The stars, but they become the gray wind

…………

"Von Neumann self-replicator?" Kuznetsov looked incredulous.

"Is there anything strange about this? The von Neumann self-replicator has a high upper limit, but a low lower limit as well. From the simplest clockwork machine to atomic-scale microscopic self-replicating machines, they are all a type of von Neumann self-replicator, the latter being much more advanced than the former."

"The von Neumann self-replicator we created can even replicate itself exponentially in a disordered gas under the most extreme conditions, although this would cause our von Neumann self-replicator to consume a lot of unnecessary energy."

"I just launched several pods containing von Neumann self-replicators towards that neighboring asteroid. They will dismantle and consume the asteroid from the inside."

"And then what?" Kuznetsov pressed.

"Use the resources of the asteroid to build something..."

"Some things are very important to us. You will understand them after it is built." After that, the translucent octahedron floated towards the corridor, leaving the two people still staring at the asteroid outside the window.

Erlin deleted the neighbor's anger

Kelly Baldwin was flipping through the plan in her hand, studying it word by word. Last night, after the results of her eight years of hard work came to nothing because of a word from the director of the space agency, she and a friend who had also resigned met by chance got drunk in a bar. When she woke up, she was lying on the sofa in the living room of her friend's house. A little girl who was obviously her friend's daughter was staring at her with a gloomy face. She was obviously unhappy because her mother did not come back until late last night and brought back a drunk stranger of the same age as her. The stranger vomited all over her living room in a very rude state while drunk, which made the little girl really dislike the woman in front of her.

"Wait, you mean... we should seek private investment to continue this research project?"

"Yes, since these short-sighted idiots who just took over the space agency won't invest in us, then we'll look for private investment and do it ourselves!"

…………

At night, on an unfamiliar beach, Dave sat up from the sand and looked at the tall strange woman holding a surfboard who suddenly appeared in front of him and interrupted his gaze at the stars.

"A shooting star! Hey, man, did you see that? Maybe it's the universe sending us a message!"

"The universe doesn't communicate..."

"How can you be sure of this?"

"The universe has no consciousness, and it doesn't care about you or me. It's just a bunch of random particles running around in the void."

"That counts as information, doesn't it?"

"Hey, wait, why are you... here? This is private property."

"I climbed over the fence."

"Didn't you see the sign on the fence that said 'Keep Out - Private Property'?"

"So this is your territory? Including the mansion up there?"

Dave nodded silently.

"So... everything including that is yours? What? You still don't think it's enough?" The strange woman holding the surfboard pointed to the villa on the hillside.

"You still don't think it's enough? You want to take the ocean for yourself too?"

"I could have called the police..."

"Then call the police, you fascist..." The strange woman holding the surfboard retorted mercilessly.

In the end, Dave didn't call the police. He just continued to lie on the beach, looking up at the dark starry sky alone, thinking about the conversation they had just had. He wondered if the universe itself was really conveying some kind of message to humans or other intelligent life forms that might exist in the universe as the strange woman had just said. But the dark starry sky couldn't give him any answers. After the strange woman with the surfboard ran away, all that responded to him was the waves constantly hitting the beach and the dead, inky black starry sky.

The universe itself may have no answers or meaning. Definitions of the universe are all subjective interpretations of intelligent beings, exploring the laws governing it and defining them based on their own understanding. For no apparent reason, this thought suddenly occurred to Dave as he lay on the beach. He stood up from his position and slowly walked back to the villa on the hillside.

After he left the beach, a double-helix needle-shaped object briefly appeared on the deserted beach, then silently melted into the air. After reorganizing into a macroscopic form, the nebula probe once again transformed itself into a pile of discrete elementary particles that were invisible and intangible to the naked eye.

…………

"Our proposal is not just idealism. All the technical difficulties and concept proofs in the aerospace planning, development and production processes have been thoroughly completed. All we lack now is some start-up capital." Kelly stood in front of the projection screen and introduced her alien exploration robot project to the shareholders of Helios who were sitting around her.

"People say that developing new technologies in aerospace is like jumping off a cliff and creating a whole new aircraft on the way down, but our extraterrestrial robotics program is one of the most innovative and beautiful scientific exploration projects ever undertaken."

"We call it the Mars Explorer. It's a remote-controlled, four-legged, semi-autonomous robot designed to search for traces of extraterrestrial life in the lava tubes beneath Mars. We've already completed the production of several batches of prototypes."

"Each batch will consist of 6 to 12 Explorer robots, and our esteemed shareholders can reserve a space in the cargo hold of the Unity transport ship for the Explorer robots, establish a small mission control center at the Happy Valley Mars Base, and fund our full-time engineering team to conduct this unprecedented science project on Mars."

"To find traces of extraterrestrial life that once existed, or even still exists..."

