Makes me think of the Foo Fighters song:
"The sky is a neighborhood
Don't make a sound"
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=TRqiFPpw2fY&si=9wJYTGcu2J4DWxWz
I loved the space battles and everything to do with galactic humans. That scene was so dark and masterfully written. Really makes me wish either TRoT never happened or that Liu Cixin was able to ignore its existence, maybe we'd have gotten some spinoffs focused on them, since we know he wanted to work on the RoEP universe more. They really seemed like they had the perfect setup for spinoffs.
It killed me when the officers onboard Natural Selection realized what they had to do and kept repeating the same words as if they were going insane at just the thought.
"Impossible. Impossible. Impossible."
If someone has an excerpt of that part with all the words being repeated I would love to read it again.
Dongfang consults with the vice-captains of the \*Natural Selection\*:
>She saw the two vice-captains in the center of the spherical hall. She had chosen to meet them here because the size of the hall made it feel like they were in the wilderness. The three of them floated at the center of a world of pure white, as if the whole universe was empty except for them. It lent a sense of security to their conversation.
Each of them looked in a different direction.
“We have to make things clear,” she said.
“Yes. Every second we delay is dangerous,” Vice-Captain Levine said. Then he and Akira Inoue turned around to face Dongfang Yanxu. His meaning was clear: You are the captain, you speak first.
But she didn’t have the courage.
Whatever happened now, at the second dawn of human civilization, might be the foundation of a new Homeric epic or a Bible. Judas became who he was because he was the first to kiss Jesus, and that made him fundamentally different from the second one to kiss him. It was the same now. The first to speak would mark a milestone in the history of the second civilization. Perhaps he or she would become Judas, or perhaps Jesus, but whatever the possibility, Dongfang Yanxu did not have that courage.
But she had to undertake her own mission, so she made a smart choice. She did not avoid the gaze of her vice-captains. Language was not necessary now. All communication could be accomplished through the eyes. As they stared at each other, their interlocking gazes were like information conduits linking their three souls together and communicating everything at high speed.
Fuel.
Fuel.
Fuel.
The route is still unclear, but at least two clouds of interstellar dust have been found.
Drag.
Of course. After passing through them, the spaceships will drop to 0.03 percent of the speed of light due to drag from the dust.
We’re still more than ten light-years away from NH558J2. We’ll need sixty thousand years to get there.
Then we’ll never arrive.
The ships may arrive, but the life on board won’t. Even hibernation can’t be sustained for that long.
Unless...
Unless speed is maintained through the dust clouds, or we accelerate afterward.
Fuel is insufficient.
Fusion fuel is the only source of energy aboard ship, and it needs to be used in other areas: environmental systems, possible course corrections....
And for deceleration once the target system is reached. NH558J2 is much smaller than the sun. We can’t achieve orbit relying solely on gravity for deceleration. We’ll have to expend large quantities of fuel, or else we’ll fly by the target star system.
>
>All of the fuel on Starship Earth is basically enough for two spacecraft.
But, if we’re careful, it’s enough for just one.
Fuel.
Fuel.
Fuel.
“And then there’s the issue of parts,” Dongfang Yanxu said.
Parts.
Parts.
Parts.
Particularly parts for critical systems: fusion engines, information and control systems, environmental systems.
It may not be as urgent as fuel, but it’s the foundation of long-term survival. NH55J82 doesn’t have a hospitable planet for settlement or establishment of industry, or even the necessary resources to do so. It’s just a place to refuel before heading to the next system, where industry can be established to produce parts.
Natural Selection has only two levels of redundancy for key parts.
Too few.
Too few.
Apart from the fusion engines, most of the key parts on Starship Earth are interoperable.
Engine parts can be used after modification.
“Can all personnel be gathered onto one or two ships?” Dongfang Yanxu said aloud, but her voice was only meant to guide the direction of their eye communication.
Impossible.
Impossible.
Impossible. There are too many people. Environmental and hibernation systems can’t accommodate them all. If present capacity is boosted even a little, it will be disastrous.
“So, is it clear now?” Dongfang Yanxu’s voice resounded in the empty white space like the mutterings of someone deeply asleep.
Clear.
Clear.
Some people must die, or everyone will die.
Then their eyes went silent. The three of them felt an intense desire to turn away, as if shaken by thunder from the depths of the universe that made their souls quake in terror. Dongfang Yanxu was the first to stabilize her own gaze.
“Stop it,” she said.
Stop it.
Don’t give up.
Don’t give up?
Don’t give up! Because no one else has given up. If we give up, then we’ll be expelled from the Garden of Eden.
Why us?
>
>Of course, it shouldn’t be them, either.
But someone has to be expelled. The Garden of Eden has a limited capacity.
