=Three-Body=
=Episode 28=
The last but also the most important question.
So far, the Trisolaris has only sent radio waves to the Earth?
Almost true.
Almost?
The current Trisolaran civilization
(is capable of space travel at one-tenth the speed of light.)
(This technology leap occurred a few decades ago in Earth years.)
(Before that point, their maximum speed)
(had hovered around one-thousandth the speed of light.)
(The tiny probes that they sent to the Earth)
(have not even completed one-hundredth)
of the journey between there and here.
(If the Trisolaran Fleet that had been launched)
is capable of flight at one-tenth the speed of light,
it should take only 40 years to reach the solar system.
Why do you say that it would take more than 400 years?
Here's the thing.
The Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet is composed of incredibly
(massive spaceships.)
(Accelerating them is a slow process.)
(One-tenth the speed of light is only their maximum speed, )
(but they cannot cruise at this speed for long)
(before decelerating.)
(So, the time it takes the Trisolaran Fleet)
(to reach the solar system)
(is ten times longer than that of a small probe.)
Also, the source of propulsion for the Trisolaran ships
is matter-antimatter annihilation.
Matter-antimatter annihilation?
Then is there a large magnetic field in front of each ship?
Is there a large magnetic field in front of each ship?
Yes.
(Theoretically, the field is shaped like a funnel)
(to collect antimatter particles from space.)
(This collection process is slow, )
(and only after a long wait can it gather)
(enough antimatter to allow the ship)
(to accelerate for a brief period.)
If that's the case, it indeed takes 400 years.
Then what did you mean by "almost" just now?
We're talking about
the speed of space flight within a certain context.
Outside this context, even backward human beings
(are capable of accelerating certain objects)
(to close to the speed of light.)
By "context", she probably means at the macro scale.
At a micro scale, we can already use high-energy particle accelerators
to speed up micro particles to near the speed of light.
Those micro particles you mentioned are the "objects", right?
You're clever.
I'm flattered.
I have the world's foremost scientists behind me.
Yes, they're micro particles.
Six years ago, in the distant triple star system,
Trisolaris accelerated two hydrogen nuclei to near the speed of light
(and shot them toward the solar system.)
(These two hydrogen nuclei, or protons, )
(arrived at the solar system two years ago, )
(then reached the Earth.)
Two protons?
They only sent two protons?
That's almost nothing.
General Chang, you also said "almost".
That's the limit of Trisolaran power.
They can only accelerate something
as small as a proton to near the speed of light.
Over a distance of four light-years, they can only send two protons.
(At the macroscopic level, two protons are nothing.)
(Even a single cilium on a bacterium)
(would include several billion protons.)
(What's the point?)
They're a lock.
A lock? What are they locking?
The progress of human science.
(During the four and a half centuries)
(until the arrival of the Trisolaran Fleet, )
(due to the existence of the two protons, )
(humanity will not be able to make)
any important scientific developments.
Evans once said that the day of arrival
of the two protons was also the day that human science died.
(So you already knew that the protons sealed off human science.)
(Professor David of Gadayork University, )
(committed suicide a month ago.)
(The astrophysicist of Country A...)
(Human science will never progress.)
(Yang Dong's experiment will never succeed.)
Physics doesn't exist.
(Why didn't you tell her the truth earlier?)
Is everything I know
the truth?
General Chang, this is Wang Miao.
OK, thanks, Professor Ye.
Let's call it a day.
Someone wants to see you.
Thank you for seeing me.
There is a question that I haven't answered you.
Is it about Yang Dong?
Dong
didn't like to watch the news on current events,
because she had a basic belief that life and the world might be ugly,
but at the end of the micro and macro, it was harmonious and perfect.
(The daily world was just a foam floating on the perfect ocean.)
(But because the protons interfered with the accelerator experiment, )
Don't come over.
(the daily world became a beautiful presentation instead.)
(The micro it contained)
(and the macro that contained it)
(might be more chaotic and uglier.)
(So her faith collapsed.)
(She actually knew that)
she didn't have to think that way.
Without physics, she could still live.
(She made choices and efforts, )
(trying to live peacefully)
(like an ordinary woman.)
(For her, )
(half of her life had been destroyed.)
I talked with Shen Yufei.
Yang Dong tried to make changes.
Perhaps she did that to save herself.
But I don't know
why she eventually chose to end her life.
That's because I destroyed
the other half of her life.
(If I was right, )
(Dong)
(should have accidentally seen)
(the files on my computer that I didn't delete, )
(and found out)
(about my secrets with Trisolaris.)
