65 million years ago, the Solar System
Dean Abbott led a vast fleet of ships from Venus to Earth's geostationary orbit. One of the ships docked with the space tug towering above the Victoria region.
Abbott entered the cabin, where Brahma, stationed there, was waiting for him. The two already knew each other, and their reunion after being separated by thousands of miles made them feel especially close.
"Brahma, why have you gone so pale? Is it because you can't get any sunlight in this confined space?" Abbott asked.
Brahma smiled a little awkwardly and said warmly, "Dean Abbott, welcome to Earth. Tesla and Maria are waiting for you below."
Abbott put on his specialized gear and was about to step through the elevator doors when he noticed a transparent incubator in one corner of the cramped cabin. A baby was sleeping peacefully inside.
Abbott thought that Brahma might have to remain stationed here for decades. Maria must have feared he would get too lonely, so she had cloned a baby for him.
Abbott held back his curiosity and didn't ask where the baby had come from. At this point, there was no need to worry about laws or ethical concerns.
The old friends Nikola Tesla and Abbott embraced tightly. Maria stood nearby, her eyes bright with excitement, though she could barely hide her nervousness at the approach of this momentous occasion.
Tesla told Abbott, "Preparations on Earth have been completed according to plan. The two Superlight Wave Power Stations on Tower Island and in the Victoria Wetlands are operating normally. The magma and tectonic plates beneath the crust are moving faster, and the plan to reshape the surface has a good chance of succeeding."
"Did you see Brahma just now?" Maria said meaningfully. "We assigned him to guard the space cabin and prevent Troy and the others from taking over Earth decades from now."
Tesla pointed to a computer and a cryogenic storage unit nearby. "Apart from us and the relevant staff, everyone else stationed on Earth has completed the extraction of their genetic material and uploaded their consciousness."
"My experimental clones from back then, as well as Vinu, Cynthia's mother, have entered a safe underground cavern. They have plenty of food, water, and oxygen, and they'll wait for us to return," Maria added.
The fleet set off again. Tesla and Abbott reviewed the course and flight schedule in the ship's central control room, while Maria watched Earth gradually recede on the monitor, her feelings complicated.
The blue planet was veiled in wispy white clouds. Two Superlight Wave Power Stations, each 180,000 kilometers tall, pierced the clouds and stretched into space.
Maria imagined what Earth would look like in the future. North of Tower Island, the planet's tallest mountain would "grow" from the ground, while the Victoria Wetlands would rise into a plateau.
The arc-shaped rifts on either side would become the longest rift valleys of any planet in the Solar System. Rainwater would gather there, forming barrier lakes that would feed into the longest river on Earth.
The fleet reached Mars. Tesla and Abbott inspected the final preparations there, with Maria accompanying them. Colonel Feynman, head of the Mars base, welcomed the group.
The Mars Superlight Wave Power Station had been built in the crater of Olympus Mons. Though the enormous volcano was extinct, the mantle beneath it was the thinnest.
The metal core encased by the mantle had become searing lava under intense heat and pressure. As Mars rotated, it churned and swirled like hot oil in a pressure cooker.
The scheduled time for the Mars explosion was one year away. But from the very beginning of the planning, Tesla and Abbott had faced a thorny problem: Mars was a natural planet, not a machine.
In theory, the steady heating of the core by Superluminal waves would inevitably cause Mars to explode, but it was difficult to predict exactly when.
The timing had to be precise. The fragments flying toward Earth needed to strike the MAYA region on the far side of Tower Island, not the Superlight Wave Power Stations on Tower Island or in the Victoria Wetlands.
At the same time, Titan had to be positioned just behind Saturn to ensure the safety of Tesla and the others, as well as their equipment.
How could they solve this problem? Someone had to remain on Mars to precisely control and adjust the energy fed into the planet at the right moments. Intelligent robots couldn't handle the problem of identifying the critical point for a Mars explosion without any prior data.
As a soldier, Colonel Feynman had volunteered long ago for this "suicide" mission.
According to the plan, Feynman would lead the intelligent robots and remain on duty until the final moment before Mars exploded. He would be unable to upload his consciousness—and, of course, he would not survive.
Colonel Feynman wore his military uniform with a handsome, upright bearing. He warmly welcomed Abbott and the others. There was no despair or fear on his face, only resolve and pride.
Tesla took an electric helicopter around the crater of Olympus Mons to observe the changes in the geological structure across an area hundreds of kilometers wide.
The plateau's rock structure was stable, reinforced by piles embedded nearly ten thousand meters underground, like "expansion bolts." Above the crater, the 180,000-kilometer-tall Superlight Wave Power Station reached into space. Because it was longer than the wavelength of the Superluminal waves, it was struck by them, and vast amounts of energy poured continuously into the Martian core.