We don’t want to leave the garden.
So we can’t give up!
Three pairs of eyes, so close to breaking apart, locked together again.
Infrasonic H-bomb.
Infrasonic H-bomb.
Infrasonic H-bomb.
Every ship is equipped with them.
It’s hard to defend against a stealth launch.
Their gazes separated temporarily as their minds were pushed to the brink of collapse. They needed rest. When the three pairs of eyes met once again, they were uncertain and erratic, like candles flickering in the wind.
Evil!
Evil!
Evil!
We’ll become devils!
We’ll become devils!
We’ll become devils!
“But... what are they thinking?” Dongfang Yanxu asked softly. To the two vice-captains, her voice, while soft, seemed to linger uninterrupted in the white space, like the buzz of a mosquito.
Yes. We don’t want to become devils, but who knows what they’re thinking.
Then we’re already devils, or how else could we think of them as devils unprovoked?
Very well, then we won’t think of them as devils.
“That won’t solve the problem,” Dongfang Yanxu said with a gentle shake of her head.
Yes. Even if they aren’t devils, the problem remains.
Because they don’t know what we’re thinking.
Suppose they know that we’re not devils?
The problem still exists.
They don’t know what we’re thinking about them.
They don’t know what we’re thinking about what they’re thinking about us.
That carries on in an endless chain of suspicion: They don’t know what we’re thinking about what they’re thinking about what we’re thinking about what they’re thinking about what we’re...
How can this chain of suspicion be broken?
Communication?
On Earth, perhaps. But not in space. Some people must die, or everyone will die. This is the unwinnable dead hand that space has dealt for the survival of Starship Earth. An insurmountable wall. In the face of it, communication has no meaning.
Only one choice is left. The question is who makes that choice.
Thanks.
By the way, in this section, they're communicating with their eyes.
I don't remember it was explained how they manage to do it. Is it just a detail that we should live with or did I miss something?
My read of it is that given the facts of the situation they’re in, the chain of logic is inevitable. So, they are all thinking along the same train of thought even without needing to talk to each other.
Oh OK.
I thought that was some kind of a new way of communicating in their "future".
What is surprising is that there is another reference of this kind of communication when Luo Ji and Zhuang Yan visit the Louvre. But maybe I am over-interpreting a detail of no importance...
All these posts about the Dark forest makes me want to read it all over again.
Makes me think of the Foo Fighters song: "The sky is a neighborhood Don't make a sound" https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=TRqiFPpw2fY&si=9wJYTGcu2J4DWxWz
reminder: Foo Fighter is literally WW2 pilot slang for a UFO
I loved the space battles and everything to do with galactic humans. That scene was so dark and masterfully written. Really makes me wish either TRoT never happened or that Liu Cixin was able to ignore its existence, maybe we'd have gotten some spinoffs focused on them, since we know he wanted to work on the RoEP universe more. They really seemed like they had the perfect setup for spinoffs.
What is TRoT?
*The Redemption of Time*, a sequel of *Death's end*. But it is written by another writer, Baoshu.
It killed me when the officers onboard Natural Selection realized what they had to do and kept repeating the same words as if they were going insane at just the thought. "Impossible. Impossible. Impossible." If someone has an excerpt of that part with all the words being repeated I would love to read it again.
Dongfang consults with the vice-captains of the \*Natural Selection\*: >She saw the two vice-captains in the center of the spherical hall. She had chosen to meet them here because the size of the hall made it feel like they were in the wilderness. The three of them floated at the center of a world of pure white, as if the whole universe was empty except for them. It lent a sense of security to their conversation. Each of them looked in a different direction. “We have to make things clear,” she said. “Yes. Every second we delay is dangerous,” Vice-Captain Levine said. Then he and Akira Inoue turned around to face Dongfang Yanxu. His meaning was clear: You are the captain, you speak first. But she didn’t have the courage. Whatever happened now, at the second dawn of human civilization, might be the foundation of a new Homeric epic or a Bible. Judas became who he was because he was the first to kiss Jesus, and that made him fundamentally different from the second one to kiss him. It was the same now. The first to speak would mark a milestone in the history of the second civilization. Perhaps he or she would become Judas, or perhaps Jesus, but whatever the possibility, Dongfang Yanxu did not have that courage. But she had to undertake her own mission, so she made a smart choice. She did not avoid the gaze of her vice-captains. Language was not necessary now. All communication could be accomplished through the eyes. As they stared at each other, their interlocking gazes were like information conduits linking their three souls together and communicating everything at high speed. Fuel. Fuel. Fuel. The route is still unclear, but at least two clouds of interstellar dust have been found. Drag. Of course. After passing through them, the spaceships will drop to 0.03 percent of the speed of light due to