(She never thought that)
(her mom who kept her company)
(was a different person, )
(a person)
(she couldn't)
(even believe)
(might exist.)
(The two things together)
(constituted her entire life.)
But,
they were actually one thing.
To be exact,
I was the one
who destroyed Dong's life.
♪ The cruel choice of nature ♪
(All the evidence points to a single conclusion.)
(Physics has never existed, )
(and will never exist.)
(I know what I'm doing is irresponsible.)
(But I have no choice.)
(Triazolam)
I know you always think
there are many doubts about Yang Dong's death.
I have doubts, too.
If I tell you, it's partly because of physics,
and partly because of Professor Ye, will it clear your doubts?
What do you think?
Physics has never existed, and will never exist.
Honestly, I think just the opposite.
I think Yang Dong's suicide note becomes even more strange.
Let's do a sociological thought experiment
with Yang Dong as an example.
Quantum collision failed.
The foundation of physics seemed to have collapsed.
(But if she knew it was because two protons had locked human science, )
(she should have found reasonable explanations)
(for the anomalies in theoretical physics.)
(Profess Ye's story indeed destroyed her hope, )
(but at the same time, she could)
(at least see the reason why human physics didn't exist)
(was because of the intervention of Trisolarans.)
This should be new hope.
Yang Dong couldn't have failed to see this, but she still chose...
chose to kill herself.
She must have seen something more long-term than us.
But what did she see?
How did she see?
Both of us can't figure it out.
Your experiment just now took the two protons locking the Earth
as a necessary condition.
Do you really believe that?
The Trisolarans shot two protons at the Earth
from four light-years away (and they both reached the target.)
(That accuracy is incredible.)
(You know there are numerous obstacles between there and here.)
(And both the solar system and the Earth are moving.)
It's like... It would require more precision
than shooting a mosquito here from Pluto.
The shooter is beyond imagination, right?
So what does that mean?
I don't know.
What do you think those micro particles
such as protons, neutrons and electrons look like?
They would just look like a point, but with different structures.
The image in my head is more realistic than yours.
Look what this is.
A cigarette filter.
Looking at this tiny thing from where you stand,
how would you describe it?
It's practically just a point.
If this little sponge is spread open, the adsorbent surface area
can be as large as my living room.
Do you smoke pipes?
I don't smoke.
Pipes use a more advanced filter.
Three yuan for one.
It's filled with active charcoal.
If you take out all the infill, it looks like mouse droppings.
But spread open,
the adsorbent surface formed by the tiny holes inside
is as large as a tennis court.
This is why active charcoal is so adsorbent.
So, what are you trying to say?
Well, the sponge or active charcoal is three-dimensional.
But their adsorbent surfaces are two-dimensional.
Thus, you can see how a high-dimensional structure
can contain a huge low-dimensional structure.
But at the macroscopic level,
this is the limit of the ability for high-dimensional space
to contain low-dimensional space.
Because God was stingy.
During the big bang, he only
provided the macroscopic world with three dimensions,
but this doesn't mean that higher dimensions don't exist.
Up to eight dimensions are locked within the micro scale.
(And added to the three dimensions at the macro scale, )
(an eleven-dimensional space-time exists within fundamental particles.)
So what?
What do you think is the mark of a civilization's technological advancement
in the universe?
The view of dimensions.
I think it's the ability to control and make use of micro dimensions.
Making use of fundamental particles is something that our ancestors
already did back when they drilled wood to make a fire.
Utilizing chemical reactions is just
manipulating micro particles at the one-dimensional level.
Of course, this utilization also progressed from crude to advanced,
from bonfires to steam engines, and then generators.
But now, the ability for humans to manipulate micro particles at the macro level
has reached a peak.
We have computers and nanomaterials.
But all of this, from the perspective of a more advanced civilization in the universe,
is accomplished without unlocking the many dimensions.
That's why they think of humans as mere turkeys.
What does all you said have to do with those two protons?
Ultimately, what can they do?
A single cilium on a bacterium can contain several billion protons.
Even if the two protons turned entirely into energy on the tip of my finger,
at most it would feel like a pinprick.
Even if they turned into energy on a bacterium,
the bacterium probably wouldn't feel anything.
Not to mention you.
Then what were you trying to say?
Nothing.
I don't know anything.
What can a turkey know?
But about this thing, you know more than I do.
You are not at a loss as I am.
At least you can tell me what you know.
- Tell you what I know? - Yes.
If I tell you what I know, you really won't be able to sleep.
What's the point of worrying?
Learn from Shi Qiang.
Just do the best within your responsibility.
