Hot Wavelength

Chapter 36 (Silicon-Based Survival 2): ​​Mirage in the Desert
May 2030, capital of Country B

Tiangao Media Group is the world's largest integrated media company, holding controlling stakes in numerous newspapers, television stations, and internet new media platforms.

Andek, the owner of Tiangao Media, is 99 years old this year. He has long since withdrawn from the company's business and management, and no longer stands in the limelight like he did in the last century, exposing others and being exposed by others.

A few years ago, Andrej returned to the public eye, not because of his wealth or his journalism career, but because of the news that sparked public interest and went viral on social media: Andrej married Erin Petkova as his fifth wife.

On a warm afternoon, the elderly Andek reclined comfortably in his chair, with Eileen and Martha sitting beside him. The old man said to Martha:

“Martha, I asked you to come here because I want you to do something for me.”

Martha and Eileen were good friends. As Andre's ex-wife, it was through Martha's introduction that Eileen and Andre became acquainted and eventually got together. Martha, with her straightforward personality, pointed at Eileen half-jokingly and said to Andre:
"Are you afraid Eileen will be jealous? You summoned me to assign tasks, and you did it in front of Eileen."

The old man laughed heartily, patted Eileen's hand, and said, "Eileen won't be jealous of you. It's just that what we talked about today is related to both you and Eileen."

Now it was Eileen's turn to be puzzled. She blurted out, "I'm not a journalist, what does this have to do with your work?"

“I’ve asked Martha to investigate something. The main character in the news is Michael Max, and I know he’s quite familiar with both of you,” Andre said.

Upon hearing this, Martha wondered if this bigwig in the news had also heard that Michael's experiment might damage Saturn's rings. In her memory, although Andre had been retired for many years, he had always kept abreast of the latest developments in science and technology.

As far as Martha knows, Andre is concerned about the development of space technology and the potential impact of overexploitation of the space industry on Earth and humanity. He is also interested in the latest developments in artificial intelligence and bioengineering, and the potential ethical conflicts they may pose.

Martha also knew that these three areas were precisely the focus of Michael Max's attention, and that he had dabbled in them to varying degrees through his multiple companies.

“I’ve already looked into the Saturn rings and reminded Michael. His girlfriend said he listened and put the project on hold. Is that what you’re talking about?” Martha asked.

Andek blinked, a slightly surprised expression on his face, and said, "It's not about that. I received a tip that Michael's company might be carrying out a huge plan. Can you check it out for me?"

Andek then turned to Eileen and continued, “You’re also familiar with Michael, but this matter is of great importance, and I hope you can help Martha as much as possible.”

Martha and Erin were both surprised to learn that Michael Max was the world's richest man and a highly admired and sought-after tech trendsetter.

Martha asked, "Then you have to tell me what information the informant provided, what you're interested in, and what my main focus of the investigation is?"

Andre's face remained calm. The nearly centenarian gestured for Eileen to help him up. He stood up, fumbled for his slippers, and walked towards the flower stand by the wall. The old man turned around and slowly said:

“My dear Martha, I’m old and nothing really interests me except for the most earth-shattering things.”

The old man turned to the two women, took two steps back, then stopped in his tracks and said, “When I was in my forties, I had gallstones. The doctor told me that if it didn’t hurt, I didn’t need to worry about it, but if it hurt, I could have it surgically removed.”

The old man silenced their questions with a glance and continued his story: "I asked the doctor, 'If I have a stomachache, how can I tell if it's caused by gallstones?'"

Eileen finally had a chance to speak, and she quickly said, "Yes, the pain caused by gallstones is extremely severe, completely different from ordinary stomach aches."

Martha seemed to understand something and asked, "You're supposed to keep it a secret from your informant, and you can't even tell me any details of the intelligence, right?"

“Martha, you are the best investigative journalist, with extraordinary news sensitivity and judgment. If you feel it's just a normal stomachache, I have no interest in what Michael did, but when you feel excruciating pain, that's what I want you to investigate.”

Eileen hesitated, unsure if the old man was referring to Michael's Mars terraforming project, a project she herself knew very little about. A sense of foreboding washed over her.