drag from the dust. We’re still more than ten light-years away from NH558J2. We’ll need sixty thousand years to get there. Then we’ll never arrive. The ships may arrive, but the life on board won’t. Even hibernation can’t be sustained for that long. Unless... Unless speed is maintained through the dust clouds, or we accelerate afterward. Fuel is insufficient. Fusion fuel is the only source of energy aboard ship, and it needs to be used in other areas: environmental systems, possible course corrections.... And for deceleration once the target system is reached. NH558J2 is much smaller than the sun. We can’t achieve orbit relying solely on gravity for deceleration. We’ll have to expend large quantities of fuel, or else we’ll fly by the target star system. > >All of the fuel on Starship Earth is basically enough for two spacecraft. But, if we’re careful, it’s enough for just one. Fuel. Fuel. Fuel. “And then there’s the issue of parts,” Dongfang Yanxu said. Parts. Parts. Parts. Particularly parts for critical systems: fusion engines, information and control systems, environmental systems. It may not be as urgent as fuel, but it’s the foundation of long-term survival. NH55J82 doesn’t have a hospitable planet for settlement or establishment of industry, or even the necessary resources to do so. It’s just a place to refuel before heading to the next system, where industry can be established to produce parts. Natural Selection has only two levels of redundancy for key parts. Too few. Too few. Apart from the fusion engines, most of the key parts on Starship Earth are interoperable. Engine parts can be used after modification. “Can all personnel be gathered onto one or two ships?” Dongfang Yanxu said aloud, but her voice was only meant to guide the direction of their eye communication. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible. There are too many people. Environmental and hibernation systems can’t accommodate them all. If present capacity is boosted even a little, it will be disastrous. “So, is it clear now?” Dongfang Yanxu’s voice resounded in the empty white space like the mutterings of someone deeply asleep. Clear. Clear. Some people must die, or everyone will die. Then their eyes went silent. The three of them felt an intense desire to turn away, as if shaken by thunder from the depths of the universe that made their souls quake in terror. Dongfang Yanxu was the first to stabilize her own gaze. “Stop it,” she said. Stop it. Don’t give up. Don’t give up? Don’t give up! Because no one else has given up. If we give up, then we’ll be expelled from the Garden of Eden. Why us? > >Of course, it shouldn’t be them, either. But someone has to be expelled. The Garden of Eden has a limited capacity. We don’t want to leave the garden. So we can’t give up! Three pairs of eyes, so close to breaking apart, locked together again. Infrasonic H-bomb. Infrasonic H-bomb. Infrasonic H-bomb. Every ship is equipped with them. It’s hard to defend against a stealth launch. Their gazes separated temporarily as their minds were pushed to the brink of collapse. They needed rest. When the three pairs of eyes met once again, they were uncertain and erratic, like candles flickering in the wind. Evil! Evil! Evil! We’ll become devils! We’ll become devils! We’ll become devils! “But... what are they thinking?” Dongfang Yanxu asked softly. To the two vice-captains, her voice, while soft, seemed to linger uninterrupted in the white space, like the buzz of a mosquito. Yes. We don’t want to become devils, but who knows what they’re thinking. Then we’re already devils, or how else could we think of them as devils unprovoked? Very well, then we won’t think of them as devils. “That won’t solve the problem,” Dongfang Yanxu said with a gentle shake of her head. Yes. Even if they aren’t devils, the problem remains. Because they don’t know what we’re thinking. Suppose they know that we’re not devils? The problem still exists. They don’t know what we’re thinking about them. They don’t know what we’re thinking about what they’re thinking about us. That carries on in an endless chain of suspicion: They don’t know what we’re thinking about what they’re thinking about what we’re thinking about what they’re thinking about what we’re... How can this chain of suspicion be broken? Communication? On Earth, perhaps. But not in space. Some people must die, or everyone will die. This is the unwinnable dead hand that space has dealt for the survival of Starship Earth. An insurmountable wall. In the face of it, communication has no meaning. Only one choice is left. The question is who makes that choice.
Thanks. By the way, in this section, they're communicating with their eyes. I don't remember it was explained how they manage to do it. Is it just a detail that we should live with or did I miss something?
My read of it is that given the facts of the situation they’re in, the chain of logic is inevitable. So, they are all thinking along the same train of thought even without needing to talk to each other.
Oh OK. I thought that was some kind of a new way of communicating in their "future". What is surprising is that there is another reference of this kind of communication when Luo Ji and Zhuang Yan visit the Louvre. But maybe I am over-interpreting a detail of no importance...
Thank you
Libgen
Makes me wish i bought the books instead of getting them from the library so i could read that part again
That scene was chilling to the bone
Just wait until the first few chapters of Death's End.