I'll go drinking and then go back to sleep like a turkey.
Mom. Mom.
Look, Dad is smoking.
When did you come in?
Play outside.
Let Dad do his work.
Mom, don't let Dad smoke.
OK. I won't let Dad smoke.
Go and play.
What's wrong?
Is there a problem with your experiment?
Why do you say that?
The last time you stared at something in a daze was when
the nanomaterial lab was built.
That wasn't worth mentioning.
Is that so serious?
No.
I mean I was young back then.
When I had a problem, I always thought it was big.
Now looking back, they were nothing.
All academic problems are a matter of time.
Over time, all problems can be solved.
Dad, it's your turn to tell me a story today.
Doudou, don't disturb Dad.
It doesn't matter. I happen to be free today.
Come.
Dad will tell you how a magician outwitted a dragon.
Come.
Be a good girl.
Come.
Once upon a time, there was a magician who had been
trying to make magic potions and practice magic.
But one day, a dragon came.
It destroyed the magician's magic hut, knocked over his magic potion,
(and took away the magic fruit that the magician survived on.)
(The magician didn't give up.)
He went through countless hardships to find the dragon's nest,
and declared war on it.
(He dodged the dragon's huge tail, and extinguished the flames it spewed.)
At last, the magician defeated the dragon
and took back his magic fruit.
Dad, you're also a magician.
You magically put the egg in the bottle.
So you are brave, too.
Thanks.
Why did the dragon fight the magician?
Is there any chance that they finally became friends
and fought no more?
Wang Miao, your friend came to see you.
Dad, it must be the dragon.
Be careful.
Dad is a magician.
Dad isn't afraid.
Are you Wang Miao?
Excuse me, you can't smoke here.
The hallway, we can talk in the hallway. You can't smoke there either.
(Please keep the hallway clean and do not smoke)
Are you OK?
Yes.
I just recollected the old days.
I mean your health.
I'm fine.
Don't worry.
I'm not radioactive anymore.
Because of a tiny nuclear bomb, they've washed me inside and outside
like a flour sack.
No sooner than you left the hospital, you came to knock on my door.
Is it urgent?
It's urgent.
Come with me.
No, I'm busy this afternoon.
This afternoon, we'll rearrange your schedule.
There's a car waiting downstairs.
Will you come or not?
I want to recall the old days, too.
Will you come or not?
Do I have a choice?
I read Ye Wenjie's interrogation record.
It said that the Trisolarans sent two protons to the earth.
What are the protons?
What's the Trisolarans' purpose?
The two protons they sent are too small to be seen.
But they can lock human science.
Just like when you fought with someone,
you did your utmost, while by throwing two hairs,
your opponent made you stiff and unable to move.
This information is like the countdown and weighs heavily on our minds.
(Don't you feel that everyone here)
(is anxious and worried?)
(Even the blue whale fossil)
(seems to become rougher and yellower.)
Is that the sense of vicissitudes you educated people always say?
It feels like human civilization soon became aging.
Cut the crap.
It's only been a month.
What civilization would age so fast?
Wang Miao, answer me, do you want to
play a game with me and all humanity?
Do I have a choice?
Good.
Come.
Dr. Ding and I seem to be the only scientists here.
You were not supposed to attend the meeting, not even me.
Don't you see they are all military officers?
I insisted on attending the meeting with you.
Why did you insist on doing this?
We can do nothing to help arrest Evans.
Not necessarily.
The first time I saw you, I thought,
perhaps, you're a good knife for murder.
Are you still in the mood to joke?
I didn't joke.
Probably, the two of us are going to
take the lead, make our mark, and stand out.
How do you like my idioms?
Good morning.
Everyone at this meeting
now has a basic understanding of the situation.
According to our agreement, we shared information in sync.
I'm sorry to tell you,
the war between alien invaders and humanity has begun.
(Some may say, for now, our opponents are still human.)
(After all, our descendants won't face the Trisolarans)
(for another four and a half centuries.)
(Yet, in essence, these traitors to the human race)
(like the ETO can also be seen as enemies)
(from outside human civilization.)
We have never faced an enemy like this.
So our next common objective
is to capture the intercepted Trisolaran messages
stored on Judgment Day?
Yes.
These messages may have great significance for our survival.
Please look.
This is Judgment Day.
(We've tracked its location by satellite.)
(The ship is still sailing on the Atlantic freely.)
(It has already submitted plans to the Panama Canal Authority)
(to pass through the canal)
in four days.
This seems to be our best opportunity to take action.
Perhaps, such an opportunity will never arise again.
