♪Countdown counter♪
♪Hidden in eyes♪
♪Explore deep dreams in the dark♪
♪What is waiting for me at the end of the mysterious space-time♪
♪Don't break the hope given to the world♪
♪The sun still sets every day♪
=Three-Body=
=Episode 20=
So since then, you've been pursuing the Three-Body problem.
But Henri Poincare once said math isn't the way to solving that.
I had no idea who he was, although anyone in math should know him.
Still, I didn't want to idolize anyone or be idolized.
I continued despite what he said.
For what it's worth, he could be wrong.
Besides, I've created a new algorithm
that uses quantity to derive quality so that the fittest will survive.
And the combination left in the end will be the correct prediction
for the next configuration of the Three-Body.
That's an evolutionary algorithm.
Evolutionary algorithm. I didn't learn that term until later.
Its distinguishing feature lies in computing power.
It requires ultra-large amounts of it!
The thing is, the computers we have now
aren't able to do so for the Three-Body Problem!
Back then, I didn't even have a calculator.
All I had were blank ledgers and pencils.
You've only been here a few days and burned a dozen ledgers.
Could I have a few more, please?
Don't burn them in the incense burner.
There's too much smoke.
(Great Buddha's Hall)
I lost track of time,
calculating day after day...
Until one day,
Shen Yufei dashed into my room.
Who are you?
What are you doing?
Did you do this?
Are you solving the Three-Body Problem?
Answer me!
Was that how you met your wife?
That was special.
I wouldn't call a woman "special".
But what surprised me was that the math I used was unconventional,
and my derivations didn't show all the work,
but she could tell what I was doing from a few pieces of used paper.
Clearly, she had unusual math talent.
She was devoted to that problem, too.
That's right.
She was just like me, or even more obsessed.
Unlike those who came to the temple
to pray and snap pictures here and there
and seemed to be numb and unenlightened,
Shen Yufei looked like an academic.
Your approach is unusual.
Very well.
You know, we've been searching for a method
to address this difficult problem with massive computation.
Of course, that would require an extremely powerful computer.
The truth is, all the computers in the world combined
wouldn't be enough.
This place is terrible.
There's nothing you can use.
But with my help, you can have access to supercomputers.
I can also give you a minicomputer
if you leave with me tomorrow.
You and me?
After she left,
I couldn't sleep
and went to take a walk in the yard where I saw Shen Yufei again.
Buddha, please help my Lord break away from misery.
Help whom?
Lord who?
"Buddha, please help my Lord..."
That doesn't make sense.
What she called "Lord" needs...
help from the Buddha?
Is her Lord in misery?
I don't know about religion, nor do I want to,
but I couldn't think of a weirder prayer.
I don't know why but that freaked me out.
What does it mean if one prayed to the Buddha to help another Lord?
Who did that?
The woman who asked me to leave with her.
Let me think.
I can only think of one possibility.
That Lord of hers is real.
Then, as is the Buddha?
I'm sorry if I sound rude.
Like I said, you don't understand Buddhism.
The way the Buddha exists is beyond your cognition.
But you can understand that of her Lord.
Do you know what I'm saying?
Right, Buddhism isn't for everyone.
I can't tell you more.
All I can say is do not go with her.
May I ask why?
It's just a hunch that she's hiding something
that the two of us can't possibly imagine.
Still, you left with her anyway.
I couldn't stay in the temple forever.
Over the next few years, I was living my dream life.
Shen Yufei fulfilled her promise.
I had a minicomputer and a comfortable environment.
I went abroad several times to use supercomputers, not time-sharing,
but having the whole CPU to myself.
All that was expensive.
She was rich and I got used to it,
although I didn't know where her money came from.
Then you two got married?
Sort of.
For mutual convenience, she said. We both had things to do.
The following years could be summarized into one single day.
In that big house, I didn't have to worry about anything.
I could focus on my calculation. She never interfered with my life.
All we talked about every day was the Three-Body Problem.
She said to keep her updated.
Do you know what she's been doing?
Well...
You mean the Frontiers of Science? She's busy with that all the time.
There'd be tons of visitors sometimes.
That was really annoying.
Didn't she ask you to join them?
You must be joking.
Why bother?
We're already married.
Besides, for someone like me, you think I care about other things other than my work?
