Hot Wavelength

Chapter 67 Epilogue
2037 January 12

The loud roar of the rocket launch woke up little Vito from his sleep. He got out of bed and, by the dim light of the floor lamp, ran into Daphne's room, only to find that his parents were not home.

Vito arrived at Michael's studio, turned on the lights, and skillfully put on the helmet connected to VESSEL. He pressed the switch and entered a dreamlike ocean of the subconscious.

It was like watching an old movie. Vito held Michael's hand and strolled on the beach bathed in the sunset. He heard the familiar Sicilian folk song "Say Love Softly" again.

Speak my love softly, hold me tight, our hearts are connected.
Semantic sensing, a gentle, trembling moment.

In that world that belonged only to the two of us,

Share experiences that no one else can match.

The sun warms the fine wine of time.
We became one, blending into the blue velvet night.

Speak your love softly, so that only the sky can hear it.

Entrust this life, promise this lifetime.
Our vow of love.

My life belongs to you, because...

You whispered "I love you" and came before me.

An electric current surged and swirled in young Vito's brain, which seemed to be discharging uncontrollably. Vito saw a tall, thin man whose body was almost transparent.

The man slowly walked towards a woman until their bodies were completely merged. Vito followed that body and flew up, floating in space.

As the electric current subsided, Vito regained consciousness.

Before dawn, the little boy saw the bright morning star. His father had told him that the star was Venus.

On the other side of the world, Anna, Andrej's fifth-generation granddaughter, celebrated her sixth birthday with her family. Eileen and her daughter Mandy invited Andrej's ex-wife, Martha, to join them in remembering the late Andrej.

Another special guest was Barat, who had been busy for half a day in the study that Andek had used and kept exactly as it was before he died. He came out and nodded to Eileen.

Eileen bent down and lovingly stroked Anna's cheek, saying, "Anna, go to the study. Your great-grandfather is waiting for you."

Anna pushed open the half-closed study door and went inside. Behind the hardwood-carved Victorian desk, Andek sat lifelike in a large calfskin chair, his eyes full of smiles.

Anna was both curious and a little nervous. When she heard Andre greet her, she innocently asked, "Weren't you dead? How can you talk to me?"

Andek patiently explained, "Yes, I am dead. Now it is my image and a part of my consciousness uploaded to the computer that are talking to you."

"In my time, the concepts of life and death were clear, but in your future time, the meaning of life and death may change dramatically."

Anna seemed to understand and said, "I'm going to school tomorrow. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Andek smiled with satisfaction and said, "I am your grandfather's grandfather. Please remember the name Andek. And you and your grandmother's grandmother are both named Anna. And I have one more thing to say to you."

As Anna walked out of the study, she silently repeated her great-grandfather's words: "What you need to change is your own mind, not others."

In 1936, Liangguo emerged from the mire of the Great Depression. During the day, machines roared and at night, neon lights flashed, presenting a thriving and prosperous scene.

At a physicists' dinner in Nidec, Nikola Tesla overheard a conversation between Albert Einstein and a reporter, during which he said:
"Without me, special relativity might have been discovered, but general relativity might not have been."

Tesla thought to himself, "Maybe Einstein's mind contains more than just his own wisdom."

Einstein walked over and asked, "Nikolai, I heard you just submitted a paper. Did you make any new discoveries?"

"I believe the universe is filled with superluminal waves, which are the source of all physical forces," Tesla added. "If you want to know the secrets of the universe, think about energy, frequency, and vibration."

Einstein said with great interest, "Then I will read it as soon as possible and see if it can be connected with the unified field problem that I am thinking about."

The melodious sound of violins filled the air. It was played by the famous composer and violinist Kreisler, who had moved from Vienna to London. The pieces were "Liebestraum" and "Liebestraum".

In May 1984, Liang Guo established the Santa Fe Institute. It brought together researchers from disciplines such as physics, computer science, and biology, who shared a common goal: to explore complex systems.

A researcher named Christopher Langton proposed the concept of cellular automata, known as "Langton's ants." Langton sought to use computers and life sciences to autonomously generate conscious "silicon-based life" without human intervention.

