Interlude: Void Past

When you gaze long into the void, the void gazes also into you.

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--Observer's Diary

Amidst the boundless, endless darkness floated a cluster of colorless, formless phantom shadows.

Its existence resembled a three-dimensional "blank sheet of paper." Its fractured edges looked as though they had been ripped from some book, kneaded into a ball, and shoved into a pool of ink so viscous it was nearly solidified, blending completely with the surrounding environment.

In this void where even gravity and time were swallowed, there should not have existed "matter" of any form, nor should there have existed a megastructure with a nearly complete morphology, requiring no convergence of gravitational fields—a space ready to move into simply by carrying a bag.

Yet within this torn space, such an unnatural "thing" truly and genuinely existed.

Even...

They were still alive.

Within the torn space.

Observation Station A-01722.

Two vague, contourless phantoms floated in a pure white space, conducting the routine communications necessary for their daily work using their special language that required no vocalization.

"A sample from Civilization A-01722."

"Open it and take a look."

"Received."

Generally speaking, no information could be transmitted from within the void to the outside. This was a place banished outside the universe, much like a wastepaper basket.

Yet in the face of wisdom and technology, exceptions existed to everything.

Through certain special means, they were not only able to transmit limited and necessary information to the universe outside the void, but under specific circumstances, they could even copy some special samples from beside the observed subjects to analyze what form their civilization was in and what stage it was currently at.

For those of them assigned the observation task, this was a matter of great importance.

Depending on the specific circumstances, they would grant these observed subjects a certain degree of assistance. This assistance served on the one hand as remuneration for the experiment, and on the other hand as a necessary means to elevate the technological level of the observed primitive civilization.

As for why they bothered with such troublesome matters...

Probably only they themselves knew.

To return to the matter at hand.

The sample copied this time from the observed subjects of Civilization A-01722 was shaped similar to a black square brick.

From its appearance, it possessed a surface as smooth as a mirror, just like a handicraft crafted from clear, translucent colored glaze. If taken to a place like an auction, it would undoubtedly attract the attention of quite a few collectors.

In their distant memories, the shadow of such a thing seemed to have existed within their own civilization.

That was when the old universe had not yet withered.

That was when they had not yet walked into space, when they still needed to build houses on the dirt.

[Internal structure analysis in progress.]

[Analysis complete.]

[Building hypothesis rejected. Based on the internal structure, the judgment result is a communication tool.]

Facing the projection floating in midair, one of the void observers issued a command to the research-assistant AI lifeform.

"Render the details."

[Details are being rendered...]

For the observation tools of the void observers, analyzing a tool from a primitive civilization was a matter of mere moments.

Soon, detailed data was presented before the two void observers.

[Judgment clue: Nanoscale integrated circuits exist in Sample 012 with a 7nm manufacturing process. Horizontally comparing the integrated circuits in Sample 008, the manufacturing process is improved by 3nm, energy efficiency is increased by 28%, crystal density is increased by 64%, and comprehensive performance is increased by 73%... It is inferred that Civilization A-01722 is currently in the early space age, with a communication technology level of 0.74, which is higher than the overall baseline value of 0.73.]

"It actually has 0.74?"

One of the void observers showed a rare expression of surprise.

Ever since they began observing A-01722, they had successfully raised the civilization level from the primitive value of 0.72 to 0.73. Through their influence on the observed subjects, the levels of certain technologies had even been raised to a degree infinitely close to 1.

From this perspective, the level of 0.74 in itself did not seem to be anything worth marveling at.

Yet what was astonishing was that in recorded experiments, they had never output communication technology to the observation targets, nor had they carried out enlightenment on technology in this field through indirect means; yet now, a communication tool 0.02 technological levels higher than the primitive value had been observed...

I must say, this was quite unusual, to the extent that he felt it necessary to write this matter into a report and escalate it to the higher-level research units.

One of the void observers asked.

"Chip material?"

[Confirmed to be silicon-based.]

It was actually a silicon-based chip?

Pondering for a second, that void observer continued to issue orders.

"Render the judgment criteria."

Soon, pale-blue holographic panels flickered, and the research AI quickly displayed the scoring logic before the two of them.

[Covering full-scenario computing architecture from 0.1 watt to 100 watts; compared to contemporary communication tools, significantly improves AI computing power per unit of power consumption +0.01]

[Adopts a special NPU architecture, which can serve as a cloud computing terminal to provide cloud computing support for external devices such as autonomous driving vehicles and smart wearables within the atmospheric environment of the early space age +0.05]

[Relatively forward-looking design concept +0.05]

So that was how it was...

