The Small Self

65 million years ago, Venus.

Thousands of people gathered in the open space in front of the Venus Alliance Council building. Venus was a civilized society, and although the protesters were indignant, there were no violent incidents like clashes or vandalism.

The protesters' demand was to immediately halt the so-called salvation plan.

If the sky falls, everyone dies, but what if there's a miracle? They could not accept the active, artificial explosion of Mars.

According to the Rivenburg public security regulations and past practices, a demonstration of tens of thousands of people would normally involve hundreds of police officers to maintain order. To everyone's surprise, the number of police cars and officers maintaining order today was pitifully small.

The salvation plan had been underway for ten years, and the day of Mars' explosion was drawing nearer. The extraction of genes and the uploading of consciousness had progressed smoothly, with the vast majority of people supporting the salvation plan and an increasing number of individuals voluntarily uploading their consciousness while their bodies perished.

After the "First Come, First Served, First Dead Gentleman" act was passed, people scrambled to upload their consciousness as early as possible to obtain rebirth number plates with higher priority.

Those who refused to upload their consciousness and opposed the salvation plan were a tiny minority, but as time went on, their influence gradually gained the upper hand.

The Venus Alliance Council and the government were under increasing pressure. How could they appease these objectors and effectively maintain the last vestiges of order before Venus was consumed by fire?

Speaker Kent found himself in the spotlight. He appeared on the balcony of the second floor of the council building, directly facing the plaza, and communicated with the protesters through a loudspeaker.

Persuasion was a difficult task, and convincing thousands of people with different ideologies was an almost impossible mission. Speaker Kent understood that facing this crowd, talking about sacrificing the small self to save more people would not be effective.

Reasoning wouldn't work, so he had to try empathy. The old speaker began his speech:

"Brothers and sisters, I understand how you feel. I'll tell you a secret: as an old man who has lived for over 200 years, I feel the same way you do. From the bottom of my heart, I also oppose the artificial explosion of Mars."

The old speaker's opening remark caused the crowd to stir momentarily, then fall silent, filled with curiosity and anticipation for what he would say next.

"But as the Speaker of the Venus Alliance Council, I voted in favor of the Mars explosion plan. Because the one voting was not my small self. If it were you, facing the choice of whether Venusian humanity could continue, you would have done the same as me."

"There may be no absolute right or wrong in this world, but often, we have to make choices. You choose to refuse to upload your consciousness, to witness and accompany Venus in its final moments of fiery rebirth. I respect you. Here, I am greatly honored to announce and promise that I choose to stand with you. I will not upload my consciousness either; I will be with you until the very last moment."

The crowd stirred again, everyone shocked, but their reactions varied. Some genuinely admired the old speaker's frankness; his small self and the greater good were so divided, yet it seamlessly highlighted his great wisdom. Others grumbled in low voices, "What's the use of you standing with us?"

"I know some of you are thinking, what's the point even if you stand with us? I'm not here today to convince you, but to ask for your help. The vast majority of people have already uploaded their consciousness. As of today, including you, there are only a few hundred thousand living people left on Venus."

"What I need to ask for your help with today is this: since you have chosen to stay, please make another choice. This choice is, before the final moment arrives, which side will you stand on."

The crowd exchanged glances, seemingly not fully understanding the old speaker's meaning.

"Perhaps I haven't made myself clear. Below, I will announce a bill just passed by the Alliance Council. The bill is very brief: starting January 1st of next year, all existing laws of the Venus Alliance will officially become void. After that, there will only be one law, even shorter, just two words: dignity."

"I should be clear now. I am here today to divide those of you who have chosen to stay until the end, and myself, into two groups again. One group will choose dignity, and the other will choose the so-called freedom without restraint. Because the only law is dignity, those who do not choose dignity can be unrestrained, or rather, lawless."

"We don't need voting machines, nor do we need to raise our hands to vote. If you are willing to become the last guardians of Venus with me, then please shout with me—"

"Long live Venus! Uphold dignity!"

The emotions of the crowd surged, infecting each other, erupting into earth-shattering shouts:

"Long live Venus! Uphold dignity!"

Under the shade of the trees at the back of the plaza, a burly, sturdy man with his hands on his hips watched the old speaker expressionlessly. His name was Troy, an active-duty instructor at the Air Force training camp, and everyone called him Captain Troy.

Several of his subordinates who came with him gathered around him. One of them, a thin man, said to Troy, "Captain, what do we do now?"

Troy made a gesture to retreat and said, "This rabble is unreliable. They've been brainwashed so quickly. We're going to the spaceship base now. We'll act tonight."

Troy was not a man to leave things to fate. His reason for refusing to upload his consciousness was different from that of the protesters in the plaza. He had discovered an opportunity, or rather, a loophole in the salvation plan.

After the extraction of genes and the uploading of consciousness, the number of living people on Venus, Earth, and Mars plummeted, completely disrupting the public security system. Especially after the Mars explosion, only a handful of people hiding on ships beyond Jupiter's orbit would have a chance to survive.

