171: Chapter 171 Bottlenecks and the Voice of the Future

The "translation demand" promised by the "Spirit of the Wasteland" (or rather, K) arrived sooner than expected.

Late one night three days later, Alex's personal security terminal received a small but highly encrypted data package. It didn't contain complete decryption results, but rather three highly processed "signal samples" with dangerous characteristics removed, along with an extremely brief technical explanation.

The explanation read:

"Based on the Icefield Sequence (labeled Alpha) and historical archive comparisons, three potential information samples with similar 'structural weight' but different carriers have been screened. Sample Beta: Taken from historical records of a passive sonar array in a deep-sea hydrothermal zone. Sample Gamma: A non-periodic narrowband radiation segment intercepted from a large radio telescope archive. Sample Delta: An amplification of specific frequency harmonics from the 'Energy Micro-sound' records you provided (thank you, these are of great reference value). Please apply your 'Perception Mode' to attempt to judge the potential correlation between these three and Alpha in terms of 'intent' or 'emotional undertone' (if any). No professional analysis is required, only intuitive ranking and simple descriptions. This is an informal assessment, provided solely as a non-standard reference for cross-verification."

Deep sea, radio signals, personal energy fields... K's research network and dimensions of comparison once again made Alex feel that chill and excitement of touching the edge of the unknown. The other party was clearly not satisfied with physical signal analysis and was beginning to try introducing the metaphysical factor of 'perception' as a dimension for cross-verification.

He didn't process it immediately. Instead, he first stored the data package in an absolutely offline secure environment, then handled platform affairs as usual, discussed new song arrangements with Taylor, and reviewed film cooperation proposals. He let these "samples" from the abyss and the stars slowly settle in the background of his consciousness.

It wasn't until Sunday afternoon, when Taylor went to an event for the Sound of Echoes foundation and Alex was left alone in his Malibu home, that he brewed a cup of tea, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window facing the sea, and pulled up those three samples.

He didn't put on headphones to listen to the sounds first. Instead, he closed his eyes and used only Energy Perception to "touch" the extremely faint energy "imprints" carried by these digital sample files themselves. This was a brand-new attempt; the object of perception was not a physical entity or a sound wave, but a certain "shadow" belonging to the characteristics of the original signal that might remain in the data encoding.

Sample Beta (Deep Sea) brought a heavy, slow "texture" full of high pressure and chaos, like the aftershocks of a giant beast rolling over in the viscous darkness. Sample Gamma (Radio) appeared more "sharp" and "detached," carrying a cosmic-scale coldness and an insurmountable sense of distance. Sample Delta (Himself) was, as previously described, restrained and filled with focused tension.

Then, he put on his headphones and played the processed samples that had been converted into audible frequency bands. The deep-sea sample was a continuous low-frequency roar with intermittent shrieks resembling twisting metal; the radio sample was an unsettlingly pure, single-frequency pulse ticking, its regularity revealing an inhuman precision; his own sample was that familiar, existential micro-sound.

He listened repeatedly, switching between them, while simultaneously adjusting Energy Perception to its most sensitive state. He tried to capture whether these sounds, as they vibrated in the air, caused even more subtle specific disturbances in the surrounding energy field, and to verify them against their "imprint" textures.

This was an extremely mentally taxing process. By the time he finally took off his headphones, the sun was setting outside, and the sea was a sheet of gold.

As requested, he provided his intuitive ranking and descriptions:

"Correlation Ranking: Alpha (Icefield) and Delta (Self) are the highest, both carrying a strong 'structured purpose' and a 'sense of struggling to propagate within a medium.' Next is Beta (Deep Sea), where the 'purpose' is blurred, but the 'order within chaos' texture resonates partially with Alpha. Gamma (Radio) is the most detached, almost a pure 'declaration of existence,' with the lowest correlation."

"Description: Alpha/Delta are like 'knocks trying to pass through a thick wall'; Beta is like 'scribbled marks left in a swamp'; Gamma is like 'cooled inscriptions on a monument'."

He sent this highly subjective feedback back encrypted. He didn't know how much significance this held for K's research, but the process itself gave Alex a more startling understanding of the boundaries of Energy Perception's application. He even vaguely felt that the "resolution" of his perception showed a faint sign of improvement when dealing with such unconventional "information entities."

Almost at the same time he sent the feedback, a new prompt quietly surfaced on the system interface:

[Contacted and attempted to parse multiple unconventional information carriers, expanding the dimension of perception. The passive trait 'Information Texture Discrimination' has begun to sprout (effect is weak): There is a very slight increase in the ability to distinguish 'emotional/intentional colors' of non-natural or high-information-density energy/signal residues.]

His abilities were growing in silence, their direction moving ever closer to the hidden world he was coming into contact with.

