Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 172: Brain in a Vat

In the vast, dark space, many "bubble" spheres were neatly arranged in layers. Most of the "bubble" spheres contained a large number of moving, shimmering galaxies, while some contained very few galaxies. One "bubble" sphere was completely empty, and a humanoid robot was injecting something into that empty "bubble" sphere with its mechanical arm.

Suddenly, in the huge, dark space, a "bubble" sphere burst open, emitting a bright light.

"Warning, warning, an anomaly has occurred in virtual universe number 3141592!" An alarm, resembling that of artificial intelligence, sounded.

A tiny, dim point of light emerged from the bursting "bubble" sphere, rapidly weaving through layers of stacked "bubble" spheres, then rising ever higher. Along the way, some "bubble" spheres contained one or two galaxies, some contained many galaxies, and others were dazzling ribbons of light. There were at least over a hundred million of these "bubble" spheres. This vast space was, in fact, a colossal "cosmic incubator."

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"The silent, deserted laboratory holds countless secrets."

The junkyard was inconspicuous, seemingly containing some kind of cosmic corpse.

Floating in the 'bubble' universe are galaxies, some complete and some incomplete.

Embedded in the universe are invisible electrodes and computers connected to them.

It's pitiful that those cosmic civilizations and individuals all believe they are real.

The cold elements nurtured the cosmic atmosphere, but in the end, they ruthlessly erased all efforts to advance civilization, leaving not a trace.

Enjoy this perfect world; in the ocean of data, you can think freely and revel in joy.

Once you sign this agreement, the entire universe belongs to you.

As long as you keep this experiment a secret, it doesn't matter what happens.

You, who were once poor, ugly, and pathetic, will be more radiant and beautiful than anyone else.

My most perfect creation, if I so choose, I can pull the switch, and you will forever be listening to deathly silence.

"Operations, stop singing, it's so noisy. Operations, I need your call."

The maintenance worker got up from the sofa, turned the player volume to mute, and then took the phone from his mother.

"Operations, virtual universe number 3141592 has encountered a problem, similar to the previous four. Please come over as soon as possible."

"Yes, Chief Architect."

The maintenance engineer immediately grabbed his backpack from the sofa, slammed the door, and stormed out. Behind him came his mother's scolding voice, "You brat, you've gone crazy again."

The maintenance technician pressed the key in his hand, and a dazzling, shimmering spaceship suddenly appeared, hovering a foot off the ground in front of the door. The spaceship's hatch slowly opened, and the bright, flashing lights on both sides of the spaceship's hull were particularly dazzling in the dark night. The maintenance technician bent down and entered the spaceship.

The spaceship started up without any tail flames; there was only a "humming" sound in the air as it sped away.

The operations team was thinking quickly. "It's strange. In the last four years since MATRIX was built, there has been a problem with one of the virtual universes. This year is the fifth. Is there something wrong with my algorithm? Or is there a bug in the system itself? I'm sure I'm going to get a scolding from the architecture chief again."

"Master, we have received authorization to land. We will be landing at the base shortly," the spaceship's AI announced in a soft, sweet female voice.

"Nana, thank you for reminding me."

The spacecraft descended slowly and vertically. The maintenance crew stepped off the spacecraft, straightened their backs, and instantly arrived at the heavily guarded base gate. After showing their identification and undergoing fingerprint, facial, iris, and DNA verification, the soldiers helped them swipe their cards to open the gate.

"Thank you, Xiao Jian."

"Operations manager, thank you for your hard work, coming overtime so late."

"You're not working overtime, you're here to get a lecture."

"Ah? Something happened?"

"I do not know."

The maintenance personnel entered through the main gate and then took the elevator that went deep underground.

"Operations and maintenance, you've finally arrived."

As soon as the operations and maintenance personnel took their seats, the huge conference room was already filled with MATRIX base leaders and high-ranking generals wearing many medals on their chests.

"Sir, I'm sorry I'm late."

"Ahem," the chief architect cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, let's begin the meeting. General George, you may go first."

"Gentlemen, President Thomas, I admire the remarkable achievements of MATRIX over the past century, and I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the predecessors and everyone who has worked here over the past hundred years. Without MATRIX, our technology and military could not have developed so rapidly. Many of our current achievements are largely due to the civilization evolution simulation within our MATRIX virtual universe. However, President Thomas, including us, have noticed that the MATRIX virtual universe has experienced five anomalies, the fifth of which occurred this afternoon. President Thomas takes this very seriously, and frankly, we are also very afraid. Does this mean that MATRIX, which we have painstakingly built, has a fundamental internal bug? Gentlemen, there is no need to say more. In sixty years, we will have to face the massive fleet of the Quadrilaterals, which is currently about fifty light-years away. War is not far away."

Everyone present lowered their heads. Since the discovery of a massive fleet from the four planets 160 years ago, MATRIX, which simulates the evolution of cosmic civilizations, was built and put into use 100 years ago.

After a hundred years of simulations in the MATRIX virtual universe, the Earth's human fleet has now reached 50% of the speed of light, but this is still far behind the Quadrilaterals' ability to travel at approximately 83% of the speed of light.

