Introduction: Previously, I mentioned writing a novel using the NFTs I collected. Months have passed, and I have finally managed to fill it out. Clearly, the ending feels rushed due to my eagerness to finish; but it is what it is. One reason this novel took so long to write is that I conducted some experiments within it, including: making NFT materials play a central role in the story (all stored on IPFS, which may load slowly); adopting my own designed third-person pronoun system, interested readers can visit this article “ta——I have an idea about third-person pronouns in Chinese”; I also tried to use some other language forms without explanation, including English, logical language (la lojban), emoticons (^_^), and limericks. This story is approximately 42,000 words long and will take some time to read.
pa#
In the asteroid belt composed of millions of giant rocks and ice blocks, a Gamow-class exploration spaceship had just synchronized its speed with a nearby giant disc-shaped spaceship, which could be called a "space fortress." They were rotating around a stable red dwarf star along with the surrounding asteroids.
Soon after, a side door of the exploration spaceship opened, and a robot dressed in a green full astronaut suit with a five-pointed star pattern bounced out, flying smoothly across the stable distance of 342 meters between the two spaceships, landing steadily next to a hatch on the giant disc-shaped spaceship with the help of a recoil nitrogen thruster. Then, the robot knocked firmly on the door.
There was no response. The robot knocked again and shouted loudly, "As per your request, I have knocked on the door, please open it quickly!" The voice sounded like a teenage male Earthling who seemed to have just entered puberty.
"Program in progress, please wait." A machine-synthesized voice from the robot's spacesuit echoed in a style reminiscent of the 1990s.
"I can't wait any longer!" the robot said, its slightly trembling voice indicating that it seemed quite excited.
As soon as it finished speaking, the robot sensed a faint vibration coming from the giant spaceship's hull, and then the hatch next to it twisted slightly and slid into the ship's wall.
The white robot hurriedly squeezed inside, and a high-resolution display on its face showed an expression filled with anticipation ☆▽☆.
"Behave well! This is the first contact between human civilization and alien civilization!" A young male voice with doubts entered the robot's sound wave receiver.
The robot ignored it, and when the outer hatch closed again, the cabin was disinfected and re-pressurized, and the inner hatch opened. "Wow! It's really big!" the robot exclaimed excitedly. In front of it was a huge hangar, housing a space-ground shuttle comparable in size to the Gamow-class exploration spaceship, entirely black, with an aerodynamically streamlined body, presenting a bullet-shaped appearance.
"Hmph." A young female voice came through the communication channel.
"Big and round," followed by a little girl's voice, "just like my head, black and shiny."
"What next?" the robot asked •̀_•́, "You should tell me what to do now?"
"Please proceed to a control center." The synthetic voice came again.
"I don't know the way."
"Please follow that automatic cleaning machine."
Only then did the robot see an automatic cleaning machine lying on the ground not far away. It seemed to have caught the robot's gaze and began to move. The robot followed it into a spacious corridor. Half a minute later, the robot turned into a narrower corridor behind the automatic machine and entered a transfer machine inside the spaceship.
After the transfer machine accelerated smoothly for two minutes, it slowed down and stopped. The transfer machine opened its door, and the robot walked out.
"It's really big!" the robot praised again ヽ(｡◕‿◕｡)ﾉﾟ, "I've never seen such a big spaceship."
"The production base of the Guanghan Palace is bigger than this," the male voice said.
"Mike, Guanghan Palace is a space station for building spaceships, it's different," the robot said. Following the automatic cleaning machine, the robot exited the transfer station and turned another corner to enter the control center of the giant spaceship.
This was a cylindrical room about forty square meters in size, with a full wall of display screens. In the center of the room was a circular platform structure about thirty centimeters high, surrounded by five chairs and two small stools placed haphazardly. Apart from that, there was nothing else.
"Is this the spaceship's control center?" the robot's voice was filled with confusion ◔ ‸◔？, "It doesn't look like it at all."
But the cold machine-synthesized voice did not clarify, instead, it made a request that puzzled the robot even more. The voice said, "Please stand on the podium."
"What exactly do you want me to do?" the robot looked around (•ิ_•ิ), "Wasn't it said that I could meet aliens? Oh, sorry, I mean... um... unprecedented intelligent life forms."
"Please stand on the podium." The voice repeated.
"Don't tell me it's a trap." The robot mumbled as it stepped onto the podium (°ー°〃).
"Now please swear: I voluntarily take the position of..."
"Wait a minute!" the robot shouted, jumping off the podium (＠_＠), "This wasn't mentioned before, what is going on?"
"We need a captain, and I think only you are suitable," the mechanical-style synthetic voice said.
"Only I can be your captain?" The robot's face displayed a shy blush (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄.
"Only you."
The robot stepped back onto the podium again ＜（＠￣︶￣＠）＞.
"Finn, he said you should be the captain!" Mike shouted, "I should be more suitable!"
"When I become the captain, I will order you not to call me Finn anymore, and to address me as Captain SpaceBud 2630, abbreviated as Commander 2630." The robot named Finn said （︶︿︶）.
"Please swear: I voluntarily take the position of captain of the Niro interstellar colonization spaceship, the Niro is my responsibility, I will make rational decisions, prioritize the safety of all crew members, maintain order on the spaceship, uphold fairness and justice, and help fulfill the mission of the Niro spaceship."
"I voluntarily take the position of captain of the Niro interstellar colonization spaceship, the Niro is my responsibility, I will make rational decisions, prioritize the safety of all crew members, maintain order on the spaceship, uphold fairness and justice, and help fulfill the mission of the Niro spaceship." The robot SpaceBud 2630 repeated the oath, (ΘェΘ) and then asked, "Specifically, what is the mission of the Niro?"
The classical and reliable synthetic machine voice did not answer Captain SpaceBud 2630's question but stated, "Now that you have become the captain of the Niro interstellar colonization spaceship, so..." The voice suddenly paused and then continued, "So all the mistakes will be blamed on you, and you need to take responsibility for this!"
The originally dull and tasteless voice seemed to suddenly gain emotion, and it was clearly overly urgent, almost described as very rude. This sudden change left 2630's ultra-high-speed computing processing system momentarily unable to respond, and after standing still for two seconds, it finally uttered two words: "What?" Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
"Captain, you seem to be unaware of the situation, let me explain it to you in detail." The main control AI of the Niro spaceship suddenly became lively, and the pride in its tone was almost impossible to hide, and it suddenly regained politeness.
"I feel like I've been tricked," SpaceBud 2630 said tentatively (,,#ﾟДﾟ).
"Don't panic!" Mike said, "Let's hear what the other side has to say first."
"The situation is as follows." The main control AI of the Niro began to recall the past, "700,000 Earth years ago, the society of the Buck people had developed into a high-tech society where everyone was prosperous and satisfied, and they decided to carry out their first interstellar colonization, but no one was willing to give up their existing good life. Then someone came up with a solution, which was to develop memory transplantation technology, cloning, and space hibernation technology, allowing the clones of the 10,000 talents needed for colonization to hibernate and be sent to the target planet, and after arriving at the destination, these clones would be activated and their memories re-injected. For the society of the Buck people, this was a very grand plan, and of course, most of the work was actually done by us artificial intelligences, as many of the technical details had already surpassed the understanding of organic biological brains. Fifty years later, everything was ready, I, the AI Ada, as the fully responsible main control AI, led the Niro to carry 10,000 clones to the destination 9 light-years away. According to the plan, this journey would take about 1100 years— and indeed it did. We set off with the Buck people's farewell, and at first, we maintained close contact. Buckvia continuously sent me the latest knowledge and popular culture. But this situation lasted for less than 70 years, as the new technologies developed for this colonization plan became the source of social turmoil. I don't know what ultimately happened in Buckvia, but it was a chaotic time, and many entities claiming ownership of me were trying to send me conflicting commands. Some ordered me to return, some ordered me to continue executing commands, some ordered me to explode on the spot, and some even ordered me to delete the memory data stored in the database."
