Chapter 490 Cycles on the Moon
"Oh! The astronauts are alright!" "The aliens are here again!" "They've gone back!" "The aliens are here again!" "They've gone back again..." In front of the television, countless viewers were watching the rebroadcast of the moon's live broadcast. The host, Mike, was doing his best to be emotionally charged as he narrated off-screen. At first, he truly was; every word was full of feeling, and even the slightest change in tone could stir the viewers' hearts, making them involuntarily worry about the astronauts who were fighting aliens on the moon, walking a tightrope. But even the most fervent emotions couldn't withstand the wear and tear of mechanical repetition. Swarm attacks, the astronauts retreat, another swarm attacks, another retreat... This repetition was fine once or twice, but after a while, even the best narrator couldn't avoid the inevitable wear and tear. "Becoming an emotionless machine." "Ah, the aliens are coming out of the cave again." "Ah, the astronauts have left again..." The host, Mike, narrated listlessly, glancing at his watch; at least an hour had passed. He had repeated these two sentences over and over, in various formats, a dozen or twenty times. Looking back on his decades of life, he had never been so speechless. Even the audience was beginning to feel that this human-versus-alien drama was different from what they had imagined. It seemed like a turn-based game, an endless loop of a dead end, with neither side able to gain the upper hand. Every time the Swarm emerged, the astronauts would leave; when the Swarm returned to the cave, the astronauts would emerge again. Both sides maintained extremely high Tao Te standards, never resorting to sneak attacks. Quite gentlemanly. But... how can it be so boring? 'Just end this already, I really don't know what to say anymore!' The host's inner scream went unheard, but the voice from NASA's center reached Washington. "Mr. Fox, we are quite certain that in the past hour, the lunar orbit has corrected itself several times, and all of these occurred when aliens appeared on the lunar surface." "... Director Hutchings, please tell me directly, what does this mean?" Hutchings paused, looking at Fowler beside him. Fowler leaned closer and said into the microphone, "This means that the lunar orbital deviation is indeed closely related to aliens, what they say may be true!" "That suspicious alien life is affecting the moon's rotation; only by getting it out of the moon's interior can the lunar orbit..." "It can return to its correct orbit." Fox's tone rose. "So how much has the lunar orbit corrected? Will it still collide with Earth?" Fowler paused for a moment, then decided to tell the truth, "Perhaps my description is incorrect. I must clarify that the lunar orbit correction was not successful; more accurately, it was merely an attempt to correct the orbit." "As long as that alien life form returns to the interior of the moon, its orbit correction will cease, so so far, the situation hasn't changed much." "So what do you think we should do?" "... Destroy it, or prevent it from returning to the interior of the moon. In fact, I received an email from a chief engineer on the other side mentioning a classified electromagnetic pulse weapon..." Before Fowler could finish speaking, Fox interrupted him forcefully, "I understand, I'll consider it." Beep!
"The aliens are here again!"
"They went back!"
"The aliens are here again!"
"They went back again..."
In front of the television.
Countless viewers are watching the reposted live stream from the moon, and host Mike is doing his best to convey emotion while providing off-screen commentary.
At the beginning, he was indeed like that; every word he spoke was full of emotion, and even the slightest change in tone could touch the audience's heartstrings, making them involuntarily worry about the astronauts who were fighting aliens on the moon and walking on a knife's edge.
But even the strongest emotions cannot withstand the wear and tear of repetitive, mechanical processes.
Swarm attacks, the astronauts retreat, another swarm attacks, another retreat...
Repeating this once or twice is fine, but if it happens too often, even the best presenter will inevitably become a heartless machine.
"Ah, the aliens have come out of the cave again."
"Ah, the astronauts have left again..."
The host, Mike, gave a listless explanation, glancing at his watch; at least an hour had passed.
He repeated those two sentences over and over again, in various forms, a dozen or twenty times.
Looking back on his life over the past few decades, he had never been so speechless as he was today.
Even the audience began to feel that this human vs. alien drama was not what they had imagined.
Why does this feel like a turn-based game?
Moreover, it's an endless, deadlocked situation where neither side can break the other's grip. Every time the Swarm emerges, the astronauts leave, and when the Swarm returns to the cave, the astronauts emerge again.
Both sides have very high Tao Te standards and never resort to sneak attacks, demonstrating a gentlemanly demeanor.