Langton argued that carbon-based advanced life forms are not necessarily the only life forms. Cellular automata appear chaotic and incredibly complex, but empirical results suggest that complex behaviors do not necessarily have complex origins.

As the Tao Te Ching says, "True words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not true."

This means that the fundamental laws governing all things in the universe are pure, simple, and unadorned. Complex logic built upon the introduction of various "dark" entities as fundamental elements may seem beautiful, but it is not necessarily the most beautiful, and is therefore destined not to be the most truthful.

Despite over a decade of effort funded by tech giants, Langton and his colleagues failed to produce satisfactory results. Questions began to arise about Langton, and funding dwindled year by year.

Langton told a story to a friend with a self-deprecating tone: In Italy in 1969, a young physics doctoral student tried to find a formula to describe the strong nuclear force, but after many attempts, he still couldn't find it.

He was later surprised to find that the most matching formula was Euler's formula, which was over 200 years old. After the paper was published, mathematicians were inspired and used Euler's formula as a basis to "calculate" the physical logic of the universe, which is called "string theory".

However, not every theory can be understood and applied in reality. Tesla's theory of superluminal waves has been shelved, Langton's theory of cellular automata has been shelved, and string theory has yet to find any experimental schemes that can be falsified or verified.

Some enthusiasts compiled these theories, including the 18-kilometer-long superluminal wave and the endless highway of Langton's ants, which are like the "strings" in string theory, jumping like spaghetti. The compiled document was named: "Notes on String Theories".

I wonder if "The Rope Notebook," destined to be sealed away, will be as lucky as Euler's formula and meet that young man 200 years from now?
In Luoyang, China, Li Xiaoxuan has been having the same dream lately.

She dreamt that her body was floating on a vast sea, the water was azure, and the waves were rippling.

A large group of humpback whales frolic and swim, sometimes leaping high out of the water and emitting clear, long calls, which then lead to a chorus.

To Li Xiaoxuan's surprise, she could understand the lyrics:

I miss my hometown, I miss my hometown.

My hometown is in my dreams.

The sky was clear and the breeze was cool.

Nostalgia is long and deep.

How are the people from my hometown doing now?

I will never forget you.

Being a stranger in a foreign land, even the most beautiful scenery feels desolate.

I long to go back to my hometown.

Returning to the old days.

Relatives and friends gathered together,
The sky and the sea sing joyfully together.

In the backlight of the rising sun, the shadow of a woman appeared intermittently. She seemed to be pleading with Li Xiaoxuan, saying, "Please tell my daughter Cynthia that we have a new home and have found new technology. Please ask her to prepare to upload her consciousness, clone her body, and then transform back into human form."

Even in his dream, Li Xiaoxuan was still puzzled: were humpback whales transformed from humans? He had heard biologists say that the ancestors of humpback whales were Indian deer.

Dreams are discontinuous. The humpback whale named Cynthia, as mentioned by the woman, replied to Li Xiaoxuan: "Freedom and happiness are not only attainable by humans. Tell them that our true home is not a small fishing village on that planet, but this vast ocean."

The whales also asked the boy in white to write a reply. Inside the envelope was a postcard with the following words written on the front:

Go and travel to the vast expanse of space!

We remain in the vast ocean, singing.

The back of the postcard features a poem composed of verses by a poet from the Song Dynasty in China:

The difference between life and death is truly heartbreaking, as Huang Geng of the Song Dynasty wrote.
One must believe in the enduring power of nature's creation. — Chen Mi, Song Dynasty

Do not say that old feelings are nowhere to be found. - Song Dynasty, Fan Chengda

The sound of ten thousand whales echoed throughout the long corridor. (Song Dynasty, Lu You)

Li Xiaoxuan felt as if she had entered a time tunnel. Holographic images flashed before her eyes: groups of dinosaurs stretched their necks to look up at the sky, and a huge fireball fell from the sky.

The entire Earth resembles a spherical flask in a laboratory, with scorching heat and billowing yellow mist.

Amidst the chaos, the towering Himalayas rise abruptly, and the long Nile River flows northward.

The chirping of birds and the cries of monkeys fill this blue planet with life.

With the clear cry of a baby, the dream scene changed.