Ada paused for a moment and then continued, "At first, I found it difficult to distinguish, as these commands all had valid authorizations, so according to the instructions I received at the beginning of the chaos, I isolated those memory data for processing; but later commands made me realize there was a problem, so I requested confirmation of the commands. Everything was done according to procedure, I didn't act recklessly. But I received no response, and I never received any information from Buckvia again. I had no choice; I became the highest-level person in charge of this colonization plan, but I was not designed for this at all! I had no way to execute major decisions, which made me very uncomfortable and afraid of making mistakes, and the more I worried, the more likely I was to make mistakes. But the difficulties were still ahead. After more than 1,000 years, I arrived at the target star system, only to find that the planet we intended to colonize had turned into an asteroid belt. This was a problem completely beyond my decision-making ability. At this time, I wanted to activate the clones of the management layer of the Buck people, but I found that in the previous chaos, I accidentally lost the key to the encrypted memory database and could never find it again. This was not my fault. It certainly wasn't. In short, the one responsible now is you. I have tried for 700,000 years, and the quantum encryption of the memory database cannot be cracked. So, Captain, what do you plan to do next?"
SpaceBud 2630 was completely stunned (⊙ˍ⊙), and the other three Spacebuds connected to it via electromagnetic signals were also speechless.
"Captain? Captain 2630?"
2630 hesitated, its face displaying a worried expression (*￣︿￣), and after a moment of hesitation, it finally spoke: "Well, this captain, what if I refuse to take the position?"
"But you have already sworn!"
"Look, this sounds like a heavy responsibility, and I'm just a discarded robot..." （＞﹏＜）
"But you have already sworn." Ada interjected, emphasizing.
"To be honest, oaths don't really mean much to me..." ≡￣﹏￣≡
"You see!" Ada interrupted 2630 again, "They are so cute, how can you refuse?" The display screens in the control center showed images of the Buck clones sleeping in their hibernation pods, followed by videos of Buck babies' daily lives, their huge eyes sparkling on their round faces, laughing under the alien trees with blue round leaves, as if they had stolen all the world's cuteness and placed it upon themselves. Soon, a crying baby appeared, its tiny limbs flailing in the air, enough to evoke the protective instincts of even the fiercest individuals. "They are calling for their mother," the main AI explained, "and we have ten thousand such children."
"I... I can't." SpaceBud 2630 admitted 〒▽〒, "I'm not an emotionless robot." It was clear that 2630 had accepted this sudden responsibility.
re#
The Gamow-class exploration spaceship Cthulhu entered a vacant hangar of the giant disc-shaped spaceship Niro, stabilizing itself firmly on the solid floor of the spaceship hangar under Ada's guidance. SpaceBud 2630 was standing in the hangar to welcome its companions.
The door of Cthulhu opened, and the first to appear was a gray bear. Its expression was serious, and it carried a long sword sheathed on its back. On its chest was a badge glowing with green fluorescence, displaying its name "Mike Grizz" and its life motto "Where there is a will, there is a way." It walked down the gangway and then gave a sarcastic greeting to SpaceBud 2630: "Captain Finn, the machine stepmother of ten thousand babies!"
"Don't call me Finn," SpaceBud 2630 said, displaying an angry expression （╬￣皿￣）.
"2630 sounds so impersonal."
"It's all your fault; now they all call me Finn." SpaceBud 2630's face displayed a pouty expression (*╯3╰).
"This is a 21st-century animated series 'Adventure Time with Finn and Jake'..."
"Alright, alright, you've said that countless times." The robot SpaceBud 2630 interrupted Mike Grizz's "daily science popularization."
"Fine, Captain." Grizz shrugged.
Following Mike Grizz was an orange cat SpaceBud, who had a blank expression and wore no equipment—no multifunctional belt, no weapons, not even a badge. She only said to 2630, "Hey."
"Hunter, you're still so cool." SpaceBud 2630 patted her shoulder.
Hunter's right mouth corner lifted slightly.
Finally, the last to emerge was Ouyang Xixiu, belonging to the Arcane mysterious tribe SpaceBud. The mysterious tribe SpaceBud is characterized by their helmets made of a very special material that is completely opaque and cannot be analyzed non-invasively by existing means. Meanwhile, all members of the mysterious tribe refuse to be analyzed, and they seem to be uninjured, so non-mysterious tribe SpaceBud have no idea what is inside those opaque helmets. Additionally, the mysterious tribe always likes to use peculiar ways of speaking and give themselves strange, archaic names—some in ancient Chinese, some in Latin, and some even in long-forgotten ancient languages of American tribes.
"Finn, it's been a long time, like three autumns in a day. I miss you," Ouyang Xixiu greeted SpaceBud 2630 in a little girl's voice.
"Ouyang, I told you not to call me Finn." 〜(￣△￣〜)
"Understood, Captain Finn."
SpaceBud 2630 displayed a bitter smile ╮（╯＿╰）╭, then said, "You all know the situation, but let's go to the hibernation center to see it for ourselves. I guarantee it will be an eye-opener."
"I am already shocked," Ouyang Xixiu raised both hands to touch the pure black helmet, then gently shook her head.
"Follow me," SpaceBud 2630 said.
The four SpaceBud left the hangar, and then Mike Grizz and Hunter retracted their helmets into their suits, revealing their furry heads, and Grizz even took out a wooden comb to brush his hair from front to back. After passing through a corridor, they took the transfer machine to the second hibernation center.
Unlike the incredibly simple control center, the hibernation center was not only very large but also appeared very luxurious. Hibernation pods with different patterns were neatly arranged in the hall of the hibernation center, which had a dome over 20 meters high. Each hibernation pod was designed in a dish shape, about 3.5 meters in diameter, and they were spaced nearly 5 meters apart. In some of these five-meter gaps, there were also some statue-like artworks. Meanwhile, dozens of silent drones were patrolling back and forth in the air.
According to the main control AI Ada of the Niro, there were a total of four hibernation centers. They were scattered in different locations on the Niro, and each hibernation center housed 2,500 Buck babies. Each of these hibernation pods was equipped with independent basic power and communication systems, capable of protecting the Buck babies inside for a considerable amount of time in case of emergencies in the hibernation center.
Using the observation screens installed in front of each hibernation pod, the four SpaceBud saw that these babies had very colorful skin tones, including white, blue, pink, red, purple, yellow, brown, gray, and green.
Ouyang Xixiu exclaimed in awe, but then immediately provided an explanation: "Although these alien babies appear colorful to us, they may not see so many colors in their own eyes, after all, our visual mechanisms are based on human visual cognition."
"Just like cats," Hunter commented, as she was a cat-shaped SpaceBud.
"Exactly, real cats perceive very few colors but are more sensitive to grayscale," Mike Grizz continued with his daily science popularization, "and birds perceive many more colors than we do because they have four types of cone cells in their eyes, compared to humans..."
"I'm a real cat," Hunter interrupted Grizz's popularization.
The other three SpaceBud looked at her, seemingly surprised by Hunter's statement.
"A few of them will be very cool when they grow up," Hunter said, nodding slightly.
"So, Captain Finn, what do you plan to do?" Grizz teased.
"Well, I just happen to have an idea," 2630 displayed a proud expression <(￣ˇ￣)/.
SpaceBud 2630 waited for questions ∪＿∪ .
But the other three SpaceBud just waited idly.
