In the passage, Dr. Bartholomew passed by Wu Tianlan, the president of Taihao Company, and the plump Chinese woman stopped, arranged the tie for the old man, looked at him worriedly, and whispered: "This is not a simple debriefing, you have to be careful yourself......"

Bartholomew nodded: "Don't worry, I'm fine." ”

The staff took Wu Tianlan outside, and the woman's green shirt flashed around the corner and disappeared. The gray-haired doctor straightened the hem of his suit and strode down the passage. This is the central passage on the thirteenth basement floor of the GTC headquarters, the ninth location known as "Hell", with glossy silver walls and floors, several small doors scattered around, and at the end of the passage is the rotunda of the ninth place, where his trip is located.

"Dear father, your heart rate is 28% above the normal range and you are at risk of premature contractions, and it is recommended that you be injected with β-receptor blockers to reduce the risk of developing the disease. Do you agree?" the gentle male synthesizer sounded, and Genesis precisely controlled the twelve megaphones in the hallway, canceling out the sound waves traveling in the other directions, leaving only a line of undetectable sound waves accurately into Dr. Bartholomew's eardrums.

"Not necessarily. The old man calmly replied, "Where is Luxor Muhammad now?"

Without a moment's delay, the quantum computer's reply immediately rang out: "Luxor Mohammed, Deputy Director of Communications and Chief of the Xenomorph Intelligence Section, was last seen in the surveillance range seven hours, thirteen minutes and 20 seconds ago, and then took the elevator down to the thirty basement floors and entered the 'black room', and has not been seen since. ”

"Where's Donovan?" Dr. Bartholomew said, taking off his gold-rimmed glasses and wiping them with a handkerchief.

"Charles Donovan, Acting Director of Counter-Terrorism Intelligence and Commander of the European Rapid Reaction Force, was last seen seven hours, six minutes and 10 seconds before taking an elevator down to the 30th basement floor into the 'black room' and never reappeared. The gentle male voice gave a very similar answer.

"How long has it been?" asked the old man, putting on his glasses.

"Fifty-five seconds, or five seconds before the detected threshold is reached. Fourth, three......" The synthesized sound of the quantum computer began to count down.

The doctor waved his hand, "Go ahead." ”

"- Goodbye, dear Father. The voice was gone.

Brandon Bartholomew stood in front of the door and steadied himself, knocking on the door with his knuckles. "Please come in. A man's voice came from inside.

The old man pushed open the cold metal door and stepped into the round conference room. Behind the oval conference table sat a dozen people, and on this side, only a lone chair remained. "Brandon!" a middle-aged man with a thick neck and a bulging lower abdomen stood up and stretched out his hands to welcome, "You're the last one to report on, how about we hurry up and finish the routine debriefing and defense, and then go have a drink?"

"Mark. Bartholomew waved to GTC Executive Chairman Dr. Mark Thompson across the round table, then pulled out the swivel chair and sat down, leaning deep into the chair, resting his left leg on his right leg and crossing his hands in front of him: "Is it okay to start now?"

Mark Thompson sat down and looked left and right, and nodded, "Okay, let's start now." Sitting next to him were Yoden Smith, Chief of the Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Division, Guy Cookry, Chief of the Ninth Division, Leiden W. Hoult, Chief of the Communications Division, Marfa Ikimaider, Chief of the Internal Affairs Division, Dick Van Dyck, and other members, and the twelve members of the GTC Executive Committee were basically all here, and sitting in this conference room were the masters of the most powerful quantum computers and quantum networks on the planet, and the gods in charge of unlimited power.

Brandon Bartholomew, a former GTC executive member, leaned forward slightly, opened the terminal on the conference table, entered his account number to log in to the quantum network, and retrieved a report: "At the meeting at the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, I have given a detailed description of the operation of the 'world', the data report has been distributed to you, and the budget performance is under control. I believe that Miss Wu of Taihao Company has shown you the medium-term profit plan just now, and in three months, if the comprehensive complaint rate of one million test accounts is less than 1% and the accident mortality rate is less than 0.002%, Taihao Company will publish the 'world' to the whole society in the form of a game, but in order to avoid ethical controversy, the login method will be changed from implanted chip to biochemical cabin. It is worth mentioning that Taihao Company has made a new technological breakthrough in oxygen enrichment solution, which basically minimizes the discomfort when entering and leaving wet breathing, and has also obtained a certificate issued by the European Institute of Medical Research that there is no organic damage to the lungs. I believe ......"