Back at the base's administrative building, Colonel Feynman told Abbott and Tesla, "Progress at our Mars base has been fairly smooth. The Superlight Wave Power Station is injecting energy steadily, and we expect to reach the critical point in a year."
"The window for the Mars explosion is very narrow. The margin of error can't exceed two hours. You've spent more than ten years building and operating the Superlight Wave Power Station, and you've become the person who knows Mars best. The success or failure of the entire plan rests on you," Abbott said, clasping Colonel Feynman's hands.
Tesla added, "The period just before the explosion is the most critical. You'll need to make decisions on the fly. The program we've prepared for you can only serve as an aid, because no one has ever blown up Mars before, and there are too many unknown variables."
"In a year, before Mars explodes, the fleet will be near Saturn, 1.2 billion kilometers from Mars. A one-way communication will take more than an hour. In the final moments, Saturn will lie between you and our base on Titan, cutting off all communication. You'll have to control everything by yourself."
Colonel Feynman showed no fear. He even looked relaxed as he said, "Now I finally understand why you suggested to the Alliance that it take ten years to train a soldier to become an engineer. This job requires courage above all, not just expertise."
Colonel Feynman had never met Maria. When he learned that this short, slightly plump woman was the famous cloning expert, he felt both honored and curious.
The last group of staff at the Mars base had completed their genetic extractions and consciousness uploads. Maria should have been aboard the ship, safeguarding the genetic samples. Why had she come to the Mars base?
Nikola Tesla seemed to read Colonel Feynman's thoughts and explained, "Colonel, your willingness to make this sacrifice has moved us all. After ten years of work, Maria and I have made a breakthrough that can help you. You'll have the same chance to be reborn as everyone else."
Colonel Feynman froze for a moment, then asked, "You mean I can upload my consciousness, leaving only robots at the Mars base?"
Tesla shook his head. "The decisions and operations before the Mars explosion are full of uncertainties. Traditional intelligent robots can't handle them. That's why I said we had to leave at least one person behind—you, our brave colonel."
"Robots alone won't do, and once I upload my consciousness, my body will lose the ability to act, as if I were dead," Colonel Feynman said in confusion. "You said traditional robots. Have you built a nontraditional kind?"
Tesla looked at Maria, who picked up the explanation. "Yes, we've built a nontraditional robot, also called a living robot. It has a carbon-silicon hybrid brain made by connecting human brain tissue to a chip."
The process for applying Tesla and Maria's living-robot plan to Colonel Feynman was as follows: first, his genes would be extracted and his consciousness uploaded, just like everyone else's. After the colonel "died," some of his brain tissue would be connected to a chip to make a biological computer that would serve as the robot's brain. Finally, part of Colonel Feynman's consciousness would be downloaded into the living robot's brain.
Traditional robots could also receive downloaded consciousness. The problem was that when all of an ordinary person's consciousness was downloaded into a computer, it would require enormous amounts of memory. Running it would also take tremendous amounts of power. Worse still, the computer would inevitably be so large that it couldn't be made humanoid or move with agility.
A living biological computer made from human brain tissue connected to a chip was small and energy-efficient. A living robot could both think and move. Although it couldn't contain all of Colonel Feynman's consciousness and emotions, it could easily be given the thought modules and sensory and motor abilities needed to carry out the mission.
This was the first time Colonel Feynman had heard of living intelligent robots. He realized it was a solution that offered the best of both worlds: he could upload his consciousness and await rebirth, while his "double" completed the mission.
Still, he had some reservations. "A living robot sounds really cool, but is the technology reliable? Have you tested it?"
"Yes. I've already successfully built a living intelligent robot on Earth. In that case, the robot needed to survive much longer than you do. Your brain tissue only needs to survive for over a year, so there shouldn't be a problem."
Colonel Feynman was finally reassured. He embraced Abbott and Tesla, bidding them a final farewell.
Maria and her assistants accompanied Colonel Feynman into the sterile operating room. They extracted his genes and uploaded his consciousness, then joined part of his brain tissue to a specially designed computer about the size of a human brain.
Abbott and Tesla waited outside the whole time. After what seemed like forever, the operating room door opened.
Colonel Feynman came out alongside Maria, dressed in his uniform, wearing leather shoes and white gloves.
Tesla knew that the being before him was a living intelligent robot—Colonel Feynman's "double." Abbott examined the colonel closely, as if inspecting Maria's "handiwork."
The living robot's face was clearly made of highly realistic synthetic skin. Abbott noticed that its movements and facial expressions were nearly impossible to distinguish from a real person's. Only the skin on its face looked slightly unnatural: it had no color in it and was a little pale.
& A poem assembled from lines:
Forever sinking underground, Qing, Qian Zai
This remnant life follows the world's karma. Ming, Song Dengchun
Even now, I have not forgotten myself. Yuan, Li Junmin
I must again transform into this body. Ming, Wang Zuo
Before you continue