In May 2030, Saudi Arabia...

Michael Max arrived in the Kingdom of Sands to brief his investor, Prince Harufa, on the steps and detailed plans for the Mars terraforming project. After the prince clearly expressed his intention to invest, he eagerly pulled Michael into a magnificent, palace-like room, in the center of which stood a huge model of a terraforming machine.

Saudi Arabia is a typical resource-based country, with its land covered by deserts but its underground reserves of vast amounts of oil and gold. However, oil and gold will eventually run out, and sooner or later, industrial transformation is an unavoidable problem for resource-based countries.

How can a country with abundant sand resources transform its economy? With sand covering its land and extremely scarce land resources available for agriculture and animal husbandry, what will it do after it has extracted and sold all its oil and gold?

Prince Harufa came up with a solution: developing tourism, but not just ordinary sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment. Instead, he proposed using the latest technology to build a 21st-century human marvel—a smart city cluster—in the desert.

Prince Harufa's ambitious plan is to build skyscrapers in the vast desert using advanced materials, with nano-sized special glass on the facade.

Although this type of glass is very expensive, its advantages include heat insulation and energy saving, and the reflected light and shadow are dreamlike.

The city, composed of buildings, will appear and disappear with special glass curtain walls under different angles of light. The buildings, the city, and even the entire urban cluster will meander on the sand dunes, becoming a real-life mirage.

Smart cities are no longer a novelty; intelligent transportation systems, autonomous driving, environmental protection, fire protection, security, and even local temperature and humidity control are all highlights of smart cities.

The smart city that the prince wants to build goes beyond this. To attract tourists from all over the world for leisure and sightseeing, it must have unique and eye-catching major innovations and features.

The prince's trump card is robots; all service personnel in the smart city cluster, such as those in restaurants and hotels, are intelligent robots.

“Michael, I need a lot of intelligent robots. I hope your company can provide me with lifelike, indistinguishable robots that will surprise and amaze tourists.”

“No problem. Our robotics company produces millions of them every year. I will assign a dedicated team to develop a highly biomimetic intelligent robot according to your needs,” Michael said.

Michael Max thought of his friend Masao Asaya from the Kingdom of Fusheng, who had built the first unmanned dam in human history, while Prince Harufa was going to build a cluster of smart cities without human service. He admired the prince’s imagination and investment vision.

Michael hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but say, "What attracts tourists most is novelty and interactive participation. Smart city clusters without human service are novel enough, but they seem to lack participation."

"Interactive participation? Do you have any good suggestions?" the prince pressed.

Michael, seemingly ignoring the prince's question, asked, "Have you ever played Werewolf or watched the show Westworld?"

Prince Harufa was taken aback.

Michael's suggestion is to use his company's latest consciousness uploading technology, where tourists can voluntarily choose an additional paid service to upload a portion of their consciousness to a selected intelligent robot, temporarily creating a clone of themselves.

Visitors can customize their avatar to resemble themselves, and can also freely choose and specify the avatar's gender, appearance, role, and voice tone. The avatar can participate in various set scenarios either alone or with the visitor's own friends and family.

Although consciousness uploading technology is not yet mature enough to extract all the consciousness from a person's brain, it is incredibly easy to imitate appearance, voice, and personalized habits and actions, which should be enough to satisfy tourists' curiosity.

After listening to Michael's words, Prince Harufa felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and exclaimed, "Partial consciousness upload, intelligent robot clone, role-playing—you're a genius! This isn't 'Westworld,' it's 'Back to the Future'!"

"Film and literature are, after all, just science fiction," Michael said excitedly and proudly.
"This is called silicon-based survival!"

&
The poem composed of collected verses at the end of the chapter:
Scenery and body are in harmony, Song Dynasty, Shi Mining

Fleeting glory fades with a single sleep. —Song Dynasty, Huang Shang

Quietly living amidst green peaks, a man from the mountains of Wuzhou during the Tang Dynasty.

It truly feels like a dream. — Liu Kezhuang, Song Dynasty
(End of this chapter)