Chapter 8 Chapter VII

Space battles in flat films and holograms always make me sleepy, but watching the actual battles is truly fascinating: it's like watching live coverage of a chain-link accident.In fact, in terms of production standards, real-life documentaries (which has been the undisputed fact of the film industry for centuries) are even lower than mid-budget holograms.Even with huge energy, one can't help but feel that space is so huge when facing a real space battle, and human fleets, spaceships, dreadnoughts, and unknown soldiers are all insignificant. I sat in the Tactical Intelligence Center, the so-called Strategic Resolution Center, with Pleasant Stone and her stupid officers, surrounded by large holographic frames, deep photography and super-light messages from speakers filling the entire space. Room: radio chattering between fighter jets, tactical command channels clicking, wide bands, laser channels and reliable ultra-light lines laden with direct messages between ships, all shouts, shouts, Shouts and curses became the primary content of all media mediated by radio signals and the human voice.As I watched the 20-square-meter hole in the wall stretch out to infinity, I thought so in my heart.

It is a farce of utter chaos, a functional definition of chaos, a pandemonium of hopelessly violent acts.This is war. Pleasant Stone and a large group of her subordinates sat in the center of this noise and light. The center of strategic decision-making was like a rectangle covered with a gray carpet floating in the stars and explosions. Halfway up the holographic projection wall in the north, the screams of dying men and women came from every channel, filling the eardrums of each of us.I am also one of the group of people around Yueshi. It is both an honor and a bad luck to be here. With the CEO seated in the high-back chair, she spun around, crossed her fingers, tapped her lower lip with two index fingers, and turned to her council of military advisors. "What do you think?"

The seven officers covered with medals first looked at each other, and then six of them all looked at General Morpurgo.The general was frowned in thought with an unlit cigar in his mouth. "Not at all," he said. "We're fighting hard to keep them from getting close to the teleportation point...the defenses there are going well...but they're deep, far into the inner system." "What does the marshal think?" Yue Shi asked, tilting his head slightly, looking directly at the tall and thin man in the black uniform of the military space force. Marshal Singer touched his extremely short beard. "General Morpurgo was right. The battle did not go as planned." He nodded toward the fourth wall, where several diagrams—mostly ellipsoids, ovoids, and arcuate arches—were on the first floor. layer overlays a still shot of the Hyperion galaxy, part of which arc expands right before our eyes.The bright blue lines represent Overlord tracks, and the red tracks belong to Ousters.There are far more red lines than blue lines.

"The two attack aircraft carriers assigned to Task Force 42 are out of combat," Marshal Singh said. On the way back to the Human Dock area between the Earth and the Moon, there are five torch ships escorting it." CEO Yue Shi nodded slowly, touching her index finger with his lips. "How many crew members does 'Shadow of Olympus' have, Marshal?" Singer's brown eyes were the same size as the CEO's, but without the depth of sadness in hers.He met her gaze, and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. "4,200," he said, "not including the 600 naval contingent. Some of them disembarked at the Hyperion teleportation station, so we have no definite information about the crew at the time. actual number of people."

Yue Shi nodded.She turned her head to look at General Moboge again. "Why the sudden difficulty, General?" Mobergo's expression was very calm, but he was almost biting off the cigar tightly clamped between his teeth. "The opponent's combat force is more than we expected, my lord executive," he said, "plus their Lancers...five-seater assault craft, miniature flare ships, really, faster than our long-range fighters. Quick, better equipped... They are as deadly as little wasps. We have destroyed hundreds of their ships, but as soon as one of them breaks through the defense line, it will rampage inside the fleet defense line and wanton destruction." Mauber Ge shrugged. "More than one ship has broken through the line of defense."

Senator Korschef sat across the table, surrounded by seven of his colleagues.He rotated a certain angle so that he could see the tactical map. "It looks like they're almost on the verge of invading Hyperion," he said.The famous voice is a little hoarse. Singer spoke. "Remember the scale of this map, Senator. In fact, we still own the vast majority of the galaxy. Everything within ten AU of Hyperion's star is ours. The battle is only fought in the outer reaches of the Oort Cloud , and we're redeploying." "And what about these... red... spots above the plane of the ecliptic?" Mr. Lee Soo asked.Only this MP wore red; that had become one of her hallmarks in Parliament.

