Chapter XXII: A Letter

"Hello, stranger, please don't be afraid, I have no ill will. I'm a space explorer, I'm from somewhere in the far reaches of the universe, there are three stars, and although the natural environment is very harsh, we are very happy. ”

"What do you want to do? Why can I hear your voice in my head? ”

"I have stored information chemicals in the six variants, this substance can identify intelligent life, and then simulate it through the central nervous system of intelligent life, of course I will not stay in your brain for a long time, I only have a short hour, you can ask me any questions at any time."

"So, you simulated the way our lives transmit information so that you could answer with me in my head?"

"Yes, that's right. Including your memory, and all your habits, I know it all in. ”

"So, who are you?"

"I am a cosmic explorer, and in your language, I am from the Pillar of Creation, the picture at your bedside. I once passed by your galaxy and received a strange signal by accident, and the signal was very regular, and after analyzing and translating it, I found that it was a man with a mustache, talking to a group of people. After I researched it for a long time, I found out that it was a living planet that was holding the Olympics. After my system analysis, I found that you are from a system with one star and eight planets, which in your perception is called the solar system, which is your home galaxy. So I turned my ship around and flew in your direction. ”

"And then? You've been to Earth, so why can't we find you? ”

"Indeed, I am heading towards the solar system. But my ship was destroyed, my propulsion system was devastated, and I couldn't capture antimatter. ”

"What happened to you?"

"As far as you know, I can't tell you what the accident was, and I don't have any information about it."

"And what about later? How did you meet Voyager 2? ”

"After my powertrain malfunctioned, I tried to send a rescue signal around me, and I even sent a rescue signal to your solar system, but at the time, you may have been in the early stages of civilization and were not able to decipher this information. After a long, long time without any rescue information, I decided to hibernate. ”

"And then?"

"Later, my spaceship issued an early warning and spotted a flying machine from the solar system wandering in the interstellar darkness, so I captured it and naturally learned about your civilization. But this little detector didn't help me much, and by the time I found it, it was basically out of power, and the radioactive power unit in it was dying. It doesn't help me. ”

"So what?"

"So, I've modified your probe under existing conditions to make it a vehicle capable of carrying distress signals. Unfortunately, although it can fly for a long, long time, it can also lose power in the face of unknown dangers. But isn't this an attempt, I need a variety of options to improve my ability to be rescued. ”

"So we received your distress letter, how can we rescue you? Although it may take a long, long time for our civilization to find you, we are happy to try to find you and then rescue you. ”

"Your civilization may not be able to locate me, I have analyzed your entire ship. Your interstellar ability is still infancy. You can't find me. By way of comparison, you're traveling like microbes, and I'm already able to move at the speed of light. Perhaps by the time they found me, I had turned to dust. ”

"And what technology can you teach us so that we can take a step forward?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't record this, but I only included a copy of the relative coordinates of the stars. You may not even understand this. This coordinate is also inside the hexagon. You can try to open it, but you can't read the internal information. ”

"Then we want to help you, we think we can give it a try, after all, it took us humans thousands of years to colonize the entire home galaxy, and you don't know what we are capable of."

"You are too arrogant, and arrogance is not a good character for intelligent life in the universe, and arrogant people will suffer the consequences. It only takes 300 years for our civilization to break through the home planet and colonize our galaxy, and our civilization has always maintained humility, which is the law of survival in the universe, remember that this universe is full of unknowns, and the unknown is to be explored with the hearts of our predecessors. ”

"Thank you for the advice, then your profession is a space explorer, so where are you going, or what are you going to do?"

"Just like you, I'm one of the explorers of the universe. A long time ago, our civilization drew up a mission, and that mission was to explore the universe. Find other intelligent civilizations, and then explore the meaning of the entire universe with other intelligent civilizations. ”

"Then you probably haven't found the meaning of the existence of this universe. Have you ever encountered a wise civilization? ”

"We've had many, many lives, some of which are savage, and others that have been able to do the same cosmopolitan as we do. But more often than not, intelligent life is often dominated by hedonism, where they live in the virtual, by absorbing a little energy, and then living in the virtual world built by technology for generations. ”

"How could they be? Our civilization has been like this before, but we have decided to explore the unknown. ”

"Yes, although your civilization is still in its infancy, the qualities and spirit you show are very similar to ours, which is why I want to visit your interstellar world, because the meaning of this universe may not be discovered by high-tech civilizations, we need to brainstorm and involve more intelligent civilizations, and then we will explore the meaning of this universe together."

"We're a lot like you?"

"Yes, much like us, our creatures are not the same as yours. But we share the same will and ideas. Therefore, this letter is also an encouraging letter for you, and I hope that you can join us in finding the meaning of this universe. ”

"What can we do?"

"You can come to me, but I don't think it's hopeful, and I can't thank you enough if you can repair Voyager 2 and put him in the universe in the direction of my home planet, the Pillar of Creation. By the way, I also have the science and technology of this way of communication, and it may take you a long time to understand this technology, but I think you will. ”

"How can we learn about this technology?"

"You can press both sides of the six variants at the same time, and the technology is able to be transmitted through the air to your brains, just as it is now. At the same time, my interstellar relative coordinates can also be sent to each of you's heads, remember that this coordinate is only 500 years old, and I may not be there in 500 years. Now, you'll only be able to find me in 200 years, and in 200 years, I'll probably not be there anymore. ”

"200 years is a long time, but it's not without opportunities."

"Yes. Good luck. The time limit for the chemical information substances that have been incorporated into your brains is also approaching, and then I will not exist in your brains. I wish you all the best in your mission and good luck. ”

"Thank you."

After saying thank you in his head, the voice disappeared as if it had never happened, and each crew member received a similar message, etched deeply in everyone's mind.