Short story "Countdown" (Part I)

Therefore, a short story turned out of the pile of paper is sent out here to make everyone laugh. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. biquge。 info

One

The Ombudsman looked down at the form, "How many are these?" ”

The tester didn't look up, he was busy and couldn't waste time on such a small thing as looking up.

"The 2689th."

"I'm asking about the first of these arms!"

"The 2689th." The tester put down the binoculars in his hand and raised his head, "Mr. Inspector, your mental state is unstable, I recommend that you go for a psychological test." ”

"your psychometric test! I'm not going to do that kind of......" The Ombudsman slammed the form in his hand to the ground, he didn't understand how he could be assigned here, he was a madman except for a psychopath, and a bunch of scientific maniacs.

"Mr. Ombudsman, this is a dangerous act of yours." The tester pointed out his mistake, "Wood pulp and paper are a very scarce and valuable resource, and you do not have the authority to dispose of them at will, and this behavior may result in you being punished." ”

"I'm the administrator!" The Ombudsman was furious, "I know better than you about the resource protection regulations...... Hell, why do we record information in such an inefficient and archeous way? ”

"Networking is danger." The tester leaned over and picked up the form that was spread out on the ground, "Only the oldest behavior can threaten the oldest things, like you just did." The tester gestured around, "But no ancient way can get into here." ”

The Ombudsman sat down, he knew of course what this place was...... This is the safest place in the world, where our predecessors have dug through thousands of kilometers of the earth's mantle with great courage and an amazing tendon, and spent countless manpower and material resources to build this fifty square meters of space in the core of the earth.

This is the computer room of the central brain that drives the Earth's core.

But the catastrophe turned out to be a joke, as the liquid metal in the Earth's core did not stop flowing, the magnetic field did not disappear, and people were not exposed to deadly stellar storms...... Naturally, there is no need to go to great lengths to drive the Earth's core.

So it's occupied by a bunch of scientific maniacs who don't know what loneliness is...... In order to demonstrate the government's sovereignty over this territory, which was independent of the earth's surface, the consul symbolically sent an ombudsman.

The Ombudsman thought that this was a superfluous move, and that it would take a full day to ride the high-speed elevator from here to the surface, and that it would not be so far to the third satellite, and he thought that even if these so-called scientific madmen did not know how to build a country on their own...... Fifty square meters of land would only be the biggest joke in history, as long as the supply was cut off, everyone underground would not survive for three days.

The Ombudsman picked up the binoculars, and through the glass lenses, he could see a blue planet, crystal clear and beautiful like the rarest pearl.

"It's beautiful."

"Before I say that...... Ombudsman, you must recognize that this is an image from a quantum real-time communication system. The tester looked down and sorted out the form, "So even if you get close enough to lean against the wall, the image won't get bigger." ”

"This is number 2689?" The Ombudsman asked.

"Yes, it has a moon in an eight-star galaxy and is only 2.54 light-years away from us." The tester nodded, "According to the infrared signal observations, No. 2689 belongs to the materialized carbon-based civilization, which crosses with us in the survival position, and the civilization level has reached the B3 level, and the speed of scientific and technological development is judged to be 'medium danger'." According to the regulations, it is necessary for us to test it. ”

"Can you please stop mentioning your goddamn psychological test?" The Ombudsman lowered his binoculars...... That's what he always called the observation terminal in his hand...... Telescopes in the true sense of the word disappeared a thousand years ago, and that ancient optical instrument can only be seen in museums now.

"It's the rule, sir."

"I've never felt like psychometric testing was a strong corroborator." The Inspector gently pushed the counter, and he slid to the other side of the room in his swivel chair.

The gravity in the Earth's core is zero, and the Ombudsman adjusted the artificial gravity to 0.5G, which allows him to move more easily, and he can also distinguish between up, down, left, and right.

