Speak Softly Love

August 8, 2031, Rocket City, Liang Nation

Michael and Daphne's son is named Vito, the same name as Michael's father.

Time flies. Today is little Vito's first birthday. Daphne personally made a birthday cake. She wrote birthday wishes on the soft, sweet, and fragrant cream of the cake, and used strawberry jam to outline a red heart symbolizing love.

Michael deliberately came home early to celebrate his son's birthday. When he was young, he was very handy and often hung out in the garage, tinkering with new gadgets.

Although his skills have become rusty, it doesn't affect Michael's enthusiasm at all. He made a toy for his son, a large wooden ship model.

The mast of the large ship is made of Carbon Fiber Tubes. On the deck at the bow is a peculiar honeycomb-shaped container, inside which are a few dehydrated corn kernels. Michael calls this toy VESSEL, a word that means large ship, vascular, and container.

As soon as Michael entered the house, he heard Daphne happily calling out to little Vito, "Mama, Mama."

Vito lifted his big head in his mother's arms, a smile on his chubby little face, his rosy cheeks puffing out, and as his lips moved, he actually made a sound: "Mama, Mama..."

Daphne was overjoyed and kissed Vito non-stop while holding him. Michael also came over, full of anticipation, encouraging his son, "Daddy, Daddy, call Daddy."

Little Vito smiled foolishly, blinking his big eyes. As if he had been holding it in for a long time, he called out again, "Mama."

Michael was a little disappointed. He took his son from Daphne's arms, lifted him high above his head, then quickly bent down and placed the child at knee height. Vito greatly enjoyed the repeated lifting and lowering, laughing loudly.

Playing with toys and eating cake, little Vito, after being extremely excited, finally lay in his crib and sweetly drifted off to dreamland.

The two parents tiptoed out of Vito's room, and Michael gently closed the door.

Daphne asked, "How is your Brain-Computer Fusion Project progressing? Didn't you say there was another upgrade scheduled for these days?"

"It's going smoothly, but the progress isn't significant. Brain-Computer Fusion seems to have entered a bottleneck. Just stacking hardware and accumulating empirical data doesn't seem to be working," Michael said. "VESSEL reminded me that the underlying architecture of current computers doesn't match human brain thinking patterns, and my team and I haven't figured it out yet."

"Do you remember that large envelope Irene gave you? Captain Mirov's Maya Notes. I have a feeling that modern computing architecture might find inspiration in Mayan astronomy and mathematics," Daphne said.

"When she gave me the envelope, Irene said Mirov wanted it opened after 52 years. I think we should respect the author of the notes. Fortunately, the time will be up in half a month."

To better take care of Vito, Daphne took a long leave of absence from her project team at the Bright Country Space Administration.

She promised Mr. E that during her time at home, she would complete the risk assessment report for Michael's plan to modify Mars using Superluminal waves as soon as possible. One of the important reasons why the Plan T committee members trusted Daphne was their great admiration for her proposed Mars Burst Hypothesis.

"Daphne, it's been over a year now. Have you finished your risk assessment report? Can you give me some information?" Michael asked.

Daphne immediately became serious and said, "That won't do. The assessment report is independent of your project and can only be submitted directly to the Plan T committee. I can't disclose it to you."

In the slightly awkward atmosphere, Daphne used her index finger to scoop out a piece of cream from the birthday cake and unexpectedly smeared it on Michael's face. The two of them playfully embraced. The small room was once again filled with the sweetness and warmth of home.

Vito's cry startled the two of them. Daphne sprang up as if she had springs in her body and rushed into Vito's room. Michael followed closely behind and saw Vito kicking his little legs frantically, his whole body seemingly convulsing, with streams of white foam coming from the corners of his mouth.

Daphne frantically picked up Vito and said to Michael, "What's wrong? Is the child having a nightmare? Should we take him to the hospital immediately?"

Michael calmed down, rushed into the bathroom, and got a small towel soaked in cold water. Michael folded the towel and rubbed it with his hands to make it less cold. He gently placed the towel on Vito's forehead. Daphne carefully wiped Vito's small mouth and continuously stroked her son's back with her hand.