Of course not.
Wei Cheng, your method can be a breakthrough.
A large group of scientists tried the approximation approach
for a stable solution to the Three-Body Problem.
Eventually, they found under appropriate initial conditions,
the three bodies would chase each other around a fixed figure-eight curve.
After that,
others were keen to find such special stable configurations.
But so far, only three or four have been discovered.
I believe your method
can turn out a lot more.
I wouldn't call them a lot as I've only found over 100.
Still, my goal is to build a mathematical model
so that when given
any initial configuration with known vectors,
the model can precisely predict all subsequent motions of the Three-Body System.
That's also Shen Yufei's goal.
Yet with my breakthrough
comes danger.
You went on and on.
Now, I get it.
Can you tell us why you went to the police?
Pan Han,
he threatened me.
He said if I didn't stop my calculation,
he'd kill me!
Pan Han?
Who's he?
How old is the guy?
He's with the Frontiers of Science, probably in his 30s.
He's... a biologist, I guess.
When and how did he threaten you?
A few days ago.
(You know, that punk brought a real gun)
(and shot my computer.)
No, it's not saved! (I was scared to death.)
It's gone!
(And then)
(in the middle of that night,)
(when I was half-asleep, I sensed something cold)
(sliding on my neck in a uniform motion.)
(I opened my eyes...)
I... I'll stop. I'll quit. I'll quit.
(And I saw Shen Yufei.)
I almost died of fright.
What's so frightening about seeing your wife
in the middle of the night?
That is if she didn't hold a knife.
But what puzzled me was that
she also threatened me, saying she'd kill me if I stopped.
I felt conflicted.
I thought I'd die either way!
What were her exact words?
She said...
If you succeed, you'll be the savior of the world.
If you stop now, you'll be a sinner.
If someone were to save or destroy the human race,
then your possible contribution or sin would be exactly twice as much as his.
I'm confused. What does she mean by exactly twice as much?
I had the same question.
- Why would it be twice? - Continue your work.
Otherwise,
you're useless to this world,
and I'll kill you.
The whole model
and the files for sharing are all in it.
You can test and verify my model.
Are you entrusting it to me?
Either you or Shen Yufei.
(Professor Wang, I noticed you the first time you came.)
(You're a good man,)
(a man with a sense of responsibility.)
That's why
I suggest you stay away from this.
The world is about to change.
All we can do is try to live out the rest of our life.
Don't worry about other things. It's useless anyway.
Why do I feel you know more than you let on?
You know, I'm smarter than I look.
We were together every day. It's impossible to not know a thing.
Why didn't you tell the police earlier?
How should I put it?
With all due respect,
cops are a joke.
Even God can't do anything.
The human race has reached the point where their prayers can't be heard.
All that is because God
and her so-called Lord
are struggling themselves.
It's me.
You know where Wei Cheng is?
Yes.
How's his calculation going?
He's built the model.
Now, we can test it in the game?
Are you coming to get him?
Maybe after the game.
Give him the phone.
OK. One sec.
It's for you.
Listen, do not drink.
I'll drop you off at the Nanomaterial Center
for you to play the game and test Wei Cheng's model.
Then I'll go see Shen Yufei and grab a bite on the way.
- Don't forget about Pan Han. - No worries. Xu Bingbing will be on it.
(National Center for Nanoscience and Technology)
You must be Einstein.
No, you're mistaken.
I'm not him.
I'm a lost soul abandoned by God.
Who are you?
I'm Copernicus.
Distinguished Copernicus, I'd appreciate it if you could stop
for some Mozart.
Then I'll be able to afford lunch.
The Tri-Solar Syzygy destroyed everything,
including the great pyramid over there.
The United Nations Headquarters is there now.
Do we have a deal?
Here comes the sun.
Here it is.
As the sun rises, no more Mozart for me,
but this time, I got lucky, you know?
No need to say goodbye to music early.
A giant sun?
Is another destruction coming?
Silvery shine.
Almost no heat.
What is that?
Is it the moon?
A giant moon?
How come I've never seen it before in the game?
Are you aware of the Great Rip?
The Great Rip?
What is that?
The old me, the old civilization, the old universe, all is too painful to recall!
What changed you?
The Great Rip?
Of course not!
