Chapter 16 second quarter

Trevize was also full of praise for the interior design of the spaceship, the use of space was simply ingenious.The storage room is full of food, clothes, videos and play equipment, as well as a gym, a living room, and two almost identical bedrooms. "This dormitory must be yours, Professor." Trevize said, "At least, there is a special effect reading machine in it." "Very well," said Pelorat complacently, "I was such an ass that I always hated spaceflight. Now I know, dear Trevize, that I can live here to my heart's content. " "It's more spacious than I imagined," Trevize said happily.

"The engine is really in the hull, as you say?" "At least the control device must be. We don't need to store fuel, and we don't need to use any fuel. We use the basic energy contained in the universe itself, so it can be said that the fuel and the engine are all - outside." He pointed casually . "Well, it occurred to me—what if something goes wrong?" Trevize shrugged. "I've been trained for spaceflight, but not on this kind of spacecraft. If something goes wrong with the gravity subsystem, I'm afraid I'm completely helpless."

"But you can fly this spaceship—I mean, pilot this spaceship?" "I'm doubting that myself." Pelorat said: "Do you think this is a fully autonomous spaceship? Is it possible that the two of us are just passengers? Maybe we just sit down." "In a star system, there are indeed fully automatic space transportation ships between planets and space stations. But I have never heard of fully automated hyperspace navigation, at least not so far-at least not yet .” He looked around again, feeling a sudden uneasiness in his heart.Did the witch mayor have expected everything? The base already has fully automatic interstellar navigation capabilities? Is he like a display in a spaceship, with no choice but to wait to be sent to Trantor?

He deliberately pretended to be cheerful and said to Pelorat: "Professor, you sit down first. The mayor once said that this is a fully computerized spaceship. Since your room has a special effect reading machine, mine There should be a computer in the room. Take a good rest first, and let me check around by myself." Pelorat immediately showed a worried expression. "Trevize, my dear brother—you don't want to slip away, do you?" "I have absolutely no such intention, Professor. Even if I do, you can rest assured that I will be blocked, the mayor does not want me to slip away. I am just looking for a device to operate the Far Star .” He smiled and said, “I won’t lose you, professor.”

When he entered the bedroom that he took for granted, the smile was still on his face.But after he gently closed the hatch, his expression gradually became serious.It stands to reason that the spaceship must have some kind of communication equipment on board that can be used to communicate with nearby planets.Because it is really hard to imagine that someone will deliberately seal a ship and completely isolate it from the outside world.So, somewhere - maybe in one of the wall slots - there should be a connector.If he can find it, he can contact the mayor's office and ask directly where the control device is.

He inspected every bulkhead, and then he went over the headboards and other neat furnishings.If he couldn't find it here, he decided to search every corner of the spaceship. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly saw a light-brown smooth tabletop flickering.He took a closer look, only to find that it was a circle of light with a line of neatly written words: "Computer Interface". aha! But his heartbeat immediately quickened, because there are so many different types of computers, and the programs used take a lot of time to become proficient.Trevize never underestimated his intelligence, however, he also knew that he was not a know-it-all.Some people are naturally good at using computers, and others are just the opposite—Trevize knows exactly which category he falls into.

When serving in the base fleet, he was a lieutenant, and sometimes he needed to be a duty officer, so he had to use the computer on the starship occasionally.But he had never had the experience of operating a computer by himself, and he had never had to know more details than the routine procedures that the duty officer had to understand. He thought of the programs that were densely written with annotations on those thick program manuals, and his heart sank violently.He still remembered the various movements of that computer technician Gong Krasnet every time he sat in front of the starship computer console.The way he operates the computer is as if he is playing the most complicated musical instrument in the galaxy, and every time he shows an indifferent expression, as if he thinks it is too simple-but sometimes he will inevitably need to look up those manuals, and turn them over, He kept calling himself an idiot.

Trevize hesitantly stretched out his index finger to touch the circle of light, but he didn't expect that with just a light touch, the light would spread to the entire tabletop, and the outlines of two palms immediately appeared on it—one left and one right.At this time, the tabletop also moved suddenly, the movement was smooth and smooth, and soon formed a forty-five-degree slope. Trevize quickly sat on the chair.What he had to do was obvious enough without any words at all. He put his hands on the contours of the palms of the table, and found that the distance and angle were just right, and he didn't feel the slightest reluctance.The table top seemed soft to the touch, like velvet to the touch—and he felt his palm sink in.