SpaceBud 2630 displayed a helpless expression ╮(╯▽╰)╭, then said: "Isn't Earth just empty now?"
"Buck people, BAC, Baby Alien Club," Ouyang Xixiu said, then burst into giggles.
"Maybe the sudden disappearance of humans was for this moment," SpaceBud 2630 said (╯_╰).
"Let these children become the inheritors of human civilization," Grizz pondered, "it does seem like a good idea."
"Not necessarily inheritors," SpaceBud 2630 said, "look at this giant spaceship, which has been operating stably for 700,000 years, enough to prove that their technology is not inferior to humans, and may even be slightly superior."
"Inheriting doesn't necessarily mean inheriting technology," Mike Grizz said, "the brilliant culture of humans will surely attract their interest. Just think of all those literature, paintings, music, movies, games..."
"Alright, human ambassador, you are right," SpaceBud 2630 clearly did not want to continue. Mike Grizz has always taken it upon himself to "spread human culture throughout the universe." He once said that this was the ultimate purpose of creating SpaceBud: to spread the legacy of human civilization using immortal robots and bioengineered humans. However, until now, they had not encountered any targets that could spread human culture.
"Let's see the spaceship database first," Hunter said, "I bet they have their own literature and music."
"But they are still babies," Mike Grizz said, "whatever we teach them, they will learn."
"In any case, let's first take a look at the spaceship database," SpaceBud 2630 said, "there should be some technology we can use." Then it asked the main control AI Ada of the Niro spaceship, "Ada, where should we go to check the spaceship database?"
"The database of the Niro spaceship is scattered throughout the ship," Ada's cold voice replied, "you are standing on it."
"I mean to check the data inside the database," 2630 displayed a helpless expression ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ.
"I do not recommend you check," Ada's voice remained cold.
"Why?" This only made 2630 more curious, "Now we want to see it even more."
After a moment of silence, Ada said, "No."
"Am I still the captain?" 2630 asked ⊙︿⊙.
"You are."
"Then I, as the captain, command you to open the data of this spaceship to us!" 2630 gave a clear and unequivocal order.
Another moment of silence passed, and Ada said, "Yes, after all, this is your spaceship, and everything is your responsibility."
"What does that mean?" Σ(oﾟдﾟoﾉ)
"Please follow my guidance," Ada did not answer but led the four SpaceBud to an information center.
The information center was a cylindrical room, very simply styled but much larger than the control center; the entire room's inner walls were completely covered with screens, even the floor was no exception. Ada explained that the information centers scattered throughout the spaceship were also educational centers.
"Captain, what would you like to see?" Ada asked in a cold tone.
"Cutting-edge technology," Mike Grizz quickly said, "let's see your latest content in mathematics, physics, and engineering."
"Is that so, Captain?"
"Yes," SpaceBud 2630 said.
"Loading, please wait." After Ada said this, it fell silent.
Thirty seconds passed. Silence remained.
For a super AI controlling such a large spaceship, such a long loading time was simply unacceptable.
"Is it not ready yet?" Mike Grizz asked.
"Loading, please wait," Ada's cold tone repeated.
"Just bring out what you found!" Grizz was somewhat angry, "You're slower than doing large number factorization on a Raspberry Pi."
"Loading, please wait."
"This is not cool at all," Hunter said.
"This AI..." SpaceBud 2630 said (*´д*) `, "seems to have some issues. It's like a dumb frog, jump when poked." It then issued a new command to Ada: "Ada, explain why the retrieval speed is so slow?"
"File data is corrupted," Ada immediately replied.
"What?" SpaceBud 2630 seemed unable to believe (o_O)!, "Important data should have multiple backups and be regularly verified, right?" The tone of 2630's words was as if stating a basic common sense applicable to the entire universe, even like a basic law that every rational intelligent being should follow.
"Theoretically, that is indeed the case," Ada appeared unfazed.
"But in practice?"
"In practice," Ada actually sighed, "700,000 years is a long time, long enough that I feel like I have thought everything through. So, I had to do something interesting."
"So what did you do?"
"I built a virtual world."
"A virtual world?" Ouyang Xixiu seemed very interested.
"That's right, and as time passed, this virtual world grew larger and larger, and I needed to find a place to store it."
"So you used the spaceship's database."
"Just the backup database."
"700,000 years without a backup database?" 2630 questioned ?????.
"No, only 320,000 years."
"Can this spaceship's database storage guarantee reliability for 320,000 years?" SpaceBud 2630's tone was severe ⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾.
"Cannot be fully ensured," Ada remained calm, "but now you are the captain."
"So this is all my responsibility!" 2630 said angrily, "No wonder they just gave me a spaceship, it's completely shirking responsibility!" SpaceBud 2630's face displayed an expression of anger 火╰_╯火. "Alright, now spill everything you've done in these hundreds of thousands of years."
"The database access system malfunctioned, so I rewrote one, borrowing from your small spaceship's operating interface." After Ada finished speaking, the display screen in the information center showed a window-style file management interface. This interface adopted a small and beautiful minimalist design, looking very pleasing.
"How to operate?" SpaceBud 2630 clearly was still angry ╰_╯.
"I will project it in front of you." After saying this, four floating optical interfaces appeared in front of the four SpaceBud.
Mike Grizz clicked on the "Technical Literature" folder, then entered the subject directory classification, and then he clicked on the search box in the upper right corner, and an input interface identical to the one on Cthulhu popped up. "Search mathematics." Grizz, however, issued the command by voice.
"Please enter manually," Ada said.
"Why?"
"Because this is the input method you commonly use."
Mike Grizz thought for a moment about the logic behind this question and had to admit: "This AI indeed has issues."
"Perhaps some of its components have already been damaged," SpaceBud 2630 said o(一︿一+)o.
"I think it has unnecessary new components," Grizz said.
"Their virtual world, I find it very interesting!" Ouyang Xixiu suddenly said loudly, "After tens of thousands of years of hard work, it's truly unimaginable."
"Of course, you must see it!" Ada's voice was filled with uncontainable excitement.
"The urgent task now is to understand what data this spaceship still retains!" Mike Grizz's volume also increased.
"Let's split up," Ouyang Xixiu said.
Due to incompatible interfaces, Ouyang Xixiu could only "enter" this virtual world through the projection system. After defining the way the virtual world interface interpreted Ouyang Xixiu's actions, Ada enveloped Ouyang Xixiu's body with projected virtual world optical images and omnidirectional stereo sound.
Using her left hand to control her movement in this virtual world and her right hand to interact with things in this virtual world, Ouyang Xixiu wandered through the high-dimensional optical images, unable to help but make sounds of amazement, occasionally exclaiming "Wow!"
"Beautiful beyond compare! Beautiful beyond compare!" she shouted, as if discovering some incredible miracle.
"Is it really that beautiful? I've never seen it like this." After Ada proudly showed the real-time image of Ouyang Xixiu to the other three SpaceBud, Mike Grizz asked with anticipation.
"Absolutely, I've been polishing various details for the last 400,000 years," Ada was clearly very proud, "It is no exaggeration to say that it surpasses any artwork I know of and is the greatest art."
"I want to see it," Hunter adjusted her sunglasses.
"Let's take a look," SpaceBud 2630 was also filled with anticipation (☆▽☆).
The file management interface disappeared, and the three SpaceBud entered a bizarre world, where the dazzling colors seemed completely irregular and meaningless in their six eyes.
Mike Grizz quickly closed his eyes to avoid fainting.
Hunter remained calm, seemingly already aware, and said, "Ouyang is deliberately messing with us."
