one by one.
They dug almost three feet deep into the ground, packed up everything that might be useful and took it away, not even leaving behind a small piece of paper.
"Uncle Zhao, I..." Bai Yang mustered up the courage to speak. He wanted to say that he had an unfulfilled promise.
"What's wrong, Yangyang?" Zhao Bowen turned his head.
Other people turned their heads with him, and their cold and stern gazes fell on Bai Yang, making his scalp tense.
“…Nothing…Nothing.”
My work is finished.
It will be taken over by more professional people next.
This is right, Bai Yang said to himself in his heart, it should be so, isn't this the result he has always hoped for?
The strangers soon left, and Zhao Bowen was the last one to leave. As he walked out the door, he turned around and patted Bai Yang's shoulder hard.
"Yangyang, you did a great job."
Bai Yang nodded silently.
Zhao Bowen left, taking everything with him.
Bai Yang stared blankly at the bright and spacious living room. The messy draft papers, materials, cables, and radios had all disappeared. Even the floor became clean and smooth. Those people helped them clean the house before leaving.
Dad and Uncle Wang stood opposite, and Uncle Wang spread his hands helplessly.
That's right.
Bai Yang said to himself.
That's right.
But you'll never see her again.
You haven't even said goodbye to her yet.
He gritted his teeth, turned around and chased after him, running down the stairs quickly.
“Uncle Zhao—! Uncle Zhao—!”
Zhao Bowen hadn't walked far when he opened the car door. Before he got in, he put one foot on the edge of the car, "What's wrong, Yang Yang?"
Bai Yang, who had chased out of the apartment building, stopped panting, "Uncle Zhao...can you do me a favor?"
"you say."
"I made an appointment with her to let her see this world." Bai Yang said, "So... can you help me pass the photo to her? I'll send it to you, and you can help me pass it to her."
Zhao Bowen was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Okay, it's a small matter, leave it to me."
He got into the car, closed the door, and drove away.
Bai Yang was standing downstairs alone. He chased out without wearing a coat. The cold wind was biting. On November 15, 2019, the shadow of the end of the world seemed to be suddenly blown away by the wind, and a certain girl disappeared from his life forever. The separation came suddenly, without even giving you a chance to say goodbye.
(End of this chapter)
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