Maybe it's because last night's weird dream was too absurd, or maybe it's simply not adapted to the tropical climate. Last night, Xiang Shan didn't sleep very well.

After brushing his teeth, Xiang Shan wanted to go to the cafeteria for breakfast. But when he walked out of the dormitory and crossed the first corner, he was startled.

He remembered that yesterday, there was only a 200-meter straight-line distance between the dormitory and the cafeteria.

And after one night, at a distance of 200 meters, rows of built houses appeared.

It's like a clump of mushrooms that grow overnight.

Many soldiers in military uniforms and blue helmets are delivering goods to these two- and three-story rooms. Those are assembleable office furniture, mostly high-strength synthetic materials, cheap and lightweight.

"Wow, efficiency is terrible." Xiang Shan nodded unconsciously: "Has the technology related to human construction reached this point?" ”

At this time, Xiang Shan's new mobile phone suddenly sounded.

"Hello, Researcher Xiangshan. Please arrive at the Rama Special Project Engineering Research Center before 8:30 a.m. ”

This paragraph was sent in Chinese, English, and concentrated characters that Xiang Shan did not recognize. There is also a satellite map showing the location of the dormitory and the location of the destination.

For breakfast, bread and mashed potatoes were still served, and the meat was replaced with sausages, as well as eggs and quiches. Xiang Shan didn't have a problem with the peppery mashed potatoes, but he felt that he was starting to miss the boiled noodles.

The Rama Special Project Engineering Research Center at the destination is a small three-story building that was built this morning – or rather, it now has only three walls, and one wall is still unsealed. The building covers an area of almost a thousand square meters. The first floor appears to have been arranged as some sort of experimental site. Technicians in military uniforms are setting up structures to isolate dust and laying special power lines.

Xiang Shan glanced twice and found that there seemed to be room for large equipment in the plan on the first floor. The fact that the walls were not sealed is probably due to this kind of consideration. Once the big instruments were in place, they would seal the walls.

Xiang Shan met Liu Zhenghui at the door. The master and apprentice followed the instructions together and went to the second floor of the research center.

The second floor appears to be an office area. The basic wiring and audio-visual playback equipment have been installed, and a few men in military uniforms are quickly assembling desks and chairs. David Klein was at the front of the crowd. Behind him was a freshly assembled desk, as well as several printers running at full speed. A few civilian-looking soldiers were quickly stapling together the printed contents and placing them on their desks.

Xiang Shan felt that the synthetic materials that made up this desk were moaning in pain.

Lao Liu sighed: "Tut, the construction of our national team of young scholars has not kept up." The average age here is under 40. ”

Xiang Shan nodded: "Well, our average age is below the average age, which is the average age here." ”

"I feel old in an instant." Lao Liu pondered a question: "Why do you say that the scholars sent by the United States are obviously younger?" Is it because of this project, do you need to find some people who are more accepting of aliens to do it? Or is it more imaginative...... That's not right. Growing up reading works from the golden age of science fiction, it's almost our generation, right? ”

This is a little different from the "meeting" imagined by Xiang Shan. There was still a commotion around. The words of the master and apprentice will not attract anyone's attention.

Since some of the military are still assembling office furniture, the space is a little cramped. The central air conditioning has not yet been installed, and only a few high-power fans are promoting air convection. In this environment, the hot and humid weather in Southeast Asia is doubly tormenting.

Xiang Shan felt that this meeting smelled of sweat.

"Yo, work, meet again......" David Klein beckoned to the mountain, "I remember you...... You were ...... yesterday Yesterday was ......"

"I'm sitting next to the laughing dude." Xiang Shan hurriedly stretched out his hand and shook hands with this one.

