175: The emergence of remarkable "new toys" and "energy coding"

With his mind at ease and his abilities steadily recovering, Zhuoyue's innate, surging creative urge and curiosity, like wild grass nourished by spring rain, began to flourish once more.

He was no longer content with repeating the relatively simple DIY projects he had already mastered, such as making LED lights flash with sound or building a basic temperature alarm.

A new, more "advanced," even slightly "epic" idea began to brew and ferment in his imaginative little mind.

The genesis of this new idea was largely due to what he had absorbed by osmosis while spending time near Evelyn.

Although he usually couldn't understand the abstruse technical jargon Evelyn, Wang Jianguo, and the other researchers discussed, certain frequently repeated, "impressive" sounding terms—such as "Information Encoding," "Encrypted Transmission," and "Protocol"—fell like seeds into the fertile soil of his imagination.

There, they underwent a wonderful chemical reaction with his own unique ability to perceive and influence energy states.

He conceived what he believed to be a truly magnificent idea: he would build an "Energy Information Encoder"!

On his self-drawn "design blueprints"—which were full of crooked lines, abstract symbols, and exaggerated arrows—the grand plan for this device was as follows: use different colored (red, blue, green) LED lights, with varying flash frequencies (fast flash, slow flash, solid on) and combination sequences (e.g., alternating red and blue, green flashing three times then pausing), to represent different, simple "messages."

This would be paired with a buzzer capable of emitting different tones (high, medium, low) and rhythms (long buzz, short bursts, intermittent), serving as an auxiliary or independent signal channel.

These "encoded" light and sound signals would be recognized by a self-made "receiving decoder," based on a photoresistor and a miniature microphone.

The ultimate goal, according to Zhuoyue's "application plan," was primarily to more "coolly" command his beloved toy car remotely (for instance, "forward" would be a blue double-flash, and "turn left" a red triple-flash).

He also planned to develop a "secret language" to "talk" with the base's therapy dogs (such as a long, low tone meaning "dinner time," and a rapid high tone meaning "come play").

The Chaotic Workshop: The Gap Between Ideal and Reality

No sooner said than done! Zhuoyue enthusiastically plunged into his "DIY lab"—which was really just a small workbench he had occupied in the corner of his dorm.

His materials were, naturally, his "old buddies": multi-colored LEDs with leads of varying lengths, resistors whose color bands were nearly worn off, several buzzers of unknown models salvaged from old equipment, a large bundle of multi-colored wires, some already oxidized and blackened, and those "singing stones" he considered "energy enhancing artifacts."

Evelyn strictly limited the stones to "observation" from one meter away, forbidding their direct connection to any circuit.

The construction process, as always, was filled with "Zhuoyue-style" chaos and hilarious "disasters."

The Art of "Soldering" (Disaster): Disliking that the breadboard connections were "not secure enough," he whimsically brought out his "ultimate weapon"—the hot glue gun.

He attempted to use large amounts of molten, transparent polymer to "permanently" affix the LEDs and resistors into the pre-set holes on the breadboard.

The result was predictable: the glue either clogged the holes or spread out, shorting adjacent circuits.

Several LED leads were covered in glue or even bent.

The workbench was a total mess, and the air was filled with the strange smell of burning plastic.

Zhuoyue looked at his "masterpiece," his face crumpled in frustration, and he had no choice but to carefully perform "post-disaster reconstruction" using tweezers and nail clippers, all under Su Mu's helpless, wry smile and assistance.

The "Tuning" of Demonic Sound: When it came time to adjust the buzzer's tone, the disaster escalated.

He haphazardly connected resistors and capacitors in series and parallel, attempting to change the sounding frequency.

The result was not the pleasant scale he had anticipated, but a series of extremely harsh, bizarre noises—sometimes sharp like fingernails scraping a blackboard, sometimes dull like an electric drill hitting a wall, and sometimes intermittent like a dying struggle!

This "demonic sound," comparable to a psychic attack, instantly pierced the not-very-soundproof walls, causing the technical team next door, who were holding a debriefing meeting, to cover their ears and peek over.

The lab's communicator even received "tactful" complaints.

Su Mu had to intervene immediately, forcefully pulling the power plug, only then avoiding their collective expulsion.

The "Energy Fine-Tuning" Fiasco: Most laughably, while trying to precisely control the LED flashing rhythm, Zhuoyue couldn't resist the urge to show off his skills.

He felt that purely circuit-based control was "not advanced enough," so he secretly and cautiously tried to mobilize a faint thread of "resonance" energy.

He wanted to "fine-tune" the charging and discharging speed of a key capacitor, hoping to achieve his desired "perfect flash interval."

However, his fine control over current was far from that level of precision.

This external, uncontrolled energy disturbance was like dropping a boulder into a calm lake, instantly causing the entire simple circuit to lose control!