Singer nodded. "An interesting strategy," he said, "is that the group launched an attack with about 3,000 Lancers involved, trying to counter Task Force 87.2's electronic perimeter defenses. Their forces have been pinned down , but we also have to admire their ingenuity—" "Three thousand Lancers?" Wan Shi interrupted him gently. "Yes, ma'am." Yue Shi smiled.I stopped sketching and thought to myself, I'm glad I never had to be blessed with that special smile. "Didn't yesterday's military briefing say that the Ousters will only send six... seven hundred combat units, not more?" Moboge said at the time.So CEO Yueshi turned to face the general.Mo Boge's right eyebrow arched.

The general removed the cigar, frowned at it, and then took out the buttock of the cigar from behind his lower teeth. "That's a report from our intelligence agencies that went wrong." Yue Shi nodded. "Was the AI ​​Advisory Council involved in that intelligence assessment?" All eyes turned to Counselor Alberto.It was a perfect projection: he sat in a chair with others, his hands were slightly bent, resting on the armrests, and his posture was extremely relaxed; usually moving projections would be a little hazy or lack a sense of substance, but this projection has no such defects at all.He had a long face, with high cheekbones and flexible lips, which seemed to wear an ironic smile even in his most serious moments.This is a serious moment.

"No, Your Excellency," said Advisor Alberto, "no one asked the Advisory Council to assess the strength of the Ousters." Yue Shi nodded. "I think," she said, still referring to Morpurgo, "when the report of the intelligence personnel of the military department came out, it should have been combined with the forecast of the council." The general of the ground forces of the army glared at Alberto with hatred in his eyes. "No ma'am," he said, "since the Kernel admits no connection to the Ousters, we don't think their estimates will be much better than ours. When we run the evaluation program, we use the total artificial intelligence of Battle.net net." He stuffed the cigar, which he had bitten off a good chunk, back into his mouth.The chin was sharp, and the cigar never left his mouth as he spoke. "How much better can the council do than us?"

Yue Shi looked at Alberto. The long fingers on the consultant's right hand moved slightly. "Our estimates . . . for this group . . . show four to six thousand combat units." "You—" Mo Boge blushed and roared. "You didn't mention this throughout the entire briefing," CEO Gladstone said, "and you never brought it up in our earlier deliberations." Advisor Alberto shrugged. "The general is right," he said, "we have had no contact with the Ousters. Our estimate is not much more reliable than the Army's, it's just...it's based on a different premise. Olympus The Historic Strategic Network at the Command School is doing a pretty good job. If the AIs there were a little more Turing Demule-level astute, we might be able to bring them into the kernel." He made another graceful gesture. "But as things stand, the council's premises are only useful when planning for the future. We, of course, will hand over all assessments to this group at any point."

