Chapter 74 fourth quarter

The spaceship fell to the ground as lightly as a feather, with no impact and no unusual gravitational effects at all.Three people came out in a file, Baoqisi in front, followed by Pelorat, and finally Trevize. The weather is similar to the early summer in Terminal City, with gentle winds blowing from time to time, and bright sunshine shining through the cloudy sky, it looks like it is near noon.There was a large green area under their feet, with rows of trees densely planted on one side, which looked like an orchard, and a long coastline on the other. They heard muffled hummings, probably of some kind of insectoid; a bird--or some small flying creature--was passing overhead; ", "click" sounds, it seems that some agricultural machinery noise.

The first to speak was Pelorat, but what he said had nothing to do with seeing or hearing.He took a deep breath first, and then said, "Ah, it smells so good, like freshly made applesauce." "We might have an apple orchard right in front of us, and it looks like they're making applesauce," Trevize said. "On your spaceship, however," said Bliss, "it smells like... Well, it's horrible anyway." "When you were up there just now, you didn't complain." Trevize retorted. "I have to be polite, I'm a guest on your spaceship."

"Why aren't you being polite now?" "Now that I have returned to my own world, you have become guests, and it is your turn to be polite." Pelorat hurriedly smoothed things over: "She said that the Far Star has a strange smell, and I don't think we have been wronged, Grant. Is there a way to change the air on the spaceship?" "Yes—" Trevize immediately replied: "Of course it can be done. As long as this little thing can assure us that no one will do anything to the Far Star. We have just learned that she can Take control of the spaceship."

Bao Qisi immediately raised her head and chest, and stood up straight. "I'm not that small. If the spaceship is not controlled by external forces, and you can clean the inside, I promise to be more than happy to cooperate with you." "Then, can you take us to meet the Gaia you mentioned?" Trevize said. Bao Qisi seemed to find this sentence funny, and she replied: "I don't know if you will believe it, Cui, but I am Gaia." Trevize was instantly dumbfounded.He often heard the idiom "Take the mind away", but it was all metaphorical.Today was the first time in his life that he felt that he had actually gone through this process.It took him a long time to spit out a word: "You?"

"Yes, and this land, and those trees, and the rabbit in the grass, and the man standing in the woods; the whole planet and everything on it, all Gaia. We're all separate— —individual organisms—but all share in the consciousness of a whole. Inanimate planets are the least, different forms of life are in varying proportions, and humans are the vast majority—but we all have some part.” Pelorat said, "I think Trevize, by Gaia, means some kind of group consciousness." Trevize nodded. "It occurred to me too—in that case, Bliss, who is ruling the world?" Bliss said: "It takes care of itself. The trees grow neatly and spontaneously, and they multiply just enough to replace those that die from various reasons. Humans will harvest as many apples as they need. How many apples; while other animals, including insects, only eat what they need, and never eat more."

"Each insect knows how much to eat, doesn't it?" Trevize asked. "Yes, they understand--so to speak. It rains when it's needed, and sometimes it rains hard because it has to, and sometimes it's a constant drought because it's needed. " "Raindrop knows what to do, doesn't it?" "Yes, it also understands." Bao Qisi said solemnly: "There are all kinds of cells in your body, don't they know what to do? For example, when to start growing and when to stop growing; When to form a certain substance and when to stop it-they can control exactly when they produce that substance, no more, no less. At a certain level, each cell is an independent chemical factory, but The raw materials they use come from the common transport system: the waste products they emit are all sent to the common discharge pipe. In this way, each cell can contribute to the whole consciousness."

Pelorat was fascinated and said, "This is really amazing. You mean this planet is a superorganism, and you are all its cells?" "I'm just making an analogy, not an equal sign. We are like cells, but we are not equal to cells. Can you understand this division?" Trevize then asked, "In what way are you different from cells?" "We ourselves are made of cells. With respect to these cells, we have a mass consciousness. This mass consciousness belongs to an independent organism, in my case, a human being..." "Has a body that makes men love to death."

"Exactly. My consciousness is far greater than any one cell can have - the ratios are starkly different. Then again, we are part of a higher group consciousness, but that fact doesn't reduce us to the level of the cell, I'm still a human being—and above us, there's a vast mass consciousness that I can't grasp at all, any more than my bicep cells can understand my consciousness." Trevize said, "You seized our spacecraft. Someone must have ordered this operation." "No, not someone! That's what Gaia means, it's what we all mean." "Even the trees and the earth, Bliss?"

"They contribute very little, but there is still a little bit. Think about it, after a musician writes a symphony, do you ask, is it the result of the instruction and supervision of some special cells in his body?" Pelorat said: "I think that the group mind shaped by this group consciousness - let's call it that - must be much stronger than the individual mind, just like a muscle is much stronger than a muscle cell. Therefore, Gaia can Capturing our spaceships at great distances by controlling our computer in a way that individual minds on this planet cannot." "You understand very well, Pei." Bao Qisi said.

"I understand it too," Trevize said. "It's not difficult to understand. But what exactly do you want us to do? We're not here to attack you, we're just here to find information, why arrest us?" "Because I want to talk to you." "You can talk to us on the spaceship." Baoqisi shook her head seriously. "I'm not the one in charge of talking to you." "Aren't you part of the group psyche?" "Of course I am, but I can't fly like a bird, sing like an insect, or grow as tall as a tree. I do what's best for me, and I'm not the best person to give you information — though those messages could easily fit into my head."

"Who decides not to put it in your head?" "We all decided." "Then, who will provide it to us?" "Dom." "Who's Doom?" "Well—" said Bliss, "his full name is Ndum Andiovichamalond Yaso...blah blah blah. Different people use different names at different times and occasions. to call him by abbreviation, but I've always called him Doom, and I think you two could use that abbreviation as well. He probably has the most Gaia on our planet, and he lives on this island. He proposed Requested to meet with you and was granted permission." "Who allowed it?" Trevize asked, but he immediately thought of the answer, "I know, it was all of you who decided." Baoqisi nodded. Pelorat said, "When shall we see Doom, Bliss?" "It's right now, Pei, please come with me, I'll take you to see him right now. And you of course, Cui." "And you are going away?" asked Pelorat. "You don't want me to leave, Bae?" "Honestly, I don't want to." "Here it goes again," she said as she walked them along a gentle gravel road beside the orchard, "Not long after men see me, they will start to be fascinated by me. enthusiasm." Pelorat laughed. "I don't really expect to have the enthusiasm of a boy, Bao Qisi, but if I have it, I believe it must be because of you." Bliss said, "Oh, don't underestimate your teenage enthusiasm, I can do wonders." Trevize felt very impatient. He asked, "When we arrive at our destination, how long will we have to wait to see this Doom?" "He'll wait for you there. After all, Doom/Gaia has been planning for years before finally bringing you here." Trevize immediately stopped, and quickly looked towards Pelorat.Pelorat mouthed a few silent mouths to him: You guessed it. But Bao Qisi kept staring straight ahead, and at the same time said in a calm tone: "I know, Cui, you are already suspecting that I/we/Gaia are interested in you." "I/We/Gaia?" Pelorat repeated softly. Baoqisi turned her head and smiled at Pelorat. "We have a large and complicated set of pronouns used to express the subtle relationships between Gaia and individuals. I can explain it to you when I have time, but before that, I will use the pronoun I/We/Gaia for the time being, which is enough to symbolize The group idea I was trying to express - please keep going Choi, Doom is waiting. I don't want to force your feet against your will, unless you get used to it, it's a very uncomfortable feeling .” Trevize continued to walk forward, he stared at Bao Qisi, his eyes were mixed with incomparably deep suspicion.