"Yes, sir." The tester nodded, "It's really not a strong proof, but I studied civilized psychology in a higher school, and if this test is canceled, I will be unemployed." ”

"That's not a reason to keep me here......" muttered the Ombudsman, "you're wasting resources." ”

"Your accusation is unfounded, I only occupy 1/3.2 billion of the central computer's computing process, but I may play a more important role than the other 3.1999999999 3.2 billion." The tester began to debug the telescope, "You have to believe that a civilization has a psyche. ”

"Okay...... How are you going to test this time? ”

"In the most popular way, the most brutal means of testing." The tester turned and smiled, "Please hand me that light bulb next to you." ”

Two

The phone in your pocket is buzzing and vibrating.

Yang Yuan was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and took out his mobile phone, and there was a text message on the LCD screen.

"Son, will you go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival this year?"

The payment is "Mom and Dad".

In this era of the flood of network communication methods, Yang Yuan almost forgot that his mobile phone still has the ancient function of sending and receiving text messages. He had long been accustomed to a life where all social interaction was online, and there had never been two people who had contacted him in such a forgotten way.

Parents are afraid to make phone calls, they are afraid that it will interfere with their son's work.

The old people can't accept the new things, so they are ridiculed by the young people.

Yang Yuan began to reply, he was not ready to go back. The Mid-Autumn Festival vacation is only one day, and it is not easy to get rid of the dark sea of work, and it is rare that one day you don't have to face boring data...... How can you waste time on the way home?

Yang Yuan pressed the send button and turned off the screen backlight.

Two figures were reflected on the dark glass screen.

"Teacher Ouyang." Yang Yuan hurriedly got up, worried in his heart...... It is against the rules to play with your phone during working hours.

The old man smiled and shook his head, and gently patted the young man on the shoulder, "Sit down, sit down...... Xiaoyuan. ”

The old man pulled over a chair and sat down, and Yang Yuan secretly raised his eyes with some curiosity...... He had only seen the person in front of him from afar during the leader's inspection, and the highly respected chief scientist of China's lunar exploration program was really too far away for a young graduate student like him. But at this time, the distance between the old man and him was less than half a meter, wearing a white coat, his hair was neatly combed and meticulous, and he was in good spirits with his hands together.

"Just chatting with your girlfriend?" The old man smiled a little narrowly.

"No, no, no......" Yang Yuansheng blushed, "I don't have a girlfriend yet...... It was sent by my parents and asked me if I would go back for the Mid-Autumn Festival. ”

"Are you going back?"

"Not going back." Yang Yuan shook his head, "My home is in Jiangxi...... It's too far. ”

"Jiangxi......" The old man nodded, "That's my fellow countryman." ”

"Really?" Yang Yuan's eyes lit up.

"I'm from Ji'an." The old man smiled, "Xiaoyuan, you've been here for more than half a year, haven't you?" Have you ever been home? ”

"Too busy at work......" Yang Yuan shook his head, speaking of which, sometimes work may not be so busy that Yang Yuan can't take a break, but instead of spending time on a long and difficult journey just to go home for a meal, it is better to go out with his classmates.

"If you want me to say it...... the old man patted Yang Yuan's shoulder, "If you have the chance, you still have to go home often, young people, your parents are here, don't you travel far......"

The old man got up leisurely, looked up at the window, the tall glass curtain wall reflected the last sunset afterglow, the stone road stood on the opposite side of the whole body of the white antenna, people erected dozens of meters high steel frame just to support this huge diameter of 50 meters of parabola, this is a shocking great creation, bringing together the top wisdom of human beings, the essence of physics and engineering condensed into a miracle.

The radio telescope stood quietly and calmly, covered in golden sunlight.

This is the Beijing Miyun Station of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It's the human eye.

Yang Yuan, a graduate student studying for a master's degree in radio astronomy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, spends his days in front of a computer screen reading data, and the only thing he does is that his eyesight is declining dramatically. In order to relieve eye fatigue, Yang Yuan will habitually look up at the window.

Yang Yuan was stunned, although he was short-sighted...... But it's not blind, it's that big that anyone can find something out there.

