Chapter 3 Chapter 3 One World Many Worlds

Bel Avadan has just held a press conference and is preparing to go on an expedition to Earth.Thinking of the vast Galactic Empire and the hundreds of millions of star systems in it, he felt extremely peaceful.Now, the question is no longer whether he is a household name in this star sector. As long as his theory about the earth is confirmed, then on every inhabited planet in the galaxy-every planet that humans have set foot on in the history of space exploration for tens of thousands of years On—his reputation could live on forever. These predictable pinnacles of fame, these pinnacles of purely scientific achievement, belonged to him long ago, but they were not easy to come by.He is only thirty-five now, but his academic career is already full of controversy.The first shock he caused was that he obtained his degree as a senior archaeologist from Big Horn University at the unprecedented young age of 23, which shocked every corner of the university.And another shock—not of substantive importance, but no less remarkable—was the rejection of his senior dissertation by the Journal of the Galactic Archaeological Society.Since the founding of Bighorn University, it is the first time that a student's advanced dissertation has been rejected by an academic journal.In addition, this is the first time in the history of that authoritative professional journal to explain the reasons for refusing to publish in rude words.

In the eyes of people who don't understand archaeology, this article titled "Research on Ancient Artifacts in the Sirius Star Area and Its Application to the Hypothesis of Human Origin and Diffusion" is just a few pages of difficult and boring articles. It will cause such a big anger. It can be said to be a mystery.However, the background of this incident is that Avadan has accepted a deviant hypothesis from the very beginning: Human beings first originated from a certain planet, and then gradually spread to the entire galaxy.Those who first put forward this theory were some scholars belonging to the school of mysticism, and those people studied metaphysical thought much deeper than archaeology.This kind of statement is the most popular among today's fantasy novelists, but every influential archaeologist in the empire regards it as a scourge.

But today's Alvadan represents a force to be reckoned with, even for the most eminent of archaeologists.For in less than a decade he had become the universally recognized master of archaeology, the authority of authority on the remains of pre-Imperial cultures—those still hidden in remote and backward regions of the galaxy. For example, he once wrote a monograph on the mechanical civilization of the Betelgeuse region.In that sector, the development of robots created a unique culture that persisted for centuries.In the end, the consummation of the metal minions was so great that human enterprise was so sapped that a warlord named Murray easily conquered the entire sector with a fleet of vigorous fleets.

Orthodox archaeological theory firmly believes that human beings evolved independently on each planet. As for those specific cultures, such as the "Betelgeuse culture", they are regarded as examples of racial differences that have not been eliminated by intermarriage. But Avadan overturned this concept in one fell swoop. He put forward strong evidence to prove that the robot culture produced in the Betelgeuse area was just the inevitable result of the social and economic development at that time and the local area. Then there are the savage worlds of Ophiuchus, whose inhabitants have long been recognized by orthodoxy as examples of hominids, that is, humans who have not yet evolved to the stage of interstellar travel.In every archeology textbook, those worlds are cited as the best examples of "merger theory".This theory holds that in any world full of water and oxygen, and moderate in temperature and gravity, human beings are a natural pinnacle of biological evolution; After the invention, such intermarriages began to take place.

However, Alvadan has unearthed the remains of an earlier civilization in the wild worlds of Ophiuchus with a history of thousands of years, and proved that on one of the planets, the first batch of records recorded interstellar trade activities.As for the final touch, he used 100% solid evidence to prove that human beings immigrated to that star field after their civilization had developed to a certain level. Until this time, "Galaxy Archeology" (this is the abbreviation of the journal in academic circles) decided to publish Avadan's advanced dissertation, and it has been more than ten years since he presented this thesis.

Now, in order to further explore his favorite theory, Alvadan has come to a planet called Earth, which may be the most insignificant world in the Empire. The place where Avadan landed is the only corner of the earth that resembles the territory of an empire. It is located on the desolate plateau in the north of the Himalayas. There is no radioactivity there, and it has never been there since ancient times.There stood a magnificent palace, not an earth-style building, but imitating the governor's residences on the richer planets.For comfort, a lush courtyard has been specially built around.The unsightly rocks are all covered by the surface soil, and due to frequent irrigation, the entire courtyard is immersed in artificial atmosphere and artificial climate.The entire five square miles of land was transformed into a large lawn and beautiful gardens.