But... why is it so boring?
'I just want this to end quickly, I really don't know what to say anymore!'
No one could hear the host's inner screams, but the voice from NASA's headquarters reached all the way to Washington.
"Mr. Fox, we are quite certain that the lunar orbit has righted itself several times in the past hour, and all of these occurred when extraterrestrials appeared on the lunar surface."
"... Chief Hutchings, please tell me directly, what does this mean?"
Hutchings paused for a moment and looked at Fowler beside him.
Fowler leaned closer and said into the microphone, "This means that lunar orbital deviation is indeed closely related to extraterrestrial life; what they're saying might be true!"
"That suspicious extraterrestrial life form is affecting the moon's orbit. Only by removing it from the moon's interior can its orbit return to its correct path."
Fox's tone rose. "So how much has the moon's orbit corrected? Will it still collide with Earth?"
Fowler paused for a moment, then decided to tell the truth, "Perhaps my account is incorrect, but I must clarify that the attempt to align the moon's orbit was unsuccessful; more accurately, it was merely an attempt to align it."
"Once that alien life form returns to the interior of the moon, its orbital readjustment will cease, so for now, the situation hasn't changed much."
So what do you think we should do?
"... Destroy it, or prevent it from returning to the moon's interior. In fact, I received an email from a chief engineer on the other side mentioning a classified electromagnetic pulse weapon..."
Before Fowler could finish speaking, Fox interrupted Fox forcefully, "I understand, I'll consider it."
beep!
The call was disconnected.
President Zhang, dressed in a spacesuit, yawned widely at the deep hole in front of him.
Playing hide-and-seek with the Swarm for over an hour would get boring for anyone.
But Swarm are clearly not people.
Because it doesn't get bored.
The astronauts, including an AI technology expert, stared at the screen, which showed that the swarm of Swarm that had just returned to the lunar core was rushing out again, only seventeen kilometers from the lunar surface.
He couldn't help but wonder:
Is this thing really a super AI?
"I feel like it's just a programmed component; it doesn't have any intelligence at all."
The others also agreed with this statement.
If this Swarm truly possesses intelligence, wouldn't it eventually sense something's wrong after being walked around like a dog for an hour?
Zhang Tianyuan speculated, "It's possible that this is indeed just a relatively simple weapon from an alien civilization."
Based on just over an hour of contact, the performance of this swarm of Swarm was extremely poor, completely disproportionate to a superweapon capable of destroying a galactic civilization.
Of course, this "poor" only refers to its level of intelligence.
The technology of Swarm is extremely advanced.
At least the question of why it can fly in a vacuum remains unanswered by experts from various time periods within the Mutual Aid Society.
"That concludes the video footage collection. We need to prepare for evacuation."
Zhang Tianyuan put away the camera and reviewed the footage of the Swarm he had previously captured, finding that the footage was long enough for his research.
The remaining personnel also packed up the other equipment on the lunar surface. Thanks to the fact that the gravity on the moon is only one-sixth that of Earth, the work was carried out very easily.
As the Swarm broke through the cave entrance once again, baring their fangs and claws at the group, Zhang Tianyuan waved goodbye to them.
It disappeared on the moon in the next instant.
As before, the Swarm, having lost their target, paused for a few seconds, then searched again to make sure there was no life before burrowing back into the large hole next to them.
"Uh... they've gone back now, but maybe they'll be back in a few minutes. Let's wait and see."
As Mike watched the live broadcast, he sighed inwardly, blaming himself. This was supposed to be a groundbreaking event, so how could he have acted so unprofessionally, Mike!
Not to mention the host, even the viewers in front of the TV couldn't help but yawn.
"That poor alien is so pathetic."
"It was like an idiot, going in and out of the moon for a whole hour..."
My dog is a hundred times smarter than that!
Everyone else was bored, except for Brian and Houseman, who maintained great enthusiasm from beginning to end. They wanted to analyze every single frame of the live stream.
Brian was so excited in his rented apartment that he paced around dozens of times before immediately pulling out his phone to call a former colleague. As soon as the call connected, he couldn't wait to speak:
"Aliens really exist. I wasn't just making things up before; everyone wronged me. I was persecuted by NASA!"
"Those people deliberately framed me!"
"I must make them pay the price!!!"
(End of this chapter)