I handed over to another world

At three o'clock in the morning, the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of the association reflected the lights of the entire city.

Chen Lin put down the gold-embossed experimental briefing and his eyes lingered on the progress bar of the "Cognitive Restructuring Project".

The report, submitted overnight by the project director, contained an interesting photo - a little white mouse wearing a silver mask was solving an equation in a maze, with scratches of calculus symbols on the wood chips on its paws.

The "Cognitive Restructuring Project Team" is a black box project that he personally approved a long time ago. At that time, the phrase "reshaping the boundaries of human cognition" in the project book was still full of idealism. Now it has taken root and grown in the laboratory on the third underground floor.

As the president of the association, the encrypted reports he receives every month are getting thicker and thicker: from the initial macaques teaching themselves to roast popcorn to last week's volunteers accidentally mastering four foreign languages, the jumping data are breaking the boundaries of common sense.

"President, this is a test image of the seventh generation equipment."

When the voice of project director Lao Wu came from the holographic screen, Chen Lin was wiping the bronze Si Nan in the antique cabinet.

In the video, sparks suddenly burst out from the helmet of college student Xiao Li, followed by a sentence in Henan dialect with a Parisian accent: "This coffee is not good, you need three shots of espresso!"

Old Wu's report was a little weak: "The probability of consciousness adhesion is still stuck at 3%...but we can solve this problem quickly."

Chen Lin didn't say much. He reached out and pulled up the minutes of the project meeting from three years ago.

In the video, young researchers are talking about some special topics with shining eyes, and at this moment, on the smart curtain wall of his office, tentative inquiries from representatives of various associations about this technology are scrolling.

The official letter from the Ministry of Education used elegant words, but it could not hide the desire to "train mathematicians in three months". The confidential document from the Ministry of National Defense was more direct, and the attachment listed hundreds of military application scenarios. These people knew his habits of doing things, and he was always so straightforward.

On the day of the high-level closed-door meeting, heavy rain caused the bulletproof glass to produce white noise.

As the military representative clinked his teacups, Chen Lin noticed that the back of Old Wu's neck was sweating.

The Minister of Education waved the simulated data: "As long as the junior high school textbook module is opened, the average score of the college entrance examination next year will increase by 60%!"

But the Minister of Cybersecurity suddenly interrupted: "What if the problem is like a computer virus spreading? Last week, a hacker tried to break into our secondary database. Although we arrested the intruder with the help of Fuxi AI, it means that someone is always watching our database. Once it is released, it will be a big problem!"

Chen Lin activated the holographic sandbox very gently, and the conference room became quiet instantly.

The three-dimensional projection shows images related to knowledge transfer from all over the world, and the picture finally freezes on the Labrador who firmly believes that he is Schrödinger's cat - it is squatting in front of a quantum computer and trying to open a can.

“Your proposal reminds me of the gene editing controversy 20 years ago.”

Chen Lin turned off the sandbox and tapped the table with his fingers in a slow and steady rhythm.

In the conference room, everyone's eyes were focused on him, and the air seemed to freeze.

He slowly stood up and walked to the window. The heavy rain was still raging. Raindrops on the glass twisted into winding water marks, like some unknown code.

"Twenty years ago, when gene editing technology was first developed, some people said the same thing - 'cure all genetic diseases in three months', 'optimize the human gene pool in half a year'."

His voice was not loud, but it was full of unquestionable weight. "What was the result? It took us ten years to barely control genetic pollution, and the ethical issues are still being debated."

He turned around and glanced at everyone present.

"Now, tell me, three months to train a mathematician? Sixty days to train a special forces soldier? Sounds great, right?"

The corners of his mouth slightly raised, but there was no smile at all. "But have you ever thought that if knowledge can be directly instilled, then can mistakes, lies, and even malicious programs be directly written into people's brains?"

The Minister of Cybersecurity subconsciously tightened the data tablet in his hand, and the military representative's teacup stopped making any sound.

Chen Lin walked back to his seat, swiped his fingertips across the table, and pulled out an encrypted file.

"This is an anomaly report from last week."

He clicked on the file, and a surveillance video appeared on the projection - after receiving advanced programming knowledge, a volunteer suddenly began to unconsciously write some unknown code. The system detected that the code had self-replication properties and almost infected the laboratory's main control AI.