Three

This is probably the most shocking thing for the U.S. government since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"It must have been a trick by the Russians!" Herbert Carlyle, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, was in Okinawa dealing with the deployment of F22s in Okinawa, but the president ordered him to cross the Pacific overnight.

"General Carlisle's hobby is to push everything on Russia." The woman sitting across from her was the secretary of state, who looked down and flipped through the papers, "so that he could reach out to Congress and ask for money." ”

"Ma'am...... I don't mean to be offended, but the only country that can do such a thing is Russia. Carlisle sneered.

"Why can't it be China or Iran?" "Ignoring the enemy will be disastrous," the secretary asked. ”

"Have you ever considered North Korea?" The vice president chimed in, saying that he was a typical veteran politician who had been in politics for decades, and that the characteristics of any professional politician could be found in him, "They are the greatest threat." ”

"Rather than believing that North Korea could do this, I'd rather that it was done by aliens." Carlisle sneered.

"Don't take your opponent lightly at any time!" The vice president slapped the table, "Not long ago, the Korean Central News Agency has released news that they will go to the sun before 2020!" ”

"Enough...... Ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet. The president crossed his hands and took a deep breath, "I didn't summon you here to quarrel here. ”

Everyone was quiet.

Then they heard the sound of the door being locked, which meant that from now on no one but a few of them would have the right to attend the meeting.

The president nodded, and the old man at the end of the table stood up.

The curtain hanging on the wall lit up, and the old man stepped forward to stand in front of everyone.

"Let's hear what Mr. Director-General has to say." The president gestured to the screen behind him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry." The old man, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, was the first of all those present to recognize the seriousness of the problem, and he met with the president overnight to state that this could be the greatest crisis facing mankind and even life on Earth in hundreds of millions of years, and persuaded him to convene the meeting of senior government officials overnight.

"We have reason to believe that...... No country on earth, including us, is capable of doing this. The director said.

"We have just made contact with the Moscow and Beijing sides." The president nodded, "They flatly denied it." ”

Behind the blank curtain emerges a huge image of the planet's gray-black surface full of craters, familiar to all, and can be seen with a 30-centimeter telescope.

This is the Moon.

But everyone was shocked by another fact, which was that the otherwise barren moon had an extremely large black number on the surface.

30。

Just like someone engraved on the surface of the moon, the handwriting is extremely clear across the entire front of the moon, and even the shadows in the ravines can be seen when magnified.

"That's ridiculous...... Carlisle shook his head, "Forty years ago, your astronauts told us that there's nothing on the moon!" ”

"Yes." Charles nodded, "The environment on the moon is harsh enough to kill any living thing. ”

"So how do you explain this?" The vice president was furious, "Don't tell me there's a Transformers ship hidden on the far side of the moon!" ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not the plot of a science fiction movie, and no one will pay for any of our mistakes. The crisis we face is unprecedented...... Here is the photo from the day before yesterday. The director's face was serious, and he pressed the button to change the photo, "This is yesterday's ......"

The moon itself did not change anything, the number became 29.

"Is this going to be a prank...... "the secretary gestured with his hands, "like a large projection or something." ”

"It's a pity...... The handwriting is five thousand meters deep. The director shook his head, "As you can see, these numbers span the entire front of the moon, and are three thousand ......kilometers long and wide."

The Director took a deep breath and came to a desperate conclusion, "...... It was a miracle. ”

"It's ...... tonight"

28。

"If this is artificially engraved...... Then the width of that carving knife will reach an incredible two hundred kilometers. Once again, the Director reminded everyone present that this was beyond the reach of human beings.

There was a dead silence.

The first to speak out was the vice president. He buried his hands deep in his hair and slowly closed his eyes.

"God......

"Ladies and gentlemen...... Hawking's prophecy was confirmed. The Director announced the results of the meeting, and his voice echoed through the room, "Extraterrestrial advanced civilizations exist, and they are trying to contact us, but the bad thing is ...... We don't see these numbers as kind greetings. ”