321: Eat when you are hungry

Chen Hao’s figure began to gradually fade: "I’m giving you three uses. Detailed operating instructions and precautions have been sent to your main systems."

As the projection completely disappeared, the laboratory fell into silence.

Everyone was still immersed in the shock they had just experienced, until an amber “Start” button appeared on the holographic screen, pulling their thoughts back to reality.

"I can’t believe it…" Anderson’s eyes were blank. "The Chairman can already perfectly simulate reality in the digital world."

Dr. Li Shan excitedly called up the operating instructions: "Look at this technical description! The system can even directly simulate all physical processes of quark-level motion!"

“This means it can simulate almost all types of experiments. This is a revolution for scientific research!”

Xia Er took a deep breath, trying to remain calm: "Everyone, we don’t have time to stare blankly. Let’s immediately start preparing for the simulation experiment!"

The technicians quickly operated the system and launched the "simulation village" program.

A complex interface appeared on the main screen, with multiple setting options such as village size, environmental parameters, and resident attributes.

"First, set up a standard test environment," Xia Er instructed, "Generate 100 virtual residents and randomly assign personality attributes."

The system began to run, and the huge energy consumption made the laboratory lights flicker slightly.

On the holographic screen, a complete village gradually formed, and 100 virtual residents began to "live"; their behavior patterns were identical to those of real humans.

"It’s so realistic!" Dr. Zhang Ai exclaimed. "Look at the blacksmith's movements and the changes in the iron block. I don’t feel any sense of incongruity, even the effect of sweat dripping is simulated!"

“No, are the components in this drop of sweat perfectly consistent with the actual experimental results? Incredible!”

Anderson suddenly thought of a question: "Why did the Chairman only give us three uses? Although simulation results cannot completely replace actual experiments, they can save a lot of time."

Dr. Chen speculated: "There might be some special reason. Perhaps the system is not stable enough, or there are some restrictions we don't know about."

“In any case, it’s probably some problem we can’t understand.”

Although everyone was a little confused, they were quickly overwhelmed by the excitement of the experiment. They began to conduct memory modification experiments according to the original plan.

"Start the first phase of testing," Xia Er ordered, "Perform the same memory modification as the monkey experiment on all 100 virtual residents."

The team nervously watched the data changes. The results were encouraging; most virtual residents successfully withstood the memory modification, with only a few experiencing slight cognitive disorde.

"Success! The success rate of modification is 95%! Only 5% of individuals experienced mild adverse reactions!"

More in-depth testing revealed more details. The team found that adverse reactions mainly occurred in virtual residents with "paranoid," "fragile," or "ignorant" personality tags.

"Look," Dr. Li Shan pointed to the analysis chart, "25% of virtual residents with paranoid personalities developed mental disorders after memory modification. For residents with rational personalities, this probability was only 3%."

"Moreover, the severity of symptoms is also related to personality type. Residents with fragile personalities are more prone to severe self-harm tendencies."

“This means that our previous speculation can be said to be completely correct.”

These findings gave the team a deeper understanding of memory modification. They began to adjust experimental parameters and try different modification strategies.

"Start the second simulation," Xia Er decided, "This time we will try a gradual modification, carried out in phases."

The results of the second simulation were even more encouraging. After adopting the gradual method, the incidence of adverse reactions decreased from 8% to 0.5%, and the severity of symptoms was greatly reduced.

"It's amazing!" Anderson looked at the stable simulation data. "I have a premonition that the results of the real human experiments conducted later will probably not be much different from what we have now."

Just as the team was preparing for the third simulation experiment, the laboratory communicator suddenly sounded an urgent alarm.

"Dr. Xia Er!" The voice of the energy center head was panicked. "What are you doing?"

“You guys aren’t using the base’s computing center to mine that virtual currency that’s popular on Blue Star recently, are you!?”

“The fusion core’s energy reserves have dropped by 60% in ten minutes!”

