The Little Girl's Letter (Dream Person 2)

June 2028, Nidu, Liang Nation, Hassen River Park

At dusk, Daphne Braun arrived early at Hassen River Park for her first date with Michael Maxwell, the man of her dreams.

Daphne sat leisurely on a bench, gazing up at the VESSEL, a work of architectural art constructed from a massive steel framework.

Hassen River is located west of Nidu Core Island. Core Island is the epitome and microcosm of Liang Nation's prosperity. Its eastern skyscrapers and straight, numbered streets have been bustling for a century, while the western region where Hassen River is located is relatively underdeveloped.

In 2019, with the stunning debut of the public building VESSEL as a new landmark, Liang Nation's largest regional renovation project, the Hassen River New Area Complex with a total investment exceeding 25 billion US dollars, rose from the ground, injecting fresh technological and artistic vitality into the century-old metropolis of Nidu.

Michael approached Daphne. He was powerfully built with a broad back, walking slightly faster, as if carried by the wind.

Daphne stood up and faced Michael. A smile played on her lips as she scanned her dream man like a machine.

Michael had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a straight nose, and a well-formed mouth. The skin on his face and neck had a reddish hue.

It wasn't just a flush; any healthy person could be flushed, but this redness was genetic, commonly seen in ancient European fishing and hunting tribes.

The skin tone evoked the thick fog of Plymouth, the surging tides of Amsterdam, and the colossal waves of the Cape of Good Hope.

It was a complexion weathered by intense sun, scrubbed by sea salt, and cleansed by sudden downpours.

It was the skin of sailors, captains, and adventurous navigators.

This man was the renowned world's richest person, founder and CEO of Acebe Space Technology Company:

Michael Maxwell.

"Hi, are you Daphne?" Michael spoke first.

"Yes, I'm Daphne. Are you Michael?" Daphne replied humorously, referring to Michael's universally recognized public face.

As soon as they sat down on the bench, Michael dropped a bombshell:

"My Brain-Computer Fusion Project has made some progress. The external brain, VESSEL, which assists my thinking, searched for common ground between us. It's quite interesting."

Daphne looked at Michael with curiosity and confusion, thinking, Isn't VESSEL this public building in front of us? How did it become his "external brain"?

Michael's next words were even more direct and astonishing to Daphne. He said:

"Forgive my presumption, but VESSEL told me that Daphne Braun is very likely my girlfriend."

"What?!" Daphne's eyes widened, unsure how to manage her expression. They hadn't exchanged more than a few words on their first meeting, and he was already getting straight to the point. It was too direct!

Michael seemed to read Daphne's mind and sent her a text message, saying:

"Take a look at this letter first."

Daphne opened the message on her pad. It was a letter that read:

"To Mr. Michael Maxwell and his girlfriend:

My name is Li Xiaoxuan, an ordinary girl from Qingliang Valley, Mount Wutai, Shanxi, China. I am writing this letter to you without prior introduction.

I was born on December 23, 1999. Today is my 13th birthday. Yesterday, December 22, 2012, I had a very strange dream at night.

I was floating in space, directly below Polaris, looking down at the Solar System. Earth was at its winter solstice, positioned at the 6 o'clock direction of the celestial sphere.

Venus and Mars were 120 degrees apart from Earth, forming a large equilateral triangle. Mercury, Venus, and Saturn formed a straight line with the Sun.

A set of data appeared before my eyes: the synodic periods of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn relative to Earth, corresponding to 117 days, 584 days, 780 days, and 378 days.

I was falling rapidly, and Earth became clearer. I saw a man facing two discs. One disc had 365 markings, and the other had 260 markings.

He picked up a rope and tied a knot, representing 18,980 days, or 52 years. He then carved an equation on a stone slab: 19.19.19.0.0.19.0.0 = 1.0.0.T.0.1.T.0.0.

A voice told me that these numbers represented days and were related to the Maya's Short Count and Long Count calendars. In this world, only Michael Maxwell and his girlfriend, who researches the Mars explosion, could decipher them.

Suddenly, Mars turned into a giant fireball, and Earth and Venus also became fireballs. I was startled awake.

This is the end of the letter. No reply is needed."

Daphne pondered as she read the letter and asked Michael with confusion:

"This letter was written to you over ten years ago. Are you just seeing it now?"

Michael replied, "This letter was sent to my work email. I have too many emails, and I've never seen this letter before. After scheduling our date, VESSEL guided me to notice the content of the letter. You told me you've been researching the Mars explosion recently, right?"

