Chapter 32 Chapter One

I am Hari Seldon, former Prime Minister of King Cleon I, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychohistory at the University of Trantor at Sturt, Director of the Psychohistory Research Project, Executive Editor of the Encyclopedia of the Galaxy, and creator of the Foundation. Those titles are pretty catchy, I know.I've done a lot in my eighty-one years of life, and now I'm tired. Looking back on my life, I often ask myself if I could—should—do things differently.Am I, for example, so concerned with the grand vision of psychohistory that the people and events that intersect my life sometimes seem to pale in comparison?

Perhaps I have neglected to make small, minor adjustments here and there which by no means endanger the future of humanity but which have the potential to greatly improve the lot of my loved ones.Hugo, Ricky...I can't help but ask myself...was there anything I could have done to save my beloved Dors? Last month, I completed the recording of the "Crisis All Information Speech".My assistant Gail Donik has taken it to Terminus to oversee its installation in Seldon's Vault himself.He will make sure that the Vault is sealed afterward and that proper instructions are left to give the Vault an opportunity to reopen in each crisis.

Of course, I was dead by then. What will they think, some fifty years later, during the First Crisis, when they, the future Foundation people, see me (or, more precisely, my holographic image)?Would they comment on how old I looked, or how weak my voice was, or how small I looked confined in a wheelchair?Will they understand-feel-the message I have for them?Ah, forget it, there is really no point in speculating on this.As the ancients said: the dice have been rolled. I got a letter from Gail yesterday.Everything is going well on Terminus, and the "exile" career of Bohr Aluyun and the project members is thriving.I shouldn't have chuckled, but I can't help giggling when I think of the complacent look on Lingji Chen's arrogant idiot's face when he decided to exile the Seldon Project to Terminus two years ago.Although the final result was that the exile was ostensibly implemented as a paper of the emperor's charter ("a national scientific institution, and a domain directly under the sacred and mighty emperor's majesty"

──The chairman wants us to get out of Trantor, as far away from him as possible, but he is not willing to give up complete control), but, thinking that Las Zeno and I actually chose Terminus as the home of the base, I I will still have fun alone for half a day. Speaking of Ling Ji Chen, my biggest regret is that we failed to save Aegis.That emperor was a good man and a noble leader, even if he was emperor in name only.The mistake he made was to trust his title, and the Public Safety Committee could not tolerate the germs of independent imperial power. I've often wondered what they did with Aegis.Was he banished to some distant outworld, or was he assassinated like Kryon?

The boy sitting on the throne today is a standard puppet emperor.He listened to every word Ling Ji Chen whispered in his ear, and fantasized that he was a politician of the new generation.For him, the imperial palace and the rich food and clothing of the emperor's life are just big toys in a fantasy game. What am I going to do now?Since Gale finally left to join the Terminus lineup, I've been completely alone.Occasionally I hear from Wanda, and work on End of Stars continues on track.In the past ten years, she and Shi Tieting recruited dozens of spiritual aliens, and their strength continued to grow.It was this detachment from the end of the stars—my secret base—that influenced Ling Ji Chen and made him decide to send the encyclopedia editor to Terminus.

I miss Wanda so much.It had been many years since I last saw her, sat silently opposite her, and held her little hand.After Wanda was gone, even though I had asked her to go, I thought I would be too heartbroken to live.This was perhaps the most difficult decision of my life.Although I never told her, I almost decided to let her stay.But for the success of the base, Wanda and Shi Tieting must go to the end of the stars.This is what psychohistory dictates, so then again, it may not really be my decision. I still come here every day, to my laboratory in the Psychohistory Building.I remember days and nights when the building was full, and at times it felt as if the place was still full of voices from family, students, colleagues I hadn't seen for so long.However, each research room is empty and silent, only the whirring sound of my wheelchair echoes in the corridor.

I thought I should vacate the building and return it to the university authorities to house another department.But it's really hard to let go of this place, there are so many memories... Now all I have is this, my primordial light body.This is the tool by which psychohistory can be calculated, every equation in my project can be analyzed, all in this incredible little black cube.I sit here right now with this seemingly simple tool in the palm of my hand.I wish I could show it to Daniel Oliva... but I'm all alone, and I just need to flip a switch and dim the lights in the lab.As I leaned back into the wheelchair, the primal light body activated, and the equations spread out around me, forming a three-dimensional mass of light.To ordinary people, this colorful vortex is just a mess of shapes and numbers, but to me—and Hugo, Wanda, Gale—this is psychohistory, living psychohistory.

In front of me, around me, I see the future of mankind.The potential chaos of 30,000 years has been compressed into just a thousand years... That piece, which is getting brighter and brighter day by day, is the endpoint star equation.And there, distorted beyond repair, was the image of Trantor.But I can see... yes, a soft light, a steady ray of hope... the end of the stars! This—this—is my life's work.My past, the future of mankind.base!So beautiful, so vivid, so... Dors! Hari Seldon: ...in the year 12069 of the Silver Age (the first year of the Foundation), he died in his research room at Sturt University, and his body fell on the desk.Apparently at the last moment of Seldon's life, he was still working on the research of the psychohistorical equation; in his hand, he held the activated primordial light body... According to Seldon's will, this instrument was later given to his colleague Gale Donik, who recently moved to Terminus... Seldon's body was thrown into space, also in accordance with the will he left.The official memorial service on Trantor was simple, but well attended.It is worth noting that Seldon's old friend and former Prime Minister Itul Demozel was also present.During the reign of Emperor Cleon I, after the conspiracy of the Nine-Nine Faction subsided, Demerzel disappeared mysteriously, and no one has seen him since.After Seldon's memorial service, the Public Safety Committee tried to trace Demerzel's whereabouts, but after many days of hard work, they found nothing... Wanda Seldon, granddaughter of Hari Seldon, was not present at the ceremony.

She is rumored to have refused any public appearances due to her heartbreak.Her whereabouts from then on remain a mystery to this day... Some believe that Hari Seldon survived the dead because the future he created unfolded around him when he died... ── "Galaxy Encyclopedia" 【To be continued】