The laboratory immediately erupted in an uproar.

"60%?" Anderson said in shock. "How, how is this possible?"

The technicians quickly checked the system logs, then reported with pale faces: "It’s the simulation village system. Each time this system runs, it consumes energy equivalent to the entire Hive Experimental City’s electricity consumption for a month!"

Xia Er immediately ordered: "Stop the simulation experiment immediately! Save the current data!"

After the system shut down, the alarm stopped and returned to normal, but the team was already shocked by the astonishing energy consumption.

The head of the energy center quickly sent a detailed report: "According to monitoring data, your two simulation experiments consumed 62.6% of the base's fusion core energy reserves. If a third simulation is performed, the base will not have enough energy to maintain basic operations."

Anderson smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Now I understand why the Chairman only gave us three uses..."

“If there were no restrictions, even if we couldn’t turn on the air conditioning or lights for the next month, we would definitely continue to simulate.”

"No wonder this program wasn't promoted within the company..." a researcher murmured. "This is simply an energy black hole!"

“One more use, and the entire Hive would lose power.”

After the energy crisis alarm was lifted, the laboratory fell into an awkward silence.

Xia Er looked at the shocking "62.6%" on the energy monitoring data and shook his head helplessly.

Just as the team was discussing the energy issue, the laboratory communicator rang again. This time it was the head of the security center.

"Dr. Xia Er," the security head's voice came through the loudspeaker, "A spacecraft from the Prison Tower has just arrived at the Hive. We have completed the reception procedures according to standard protocol."

The laboratory immediately fell silent, and everyone pricked up their ears.

"There are 359 'volunteers' on the spacecraft," the security head continued to report. "According to company procedures, they have passed quarantine and security checks and are now housed in special care units in Sector C."

Xia Er immediately responded: "Received. Please ensure all security protocols are in place. We will be right over."

After the communication ended, excited discussions erupted in the laboratory.

"The volunteers from the Prison Tower are here!" a young researcher said excitedly. "Great, we can verify the results of the simulation experiment!"

Anderson, however, seemed more cautious: "Although the simulation results are quite good, we can still refine them after energy resupply. Is it too hasty to start human experiments now?"

Xia Er pondered for a moment, then made a decision: "Indeed, it’s safer this way. After all, human lives are at stake, so caution is best."

"Anderson, contact the energy center and confirm the delivery time of the next batch of fusion fuel."

"It’s already confirmed," Anderson checked the latest report. "They submitted an emergency replenishment request and just received a reply. The next batch of fuel will be delivered within 1 hour."

“Alright, then we’ll do another simulation after the energy is replenished. For now, let’s go check out the situation.”

On the way to Sector C, the researchers discussed excitedly.

"359 volunteers," Dr. Li Shan calculated. "This sample size is enough for us to conduct synchronous experiments."

Dr. Zhang Ai reminded: "My opinion is to still be cautious. Although the simulation data is optimistic, actual human experiments may have unknown risks."

“Just like the red highlighted reminder in the instruction document, it’s for reference only.”

Xia Er nodded in agreement: "I agree, so we’ll start with the lowest risk. First, conduct basic physiological tests to establish baseline data, and then gradually carry out memory modification experiments."

The entire Sector C was transformed into a highly monitored experimental environment, and 359 volunteers were housed in independent care units, each equipped with the most advanced life monitoring equipment.

Of course, this was also a form of restriction.

The security head greeted them: "All volunteers have signed complete informed consent forms. According to company procedures, we have also established detailed medical records for each person."

“The data has been uploaded to the experimental center’s server.”

Xia Er looked at the volunteers inside through the observation window. Most of them appeared calm, but some seemed nervous and uneasy.

"Do they know the specific content of the experiment?" Xia Er asked.

The security head shook his head: "According to the agreement, only the general nature of the experiment and possible risks were disclosed. Specific details will be explained in detail before the experiment begins."

“Alright, I understand.”