"Sorry, let me interrupt... Your project is very attractive, but I'm sorry, your project does not fit in with our development plan... nor does it meet our business needs." One of the shareholders suddenly raised his hand and interrupted Kelly's introduction.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but to be honest, we cannot afford the financial and capital risks of a project that may not have any long-term returns..." Another shareholder also politely rejected the two.

.........

"This...but..." Kelly walked out of the door of Helios Company a little annoyed.

“It’s so miserable”

"For a Fortune 500 company whose annual net profit alone exceeds that of the entire state of Texas, $200 million shouldn't be a big deal, right?" Kelly complained in frustration after being ruthlessly rejected by the shareholders of Helios.

"I... there's another candidate... you know."

"Do you really think he would be willing to invest in our scientific research project?"

"How do you know if it will work if you don't try?" Aleida had a strange premonition that she and Kelly might actually be able to successfully attract investment so that this scientific exploration project for extraterrestrial life would not rot in the warehouse.

After the two took a taxi and left, the nebula probe extracted some of the elementary particles that made up itself from their brains without a trace. The elementary particles, which had almost no mass, instantly arrived at their destination at a speed close to the speed of light: a villa on a hillside by the sea.

.........

"Come in." The calm voice of the owner of the house came from the microphone at the door.

"Don't worry, everything will go smoothly." Aleida pushed open the door of the beach villa.

……

20 minutes later, in the living room of the beach villa

"The technology my team has developed is more advanced than current ice core and water sampling methods. It can detect detailed data on the presence of microorganisms directly from the rock surface through rapid scanning."

"I understand... your achievements are impressive, but you still haven't answered the most crucial question."

"what is the problem?"

“If I invest in this, what is the potential return and benefit from this project?”

"If we can find evidence and traces of extraterrestrial life, we can uncover them by mapping their genomes and revealing their protein structures. This may also allow us to uncover the secrets of our own origins and crack the black box of life evolution. Who knows what kind of leaps in biotechnology this will bring?"

Kelly couldn't help but frown when she heard this question. After thinking for a few seconds, she answered the young man sitting in front of several computer screens.

"But I still don't see the chance that the investment will generate sufficient returns." The young man sitting in the office chair interrupted Kelly.

"New discoveries about the universe and basic science often don't make money, and may not even generate any revenue for decades." The young man sitting in the office chair shook his head.

"I don't understand. I thought you were one of the most supportive of space exploration and basic scientific research? But..."

"Listen... you two, I'm flattered that you've come all the way to see me, but I'm sorry, I can't provide you with any help. This project... isn't suitable for me, so, I'm sorry..." As he spoke, the young man turned his gaze back to the computer screen beside him.

"Thank you..." Behind him, the two people showed disappointed expressions at this unexpected result.

"You know what? You're a coward! A coward!" As Kelly turned and walked to the door, she couldn't help but curse directly at the young man sitting in the office chair in the living room.

"I remember when my mother first started working for your company. She told me she had never met such a group of young people who were so passionate and driven to make the world a better place!"

"You've had grand plans to explore and develop Mars, Jupiter's satellites, and even Saturn, yet now you're hiding here, obsessed with the money in your bank account, and you don't even dare to leave!"

"What the hell happened to you?! How could the guy my mother saw leading a group of passionate and energetic young people to actively innovate and change the world become a cowardly and hesitant person today?!!"

The man sitting on the office chair did not get angry at Kelly's scolding, but responded very calmly.

"You want to know what happened to me? It's all because of your mother. She betrayed me. When I needed her support the most, my most trusted partner, she cast a crucial vote on the board of directors and kicked me out of the company I founded."

"But I'm still grateful for the help she provided me before this, because she helped me see the true colors of many people. They, as well as me, are just a group of people who are chasing fame and fortune and only see the immediate benefits."

.........

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned my mother."

"Does this need to be said?"

Outside the villa, whose doors had been closed again, the two men's attempts to obtain sufficient funds for their scientific research projects failed again.

Just as the two of them got in the car again and drove away from the villa, the nebula probe, which had turned into discrete elementary particles, sneaked into the villa silently and exerted its influence on the subconscious of the villa owner.

.........

At night, after finishing his daily work, Dave looked again at the Explorer Robot Project Plan that he had thrown casually on the corner of his desk. For some reason, he picked up the plan again. He didn't know why he remembered the most passionate and energetic period in his past. At that time, he was just a newly graduated student. With a large group of fearless young people and partners, he plunged into a brand new field, thinking about building a better world. At that time, he didn't care about investment returns and profits at all. As long as a technology or field can bring changes and innovations to the world, he and his young people will devote their time, resources and energy to it without hesitation.