The manpower and material resources spent on this project are really scary by the standards of the earth, but it is backed by countless resources on tens of millions of planets. (According to estimates, in GA827, an average of fifty planets were transformed into star provinces every day. To obtain this noble status, the population of the planet must reach 500 million people.) In this corner, which is not like the earth, lives the administrator of the earth.Amidst this artificial luxury, he sometimes forgot the rat-hole world he governed, remembering only that he was a nobleman, of an honorable and ancient family.

And his wife deceived herself less often, especially at times, such as when she was standing on a grassy knoll, and she could see in the distance the sharp and clear dividing line that separated the courtyard from the earth. The desolate scene separates.At this time, the colorful fountains (which emit cold lights at night, creating a liquid flame effect), the flowery paths, and the idyllic groves cannot make her forget the fact of being exiled. Therefore, Avadan's welcome may have exceeded the requirements of official etiquette.To the Administrator, Avadan represents a breath of empire after all, allowing him to feel the vastness and boundlessness of the empire again.

As for Alvadan himself, he praised many things around him. He said, "Remarkable and tasteful. It is rather surprising that the culture of the center of the galaxy should penetrate the remotest regions of our empire, Lord Ennias." Ennias smiled slightly: "For this Earth's executive residence, it is much more interesting to visit than to live in it for a long time. It is just a show, and there is no real use. Except for myself, my family, my men, this place and the planet The imperial garrisons at various important strongholds, and the occasional visitor, such as you, you can no longer find any breath of central culture. In my opinion, this is not enough at all."

They were sitting in a colonnade at the turn of afternoon and dusk.A jagged horizon shrouded in purple mist, reflecting the slanting sun.The air is filled with the fragrance of plants, and the slight wind is just like a soft sigh. Of course, it is inappropriate, even as an administrator, to appear overly curious about the actions of a guest.There is one exception, however, and that is, if the administrator has been cut off from the Empire for too long, even if his questions are excessive, it should be regarded as excusable. Ennias said: "Are you going to stay a while, Dr. Alvardan?"

