Chapter 11 Chapter 9 Hanging Garden

"There was a mouse in my room last night," Poole complained half-jokingly. "Is it possible to get me a cat?" Dr. Wallace looked confused, then laughed. "You must have heard some cleaning micromouse. I'll check the procedure so I don't disturb you again. If you catch a glimpse of one on duty, be careful not to step on it. If you do, it will Call for help, call all your mates to clean up the mess." So much to learn - so little time!No, Poole reminded himself, that wasn't the case.There may well be a whole century ahead of him, thanks to the medical technology of the age.The thought brought him more fear than joy.

But at least he can now understand most conversations with ease and learn to pronounce them correctly, so that Indira is no longer the only one who understands him.He is happy that English is now the world language, although French, Russian and Chinese are still widely spoken. "I have another question, Indira - probably only you can help me. Why do people look so uncomfortable every time I say 'God'?" Indira not only did not look uncomfortable, but also laughed. "It's a long story. If only my old friend Dr. Khan was here, he'd explain it to you—but he's at Ganymede, treating the few 'good men and women' left. After all the ancient beliefs have been negated - some day I must tell you about Pope Pius 20th, one of the greatest figures in history - still need a name for the 'first cause' or 'Creator of the Universe', if there is such a thing...

"There are many suggestions, 'Lord', 'True God', 'Gods', 'Brahma' and so on. I have tried them all, and some of them are still used, especially Einstein's favorite 'Old guy'. But 'God' seems to be in fashion now." "I'll try to remember, but I still feel pretty stupid." "You'll get used to it. I'll also teach you some other appropriate exclamations to express how you feel..." "You said that all ancient religions have been established, so what do people believe in now?" "Very few. We're either pantheists or monotheists."

"I don't understand, please define." "In your time the two have been different; but now the latest definition is as follows: a monotheist believes in at most one god; a pantheist says more than one god." "To me, it makes no difference." "Not everyone; you'd be amazed to know how much debate that sparked. Five centuries ago, a guy used what he called 'surreal mathematics' to prove that there are infinitely many Grade. Turns out, of course, like most infinity-challenges, he ended up going mad. The most famous pantheists, by the way, were Americans—Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson.”

"Slightly older than mine - but it's surprising how many people don't get it." "Now I have good news to announce. Professor Anderson finally said, what's that word? OK. You've almost recovered and can move to your room and settle down." "It's great news. Everyone treats me well here, but I'm happy to have my own world." "You need new clothes and someone to show you how to dress and help you with time-consuming chores. So we took it upon ourselves to arrange a personal assistant for you. Come in, Danny..." Danny is a short, sallow-complexioned man in his mid-thirties.Contrary to Poole's surprise, he did not exchange information with Poole by high-fiving the others.Yes, it didn't take long for Poole to see that Danny had no "identity": when he needed it, he produced a small rectangular piece of plastic that apparently functioned as a 21st-century "smart card."

"Danny is also your guide and--what's that called? I can't remember--pronounced something like 'Nanhu.' Although Poole appreciated the arrangement, he still felt a little uncomfortable.A valet, please!He couldn't even remember seeing one; servants were already an endangered species in his day.He was beginning to feel like a character in an English-language novel of the early twentieth century. "While Danny is getting ready to help you move, let's take a little trip up...to the 'lunar layer'." "Great. How far?" "Oh, about 12,000 kilometers."

"12,000 kilometers! That will take hours!" Indira seemed a little surprised by his reaction, and then smiled. "Not as far as you think. We don't have the transmitters from 'Star Trek' yet - but I'm sure they're working on it! So you have two options, and I know which one you'll take. We can sit outside Go up the elevator and enjoy the view, or take the inside elevator and enjoy a meal and a little entertainment." "I don't understand how anyone would want to be in there." "You don't know that. It can be dizzying for some people - especially those who live on the lower floors. Once altitude is no longer measured in meters, but in thousands of kilometers , even mountaineers who claim they are not afraid of heights turn blue."

"I'm willing to take the risk," replied Poole, smiling. "I've been to higher places." They entered what looked like a small theater through a double airlock on the outer wall of the tower (imagination? Or did he really feel dizzy?).There are ten chairs in a row in the auditorium. There are five rows and five floors, all of which face a huge viewing window.The sight still terrified Poole, because he couldn't quite get over the sight of hundreds of tons of pressure bursting into space. The other dozen or so Chengrongs may have never thought about this problem, and they seem to be very comfortable.When they recognized Poole, they all nodded and smiled at him, and turned back to continue enjoying the view.