No one could see it alive.
It was all too overwhelming!
All our efforts were squashed.
God has given up on us!
Let's hope he won't do the same to you,
though I don't have much faith in that.
The model you, Newton, and the others created in the East
with the help of the human-formation computer
was quite close to being correct.
But that tiny little gap was insurmountable
for Newton and the others.
And your relativity fits right into it.
No. I've always believed that without me,
others would've discovered special relativity eventually,
but general relativity is different.
To be specific, the bit that Newton lacked
was the effect on planetary orbit
from the gravitational perturbation described by general relativity.
The error caused by it was small,
but its impact on the results of the computation was fatal.
True. Adding the correction factor for the perturbation
to the classical equations would get the right mathematical model.
The amount of computing power required far exceeds what you accomplished in the East,
but it's easily provided by modern computers.
Have the results of observation been confirmed by astronomy?
If so, do you think I'd be here?
Although aesthetically speaking,
I'm right and the universe is wrong.
God left me and then others followed suit.
Professor Wang.
Dr. Shen.
Dr. Shen,
this is Wei Cheng's model.
Do you think it'll work?
If not, then math, too,
(The Three-Body Problem Model) isn't the solution to the problem.
The Pendulum Initiation Ceremony is about to begin.
Let's go.
I saw the pendulums of the Warring States Period.
They were to hypnotize the Sun God.
The present civilization has evolved to the level
where theology and myth are no longer needed for a solution.
Once it starts swinging, it'll wipe out all that we've done.
This is our last hope.
Does it mean your Lord will be out of misery?
As will all of us.
(Please attend on time.)
(The Pendulum Initiation Ceremony is about to begin.)
(Please attend on time.)
Copernicus, I remember you who've gone through five eras!
Please meet the Secretary General of the UN.
Greetings.
Did you see such things back in the Warring States Period?
I did.
But why are we building another one now?
It's a monument for Trisolaris, as well as a tombstone.
A tombstone? For whom?
For an aspiration, a striving that lasted through almost 200 civilizations:
the effort to solve the Three-Body Problem,
to find the pattern in the movements of the suns.
As of now, it's completely over.
We're here to help.
I brought a mathematical model that can solve the Three-Body Problem.
It's a brand-new algorithm.
Maybe it'll work.
Out of respect for your reputation,
I'll have my science advisor take a look.
An evolutionary algorithm?
Whoever created that is a genius.
It requires superior math skills and incredible imagination.
Has someone already put together such a model?
Yes. There are dozens.
Over half of them are better than yours.
Did they work?
We've got conclusive proof that the Three-Body Problem
is unsolvable.
It's just like we guessed long ago that the Three-Body System is chaotic.
Tiny perturbations can be endlessly amplified.
Its patterns of movement essentially can't be mathematically predicted.
If even a simple arrangement like the Three-Body System
is unpredictable chaos,
how can we have any faith in discovering the laws of the complicated universe?
God has turned his back on Trisolaris.
This civilization seems to be quite advanced.
Yes. We've mastered nuclear power and reached the Information Age.
Then there's still hope.
When civilization reaches a new high, even if it's impossible to know
the pattern of the suns' movements, we can survive the Chaotic Eras
by protecting ourselves against the devastating catastrophes.
Those before you thought so, too.
That was one of the motivating forces pushing Trisolaran Civilization
to bounce back over and over.
But the moon made us realize how naive that idea was.
This is probably the first time you've seen this moon.
Actually, it's about a quarter of the size of our planet.
It's no longer a moon,
but a companion to our world resulting from the Great Rip.
The Great Rip?
What exactly is that?
The disaster that killed the last civilization.
Compared with previous civilizations, it had ample warning of the disaster.
Based on surviving records, the astronomers of Civilization No. 191
detected early on a frozen flying star.
Meaning it stopped moving?
Yes.
A frozen flying star boded ill for several Trisolaran Civilizations.
When a flying star or a distant sun
seems to come to a complete stop against the background starfield...
It'll lead to three possibilities.
First, the suns and the planet are moving at the same speed in the same direction.
Second, they're moving apart from each other.
The last and the worst one is...
The suns are moving toward the planet!
Is that what you call the Great Rip?
Yes.