Troy incited his subordinates, saying, "We'll seize a spaceship and hide beyond Jupiter's orbit first. After the Mars explosion, we'll fly back and occupy Earth. At that time, we will exclusively enjoy Earth's resources and establish a great dynasty."

Under the cover of night, piercing alarms echoed through the Venus spaceship base. A spaceship took off, leaving a faint blue-green trail behind it, heading towards Jupiter...

Before the final bill Speaker Kent mentioned was passed by the Venus Council, another reasonable application was approved. According to the salvation plan, Maria needed a group of volunteers for a cloning experiment, which was successful.

A legal dilemma then arose. Strictly speaking, this group of clones had no right to have their genes extracted, their consciousness uploaded, or to be cloned again after the Earth homeland was built. However, given the special contributions of these volunteers, the council decided to allow their clones an additional cloning opportunity.

Little Brahma and Little Vinu, considered the younger brother and sister of Cynthia, fell into this category. When Brahma and his wife Vinu received the news, they were happy for Cynthia's younger siblings, but then they remembered that Cynthia had neither the right nor the ability to upload her consciousness, which made them conflicted!

At the Tower Island base on Earth, Maria and Nikola Tesla felt great sympathy for the unfortunate couple. How could they comfort them? Everyone fell silent.

Vinu held her husband's hand, gazing at him affectionately. Brahma, with a telepathic connection, nodded at his wife. Vinu said to Maria, "Regardless, this is good news. Dr. Maria, please extract the genes and upload the consciousness of my younger siblings."

Maria seemed to understand the couple's decision but couldn't help but ask, "What about the two of you? You also have the right to upload your consciousness."

The couple looked at each other, their faces radiating a heart-wrenching, happy smile, and said in unison, "No need. We want to be with Cynthia until the end."

Nikola Tesla watched the live broadcast of the old speaker's speech on Earth and was deeply moved. People often say that Venusian humanity is always favored by heaven, which is why they are so resilient.

But who knew that it was precisely during times of hardship that heroic figures like Speaker Kent would sacrifice their small selves for the greater good, protecting Venusian humanity.

Suddenly, Tesla thought that the Victoria Power Station and the space elevator on Earth also needed to be manned and reinforced.

The problem was, at the time of the Mars explosion, although the impact point would be in Earth's Western Hemisphere, the Victoria region would not be directly affected. However, Earth would be enveloped in sulfurous toxic gas.

If someone were to be assigned to guard it, they would have to live in the sealed cabin of the space elevator, ninety thousand kilometers above the ground, in a confined environment for at least several decades.

On the encrypted video line connected to Venus, an alarm suddenly sounded with a "beep, beep." Everyone gathered around curiously. Maria read as she watched:

"WANTED:

Troy, Tulus, and others have hijacked a spaceship and fled Venus. Earth, Mars, and all space stations are requested to be vigilant and strengthen defenses."

Brahma looked at the photo on the wanted poster and exclaimed, "Troy? Before I retired, he was my company commander. How could he do something like this?"

Maria asked Tesla, "What are they going to do? Will they come to Earth to cause trouble?"

Tesla observed and calculated the spaceship's trajectory, saying, "They're heading for Jupiter."

Vinu breathed a sigh of relief and asked in confusion, "What are they going to Jupiter for? But, thankfully, their target isn't Earth."

"Their target is Earth, just not right now. They must want to occupy Earth when the Mars explosion happens and no one is guarding it," Tesla analyzed indignantly.

"Then what do we do? Should we send people to guard it? Earth is too big, where would we guard?" Maria asked anxiously.

"They hijacked a military spaceship, so they can't land directly on Earth. They can only dock with the space station at the space elevator. We need someone to guard the space capsule at the space station," Tesla said. "When they attack, the guard will be responsible for detonating the bomb, blowing up the intruders and the ship."

Brahma hugged Vinu and gently kissed her. He turned around, affectionately stroked Cynthia's hair, and said to Maria, "Dr. Maria, no matter what, please help Cynthia!"

Tesla seemed to understand Brahma's intention and was about to speak when Brahma preempted him, "Leave Troy and the others to me. I'm willing to be the guard, for my wife, my daughter, and everyone."

Vinu's eyes instantly welled up. Maria didn't know what to say for a moment. Brahma was resolute, then turned and smiled casually, saying, "It will definitely be lonely being alone in a confined space. Please help me design a fun virtual reality game."

Maria understood Brahma's feelings. She said to the family hugging each other, "Didn't the Speaker say that all laws will soon be invalid? Uploading Cynthia's consciousness only has technical obstacles left. Tesla and I will definitely find a way to help Little Cynthia."

&

Poem for Chapter Compilation:

Guests dispersed, the feast empty, I close the door alone. Tang, Bai Juyi

From two lands, the cloud paths, each speaks of returning home. Tang, Wei Zhuang

Next year, who will be healthy at this gathering? Tang, Du Fu

Fearing the red dust might fly through the sun's rays. Song, Shi Qingchen