Vito gradually stopped crying, opened his eyes, grunted in his throat, exhaled with effort, and slowly returned to his normal state.

"You scared me to death. Let's go to the hospital right away," Daphne asked Michael.

Michael thought for a moment and said to Daphne, "My VESSEL has an intelligent medical assistance function. We can try it on Vito first before going to the hospital."

Daphne sat on a chair holding Vito. Michael lowered VESSEL's output power and reduced the size of the helmet, carefully placing it on Vito's head. Whether it was out of curiosity or because his mother's embrace made him feel secure, Vito didn't cry.

Michael placed the external display screen in front of Daphne, while he turned to stand behind her, both of them staring intently at the screen.

The screen first displayed Vito's electroencephalogram. To Michael and Daphne's confusion, Vito was awake now, and his brainwaves should have been dominated by relatively high-frequency Beta Waves and Alpha Waves, not the Delta Waves with a frequency of 0.5-1 Hz.

It was strange. Brainwaves representing wakefulness, light sleep, and deep sleep appeared on the screen simultaneously. Daphne suddenly remembered that the year before last, when the Lingguang probe approached Lingshen Star, wasn't the electromagnetic wave received by Lingguang also like this?

Michael activated VESSEL's intelligent medical assistance function. The screen displayed the diagnostic result: "No abnormalities found in brain structure. Neurons are dense in local areas, suspected abnormal electrical discharge phenomenon, prone to intermittent complications, such as epilepsy. Please go to the hospital for diagnosis by a professional doctor."

Daphne collapsed onto the back of the chair as if struck by lightning. Michael gently supported Daphne's shoulder with one hand and stroked Vito's body with the other.

He softly comforted Daphne, saying, "We will definitely go to the hospital. But did you notice? Vito seems to be able to connect with VESSEL very easily. You tried before and couldn't succeed. Could it be that Vito is exceptionally gifted?"

Daphne suddenly realized this situation and speculated on the reason, saying:

"Vito is your biological son, sharing most of your genes and even brain structure, making him more adaptable to the VESSEL trained by you."

Michael felt that what Daphne said made a lot of sense. He felt it was necessary to test further. He had never tried what would happen if two people connected to VESSEL simultaneously before. He put on another helmet and connected himself to the external brain.

The father and son's brainwaves merged into VESSEL. As Michael cautiously and slowly increased the output power, Daphne nervously observed Vito's physical reactions. The child was completely fine, his little hands gently resting in his mother's arms, seeming to enjoy it.

Once the power was adjusted, Michael entered a meditative state. The cursor on the screen flickered, and text flowed, line by line into Daphne's view:

Speak softly love, hold me tight, hearts entwined, Semantic sensing, a moment of gentle tremor. In that world belonging only to the two of us, Sharing an unparalleled experience. The sun warms the wine of years, We become one, merging into the velvet blue night. Speak softly love, only for the sky to hear, Entrusting this life, promising a lifetime, Our vow of love. My life belongs to you, because, You speak softly love, coming before me.

Daphne was all too familiar with these lyrics; wasn't this a soundtrack from that classic movie? Speak Softly Love, translated as Speak Softly Love.

Daphne didn't know, nor did she have the time to consider, whether these output lyrics were a projection of Michael's consciousness, or little Vito's, or perhaps a combined projection of father and son.

Perhaps, just as the lyrics said, in that world of Brain-Computer Fusion, there were only the father and son. Their thoughts and desires had already merged into one through the trembling sensors.

Vito's successful connection with the VESSEL did not bring joy to his parents. Michael removed his helmet and faced Daphne, knowing their focus was exactly the same: Vito's condition.

"Epilepsy."

&

Chapter-Ending Collected Poem:

Moving traces without stillness, nature's essence connects, Song, Zhao Bian

His heart and my mind are both the same. Yuan, Jia Zhongming

Since when have there been many with faces like yours? Tang, Wang Zun

Only now do I believe youth has not failed you. Song, Li Tao