The Name of the Rose [Interstellar]

Qi Lian stared at his ears and side face with the gaze of appreciating the handicraft, and said, "You are very beautiful."

"Thanks. Don't be too jealous."

"Not jealous. I like it very much."

Xue Yuan has long been accustomed to others' compliments on his appearance, but hearing it from Qi Lian, who has no capital, still makes him somewhat happy.He touched Qi Lian's head: "You are also very beautiful." Qi Lian's appearance was very similar to his "father", with black hair and green eyes, and a pretty face like a girl's.

Qi Lian was encouraged by his kind attitude, and he dared to ask more questions: "They said that I am an artificial intelligence. So, am I different from you?"

"You can't say that yet, you are still a human being. There is a brain-computer interface in your brain. When my driver is written, you can use that interface to connect to the cloud computing center, which is equivalent to having a super plug-in brain. .At that time, you are an artificial intelligence."

"I don't want to be an AI. I want to be like you."

"Don't say that, you represent the direction of human evolution. You know, I have always been looking forward to the fact that human beings will finally abandon their bodies and have digital carriers, so they don't need to be bound by their bodies anymore."

Qi Lian was a little confused, and tentatively touched his arm: "Don't you like human bodies?"

"It's not that I don't like it. How should I put it? Everyone's expectations for the future come largely from regrets about the status quo. I hope that there will be no such regrets in the future. For example, our minister, his wish is that all mankind Evolve into a bald head like him.—You must not tell others about this, if our minister finds out, I will die."

Qi Lian hurriedly nodded seriously and vigorously: "I won't tell anyone."

"Very good. Now I'm going to continue working. You go to the side and stay obediently. Don't disturb me."

Qi Lian immediately fell silent, shrank to a corner and continued watching his "The Little Prince".

At noon, someone from the General Affairs Department called and asked what to have for lunch.

Xue Yuan flipped through the menu several times.Qi Lian could eat normal food now, but he was still not at ease, he didn't dare to order something too greasy, so he finally ordered two servings of light vegetable risotto.

The risotto came quickly.Xue Yuan put the portion without chili in front of Qi Lian: "Here, I don't know if it suits your taste, so let's settle for a little."

Qi Lian looked at his own, then at Xue Yuan's, and said, "I want chili too."

Xue Yuan directly dismissed it without even thinking about it: "No way. They told me that you can't eat irritating food."

"..." Qi Lian didn't dare to say anything more.Perhaps because of the opponent's aura, he had an indescribable awe towards Xue Yuan.

In the middle of the meal, Xue Yuan answered the phone.The next day, there was a media meeting that required him to attend, and the adjutant came to confirm the itinerary with him.

Xue Yuan flipped through the schedule and explained: "Tomorrow you pick me up at nine o'clock, and arrive at the multimedia hall at 09:30—damn!" He saw from the shadow on the glass that Qi Lian was stealing peppers from his bowl to eat.

Xue Yuan hung up the phone in a hurry and rushed over, pried his mouth with his fingers: "Spit it out."

Qi Lian closed her teeth tightly, like a dog who refuses to let go of a toy.

Xue Yuan didn't dare to force him, so he could only coax him with soft words: "Be good, be obedient. You see, if you eat chili, they will make trouble for me. Those people are very bad, I'm so Delicate, they beat me up with no mercy. Do you want me to be beaten by them?"

Qi Lian shook his head.

"Then spit it out obediently. Now, if you're obedient, I'll give you a gift tomorrow. ——Can I give you a bottle of perfume? You'll smell good too. Hurry up and spit it out." Xue Yuan spread his palm to his lips.Qi Lian hesitated, and spat a small piece of chili into his palm.

"Good boy."

"Is there really a gift?" Qi Lian confirmed worriedly.

Before Xue Yuan could speak, the phone rang again, and it was the adjutant again: "Sir! Something serious has happened!!"

Something big happened, although it was expected sooner or later.

The red giant sun begins to devour the inner orbiting planets.Mercury and Venus fell one after another, and then it will be the earth's turn soon.

Xue Yuan came to the monitoring room.Hundreds of people have gathered here, and the atmosphere is completely silent. Everyone is looking sadly at the image of the earth transmitted by the artificial satellite.