"Brandon, Brandon. Dr. Thompson raised his right hand to stop the old man from continuing, "We already know this. What we care about is how many players will the 'world' attract after launch, and how many people will buy expensive biochemical pods to enter the game? ”

Bartholomew pushed open the terminal screen, "I wouldn't use the word 'player' to describe the users of the 'world', you know, in a world without a quest system, a health display and an upgrade mode, there will be no normal experience of an RPG game." In fact, it's closer to an old game from the last century, The Sims, where people enter the 'world' to experience another life in a realistic environment that is as realistic as reality, and no one can resist the feeling of being reborn after one attempt. According to Taihao's estimates, the number of users will reach 500 million to 600 million within six months of its launch, and this number can be doubled if the biochemical cabin financial plan with no down payment and low-interest loans is launched. ”

"1.2 billion?" the GTC executive chairman was stunned for a moment, as if digesting the number, and Guy Cookley, the director of the ninth division next to him, glanced at the old man with falcon-like eyes, and whispered something into Mark Thompson's ear. "So, how many people are there in the 'world', and will they be able to meet the needs of 1.2 billion players?" Dr. Thompson asked.

"Yes. Bartholomew replied, "At the beginning of the operation of the 'world', a total of one billion virtual personalities were put in, and now it has multiplied to nearly 1.3 billion, which can barely withstand the large-scale arrival of users." After a pause, he added, "But the consequences of this are devastating, if the vast majority of the characters in the 'world' are replaced by personalities from reality, the social order will soon collapse, and people will break the rules of the setting and turn that world into a second anarchist paradise waiting to be explored." ”

Thompson nodded: "I'm worried about that too. What do you think is the maximum number of Adventists that can keep the world running stably?"

The old man held up a finger.

"100 million, that's too little...... executive chairman frowned.

"No, ten million. Dr. Bartholomew said loudly. "Ten times as many test clients are the limit right now. If the number of people increases, the possibility of interconnection between the Adventists will increase geometrically, and the personality from reality will form new forces to try to change the basic pattern of the world and establish new organizations and even regimes based on the values of the earth's civilization. ”

Hearing this, the big people on the other side of the round table began to buzz and talk, discussing each other. After a while, Mark Thompson spread his palms and motioned for everyone to be quiet, "Brandon, although the virtual personality is established by the characteristics of collecting real samples, it is still fundamentally different from humans, right? Only the human mind itself can provide the diversity needs of species reproduction. ”

"So to speak. After thinking about it, the old man replied, "The fertility pattern in the 'world' is based on personality, and mutations in various physical representations are also counted, I am not sure how much difference there is between virtual personality and us humans, but to maintain the continuation of the 'human' species, it is necessary to reach a certain necessary base." -- Do you ask about the possibility of human beings abandoning the physical body and entering the 'world' completely? We discussed this topic many years ago, and with the current state of technology, the brain is still indispensable as a generating body of thought, unless the biogroove component of a quantum computer can create a neural impulse cloud that resembles the structure of the cerebral cortex, a technology that, as far as I know, has been banned by the International Committee on Scientific Ethics. ”

"Just tell me what the base is, Brandon. The executive chairman asked with a blank face.

“...... Given the size, settlements and productivity of the 'world', at least 100 million people are needed to maintain the genetic identity of the human race. Bartholomew gave the answer.

"That's enough. Dr. Thompson nodded.

The old man said loudly: "But I want to remind you once again that the original civilization of the 'world' will be safely changed by the Advent, and that is not our original intention to establish a rich and colorful otherworldly civilization. ”

"I know, Brandon, that's not something you need to think about. The executive chairman said, rubbing his fleshy cheeks, looking a little tired. "That's it. Below is a routine response to the 'Senior Personnel Safety Plan'.

"Got it. The Chief of Division 9 stood up and gestured, and two staff members wearing the Ninth insignia approached and attached the two sensors to Dr. Bartholomew's temple and wrist. "Dr. Brandon Bartholomew, Project Leader of the 'World' project and honorary advisor to GTC, are you volunteering to undergo brain wave traversal and use a polygraph?"

"Completely voluntary. The old man whispered.

"Please look here. "Guy Cookry pointed with his thin fingers at one of several shots from the holographic camera nearby," he repeated. ”

"I completely voluntarily. Bartholomew looked at the camera with a flashing red light, and there was no joy or sadness in his voice.