Yue Shi nodded. "Then do it right away." She turned to face the screen, and the rest of the group followed suit.The monitor in the room sensed the silence, so the volume on the speaker was turned up just a bit, and again we heard shouts of victory, cries for help, and calm narration of formations, fire control instructions, and orders. The nearest wall displays a real-time message from the torch ship HMS Hegemony, which is on B. 5 battle groups looking for survivors among the tumbling debris.The approaching torch ship in front of me has been destroyed. After being magnified a thousand times, it looks like a pomegranate that has been exploded in the middle. A great cloud of particles, gases, frozen volatiles, millions of microelectronics torn from ship supports, food stores, tangled equipment, and many, many corpses (they From time to time the arms and legs are pulled together like marionettes, from which it can be seen that it is a person). The ten-meter-wide searchlight of the "N'Djamena" has been sweeping continuously for twenty thousand miles, casting starlight on the frozen wreckage, individual objects, pieces of wreckage, and faces. Shine in the spotlight.It was a terrifyingly beautiful picture.The reflected light made Pleasant Stone's face look older. "Marshal," Yue Shi said, "You Qun waited until Task Force 87.2 teleported into the galaxy before launching the attack. Does that make sense?" Singer stroked his beard. "Do you mean to ask if this is a trap, my lord executive?" "yes." The Marshal glanced at his colleague, then at Pleasant Stone. "I don't think so. We believe... I believe... that the Ousters responded accordingly when they discovered our heavy deployment. However, it does mean that they are fully determined to take Hyperion galaxy." "Can they do it?" Pleasant Stone asked, her eyes still fixed on the wreckage roiling overhead.The body of a young man, half in his space suit, is rolling toward the camera.The protruding eyes and lungs are clearly visible. "Impossible," said Marshal Singer, "they could slaughter us. They could even drive us back entirely within the defenses surrounding Hyperion itself. But they could not beat us, nor could they drive us out. " "You can't destroy the teletransmitter either?" Representative Li Xiu's voice was tense. "Impossible," said Singer. "That's right," said General Morpurgo, "and I'll give the best of my career to this end." Yue Shi smiled and stood up.Then others, including myself, also hurried to their feet. "You have tried your best," Yue Shi said gently to Mo?Bai Ge said. "You've done your best." She looked around. "We'll meet here again when it's urgent. Mr. Hunter will contact you in my name. Meanwhile, ladies and gentlemen, the government's work is business as usual. good afternoon." The others left one by one, and finally I was the only one left in the room, and I sat down again.The sound of the speaker returned to the highest state.On one band, a man is crying.Manic laughter mingled with static.Above, behind, and on both sides of me, Hoshino moved slowly against a dark background, and starlight shone coldly on the wreckage and relics. The government building was built in the shape of a hexagram, and in the center of the star, surrounded by low walls and purposely planted trees, there was a garden: much smaller than the giant, neatly proportioned garden of deer gardens, but still more beautiful in terms of beauty. But it is not inferior to it.As it was getting dark and I was walking in the garden, the bright blue-white sky faded to gold, Meina Gladstone came towards me. We walked together for a while without speaking.I noticed that she had changed her clothes and was now wearing a long gown, of the kind worn by noble housewives on the planet Pataufa; It matches the darkening sky quite well.I can't see Yueshi's hands, they must be in hidden pockets, the wide sleeves are slightly rippling in the breeze; the robe drags on the milky white stones of the path. "You let them question me," I said, "and I'd love to know why." Yue Shi's voice was tired. "But they're not sending out information. There's no danger of information being leaked." I laughed. "Yet you waited until the last moment to start the rescue." "Security wants to know everything they can." "But disregarding my feelings... base your achievements... on my troubles." I said. "yes." "Does the security know who they work for?" "They mentioned a man named Habritt," the CEO said. "Security is convinced that the person they are talking about is Amien Habritt." "Commodity broker in Asquith?" "Yes. She and Diana Froome were connected with the long-standing Glennon High buddy." "How amateurish they are," I said, remembering that Hermond had spoken Hubrit's name, and that Diana's cross-examination had been utterly disorganized. "certainly." "Is Glennon Gao's best friend connected to some important group?" "Only with the Church of the Shrike," Gladstone said.She stopped, and here the path continued to a stone bridge with a stream below it.The CEO lifted the hem of her robe and sat down on a wrought-iron bench. "You know, all the bishops are hiding, and no one has come out." "I don't blame them for the riots and confrontations," I told her.I am still standing.There were no security guards or monitors in sight, but I knew that if I did anything threatening to Yueshi, I would wake up in the detention cell of the Ministry of Operations Security.Overhead, the last gleam of golden light in the clouds was gone, and