Hot Wavelength

Chapter 17 (Small Molecule 1): Humpback Whale

6500 million years ago, Venus
Nikola Tesla and Abbott returned to Venus, where they reviewed their plans for terraforming Earth and Mars. Abbott drafted a report, which was then submitted to the Venusian Union Committee.

The Venus Alliance arranged for Tesla to stay temporarily at the Riftenburg Hotel, giving him two interconnected rooms, one for living and the other for his studio.

More than 80 years later, everything about Venus has become very unfamiliar to Tesla.

Although the staff in the guest rooms and restaurants are both male and female, and are polite and friendly, it is still easy to tell that they are all intelligent robots.

This century-old hotel has obviously undergone many renovations and upgrades. What surprised Tesla the most was that he could not find the famous bar that Riefenburg was known for 80 years ago, which was located on the top floor of the hotel. He learned from the service system that the bar had been closed for more than ten years.

Don't people on Venus socialize anymore? With intelligent robots replacing human labor, shouldn't humans have more time to spend in bars and enjoy themselves?
Nikola Tesla connected the lightning ball in his workshop and finally got the answer.

After Venus entered the information age, artificial intelligence technology made leaps and bounds. Due to the significant increase in productivity, intelligent machines replaced human labor, which in turn brought about tremendous changes in the production and lifestyle of the entire society.

Investors and technical engineers involved in artificial intelligence have formed an elite group in society. A large number of jobs have been replaced by artificial intelligence, resulting in wave after wave of unemployed people in the manufacturing, service and even agriculture sectors, and social contradictions are constantly intensifying.

Elites are indeed elites. The CEO of Venus's largest artificial intelligence company proposed a "genius" solution: while paying huge taxes to the Union government, the AI ​​Big Model Company would also fund the establishment of a social welfare fund.

From then on, Venusians could receive high welfare and subsidies from the government and funds without working or laboring; in other words, they only needed to consume, regardless of production.

The ways and means of meeting consumer demand are also constantly evolving and upgrading with artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies.

More than a decade ago, Orange, the largest smart device manufacturer in Venus, launched a smart eye mask that brought Venusians' real lives into the virtual world that everyone longed for.

The food for Venusians is personalized by intelligent nutrition analysts based on each person's different constitution. The advantage of these foods is that they are healthy and safe, but the downside is that they lack color, aroma, and flavor, and have no variety or surprises.

Smart eye masks have completely changed this. People can wear them while eating and trigger brainwaves by moving their eyeballs, allowing them to enjoy a variety of foods from the Venusian human database.

Virtual reality and precise stimulation feedback from the brain could give Venusian humans the same visual, olfactory, and gustatory experience as imaginary food.

The same bowl of porridge can be made with lobster, vegetable salad, or even freshly picked strawberries with the aroma of earth.

The advertising slogan of a well-known virtual food company has brainwashed almost all Venusians: "Technology changes life, consciousness transcends perception!"
Social interaction is also virtual; people can set up scenarios, invite friends, arrange meals, and even choose their favorite weather.

On a warm afternoon, on a long, white sandy beach, the waves lapped against the fine sand, and people lay under parasols, enjoying refreshing cocktails.

This wonderful and happy life may simply be achieved by a burly man with a stubble-covered beard lying lazily on a dirty wooden bed, all he has to do is put on a smart eye mask.

Nikola Tesla disconnected the lightning ball, feeling a mix of emotions. He recalled the task Maria had entrusted to him the night before he left Earth.

Maria said she had a friend on Venus named Brahma, who lived in a small fishing village by the sea a few hundred kilometers from Riftenburg. Maria asked Tesla to visit him and bring him a package.

Brahma, with his dark complexion and robust build, greeted Nikola Tesla, who had traveled from afar, with great courtesy.

When he learned that Tesla was Maria's boyfriend who had been in a coma for many years, he became as warm as a family member, grinning and shouting as he pulled Tesla into his yard.

“I often hear Dr. Maria mention you, saying that you were in a coma for many years because of an accident, and how happy she would be if you woke up.”

Brama grabbed Tesla's arm with his thick arm and looked him up and down, then asked, "How is Dr. Maria? How are Vinu and Cynthia?"

Nikola Tesla was taken aback by the question. Both of his visits to Earth to see Maria were brief, and Maria had not introduced him to any of their other companions on Earth. He had never even heard of Vinu and Cynthia.