The people of Civilization No. 191 stood on the ground,
gazing up helplessly at the three frozen flying stars
and the three suns swooping down on their world.
Follow me.
Here it is.
This corridor was built to honor those unforgettable memories.
As one of the suns was moving, its outer gaseous layer became visible.
In the middle of a tranquil night,
the flying star suddenly turned into a blazing sun.
After 30 hours or so, the other two suns also appeared successively.
By the time the last flying star turned into a sun,
the first sun had already swept past the planet at extremely close range.
Right after that, the other two suns
swept past Trisolaris at even closer ranges.
The tidal forces imposed on the planet by the three suns
all exceeded the Roche limit.
In that case, the planet would be torn to pieces.
The first sun shook the deepest geological structure of the planet.
The second sun tore open a great rift in it
that went straight to the core.
The third sun ripped the planet into two pieces.
That's the smaller piece.
With ruins from Civilization No. 191 on it, it is, however,
a lifeless world.
After the planet was torn apart, the two irregularly shaped pieces
returned to spherical form under self-gravitation.
The dense, searing planetary core material gushed to the surface.
When that happened, the oceans would boil over the lava.
The continents would melt.
As they collided, the ground would become as soft as the ocean.
You're right.
Massive mountains of tens of thousands of meters could rise in an hour
and disappear just as quickly.
The two pieces were still connected by streams of molten lava
that coalesced into a space-spanning river.
Then the lava cooled, turning into rings around the planets.
Due to perturbations from the planets, the rings were unstable.
The rocks that formed them fell back
to the surface in a rain of giant stones for centuries.
That was hellish.
The ecological destruction caused by this catastrophe
was the severest in all of history.
All life on the companion planet went extinct,
and the mother planet almost became a lifeless waste as well.
Unexpectedly, the seeds of life sprouted again.
As the geology of the mother planet settled down,
civilization reappeared for the 192nd time.
This process took 90 million years.
Trisolaris's place in the universe is even grimmer than we had imagined.
A recent astronomical discovery
has made us lose all hope for the fate of Trisolaris.
Eventually, our planet will plunge into
the fiery sea of the sun.
Based on the remaining signs in this stellar system,
we learned how the stars and the planets were formed
and discovered that in the distant past,
the Trisolaran Stellar System once had 12 planets.
Yet, only this one remains.
All 11 of them have been destroyed?
Afraid so.
There's only one explanation.
The other 11 planets have all been consumed
by the three suns with time.
Our world is but the sole survivor of a Great Hunt.
Trisolaran Civilization couldn't have been reborn 192 times
solely because of luck, right?
For all we know, that streak has ended.
Also, further study shows that the three stars are breathing.
They're breathing?
The gaseous outer layer of the suns expands and contracts
over cycles lasting eons like breathing.
When the gaseous layer expands, it can grow a dozen times thicker,
greatly increasing the diameter of the sun.
It's like a giant mitt that can catch planets more easily.
It's proven that in the long history of the Trisolaran Stellar System,
every time the gaseous layers expanded, one or two planets were consumed.
Scholars have predicted that the next expansion will happen in
1.5 to 2 million years.
We believed
all our efforts would be in vain.
God walked out on us.
We're the loneliest kids in the universe.
(The Pendulum Initiation Ceremony is about to begin.)
(Please attend on time.)
They're going to activate the Pendulum.
Please join us to witness this historical moment.
(The Pendulum Initiation Ceremony is about to begin.)
(Please attend on time.)
- Humans are too insignificant. - They are.
Life is too fragile to survive in the vast universe.
That said, it's also great.
That's how Civilization No. 192 managed to germinate.
Thanks to you, I was able to see how tenacious this civilization is.
With all hope gone, tenacity could be a curse.
Somehow, I'm thinking of one person.
Who is it?
Yang Dong.
You get her desperation now?
I'm not sure.
But she was indeed special.
Even when she knew our science is hopeless, she didn't give up.
She could've muddled along.
I don't know what happened to her.
Do you remember her suicide note?
"Physics has never existed and will never exist."
That conclusion is more terrifying than that of humans' existence.
Professor Wang, you're the chosen one to fulfill your mission.
There's nothing else I can do.
I hope you can make a difference.
Dr. Shen...
We can't stay
in this terrible place anymore.
We can't
even if we want to.