now they reflected the silver light of the tower city with countless whale hearts, dazzling. "What did security do with Diana and her husband?" I asked. "They were thoroughly interrogated. They are now... in custody." I nod.Thorough interrogation meant that even now their brains were adrift in a pulsating reflux full of shunts.Their flesh may be stored in cryogenic hibernation until a secret trial is held to determine whether their actions have been treasonous.After the trial, their bodies will be destroyed and Diana and Hermond will remain in "custody" with all senses and lines of communication shut down.The overlord has not carried out the death penalty for centuries, but this other half-death punishment will not be easy.I sat on a bench six feet away from Pleasant Stone. "Are you still writing poetry?" I was quite surprised by her question.I glanced down the garden path, where floating Japanese lanterns and hidden fluorescent balls had just glowed. "Not really writing," I said, "sometimes I have poetic dreams. I used to..." Meina Joystone clenched her hands, resting on her lap, examining them carefully. "If you had to describe what's happening right now," she said, "what kind of poetry would you create?" I laughed. "I've written it, and given it up twice...or so, the man did. It's about the death of gods, and their difficulty accepting that they've been replaced. It's about change, suffering, and injustice. This is also the poet's poem describing himself...he thinks he has suffered a lot in the face of such injustice." Yueshi looked at me.Her face became a mass of lines and shadows in the fading light. "Then who is the god being replaced this time, Mr. Seven? Is it human beings, or the virtual gods we created to abolish us?" "Hell, how could I know?" I snapped, turning around and admiring the stream to myself. "You belong to two worlds, don't you? Both human and core?" I laughed again. "I don't belong to any world. I'm just a cyber monster here, a research project." "Yes, but whose research is it? For what purpose?" I shrugged. Yue Shi got up, and I followed her. We crossed the stream, listening to the sound of the water flowing over the stone.The path winds among tall boulders covered with delicate lichens, glimmering in the light of lanterns. Yueshi stopped at the top of a short flight of stone steps. "Do you think the ultimate faction of the inner core can successfully create their ultimate intelligence, Mr. Seven?" "Can they create God?" I asked. “There are also some AIs that are unwilling to create God. They know from human experience that the next step in establishing consciousness is essentially either self-destruction or enslavement.” "But would a true God let his creatures perish?" "In the case of the inner core and the ultimate intelligence they postulate," I said, "God is not the Creator, but the Creation. Perhaps a deity must create and maintain a bond with the Creation that is subordinate to it, in order to be Make it feel like a responsibility to them." "However, since the independence of artificial intelligence, in the past few centuries, the core has obviously assumed corresponding responsibilities for human beings." Yue Shi said.She was watching me eagerly, as if trying to read something from my expression. I looked out of the garden.The path in the darkness glowed with an almost eerie white light. "The kernel is trying to kill itself," I said, knowing that no one knew that fact better than CEO Meina Gladstone. "So do you feel that humans no longer have a role to play in this self-destructive process?" I made a negative gesture with my right hand. "Creatures like myself belong to neither culture," I reiterated, "neither blessed by the innocence of unintentional creators, nor cursed by their profound knowledge of their creations." "Genetically speaking, you are fully human," Yueshi said. This is not a problem.I didn't answer. "It is said that Jesus Christ was also fully human," she said, "and fully divine at the same time. The intersection of humanity and divinity." I was very surprised to hear her mention this ancient religion.Christianity was first replaced by Zen Christianity, then developed into Zen Spiritualism, and finally hundreds of more vigorous theologies and philosophies emerged, and a hundred flowers blossomed.Pleasant Stone's Old Star is not a museum of abandoned beliefs, and I guess—and hope—that the CEO didn't collect them on purpose. "If he's fully human and fully divine at the same time," I said, "then I'm just his antimatter image." "No," said Pleasant Stone, "that's what I imagine the Shrike your Pilgrim friends are facing." I stare at her.It was the first time she had mentioned the Shrike in front of me, even though I knew that, in fact—and she knew I knew—it was her plan that made the Consul open the Time Tombs and free the monster. "Perhaps you should make the pilgrimage too, Mr. Seven," said the CEO. "I'm on my way," I said, "but in a different way." Pleasant Stone gestured, and a door to her secret headquarters opened. "Yes, you did take part in the pilgrimage in some way," she said, "but if the woman who carried your copy was nailed to the thorn tree of the fabled Shrike, wouldn't you be in your dream suffer eternal suffering?" I couldn't answer, so I stood there without saying anything. "Let's talk again after the meeting tomorrow morning," said Meena Gladstone. "Good night, Mr. Seven. Have sweet dreams."

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