Later, as he and the young people who followed him owned more and more things, the people around him began to become more and more cautious. Compared with creating new things, they would rather keep what they already had. The differences between him and his partners and initial subordinates became increasingly greater. In the end, because of irreconcilable differences, he was kicked out of the company he founded. After that, he began to become worried about gains and losses. Compared with the originally unattainable ideals, he became more and more concerned about the immediate benefits and rewards.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but open the plan for the Explorer Robot Project in his hand. While reading it carefully, he somehow recalled the passionate years in the past. Thinking of his past self and his present self, he couldn't help but feel a little disgusted with his current self who was always worried about gains and losses.

Finally, when he finished reading and closed the cover of the Explorer Robot Project's plan, he made up his mind. He walked step by step to the gate of the villa, opened the door, took a last look at his mansion, then stepped out resolutely and locked the door behind him.

He wants to rediscover his original intention - the young man who wanted to change the world, instead of the cowardly and hesitant man he is now.

The fragments of the nebula probe were once again pulled out of Dave's subconscious, and a shadowy figure with long purple hair appeared in the empty villa. She caught the nebula probe that slowly landed in her hand and was restored to its macroscopic state. All the cameras and alarm devices in the villa ignored the shadowy figure with long purple hair, as if she did not exist.

The shadowy figure with long purple hair stared at the car going away on the hillside and smiled meaningfully.

Chapter 178: Discovering a New Civilization! (6000 words)

The Jupiter Trojan asteroid belt, with a diameter of more than 300 kilometers, has its internal materials being eaten away and replaced at an alarming rate. Because it is in a state of covert operation, the asteroid's appearance appears to have hardly changed, but inside, more than 75% of the original asteroid material has been hollowed out and completely replaced by an activated von Neumann self-replicator.

The von Neumann self-replicator, which is growing exponentially, is still constantly decomposing and assimilating the matter inside the asteroid. Whether it is the large amount of light elements such as hydrogen and oxygen contained in the asteroid, or heavy elements such as iron and uranium, they are all being rapidly converted into quark-level von Neumann self-replicator raw materials for its own proliferation.

"Phase 1 progress 75%... ready to enter Phase 2 at any time."

"The second-stage stargate self-deployment procedure has been changed to manual activation. Until the activation command is received, the current covert operation self-replication procedure will be maintained."

On the Utopian Light, Renlong silently issued new orders to the "Gray Gu" von Neumann self-replicator that was feasting on the asteroid.

"I wonder if Carlisle has discovered anything interesting?"

"Ah... It's really inconvenient not to have a shipboard AI. Sure enough, it would be better to install a shipboard AI in the future, right?"

Continue to monitor the asteroid that is being eaten up, Renlong complained slightly.

…………

At the same time, on Earth, humans are still unaware of what is happening far away on Jupiter. Kelly, who returned home dejected because of the failure to attract investment, found an unexpected person at home. She had been discussing with Aleida whether they should consider looking for ways to invest in the international aerospace field, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), which is known to have a lot of money but in some aspects has high expectations but low skills. However, the arrival of this uninvited guest completely interrupted her original train of thought.

"Dave?" Kelly looked at Dave who suddenly came to her house with a puzzled look on her face.

"How did you get here before us?"

"Private jets are sometimes faster... you know."

"Dave…you're not…"

"I apologize for what I said about your mother earlier."

"If you just want an apology, just give me a call."

"No...I can't call...Your mother is an amazing person. She has provided irreplaceable help to my career. I have been thinking about what you said before."

"Sorry, I was a little excited..."

"No, your words remind me of my father. People failed to live up to his expectations. Those he thought he could trust hurt him, and he was devastated by it. I'm going down that same path now, and I don't even realize it..."

"Until you walked into my house and said those words to me."

"So… you're saying you've changed your mind? Investing in our science project?"

“No…Remember, the first rule of business is never to invest your own money.”

"Whose do we use then?"

"Helios."

"But we approached them and tried to convince them to invest, but they flatly refused."

“No, I think my new management team is more inclined to accept my suggestions.”

"What new management team?"

"You, and me." Dave raised his arm and pointed calmly at himself and the two people present.

"You...are you suggesting that we acquire Helios? Are you serious about this?"

"Although I was kicked out of the company, I still own a large number of stocks and shares in Herilos, and you inherited all the shares and assets of your mother as one of the company's partners."

"As long as we can convince enough shareholders to join us, we can regain control of the entire company. What do you think?"

"Screw it, no matter what the consequences will be. Let's just do it!"

"Okay! That's it! So let's talk about which shareholders we need to address and convince, shall we?"

Dave pulled out a document from his briefcase, which contained the identity information and home addresses of each shareholder of Helios.

"I'll go find these three." Dave pointed to the photos of the three shareholders in the document.

"Kelly, I need you to find these other people." As he said that, he handed Kelly several other documents with the shareholder identity information printed on them.