Mei Yiqiu to her hotel suite, threw her coat on the hanger, and slumped heavily onto the sofa.
The three-day conference left him exhausted. Besides worrying about the difficult situation humanity was about to face, he also felt deeply that he was getting old.
Mei Yiqiu sighed as she recalled her youth, when she would work tirelessly in the laboratory for three to five days without rest.
That's not possible now. It's only been three days. In between, I not only had a few hours to rest in the lounge at the Bella Center, but I also enjoyed a massage from a professional therapist, which was specially arranged for the scientists by the conference organizing committee.
In addition to the more than sixty scientists who were initially kept in the second conference room on the third floor of the Bella Center, several high-ranking figures from different countries joined the meeting midway through, including government officials, intelligence chiefs, and senior military officers. This made the already very serious meeting even more tense, and also caused the meeting to slip out of the scientists' control.
Mei Yiqiu the involvement of politicians and military personnel. But he understood that it was unavoidable.
Lester said: Humanity is being invaded.
Although there is no evidence to date to prove that Mr. Lester's statement is true, nor can it be disproven, even mere suspicion goes beyond the scope of pure scientific inquiry.
This is a war.
The problem is, they can't find the enemy, nor can they organize effective resistance. If what Lester said is true, at least for now, there seems to be no better way than to spread Lester Signature throughout all of humanity.
But Lester Signature?
If even the scientific community cannot popularize it, how can ordinary people!
Mei Yiqiu was certain that if he were to conduct experiments among the doctoral and master's students he had supervised, no more than ten would be able to master the technique.
The Lester Cipher not only requires learning relevant professional knowledge, but also involves long-term, arduous mental training to develop conscious potential. It is a long and painful process.
They couldn't even complete a self-test for Lester Signature during these three days of meetings. Because if you don't understand the thought process of m•hetushu. com. com, you can't find his conscious location within the Mind Matrix.
To pinpoint consciousness, you must conduct an effective analysis of the signer's behavior throughout their life, including their thoughts, writings, habits, hobbies, and artistic abilities. The more research you do, the more accurate your understanding of consciousness will be.
These sixty-odd scientists were not all acquainted with each other.
Currently, the only way to select those who are certain to be safe and have not suffered any invasion is based on Lester's last words and the judgments of Dardova, Frank, and others regarding the recent behavior and academic achievements of familiar individuals.
Even so, they cannot guarantee absolute "safety".
As for the later non-academic representatives, some dull and others arrogant, Mei Yiqiu didn't know how to trust them.
They dismissed Lester Signature with disdain, and one guy even publicly clamored at the meeting, claiming it was a rumor about mind intrusion, that scientists were seeking self-affirmation and trying to attract the world's attention to get more funding for their labs from governments and capitalists.
Fortunately, at the end of the meeting, through the mediation of Frank and Frederick, everyone agreed to keep the matter confidential, and in principle, no one would be told except for those present and the leaders of various countries.
Mei Yiqiu had no confidence in this confidentiality agreement. Who knew who they would tell after they returned? Wouldn't those politicians and capitalists use this to stir up trouble? After all, they cared about nothing but votes and money.
Besides, who can guarantee that the same president still resides in the president's brain?
For the Mei Yiqiu felt helpless. To some extent, he even hoped that those clamoring non-scholars were right and that Lester had simply developed a mental breakdown in his later years.
But he knew the chances were extremely slim.
He understands Lester, the Thought Matrix Cipher, and Lester Signature. If Lester is schizophrenic, the translation Dardova makes after searching for the coordinates of consciousness will surely be an incomprehensible rambling.
Mei Yiqiu leaned back on the sofa, her heavy eyelids drooping.
He hadn't had a proper rest for three days and longed for sleep. But the presence of that Ghost intrusive consciousness kept him awake. He feared that if he fell asleep, he would never wake up again, or that when he did, he would no longer be himself.
Mei Ziqing came out of another room, glanced at the clock on the wall, yawned, and said, "Oh, Professor, you're finally back!"
She first poured the professor a glass of lemonade, then opened the refrigerator and took out several wrapped food containers, saying, "Are you hungry? I'll heat some up for you."
Mei Yiqiu said weakly, "Let the hotel deliver it."
Mei Ziqing insisted, " Copenhagen is full of cheese. Whether it's sushi, grilled meat, or seafood sandwiches, they all have cheese on them, like it's free here. I know you don't like cheese, so I specially ordered some dishes and snacks, and I added the seasonings myself. I just didn't know when you'd be back, so besides freezing the salmon, I had to change everything else every day. I've even gained weight from eating so much!"
While they were talking, Mei Ziqing had already prepared a plate of chilled salmon and heated a roasted rabbit leg in the microwave, carefully slicing the rabbit meat and arranging it on a plate.
"Would you like some wine?" Mei Ziqing asked, holding up a glass of red wine.
"No need, this is fine." Mei Yiqiu picked up the lemonade and took a sip. "I have a gathering with some old friends tomorrow, it'll probably last for several days. If you're free, you can go back to China first."
Mei Ziqing said, "That won't do. If I go back, who will take care of you if something happens?"
Mei Yiqiu didn't insist, smiled and said, "Alright, then go ahead and travel around. You don't need to do anything for me. I'll call you if anything comes up."
"Oh, by the way, here's a letter for you." Mei Ziqing handed an envelope to Mei Yiqiu.
Mei Yiqiu looked at it suspiciously and asked, "Where did the letter come from?"
Mei Ziqing said, "Yes, it was given to me by a very handsome man on the lawn outside the Bella Center that day. He said it was for you to open."
"A very, very handsome man?" Mei Yiqiu laughed. "There are very few men who would earn such praise from you!"
Mei Ziqing blushed and said shyly, "Yes, he really is very handsome."
"Didn't he say who he was?" Mei Yiqiu asked.
"He said his name Xingzhi, or you could call him Situ, but I don't know what his name is," Mei Ziqing said.
Mei Yiqiu paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered many years ago, when he had just left Princeton to return to China and establish his laboratory. At that time, a Chinese-American scientific genius had emerged in the United States, solving several well-known problems in mathematics and physics in just a few years. People generally believed that he would be Lester's successor.
Even Lester himself spoke of this young man to Mei Yiqiu, expressing his high regard for him and his hope that he could become his student.
But this man was elusive, appearing at Stanford one moment, MIT the next, and then at a youth forum in Cambridge. Yet, just as his fame was rising, he suddenly vanished like a fleeting moment.
Most people are familiar with his English name—Arthur Stone, the same name as a deceased mathematician. Only a very few know his Chinese name— Situ Xingzhi.
At first, people asked him about it, including Lester who emailed Mei Yiqiu to inquire whether the man was under government "protection".
Later, people gradually forgot about him. Mei Yiqiu hadn't heard any news about him for a long time; it must have been at least five years.
He opened the envelope, laid out the folded letter paper, and the first thing that caught his eye was a line of large characters—
Don't trust anyone!
Below this large text was a passage of smaller text written in clean blue ink.
Mei Yiqiu grew increasingly shocked as she read on. The text described a peculiar scientific concept: creating something invisible. It wasn't a virtual game or anything like that; it could track human consciousness. It was a... um... box?