This text is a completion of the outline of the story of "Eternal Bright Eyes, Short-lived Alarm Clock (End)".
April 24, 2131, GMT 17:18, Moon, Red Flag No. 6 Underground Experimental Complex, Radiation Zone Entrance Corridor H-1
In this dim corridor, the footsteps of the Ling group echoed, even though no one was wearing leather shoes or high heels. Faintly, you could also hear the sound of the light switch hidden in the footsteps. Perhaps this was due to the strong sound-absorbing ability of the lunar soil. Posters were also pasted on the walls, and the dates on them seemed to be the most recent, such as "Celebrating the May 1st Interstellar Workers' Labor Day in 2131". It seems that it is a bit inappropriate to say that this is an abandoned facility. But despite the well-maintained surroundings, the floating lunar dust still suggests that there are only a few AIs maintaining daily operations here. And with so much dust, I'm afraid those AIs won't last more than a few days.
The spacesuits of this group of people have obviously become thinner because the thermal insulation gas has been sucked out and stored in pressure tanks. However, they still cannot take off their helmets because the air quality has not yet reached the quality required by the Health Commission. But since they have switched to filter mode, Ling still believes that he is breathing lunar air. It must be said that compared to the air in the basements on Earth, there is not much difference, except that there is obviously no damp smell, after all, where on the moon can water be produced out of thin air?
As they walked, the dust on the walls seemed to be decreasing little by little. But when Ling reached the shield door of the radiation zone, a machine guard, still carrying a shotgun, allowed others to pass but blocked his way.
To Ling's surprise, this robot, who looked fierce, spoke in a gentle synthesized AI voice and calmly said, "Comrade Ling or Qiu, you belong to the third category of radiation-exposed individuals, and your monthly radiation dose has reached the standard. Therefore, you are not authorized to enter this area. For the sake of your health and social radiation control, please maintain a distance of at least three meters from the shield door or return along the original path. Thank you for your support to our work."
Ling had never received such a warning before, and the people with him were also surprised to see him being warned. Zhao asked the robot, "How did he get exposed to radiation?"
The robot seemed to be very patient and said in a kind AI voice, "I'm sorry, this information is related to the user's medical privacy data, and compliance requirements prohibit me from disclosing this information."
The team leader shrugged, looked at the terminal on Ling's spacesuit, which still had plenty of power, and had no choice but to let him wait outside alone. "It's not something exciting anyway, just like doing an MRI in a hospital." Zhao saw Ling's disappointed expression and comforted him with some regret.
Supported by the guard, Ling stepped back three meters, and the shield door opened. The inside world seemed to be brightly lit, but Ling knew that there was actually no one inside.
Watching the shield door close, Ling sat down on the ground, and the voice-controlled lights went out, leaving the entire space completely dark.
Ling originally wanted to turn on the portable flashlight on his helmet, but when his hand touched the switch, he suddenly stopped and carefully looked around in the darkness. The spacesuit was still in soundproof mode, after all, all communication here was done through radio waves. He felt an incredible silence, an incredible darkness - and it didn't make him feel any fear, but rather... a sense of familiarity?
Ling was startled by his own thoughts. But indeed, this darkness was so familiar. It was not familiarity with the moon, but familiarity with a world without light. Ling stretched his fingers and looked in the direction of his hand, but there was nothing there. "Is this what they call pitch-black?" Ling recalled this ancient proverb. Why did he feel familiar with a world without light?
He suddenly felt something strange, and unconsciously turned on the sound feedback. At this moment, the world around him was generally quiet, but the sound of the shield door electromagnetic lock dissipating heat and the sound of the robot fan were enough to provide sufficient sound in the darkness.
It seemed, indeed, everything was back...
In a world without light, there is no time. I don't know how long it has passed, but the shield door opened, and the warm yellow light shone in again, illuminating the hearts of the people, looking at the dust floating in the air. The male leader walked out, his face seemed gloomy, with a complex sadness. Zhao, on the other hand, was more straightforward, with two tears clearly visible on his face.
"A black box made these people cry so miserably?" Ling expressed surprise.
"You didn't see it, it is indeed a bit regrettable." The leader said like this, his voice seemed to have changed.
"The industrial era's ground exploration did not reach its final stage. Later, scientists made many achievements in ground exploration, but there was no significant progress. Therefore, ground exploration has been stagnant." This is a sentence Ling learned from a textbook, summarizing the bitter history of the entire ground exploration project. Ling will soon know that such a summary is almost insulting. And this silent, abandoned moon will soon become lively.
Through the entanglement network, the topic of the "SOS signal sent by the ground exploration navigator a hundred years ago" spread like wildfire. The Cosmic Observation and Navigation Committee, which used to be scattered throughout the sky, held its only emergency meeting on the moon, this almost completely desolate satellite, looking at their mother planet Earth, convening for the first time since its establishment. That day, Ling and Zhao witnessed a spectacle: countless small and medium-sized spacecraft teleported in the lunar orbit, almost appearing out of thin air in front of them.
"We have decrypted all the information of the 'Eternal Alarm Clock'." The scientist from the Solar System Portal on Neptune, not saying much, but came up and said the topic that everyone was holding their breath waiting for. "It may not have been sent by the ground exploration navigator who was trapped in the core, but at least it was spoken in the tone of this pioneer. And according to other information comparisons, especially a communication written by a documentary writer, it is highly likely to be true."
