Chapter 55 14. Before the storm

The college entrance examination is over, and in July, I found out through an online search that I was admitted to a key university in city B, and my composition for the college entrance examination was selected as the "Best Composition for the College Entrance Examination in 201X" of the year.My parents were very happy. Needless to say, they entertained relatives and friends, and even rewarded me with 10,000 yuan in pocket money.The first thing I thought about with the money was, I'm going to buy a present for my brother.Although he can't help me celebrate, I want him to share my happiness.

It’s summer vacation now, I made an appointment with Feng Lun, went to Digital City under the scorching sun, and bought a new Apple tablet computer for thousands of yuan, filled it with movies, pictures and music.Feng Lun said he had nothing to do anyway, so he went with me to see my brother. Sitting in the car heading to the Living Dead Center, Feng Lun said, "Lawson, with all due respect, if you buy this thing for your brother, can he play with it?" I shrugged my shoulders: "It's impossible to play, but when we are with him, it's always okay to let him look at pictures and listen to music."

My brother's room is in Room 502, Zone E of the center. We explained our intention to the staff at the door.A young staff member held an electronic controller, led us to the door, and opened the door for us. My brother sat on his bed—though the living dead didn't need to sleep, Mom bought him a cot that she said would look like a place to live.Feng Lun and I walked in, and I waved and shouted, "Hi, brother, I'm here." The brother who had turned into a living dead did not respond to our arrival, he stared at the two squirrels in the cage. I turned on the tablet and played the animal pictures that were previously loaded in a slideshow. Then I walked to my brother and stood up the tablet on the table in front of him: "Look, do you like it?"

My brother’s eyes slowly shifted from the squirrels to the computer screen—the lions on the African savannah, the squirrels in the ice and snow, the monkeys and dwarf birds in the Amazon basin, the brown bears in the Arisca Mountains, and the blue whales in the sea... …all kinds of animals passed by him side by side.I observed that although my brother's expression was dull, his gray, irrelevant eyes were wide open, obviously interested. "If you like, I can copy more pictures of animals and landscapes next time." I said to my brother, "This is a gift from me." Feng Lun came over and put his arm on my shoulder: "I really have you, Luo Chen. The money is not in vain. I can see that your brother really likes it."

"Yes." I nodded contentedly. At this time, the vice president came in.I greeted him happily: "Hello, Dean Wu, how do you know I'm here?" "I greeted the staff downstairs before: as long as you come, let me know. Hey, Feng Lun, you are here too. Long time no see." "It looks like you have something to ask me?" I asked. "Yeah, there are some things I want to talk to you about." I didn't interfere with my brother's appreciation of the pictures, and quietly closed and locked the door of his room.The vice president took Feng Lun and me to the office.

The vice president looked at me and said, "Luo Chen, do you remember that when I took you on a 'practical experience' a year ago, did you put forward an interesting theory? You guessed that the living dead might be evolving , I was very interested in this idea at the time, and I also praised you for having a scientist's mind, remember?" "Well, yes, this question has been confirmed by you?" "I'm afraid it is." The vice president said, "A year ago, our center took this as a key research topic. Now, we have some amazing discoveries." "Oh, what is it?" I asked with concern.It concerns my brother.

"We selected two living dead from Area A to Area E for observation and comparison. As a result, we found that there was a clear difference between the undead who had survived for more than five years and the undead who had just been born. But the five-year Between the living dead and the three-year-old living dead, the difference is not so obvious." I thought for a while: "So, what is your conclusion? The evolution of the living dead stopped after three years?" "No, the undead who have been born for more than five years are probably still evolving." The vice president's tone seemed a little excited, "Our conclusion is that batch after batch of new undead are evolving at a constant rate. accelerate!"

Feng Lun and I looked at each other in astonishment. "It took five years for the first batch of undead to reach the level, but it only took three years for the later ones to reach the level. And for the newly produced undead, their evolution rate may be faster!" the vice president said in a statement. Said in an unbelievable tone. "Where does this evolution manifest itself?" I asked. "Let me tell you this, the evolution of the living dead is somewhat similar to the evolutionary history of vertebrates from a certain point of view. The intelligence of the newly produced living dead is very low, maybe only at the level of fish; after about one or two years, they will be able to It is equal to some reptiles or rodents; and in a year or two, it will be close to small cats." The vice president's voice changed due to excitement, "Anyone with a little knowledge of biology knows that The evolution of animals takes hundreds of millions of years to complete, but the living dead can do it in just a few years, which is simply incredible! Moreover, the speed of this evolution is still accelerating!"

"My God, what will they end up with if they continue to evolve like this?" I was terrified. "Maybe in the end it will reach the level of human beings, or even surpass human beings—become a perfect creature." Feng Lun guessed, with a look of expectation in his eyes. I thought for a long time, and murmured: "If there is such a day, human beings may be replaced by the living dead..." "At least it's still under our control." The Vice President's words sounded like consolation. I nodded, and suddenly realized a question that is closely related to my family: "Dean Wu, has this change happened to my brother?"

"What do you think? You should have more contact time with him than me." I pondered for a while: "Is this evolution of the living dead universal? I mean, is every living dead undergoing evolution?" "Ah, Luo Chen!" The vice president suddenly yelled, which startled Feng Lun and me.He said excitedly, "I found that you... are really a genius! A standard scientist! Every time I talk to you, I will gain new inspiration!" I asked blankly, "What's wrong?" "You know, after you said that, I realized that this question is very important. We only selected ten living dead people as the research object, maybe they can't represent all the living dead—in fact, that There are ten living dead people, and the test levels are also uneven." The vice president is gearing up, "I have decided to expand the scope of the research. The question you raised will be the next key research topic of our research center."

"Just don't use my brother as a research subject," I said. "My mother may not accept it psychologically." "Ok, I see." Next, we chatted for a while. Before leaving, I went to say goodbye to my brother in E-block's room. He was really fascinated by the animal pictures and ignored me, but it made me happy. Under the care of the deputy dean, the staff promised to charge my brother's tablet every day. Feng Lun and I took a taxi home. It is now the middle of July. More than four months later, something happened. This incident is closely related to the content of our conversation.