Chapter 3 third chapter

His hands caught Underhill's attention.A pair of huge hands, like cattail leaf fans, hang from the lower end of the thin and Lingqian's arms. When standing, the person leans forward slightly, as if he will take action at any time to deal with anything.The hands are twisted and deformed, the skin is rough, covered with scars, tanned by the sun, and the tiny hairs on the back of the hands have turned golden yellow, telling people that these are a pair of weather-beaten hands, maybe a pair of hands that have experienced battles, or experienced year's laboring hands.These hands are an epic in themselves, recording the owner's life history in detail.These are very useful hands.

"I am very grateful to your lady, Mr. Underhill." He spoke in a low, throaty voice, with a smile of hope that seemed to him It's too childish for someone so old. "She rescued me from a nasty situation and I will definitely repay her." Another smooth-talking vagabond who had spent his life talking about possible inventions and inventions, so Underhill concluded.Underhill had invented a "game" of his own to play with the tenants of Aurora - scoring himself a point whenever he thought they had told an obvious lie.Mr. Sledge, he thought, would get him a good grade.

"Where are you from?" He asked as if he wanted to talk. "Wing Star Four," said the gaunt old man in a serious and reluctant voice, as if he had the utmost reluctance to talk about the subject. "I spent my early years on that planet, but it has been almost 50 years since I left there. I have never been back, and I have been traveling all year round." Underhill, startled, stared at him sternly.He remembered that Wing Star No. 4 was the hometown of those new intelligent robots, but this old homeless man was so poor and dirty, anyway, it was difficult to link him with the Institute of Intelligent Robots.His doubts disappeared immediately, he frowned, and said casually: "Wing Star No. 4 must be far away from here."

The old homeless man hesitated again, and said seriously: "109 light years, Mr. Underhill." It was his first score, but Underhill kept his contentment from showing.Although the speed of the newly invented space shuttle is very fast, the speed of light is still the absolute limit of speed.He worked nonchalantly towards the second: "Mr. Sledge, I said, are you a scientist?" "yes." The cautiousness of a tramp is unusual.Most of the tenants in Aurora can't answer so simply, and their thinking is not so quick.Underhill tried again in a light chatter tone: "I was an engineer before I was in the robotics business." The homeless man straightened up, and Underhill paused hopefully.But the old man didn't say anything, and Underhill continued: "I used to work in the design and operation management of nuclear fusion plants. What is your major, Mr. Sledge?"

The old man looked at him for a long time with worried, thoughtful eyes, and then said slowly: "Your lady has shown me kindness and kindness in my despair, Mr. Underhill, so I think you have a right to know the truth, but I beg you to keep it private. I am engaged in a matter of great importance. Research, this research must be done in secret." "I'm so sorry." Underhill suddenly felt ashamed of his cynical little game, and said apologetically, "Forgive me." But the old man said calmly: "My specialty is rhodium magnetism." "Rhodium magnetism?" Underhill didn't want to show his ignorance, but he hadn't even heard of the term. "I haven't been in this business for 15 years," he explained. "I'm afraid I can't keep up with the science."

The old man smiled, but very forcedly. "Rhodium magnetism was only introduced when I got here a few days ago," he said. "I can patent my basic research. Once I start paying royalties, I'll be rich again." Underhill had heard similar things before.The reluctance of the tramp's conversation was always impressive, but he remembered Aurora's lodgers as eloquent and eloquent. "So?" Underhill began to ask again, probably because of the twisted, rough, scarred and capable hands. "What exactly is a rhodium magnet?" He listened to the old Chinese character's careful and unhurried answer, and started his little game again.Most of Aurora's lodgers would tell him unbelievable tales like the Arabian Nights, but the most uncanny were the ones he was hearing now.

"Rhodium magnetism is a universal force," said the bored, slightly hunched old tramp solemnly, "and is as fundamental a force as ferromagnetism or gravity, although it does not Obviously, its typical feature is to act on the second group of trivalent elements of group VIII on the periodic table of chemical elements such as rhodium, ruthenium and palladium, just as ferromagnetism acts on the first group of trivalent elements such as iron, nickel and cobalt. The principle of action of valence elements is the same." Underhill's engineering knowledge still remembers some, and it can be seen that this statement has made a common sense error.He remembered that cobalt was used to make watch springs because it was completely non-magnetic.But there was no emotion on his face, no malice in his heart, and he played this little game just for a little self-entertainment.It was a secret not even Aurora knew, and he would always punish himself for showing the slightest doubt.

He just said indifferently: "I thought that all the common forces are known to everyone." "The phenomenon of rhodium magnetism is concealed by nature," the hoarse voice patiently explained, "and its effect is specious, so ordinary experimental methods cannot test the existence of this force." "Plausible?" Underhill asked immediately. "In a few days, I will be able to show you a copy of the patent. These documents describe the process of the experimental demonstration," the old man said solemnly. "The propagation speed of rhodium magnetism is infinitely fast. The multiple powers are not inversely proportional to the square of the distance. General substances, except rhodium, a trivalent element, can be penetrated by rhodium magnetic radiation."

That earned him another four points in the mini-game.Underhill really has to thank Aurora for providing him with such a terrific game opponent. "The magnetism of rhodium was first discovered in the mathematical study of the atom," said the legend, as calmly as ever, without the slightest doubt about Underhill. "It has been shown that the composition of rhodium magnetism plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of atomic forces. Therefore, rhodium magnetic waves fine-tuned to the atomic frequency can be used to disrupt the atomic balance and produce atomic instability. In this way, most of heavy atoms—typically those above atomic number 46 palladium—are subject to artificial fission.”