The purpose of this meeting
is to discuss possible plans of operation,
and then report one to three of our best suggestions to Central.
This operation is very difficult.
Because any plan must guarantee one thing,
which is the secure capture of the Trisolaran messages.
According to the information from the captured ETOs,
Judgment Day was rebuilt from an old oil tanker.
(But the superstructure and the interior)
(have been extensively renovated)
(with complex structures, rooms and passage ways.)
(And the crew having lived on the ship for over a month)
(still need a map to navigate some areas, )
(which we don't have.)
Right now, we don't even know
the location of the computing center on Judgment Day,
(or whether the Trisolaran messages are stored there, )
(or how many copies they have.)
(The only way to achieve our objective)
(is to completely capture and control Judgment Day.)
The most difficult part is preventing the enemy from erasing
Trisolaran data during our attack.
If they just emptied a cartridge clip at the server hard drive,
(it would all be over.)
(It would take 10 seconds at most.)
So basically, we need to clear the ship, its entire crew,
(find the disk or drive, )
(or which we have no idea of its actual location)
(without a map, without causing)
(any substantial damage or raising any alarms)
(all in 10 seconds.)
Do we have any spies on Judgment Day to control or move
the storage equipment elsewhere right before our operation?
No.
Then we have nothing more to discuss except bullshit.
A ball lightning weapon can eliminate all personnel
within an enclosed structure without harming other equipment.
I don't think this is feasible.
We don't know if the ship has been equipped with magnetic walls
to shield against ball lightning.
(Also, the ball lightning needs some time to release its energy, )
(10 seconds at least, or one minute, even longer.)
(They will have enough time to react.)
What about a neutron bomb?
Also there's a problem.
The radiation from a neutron bomb cannot put them to death immediately.
(After the neutron bomb attack, )
(the enemy has a lot of time for a meeting, )
just like us.
Another option is nerve gas.
But from the time of our release to the time it'll take to get around the ship,
it's more time than we have,
so that doesn't meet the general's requirements.
The only other choices are concussion bombs or infrasonic waves.
I use concussion bombs, the toys, in police work.
They can indeed stun people inside a building into unconsciousness,
but they're only good for a room or two.
Do you have any concussion bombs big enough to stun
a whole ship full of people?
No.
Even if we had, such a large explosive device
would certainly damage equipment inside the ship.
What about infrasonic weapons?
No, it's not ready yet. We're still in testing.
It's not ready for field.
Besides, the power we will need for a ship that size...
It will barely be enough to cause
some dizzy spews or maybe a bit of nausea.
I told you all we have left to discuss is bullshit.
But you seemed to have ignored me.
Can't you translate the word "bullshit"?
The general said time was of the essence.
Hurry up.
Say what else have you got.
Are we going to let the policeman run this?
Are you even qualified?
What do you mean?
I'm a policeman, so what?
A policeman isn't qualified.
So are you even qualified?
Colonel Stanton has been one of
the longest standing experts in special ops,
and he has been in every major operations since the Vietnam War.
I see.
Fine.
Then let me tell you why I'm qualified.
Before I became a policeman, I was also in the military.
My reconnaissance squad once sneaked dozens of kilometers
behind the enemy,
and captured a hydroelectric station under heavy guard.
We prevented the enemy's plan to demolish the dam with explosives,
which would have flooded the attack route for our army.
That's why I'm qualified.
I defeated an enemy who once defeated you.
Shi, say your plan. Don't bring up irrelevant matters.
I don't think we need to continue listening to this police.
Police?
I heard that word twice.
What?
You look down upon the police, don't you?
To drop some bombs and turn that ship into smithereens,
you military are the experts.
But to retrieve something out of it without damage,
I don't care how many stars are on your shoulder,
you aren't even as good as a thief.
For this kind of thing, you have to think outside the box.
Out of the box.
You will never be as good at it as criminals,
masters of out-of-the-box thinking.
Criminals could steal one car out of a moving train.
They reconnected the cars before and after the stolen one so that the train
got all the way to its destination.
The only tools they used were a length of wire cable
and a few steel hooks.
Those are the real special ops experts.
And as a criminal cop
who has been playing cat and mouse with them for more than a decade,
I've received the best education and training from them.
Enough.
Tell us your plan.
Otherwise, shut up!
General, there are so many important people here
that I didn't think it was my place to speak.
And I was afraid that you would say I was rude.
Now I see...
You're already being rude! Tell us your out-of-the-box plan.
OK.
Look.
The middle of the long table is the canal.
The iron frames are the banks.
This is Judgment Day.