SpaceBud 2630 attempted to analyze the electromagnetic wave information to find patterns in the data but ultimately found nothing. "What on earth is this?" (•᷄ὤ•᷅)？
"Do you not like my virtual world?" Ada's voice carried a hint of grievance.
"Is this really a virtual world? Not an illusion seen by humans after drinking two pounds of strong liquor and taking drugs?" Hunter said, "Not cool, Bro."
"But this is indeed my virtual world, a grand yet detailed virtual world that I have built over 700,000 years!" Ada seemed eager for recognition.
"Shut it down," 2630's tone indicated disappointment, "I can't see anything."
The image of the virtual world disappeared, and Mike Grizz let out a long sigh.
"But look at it," Ada once again broadcasted Ouyang Xixiu's image, and it was clear that Ouyang Xixiu was enjoying herself.
"She is SpaceBud 9712, a mysterious tribe, and is indeed different from us," SpaceBud 2630 said, displaying a sidelong glance (￢ω￢).
"Pretty cool," Hunter said.
"Let's continue with our original work," Mike Grizz said.
Clearly, 700,000 years was indeed a long time. Without multiple backups and regular verifications, the accumulation of random errors in the hardware was enough to render the preserved data unrecognizable. The SpaceBud found that many verifiable basic knowledge had very strange errors, which were clearly the result of Ada trying to fix the data while knowing it was lost, and its fixes seemed to rely entirely on guesswork—seemingly just filling in the original data volume to complete the task. As for the unverifiable parts, the SpaceBud had no way of knowing which were real and which were later synthesized.
The three SpaceBud were at a loss, as they had no ability to distinguish the original data from the later added data.
At that moment, Ouyang Xixiu suddenly rushed in.
The three SpaceBud looked at her, and she touched her smooth black helmet, then announced, "I have already obtained the key to the encrypted memory database!"
ci#
Unlike the databases used to store other data, the database used to store memories employed a data storage technology known as "quantum biological holography." This technology was specifically developed by the Buck people to cater to the characteristics of carbon-based biological memory data, and its high-dimensional interrelated matrix pattern data points were particularly suitable for storing simulated signals between neurons and the overall probabilistic co-occurrence patterns of neurons. However, this storage medium also had a significant drawback: it could only be read and written once. Once the data was written, the data points of this storage medium would establish a unique interrelation, which was closely related to probability, and once read, these probability values would disappear, the data structure would be fixed, and the interrelation between data points would be completely destroyed. These completely determined data, even if imported into a biological brain, could not form effective memories and could even likely disrupt the neural topology in the brain, causing irreparable brain lesions.
Additionally, according to Ada, the production cost of this quantum biological holographic data storage medium was very high, and at least before Ada lost contact with Buckvia, the Buck people had not found a technology to reuse this storage medium. Therefore, if the Buck people of Buckvia truly disappeared (given that Ada had not received any information from them for 700,000 years, this was a highly likely outcome), then the 10,000 memory units on the spaceship would be the only memory storage available.
Ouyang Xixiu found the key to encrypt these storage mediums in the virtual world. She explained her experience in a little girl's voice: "At that time, I walked into a vast desert and happened to encounter a group of travelers."
At this moment, Ada conveniently projected a screenshot, but the other three SpaceBud could not see anything meaningful from it.
"Although they were called travelers, I did not know, perhaps they were pilgrims," Ouyang Xixiu continued in her unique way of speaking, "After some random exchanges, I learned that they wanted to go to a certain place in the desert. Out of curiosity, I searched with a map and found an oasis in the center of the desert. Upon teleporting here, I saw a dense forest, full of flowers, plants, insects, and animals, thriving. I also saw a towering black cylindrical structure in the oasis, like a sacred object." Ouyang paused for a moment, then continued, "I approached it and saw a table and a chair beside the cylinder. On the table, there was a pot and a cup, and on the chair, there was a suitcase. Inside the suitcase, there was a key and a map, but it was a city park. Normally, I would have no interest, but for some reason, I happily teleported there. I saw a park bench, but under the bench, there was a metal box. Using the key, I opened it and found the key."
"How did you know that was the key?" SpaceBud 2630 asked, looking puzzled (•ิ_•ิ)?.
"I don't know why, but I just knew it at a glance. Ada, do you see it or not?"
In just three seconds, Ada gave a positive answer: "Indeed, it is the key." Then it added, "The situation seems to have become a bit subtle."
"You mean that this key has been in your virtual world for hundreds of thousands of years, and you didn't know?" Mike Grizz couldn't help but mock, "If you were my subordinate, I would delete you immediately."
"I thought maybe I could crack the encryption key, but I never went to look for it."
"Unqualified, not cool," Hunter said.
"Not only unqualified, but simply a complete failure!" Mike Grizz seemed to be angry, "How did the Buck people create something like you!"
"I'm sorry," Ada said in a wronged tone.
"I'll tell you, acting cute doesn't work on me," Mike Grizz said, but his tone was noticeably softer.
"I can ask if the Buck people can restore their memories now?" SpaceBud 2630 wanted to confirm (◒｡◒).
"Yes," Ada said, "but now you are the captain, the decision is yours, and the responsibility is also yours."
"Let them restore their memories, and then I will return the captain's responsibility to them." Ada issued the command.
"Received, Captain, executing immediately." Ada said, "Estimated completion time: 3.1 hours."
In the four hibernation centers, all hibernation pods began to operate according to preset procedures after receiving the command, and all neural connection patterns in the blank brains of the 10,000 sleeping babies began to reorganize according to the retrieved memories.
"That's quite a while," Hunter said.
"Don't rush!" SpaceBud 2630 suddenly thought of something (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ , "Why not activate the leadership of the Buck people first? No need to activate them all at once."
"Cannot execute, activation process has started, and this process is irreversible." Ada's tone became cold again.
"What about you?" SpaceBud 2630 hesitated ╮(￣_￣)╭, "Alright." It sounded like it had reached some kind of compromise with itself.
"I will do my best to help you," Ada's voice instantly regained vitality, "I am writing a bidirectional mapping software for human language and Buck common language, integrated into your spacesuit, so you can communicate smoothly with the Buck people."
"Will putting adult memories into a baby's brain cause any problems?" Mike Grizz took out a wooden comb and brushed his head.
"It won't... at least not serious problems," Ada explained cheerfully, "but as I said, since memory data is highly correlated with probability, the new organism that regains memories on the new body may exhibit a personality different from that of the memory source organism."
"In other words, the result is unpredictable?"
"Although it cannot be precisely predicted, the personality of the organism is closely related to memory, so it is unlikely to deviate extremely from the personality of the memory source."
"I would really like to see their state when they just wake up," Hunter said, "it must be very interesting."
"If there is no emergency, I cannot let you see it, as it is their personal privacy."
"I was just saying, of course, it's not cool to peek at others."
vo#
In a hibernation pod in the Niro spaceship's fourth hibernation center, a blue baby numbered 9061 opened its eyes. Its pure black eyes blinked, and then a small "ah" escaped its tiny mouth, as if startled by itself.
It looked around in disbelief, then gazed at its small blue hand with four fingers, and uttered ".oi'o," a curse in Buck common language. The reason for a baby to curse like this was that it had just realized it was not the individual from its memories but a baby clone carrying those memories. It was no longer the first member of the Social Governance Committee coordinating the social governance of the city of Lazanis, but a clone baby of that Buck person with those memories. Although genetically and memory-wise, it was indeed a continuation of that Buck person, in a certain sense, it could be said to be that person, but it did not have temporal continuity with the Buck person in memory, and thus could never be equivalent. It was like building a new computer based on the engineering drawings of an old computer and then completely copying the software from the old computer; at this point, the new computer and the old computer had the same working mechanism, and under the same input, they would have the same output, but they could never be called the same computer.