Underhill added another point to himself, and tried his best not to raise his eyebrows, not to show any look of disdain.He said casually: "Patents on such discoveries are bound to bring great wealth." The villain nodded his gaunt, muscular head. "You can clearly see the application value. My basic research patents cover most of the application areas. Interstellar instant communication facilities, long-distance wireless energy transmission, design of rhodium magnetic wave refraction drive through rhodium magnetic deformation treatment of continuum, As far as possible, the visible speed can be several times faster than the speed of light. Of course, revolutionary nuclear fission power plants can also be built, which use heavy elements as fuel."

Ridiculous!Underhill tried his best not to show himself on his face, but even a three-year-old child knew that the speed of light was the speed limit in physics and could not be surpassed.And from the common sense of mankind, it is impossible for a person with such a patent to beg to live in such a small room above a dilapidated garage.He noticed a pale circle around the old crook's bony, hairy wrist; how could a man with such a priceless secret go so far as to pawn his watch? Underhill proudly added four more points to himself, but at this time he had to be punished.There must have been a look of suspicion on his face, for the old man asked suddenly: "Would you like to see the basic tensor diagram?" He reached into his pocket for a pencil and notebook. "I'll draw a sketch for you." "Don't bother," Underhill refused. "I'm afraid I'm rusty in mathematics." "However, you must be wondering how a man with such a revolutionary patent could have come to this point?" Underhill nodded and scored himself another point.The old man may be a very good liar, but he is also very clever. "You know, I'm a refugee," he said apologetically, "I only came to this planet a few days ago, and I can only travel at the speed of light. Everything is being mortgaged to a law firm so that it can arrange things like publication and patent protection for inventions. I hope to get my first royalties soon." "At the same time," he added confidently, "I came to Shuangjiang Town because it is quiet, isolated, and far away from the Space Shuttle Launch Center. I am also working on another research project, which must be done in secret Research project. Now, Mr. Underhill, will you keep this a secret for me?" Underhill had to say he would.Aurora came with the children freshly bathed; they went in to eat.The fully automatic robot hobbled in with a bowl of steaming soup.The guest shrank back uneasily, as if afraid of the robot.Aurora took the dish with both hands, and asked softly while sharing the soup: "Why can't your company get some better quality robots, my dear? Smarter ones, ones that don't spill soup, can be called the perfect waiter robots. Wouldn't that be really satisfying? " Her question plunged Underhill into a somber silence.He sat there, hunched over his plate, grimacing at the fantastic new robots that claimed to be as good as they could be, and the impact they might have on his own company.It was the shaggy old homeless man who answered cautiously: "Perfect robots already exist, Mrs. Underhill." His deep and hoarse voice carried a serious aftertaste, "But they are not That's really satisfying. I've been avoiding them for almost 50 years." Underhill stopped eating and looked up in amazement. "You mean those black intelligent robots?" "Intelligent robot?" The loud voice seemed suddenly weak and frightened.His deep-set eyes dimmed with shock. "How do you know about these robots?" "They've just set up an agency in Shuangjiang," Underhill told him. "You'd never guess that there isn't a single salesman. They claim—" His voice gradually lowered, because the haggard old man suddenly fell ill, his rough hands grabbed his throat, and the spoon fell to the ground with a clang, his haggard face turned blue and purple, his appearance was very ugly, his mouth was open, and he was wheezing, Panting with difficulty. He fumbled for the pills in his pocket tremblingly, and Aurora helped him put them down with water.After a while, he was able to catch his breath and his face returned to normal. "Sorry, Mrs. Underhill," he said softly, apologetically, "I'm just in shock... I came here to avoid them." There was fear in his eyes. "I would have done the work I had to do before they came," he murmured. "It seems too late now." When he felt he could move, Underhill walked him up the stairs and back to the house above the garage.He noticed that the small kitchen had been turned into a sort of workshop.The homeless old man didn't seem to have any change of clothes, but he took out those shiny gadgets made of steel and rubber from the broken suitcase - and placed them neatly on the table. The skinny old man himself was ragged and patched, with a hungry face, but the strange parts he carried were quite precise, and Underhill recognized that the silvery white luster was the rare element palladium.Suddenly, he suspected that he had scored too high in the secret game. When Underhill arrived at the company office the next morning, a guest was already there waiting for him.It stood motionless in front of his desk, so elegant, so upright, its naked black silicone body, the whole body glowed with a blue light of bronze.Seeing this scene, he was very shocked, and immediately stopped in his tracks, feeling very unhappy. "Happy to be of your service, Mr. Underhill." It turned quickly to face him, looking at him with blinding, disturbing eyes. "Can I explain how we can help you?" The shock from yesterday afternoon returned to him, so he asked sternly, "How did you know my name?" "Yesterday we saw the business card in your suitcase," it said pleasantly in a soft voice, "and now we shall not forget your name. You know, we are much sharper than human eyes, Ender Mr. Hill. You may think us a little eccentric at first, but you'll get used to it before long." "I will try not to use you!" He squinted at the serial number on the yellow name tag, and shook his head in confusion. "Not the robot I met yesterday. I haven't seen you before." "We robots are all alike, Mr. Underhill," said the melodious voice softly. "In fact, we are siblings with different moving parts, all controlled and powered by the intelligent robot center. What you see These parts are just some of the senses and limbs of our punk brains on Wing IV. That's why we're better than those old cyborgs." It seemed to make a gesture of defiance at the row of crude, fully autonomous robots in the showroom.