“Maria is fine. It seems she just saw me as a mailman and asked me to deliver this package to you. I haven’t met the other two people you mentioned.” Tesla handed the package to Brahma and then asked curiously, “Maria studies life sciences, why do you call her Doctor?”

Brahma smiled and began to tell the story of her family and Mary.

Brama was a veteran who became a truck driver after leaving the military, driving equipment for Maria's research institute.

His wife, Vinu, worked as an accountant at an accounting firm, and they had a daughter named Cynthia. Over a decade ago, the Venus Global Intelligent Logistics System went into operation, eliminating the need for truck drivers, and Brama lost her job.

Vinu lost her job even earlier; before the accounting industry disappeared, she was let go by the company's human resources department because of a work mistake.

That's because a balance sheet that Vinu prepared and publicly disclosed for a listed company contained an error; the difference between assets and liabilities was not zero, causing a minor embarrassment.

After losing their jobs, the Brahma family lived the life they had always longed for under the welfare system of the Union government and the Artificial Intelligence Guarantee Fund. They didn't have to work; they could just enjoy themselves and indulge in every desire of their senses and emotions.

As time went on, the couple grew tired of this life. What worried them even more was that Cynthia was still young, and would her long life be trapped in this virtual reality?

Vinu is just an ordinary housewife, but she wants her daughter to experience real life with her own eyes and body, even if it's not all that wonderful.

So, the Vinu family gave up their welfare benefits, threw away their smart goggles, and returned to the small fishing village where Vinu was born, where they lived a "primitive life" by fishing.

Brahma was surprised to discover that Maria, whom she considered an elite, also lived in a mysterious house not far from the small fishing village.

She didn't seem to be working for the research institute, because when she moved goods, she didn't use the Alliance Smart Transportation System, but instead asked Brama to drive a truck to help her transport equipment and instruments.

Once, when Brahma was delivering goods into the yard where Mary worked, he saw a fawn with a very strange leg, as if it were congenitally deformed.

Maria, regarding Brahma as a trusted friend, secretly told him that the fawn was created by her using cloning technology. Brahma returned home and mysteriously told Vignu:

"Maria can clone fawns, and she's hiding in this remote place, could she be cloning humans?"

The couple liked Maria very much and weren't troublemakers, so they eventually put the idea out of their minds.

Several years ago, thanks to the power station, Venus’s climate became increasingly harsh, ocean levels dropped, and the habits of marine life seemed to change.

Brahma's daughter, Cynthia, loved the sea. Going out to sea to fish with her father was the happiest thing for her. She would always stand on the gunwale, her little hands on the railing, gazing into the distance.

When humpback whales breach the surface of the sea, little Cynthia will sing along with them.

Brahma's fishing boat was small, and with the receding tide, he had to sail to deeper waters to catch the same amount of fish as before.

The unfortunate day finally arrived. The weather at sea suddenly changed, the fishing boat capsized, and Brama, dragging the injured Cynthia, struggled to swim back to shore.

There was no hospital in the small fishing village. Brahma carried Cynthia, who had a back injury, and rushed into Maria's small house. Brahma believed that Maria, a life scientist, should also be the best doctor.

Brahma was wrong; Maria, the "doctor," couldn't save Cynthia! Vinu rushed over, took her lifeless daughter from her husband's arms, and burst into tears.

In despair, the father caught sight of the fawn in the yard. He collapsed to his knees, clutching Maria's clothes, and pleaded:

"Dr. Maria, you can clone fawns, please help us, please clone a Cynthia."

Maria's cloning technology was not yet perfect; her research revealed a lack of a small molecule with targeted regulatory functions. Experiments showed that this small molecule from humpback whales could effectively compensate for the deficiencies in artificially synthesized amino acids.

Maria helped Brahma to her feet, looking with deep sympathy at her despairing mother, Venu, and said:
“I can’t guarantee that I can give you a daughter who is completely without defects, but I can try.”

Maria took Cynthia from Vinu's arms, gently stroking the girl's cold cheek, and looked up to say:

"Brahma, let's go out to sea again. I need the milk that female humpback whales excrete in the seawater."

&
The poem composed of collected verses at the end of the chapter:
Together we create a fragrant spring, Tang Dynasty, Li Baiyao
Only then did they realize the medicine was not genuine. (Ming Dynasty, Li Shengyin)
Frankincense and Aconitum carmichaelii, Tang Dynasty, Xu Cheng
Skill in classics is sufficient for self-reliance. — Yuan, Fan Peng

(End of this chapter)