Лю Цысинь - Hold Up the Sky

Song Cheng shifted his gaze to the briefcase, clearly confused.

“These are expensive. There are only two in the province as of now. According to superstring theory, the fundamental particles of matter aren’t point-like objects, but an infinitely thin one-dimensional string vibrating in eleven dimensions. Nowadays, we can manipulate this string to store and process information along the dimension of its length. That’s the theory behind a superstring computer.

“A CPU or piece of internal storage in a traditional electronic computer is just an atom in a superstring computer! The circuits are formed by the particles’ eleven-dimensional microscale structure. This higher-dimensional subatomic array has given humanity practically infinite storage and operational capacity. Comparing the supercomputers of the past to superstring computers is like comparing our ten fingers to those supercomputers. A superstring computer has ultimate capacity, that is to say, it has the capacity to store the current status of every fundamental particle existing in the known universe and perform operations with them. In other words, if we only look at three dimensions of space and one of time, a superstring computer can model the entire universe on the atomic level….”

Song Cheng alternately looked at the briefcase and Bai Bing. Unlike before, he seemed to be listening to Bai Bing’s words with full attention. In truth, he was desperately seeking any kind of relief, letting this mysterious visitor’s rambling extricate him from his painful memories.

“Sorry for going on and on like this—big bang this and superstring that. It must seem completely unrelated to the reality we’re facing, but to give a proper explanation I can’t sidestep it. Let’s talk about my career next. I’m a software engineer specializing in simulation software. That is, you create a mathematical model and run it in a computer to simulate some object or process in the real world. I studied mathematics, so I do both the model-creating and the programming. In the past I’ve simulated sandstorms, soil erosion on the Loess Plateau, energy generation and economic development trends in the Northeast, so on. Now I’m working on large-scale weather models. I love my work. Watching a piece of the real world running and evolving inside a computer is honestly fascinating.”

Bai Bing looked at Song Cheng, who was staring at him unblinkingly. He seemed to be listening attentively, so Bai Bing continued.

“You know, the field of physics has had huge breakthroughs one after another in recent years, a lot like at the beginning of the last century. Now, if you give us the boundary conditions, we can lift the fog of quantum effects to accurately predict the behavior of fundamental particles, either singly or in a group.

“Notice I mentioned groups. A group of enough particles means a macroscopic body. In other words, we can now create a mathematical model of a macroscopic object on the atomic level. This sort of simulation is called a digital mirror. I’ll give an example. If we used digital mirroring to create a mathematical model of an egg—as in, we input the status of every atom in the egg into the model’s database—and run it in the computer, given suitable boundary conditions, the virtual egg in memory will hatch into a chick. And the virtual chick in memory would be perfectly identical to the chick hatched from the egg in real life, down to the tips of every feather! And think further, what if the object being modeled were bigger than an egg? As big as a tree, a person, many people. As big as a city, a country, or even all of Earth?” Bai Bing was getting worked up, gesturing wildly as he spoke.

“I like to think this way, pushing every idea to its limit. This led me to wonder, what if the object being digitally mirrored were the entire universe?” Bai Bing could no longer control his passion. “Imagine, the entire universe! My god, an entire universe running in RAM! From creation to destruction—”

Bai Bing broke off his enthusiastic account and stood up, suddenly on guard. The door swung open soundlessly. Two grim-faced men entered. The slightly older one turned to Bai Bing and raised his hands to show that he should do the same. Bai Bing and Song Cheng saw the leather handgun holster under his open jacket; Bai Bing obediently put his hands up. The younger man patted Bai Bing down carefully, then shook his head at the older man. He picked up the large briefcase as well, setting it down farther from Bai Bing.

The older man walked to the door and made a welcoming gesture outward. Three more people entered. The first was the city’s chief of police, Chen Xufeng. The second was the province’s secretary of discipline inspection, his old classmate, Lu Wenming. Last came the Senior Official.

The younger cop took out a pair of handcuffs, but Lu Wenming shook his head at him. Chen Xufeng turned his head minutely toward the door, and the two plainclothes police left. One of them removed a small object from the table leg as he left, clearly a listening device.

INITIAL STATE

Bai Bing’s face didn’t show any sign of surprise. He smiled placidly. “You’ve finally caught me.”

“More accurately, you flew into our net on purpose. I have to admit, if you really wanted to escape, we would’ve had a hard time catching you,” said Chen Xufeng.

Lu Wenming glanced at Song Cheng, his expression complicated. He seemed to want to say something, but stopped himself.

The Senior Official slowly shook his head. He intoned solemnly, “Oh, Song Cheng, how did you fall so low…” He stood silent for a long time, hands resting on the table’s edge, his eyes a little damp. No onlooker could have doubted that his grief was real.

“Senior Official, I don’t think you need to playact here,” Bai Bing said, coldly watching the proceedings.

The Senior Official didn’t move.

“You were the one who arranged to frame him.”

“Proof?” the Senior Official asked indulgently, still unmoving.

“After that meeting, you only said one thing about Song Cheng, to him.” Bai Bing pointed at Chen Xufeng. “ Xufeng, you know what that whole business with Song Cheng means, of course. Let’s put a little effort into it. ”

“What does that prove?”

“It won’t count for anything in court, of course. With your cleverness and experience, you didn’t let anything slip, even in a secret conversation. But he,” Bai Bing pointed again at Chen Xufeng, “got the message loud and clear. He’s always understood you perfectly. He ordered one of the two people earlier to carry out the framing. His name is Chenbing, and he’s his most competent subordinate. The whole process was one formidable engineering project. I don’t think I need to go into detail here.”

The Senior Official slowly turned around and sat down in a chair by the office table. He looked at the ground as he said, “Young man, I have to admit, your sudden appearance has been astonishing in many ways. To use Chief Chen’s words, it’s like seeing a ghost.” He was silent for a while, and then his voice rang out with sincerity. “How about you tell us your real identity? If you really were sent by the central officials, please trust that we’ll assist you however we can.”

“I wasn’t. I’ve said again and again that I’m an ordinary guy. My identity is nothing more than what you’ve already looked up.”

The Senior Official nodded. It was impossible to tell whether Bai Bing’s words had reassured him, or added to his concern.

“Sit, let’s all sit.” The Senior Official waved a hand at Lu and Chen, both still standing, and drew closer to Bai Bing. “Young man,” he said solemnly. “Let’s get to the bottom of all this today, okay?”

Bai Bing nodded. “That’s my plan too. I’ll start from the beginning.”