August 2032, Rocket City, Bright Nation
Michael Max was both a genius and impatient.
He greatly admired Shakespeare's famous line: "On the great clock of time, there is but one word—Now."
He couldn't wait to mobilize the entire production chain and produce a computer built entirely on a ternary architecture and components. For security reasons, he hadn't outsourced the prototype's production to a contract manufacturer, either.
Michael's own laboratory had no extreme ultraviolet lithography machine (EUV) for manufacturing chips below 7 nanometers. It only had a 28-nanometer deep ultraviolet lithography machine (DUV).
Michael certainly couldn't produce computing chips below 7 nanometers, but the advantages of a ternary architecture made up for that shortcoming very well. Thanks to ternary computing, 28-nanometer chips outperformed 7-nanometer—and even sub-7-nanometer—binary chips in metrics such as computing efficiency and power consumption.
Using a Ternary chip and a conversion protocol to connect with binary applications on a computer, Michael had built a computer with a hybrid number system. He couldn't wait to upgrade and replace his external brain, VESSEL.
After testing confirmed that the combined thinking capacity of Michael and VESSEL had increased dramatically, Daphne arrived, leading little Vito, who had just learned to walk, over to join in.
Both excited and nervous, Michael wore an unusually apprehensive expression as he told Daphne, "I've been trying hard not to think about the question I most want answered."
"Will the Superlight Wave Power Station cause Mars to explode?" Daphne said, understandingly. "Do you remember our son Vito's unusual brain structure? I suggest you connect to VESSEL with Vito."
Little Vito was bewildered. With Daphne's help, he put on a specially made helmet. Once Michael was ready, he turned on the equipment. His brain waves instantly linked up with his son and his external brain, VESSEL.
Daphne stared intently