After reading the contents of the report, that void observer revealed an understanding expression.

If it was like this, then it made sense.

Taking the planet-wide comprehensive informational coverage as the baseline of level 1, the attempts they made in the field of cloud computing could already be called a good start.

"As expected of the seed we chose, Civilization A-01722 has once again exceeded our expectations."

"It's still too early to draw conclusions."

"This isn't drawing a conclusion, just a hypothesis."

"Well, that makes sense."

The two void observers seemed to fall into thought simultaneously.

This communication achieved synchronization under a special force field, and massive information streams were shared between them.

"Very interesting. They created an architecture codenamed Da Vinci, connecting the NPU, CPU, and GPU into a matrix, greatly enhancing the computing power of the entire system."

"What is its use?"

"Their civilization has a thing called games, which can bring joy to individuals of the civilization and a limited degree of prosperity to the civilization as a whole. And compared to other devices of the same type, its series of hardware and software technological combination punches—Kirin 810, GPU Turbo 3.0, and Kirin Gaming+—make playing games faster, the graphics smoother, and bring more fun."

"Enviable... How long has it been since we lost the emotion of joy?"

"I don't know. Probably lost together with 'envy'."

After about five minutes, one of the observers "spoke" and said.

"Proposal: send a Hall Thruster containing carbon-based integrated circuit technology as remuneration for communication and experiment."

"Agreed."

Receiving the orders of the two, the research-level AI lifeform immediately executed the command.

"I think it's good."

"Agreed. I believe the observed subjects of A-01722 can make proper use of it."

Both researchers cast uncontroversial, affirmative votes, and the research-level AI lifeform had already recorded it in the archives.

If no accidents occurred.

When the time was ripe, it would proactively project it into the world where the observed subjects resided through special technological means... just as it had done countless times before.

The experimental report had been submitted to the superior unit.

The experiment at the current stage temporarily came to a close.

All that remained was to archive the replica in the form of information, preserve it in the database like a cultural relic, and then return the mass borrowed from the void, preparing for the next round of experiments.

Dwellingly examining that black "brick," one of the conscious entities existing within the phantom shadow suddenly revealed a trace of an emotion that had long since become distant and unfamiliar to them, and "spoke" to ask.

"Does it have a name?"

Catching this strange and faint emotional fluctuation, the other observer paused slightly and replied.

"It probably does... But in this void, does a thing like a name have any meaning?"

"No, just satisfying my curiosity."

Curiosity...

That truly was a distant concept.

Perhaps on that timeline when the new universe had not yet been born and the old universe had not yet perished, this so-called curiosity had already withered away along with the spark of their civilization.

Even though their thinking still did not stop...

Perhaps they were touched.

The conscious entity wrapped within the phantom shadow uttered no words, merely turning to face the instrument behind it.

Under the traction of a certain power still too mysterious for Earth's civilization, the space and time on the instrument began to distort, and the neatly arranged parts began to reassemble along the trajectory of their disassembly, once again forming that complete black brick.

Slowly floating to the side of that black square brick, a dark cyan tentacle split from the phantom shadow and gently touched the screen.

Like a fingertip lightly touching the surface of a lake.

Rings of pale-blue light particles swept across the pitch-black, crystal-clear mirror surface like expanding ripples.

Endowed with energy, it began to boot up, and a line of blue text on a white background was presented on the screen.

"What is written on it?"

The observer who endowed it with energy remained silent for a moment. Under the effect of a force field still too mysterious for Earth's civilization, the inert gas soaking around the two observers suddenly emitted vibrations with frequencies between 100Hz and 10000Hz.

This was a very primitive way of communication.

However, for primitive civilizations below tier 3 that had not yet broken free from base pursuits, it was quite popular.

"Honor 9X..."

"In the language of civilization A-01722, it's probably pronounced like this."

After waiting for a few dozen seconds, the phone's home screen appeared. The observer casually tapped an icon on the touchscreen, bringing up the scenery inside the pure white space, and he began to realize this might be the phone's camera function.

Curiously, he tapped an icon in the bottom right corner, and a tiny lens actually rose up, showing his face on the screen.

"Start detection."

[Details are being rendered...]

48-megapixel, 1/2-inch ultra-large sensor, ISO light sensitivity 102400...