We have no choice
but to gamble with the universe.
How?
Leave the Trisolaran Stellar System for the wide-open sea of stars.
We must find in the galaxy a new livable habitat.
Activate the Pendulum!
(Activating the Pendulum.)
Its period isn't stable, but changing constantly.
When the giant moon is on this side of the planet,
its gravity offsets that of the planet, causing the pendulum to lose weight.
When it moves to the other side, the gravity of the two is added
and its weight returns to that before the Great Rip.
Look at it.
Isn't it like a gigantic metal fist,
swinging eternally against the unfeeling universe?
Does it say the yearning for order or the surrender to chaos?
That's its battle cry.
Trisolaris's indomitable battle cry!
Good luck!
(451 years later, Civilization No. 192 was destroyed)
(by the fiery flames of twin suns.)
(It had reached the Atomic and the Information Ages.)
(Civilization No. 192 was a milestone in Trisolaris.)
(It finally proved that the Three-Body Problem had no solution.)
(It gave up the useless effort that had lasted through 191 cycles)
(and set the course for future civilizations.)
(Thus, the goal of Three-Body has changed.)
(The new goal is: Head for the stars; find a new home.)
(We invite you to log on again.)
Will tears give you a way out?
You tried to use our math to solve the Three-Body Problem.
Don't you find that juvenile?
You pitched the hypothesis of the shooter and the farmer to others
and blindly believed those two-dimensional targets
could predict the trajectory of the bullets.
Wei Cheng is a genius, born for the Three-Body Problem.
His calculation tells me
that it can't be solved.
That result
also concludes my life.
I've told you more than once
that everything you've done is useless.
Were the problem solved,
we wouldn't hear the Lord's voice.
Your less advanced civilization provides zero chance of success.
You can't redeem Lord,
nor does it need your redemption.
Too bad,
it's too late for you to see that.
The trial failed,
but it didn't break me.
What I've seen in the game
is unimaginable for humans.
I saw how the tidal power rip the world into two,
how the ocean boil over lava,
and how the corona of the stars
devour one planet after another.
It was dark
and ruthless.
Powerful as those forces seem,
they're tiny drops in the universe.
All those moments will fade in desperation
like downpours drowned in the ocean.
Who are we to redeem Lord?
We know nothing about the universe.
I once accused you of using Lord for your secret agenda.
Turns out, I'm doing the same.
Both the Adventists
and the Redemptionists
are selfish and greedy.
Humans are infinitely small.
We just want to feel important.
People have two sides just like a coin,
one good, the other bad.
Do you know which side to choose?
There are two planets:
one is checkered and broken;
the other is stable and livable.
Are you going to stay where you are, solving the unsolvable problem,
or find a new home?
We have to make a choice,
and as does Lord?
That game was to help you know
and understand Lord,
but you thought you had to redeem it.
You're right.
We have a choice to make.
Now that we've heard Lord's voice,
you still don't get it?
It has made its choice, OK?
(5 Missed Calls)
(Shi Calling)
What's up?
Excuse me.
What happened?
Captain Shi is over there.
A GSW to the head damaged the brain and killed her.
Did Wei Cheng's model succeed?
No.
He did it wrong?
His model has successfully proven that there is no solution.
She must've been devastated.
She mentioned Yang Dong
and said she had been even more so.
We've requested the footage.
The camera at the door shows at Shen Yufei's time of death,
only one person came here, who was probably the last person she saw...
Give me the name!
Pan Han.
♪I've seen things you people won't believe♪
♪Soon our planet will vanish♪
♪I've known the future you people won't think of♪
♪Soon your planet will be punished♪
♪I've seen things you people won't believe♪
♪Soon our planet will vanish♪
♪I've known the future you people won't think of♪
♪Soon your planet will be punished♪
♪I've seen things you people won't believe♪
♪Soon our planet will vanish♪
♪I've known the future you people won't think of♪
♪Soon your planet will be punished♪
♪I've seen things you people won't believe♪
♪Soon our planet will vanish♪
♪I've known the future you people won't think of♪
♪Soon your planet will be punished♪
♪I've seen things you people won't believe♪
♪Soon our planet will vanish♪
♪I've known the future you people won't think of♪
♪Soon your planet will be punished♪
=Three-Body=