"On this point, Lord Ennias, I'm not sure. I arrived earlier than the other archaeological team members to get acquainted with the culture of the earth and go through the necessary legal procedures. For example, as usual, I have to It takes your official approval to set up a camp in the proper place, and that sort of thing." "Oh, approved, approved! But when are you going to start? What can you expect to find on this humble rubble?" "I hope, if all goes well, that the camp can be erected within a few months. As for this world—ah, it must not be called a lowly rubble heap, it has an absolutely unique place in the galaxy." "The only one?" said the magistrate stiffly. "There's no such thing! It's a very ordinary world. It's literally a pigsty, a horrible cave, a fetid cesspit, and you can use almost any despicable word for it." to describe it. But, repulsive as it is, it's not even the only villainy it can be; it's just a common, savage country world." Alvardan was a little surprised that these incongruous words were so impassioned. "But," he said, "the world is radioactive." "Well, so what? There are thousands of planets in the galaxy that are radioactive, some far more radioactive than Earth." At this time, a movable wine cabinet began to slide lightly, attracting their attention.It slid until it was within reach, and then slowly stopped. Ennias pointed to the liquor cabinet and said to his guest, "What do you like to drink?" "Nothing in particular, let's have a Lime cocktail." "That's not a problem. There will be those recipes in the wine cabinet... Do you want to add some Chensa water?" "A little bit is fine." Aivadan said while stretching out his index finger and thumb for comparison, the two fingers were almost touching together. "It will be fine in a while." Inside the wine cabinet (which is perhaps the most common and popular mechanical product), a bartender begins to move—it is an electronic bartender. The sub-modulation ratios are flawless.Any human bartender, no matter how skilled, would pale in comparison. The two waited aside for a while, when two goblets suddenly appeared in the wine cabinet, as if they appeared out of thin air. Aivadan picked up the green glass, and he first pressed the glass to his cheek to feel its cold taste.Then he brought the rim of the cup to his lips and began to taste carefully. "Just right." He put the wine glass in the cup holder fixed on the armrest of the chair, and said, "there are thousands of radioactive planets, administrator, as you said, but only one of them is inhabited. It is This one, Administrator." "Well," Ennias smacked his lips, and his tone seemed to soften a lot after being moistened by the smooth wine, "maybe it is indeed unique in this respect, but that is not an enviable feature." "But it's not just statistical uniqueness," Alvardan said calmly, sipping his glass of wine. "It has other implications, potentially significant ones. Biologists have shown, or claim to have, that If the radiation intensity in the atmosphere and ocean of a planet exceeds a certain value, life cannot reproduce... and the radioactivity of the earth far exceeds this limit." "It's interesting, I don't know that. I think this fact is a definite proof that life on Earth is fundamentally different from life in the rest of the galaxy... This should satisfy you, because you are from the Sirius sector .” For his own words, he showed mocking pride.Then, he said a series of words in an intimate tone: "Do you know what is the biggest difficulty in ruling this planet? It is to deal with the strong anti-earthism that is common in the Sirius region. As for the earthlings, this kind of xenophobia The mood is more serious. I'm not saying, of course, that anti-Earthism isn't absent in many other parts of the galaxy, but none as intense as the Sirius sector." Avadan's reaction was agitated and impatient: "Lord Ennias, I object to this inference. I am by no means narrower than anyone in the world. I believe that human beings are a single species, including earthlings. It is the core of my own scientific belief. In fact, all life is basically the same, and the basis of life is a chain of nucleic acid molecules, and a protein structure that forms a colloidal dispersion. The radioactive effect I just mentioned, not only It is applicable to a certain part of human beings, not only to a certain part of any life, but to all life. Because its theoretical basis is the quantum mechanics that dominates microscopic atoms. This principle is for you, for me, for people on earth, It's true for spiders, and even for bacteria. "If you think about it, proteins and nucleic acids, maybe I don't need to tell you at all, are huge and complex aggregates of amino acids and nucleotides, and of course other special compounds. They form complicated three-dimensional shapes, unstable The degree is like sunlight on a cloudy day. This instability is the characteristic of life, because it has to change its position forever to maintain its own shape-like a stuntman, put a long stick Like the top of the rod at the tip of the nose. "But these amazing biochemical molecules must first be assembled from inorganic matter before life can exist. Therefore, in the beginning, the energy radiated by the sun acted on what we call the oceans-those huge solutions, organic molecules The complexity will gradually increase. From methane to formaldehyde, and finally to sugars and starches, this is one way; from urea to nucleotides and then to nucleic acids, it is another way; in addition, from urea Turning into amino acids and then into proteins is the third possible path. Of course, these combinations and transformations of atoms are all random phenomena. In a certain world, this process may take millions of years to complete, and In another world, it may only take a few hundred years. Of course, the possibility of the former is far greater than the latter. In fact, the most likely scenario is that there is no result at all. "Today, organic physical chemists have described with great precision all the reaction chains involved, and