Hot Wavelength

Chapter 49 (Silicon Carbide 1): Doppelganger
6500 million years ago, the solar system

Dean Abbott led a massive fleet from Venus to geosynchronous orbit, where one of the spacecraft docked with a space tug towering over the Victoria region.

Abbott entered the capsule, where he was greeted by Brahma, who was stationed there. The two already knew each other, and their reunion after being separated by thousands of miles felt especially warm.

“Brahma, why is your face so pale? Is it because you can’t get any sunlight in this confined space?” Abbott asked.

Brama smiled somewhat awkwardly and said warmly, "Dean Abbott, welcome to Earth. Tesla and Maria are waiting for you down there."

As Abbott donned his special equipment and was about to step into the elevator, he suddenly noticed a transparent incubator in a corner of the cramped cabin, inside which a baby was sleeping peacefully.

Abbott thought that Brahma might be stationed here for decades, and that Maria must have cloned a baby for him because she was afraid he would be too lonely.

Abbott suppressed his curiosity and didn't ask about the baby's origins. After all, at this point, there was no need to consider legal and ethical issues anymore.

Nikola Tesla and his old friend Abbott embraced tightly, while Maria, standing to the side, looked on with surprise and barely concealed nervousness before the momentous occasion.

Tesla told Abbott, "Preparations on Earth are complete as planned. The two ultralight power stations in Tasmania and Victoria are operating normally, and magma and tectonic plates inside the Earth's crust are moving at an accelerated pace. The Earth's reshaping plan is on track to succeed."

"Did you see Brahma just now?" Maria said meaningfully. "We arranged for him to guard the spacecraft to prevent Troy and others from taking over the Earth decades from now."

Tesla pointed to a computer and a cryogenic storage box next to him and said, "Besides the two of us and the relevant staff, everyone else stationed on Earth has completed the extraction of genetic tissue and the uploading of consciousness."

“My experimental clones from back then, as well as Cynthia’s mother, Vinu, have all entered a safe underground cavern with plenty of food, water, and oxygen. They will be waiting for us to return,” Maria added.

The fleet of spaceships set sail again, and Tesla and Abbott reviewed the course and flight plan in the central control room. Maria stared at the monitor screen, watching Earth recede into the distance with mixed feelings.

This blue planet is covered by wispy white clouds, with two ultra-light-wave power stations, each 18 kilometers high, piercing through the clouds and stretching into space.

Maria envisioned what the future Earth would look like: the highest mountain on Earth would “grow” on the north side of the Tasmanian region, and the Victoria wetlands would rise into a plateau.

The arc-shaped fissures on both sides will become the longest rift valley among all the planets in the solar system, collecting rainwater, creating barrier lakes, and eventually converging into the longest river on Earth.

The space fleet arrived on Mars, where Tesla and Abbott inspected the final preparations, accompanied by Maria. Colonel Fellman, the head of the Mars base, received the group.

The Mars superluminal power station is built in the Olympus Crater, a massive, extinct volcano with the thinnest layer of mantle beneath it.

The metallic core encased in the mantle forms molten lava under high temperature and pressure, which surges and rotates with Mars's rotation, much like hot oil in a pressure cooker.

The planned Martian explosion was scheduled for a year later, but from the outset, Tesla and Abbott faced a thorny problem: Mars is a natural planet, not a machine.

In theory, as the energy from the superluminal waves continuously heats the Earth's core, it is inevitable that Mars will explode, but the timing of the explosion is difficult to pinpoint precisely.

The problem is that the timing of the explosion must be precise, ensuring that the debris heading towards Earth impacts the MAYA region on the back of Tasmania Island, rather than directly hitting the superluminal power plant in the Tasmania Island and Victoria region.

At the same time, Iapetus must be located precisely behind Saturn to ensure the safety of Tesla and others, as well as their equipment.

How can this problem be solved? The solution is that someone must remain on Mars to precisely control and adjust the energy injected into the Martian interior in a timely manner. Intelligent robots cannot handle the critical point of Martian explosion without any prior experience data.

As a soldier, Colonel Fellman had already volunteered to take on this "suicidal" mission.

According to the plan, Fehrman will lead the intelligent robots to stand guard until the last moment when Mars explodes. He will be unable to upload his consciousness and, of course, will not be able to survive.

Colonel Fellman, dressed in military uniform, was handsome and upright. He warmly received Abbott and his entourage. There was no despair or fear on his face, only determination and pride.

Tesla traveled by electric helicopter around the Olympus Crater to observe the changes in the geological structure over a radius of hundreds of kilometers.

The rock structure of the plateau region is stable, interspersed with reinforcement piles that extend nearly 10,000 meters underground like expansion bolts. Above the crater, an ultra-light-wave power station, 180,000 kilometers high, soars into space. Because its length exceeds the wavelength of ultra-light waves, it is struck by these waves, and enormous amounts of energy are continuously poured into the Martian core. Back in the base's office area, Colonel Fellman told Abbott and Tesla, "Our Mars base is progressing smoothly. The ultra-light-wave power station is injecting energy steadily and is expected to reach a critical point in about a year."