Daphne Braun is 29 years old. Like most girls, she yearns for love and admires her idols. However, when it comes to serious astronomical discussions, she transforms back into a accomplished scientist.

Daphne had just completed her doctorate and joined the Ling Shen Star Exploration Project Team at the Bright Country Space Administration. Ever since she began studying astronomy, Daphne had been filled with curiosity and interest in the asteroid belt. Through her research, she proposed a bold hypothesis, which she shared with Michael in their chat.

Daphne's hypothesis was that the asteroid belt was composed of fragments from the Mars explosion, originating from Mars.

Daphne's hypothesis wasn't a sudden whim. Firstly, how did the asteroid belt form? Astronomers have several theories on this issue.

The hypothesis that the material in the asteroid belt originated from outside the Solar System has been refuted because it cannot explain how 500,000 asteroids could traverse the Solar System, arrive, and almost entirely stop between Jupiter and Mars.

Another theory suggests that the asteroid belt is the remnant of an ancient planet's explosion. This theory has two unreasonable aspects:

First, the mass is insufficient. The total mass of the asteroid belt is only 1% of Earth's mass. If it were a planetary explosion, where did the rest of the mass go?

Second, after a planet forms, under the high-speed rotation of the protoplanetary disk and its internal gravity, the inward aggregation force would be extremely strong. Within the framework of modern physics, a reasonable mechanism for planetary explosion has not yet been discovered.

Therefore, Daphne considered: if the asteroid belt wasn't the explosion of a complete planet, but merely the shattered outer shell of Mars, wouldn't the missing mass be logically explained?

Furthermore, the Mars explosion hypothesis could also explain another phenomenon.

The inner four of the eight planets in the Solar System are rocky planets, while the outer four are gas giants, also known as giant planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth; the farther they are from the Sun, the larger their size. But then, at Mars, the size suddenly decreases.

The radius of Mars is 3389 kilometers, just over half the radius of Earth.

The farther away a rocky planet is, the larger its volume. This follows the rule of planetary formation through the protoplanetary disk, as rocky planets at greater distances sweep through a larger area of the disk, giving them more opportunities to acquire constituent materials.

The asteroid belt is divided by composition into carbonaceous C-types, silicaceous S-types, and M-types composed of pure iron and nickel. M-types are very rare, with only Lingshen Star discovered so far. It is believed to be the metallic molten core ejected from Mars during a volcanic eruption. 99.9% of asteroids are C-type and S-type.

If S-types are the rocks of Mars' crust, and C-types are the water ice and dust on Mars' surface, then during a Mars explosion, with the same kinetic energy, the surface water ice would "depart first" and fly farther than the deeper rocks. This means S-types would be closer to the side of Mars facing the Sun, and C-types would be farther away, which perfectly matches the distribution of the asteroid belt.

Michael listened with great interest to Daphne's hypothesis about the Mars explosion and added:

"The largest volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons, is about 21 kilometers high, equivalent to the combined height from Earth's Mariana Trench to the Himalayan peaks. If Mars exploded and lost all its seawater, and the seabed was used as the Martian datum, then the height of Olympus Mons wouldn't be strange."

Daphne nodded excitedly and said, "What's most unique about Olympus Mons is its slope, only 5 degrees, almost flat. And at the edge of this vast, gentle area, there are sheer cliffs 10 kilometers deep, just like the shell of a cracked walnut. Part of it broke off and flew away. Olympus Mons is the remaining original Martian surface, and what we see now as the Martian surface is actually the bottom of Mars' original ocean."

Michael said, "Exactly, then it's not strange that there are so many signs of water flow on the Martian surface."

Daphne's gaze lingered on the string of numbers at the end of the letter from the little girl. She asked Michael:

"19.19.19.0.0.19.0.0, this number should be related to the Maya Calendar, right? Corresponding to days?"

Michael replied, "The dots between the numbers indicate the value of each digit. When we use a string of numbers, we don't use dots and assume it's base-ten. The Maya used a base-twenty system, so they used dots to avoid misunderstanding."

Michael looked at the string of numbers, then at Daphne, and said mysteriously:

"The VESSEL used the Maya Long Count calendar to calculate the number of days corresponding to this string of numbers, which is over 23 billion days."

"Ah? What kind of calendar is that? 23 billion days, how many years is that?"

"Over 63 million years!"

Michael replied.

&

Poem compiled from chapter endings:

Even at the ends of the earth, there is a limit, Song, Yan Shu

A divine bond through the ages, unknown to the world. Song, Huang Tingjian

Yet they do not dislike our presence, Song, Fang Yue

Clearly, the written contract shows it is passed down. Song, Shi Dingxu