Cixin Liu - The Three-Body Problem

“Let’s focus on one thing first. The Trisolarans were able to shoot two protons at the Earth from four light-years away and they both reached the target! That accuracy is incredible! There are numerous obstacles between there and here: interstellar dust, for example. And both the solar system and the Earth are moving. It would require more precision than shooting a mosquito here from Pluto. The shooter is beyond imagination.”

Wang’s heart clenched when he heard “shooter.” “What do you think this means?”

“I don’t know. In your impression, what do subatomic particles such as neutrons and protons look like?”

“They would just look like a point. Though the point has internal structure.”

“Luckily, the image in my head is more realistic than yours.” As Ding spoke, he tossed his cigarette butt away. “What do you think that is?” He pointed at the butt.

“A cigarette filter.”

“Good. Looking at that tiny thing from this distance, how would you describe it?”

“It’s practically just a point.”

“Right.” Ding walked over and picked up the butt. In front of Wang’s eyes he tore it open and revealed the yellowed spongy material inside. Wang smelled burnt tar. Ding continued, “Look, if you spread this little thing open, the adsorbent surface area can be as large as a living room.” He tossed the filter away. “Do you smoke pipes?”

“I no longer smoke anything.”

“Pipes use another type of more advanced filter. You can get one for three yuan. The diameter is about the same as a cigarette filter, but it’s longer: a small paper tube filled with active charcoal. If you take out all the active charcoal, it will look like a little pile of black particles, like mouse droppings. But added together, the adsorbent surface formed by the tiny holes inside is as large as a tennis court. This is why active charcoal is so adsorbent.”

“What are you trying to say?” Wang asked, listening intently.

“The sponge or active charcoal inside a filter is three-dimensional. Their adsorbent surfaces, however, are two-dimensional. Thus, you can see how a tiny high-dimensional structure can contain a huge low-dimensional structure. But at the macroscopic level, this is about the limit of the ability for high-dimensional space to contain low-dimensional space. Because God was stingy, during the big bang He only provided the macroscopic world with three spatial dimensions, plus the dimension of time. But this doesn’t mean that higher dimensions don’t exist. Up to seven additional dimensions are locked within the micro scale, or, more precisely, within the quantum realm. And added to the four dimensions at the macro scale, fundamental particles exist within an eleven-dimensional space-time.”

“So what?”

“I just want to point out this fact: In the universe, an important mark of a civilization’s technological advancement is its ability to control and make use of micro dimensions. Making use of fundamental particles without taking advantage of the micro dimensions is something that our naked, hairy ancestors already began back when they lit bonfires within caves. Controlling chemical reactions is just manipulating micro particles without regard to the micro dimensions. Of course, this control also progressed from crude to advanced: from bonfires to steam engines, and then generators. Now, the ability for humans to manipulate micro particles at the macro level has reached a peak: We have computers and nanomaterials. But all of that is accomplished without unlocking the many micro dimensions. From the perspective of a more advanced civilization in the universe, bonfires and computers and nanomaterials are not fundamentally different. They all belong to the same level. That’s also why they still think of humans as mere bugs. Unfortunately, I think they’re right.”

“Can you be more specific? What does all this have to do with those two protons? Ultimately, what can the two protons that have reached the Earth do? Like the interrogator said, a single cilium on a bacterium can contain several billion protons. Even if these two protons turned entirely into energy on the tip of my finger, at most it would feel like a pinprick.”

“You wouldn’t feel anything. Even if they turned into energy on a bacterium, the bacterium probably wouldn’t feel anything.”

“Then what were you trying to say?”

“Nothing. I don’t know anything. What can a bug know?”

“But you’re a physicist among bugs. You know more than I do. At least you aren’t completely at a loss when faced with the knowledge of these protons. I beg you. Tell me. Otherwise I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“If I tell you more, you really won’t be able to sleep. Forget it. What’s the point of worrying? We should learn to be as philosophical as Wei Cheng and Shi Qiang. Just do the best within your responsibility. Let’s go drinking and then go back to sleep like good bugs.”

“Don’t worry,” Shi Qiang said to Wang, as he sat down next to him at the meeting table. “I’m not radioactive anymore. The last couple of days they’ve washed me inside and outside like a flour sack. They didn’t originally think you needed to attend this meeting, but I insisted. Heh. I bet the two of us are going to be important this time.”

As Da Shi spoke, he picked a cigar butt out of the ashtray, lit it, and took a long drag. He nodded, and, in a slow, relaxed manner, blew the smoke into the faces of the attendees sitting on the other side of the table. One of the people sitting opposite him was the original owner of the cigar, Colonel Stanton of the U.S. Marine Corps. He gave Da Shi a contemptuous look.

Many more foreign military officers were at this meeting than the last. They were all in uniform. For the first time in human history, the armed forces of the world’s nations faced the same enemy.

General Chang said, “Comrades, everyone at this meeting now has the same basic understanding of the situation. Or, as Da Shi here would put it, we have information parity. The war between alien invaders and humanity has begun. Our descendants won’t face the Trisolarans for another four and a half centuries. For now, our opponents are still human. Yet, in essence, these traitors to the human race can also be seen as enemies from outside human civilization. We have never faced an enemy like this. The next war objective is very clear: We must capture the intercepted Trisolaran messages stored on Judgment Day . These messages may have great significance for our survival.

“We haven’t yet done anything to draw the suspicion of Judgment Day . The ship still sails the Atlantic freely. It has already submitted plans to the Panama Canal Authority to pass through the canal in four days. This is a great opportunity for us. As the situation develops, such an opportunity may never arise again. Right now, all the Battle Command Centers around the globe are drafting up operation plans, and Central will select one within ten hours and begin implementation. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss possible plans of operation, and then report one to three of our best suggestions to Central. Time is of the essence, and we must work efficiently.

“Note that any plan must guarantee one thing: the secure capture of the Trisolaran messages. Judgment Day was rebuilt from an old tanker, and both the superstructure and the interior have been extensively renovated with complex structures to contain many new rooms and passageways. Supposedly even the crew relies on a map when entering unfamiliar areas. We, of course, know even less about the ship’s layout. Right now, we cannot even be certain of the location of the computing center on Judgment Day, and we don’t know whether the intercepted Trisolaran messages are stored in servers located in the computing center, or how many copies they have. The only way to achieve our objective is to completely capture and control Judgment Day .