especially their energetics, that is to say, the relation of the changes in energy accompanying the transfer of each atom. We can now be almost 100 percent sure that , several key steps in the establishment of life must occur in the absence of radiant energy. If this surprises you, magistrate, all I can say is that photochemistry—which is the study of what radiant energy produces Initiated chemical reactions—already a very mature science. In photochemistry, there are countless very simple reactions that will proceed in a certain direction in the presence of photons, and react in the absence of photons. direction is just the opposite. "In the ordinary world, the sun is the only source of radiant energy, or at least the main source. When dark clouds cover the sun, or at night, the compounds of carbon and nitrogen combine and recombine. For under these conditions, Quanta of solar energy don't hit them—like a bowling ball hitting an infinite number of infinitely small pins—so those reactions are possible. "But on a radioactive world, with or without the sun, every drop of water—even in the middle of the night, even at a depth of five miles—splashes powerful gamma rays that kick carbon atoms flying Flying away — activating them, chemists say — forces certain key reactions to go in only one direction, the direction that will never give rise to life.” Having said that, Avadan ran out of wine.He put the empty wine glass back on the wine cabinet in front of him, and the wine glass was immediately put into a special compartment, automatically cleaned and sterilized, ready to hold the next glass of wine at any time. "Another drink?" Ennias asked. "Let's talk about it after dinner," Alvardan said, "I've had enough drinking now." Ennias tapped the armrest of the chair with his pointed fingers, and said, "I hear you say that, the process is indeed quite fascinating, but if everything is as you say, how does life on earth explain it? How did life develop?" "Ah, you see, even you are beginning to wonder. But, I think, the answer is actually very simple. Radioactivity, even above the minimum that prevents life, does not necessarily destroy life that has already formed. Radiation may change them, However, unless the intensity is really too high, it will not destroy existing life... You think about it, the chemical reaction of the two is not the same. The former is to prevent simple molecules from combining, and the latter is to destroy already formed Complex molecules, that's two different things." "I really don't see where this theory could be used," Ennias said. "Isn't that obvious enough? Life on Earth originated in a time when the planet was not yet radioactive. Dear Administrator, this is the only possible explanation that accepts the fact that Earth harbors life without overturning numerous chemical theories. " Ennias stared at each other, looking surprised and in disbelief: "But you can't be serious." "why?" "Because how does a world 'become' radioactive? The radioactive elements that exist in the crust of a planet have a lifespan of hundreds of millions of years. When I was in college, I read pre-law, but I at least learned about it." .They must have existed infinitely long ago." "Don't forget that there is also so-called artificial radioactivity, Lord Ennias, even on a large scale. Thousands of nuclear reactions are known, with sufficient energy to produce various radioactive isotopes. Ah, if we assume, Humans have used some kind of nuclear reaction for industrial purposes, but it has not been properly controlled, and it may even be used for war-if you can imagine a war on a planet, then most of the topsoil, it must be destroyed. Transformed into artificial radioactive substances. What do you think of this situation?" By this time the sun had already set, turning the sky blood red.Under the setting sun, Ennias' thin face looked extraordinarily rosy.The evening breeze is blowing slowly; the carefully selected insects in the courtyard are particularly beautiful at this moment, almost hypnotizing. Ennias added: "It sounds very far-fetched to me. For example, I can't imagine using nuclear reactions in war, or in any case, letting them get out of control to that extent..." "This is a natural thing, my lord, it is easy for you to underestimate the power of nuclear reactions, because you grew up in this era, and it is easy to control nuclear reactions. But if someone, or a certain army, used this before the invention of the protective shield What would happen if it was a weapon? For example, it would be like using incendiary bombs as a weapon before humans discovered that water or sand could put out fires.” "Well—" said Ennias, "you sound like Schector in that." "Who is Schechter?" Alvadan raised his head immediately. "An earthling, the kind of educated minority—I mean, the kind of gentleman who can talk. He's a physicist, and he once said to me that maybe the earth wasn't always radioactive." "Ah... Well, it's not surprising, because of course I didn't create this theory. It's recorded in the "Book of the Ancients", which contains many legends or fictional histories of prehistoric Earth. In fact, it can be said that, What I said just now is what it said, but I translated those rather ambiguous sentences into relative scientific descriptions." "Book of the Ancients?" Ennias seemed surprised and fidgeted, "Where did you find it?" "It's not easy to collect it everywhere, and what I have is just a few fragments. Of course, all the legendary materials about non-radiation, even if they are completely unscientific, are very important to my plan...Why do you ask this?" "Because that book is the holy book of a radical sect on Earth, and they strictly forbid outsiders to read it. When you stay on Earth, I will never announce this. There used to be some non-Earth people, that is, what they said Outsiders were lynched by them for violating lesser taboos." "Hearing what you said, it seems that the imperial police force here is not sound." "It only comes into play when there's profanity. That's my advice, Dr. Alvardan!" A