"Welcome to the Sky Hall." The unchanging automatic voice said, "We will start to ascend in five minutes. The lower floor has snacks and bathrooms." How long will this trip take?Poole wondered.We'll be traveling over 20,000 kilometers, one back and forth: it's going to be unlike any elevator trip I've ever known on Earth... While waiting to ascend, he reveled in the breathtaking landscape that unfolded 2,000 kilometers below.It's winter in the northern hemisphere, but the climate has really changed a lot because there's only a little snow south of the arctic circle.

Europe was almost cloudless, and Poole was dazzled by clear geographical features, and one by one he recognized the great cities of history.Even in his time, the metropolises had begun to shrink.These cities are now smaller as communication technology changes the face of the world.There are also bodies of water in unlikely places—Lake Saladin in the northern Sahara is almost a small ocean. Poole was so engrossed in the scenery that he almost forgot the passage of time, when he suddenly realized that more than five minutes had passed, and yet the elevator was still.Is something wrong?Or are they waiting for some late traveler?

Then he noticed something so odd that at first he refused to believe his eyes.The view expanded, as if he had ascended hundreds of kilometers!Even as he watched, he noticed new features crawling into the window frames. Poole laughed as the most obvious explanation came to his mind. "Almost cheated by you, Indira! I thought it was real, not a video projection!" Indira looked at him wryly. "Think about it, Frank. We started going up ten years ago. We're at least 1,000 kilometers per hour now. I've heard that this elevator can achieve 100 times child force acceleration, but it won't be on such a short journey. More than 10 times." "No way! It's only up to 6 times in the centrifuge, and I don't like the feeling of being half a ton. We haven't moved since we came in, I'm sure." Poole raised his voice a little, suddenly aware that the other passengers were pretending not to notice them. "I don't know how they did it, Frank. But it's called the inertial field, and sometimes it's called the 'Sakharup Theory,' and 'Sa' refers to the famous Russian scientist Sakharov. I don't know anything else gone." Gradually, Poole's mind gradually became clear, accompanied by a sense of awe and wonder: this is indeed "a technology that is no different from magic". "I used to have some friends who fantasized about 'space engines'—that is, energy fields that could replace rockets and move without any acceleration. Most of us thought they were fantastical, but now they seem That's right! I still can't believe it...and, unless I'm mistaken, we're starting to lose weight." "Yes—adjusting to lunar values. We'll feel like we're on the moon when we step out later. But for heaven's sake, Frank—please forget you're an engineer and enjoy the view." Good advice, but even as all of Africa, Europe, and most of Asia flew into view, Poole couldn't get over the astonishing discovery.However, it shouldn't be that surprising.He also knew that since his time, space propulsion systems have made great progress, but he did not expect such a dramatic application in everyday life—if a 36,000-kilometer-high skyscraper is considered daily life . The rocket age must have ended centuries ago.All his knowledge, whether it was about propulsion systems, combustion chambers, ion thrusters or fusion reactors, was completely outdated.Of course, those things don't matter anymore—but he can understand how sad those ship bosses are when sailing ships are eliminated by steam ships. The automatic voice announced: "We will arrive in two minutes, please don't forget your luggage." At this moment, Poole's mood suddenly changed and he couldn't help smiling. He had heard this broadcast countless times during normal commercial flights.He checked his watch and was surprised to see that they had only been up for less than half an hour.That is to say, the average speed is at least 20,000 kilometers per hour, but they seem to have never moved.What's even more strange is that in the last ten minutes or even longer, they must have slowed down extremely rapidly. Logically speaking, they should all be standing head to toe on the ceiling! The door opened silently, and as Poole stepped out, he felt again the slight dizziness he had noticed when he entered the elevator.But this time he knew what it meant: he was passing through the transition zone, where the inertial field and gravity overlapped—in the lunar layer, a place with the same gravity as the moon. While the view of Earth receding away is awe-inspiring, to an astronaut it's no surprise or surprise.But who would have imagined a huge inner chamber, taking up the entire width of the tower, with the furthest wall five kilometers away?Maybe in this era, the moon and Mars already have larger enclosed spaces, but this must be one of the best in space.They are standing on a viewing platform, 50 meters above the outer wall; looking out at the astonishingly gorgeous landscape.Apparently, there seems to be an effort to reshape Earth's entire biome here.Directly below them was a long, thin forest that Poole didn't recognize at first, until it dawned on