Rock Star Newton

-June 15, 2043 · Hong Kong · Shatterdome-

Today, the third floor of the Shatterdome welcomed two distinguished guests, a man and a woman.

However, they didn't seem to be here for a friendly academic tour. As soon as they exited the elevator, they headed straight for the Geiszler Kaiju Laboratory.

On their way, they encountered Hermann Gottlieb, who was on his way to find Newton. The pair then became a trio.

Many things don't change with the passage of time; Newton Geiszler knew this well.

Take the guy sitting in front of him right now—

He wasn't much older than Newton, but Newton still felt like a child who'd done something wrong in front of him, filled with shame and unease.

What also made Newton particularly angry was Hermann, standing behind that guy. At this moment, Hermann was looking at him with an arrogant, triumphant expression.

A villain's success!

This unfamiliar Chinese idiom suddenly popped into Newton's mind.

He must have been badmouthing me to the Commander!

"Dr. Newton..."

The guy sitting in front of him—Jiang Tianzheng—spoke slowly, his stern tone pulling Newton's attention back from Hermann.

"I assume you know about what happened with Rosen..." Jiang Tianzheng leaned forward, resting his hands on his thighs, his eyes calmly fixed on Newton. "After all, you're the one who brought him into the Jaeger hangar."

Just as Newton was about to explain, Jiang Tianzheng waved his hand and added, "Dr. Newton, Rosen has committed serious crimes this time. Dangerous driving, endangering public safety, destruction of public property—there are over ten charges in total. The lightest sentence would be at least a year or two in prison. Execution isn't out of the question. I hope you will truthfully explain why you helped Rosen." Jiang Tianzheng's gaze suddenly sharpened. "You know, I have tens of thousands of subordinates, and they're really hard to manage... You're a highly respected senior scientist, but I can't always let criminals earn their redemption."

Newton couldn't help but swallow.

Although his social awkwardness meant he completely missed the meaning of Jiang Tianzheng's latter half of the sentence, he knew he'd messed up big time.

To Newton's surprise, Hermann didn't take this opportunity to kick him while he was down. The blonde old man was also frowning deeply, perhaps also contemplating the matter of Rosen. Normally, he would have been shouting for Newton to pack his bags and leave by now.

"Alright..."

Newton took a moment to gather his thoughts, then patted his head, which had grown sluggish with age, and began to explain to everyone.

"Actually, Rosen brought me a new theory that day... Hmm, remember the theoretical basis for semi-mechanical, semi-kaiju Jaegers?" Newton asked rhetorically—his previous nervousness vanished, replaced by his scientist's tone. "Because we believe silicon-based lifeforms are also lifeforms, even a silicate brain can establish a two-way Synaptic Link with our brains... just like I did decades ago."

At this point, Newton couldn't help but chuckle.

He glanced upwards, as if estimating the magnitude of his contribution in the last world-saving operation.

"Get to the point." However, Jiang Tianzheng wasn't going to give Newton time to reminisce about the past. His tone was icy, cutting off Newton's memory.

Newton grumbled a few dissatisfied words, then stepped over the floor littered with kaiju entrails and brought back a few dirty papers—they seemed to be some kind of data.

"I wasn't idle yesterday. When I was inspecting Kunlun's head before the test drive, I already discovered something abnormal." Newton placed one of the papers on the table—it showed a wildly fluctuating curve, and nothing else.

"I secretly installed a brainwave interceptor in Kunlun's cockpit. This is Kunlun's brainwave graph after activation." As Newton spoke, he pulled out another paper. "This is the brainwave graph of Shandong, obtained when we last measured Lin Yin and Shandong's Sync Rate."

The two papers were placed side-by-side, the difference immediately apparent.

The curve representing Kunlun fluctuated dramatically, like mountains rising and falling, with peaks and valleys.

The one representing Shandong, at best, could only be described as small waves.

Lin Yin, who had been leaning silently against the door, couldn't help but walk over when she heard Newton's words. Newton finally noticed she was wearing a brown sleeveless vest, her hair braided and hanging down her back, and a thick bandage wrapped around her right shoulder was clearly visible. That must hurt a lot, Newton thought.

Upon seeing the two sets of data, Lin Yin put her hands on her hips and pouted, looking somewhat unimpressed. Jiang Tianzheng then asked, "And then? What does this mean?"

"This has never happened before," Newton explained. "Most Jaegers can only emit brainwave graphs similar to Shandong's because their brains lack independent thought; they're like pre-programmed machines. But Kunlun is completely different from them."

"Completely different?" Jiang Tianzheng repeated.

"Yes." Newton continued, "Only a being with a complete sense of self can emit that kind of—"

"That's impossible!" Before Newton could finish, Hermann, standing behind Jiang Tianzheng, flatly denied it. "The machines that can format kaiju brains have undergone over a decade of theoretical research, and those kaiju undergo at least three formatting procedures. The failure rate is infinitely close to 0%. We've had no issues for so many years; there's no way a fish could slip through the net!"

"Hey! Since you yourself said the probability isn't 0, just close to 0, how can you be so sure?! How do you plan to explain what happened with Kunlun? Coincidence? An accident? Or a supernatural event?" Newton suddenly exploded. In Newton's memory, Hermann was always like this, never believing anything. Newton hated that about him the most.

Realizing that these two decades-long rivals were about to launch into an endless argument, Jiang Tianzheng quickly shouted to stop them, "Gentlemen, let's focus on the matter at hand."

Both men looked at Jiang Tianzheng. Hermann was momentarily speechless, while Newton continued, "I just said, only a being with a complete sense of self can emit that kind of brainwave. But Hermann is not entirely wrong; those brainwashing machines can completely erase a kaiju's consciousness, and with so many safeguards, the chance of residual consciousness is infinitely close to 0."

"But... there is still one possibility." Seeing the growing confusion on the faces of the audience below, Newton couldn't help but feel a bit smug. He then pulled out the last piece of paper he was holding. "This is Rosen's brainwave graph... I got it secretly. Let's see if you can find any differences."

Newton tossed aside Shandong's graph and placed Kunlun's and Rosen's side-by-side.

Jiang Tianzheng and Lin Yin leaned in to examine the two documents up close. Hermann seemed hesitant, but eventually leaned in as well.

The three of them immediately discovered a crucial point—

The two were identical.

Exactly the same, with no discernible difference.

Jiang Tianzheng and Lin Yin immediately grasped a potential implication. They exchanged glances, their faces filled with disbelief.

"Are you saying..."

"That's right." Newton finally nodded, delivering his conclusive statement.

"Kunlun has replicated Rosen's brainwaves—meaning, Kunlun is simulating Rosen."