Hot Wavelength

Chapter 2 Wedges
In November 2029, Liangguo Rocket City

After nearly six years of flight, the Lingguang spacecraft is about to arrive at Psyche. Among the 50 asteroids, Psyche is the most unique. Its main components are metals such as iron and nickel, and its surface is uneven, covered with honeycomb-like pores.

According to Professor Braun, it likely originated from the core of an ancient planet.

When deployed, the solar panels of the Aura are the size of a tennis court, powering its new thrusters. The electrons react with xenon ions excited by the propulsion system, leaving a dreamlike blue-green plume in the darkness of space.

In the control room of the Bright Space Agency, Dr. Daphne Braun, a member of the Bright Spacecraft project team, stared intently at the large monitor screen.

Perhaps due to nervousness, she involuntarily leaned towards Michael Max beside her. The two had been deeply in love for over six months.

Michael Max is the world's richest man and a legendary hero.

In 2023, his Esbay company's unique Bird 5 rocket launched NASA's Psyche spacecraft, and Michael and his company naturally became partners in the Psyche exploration project.

This wasn't the first time Esbay Space Technology had partnered with NASA; once the rocket launched the Aura Sphere into orbit, the mission was complete. For several years after launch, Michael showed little interest in the Aura Sphere.

Starting last year, he suddenly showed great enthusiasm for Ling Shen Xing. It seemed that he had fallen in love with Daphne, who had just graduated and joined the project team, but in reality, it was because he had discovered Ling Shen Xing’s special features.

Scientists observed Psyche from Earth and, through spectral analysis, not only confirmed the presence of iron and nickel, but also strongly suspect that it contains a large amount of gold.

Gold naturally attracts more media and public attention than asteroid research, with some even calculating that this metallic star is worth over one trillion US dollars.

Michael Max isn't interested in money; he's an "adventurer" who always manages to turn crazy ideas into reality. Becoming the world's richest person isn't his goal, but merely a byproduct of his pioneering spirit.

His interest in Psyche has nothing to do with money.

"Lingguang successfully entered orbit, imaging system activated." Daphne announced excitedly. It was her first time participating in such an important project, and joy was written all over her face. After nearly a year of waiting since joining the project team, her anxiety had vanished.

"Is the image transmitted back in real time or compressed and packaged?" Michael asked.

“Real-time transmission. Psyche is currently about 1.7 astronomical units away from Earth. In 15 minutes, we will receive the first high-resolution image,” Daphne replied.

After entering orbit, the Lingguang probe got closer and closer to Psyche. In addition to the imaging system, the spectral scanner, mass spectrometer and high-resolution radar and other equipment were turned on one by one. The frequency signals emitted by the various electrical devices of the probe were superimposed on the surface of Psyche.

This lonely, idling asteroid has finally been visited by humans, bathed in the flashes of various photoelectric signals.

Suddenly, Spirit Star seemed to come alive, emitting invisible and intangible extremely low-frequency radio waves that were chaotic and gradually grew stronger. The resulting resonance instantly destroyed all the electrical equipment of the Spirit Star.

Fifteen minutes later, the decompressed image of Psyche was clearly displayed on the large screen in the control room.

Daphne exclaimed, "Wow, the hollow cross-section is all regular hexagons, it looks like it's man-made!"

Michael wasn't surprised and said, "Nature's power is amazing; anything is possible."

Daphne adjusted the signal amplifier of the high-resolution radar and observed the radar reflection signal of Psyche displayed on the screen. The signal fluctuated and jumped in a continuous frequency band from low to high, as if performing an electroencephalogram on Psyche.

Abnormalities began to appear in the extremely low frequency band, with the amplitude increasing, and the amplitude of the vibration at frequencies from 0.5 Hz to 30 Hz impacting the top and bottom edges of the display screen.

Suddenly, the images and radar signals from the Lingguang were completely cut off.

The air in the control room seemed to freeze. Reluctantly, the team adjusted the equipment and restarted the system. After several unsuccessful attempts, they had no choice but to accept the cold reality: the Lingguang probe project to explore Psyche was forced to end just as it began.

That evening, in Michael's home—the prefabricated house where the unconventional world's richest man resided—Daphne inputted confidential data about Psyche into Michael's supercomputer. Michael sat in a specially designed device resembling an aircraft seat, put on a sensory helmet, pulled down his blindfold, and began brain-computer interface meditation.

Since 2018, Michael Max has built a lab that recruits top experts in biology and computational science to develop brain-computer interface projects.

In 2019, the first-generation prototype was completed. It can connect with human brainwaves through a non-contact magnetic field sensor to assist the human brain in memory retrieval, mind mapping, and path judgment, greatly improving the tester's thinking efficiency and stimulating deeper and more comprehensive thinking results.

At the time, a landmark building in Nido had just been completed, designed by a British architect inspired by ancient Indian stepwells.

This landmark building seems to have no practical function; it is simply a series of interconnected steps made of massive metal components that extend upwards as if there were no end in sight.

Indian stepwells descend in tiers, while the steps of this building rise in layers, earning it the nickname "Heavenly Ladder."

Michael loved the building’s design so much that he named his brain-aid device after its official name: VESSEL (container, blood vessel, large ship).

Michael's imagination is always more boundless than that of ordinary people. When AI, with its prevalence of logical algorithms, was booming, he began to study brain-computer interfaces. He drilled a hole in a person's skull, implanted a chip, and turned "opening the brain hole" from an exaggerated term into a real action.

When GPU display technology and computing were combined, and AI was upgraded from logic-heuristic to scenario-heuristic, drawing cheers, Michael had already improved the hard link of craniotomy into non-contact sensory brain-computer fusion.

Michael firmly believed that the human brain is the most complete and energy-efficient neural network system, and that computers should assist the human brain in thinking, not the other way around.

Daphne sat by the window, quietly waiting for Michael to get the answer from VESSEL. A summer breeze squeezed through the open window, gently caressing her golden hair.

Daphne has already analyzed the data, but she still hopes that Michael and Vessel, this "super brain," can give her a more accurate analysis, since her own analysis results are simply unbelievable.

Michael lightly touched the power button on the right armrest, pushed open his goggles, and took off his helmet. He blinked, seemingly still thinking.

"Is there any result? What do you think happened?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, I analyzed four extremely low frequency bands and their corresponding amplitudes." Michael said, standing up and walking to the blackboard. As if afraid of forgetting, he quickly wrote:

The frequency is 14-30 Hz, and the voltage is 5-20 microvolts.

The frequency is 8~13 Hz, and the voltage is 20~100 microvolts.

The frequency is 4-7 Hz, and the voltage is 100-150 microvolts.

The frequency is 0.5~3 Hz, and the voltage is 20~200 microvolts.

“These correspond to the beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves of the human brain, respectively,” Daphne stated, echoing her own analysis, and awaited Michael’s confirmation.

"Yes, Daphne, my results show that the Aura received electromagnetic waves similar to those emitted by the human brain."

“The planet Psyche, with a diameter of about 250 kilometers, is just a giant metal block. How could it possibly emit electromagnetic waves similar to those of the human brain?” Daphne grabbed Michael’s arm, shaking it as she murmured:
"How can this be?"

&
The poem composed of collected verses at the end of the chapter:
Song Dynasty, Liu Zai
The dawn drum urges the work to end the short night. (Ming Dynasty, Li Xing)

Myriad thoughts are written on two sheets of paper. —Bai Juyi, Tang Dynasty

I remember your loyalty day and night, even in my dreams. — Chen Liang, Song Dynasty

(End of this chapter)