Courtyard House: Primordial Chaos Pearl

Dubai in the sweltering summer is like an inverted furnace, the hot wind carrying sand that stings the eyes. The Mars Agriculture Simulation City, however, is as quiet as another world—its white exterior reflects the blinding sunlight, and beneath the dome, enclosed modules are arranged in a row: a mining simulation module, a resource processing module, an ecology module, a 3D printing module, and a command module. A sign outside the modules reads in Chinese, English, and Arabic: "Interstellar Agriculture Supply System Full-Link Test Site."

Yan Jiecheng, dressed in light gray overalls with a cooling patch on his forehead, was leading his team in the final joint inspection. In his hand was a "red list"—a record of all single points of failure that could potentially cause the system to crash.

"Remember, what we need is not just 'being able to run,' but 'running continuously for thirty days.'" Yan Jiecheng slammed the list on the table. "A problem with any valve, sensor, or weld could bring the entire supply chain to a standstill."

Lin Xiangyang, carrying a laptop bag, sat at the data desk like a little adult, the "lighthouse monitoring module" he had written flashing on the screen. He designed the emergency lighthouse as the "third life support system" of the supply station: it is normally dormant, but will automatically start up once the main system loses pressure, temperature or connection, providing a minimum of oxygen, water and positioning signals, and attempting to repair critical valves.

"Uncle Yan, I've changed the loss-of-connection determination from 'single link interruption' to 'majority vote across three links,'" Lin Xiangyang said, pointing to the screen. "To avoid accidental triggering."

Yan Jiecheng nodded: "That's right. In space, accidental triggering is more dangerous than not triggering at all."

He Yushui was conducting final checks inside the ecological cabin. The cabin was planted with improved interstellar rice and salt-tolerant pasture, with nutrient solution flowing slowly through transparent pipes. She stared at the carbon dioxide concentration curve, a sense of unease creeping into her heart: "The atmosphere of the simulated city is configured according to Martian parameters, with CO₂ accounting for 95%, but if there's even a tiny leak in the cabin's seal, outside air seeping in will cause the concentration to drift, and the activity of the microbial community will fluctuate accordingly."

Lin Dong stood in the center of the command cabin, looking at the giant screen on the wall. On the screen, the mining arm of the Red Star-130 was simulating drilling for water ice on the surface of an asteroid, the electrolysis module of the resource processing cabin was decomposing water into hydrogen and oxygen, the 3D printing cabin was printing out a spare seeding head, and the crops in the ecological cabin were slowly growing under red LED lights.

Everything went as smoothly as if it had been rehearsed countless times.

"The full-link test officially begins, with a duration of thirty days." Lin Dong pressed the start button.

For the first seven days, the system was so stable it was almost "boring".

Water recovery rate remained around 92%, electrolysis efficiency was 88%, metal extraction rate was 76%, and the deviation between crop growth curves and predicted values ​​did not exceed 3%. Observers from various countries visited daily, taking photos, recording, and asking questions, their faces filled with amazement. UAE representative Karim even joked, "Your system is as stable as a clock."

Lin Dong simply smiled. He knew that what clocks feared most wasn't running slowly, but suddenly stopping.

At 2 a.m. on the eighth day, the alarm in the command center broke the silence.

"Beep— Beep— Beep—"

The red warning light flashed wildly, and a line of glaring text appeared on the screen:

[Resource processing compartment depressurization] [Abnormal temperature rise in electrolysis module] [CO₂ concentration drift in ecological compartment]

Yan Jiecheng practically jumped up from his chair: "What happened? Where's the point of decompression?"

The technician's voice trembled: "Preliminary assessment... the main sealing ring of the resource processing compartment failed, possibly due to material creep at high temperatures, causing gas leakage from the compartment, hindering heat dissipation of the electrolysis module, and causing the temperature to reach the critical value."

He Yushui's expression changed instantly: "If the electrolysis module overheats, it will cause an abnormal hydrogen-oxygen mixing ratio, which could lead to an explosion in severe cases."

Lin Dong didn't hesitate: "Immediately execute the emergency plan: First, cut off the power supply to the electrolysis module; second, close the connection valve between the resource processing chamber and the ecological chamber; third, activate the backup resource processing chamber to take over; fourth—" He looked at Lin Xiangyang, "Activate the emergency lighthouse."

Lin Xiangyang quickly tapped the "Lighthouse Start" button.

Everyone in the command center held their breath.

Three seconds later, a green notification popped up on the screen:

[Emergency lighthouse activated] [Backup oxygen source activated] [Location beacon being launched] [Valve repair program running]

The lighthouse module, like a silent firefighter, swiftly takes over from the background. It lacks flashy visuals, displaying only lines of calm, collected logs:

Microcracks caused by creep of the main sealing ring were detected.