With a few soft crackling sounds and wisps of smoke, the entire row of LEDs he had painstakingly "soldered" instantly went dark—a glorious "sacrifice"!

Zhuoyue, completely oblivious, blinked his big eyes, looked at the suddenly extinguished lights, and clapped his hands triumphantly.

He turned to the rushing Evelyn and excitedly shouted, "Sister Evelyn! Look! My 'encoding' succeeded! They all went dark simultaneously according to my 'will'! This is... this is the 'sleep' command!"

Evelyn looked at the smoking, clearly overloaded and burnt-out circuit, then at Zhuoyue's innocent, "seeking praise" expression, feeling both exasperated and amused, and helplessly rubbed her forehead.

The Wisdom of Guidance: Sowing Rationality Through Play

Su Mu and Evelyn looked at the "lab," which had once again devolved into an "electronic junkyard" and a "noise generator."

They exchanged wry smiles, shaking their heads with sighs, yet there was no trace of blame in their eyes—only deep tolerance and a subtle hint of admiration.

They knew this was Zhuoyue's unique way of exploring the world, and that chaos and failure were necessary steps on the path to growth.

The important thing was protecting his enthusiasm and curiosity.

Su Mu played the role of "Logistics Chief" and "Emotional Stabilizer."

When Zhuoyue was frustrated by failure, pouting and sulking, she would timely hand him one of his favorite gummy candies and tease him in a lighthearted tone: "Oh dear, has our little inventor caused another big commotion? It's alright, failure is the mother of success! See, at least we know which kind of glue shouldn't be used on circuits, right? Come on, have some candy, recharge your energy, and try again!"

Her optimism and humor, like warm sunshine, always quickly dispelled the gloom in Zhuoyue's heart.

Evelyn, meanwhile, seized this excellent educational opportunity.

She began to subtly integrate scientific thinking into Zhuoyue's "random tinkering," like sowing seeds.

Instead of telling Zhuoyue exactly what to do, she used heuristic questions and analogies to guide him to think and discover patterns for himself.

She picked up the messy breadboard Zhuoyue had created, pointed to the burnt-out LED lights, and asked in a calm tone, "Zhuoyue, your idea of using light to transmit information is brilliant."

"But have you thought about this: if one red flash means 'happy' and two flashes mean 'hungry,' how would I know if the light is trying to signal 'happy' or 'starving' if it just flashes randomly due to a bad connection?"

"Or, how can I tell the difference between a command from you and just a circuit malfunction?"

Zhuoyue chewed his candy, blinked his eyes, and adopted a thoughtful expression.

Evelyn continued to guide him, "It's like when we speak; we can't just say words. We need grammar and rhythm, right? For example, if we say 'I—want—to—eat—' dragging out the syllables, versus saying 'I want to eat' quickly, the emphasis and urgency of the meaning are different. Your lights and sounds also need their own 'grammar' and 'rules,' and that's what we call a communication protocol."

Seeing that Zhuoyue only half-understood, she used a more vivid analogy: "It's like... like a secret signal you and the class monitor agreed upon? For instance, one blink means 'OK, no problem,' and three rapid blinks mean 'Danger, come help me!' Is that clearer now?"

Zhuoyue's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands in sudden realization, exclaiming, "Yes, yes, yes! That's it! We have to agree on it! No random blinking!"

"Exactly," Evelyn nodded approvingly, striking while the iron was hot. "So, you need to design a clear protocol for your 'encoder.' For example, stipulate that every command must begin with a 'start signal' (like all lights flashing on simultaneously) and end with an 'end signal' (like all lights turning off simultaneously). In between, use the number of red light flashes to represent different actions (1 flash for forward, 2 for left turn), use the blue light to represent speed (steady on for slow, fast blinking for fast), and use the length of the sound to represent urgency... Furthermore, the duration of each flash and the interval between them must be clearly defined, so that the 'receiver' doesn't 'misinterpret' it."

The Genesis of Order: From Chaos to Form

Under Evelyn's step-by-step and vivid guidance, Zhuoyue's 'random tinkering' finally had a semblance of 'theoretical guidance for practice.' He began clumsily trying to 'standardize' his wild ideas.

He found a gridded notebook and, like a little scientist, began to 'design' his 'light signal protocol' and 'sound protocol.' Although his 'design drawings' were still full of childlike stick figures and Pinyin annotations (for example, drawing a small car with 'Hong deng shan 2 xia -> Zou!' written next to it), he at least had a basic concept of 'start signal,' 'command zone,' and 'end signal.' He would hold a stopwatch (actually Su Mu's kitchen timer) and meticulously adjust the duration of the LED flashes, trying to keep a 'single flash' around 0.5 seconds and maintain consistent intervals between 'two flashes.' He also stopped haphazardly connecting resistors and, under Evelyn's guidance, learned to use a simplified online resistor calculator to try and match different resistors to the buzzer to achieve relatively stable and distinguishable tones.