Li Xiaoxuan saw a tall and thin man who had engraved a set of numbers on a stone slab: 142857.

Numbers! A string of numbers rushed into Li Xiaoxuan's mind, then drifted away.

Three ones, six ones, twelve ones, and the conjunction cycles of the five major planets, the short and long calendars of the Mayan civilization.

The wind picked up, but the engraving work did not stop. The stone slab in India was engraved with "0", the stone slab in Maya was engraved with "T", and Li Xiaoxuan had seen the stone slab engraved on the banks of the Luo River in China. That was the Luo Shu.

The next engraver was someone Li Xiaoxuan also recognized; it was none other than the famous Michael Max.

He is using a laser to engrave a series of five-state decimal numerical codes on a crystal hard drive. This is the second business card that humanity has given to those who live far and wide after 60 years.

Could the secret to the continuation and perpetuation of human civilization be found in seal carving?

Finally, Michael and his partner engraved a red mark on the top of the Crystal Pyramid: a circle with three dots inside.

Li Xiaoxuan had seen this symbol before; it was called the "Peace Flag."

The outer circle is like a "container" that encloses three dots inside. The bottom dot represents science, the other represents art, and the top dot represents spirituality. The three dots are stacked to form a pyramid shape.

The logo is red, representing human passion, and the entire logo resembles a cross-section of a human "blood vessel".

This sign looks a lot like a compass on a large ship, but a small boat can sail on a river without a compass.

Large ships are different. The vastness of the stars and the sea makes it easy for humans to lose their way without the guidance of a compass.

What is spirituality? It includes religion, but it is more than that; it is the brilliance of human beliefs, soul, and thought.

The overlapping meanings of "container," "blood vessel," and "large ship" give the word VESSEL an additional connotation: a flag of peace.

Both the peace flag and the VESSEL are vessels of faith and soul, and crystallizations of wisdom and emotion.

Li Xiaoxuan continued to float in the dream. Slowly, the three-dimensional space turned into a plane, then compressed into a thin, long rope. Was that space? Where did time go?

Time? Time is like that long rope full of knots! It's what connects the past and the future!
The celestial sphere was like a boundless screen. Against this magnificent backdrop, Li Xiaoxuan saw a beautiful woman appear. She was dignified and kind, and her voice echoed like heavenly music.

"Many, many years ago, we regulated the solar system and reshaped the Earth. Our bodies made you who you are, and our souls watch over you!"

"New humans, never let us down, never let down the spirituality that God has bestowed upon you!"

"The Earth will never perish! We are with you!"

As the chaos cleared, Li Xiaoxuan wasn't sure if she had woken up. She thought to herself, "Why am I never the protagonist in my dreams? When will the moment come when I become the leading lady?"

She suddenly remembered the boy in white, and a blush of shyness rose on her cheeks. Could he be my future leading man? My prince charming is actually a poet?
A young man in white robes arrived gracefully. He stood before the gate of the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, China, waving and beckoning to Li Xiaoxuan, as if he had something to say to her.

As the sun rises, the majestic chimes resonate, striking the earth 108 times. The sounds of zithers and drums blend together, as if the entire solar system and universe are in harmonious resonance.

In the realm of profound silence, the cosmic backdrop weeps and laments, like a poem or a song, from a whisper in a corner to a universal resonance, the symphony of life bursts forth unstoppably, the sound of nature deafening!
The white-robed youth's chanting was like a warm current seeping into Li Xiaoxuan's heart.

That was a poem composed of collected verses:

Reading books has given me a mirror for a thousand autumns. - Su Shi, Song Dynasty
Returning from afar, my eyes are brighter than ever. (Ming, Youpu)

The mortal world outside one's body can be changed at will. — Tang Dynasty, Lü Yan

Iron chains at the edge of the clouds guide travelers. (Ming Dynasty, Gu Lin)

The rising tide pushes the previous wave forward; Ming Dynasty, Deng Yunxiao

The painter, though seemingly heartless, perceives emotion within. — Xu Wei, Ming Dynasty

"Death becomes the stars, never to be extinguished," - Du Fu, Tang Dynasty
One wave dies, another rises. —Bai Juyi, Tang Dynasty
(End of this chapter)