beautiful bell rang suddenly, and the reverberating notes seemed to echo the rustling of the trees.The bell has not disappeared for a long time, as if it is nostalgic for everything around it and lingers. Ennias stood up: "It's time for dinner. Would you like to join us? Doctor, let us who live in a remote corner of the empire do a little bit of landownership?" There are very few opportunities to hold a feast here, so as long as there is any name, no matter how big or small, it will not be easily let go.The dishes are sumptuous, and the dining room is luxuriously furnished, with the men deliberately groomed and the women glamorously dressed.In addition, it must be mentioned that Dr. Ben Avadan, who came from the Sirius region of Balon, was almost drunk under the flattery of everyone. In the second half of the banquet, Alvadan took the opportunity to catch the guests present at the banquet, and almost repeated what he had just said to Ennias.Only this time, he was clearly disappointed by the reaction he got. A colonel in a fine uniform approached him with the usual hypocrisy of a soldier towards a scholar, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Dr. Alvardan, you're trying to tell us that these earthlings belong to a An ancient race, and this race may be the ancestor of all human beings?" "Colonel, I hesitate to make such a direct statement. But I think that this interesting possibility does exist. After a year, I am confident that I can make a definite judgment." "If you find this to be the case, though I strongly doubt it, Doctor," retorted the Colonel, "then I shall be terrified of you. Now that I have been stationed on Earth for four years, my experience is by no means insignificant. I found that the people on earth are all scoundrels, rogues, without exception. Their intelligence is absolutely inferior to ours; the spark of wisdom that allows mankind to conquer the entire galaxy, they have nothing in their heads. They are lazy, superstitious, greedy, and have no trace of noble soul .I challenge you or anyone else to find me a man from Earth who can be called a real man in any way—say, like you or like me—and then I will I will take your word for it and admit that he may be of the same race as our ancestors. But before that, please forgive me for not being able to make that assumption." A fat man sitting at the corner of the table suddenly said: "People say that only dead Earthlings are good Earthlings, but even if they are dead, they usually still don't forget to emit stench." After speaking, he laughed presumptuously. laugh. Avadan frowned fiercely at the dishes in front of him, lowered his head and said: "I don't want to argue about the differences between races, especially on this issue, it has nothing to do with it at all, what I'm discussing is the prehistory of the earth. Those people's Descendants, now in long-term isolation and trapped in the most unusual circumstances. Even so, I am not too quick to jump to conclusions." He turned to Ennias, and said again: "My lord, I remember you mentioned an Earthman before dinner." "Is there? I don't remember." "A physicist, Schechter." "Oh, yes, that's right." "Everett Schechter, isn't it?" "Ah, yes, have you heard of him?" "I think I did. I've been racking my brains all through this dinner because you mentioned him, but I believe I've got it now. He couldn't be that nuclear institute somewhere— Oh, what's the name of that damn place?" He tapped his forehead once or twice with the heel of his palm, "That Schector from the Chicago Nuclear Institute?" "You just happened to be right, how is he?" "Well, there's an article of his in the August issue of Physical Review. I'm noticing that because I'm collecting any data on Earth, and in the galactic journal, Very little has been published by Earthlings. Anyway, I would like to point out that the guy claims to have developed a device, which he calls a synaptic amplifier, which is said to enhance the learning capabilities of the mammalian nervous system." "Really?" Ennias' voice was too sharp. "I've never heard of it." "I was able to find this article for you, it's really interesting. I can't pretend to understand the math, though. However, he's only experimented with a certain animal endemic to Earth—rats, I believe they're called - modify them with synaptic amplifiers, and send them through a maze. You know what I'm talking about, in a maze model, learning to follow the correct path, with food as a reward at the end. He used unmodified As a control group, I found that in each experiment, the time for the modified mice to get out of the maze was less than one-third of that of the normal mice... Do you see the significance of this, Colonel?" The soldier who had sparked the discussion replied in a nonchalant tone, "No, Doctor, I didn't see it." "Let me explain, then, that I firmly believe that any scientist capable of such work, even a human being, has at least as much intelligence as mine. If you don't mind my liberty, I will say his intelligence No worse than you." At this point Ennias suddenly interrupted: "Excuse me, Dr. Alvadan, I hope to return to the topic of synaptic amplifiers. Has Schechter experimented with humans?" Alvardan immediately laughed out loud: "I believe not yet, Lord Ennias. Nine out of ten mice that received synaptic amplifier modification died during the modification process. Before there is no significant progress, he must not dare to take Humans experiment." After hearing these words, Ennias sank deeply into the seat, his forehead wrinkled slightly.He didn't speak again or eat anything until dinner was over. Before midnight, the magistrate quietly left the crowd.He only said a word to his wife, and then flew to Chicago, two hours away, in his private airship.His forehead was always slightly wrinkled, and his heart was extremely anxious. So, when Abyn Mullen brought Joseph Schwartz to Chicago that afternoon to get him to receive Schechter's synaptic amplifier therapy, Schechter himself had had a secret conversation with the Earth Administrator for more than a year. Hour.