I cannot put up with this idiot!
Get out of here!
I'll be done soon.
One minute.
Give me one minute.
One more.
Cigar.
One more.
We set up two pillars on the shores of the canal,
and then between them we string many parallel, thin filaments.
The filaments are the nanomaterial developed by Professor Wang, Flying Knife.
Flying Blade.
Yeah, Flying Blade.
Nanomaterial.
It can cut clean through iron.
Done.
That's it.
Professor Wang,
is Flying Blade really in the form of filaments?
Given our current molecular construction technique,
the only form we can make is a filament.
The thickness is about one-hundredth the thickness of human hair.
Could we get enough of that in time?
That depends on the width of the canal and the height of the ship.
The narrowest point of the canal is 150 meters wide.
The Judgment Day is 31 meters tall, with a draft of eight meters or so.
There's probably enough.
Probably.
What if the equipment holding the Trisolaran data,
the hard drives, the optical disks, is sliced?
The filaments are extremely sharp,
and the cut surfaces would be very smooth.
The data in those optical disks, hard drives and storage
could probably be recovered.
Yeah.
Anyone got a better idea?
There's no other way.
Yes, all we can do is this.
This is our best option so far.
All right.
Then let's focus on this and work out the details.
When Judgment Day passes, can those two pillars
bear the force applied against the Flying Blade filaments?
Is there any chance the pillars could be sliced apart first?
Everyone, here is the thing.
The nanomaterial is thick at both ends and thin in the middle.
We have some material that are flat sheets.
We can use them to protect the parts of the column
where the filaments are attached.
In addition, the filaments are too thin to be seen with the naked eye.
So we need to label them with fluorescent.
This way, in a special light,
we can check that whether the filaments are straightened
and arranged neatly.
Judgment Day has a deep draft.
(We also need to consider the filaments below the waterline.)
(It's hard to set the filaments below the waterline.)
If we don't have enough time,
I don't think it will matter. We shouldn't worry about it.
(The parts of the ship below the waterline are used for engines, )
(fuel, and ballast.)
(The conditions are unsuitable)
(for computer terminals or other similar systems.)
For the parts above the ship power, above the waterline however,
(will be much better off and more effective)
if we can set a tighter nanofilament net.
And the best place to set the trap is one of the three locks along the canal.
(Judgment Day is built to Panamax specifications, )
(enough to fill the locks.)
(So we only need about 32 meters, )
(a small distance in between.)
(And it will be easier to erect the pillars and string the filaments, )
(especially for the underwater parts.)
(The situation around the locks is intricate.)
Also, when the ship moves through the locks
(it has to need four mules, electric locomotives on rails, to pull it forward, )
(which moves slowly.)
This is the time when the crew are all on high alert.
There's a high probability that we will be discovered during slicing.
(What about the Bridge of the Americas, )
right outside the Miraflores Locks?
(The abutments)
(of the two ends on the beach can serve as the pillars for stringing.)
The distance between the abutments is too wide.
(We will need a large amount of Flying Blade materials.)
Can we even make it in such a short time?
(The construction of nanomaterials)
is a very precise and complex process.
If the demand is too large, I have to say,
I can't make it within the time limit.
Can I suggest the narrowest part of the Gaillard Cut?
(It's 150 meters in cross.)
(Adding the slack, )
make it better 170 meters for the pillars.
Excuse me.
I need time to calculate it.
Excuse me.
May I use this?
Thanks.
The existing nanomaterials... If this plan is followed,
the distance between the two filaments should be at least 50 centimeters.
That is to say, the ship has to cross the canal during the day.
Why exactly?
People on board have to sleep at night.
(When a person is lying down, the gap of 50 centimeters is too much.)
(No matter whether he is standing, squatting, or sitting during the day, )
(the distance)
is enough.
You are indeed a devil.
♪ If I'll go tomorrow ♪
♪ Won't they wonder where I am ♪
♪ If I'll go tomorrow ♪
♪ Won't they wonder how I am ♪
♪ Running again on the same road ♪
♪ Chasing the sunset passing by ♪
♪ Stay again in the same direction ♪
♪ The dreams that more or less forgotten ♪
♪ When the universe shines for you ♪
♪ Please don't go, because you deserve it ♪
♪ When the universe shines for you ♪
♪ Please don't go, it's only for you ♪
♪ When the universe shines for you ♪
♪ Please don't go, it's only for you ♪
♪ It's only for you ♪
♪ When the universe shines for you ♪
♪ Please don't go, it's only for you ♪
♪ It's only for you ♪
=Three-Body=