He stared at his hands in surprise, seeing that the palms were still neatly placed on the table.But that's just the message sent by the vision. For the sense of touch, the tabletop seems to be penetrated, and the hands seem to have been covered by some kind of soft and warm material. what happened? what to do now He looked around for a while, and then he felt a message, so he closed his eyes. He heard nothing, heard nothing! However, in his mind, it seemed that a wandering thought came up on his own: "Please close your eyes and relax, we are about to make contact." With one hand?

In the past, Trevize had always believed that if one wanted to communicate directly with a computer with one's mind, one had to wear a special headgear, and at the same time, the skull and eyelids had to be covered with electrodes. by hand? Why can't he use his hands? Trevize felt a little dazed, almost drowsy, but his mind was still as sharp as before.And why not use your hands? The eyes are nothing more than a sense, and the brain is nothing more than the central control board.The brain is hidden in the skull, and the working interface with the body is only connected by the nervous system.The hands are the real working interface, and human beings rely on their omnipotent hands to perceive and control the entire universe.

Humans actually "think" with their hands.Hands can satisfy all curiosity, can feel, pinch, twist, lift... Many animals have large brains, but they don't have hands, so there is a world of difference. When he is "hand in hand" with the computer, the minds of the two are merged into one, and it doesn't matter whether his eyes are open or closed.Opening the eyes does not increase vision by half, and closing them does not make them blurry. Anyway, he was able to see the room clearly—not limited to the front, but including up, down, left, and right, and in all directions. In addition, he can see every cabin in the spaceship, and he can also see the outside scene at the same time.Now that the sun has risen, the sunlight looks a little hazy in the morning fog.He can directly stare at the sun's rays without feeling glaring, because the computer has automatically filtered the light waves. He felt the breeze, and the heat of the air, and all the sounds of the world around him.He probed the planet's magnetic field and the faint electrical charge of the spaceship's shell. He has fully experienced how to operate this spaceship, and those complicated details are not important at all.He found that if he wanted to make the spaceship go up, turn, accelerate, or perform any function, the process was just like his own body doing similar actions, and he only needed to use his own will. However, the will does not completely belong to oneself, and the computer can override it at any time.At this moment, another sentence formed in his mind, which made him understand when and how the spaceship would be lifted into the air.There is no problem of adapting to these processes at all, he can be absolutely sure that from now on, he can already decide everything. As he projected his computer-assisted consciousness outward, he found that he could sense the state of the upper atmosphere, see the patterns of the weather, and detect the activities of the surrounding ships-both flying on it and docking on it. Every ship under it.All these conditions have to be taken into account, and the computer is indeed doing the detailed analysis.Furthermore, Trevize learned that even if the computer didn't do it, he just "hoped" it did and he didn't have to worry about it anymore. Those big program manuals in the past are completely unnecessary now.Trevize couldn't help thinking of Technical Sergeant Krasnett again, and at the same time gave a knowing smile.He himself pays close attention to the development of gravitrons, and many reports are emphasizing that gravitrons will bring about a major technological revolution.Now he knows that the fusion of computer and mind is the top secret of the base, and this is bound to lead to a greater revolution. He is also aware of the lapse of time, and knows the precise time now, including the local time of Terminus and the Galactic Standard Time. But how should he leave? Just as this thought flashed into his mind, his hands had been released, and the table had returned to its original position.In the next instant, Trevize only had the original physical senses left. He suddenly felt lonely and helpless, as if after experiencing the embrace and protection of divine power, he was suddenly abandoned again.If he didn't know that contact could be made at any time, the sense of despair would be enough to make him cry. Now he just needs to adjust his mentality and readjust to these limited senses.Then he stood up in a daze, and walked out of the dormitory top-heavy. Pelorat has obviously adjusted the special effect reading machine.Seeing Trevize approaching, he looked up and said, "That device works very well, with an excellent search program—have you found the control device, dear boy?" "Found it, Professor, and all is well." "Since that's the case, should we do some pre-flight preparations? I mean, some safety precautions? Should we put on seatbelts, or something? I'm looking for clarification on that." , but can't find anything, which makes me nervous. I have to concentrate on installing my library, and if I'm working..." The old professor kept chattering, Trevize couldn't help pushing him, hoping to make him shut up quickly, but found it was useless.Trevize had no choice but to raise the volume to cover the other party's voice. "It's all unnecessary, Professor. Antigravity is equivalent to zero inertia. When the speed of the spacecraft changes, we don't feel any acceleration, because every object on the ship changes speed at the same time." "You mean, when we take off from this planet and go into space, we won't feel anything?" "That's exactly what it means, because we'll be in space as I speak to you. In a few minutes we'll be out of the upper atmosphere; and in half an hour we'll be in outer space."