“We stopped it, but who can guarantee that it won’t be worse next time?”

He closed the file and said in a low voice, "Knowledge transfer is not a simple data copy. Human consciousness is not a hard drive. If something goes wrong, we may not even have a chance to 'format' it."

The conference room fell silent, with only the sound of heavy rain hitting the windows echoing.

After a long while, the Minister of Education finally spoke: "So...what do you mean?"

Chen Lin took a deep breath and said slowly: "The technology will continue to be developed, but it must be sealed until we can ensure that it is 100% controllable."

He looked at Old Wu, "Especially the problem of 'consciousness adhesion'. 3% probability is too high. Before it drops below 0.1%, any practical application will not be considered."

Old Wu opened his mouth, as if he wanted to explain something, but in the end he just nodded.

"But if other countries break through first..."

“Who can break through?”

Chen Lin interrupted him, his eyes sharp, "We are currently the only super civilization and leader on the entire planet. Who can break through the relevant technology before us?"

"Besides, we will not gamble the cognitive safety of all mankind on a technological competition."

The meeting ended and everyone left one after another, leaving only Chen Lin standing in front of the window.

The rain gradually subsided and the outline of the city became faintly visible in the night.

He took out his private terminal and called up a command file with the highest authority. His fingertips hovered over the confirmation key, and after a slight pause, he finally pressed it.

"Cognitive Restructuring Project - Indefinitely sealed, pending further evaluation."

The confirmation prompt on the screen flashed for three seconds and then disappeared in a stream of light.

Chen Lin looked at the rain curtain gradually dispersing outside the window, and he suddenly remembered the late night three years ago when it was also raining.

The project team had just made its first breakthrough. The macaque that learned to roast popcorn was dancing in the laboratory, and the young researchers were so excited that they almost opened champagne to celebrate.

Old Wu was only the deputy project leader at the time, and his hair wasn’t as white as it is now. He patted his chest and assured: “President, this technology will change the course of human civilization!”

Now, the macaque has been euthanized - it began to show severe cognitive confusion in the later stages of the experiment and even tried to set its own hair on fire with a lighter.

The report said "the experimental subject was terminated due to irreversible nerve damage", but Chen Lin knew that was actually the price of technology. The holographic communicator on the table suddenly lit up, and the virtual image of Fuxi AI emerged: "President, the quantum vault has completed the sealing procedure of the seventh-generation equipment. In addition, a new round of infiltration attempts to the project database by seven overseas intelligence nodes were detected three minutes ago, and the countermeasure protocol has been initiated."

Chen Lin nodded and his eyes fell on the world map on the wall.

The capitals of the major associations were flashing with different colored dots of light - red represented known hostile intelligence agencies, blue represented allies, and at this moment, more than a dozen new red dots were lighting up densely somewhere in Southeast Asia.

"Start the Suirenshi Protocol."

he whispered.

Fuxi AI's virtual image paused for a moment. "Are you sure you want to execute the highest level information warfare plan? This will consume 7% of the association's quantum computing power reserves."

"Execute it."

Chen Lin closed his pocket watch and said, "Since they want to know what we are researching so much... let them see what they should see."

After AI's figure disappeared, the office fell into silence again.

Chen Lin walked to the antique cabinet and saw the needle of the bronze Si Nan was trembling slightly - this was not the effect of the earth's magnetic field, but the quantum jammer buried three thousand meters underground was working.

A paper notebook is locked at the bottom of the cabinet, which records the names of all volunteers who have experienced side effects due to experiments. Chen Lin has had some contact or encounter with these people to varying degrees, and many of them are actually the type who have dedicated themselves to science and technology.

Turning to the latest page, Chen Lin's fingertips rested on the paper for a moment. The ink spread on the yellowed paper, recording the vivid names and their stories.

"Lin Zhiyuan, 28 years old, PhD in Materials Science."

"After receiving the nanotechnology module, he began to unconsciously decompose and reassemble the objects around him. When we last met, he turned the vase in the conference room into a glowing crystal structure... He is now placed in the special observation room."

"Su Wen, 32 years old, linguist, started hearing auditory hallucinations of 'non-existent languages' after mastering 117 languages."

