This December was warmer than in previous years. Although the windows had been covered with hoarfrost, the bright sunshine outside the windows was still somewhat dazzling.
Nearly a year had passed since that incident.
From the rebellion in Guanghan City to its cessation and post-war reconstruction, a lot of things had happened in this world during this year.
The Pan-Asian Cooperation took the lead in passing the Artificial Intelligence Management Act, in which the intelligence level of artificial intelligence was clearly defined and different levels of civil rights were granted to different levels of artificial intelligence.
For the artificial intelligence with the highest level of intelligence, the limited citizenship it had was basically the same as that of ordinary humans, except that it couldn’t participate in the election and voting of the congress.
If it wanted to, it could engage in any profession.
Except for crimes.
For artificial intelligence, if they were involved in any criminal cases, they would be severely punished. Once convicted, it would basically be impossible to escape destruction.
Once this bill was introduced, it was immediately followed by other regional alliances.
After all, technology itself was innocent; it just needed to be used properly.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that those robots who had the ability to think and were able to engage in scientific research and creative work were of great value and help to the entire society.
To a certain extent, this bill could be seen as an understanding between human society and the awakened.
After all, before this, the identities of the awakened robots would not be recognized by countries around the world, and they would even be sent back to their manufacturers to be repaired…
In addition to the legislation on artificial intelligence, there was also the quantum computer array on Ceres.
Taking into account the dangers of its existence, the Pan-Asian Cooperation Ministry of Science and Technology made a decision to permanently contain and observe it, as well as to set up a special foundation to supervise it.
Lu Zhou didn’t ask any questions about this matter. He only learned afterward that the name of this foundation was SCP.
As for why it was called this name, he was not sure.
In a year’s time, although the world had changed a lot, the people and things around Lu Zhou didn’t seem to have changed much.
Director Li was still a volunteer in the community and led an old-fashioned life. Li Gaoliang was still serving in the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade. Wang Peng, who was integrated into the role of an agent of the Security Bureau, was active every day in fighting criminals and The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.
As for Xing Bian…
This guy had gotten a little closer to him recently.
Lu Zhou didn’t understand what he was trying to do with him, but since he came back from North America, he would come to visit his house every once in a while.
At first, Lu Zhou thought that this guy had a favor to ask him, but they were just visits.
Lu Zhou did not dislike this guy. After all, he didn’t have many friends who could come by in this unfamiliar era, so he would let the guy disturb him from time to time.
Just like this, time passed by day after day, and soon, it was the last weekend of 2125…
Looking at the greeting card sent by Lili, Lu Zhou sighed, and he gently placed the card inside a drawer.
Perhaps it was because he had fallen asleep for too long, or perhaps the protector potion had blunted his intuition, he felt that he was becoming less and less sensitive to the passage of time.
“Do you know what holiday is on the 31st of this month?” Standing next to the desk and looking at the potted flowers on the windowsill with interest, Xing Bian reached out and touched the leaves.
“New Year’s Day?”
“That is 1st January.”
Frowning, Lu Zhou shook his head after thinking about it for a moment.
“I don’t know, what holiday is it?”
“This festival has something to do with you. You don’t know it? What a shame.”
“Me?”
Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment. He couldn’t remember what earth-shattering things he had done on this day.
Looking at Lu Zhou who had no reaction at all, Xing Bian sighed. His face was full of defeated expressions.
“Ignition day! Pangu fusion reactor ignition! Really, you, the chief designer, don’t remember about it?”
Oh, that…
“Who would be so bored to remember such little things?”
“Every Pan-Asian citizen remembers! Since the establishment of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, this day has been set as a legal holiday! It is next to the New Year’s Day holiday.” Captain Xing paused for a moment and joked, “I bet they will invite you as a guest this year.”
Lu Zhou: “Guest? This festival… Will there be a special celebration?”
Xing Bian: “Of course! At this time of the year, the Heart of Asia would hold a grand celebration. Since it is a celebration of scientific research results, special invitations are usually sent to the winners of the Lu Zhou Science Awards. But this year, I don’t think anyone is more qualified than you.”
Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Why does it sound troublesome?”
“How come? That must be your illusion.” Xing Bian grinned and continued, “Since you are attending such a grand event for the first time, I won’t spoil anything… Speaking of which, what have you been doing recently?”
Lu Zhou: “Research those things that interest me, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, just a little curious… After all, I feel that the last time you went out seemed to be a long time ago.”
Technically, ever since he returned from North America, Lu Zhou had basically not gone out at all.
Although it was only a rumor, Xing Bian had heard that whenever Academician Lu faced an important research topic, he would choose to retreat and shut himself in a room or laboratory for a period of time.
And when Lu Zhou emerged again, no matter how difficult the problem was, it would be solved magically…
“Because there is really no need to go out.” Lu Zhou continued while looking at Xingbian who had inexplicable expectations on his face, “In this era, even preparatory courses can be done in online classrooms.”
“But won’t you get bored of staying at home? Let me guess… Are you researching second-generation controllable nuclear fusion? But that doesn’t seem to be a challenge for you.”
Lu Zhou shook his head.
“No, I’ve been researching sociology recently.”
After hearing this sentence, Xing Bian was stunned.
“Sociology?”
Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yes, because there are some things that I care about… Don’t you find it interesting? Why can’t the people who have uploaded themselves into the hard disk meet with themselves in reality? Why is thinking an entangled particle? And why does it collapse after colliding…
“At first, I thought these topics belonged to the category of information science, but I later discovered that I was wrong. These theories have nothing to do with information science itself. Instead, they are closely related to sociological research.”
Xing Bian: “I don’t understand anything you said. Thinking is an entangled particle? This is the first time I have heard something like this.”
Xing Bian opened his mouth and couldn’t help but ask, “But I still don’t quite understand. Didn’t you say that you were researching second-generation controllable fusion? Why did you suddenly change the direction of research?”
“Because there is no suspense about that research project… Since I have endless time to research the things I am interested in, why not take it slow? After that incident, I suddenly became interested in people, so I wanted to try to research them.” Lu Zhou suddenly muttered, “But it’s quite unfortunate. I really am not an expert in this area. After two months of research, I haven’t done anything… If only she were still here.”
“Do you know, you’re a lonely old man right now.” After a while, Xing Bian said with a teasing expression on his face, “I suggest you hurry up and find someone. Well, although we citizens of the 22nd century rarely get married, we still have to find a partner.”
Lu Zhou: “I have no interest in that kind of stuff. It’s a waste of time and energy.”
Xing Bian suddenly smiled mysteriously. “Don’t say such things, who knows what can happen in the future?”
Lu Zhou didn’t bother to respond. He started to get impatient with this guest.
Xing Bian knew that he was here for too long, so he took the initiative to say goodbye.
However, when he walked to the entrance, Lu Zhou, who was sending the guest off, suddenly took out a test tube with black crystals suspended in it from his pocket and handed it to his guest.
“Actually, I know that Li Guangya asked you to come, so take it.”
Xing Bian was slightly stunned when he heard Lu Zhou’s words. He was surprised that Lu Zhou could see through his secret, and what surprised him even more was the test tube that Lu Zhou handed him.
“What’s this…?”
Lu Zhou: “It goes up to the skies, then breaks through the ground, gaining the ultimate power from everything good and bad.”
Xing Bian: “…?”
Looking at Xing Bian, who was muddled, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and waved his hand casually.
“The key to the space elevator. Isn’t this what he dreams of?”
The moment he heard these words, Xing Bian’s fingers trembled slightly, and all his muscles became stiff.
“You… Is this true? This thing…”
“The material for the space elevator. Do I have to be so direct?”
“But… when did you—”
“About two months ago, when I had just started to study sociology.”
Xing Bian: “Then why didn’t you publish a paper at that time?”
“Why do you have so many questions?” Lu Zhou said impatiently, “This is the 22nd century, are papers still important to me? I update any new ideas directly on the LSPM forum.”
After he pushed Xingbian, who had a bewildered look, out the door, Lu Zhou then closed the door casually before going back to his study room.