“The time window for the Martian explosion is very small, with a maximum error margin of no more than two hours. For more than a decade, as the person in charge of building and operating the superluminal power station, you have become the person who knows Mars best, and the success or failure of the entire project will depend on you,” Abbott said, shaking hands with Colonel Fellman.

Tesla added, "The period just before the explosion is the most critical, requiring you to act on the spot. The pre-set programs for you can only play a supporting role, because no one has ever exploded on Mars before, and there are too many uncertain variables."

"One year from now, before Mars explodes, the spaceship fleet will reach the vicinity of Saturn, which is 12 billion kilometers away from Mars. Communication will take more than an hour one way. At the last moment, our base on Iapetus will be separated from you by Saturn, and communication will be completely cut off. Therefore, you will be the only one to control it."

Colonel Fairman, without fear and even with a relaxed expression, said, "Now I truly understand why you suggested to the Alliance that it take ten years to train a soldier into an engineer. Because what's needed most for this job is courage, not just expertise."

Colonel Fairman had never met Maria before, and when he learned that the short, slightly plump woman before him was the renowned cloning expert, he felt both honored and curious.

The last batch of staff at the Mars base have completed gene extraction and consciousness uploading. Maria should be on the spaceship guarding the gene samples, so why did she come to the Mars base?

Nikola Tesla seemed to see through Colonel Fellman's thoughts and explained, "Colonel, your sacrifice has moved us all. After ten years of hard work, Maria and I have the latest research results that can help you and give you the same chance of rebirth as everyone else."

Colonel Fellman paused, thought for a moment, and then asked, "You mean, you want me to upload my consciousness as well, leaving only robots at the Mars base?"

Tesla shook his head and said, "The decision-making and operational work before the Martian explosion is full of uncertainties, which traditional intelligent robots cannot handle. That's why I suggested that at least one person should be left behind, namely the brave you."

"Relying solely on robots won't work. After my consciousness is uploaded, my body will lose its ability to function, as if I were dead." Colonel Fellman asked, puzzled, "You just mentioned traditional robots, but you've created non-traditional robots?"

Tesla looked at Maria, who then continued, "Yes, we have created an unconventional robot, also called a living robot, which has a carbon-silicon fusion brain made by connecting human brain tissue with a chip."

The steps for applying Tesla and Maria's living robot solution to Colonel Fellman were as follows: First, just like with other people, their genes were extracted and their consciousness uploaded. After the colonel "died," a portion of his brain tissue was connected to a chip to create a biological intelligent computer, which served as the robot's brain. Finally, a portion of Colonel Fellman's consciousness was transmitted back to the biological robot's brain.

Traditional robots can also receive transmitted consciousness. The problem is that when the entire consciousness of an ordinary human brain is transmitted to a computer, the computer would require enormous memory resources, and running it would require a huge amount of electricity. More importantly, its size would be inherently enormous, making it impossible to make it humanoid or move it nimbly.

The living intelligent computer, made by connecting human brain tissue and chips, is small in size and consumes little energy. The living robot can both think and move. Although it cannot carry all of Colonel Fellman's consciousness and emotions, it is perfectly sufficient to transfer the thinking modules and perception and operation capabilities related to the execution of tasks to the living robot.

When Colonel Fellman first heard about living intelligent robots, he realized it was a win-win solution: he could upload his consciousness and wait to be reborn, while also using his "avatar" to complete his mission.

But he was still a little uneasy and asked, "Living robots sound really cool, but is this technology reliable? Have any verification experiments been conducted?"

"Yes, I have successfully created a living intelligent robot on Earth. In that case, the robot needed to live much longer than you do. Your brain tissue only needs to survive for more than a year, so there shouldn't be any problem."

Colonel Felman was finally at ease. He, Abbott, and Tesla embraced each other and said their final goodbyes.

Maria and her assistants took Colonel Fellman into a sterile operating room to extract his genes and upload his consciousness. A portion of the colonel's brain tissue was then integrated with a specially designed computer the size of a human brain.

Abbott and Tesla waited outside. After an unknown amount of time, the operating room door opened.

Colonel Fairman, dressed in military uniform, wearing leather shoes and white gloves, came out with Maria.

Tesla knew in his heart that what stood before him was a living, intelligent robot, Colonel Fellman's "avatar." Abbott scrutinized the colonel, seemingly examining Maria's "craftsmanship."

The robot's face was clearly made of highly realistic skin material; Abbott noticed that the robot's movements and facial expressions were almost indistinguishable from reality. Only the skin on its face looked slightly unnatural, lacking color and appearing somewhat pale.

&
The poem composed of collected verses at the end of the chapter:
Forever buried underground, Qing Dynasty, Qian Zai
My remaining years are dictated by the ways of the world. —Song Dengchun, Ming Dynasty
I have not forgotten myself, Yuan Dynasty, Li Junmin

To restore one's original form. (Ming Dynasty, Wang Zuo)

(End of this chapter)