"Operations and Maintenance, you know MATRIX best. When do you think we'll be able to reach the level of advanced or super-civilizations in virtual universes? Virtual universe 3141592, the one where the incident happened this afternoon, according to your previous report, has a super-civilization capable of galaxy-driven destruction, even destroying galaxies and the Great Wall of the universe."

"Architect, Virtual Universe No. 3141592 failed to simulate the evolution of civilization. Like the other four virtual universes, it has bugs. Therefore, this virtual universe could not withstand the overload and caused the anomaly this afternoon. In other words, the powerful capabilities of the super civilization you expected are impossible."

"Operations and maintenance, let me ask you one question: is faster than light even possible?"

"Sir, based on simulations of nearly one hundred million virtual universes, faster-than-light travel is impossible. The five virtual universes, numbered 314, 3141, 31415, 314159, and 3141592, exploded one after another because they simulated faster-than-light travel. Everyone, wait a minute, I think I've discovered something."

The operations engineer suddenly felt his heart pounding, and then a look of extreme fear appeared on his face.

Those present looked at the operations engineer and found him somewhat inexplicable; the meeting room fell into a moment of complete silence.

"Sir, I have two urgent requests that I hope you can approve."

"Operations and maintenance, you go first."

"My first request is to know whether virtual universe number 31415926 is a faster-than-light simulation or a constant-light simulation. If I'm not mistaken, it's definitely a faster-than-light simulation."

The architect beckoned, and an assistant pointed at his laptop screen, then whispered something to the architect, who nodded slightly.

"Operations and maintenance, you're right. Virtual universe number 31415926 is indeed a faster-than-light simulation."

"My second request is that, out of all the more than one hundred million 'bubble' virtual universes in MATRIX, I am quite certain that only six virtual universes are simulated at faster-than-light speeds: the 314th, 3141st, 31415th, 314159th, 3141592nd, and 31415926th. I would appreciate it if you, Chief Architect, could check this out."

The architect waved again, and the assistant pointed at the laptop again. The assistant whispered to the architect again, and this time, the architect looked incredulous, and then, like the operations engineer, showed a look of great fear.

“What’s wrong with the architecture?” George asked loudly.

"General, we..."

"That's what you said."

"Architect, let me explain." The operations team cleared their throat. "Gentlemen, as you all know, the choice between constant light speed and faster-than-light simulation among the more than one hundred million 'bubble' universes was random. However, a miracle occurred. The six virtual universes, 314, 3141, 31415, 314159, 3141592, and 31415926, were all simulated at faster-than-light speeds. The first five virtual universes have successively experienced abnormal explosions. I predict that next year, virtual universe 31415926 will also experience an abnormal explosion."

"The six virtual universes simulated at faster-than-light speed experienced abnormal explosions. Isn't that normal? It means that faster-than-light speed is impossible. Didn't you just say that, Operations?"

“General, what surprised and terrified me and the chief architect was not this matter, but the numbering of these six virtual universes.”

"Number?" they all asked in unison.

"Yes, the number."

Suddenly, the air in the entire conference room seemed to solidify as if purified, devoid of any life, as if the forty-odd humans had completely ceased to exist.

"A brain in a vat?!" General George finally broke the deathly silence.

Of all the people here, the most terrified is the operations engineer. As an operations engineer at the MATRIX base, he is extremely familiar with the virtual universe. His job responsibilities for the past thirty years have been to maintain the system, improve efficiency, optimize resources, and maintain stability (leading to a stable or ground state of the virtual universe's energy levels?). That's why he loves to sing the song "Virtual Song," which makes his mother hate him for singing it.

"Yes, General. We are also being simulated." The operations engineer's words were like a heavy bomb dropped into everyone's hearts.

Those who imitate others become the ones being imitated.

"I will immediately report this to President Thomas and members of Congress. Operations, the top priority, what should we do?"

"General, please allow me to think about it."

The operations engineer lowered his head in thought, and after a few minutes he looked up and said, "Architecture Chief, I request your approval to stop the virtual universe simulation process No. 31415926 and change the faster-than-light simulation to a constant-light-speed simulation."

"why?"

"Assuming we are also being simulated, then we also cause the simulation mechanism to have a bug. This bug is that virtual universe number 31415926 simulates a constant speed of light instead of faster than light, and does not complete the task according to the will of our 'intelligent entity'."

"But what if we, as 'intelligent beings,' deliberately create bugs in our virtual universe?"

"Sir, regardless of whether these bugs were created by us or by our 'intelligent entity,' it shows that bugs are the key to solving problems."

Everyone nodded slightly.

"Operations, but we didn't find anything when the first four bugs appeared, did we?"

“Architect, I request that you grant me permission to view all surveillance footage from the ‘Cosmic Incubation Chamber’ at the MATRIX base.”

“Operations and maintenance, you know, this is a top-secret file. I need to report it to President Thomas and ask him to review and approve it.”

"Architecture, I'll put in a good word for you with President Thomas. The situation has changed now, and we need to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on with the bug."

"Yes, General."

When the operations and maintenance personnel, exhausted from a meeting that lasted most of the night, lay on the bed, unable to sleep and tossing and turning, they got up and wrote six numbers on the blackboard in the room: 314, 3141, 31415, 314159, 3141592, and 31415926. Staring at these six magical virtual universe numbers, the operations and maintenance personnel were stunned for a long time.

These six numbers are approximate values ​​of pi.