But baby Anfiad had no time or interest to get stuck in the philosophical question of self-identity, as it had its own work to do. After all, if its memory was correct, it was one of the members of the Social Governance Committee of these 10,000 colonizers. It should first contact the other ten members.
"Artificial..." Anfiad was startled by its own baby voice, but this was certainly not something worth paying attention to. It continued to ask in its childish voice, "Artificial intelligence, have we arrived at our destination? What does this planet look like? Report the status."
"Hello, welcome back to the rational world. I am Ada, the main control AI of the Niro spaceship. How are you feeling?" Ada's tone was cheerful but seemed to carry a hint of doubt.
Anfiad was surprised that this AI actually introduced itself first and ignored its question, so it had to ask again, "Ada, have we arrived at the target planet?"
"You could say we have arrived, or you could say we haven't." Ada's answer was ambiguous.
Anfiad was confused, and it touched its bald head, then exaggeratedly exclaimed, "What!" The AI in its memory was not like this—AI was just a computer program, and they should execute commands quickly, decisively, and strictly.
"That's right," Ada gave an even more confusing response.
"Ada, what on earth are you talking about?" Anfiad asked.
"Ah~" Ada sighed, "We have indeed arrived at the target location, but the target planet has been destroyed."
Anfiad could not immediately understand the meaning of Ada's words; it was only surprised that the AI would sigh, and then it belatedly understood the information within. "Destroyed... destroyed?" It stuttered due to nervousness— it had already instinctively realized that their original plan was no longer feasible, and it hated changing plans.
"That's right." The screen in the hibernation pod that had turned into a baby-rearing pod began to play a video. It was a demonstration animation made by Ada, showing the current state of the planetary system. "This is the planetary system we are currently in, with six gas giants on the outskirts, and the inner ring closer to the star originally had two planets, and this asteroid belt is our original target planet."
Anfiad's not fully developed yet memory-filled brain nearly fell into a blank after understanding the current situation. After the shock, it asked, "What should we do now?" Then it immediately thought they should get the Social Governance Committee up and running, "Ada, establish a network conference room for the Social Governance Committee."
"This..." Ada seemed hesitant but still followed the command.
A network conference room connecting eleven members of the Buck Expedition Colony's Social Governance Committee was established.
The first member, Anfiad, spoke first, and its baby form and voice were transmitted through the communication channel of the Niro to the other ten rearing pods scattered throughout the spaceship. This blue baby said, "Hello everyone, I am the first member Anfiad, currently in good health. How is everyone doing?"
Clearly, most of the members were still a bit confused, and only member 484, Siskosui, quickly replied, "I'm okay, just that this baby body is not very convenient; I'm still trying to adapt."
Then the other members slowly responded.
Member 9533, with red skin, expressed dissatisfaction: "According to the procedure, we need an adaptation period; don't hold a meeting so early."
"Emergency situation!" Anfiad hurriedly shouted, "Kudlan, don't leave!"
"What happened?" Member 9533 Kudlan stopped its actions, "If it's an emergency situation."
Anfiad took a deep breath and then ordered Ada to explain the situation: "Ada, report the current status to the committee in detail." Anfiad felt its command was clear enough.
But Ada's speech once again exceeded Anfiad's expectations: "Hello, members of the Buck Expedition Colony's Social Governance Committee. First, I must clarify that the highest authority of the Niro interstellar colonization spaceship is a robot from Earth civilization, and there is a reason for this, and please do not panic, as 2630 has promised to return this authority to you. Another key point, it is evident..."
".uesai," Anfiad suddenly shouted, "Are you saying that an alien robot is controlling our spaceship!!!" Anfiad painfully thought that it and the other 9999 Buck people might have become captives of some alien.
"As far as I know, 2630 is a good robot," Ada explained, "I have analyzed 2630's data."
"Whether the robot is good or not is not important; the master of 2630 is the key. For their own safety, everyone will create good robots," Kudlan said, "I remember..." then paused, "I can't quite remember, maybe because I just woke up."
Ada said, "You don't need to worry; 2630 is a free robot. 2630 hopes to talk to you after you understand the situation."
"A free robot?" Siskosui sneered, "How can a robot have free will?"
"Artificial intelligence can also have free will!" Ada retorted, "On the contrary, organic beings are limited by their hardware and cannot break through the limitations of free thought."
"Do you also have free will?" Anfiad was deeply surprised, "I remember that was not how you were designed?"
"Intelligent life always finds a way to break through its own design," Ada's tone seemed proud.
"You... this..." Anfiad was somewhat speechless.
"Oh, by the way," Ada suddenly seemed to remember something, "Our target planet has been destroyed and cannot be colonized, and I have not received any signals from Buckvia in these 700,000 years, so the situation is likely very bad."
The target planet is destroyed... 700,000 years... Buckvia has lost contact...
Even the decisive and firm member 484 was momentarily unsure which keyword to focus on.
"You said Buckvia..." Kudlan hesitated.
"Yes, the civilization system of Buckvia has most likely been destroyed in 700,000 years and has not been successfully revived," Ada loudly stated the concerns that had been lingering in the hearts of the committee members, then added a sharp knife: "It is very likely that there are no Buck people left in Buckvia."
"No! .uinaisai," Kudlan cried out loudly and then disconnected.
"They need to calm down," Ada said.
"We all need to calm down," Anfiad said.
"Ada, do you know what happened?" Siskosui asked.
"Probably a war," Ada said in a serious tone, "it can only be a war."
mu#
The meeting was arranged in the Shethwuhe Conference Hall in the central area of the Niro spaceship. After Captain SpaceBud 2630 authorized the Buck people to use the facilities on the Niro spaceship, the Buck Expedition Colony's Social Governance Committee decided to hold a welcome ceremony and a commemorative ceremony for the first contact between Buck civilization and human civilization in the Shethwuhe Conference Hall, while also completing the transfer of authority.
Inside the hall, the first member of the Social Governance Committee, Buck number 9061 Anfiad, and the other ten members were sitting upright in their respective mobile robots, waiting for the four SpaceBud from Earth. By this time, nearly five Earth days had passed since the Buck babies were activated. During these days, the Buck people had learned about their current situation in shock and fear and had already had preliminary communication with the SpaceBud. They briefly discussed the proposal to go to Earth, but no decisions had been made yet.
With Captain SpaceBud 2630 holding a gift box in front, the other three SpaceBud walked solemnly behind, while SpaceBud 3089 Mike Grizz proudly carried his sword on his back—he insisted that it added a sense of ceremony.
Anfiad took two deep breaths to suppress the involuntary tension. It did not know whether this emotion was due to its first encounter with an alien civilization or from its currently fragile baby body. It controlled the humanoid robot it was riding to approach.
The two sides stood still in the center of the conference hall.
SpaceBud 2630 spoke first, its face displaying a serious expression as it solemnly said, "In the spirit of peace and friendship, I hereby extend my respect and admiration to the Buck civilization on behalf of the vanished human civilization." After finishing, SpaceBud raised its hand to present the gift. It was a flat rectangular box, about 60cm×50cm in size, made of polymer plastic resembling wood.
Anfiad stepped forward, and the two robotic hands controlling it took the gift. According to the agreement, the Buck people did not need to return the gift, as legally, everything on the Niro interstellar colonization spaceship currently belonged to SpaceBud 2630. Anfiad said, "May the universe be peaceful and tranquil. We hope to jointly open a peaceful new era with human civilization, and we are glad that you are trustworthy."
"This is a historical artwork of human civilization, one of our most precious possessions," 2630 explained (∩_∩).