Official institutions in all countries on the planet have ceased to function, and people are spending their last days in various ways.Only the artificial satellites distributed in the geosynchronous orbit are still conscientiously transmitting real-time image signals to Watership at the speed of light until they are gasified one after another, working for human beings until the last second.

Human survivors of the Watership Fleet witness the last Earth transit.

The earth was wiped out before being swallowed up.The crust on the side facing the sun is completely gasified before reaching the perihelion, and the morning line advancing from east to west has become the god of death that harvests life.Wherever it went, it was like "Twilight of the Gods", the burning sky moved from the ground.The earth is like an apple being peeled. The part east of the morning line, the atmosphere, the land, the ocean, all cease to exist.

The final signal from Earth was the words of an unknown person:

"Gentlemen and ladies, I love you all. Good morning and goodbye."

There is no voice in the channel anymore, only the noise of electromagnetic waves continues.Three and ten minutes later, communication between Earth and Watership was permanently lost.

The earth has lost all its outer matter, and is like a fruit core without flesh, roasting in the flames.Eventually, the carbonized core fell apart in the sun's gravitational field, and pieces fell into the corona.

The Watership Fleet is 670 billion kilometers away from the earth, and the live image displayed in front of their eyes is actually 62 hours, 4 minutes and 47 seconds ago.However, the impact of this scene on people is still the same as it is happening.

As the Earth slides toward the fiery outer reaches of the red giant sun, many humans can't help but reach out, trying to intercept the doom's orbit.This human home planet looks so small and helpless, like a charcoal falling into a furnace.

Live video is turned off.

No one issued an order of silence for all, and the dignified atmosphere spread spontaneously among the crowd.No one knows what to say in the face of this situation.

When he returned to his residence, Xue Yuan unexpectedly saw someone waiting for him at the door.

"Ivan!"

Miss Jiao Didi at the dinner party yesterday smiled and waved to him.

Xue Yuan put on a smile specially for entertainment: "What's the matter?"

"Actually, it's nothing. I heard from you yesterday that you have collected a lot of 21st century perfumes. I happen to be a lover of antique perfumes. I want to see your collection. I wonder if I have the honor?"

If it was normal, Xue Yuan might readily accept the other party's request.Perfume is a big hobby of his, and he is happy to chat with people.He often told others that if he hadn't been a technical officer, he might have become a perfumer.

However, at this moment, there was an indescribable irritability crawling through his heart, which made him suddenly lose the interest in pretending to be false.

He tried his best to slow down his voice: "I'm so sorry, I have to work overtime tonight, I just go home to get a document, and I have to leave soon."

"That's it..." Miss Jiao Didi showed unwillingness.

In order to prove what he said, Xue Yuan entered the room and came out quickly, with an extra folder in his hand.

Seeing this, Miss Jiao Didi had nothing to do: "Then, go ahead and I'll ask you out another day."

The office area at night is deserted and deserted, which is completely different from the vibrant colors and fragrances of the living area.There is no one around, and the energy-saving lamps emit a bleak white light, reflecting the solid metal wall.

Through the glass wall, he saw Qi Lian lying on the folding bed.His body is modified, much stronger than natural humans, and more suitable for the cosmic environment.Yet under the pale light, his body looked so fragile and helpless, defenseless against everything around him.

It wasn't until Xue Yuan bent down in front of him that he was startled and opened his eyes.

"Good morning, Mr. Technician." Qi Lian sat up anxiously.No one has ever come to see him at night, and he doesn't know how to greet him at this time.

"Now I want to say good evening." Xue Yuan paused, "Also, don't say 'good morning' anymore. From today on, 'good morning' means goodbye."

"But……"

Xue Yuan didn't want to tell him that not long ago, the earth disappeared.Even if he said it, Qi Lian might not really understand what it meant.To him, Earth may be no different from thousands of other planets.

So Xue Yuan just shrugged: "The world is different every day."

Qi Lian still wanted to say something, but suddenly stopped, and looked outside.

Xue Yuan followed his gaze and saw Chi Caifan standing in the corridor staring at Qi Lian.She was looking at him, but not looking at him.Her gaze went beyond the here and now to somewhere else.

Qi Lian asked puzzledly, "Why does she keep looking at me?"

Xue Yuan sighed: "Because your 'father' is someone she used to like very much. Your appearance is very similar to him."

Qi Lian nodded his head half understanding.

