Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 286 6 People

Six dark blue badges lay in a black velvet box. Zuo Cheng picked up the first one. Shen Yiming, Commander.

The ceremony was held in the lobby of Deep Space Headquarters, 402. There was no stage, no prepared speeches, only a central circular beam of light projecting live footage of the Pioneer spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Six crew members stood in a row, wearing dark blue overalls, their left breast pockets empty, waiting for a badge. The entire ceremony was broadcast live.

Zuo Cheng walked up to Shen Yiming. Eleven years ago, in that server-filled lab at Huaxia University, Shen Yiming, wearing his ever-present plaid shirt, told him, "Federated learning can make ten thousand devices smart simultaneously." Later, he created the Lone Ranger, and the Web Weaver. In four months, he will sit in the Commander's chair, becoming the first human to fly out of the Earth-Moon system.

Zuo Cheng pinned the badge to his chest. The sound of the pin piercing the fabric was amplified through the microphone.

"Ten years ago you said federated learning could make ten thousand devices smart simultaneously. Now this spaceship is the ultimate version of those devices."

Shen Yiming looked down at the badge on his chest.

"Not a version." His voice was calm. "It's an answer sheet."

The second badge. Ji Beihang, pilot.

Forty-one years old, a former Air Force test pilot, who has flown thirty-seven different aircraft types. During his test flight career, he experienced seven engine failures in mid-air, all of which resulted in successful emergency landings. He has twelve scars from healed fractures, the most serious being a broken right tibia that was broken into three pieces, requiring him to return to the cockpit six months later.

Zuo Cheng pinned the badge to his chest. Ji Beihang caught it with a sharp, upright stance.

"Ten thousand hours. Twelve fractures. Seven successful emergency landings after engine failures in the air. Having survived every possible scenario, I'm still alive, still standing here, and still asking to board the ship."

Ji Beihang stared into Zuo Cheng's eyes and gave a military salute.

"Report. I request permission to launch the Pioneer beyond the solar system."

"approve."

The third badge. Tan Yue, mission scientist.

Planetary geologist, 39 years old. He decoded some of the most crucial parts of the Web's routing table in Martian cubes and Titan data. Unmarried, no children. He was among the first to apply when the crew recruitment notice was released; his resume ended with the line: "Eight billion people take care of everything on Earth. Only a few can understand the Web. I have to go."

Zuo Cheng pinned the badge to his chest.

"Only you can understand the intricate web-like nodes on Titan."

Tan Yue adjusted his glasses. "So I have to go."

The fourth badge. Wenya, a biomedical engineer.

Thirty-six years old. One of the first brain-computer interface surgeons at Interstellar Neuroscience. He has performed over two thousand surgeries in the past four years, personally placing the NX chip into the patient's skull in each one. His surgical record maintains the lowest complication rate in the entire industry.

Zuo Cheng pinned the badge on.

"You helped three thousand people get back on their feet."

Wenya's eyes were a little moist, but her voice was steady. "Now I want to help all of humanity stand up."

The fifth badge. Huo Zheng, aerospace engineer.

Forty-two years old. Former space station maintenance expert at the China National Space Administration. Of the six experts seconded from the China National Space Administration, he was the only one who volunteered to stay. His hands can tighten bolts to a precise torque of 402 Newton-meter in zero gravity. Over twenty years, he has replaced more than two thousand engine bearings and repaired more than three hundred extravehicular malfunctions.

Zuo Cheng fastened the badge.

"The screw has been tightened for twenty years."

Huo Zheng smiled, revealing deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. "It's time to twist a bigger one."

The sixth badge. Lu Yunfei, an expert in communications and network weaving.

Thirty-five years old, Yu Ying's junior at Huaxia University. The fifth member of the Weaving Network of Consciousness, and the first non-system holder among humans to independently access the Weaving Network while conscious. Others need Zuo Cheng as an entry point to access the Weaving Network, but he doesn't. Yu Ying later read his access logs, remained silent for a long time, and said, "He understands the Weaving Network better than I do."

Zuo Cheng pinned on the last badge.

"You are the first human being who can talk to the web without me."

Lu Yunfei shook his head.

"It's not about speaking. It's about listening. The web has been speaking all along, but no one understood it before."

All six badges were pinned on.

The instant Zuo Cheng stepped back, the Web-Weaving Perception interface on the system panel lit up. Six new dots appeared on the Web-Weaving Consciousness Network map, distributed around the Pioneer's mobile node. System Note: Brain-computer interface device implantation for six crew members has been completed, and candidate nodes in the Web-Weaving Consciousness Network have been marked. They underwent consciousness bridging training before departure, becoming humanity's first Web-Weaving crew members.

Zuo Cheng didn't look at the panel. But he sensed it. The Web was "paying attention" to these six people, just as it had noticed the Pioneer before. Not a mark, not a warning, but an ancient pattern of identification.

The ceremony entered its final stage.

The families of all six crew members were invited to the event. Shen Yiming's mother kept wiping away tears, while his father remained silent throughout, only patting him on the shoulder after pinning on his badge. Ji Beihang's wife brought their two sons; the younger son held up a sign that read, "Dad, don't forget to send me photos from space." Wen Ya's husband held their three-year-old daughter, who pointed to the large screen and said, "Mommy's on that big fish." Huo Zheng's father, in his seventies and wearing an old-fashioned military uniform, stood up from his wheelchair. Lu Yunfei's mother made a phone call gesture towards the camera, mouthing, "Message me when I arrive."

Tan Yue walked to the wheelchair and squatted down.

His mother was over eighty years old. The armrests of her wheelchair were worn smooth, and her hands rested on them, her knuckles protruding. She didn't cry at all.

She asked one question: "How long will you be gone?"

Tan Yue said, "The mission is five years. Including travel time, it might take eight years."

She held his hand. The entire room fell silent.

"I'll be ninety in eight years. If you don't come back, you don't come back." Her voice was dry but steady, like a cloth wrung out after being repeatedly washed. "Don't stop halfway because you're afraid you won't come back."

Tan Yue knelt in front of the wheelchair and held his mother's hand. He didn't speak. The live broadcast camera didn't move away. No one spoke.

After the ceremony, the six crew members conducted their final full-process simulation at the Deep Space Tracking and Control Center. Zuo Cheng stood outside the control room, watching them sit around the simulator through the glass wall. In front of each person were densely packed instrument dials, and above them was a simulated near-Earth orbit star map. Six heart rate readings were lined up in a row on the monitoring screen.

Shen Yiming's heart rate is 68. Ji Beihang's heart rate is 55. Both are below 70.

Han Lu carried two cups of coffee to Zuo Cheng's side. "What do you most want to say to them right now?"

Zuo Cheng took the coffee but didn't drink it.

"You know what gives me the most peace of mind? It's not their skills. It's not their resumes. It's not their training results. It's that the whole world is watching them, 500 million people are watching the live stream, and their heart rate is slower than someone sitting at home watching TV."

Ji Beihang's heart rate jumped to 54.

Outside the window, Pioneer continued to rotate in its low Earth orbit at an altitude of 400 kilometers. The first to push open the door. Six people stood before it, their hands already on the doorknob.