On the other side, Taylor's new song creation had hit a sweet bottleneck. The melody and arrangement were already perfect, but she always felt the lyrics couldn't fully carry the complex emotions she felt in the "Icefield Echoes"—the worry, the waiting, the understanding, and the firm connection spanning across distance. She tried several versions, but wasn't satisfied with any of them.

Alex didn't give her lyrics directly. Instead, one evening, he drove her to the end of a runway near Santa Monica Airport. This wasn't a conventional spot for watching the sunset, but they could see massive planes roaring overhead every few minutes, soaring into the sky or returning home, their landing gear lights tracing clear trajectories in the twilight.

They sat on the hood of the car watching. Alex pointed to another plane taking off and said to Taylor, "Look, it carries the stories, expectations, anxieties, and reunions of hundreds of people, diving into the clouds toward another point on the map. The noise is loud, but if you listen closely, that noise contains countless quiet whispers."

Taylor watched the plane blend into the deep blue sky, lost in thought.

"Your song," Alex continued, "isn't about 'where I am' or 'where you went.' It's about 'I know you will definitely cross that noise, coming back with your story, and I will be here, distinguishing your frequency from all the noise.'"

Taylor's eyes lit up, and she suddenly turned to look at him: "'Distinguishing your frequency from all the noise'... that's it!" She immediately pulled out her phone, opened her notes, and began recording rapidly. The bottleneck seemed to be smashed through by the roar of the planes.

On the platform, the seventh Echo Blind Box challenge was released with the theme "Sound of the Future." It required users to imagine and create a sound that might appear 50 or 100 years from now, representing future technology, life, or the environment. It could be foley, synthesizer creation, or simulated using existing objects. The submissions once again showcased the netizens' amazing imagination: the faint hum of anti-gravity vehicles, brain-computer interface notification sounds, the subtle popping of synthetic food growing, and even the data stream chanting during a "memory upload"... The community was filled with visions and jokes about the future, and the popularity remained high.

At the same time, based on the results of the "Monthly Echo Star," Echo Vision officially launched a small "Creator Incubation Program." It provided six months of funding, mentorship, and resource support for the first three high-potential ordinary users (including the older sister who created a sound portrait for her autistic younger brother) to help them productize or professionalize their personal projects. This move once again earned the reputation of being a "conscientious platform" that "truly empowers creators," pushing the brand image and user loyalty to new heights.

The box office for the movie city of instantaneity continued to soar, and the soundtrack release was put on the schedule. As expected, Zack Snyder proposed that Alex and Taylor jointly serve as the "Artistic Directors" for the soundtrack album. This included not only the track ordering and visual design but also the creation of one or two additional "Echo works" inspired by the movie but standing as independent songs to be included as special tracks. This was an excellent opportunity to deeply bind the movie's influence with their personal music brands, and Alex readily agreed.

On Saturday night, Alex and Taylor were invited to a small Hollywood industry awards dinner, where Alex received an "Annual Breakthrough Innovation Award" for his contributions to city of instantaneity. This type of award carried significant weight, but more importantly, it meant peer recognition. When accepting the award, Alex's speech was brief. He thanked the director and the team, saying, "Sound is an invisible landscape and an unwritten poem. I am honored to walk with a group of outstanding poets to paint new auditory frontiers for cinema together."

Appropriate, humble, yet full of confidence. The applause from the audience was sincere.

On the way home, Taylor was driving and suddenly said with a smile, "You say terms like 'auditory frontiers' so naturally now. It's as if you really are a king expanding his territory."

"A king needs a queen who can understand all the secret whispers and write them into songs." Alex looked at the passing lights outside the window, his tone relaxed. "That way, the territory isn't just lines on a map, but has epics to be passed down."

The corners of Taylor's mouth curled up. She didn't reply, but she reached out and squeezed his hand tightly.

Late at night, Alex received a reply from K, consisting of only four words: "Received. Consistent."

His own intuitive judgment actually "matched" the results of the other party's complex analytical model? This news left Alex in deep thought for a long time. His perception might be closer to certain hidden "realities" than he himself imagined.

He walked to his workshop, turned on that old Nagra, and put in a blank tape, but he didn't record any sound. He simply placed his hand gently on the machine, closed his eyes, and let Energy Perception slowly flow, engaging in a silent exchange with this mechanical creation that had experienced the icefield and recorded "micro-sounds." The precision metal components inside the machine, the inert magnetic fields, and the subtle wear left by time formed a quiet and complex energy landscape in his perception.

The world was noisy, secrets whispered, abilities grew in the dark, and life went on. In this multi-faceted symphony, Alex steadily held his own rhythm, like an increasingly masterful conductor who could both command grand commercial and artistic movements and listen to those faint melodies from the deep cracks of the world that only he could perceive.

The system interface showed:

· Cumulative Historical popularity: 153,500,000 points

· Available popularity: 61,630,030 points

· New Trait Sprouting: [Information Texture Discrimination (Weak)]