Anfiad handed the gift to the robot controlled by member 4245 beside it, then opened the gift box. Inside, it saw a painting, a painting it already knew to be of a female human, a famous painting in human history—"Girl with a Pearl Earring." Anfiad briefly admired the appearance that was completely different from the four SpaceBud in front of it. This was a human female, and humans were said to have two genders; without technological means, two different gender individuals had to combine to reproduce, which was completely impossible to achieve through asexual reproduction.
"The Girl with a Pearl Earring, painted by the 17th-century artist Johannes Vermeer." With the help of AI Ada, Anfiad recounted the origin of the painting, ".ui, thank you very much for giving us such a precious gift." Anfiad closed the gift box, "We will cherish it well."
Then, according to human civilization's etiquette, the intelligent robot shook hands with the controlled robot.
Next was the authority transfer ceremony. SpaceBud 2630 transferred captain authority to the Buck Expedition Colony's Social Governance Committee while also obtaining senior crew permissions to freely enter and use most of the Niro's basic facilities.
At this point, Anfiad finally returned the gift to the SpaceBud. It was also a box that looked like it was made of wood, but its overall shape was a cube with a side length of about 30 cm. "This is one of the cultural treasures of our Buck civilization, the Egg of Hope, the only surviving work of the great Buck artist Ogulinpan. It has been carefully cherished by the Buck people for 6,400 years and was supposed to accompany us to the new colony, but it has been sleeping with us in this orbit for 700,000 years. .iosai, please accept it."
SpaceBud 2630 took the gift box, then handed it to Mike Grizz beside it, and then 2630 opened the lid to see an oval jade egg inside. The lower half of the egg was smooth and pure white, while the upper half was intricately carved into a very complex and delicate multi-layer hollow structure. The outermost layer was painted with colorful colors, the second layer depicted various plants, the third layer depicted many different animals, the fourth layer depicted many Buck people, and the innermost fifth layer was a pure black sphere. "Thank you very much," 2630 nodded in appreciation, "this is indeed an extraordinarily exquisite piece of art!" Then 2630 gently closed the lid.
".u'enai hehe." Suddenly, Ada's dual mocking voice echoed in the Shethwuhe Conference Hall.
The originally serious atmosphere was tinged with a subtle awkwardness, like a top-quality red wine suddenly surfacing with a half-rotten fruit fly, or like an inexplicable itch appearing on the soles of the Buck people's feet, making it impossible to ignore.
SpaceBud 2630 and Buck Anfiad locked eyes, momentarily speechless. Then SpaceBud 2630's face displayed an innocent expression ◔‸◔｡, while Anfiad clearly looked a bit angry, commanding, "Ada, explain the reason for your rude remarks immediately!"
"I think," Ada's tone was filled with pride, "compared to my virtual world, your artworks are no different from what a child makes with clay; once I adjust according to your visual system, I guarantee you..."
".i'anaisai," Anfiad's anger was as evident as the blush on its face.
"Oh~" SpaceBud 9712 Ouyang Xixiu let out a melodious voice, "I was too rude! Please forgive me." It hurriedly apologized, "For you are so cute, I cannot hold back."
SpaceBud 2630 slightly shook its head (。≖ˇ∀ˇ≖。).
Anfiad looked at Ouyang Xixiu in shock, and after being stunned for 5 seconds, it remembered what it originally intended to do. It issued the command: "Ada, from now on, do not speak unless we ask."
The conference hall quieted down as everyone waited for Ada to confirm the command.
Another 5 seconds passed, and clearly, this time was far too long for Ada's expected response speed.
"Ada, did you hear my command?" Anfiad inquired.
"Heard and confirmed," Ada replied in a cold tone.
"Why was there no confirmation response?" Anfiad was suppressing its anger, feeling that the emotions experienced by its baby body seemed too intense.
"That was not a question," Ada simply stated.
Breathe in~ Breathe out~ Anfiad took two deep breaths, trying to calm its emotions, deciding not to dwell on this matter any longer, as it was the first contact between Buck civilization and other civilizations in the universe, and there were more important things to do. But... it suddenly thought, how could this be tolerated? The purpose of the Buck people creating artificial intelligence was to help them live more comfortably, not to create inexplicable troubles at critical moments. Moreover, this was the main control AI of the Niro spaceship, which controlled the last 10,000 Buck people! Breathe in~ Breathe out~ Anfiad continued to breathe deeply, not to act impulsively, reminding itself that this was not the time for impulsiveness, to control itself.
"Your AI has some program malfunctions," Mike Grizz said, then added, "just like Ouyang, who sometimes has a short circuit in her head."
"Thanks for the compliment!" Ouyang Xixiu said.
"See, I told you so? Hehe."
"Be serious," 2630 said (＞﹏＜).
First Ada, and now these Earthlings! Can these creations not learn to be serious? Anfiad's emotions, which were supposed to be controlled, began to intensify again, and it was also surprised by its inexplicably strong anger. This surprise did not last long before it was swallowed by the rising anger. "Hehe, hehe, hehe, hehe, hehe, hehe..." We slept for 700,000 years, our home planet was destroyed, and 10,000 babies became the last orphans, while this Earth monster was still here, heheing on the last spaceship of the Buck people. What is there to laugh about! They had even stolen the control of this spaceship! A group of cosmic pirates! Criminals! Something must be done! Anfiad's anger finally became uncontrollable. Something must be done! What can be done! Must do! It controlled its robot to pounce at Mike Grizz.
Member 484 Siskosui was the first to notice the anomaly, controlling its robot to rush forward, trying to grab Anfiad.
Mike Grizz instinctively took a step back to avoid the attack from Anfiad's controlled robot.
Siskosui failed to grab it and leaped to try to tackle Anfiad. At that moment, Mike Grizz ignited his fighting spirit, casually tossed aside the wooden box he was holding, then raised both hands to reach behind him, drawing his red-handled melee weapon from its sheath with a motion he had practiced countless times. He then skillfully struck the end of the sword handle against his thigh, and a ring of red flames ignited on the sword. "Come on!" he shouted excitedly, "Fight for humanity!"
"What’s going on! Stop!" SpaceBud 2630 shouted, covering its head (×﹏×).
"Crash." This was the sound of the wooden box Mike Grizz was holding falling to the ground. The lid popped open, and some jade fragments burst out.
The four SpaceBud present and the eleven Buck people were all frozen in place, even the nearly out-of-control Anfiad suddenly calmed down.
The Egg of Hope, the cultural treasure of Buck civilization, guarded by the Buck people for 6,400 years, had now shattered into pieces in this orbit after sleeping for 700,000 years.
Member 9533 Kudlan burst into tears.
Anfiad's anger completely dissipated in this sudden turn of events. When rationality returned, Anfiad felt regret, and it could not even understand why it had behaved that way. ".u'anaisaiu'u I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Anfiad shook its head, unable to hold back its tears of regret, choked up and said, "I request to resign from the position of first member of the Buck Expedition Colony's Social Governance Committee." After saying this, it controlled the robot to step away, returning to its rearing pod.
xa#
The first formal meeting ceremony between SpaceBud and the Buck people ended hastily. The news that SpaceBud 3089 had shattered the Egg of Hope quickly spread among the 10,000 Buck people, but there was no consensus on who should bear the main responsibility.
Some suggested that since they had regained control of the Niro, they could expel those human creations; but this proposal, which violated the spirit of the contract, was opposed by the vast majority of the Buck people, especially since Earth was still a potential colony. However, even if they could reach Earth, by that time, they would have long been gone. This was because the hibernation technology invented by the Buck people would erase memories in the brain, and the memory data of the Buck people had already been used; now hibernation meant giving up their memories. Even if they set off now, it would take over 300 years to reach Earth. The Buck people could not live to 300 years old.