Another scientist affirmed this speculation word by word. At this moment, Ling's emotions were once again truly stirred. The faces of the surrounding scientists were filled with a sense of vicissitudes, completely different from him, a young man. And the more serious they became, the more deeply he realized that a certain kind of spirit was flickering - and imitating the appearance of Zhao, whom he had once mocked, tears flowed down. The ground exploration project of the industrial era did not reach its final stage, and the last attempt was a huge failure. When the ground exploration spacecraft reached less than half of the journey, it mistakenly entered a mantle fissure and sank towards the core. When it urgently turned to stop the loss, the engine compartment and the main cabin section separated, adding the final straw to the camel's back. At that time, the four who had been accompanying the navigator, in order to rescue, were engulfed by the lava in the mantle and devoured by the flames. The navigator, a young girl, had to continue to go deeper into the core alone. No one knew if the spacecraft could withstand the pressure of the core. And even if it could, without power and without the technology to rescue her to the core, she could only rely on the remaining supplies that could support her for eighty years to survive in the dark underground, unable to see any light from the ground - spending the second half of her life in constant darkness and fear.
"It is conceivable that this kind of grief can make this warrior end her life." said a scientist with a trembling voice. "But she is a true warrior, she persisted." When this sentence was thrown out, the eyes of the group of scientists became moist. But Ling happened to take out a tissue to wipe away his tears at this moment. He had known what would happen next, what modern humans would do with modern technology, and how inspiring it would be.
There were shooting stars outside the glass window, but the shooting stars in space looked like pure stones, without any trace of fire.
"She didn't, she survived, so she waited for an opportunity. It took 20 years! Finally, there was technology on the ground to launch an irreversible probe into the core and there was also a passenger plane capable of hibernation. After a thrilling zero-power docking, she was able to enter the hibernation cabin section and hibernate for at least one hundred years, waiting for the future humans to have the technology to return to the core and bring her back... Although by then, she would definitely be alone. But at least, by then, she would have the bright sunlight!"
"Comrades! You are not here to cry, we are going to do a great project, a project that has never been completed... because we are going to the core of the Earth! Because she is a great woman, a great human... we cannot let her die in the core! We are going to the core, even if we send robots, we must rescue her. And now, we only have two months, two months later she will wake up. At that time, she will be in her forties, but actually over one hundred and forty years old, very weak, so it is best for us to go to the core in advance and wait for her to wake up, and then bring her back... But in any case, we are going to the core!"
But going to the core is not that easy. Humanity has made achievements in underground exploration - just not significant breakthroughs. Although there is experience in space exploration that can be borrowed now, the nature of ground exploration and space exploration is different. One is flying in a vacuum, and the other is digging in a solid. It is indeed different. In order to prepare for this project, the Cosmic Committee even communicated with the Earth and "revived" an entire city specifically for this project. Ling and little Zhao, as the beginning of the whole story, naturally moved to live in this city. It seems that old Zhao also came to reminisce about that spirit of exploration, and also moved here. There are also countless ordinary people who are ordinary and love to explore, love to explore everything, who flocked here. In addition to various scientists, writers, and journalists, there are workers from various places and star systems, as if they were "infected with some kind of disease", all flocked here. A deserted city has almost returned to the population density of those big cities in the industrial era. Of course, the cost is that almost all other places on Earth have been abandoned.
For modern humans, the benefits of this almost spiritual tribute outweigh the investment, even if the benefits are less than the investment, modern humans are still happy to do it!
But going to the core is not that easy. On the first day, scientists almost presented a new major plan every ten minutes, and almost rejected a major plan and presented a new one every hour. After several iterations, this city, which had just been revived, could no longer bear the burden and became weak. People who came to join in the excitement looked at the hopeless situation and decided to return home. As time passed, those who stayed in the city to save people could not sleep well for a day. Those scientists who spoke at the meeting had lost all their hair. These sacrifices, however, did not have any effect, and there was not even a shadow of a launch pad on the ground.
On this evening, the setting sun gently shone on the mother planet. Ling looked up, gazing affectionately at the sky, which was blue and dyed with deep red. Several stars had already begun to shine. Although there were no constellations yet, the clouds couldn't wait and hurriedly dodged outside the city. Ling knew that there was a strong wind in the upper atmosphere. The ground also began to be windy, and the strong wind forced him to lower his head.
Looking at the ground, he thought, this ground is more annoying than that day. People are powerful, they can go to the sky, cross the sea, but it's difficult to enter the ground. You tell me, this Earth, this mother planet, why is it so difficult for its children? Trapped in the core, not counting those years without hibernation, just living for twenty years, unable to see the light of day, even though he had grown eyes, what's the difference between being blind for twenty years?
The wind stopped, but he didn't want to look up at the sky. He wanted to see the vast land that had never been conquered by humans. But at this moment, his mind was filled with memories of the sea of stardust. He remembered, now space travel is like taking a bus, but the space travel of the industrial era, didn't it also result in deaths? It seems that it is not the mother planet making it difficult for her children, perhaps it is just that her children are not competitive enough.
But now the people of Earth are more competitive, they can go to the sky, they can reach the nebula that could only be seen through a telescope a few days ago, how great. But there is no way, passing through the core of the Earth, no matter how much you scold, you still have to pass.
The wind started blowing again, and Ling felt something above his head, so he looked up to see.
It was Xiao Zhao, he happened to lower his head and looked straight at Ling.
"When did you come? Did old Zhao agree?"
"Look, that's a shooting star."
He changed the topic, and the gloom seemed to be blown away a bit.
(To be continued)