"Oh, yes. That dude should go to the Department of Anthropological Analysis. David nodded: "You're also in charge of engineering analysis, right?" What field did you study before? Aerospace technology or electronic technology? ”

Lao Liu hurriedly squeezed over: "We are together." We are all from Tsinghua University, and we originally made hardware. ”

David Klein held out his hand: "David Klein, who was introduced yesterday, is from NASA. ”

"Liu Zhenghui. This is my student to the mountain. Lao Liu took over the conversation: "What are you doing now?" Why didn't anyone come to preside over the meeting? ”

"Don't you know? In this special project, the research department has considerable freedom of action. "This is unprecedented, so researchers have more say than all other bureaucrats...... In addition, in a sense, the traditional academic ecology is not suitable for such a special project, and there is no experience in dealing with this kind of thing, can you understand? ”

The core of this kind of research is the word "money." No matter what kind of cat or dog you are, as long as you can find a "manager" who is willing to burn money for your dreams, then you can set up a research project that you lead. And within this project, you have the authority to say what you say – all the way to the outcome.

The relationship between students and tutors is not a "teacher-student" in the modern education system. It is even closer to the apprenticeship system of the old society, the contract labor. A student's future can largely be determined by the will of the individual tutor, rather than by the education system itself.

But the Rama Special Project has a completely different and special background. The establishment of projects within this project cannot be decided by any one person or one country. The distribution of rights and interests involved in it may have a real impact on the world.

"All the bureaucrats are accusing other bureaucrats of being unprofessional at all, that other people's interference is unreasonable. There is also controversy among scholars. A lot of people don't want to be appointed by the bureaucracy, and the guy who ...... 'not as good as me on the resume' becomes the leader. David Klein said: "On the other hand, most of the world's experts who have access to the 'Ogon 'Ogon intelligence' are here. Even if the big countries leave some consultants, the degree of professionalism is not as good as those of us who are on the front line. ”

"So for now, we have autonomy."

Xiang Shan pointed to the desk behind David: "This is ......"

"Papers of members of the Engineering Research Center." "A lot of people here come from different countries and have a very limited understanding of each other," David said. So I thought it would be a good idea to read other people's papers first to improve our understanding. We also applied for a party that was set up in a department of the cafeteria and a half. It's just that now the canteen is only temporary, and it doesn't have such conditions, so the application was rejected. ”

Xiang Shan smacked his tongue: "You people in the United States are quite extroverted......"

"Oh yes, the guys from the information and security department just wrote a rudimentary chat program, have you added it now?"

David said as he took out his mobile phone: "Yesterday, a few buddies got together and wrote a very simple gadget. ”

Lao Liu was a little worried: "Is this allowed?" ”

This thing was not released through official channels, which made him hesitate a little.

"Huh?" David was a little strange: "What? ”

"I mean, isn't this kind of private chat software banned?"

"Not really." David Klein sighed: "They just blocked the Internet, so all the chat software out there was no work." The servers of this new chat software are under the supervision of the United Nations and are completely legal. ”

Lao Liu said strangely: "Then why don't you notify everyone to download the software?" ”

"Why? Is this a voluntary tool? David asked rhetorically, "There's no need to download it at the moment, right?" ”

Hearing this, Lao Liu was a little relieved. David used Bluetooth to pass the installation package to the two, which was only a few hundred KB in size. This size makes people feel quite safe. Lao Liu did not install it as soon as possible, but planned to go back and ask the cadres before making a decision.

Xiang Shan wanted to see if he could find a tool to disassemble and see the code.

The two didn't install it in the first place, and David Klein is not surprised. In classified projects, it's normal to have concerns about this kind of thing. "In principle, the use of real names is advocated, but it's not mandatory — well, that's someone else's paper," he said. ”

Xiang Shan and Lao Liu each got several kilograms of paper. David was also enthusiastic to find a brown paper bag to help the two of them pack it.

"Alright man." David Klein handed the brown paper bag in his hand to Lao Liu and said, "Of course, reading papers is not the only way for scholars to communicate. My personal suggestion is to take advantage of the fact that the big guys are still free to talk...... Of course, it's not limited to here, it's better to be able to go somewhere else. God, it's a terrible weather. ”

He said as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

Xiang Shan turned his head and wanted to go to the cafeteria, drinking some cold drinks while reading the paper - the juice and soda in the cafeteria can be added with ice cubes by yourself. He needs this now.

Lao Liu grabbed him: "Stop, this is a great opportunity to meet peers from all over the world!" ”