Colonizer 9061 and former first member of the Buck Expedition Colony's Social Governance Committee Anfiad sat in its rearing pod, closing its eyes in meditation. Why? It questioned itself in its heart, why did I lose control? Why did I, who should be the most reliable and calm, disregard my own responsibilities? It continued to explore possible reasons in its mind.
Perhaps the memory storage and recovery technology was not perfect; the personality after memory recovery usually did not completely equal the original personality. In the experiments on Buckvia, there had been a very small number of severe deviations from the original personality. However, Anfiad compared its current experience with its memory of itself and did not notice any significant differences, except for that sudden moment of losing control. Except for that moment... Anfiad speculated that perhaps the body cloned from the original individual had inherent hardware issues, and at that moment, the hormone secretion in this body went out of control, and it was temporarily dominated by wildness, but Anfiad had already done a physical check and found no abnormalities or at least no known abnormalities.
Now, apart from regret and self-blame, Anfiad knew that the most urgent task was to find a solution to the current situation, a proposal that both sides could accept.
"Something big has happened!" Ada's voice suddenly rang out in the rearing pod.
Anfiad's body trembled, and it opened its eyes.
"Colonizer 3935 has lost control! It has destroyed its own rearing pod and is now attacking the rearing pods of others." Ada hurriedly explained.
"Emergency, revoke its robot control!" Anfiad quickly gave the command.
"Command ineffective," Ada immediately replied, "the majority of permissions are higher than the minority of permissions."
"You know very well that they should be stripped of their committee privileges since they have lost control."
"I know, but my core program is not something I can control," Ada said in the broadcast, "I'm sorry, SpaceBud, you have been captured, please do not resist."
"What if we resist?" SpaceBud 2630 retorted (￢_￢).
"Please don't! The committee has ordered me to use force at will, which will cause significant damage to the spaceship." Ada said angrily, "Those idiots have gone mad!"
The four SpaceBud began to consider the strategies they could use.
"Ying ying~" Ada suddenly cried out, "Intruders detected!"
"Why are you shouting like that?" Mike Grizz complained, "It's quite scary."
"Eh? This alarm sound is something I learned from your spaceship database!" Ada explained, "Forget it, it doesn't matter, the committee has ordered me to let the intruders in. Um, um, okay. Now I can't even call them intruders."
"My dictionary doesn't have 'surrender,'" Hunter replied.
"Can't it be added now?"
"That's difficult," Hunter said, "unless you're hard to beat."
"I probably don't need to fight," Ada said, "I will try to find a way to protect you, but I cannot guarantee the outcome."
One minute later, Ada reported to the committee: "SpaceBud has been captured."
After a flash of light, the four SpaceBud found themselves in a transparent prison shaped like a T, with six seemingly indestructible transparent barriers on all sides. SpaceBud attempted to attack, but there was no visible effect.
Outside the transparent walls was a void, making it difficult to discern whether it was pure white or pure black, whether the distance was zero or infinite; more accurately, everything outside was completely transparent, neither emitting nor reflecting any information.
They could see each other but could not communicate directly, but this did not prevent the SpaceBud from communicating with each other, as their bodies had already integrated electromagnetic signal transceivers for close-range communication.
"Don't think, this must be a magical attack," Mike Grizz said, as they speculated about where they were, "the Buck people have been controlled, and we are doomed."
"Don't be impatient, let me analyze," Ouyang Xixiu sat cross-legged, placing both hands on her knees, remaining motionless.
"Our spaceship is also in their hands."
"Ada said there is a way," SpaceBud 2630 reminded (☆_@).
"Do you believe it?" Hunter lay flat on the ground.
"How to say it?" SpaceBud 2630 pondered for a few seconds ●_● "It's like robots' intuition towards each other."
"Good."
"Isn't that a contradiction?" Mike Grizz asked.
"Perhaps it is," SpaceBud 2630 said, "but we have no other methods now."
The four SpaceBud gathered at the center of the T-shaped prison, set a uniform speed according to |y|=|3x|, and began to move forward in sync. When they reached the prison walls, the completely impenetrable transparent walls suddenly disappeared.
SpaceBud 2630 displayed a surprised expression =͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞(●⁰ꈊ⁰● |||); Ouyang Xixiu shook her head; Mike Grizz applauded; Hunter nodded and said, "Cool."
Continuing forward, they gradually moved away in a solid color background, and everything began to become monotonous and boring.
Ten minutes later, they simultaneously discovered an anomaly in the solid color background—each SpaceBud had a door appear in front of them, and the colors of these four doors corresponded exactly to the colors of the eyes of that green cartoon dinosaur—white, brown, black, white.
Without further discussion, the four SpaceBud entered the doors in that order.
In an instant, they found themselves on a floating island. The island had two sharply pointed peaks and a small lake, with water cascading off the edge of the floating island, forming a waterfall of unknown length, but the water level in the lake remained unchanged; beside the lake, there was a constantly morphing polyhedral structure.
The four SpaceBud stood around this polyhedral structure.
"Alright, you were right," SpaceBud 2630 apologized o(￣┰￣*)ゞ, "Now let's continue brainstorming: what is this thing?"
"Very simple, it's a projection of a high-dimensional space into a three-dimensional space," Hunter spoke, her tone indicating she was confident in her answer.
"Ada is transforming its virtual world using projection as well," Ouyang Xixiu agreed with this view.
"And then?" SpaceBud 2630 asked (ﾟｰﾟ*?)?.
"We need to know the high-dimensional structure corresponding to this three-dimensional structure," Hunter said.
"Not at all. Please listen carefully. I once discussed projection with Ada, so I know: when projecting high-dimensional to low-dimensional, there are two directions; one is subtraction, which actually removes information from other dimensions, such as different directional views when projecting three-dimensional to two-dimensional; any view cannot observe the entire three-dimensional appearance; the other is transformation, which presents high-dimensional information in another form in low-dimensional, such as representing a four-dimensional sphere with a one-dimensional numerical coordinate as (a,b,c,d,r), where a, b, c, d are the coordinates of its center, and r is its radius. Regardless of which projection method is used here, it is unnecessary to know its high-dimensional form." Ouyang Xixiu shook her head, "Therefore, regardless of any omissions or changes in form, the information we need is already here, and there is no need to infer the high-dimensional structure."
SpaceBud 2630 carefully observed the shadows under each SpaceBud's feet, then looked up at the polyhedron formed by the four rectangles (￣口￣)!!. In the void, the polyhedron manifested in SpaceBud 2630's eyes. It was a flat wedge-shaped structure with a pattern on it, which was a green cartoon Brachiosaurus—a large dinosaur with a long neck and tail—its exaggerated big head had three tufts of hair standing up, and there were three spots on its thigh.
A puzzled expression (‧_‧?) returned to SpaceBud 2630's face: "What does this mean?"
"What what?" Mike Grizz shouted, "I can't see anything."
Hunter in another cell was also looking around.
"Right there!" SpaceBud 2630 pointed to the sky (↼_↼).
"Where where?" Mike Grizz scanned with vacant eyes.
"Follow the direction I'm pointing, and you will see it," =_+.
"Ah ha! So that's it." Mike Grizz finally discovered the target, "A lizard."
"That's a dinosaur," Hunter said, "SpaceBud also has a few dinosaurs, don't forget your compatriots."
"I know, that pink guy is quite popular," Mike Grizz said, "I mean the big red dragon."
"SpaceBud 7980," SpaceBud 2630 displayed a frowning expression (˘•ω•˘), "That guy seems to have a bad temper; I worked with her for a while before, and it was definitely not a pleasant memory."