This process was still accompanied by numerous failures. Timing inaccuracies, signal interference, and decoding errors were commonplace. His toy car often either remained motionless or spun wildly, or even occasionally reversed, after receiving a 'forward' command. When he blew his designed 'mealtime' whistle (amplified by the buzzer) at the therapy dog, 'Big Yellow,' Big Yellow usually just tilted its head in confusion, gave him a look as if he were an idiot, and then lay back down to bask in the sun.

However, it was through these repeated adjustments, failures, and readjustments that Zhuoyue's understanding of 'encoding' and 'control' quietly underwent a qualitative change. He was no longer just connecting circuits and making lights and sounds; he consciously began to think about 'how to make signals more reliable' and 'how to reduce misinterpretations.' This attempt to move from chaos to order, though nascent, was profoundly significant.

The Ecstasy of Success and New Erkenntnis

Perseverance pays off. After countless attempts, Zhuoyue's "Mark N Energy Information Encoder" (N representing his innumerable failed versions) finally achieved a groundbreaking, albeit minor, success!

He held his breath and carefully pressed the button for "forward" (a crude keyboard he made himself from bakelite and microswitches). The blue LED on the encoder followed his set protocol: all lights on for 0.3 seconds (start signal) -> blue light flashed exactly twice (0.5 seconds on, 0.2 seconds off each time) -> all lights on for another 0.3 seconds (end signal). A few meters away, the small car model, equipped with a photoresistor receiver, gave a "buzz" and, trembling but undeniably, smoothly moved forward about twenty centimeters before coming to a steady stop!

"It worked! Class Monitor! Sister Evelyn! It understood! It really understood!" Zhuoyue froze for a second, then erupted into a thunderous cheer! He leaped three feet off the ground, holding the crude encoder as if it were an Olympic gold medal, running and jumping around the lab. His face was flushed red with excitement, and his eyes sparkled with immense joy and pride! Although the car might only correctly execute three or four out of ten commands, mostly spinning in place or twitching due to 'misdecoding,' this undeniable 'success' brought him an unprecedented sense of accomplishment!

He felt that he was no longer simply and vaguely 'emitting' or 'influencing' energy, but rather using energy to 'speak' a simple, regular 'language'! He had transformed an abstract intention ('forward') into precise, repeatable physical signals (a sequence of light flashes) that were successfully understood and executed by another 'device'! This process of converting an idea into ordered information and transmitting and interacting through an energy carrier gave him a vague yet crucial new understanding of the nature and mode of operation of his own abilities. This far surpassed the previous simple level of 'making lights turn on' or 'making objects move,' touching the very edge of information transmission and control.

Future Revelation: Unintended Consequences

Evelyn, standing by, couldn't help but smile with relief as she watched Zhuoyue's ecstatic expression. But as a scientist, her thoughts had already flown much further. Zhuoyue's seemingly naive, playful 'coding' attempts had inadvertently touched upon an extremely critical concept: how consciousness (or intention) can be encoded, transmitted, and decoded through a certain carrier (energy) to achieve meaningful interaction.

"Perhaps... this is a brand new training direction..." Evelyn's heart stirred, and an idea began to sprout rapidly. If this concept of 'coding' could be scientized and systematized, designing a strict 'energy symbol set' and 'grammatical rules,' allowing Zhuoyue, through training, to use his abilities more precisely and efficiently to 'encode' and 'send' specific information, wouldn't that greatly enhance his control accuracy and efficiency? And even... in the future, would it be possible to achieve more complex information transmission beyond conventional physical boundaries? For example, some form of extremely rudimentary 'telepathy' based on 'constant ripples'? This idea thrilled her, as if she saw a brand new door slowly opening.

At this moment, Zhuoyue was completely immersed in the joy of being an 'inventor.' He hugged his 'great invention' and eagerly ran to Su Mu and Evelyn, gesticulating wildly as he 'demonstrated' and 'explained' his invented 'Zhuoyue-ese' (though no one but himself could instantly understand his self-created protocol), attempting to convey 'complex' information such as 'Class Monitor is the prettiest,' 'Sister Evelyn is the best,' and 'I want ice cream' through flashing lights and strange tones. This made the two women burst into laughter, and the lab was filled with cheerful air.

This 'coding' exploration, which began in chaos, was full of laughter, and ultimately yielded minor success, was like a stone thrown into a lake. It not only stirred ripples of understanding about his abilities in Zhuoyue's heart but also marked a new, highly potential coordinate on Evelyn's research blueprint. Play and science, childlike fun and exploration, at this moment, perfectly intertwined, illuminating a path to the future filled with infinite possibilities.