Automatically calculate the leakage rate versus the chamber pressure decay curve

Control the robotic arm to carry sealing strips and clamps for temporary sealing.

Adjust the electrolysis power of the backup resource processing compartment to maintain the hydrogen-oxygen ratio within a safe range.

Injecting buffer gas into the ecological chamber to suppress CO₂ concentration drift.

Yan Jiecheng stared at the log, his Adam's apple bobbing. "This... this was written by Xiang Yang?"

Lin Xiangyang's forehead was sweating, but his voice was steady: "I just put the 'redundancy' and 'adaptability' you taught me into code."

He Yushui monitored the crop's condition in real time inside the ecological cabin. The rice leaves, which had begun to turn yellow, slowly regained their upright posture after the injection of buffer gas. She breathed a sigh of relief, but still dared not be careless: "We must replace the main sealing ring as soon as possible, otherwise the temporary seal will only last for a few hours."

Lin Dong looked at the person in charge of the 3D printing booth: "How long will it take to print the sealing ring?"

The person in charge immediately replied, "The material is a composite of titanium alloy and modified rubber. Printing, curing, and testing will take at least four hours."

"That's enough," Lin Dong said in a deep voice. "The lighthouse can hold on. What we need to do now is downgrade the risk from 'system crash' to 'controllable incident'."

The accident was like a taut net, suffocating everyone.

Outside the command module, the observers were urgently evacuated to a safe zone. ESA representative Michelle said gravely, "If this were on an asteroid, you would lose your supply depot."

Lin Dong did not refute, but simply turned the screen towards him: "So we exposed all the problems on the ground."

Four hours later, the 3D printing chamber produced a new sealing ring. The robotic arm removed the temporary seal, quickly replaced the sealing ring, and then the resource processing chamber was repressurized.

The curve on the screen gradually stabilized:

Pressure returned to normal

Electrolysis module temperature drops

CO₂ concentration regression setpoint

Eco-cabin crop growth curve refit prediction

The alarm finally stopped, the red warning lights went out, and the command center was eerily quiet.

Someone couldn't help but whisper, "We survived."

Yan Jiecheng leaned back in his chair, his eyes red: "They survived... and they survived thanks to a lighthouse program written by a thirteen-year-old."

Lin Xiangyang, however, was not smug. He simply exported the log and said seriously, "This accident shows that the main sealing ring material is not up to standard under high-temperature creep. We need to replace it with a more creep-resistant alloy, or add preload compensation to the structure."

Looking at her son, He Yushui felt a complex sense of pride: "Xiangyang, you've grown up."

Lin Dong walked over and gently patted Lin Xiangyang on the shoulder: "You did a great job. But remember, today's success is not because of how well you wrote, but because we thought about the 'worst-case scenario' in advance."

The day after the accident, the alliance held an emergency review meeting.

During the meeting, Michelle projected the logs from the Lighthouse module onto the screen, her tone unusually serious: "This accident proves that the 'dual ecological modules + dual resource processing modules' proposed by Red Star are not enough. We need a third emergency system—the Lighthouse. It's not icing on the cake; it's the bottom line."

Karim immediately approved the plan: "The UAE is willing to increase investment, making the Lighthouse system a mandatory feature of the first phase of the supply depot, and establishing a 'Lighthouse Testing Center' in Dubai Simulation City."

Chen, a representative from China's aerospace sector, added: "We recommend incorporating the beacon into the alliance's standards. All members must adopt the same interface protocol and emergency logic to ensure mutual rescue capabilities on asteroids in the future."

Lin Dong stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone: "Since we've reached a consensus, let me propose a more radical goal—to upgrade the Lighthouse from an 'emergency system' to an 'autonomous system.' This will allow it not only to save lives but also to maintain the supply station's operation even without human intervention."

The meeting room erupted in uproar.

Yan Jiecheng was the first to react: "You mean... the supply station can be unmanned?"

Lin Dong nodded: "The goal of unmanned spaceflight is not to reduce the number of people, but to make it safer for humans in deep space. There should be redundancy in places with people, and autonomy in places without people."

After the review meeting, Lin Dong stood alone under the dome of the simulated city. Outside the dome was the scorching sun and sandstorms of Dubai, while inside was the red soil simulating Mars and the silent robotic arms. He suddenly recalled the nights in the courtyard house, and the moment he first simulated agricultural machinery in the chaotic space.

At that time, all he wanted was to survive.

Now, he wants to enable humanity to survive in deep space.

And all of this began with an accident—an accident that exposed vulnerability and also lit a beacon.

That evening, Lin Xiangyang wrote a note on his computer:

"A lighthouse is not meant to illuminate the darkness, but to keep anyone from getting lost in the darkness."

He saved this sentence to a file named Lighthouse_v1.0.