"She insisted that it was the 'language of an ancient civilization'... She is currently receiving treatment at a psychiatric clinic."

Chen Lin gently stroked the edge of the paper. These records showed the cost of technology more directly than any data report.

He picked up the pen and wrote today's date in the blank space, but he did not write any follow-up content.

Suddenly, the needle of the bronze compass began to shake violently.

Almost at the same time, the smart glass in the office automatically switched to anti-peeping mode, and on the world map on the wall, the red dots in Southeast Asia were turning into warning purple one by one.

Fuxi AI's voice rang out from all directions: "President, abnormal information fluctuations have been detected. The other party seems to have obtained the decoding key of part of the Suirenshi Protocol and is tracking back to the source of our misleading information."

Chen Lin frowned slightly: "I don't need to give orders for this, right? If our technology can be unlocked by those people, then we don't need you."

"Understood. The implementation of the Guixu Protocol will cause the underground third floor laboratory to be temporarily disconnected, and the ongoing experiments will be affected. Do you confirm the implementation?"

The city lights outside the window suddenly flickered, and Chen Lin saw the outline of the association's headquarters building looming in the night in the distance.

Chen Lin recalled the gleam in the eyes of those young researchers when the project was launched three years ago, and the purple warning that was spreading on the map now.

"Confirm execution."

His voice was very light, but unusually firm, "Also, prepare a follow-up plan."

The AI ​​rarely had a delay of 0.3 seconds: "President... are you sure? Once the relevant plan is activated, it means..."

"I know what it means."

Chen Lin interrupted, tapping his fingers unconsciously on the cover of his notebook, "Go do it."

When the AI's projection disappeared, Chen Lin walked to the window.

The rain had stopped completely, but the clouds were still thick, blocking out the starlight.

The drawer of the desk slid open silently, revealing a biometric metal box.

Chen Lin pressed his palm on the identification area, and the box made a slight "click" sound and unfolded into a three-layer precise control interface.

On the top layer is a red physical switch with a line of small words engraved on the side using laser: "Cognitive Reset Protocol - Nuwa".

His hand hovered over the switch, and he suddenly remembered the last look of the volunteer who spoke four foreign languages ​​- a complex expression mixed with curiosity and fear.

"President!" Old Wu's communication was suddenly connected, and his voice was full of excitement that could not be concealed. "There is a new discovery in the underground laboratory! We detected an abnormally stable neural signal pattern in the isolation layer of the seventh-generation equipment."

Chen Lin removed his finger from the red switch: "Explain clearly."

"That's Xiao Li who can speak four languages," Old Wu's holographic image gestured excitedly, "After receiving the knowledge, his brain automatically formed a protection mechanism. Now his consciousness has retained the instilled knowledge and maintained a complete self-awareness!"

The world map on the wall suddenly returned to normal, and all the purple spots turned back to red.

Fuxi AI's voice sounded: "The threat has been resolved. The other party obtained the fake data packet we preset."

Chen Lin looked thoughtfully at the unfinished record in the notebook, and tapped the date with his pen: "It seems that some costs will eventually bring rewards."

He closed the metal box, and the clouds outside the window dispersed, and starlight sprinkled over the city.

In the direction of the laboratory in the distance, a window that had not been lit for a long time suddenly emitted a warm light.

"Notify the project team," Chen Lin picked up his coat and walked out the door, "I will go and take a look at this special case in person tomorrow."

……

Silent all night.

Chen Lin's schedule for the next day was temporarily changed. He went to the laboratory to meet this "special case" as originally planned. The relevant laboratory started preparing in advance, and they needed to sort out all the problems here before Chen Lin arrived.

However, before arriving, the security department had already taken over all types of facilities and security points here. The security personnel at the laboratory were all replaced by senior armed soldiers of the association in order to prevent any problems.

The captain of the guard team, Wu Xing, had just finished his inspection and received news that Chen Lin would arrive at the laboratory in ten minutes. He hurriedly told everyone on the communicator to cheer up. President Chen's arrival was no small matter. If anything unexpected happened, they would all be assigned to an exploration team outside the galaxy!
At least for many people who have lived on Earth for decades, joining an interstellar exploration team is like exiling them - not everyone likes to explore the universe and the unknown world. (End of this chapter)