Xue Yuan patted him, "If there's nothing else, I'll leave first, see you tomorrow." After taking two steps, he remembered something, "I almost forgot, I agreed to give you a gift."

Following the voice, a palm-sized black object flew towards Qi Lian.Qi Lian instinctively raised his hand to catch it. It was a delicate rectangular glass flat bottle.

Xue Yuan turned around and looked back, and blew a kiss: "Perfume, for you."

A perfume by ByKilian, just now when he entered the room to pick up the folder with an excuse, he picked it up.

He doesn't particularly like its taste, but he likes its name——

Sweet Redemption, sweet redemption.

On the way back to the living area, Xue Yuan and Chi Caifan walked into the smoking area together with a tacit understanding, and each lit a Marlboro.

There are very few people who smoke in this era, but at this moment, it seems that only a cigarette can be used to polish the emotion that is stuck in the throat.

"Do you have family on Earth?" Chi Caifan asked.

"I'm not very close to them." Xue Yuan blew out a smoke ring, "When I was 16, my parents took my younger brother back to their hometown in Moscow, and they never contacted me after that."

He snorted coldly, "Now it seems that this is simply a kind of kindness."

"Your brother, have you boarded the ship yet?"

"I tried to check the database, but I didn't see his name. But you also know that if he boarded the ship as a refugee, he might not be entered in the system."

Chi Caifan understands the thrilling truth behind the seemingly ordinary word "refugee".

When the Second World War broke out, civilians from all over the world rushed to flee, leaving countless shocking records of blood and tears in later generations.However, compared with the chaos and tragedy when the Watership fleet set sail from the earth, history is actually kind.

Due to the large size of the fleet, the overall mass is almost equivalent to that of an asteroid, which caused chaos in the gravitational field when it forcibly broke away from the earth.Continental plates loosened, and earthquakes and tsunamis swept across the globe.

The 50 billion people who were left on the earth had already suffered a devastating blow at that time.Not from the red giant sun, but from fellow humans desperate for their lives.

It can be said that everyone in the fleet now acts as a murderer who slaughtered his compatriots.

After each smoked for a while, Xue Yuan turned to look at her: "After all, you still came to see him."

"Yeah." Chi Caifan stroked the hair behind her ears, "Because I want to make sure if I've really forgotten him."

Qi Lian's "father" used to be their mutual friend, and also the object of Chi Caifan's infatuated crush at that time.

Six years ago, before the Watership Federation fleet set sail from Earth, he left this world forever.

Over the years, the link that connects Xue Yuan and Chi Caifan is this common old friend.For them, he is no longer a specific person, but a nostalgia for an old time.

The so-called forgetting a person does not mean erasing the person from your memory, but that when you recall him, there will be no more waves in your heart.

Chi Caifan said slowly: "You know, just now I stood there and looked at 'him', 'he' looked so much like him, but I looked at him for so long, and felt that I was just looking at an old friend who had been separated for a long time. That kind of feeling is gone, not at all." She lowered her eyes slightly, looking at her fingers holding the cigarette. "Actually, I discovered this a long time ago, but I still dare not confirm it. I would rather believe that I still like him. The feeling for him has always been the driving force of my life. If it is gone, what should I do?"

It's like a person who is being supported to practice riding a bicycle, suspecting that the hand supporting him behind him has actually been let go, but he doesn't have the courage to look back.Because I am afraid that once confirmed, I will suddenly be at a loss.

She continued: "Maybe I was just waiting for an opportunity to give myself a reason to let him go. I think this reason is sufficient today."

The two fell silent again, staring through the porthole in the direction where the Earth used to be.

The Italian writer Eco once wrote: "The great men of the past, the famous cities, the beautiful princesses, everything will disappear, and all the things that disappear leave us only names."

The rose of yesteryear is all that remains of its name.

From today onwards, the lost earth and the lost lover are just the eternal name in the fading memory.

The author has something to say: Hug my little angels, I’ve been waiting for a long time >3<Dears, Happy Friday~~~

This article will be updated every other day, and the next one will be on May 5nd ^ω^

Post a picture of the solar system, which has little to do with the main text. Those who are interested can just take a look at it~~

In this article, the current position of human beings is on the far right of the picture, and the Kuiper belt is a little further to the right, which is the position of the Oort Nebula.The sun has now expanded to the earth (the third asteroid from the left), and will continue to expand QωQ

☆, Domestication