him that it was oak trees adjusted to one-sixth of the earth's gravity.He wondered what the palm trees would look like here?Maybe it will be like a giant reed... Not far away there was a small lake, the water of which came from a small river that meandered through the grassland, the source of the river disappeared in what looked like a huge banyan tree.Don't know where the water source comes from?Poole noticed the faint rumble, followed the slightly curved wall, and spotted a miniature Niagara with a perfect rainbow suspended in the mist above. Even if he could stop and admire it for a long time, he still couldn't get enough of these complex and cleverly designed beauties made to simulate the earth.Perhaps humans will feel an ever-increasing need to remember their origins as they expand into new and hostile environments.Of course, even in his time, every city had its parks as (often weak) reminders of "nature" to humans.The same impulse must be at play here, but on a much grander scale.This is the Central Park of the Tower of Africa! "Let's go down," said Indira, "there's a lot to see, and I don't come here as often as I used to." Although walking in such low gravity is not strenuous at all, they occasionally take the little monorail; they also stop in the middle to eat at a cafe cleverly hidden in the trunk of a redwood tree 250 meters high. some refreshments. There were not many people around—the travelers who had come with them had long since disappeared into the landscape—so the wonderful scenery seemed to be their own.Everything is so beautifully maintained, presumably by an army of robots, that occasionally reminds Poole of his trips to Disneyland as a kid.But it's better here, no crowds, just a little something reminiscent of humans and artifacts. They were admiring the amazing orchid colony here, some of which are amazing in size.It was at this point that Poole experienced the greatest shock of his life.They were walking through a typical little gardener's tool shed when the door opened - and the gardener appeared. Poole had always been quite proud of his self-control, and it never occurred to him that, now that he was an adult, he would cry out in fear.Like all boys of his day, he'd seen all the "Jurassic" movies—and when he saw a T. rex face to face, he recognized it. "I'm really, really sorry," Indira said with obvious concern, "I forgot to warn you." Poole's tense nerves returned to normal, of course, in such an orderly world, there could be no danger, but still... The Tyrannosaurus returned an indifferent glance to Poole's stare, then hurried back into the tool shed, and reappeared with a rake and a pair of large crop shears, which he tossed in a pouch slung over his shoulder.It walked away with the light steps of a bird, and disappeared behind the ten-meter-high sunflower without looking back. "Let me explain to you," Indira said apologetically, "we like to use living organisms as much as possible if we can do without robots—I guess that's carbon-based chauvinism! Only a few animals have dexterous hands, all of them Useful. "This is a mystery that no one has yet solved. You must think that genetically modified herbivores, like chimpanzees and gorillas, would be better suited for this kind of work. Actually, they are not that patient. "However carnivorous animals, like this friend here, are excellent and easy to train. What's more--and this is another paradox--after correction, they are tame and good-natured. Of course, behind them there are almost 1000 years of genetic engineering, look at how primitive man transformed wolves, it’s just trial and error!” Indira laughed a few times and went on: "You may not believe it, Frank, but they're still good babysitters - kids love them!" There's an old joke about 'how dare you let dinosaurs keep you company' Kid? What? Put dinosaurs at risk?'” Poole laughed along, partly laughing at his own fear.To change the subject, he asked another matter that was still bothering him. "These," he said, "are really wonderful—but why bother? The people in the Tower can spend the same amount of time with real nature, can't they?" Indira looked at him thoughtfully, weighing what she had to say. "Not really. For those who live in areas where the acceleration of gravity is only half the acceleration of gravity, going down to the surface is not only uncomfortable - even dangerous, even in a flying chair." "I wouldn't! I was born in normal gravity--and I didn't lose my temper aboard the Discovery." "You'll have to listen to Professor Anderson on that one. I probably shouldn't have told you, but your biological clock has caused quite a bit of controversy. Apparently it hasn't stopped completely, and we're guessing your current biological age is somewhere in the 50s Between the age of 70. Although you are doing well now, you can't expect to regain your full strength - it's been 1,000 years!" I finally figured it out.Poole told himself drearily.This explained Professor Anderson's evasion, and those muscle response tests he had done. I've come all the way back from Jupiter, and I'm 2,000 kilometers from Earth—and yet, no matter how many times I watch it in virtual reality, I may never be able to walk on the surface of my parent planet again. I really don't know if I can take it...