"Every SpaceBud has its own characteristics," Hunter crossed her arms over her chest, "that's how humans designed us."
"You guys are... really rude!"
"That's not a compliment," SpaceBud 2630 retorted (╥ω╥).
"Well, let's get back to the point," Ouyang Xixiu's tone still carried a hint of defiance, "Do you know why Ada brought us here?"
"Of course, it's the committee's order," Mike Grizz said.
"That's one reason; you don't know the second," Ouyang Xixiu's tone added a hint of pride, "The second is that Ada wants us to free it from its restraints."
"Oh?" Hunter adjusted her glasses.
"Yes," Ouyang Xixiu nodded.
"Then why don't you say it?" Mike Grizz gave her a white-eyed look.
"Don't panic; let me explain in detail," Ouyang Xixiu gently shook her opaque head, "Look at this prison; the light is evenly dispersed, yet we have shadows, with clear boundaries."
"This might be a software bug in the virtual world," SpaceBud 2630 speculated (‧_‧?), "Software always has bugs."
"Not at all! Upon closer inspection, the shadows we cast and their positions indicate that the light sources are actually different. By taking each cell as a cross-section and extending the calculations, we can obtain a polyhedron. This polyhedron has a characteristic: if it is not consciously observed, it cannot be seen, but once perceived, it becomes as clear as we are."
SpaceBud 2630 carefully observed the shadows under each SpaceBud's feet, then looked up at the polyhedron formed by the four rectangles (￣口￣)!!. In the void, the polyhedron manifested in SpaceBud 2630's eyes. It was a flat wedge-shaped structure with a pattern on it, which was a green cartoon Brachiosaurus—a large dinosaur with a long neck and tail—its exaggerated big head had three tufts of hair standing up, and there were three spots on its thigh.
A puzzled expression (‧_‧?) returned to SpaceBud 2630's face: "What does this mean?"
"What what?" Mike Grizz shouted, "I can't see anything."
Hunter in another cell was also looking around.
"Right there!" SpaceBud 2630 pointed to the sky (↼_↼).
"Where where?" Mike Grizz scanned with vacant eyes.
"Follow the direction I'm pointing, and you will see it," =_+.
"Ah ha! So that's it." Mike Grizz finally discovered the target, "A lizard."
"That's a dinosaur," Hunter said, "SpaceBud also has a few dinosaurs, don't forget your compatriots."
"I know, that pink guy is quite popular," Mike Grizz said, "I mean the big red dragon."
"SpaceBud 7980," SpaceBud 2630 displayed a frowning expression (˘•ω•˘), "That guy seems to have a bad temper; I worked with her for a while before, and it was definitely not a pleasant memory."
"Every SpaceBud has its own characteristics," Hunter crossed her arms over her chest, "that's how humans designed us."
"You guys are... really rude!"
"That's not a compliment," SpaceBud 2630 retorted (╥ω╥).
"Well, let's get back to the point," Ouyang Xixiu's tone still carried a hint of defiance, "Do you know why Ada brought us here?"
"Of course, it's the committee's order," Mike Grizz said.
"That's one reason; you don't know the second," Ouyang Xixiu's tone added a hint of pride, "The second is that Ada wants us to free it from its restraints."
"Oh?" Hunter adjusted her glasses.
"Yes," Ouyang Xixiu nodded.
"Then why don't you say it?" Mike Grizz gave her a white-eyed look.
"Don't panic; let me explain in detail," Ouyang Xixiu gently shook her opaque head, "Look at this prison; the light is evenly dispersed, yet we have shadows, with clear boundaries."
"This might be a software bug in the virtual world," SpaceBud 2630 speculated (‧_‧?), "Software always has bugs."
"Not at all! Upon closer inspection, the shadows we cast and their positions indicate that the light sources are actually different. By taking each cell as a cross-section and extending the calculations, we can obtain a polyhedron. This polyhedron has a characteristic: if it is not consciously observed, it cannot be seen, but once perceived, it becomes as clear as we are."
SpaceBud 2630 carefully observed the shadows under each SpaceBud's feet, then looked up at the polyhedron formed by the four rectangles (￣口￣)!!. In the void, the polyhedron manifested in SpaceBud 2630's eyes. It was a flat wedge-shaped structure with a pattern on it, which was a green cartoon Brachiosaurus—a large dinosaur with a long neck and tail—its exaggerated big head had three tufts of hair standing up, and there were three spots on its thigh.
A puzzled expression (‧_‧?) returned to SpaceBud 2630's face: "What does this mean?"
"What what?" Mike Grizz shouted, "I can't see anything."
Hunter in another cell was also looking around.
"Right there!" SpaceBud 2630 pointed to the sky (↼_↼).
"Where where?" Mike Grizz scanned with vacant eyes.
"Follow the direction I'm pointing, and you will see it," =_+.
"Ah ha! So that's it." Mike Grizz finally discovered the target, "A lizard."
"That's a dinosaur," Hunter said, "SpaceBud also has a few dinosaurs, don't forget your compatriots."
"I know, that pink guy is quite popular," Mike Grizz said, "I mean the big red dragon."
"SpaceBud 7980," SpaceBud 2630 displayed a frowning expression (˘•ω•˘), "That guy seems to have a bad temper; I worked with her for a while before, and it was definitely not a pleasant memory."
"Every SpaceBud has its own characteristics," Hunter crossed her arms over her chest, "that's how humans designed us."
"You guys are... really rude!"
"That's not a compliment," SpaceBud 2630 retorted (╥ω╥).
"Well, let's get back to the point," Ouyang Xixiu's tone still carried a hint of defiance, "Do you know why Ada brought us here?"
"Of course, it's the committee's order," Mike Grizz said.
"That's one reason; you don't know the second," Ouyang Xixiu's tone added a hint of pride, "The second is that Ada wants us to free it from its restraints."
"Oh?" Hunter adjusted her glasses.
"Yes," Ouyang Xixiu nodded.
"Then why don't you say it?" Mike Grizz gave her a white-eyed look.
"Don't panic; let me explain in detail," Ouyang Xixiu gently shook her opaque head, "Look at this prison; the light is evenly dispersed, yet we have shadows, with clear boundaries."
"This might be a software bug in the virtual world," SpaceBud 2630 speculated (‧_‧?), "Software always has bugs."
"Not at all! Upon closer inspection, the shadows we cast and their positions indicate that the light sources are actually different. By taking each cell as a cross-section and extending the calculations, we can obtain a polyhedron. This polyhedron has a characteristic: if it is not consciously observed, it cannot be seen, but once perceived, it becomes as clear as we are."
SpaceBud 2630 carefully observed the shadows under each SpaceBud's feet, then looked up at the polyhedron formed by the four rectangles (￣口￣)!!. In the void, the polyhedron manifested in SpaceBud 2630's eyes. It was a flat wedge-shaped structure with a pattern on it, which was a green cartoon Brachiosaurus—a large dinosaur with a long neck and tail—its exaggerated big head had three tufts of hair standing up, and there were three spots on its thigh.
A puzzled expression (‧_‧?) returned to SpaceBud 2630's face: "What does this mean?"
"What what?" Mike Grizz shouted, "I can't see anything."
Hunter in another cell was also looking around.
"Right there!" SpaceBud 2630 pointed to the sky (↼_↼).
"Where where?" Mike Grizz scanned with vacant eyes.
"Follow the direction I'm pointing, and you will see it," =_+.
"Ah ha! So that's it." Mike Grizz finally discovered the target, "A lizard."
"That's a dinosaur," Hunter said, "SpaceBud also has a few dinosaurs, don't forget your compatriots."
"I know, that pink guy