187: Chapter 187 Transportation Revolution: Anti-Gravity Home Platform
The memorandum in Wilkins' hand, marked "Key Node," still smelled of the slightly bitter scent of printer ink. Thousands of kilometers away, in the Shu Prefecture of the Dragon Kingdom, the heart of the GDA, a revolution in the truest sense of "leaving the ground" was quietly unfolding within a newly completed "Urban Three-Dimensional Transportation Integrated Test Zone."
In the center of the test zone, several streamlined vehicles shaped like enlarged, smooth pebbles were parked on a futuristic silver-white platform. They had no wheels, and their undercarriages were smooth and intact. They hovered silently about half a meter off the ground, their posture incredibly stable. Only a layer of nearly invisible, slightly light-distorting transparent ripples separated them from the ground.
Lin Mo, Elder Chen, and several core experts from the GDA Transportation and Energy Committee stood on the observation tower, looking down at the scene below.
“Begin the basic demonstration,” Lin Mo said into the communicator.
On the platform below, a tester sat inside one of the "pebbles." The vehicle slid forward silently, accelerating, turning, climbing, and hovering... the movements were as smooth as sliding on ice, yet incredibly precise. It easily bypassed simulated obstacles and even performed a graceful 360-degree rotation on the spot. Throughout the process, there was no noise or vibration from a traditional engine, only the faint hiss of disturbed air.
“Based on the reverse engineering of the brief graviton disturbances generated during the 'Ripper's' spatial jumps, combined with our own accumulation in quantum field theory and superconducting technology, we have finally mastered controllable local gravitational field modulation technology,” introduced the project's lead scientist, the young physics genius Lu Yunfan, suppressing his excitement. “We are still a hundred thousand miles away from the kind of cross-space jumping the 'Ripper' performs, but it is more than enough to counteract planetary gravity and achieve stable levitation and propulsion.”
He pointed to the inconspicuous hexagonal grids embedded in the ground below the platform: “We have laid a 'Graviton Anchoring and Guidance Network' on the ground or along specific flight paths. They emit precisely modulated field signals. The 'Field Effect Anti-Gravity Core' in the vehicle's chassis receives and responds to these signals, forming a controllable 'repulsion cushion' between the vehicle and the ground. At the same time, by adjusting the intensity and vector of the repulsion in different parts, we achieve propulsion, steering, and attitude control.”
“What about the energy?” Elder Chen asked with concern. “Maintaining an anti-gravity field must consume a lot, right?”
“On the contrary, it's much smaller than expected,” Lu Yunfan pulled up the data. “The energy consumption for maintaining static levitation is roughly equivalent to the energy consumption of an electric vehicle of the same weight maintaining low-speed travel. This is because it counteracts gravitational potential energy rather than continuously overcoming friction and air resistance. Propulsion energy consumption increases with speed, but at speeds below 200 kilometers per hour, the overall energy efficiency still far exceeds that of wheeled vehicles, especially in urban environments requiring frequent starts and stops. The energy comes from the vehicle's built-in High-Density Fusion Battery Pack. A single charge (fusion fuel replenishment) can support a normal family's daily commute for several weeks.”
“Safety?” a transportation expert followed up.
“Multiple safeguards. First is network redundancy; if any node in the guidance network fails, adjacent nodes will immediately take over. Second is the vehicle's own basic inertial levitation system; even if it completely disconnects from the guidance network, it can rely on its own energy to maintain levitation for a short time and land safely. Finally, all vehicles are mandatorily connected to the 'system' transportation management sub-AI for real-time path planning and conflict avoidance, eliminating collisions caused by human operational errors,” Lu Yunfan replied confidently. “Theoretically, as long as the network and energy are not interrupted, the accident rate of aerial traffic can be reduced to near zero.”
“Public acceptance and cost?” Lin Mo asked the most critical question.
Lu Yunfan switched the screen to show design drawings for several vehicles of different sizes and configurations. “We have planned a full range of products, from single-person commuter 'floating vehicles' to multi-purpose family 'platform vehicles,' and then to small and medium-sized freight 'Float-Load Vehicles.' The core anti-gravity modules and fusion batteries are seeing rapid cost reductions thanks to material breakthroughs and automated production lines. The GDA Livelihood Subsidy Program will cover most of the initial purchase costs, with the goal of bringing its ownership and usage costs down to a level comparable to or even lower than ordinary electric vehicles within three years.”
He paused and added: “Infrastructure—the ground guidance network—requires time and investment to lay. We will prioritize construction in newly built urban areas, major transportation arteries, and between key nodes such as the 'Golden Harvest' vertical farms and new material factories. The renovation of old urban areas will proceed gradually.”
Elder Chen looked at the vehicle below, hovering quietly as if from the future, filled with emotion: “I never expected that in my lifetime, I would see cars 'fly'... This truly liberates roads from two dimensions to three.”
“It's not just about liberating dimensions; it's about reshaping the urban ecology,” Lin Mo said with a far-reaching gaze. “Once the three-dimensional transportation network is completed, a vast amount of ground space can be released for greenery, public facilities, and pedestrian zones, greatly alleviating residential crowding and pollution. Logistics efficiency will increase exponentially. Emergency rescue and medical transfers will also gain unprecedented speed. This is not just a revolution in transportation; it's an elevation of the entire human living and activity model.”
The demonstration continued. Several "floating vehicles" took to the air simultaneously, flying in an orderly fashion along complex trajectories planned by the "system" AI over the test zone, like a flock of birds in formation. A slightly larger "platform vehicle" even demonstrated a vertical ascent, "parking" directly outside the fifth-floor balcony of a simulated building.
The people on the observation tower, even though they had known the principles for a long time, still felt their hearts stir upon witnessing this scene that seemed like magic. This was the power of technology, turning imagination into reality and bringing the future closer to their eyes.
Soon, limited pilot programs were launched in several GDA model new cities.
Wang Lei, an engineer and resident of the Shu Prefecture New District, walked to the dedicated "take-off and landing pad" below his apartment building as usual that morning and unlocked a silver-gray single-person "floating vehicle" with his ID card. After sitting in the comfortable and simple cockpit and confirming his destination via voice, the vehicle rose gracefully and silently merged into the invisible "aerial corridor" between the buildings.
There were no traffic lights, no congestion, and the vehicle glided smoothly along the optimal path. Through the wide viewing window, he looked down at the ground streets and parks that had turned into miniature models. As the morning light spilled over the brand-new buildings, a wonderful, otherworldly feeling welled up in his heart. Just a year ago, he was still worried about his two-hour daily commute and the terrible air quality. And now...
He used the half-hour saved from his commute to connect to the "Kunlun" virtual world inside the vehicle and check the latest technical data. When he arrived at the landing pad in the factory area, he felt refreshed and energized.
His wife, Li Li, used the family "platform vehicle" to take their child to a newly built earthquake-resistant elementary school constructed with "keystone-1 type" materials. The child looked out the window excitedly, pointing and shouting at another "floating vehicle" painted with cute patterns. Li Li smiled, her heart full of peace. There was no longer any need to worry about school bus safety or traffic accidents, and the school itself was so sturdy that it gave her immense peace of mind.
At noon, an unmanned "Float-Load Vehicle" precisely delivered fresh vegetables and ingredients from the "Golden Harvest" farm to a community collection point. The speed was fast, and the ingredients were extremely fresh.
In the evening, an emergency medical alarm sounded. A fast-response "platform vehicle" carrying a "Scavenger" nanobot emergency unit and medical personnel covered a distance that would traditionally take twenty minutes in just three minutes, arriving at the patient's home...
The lives of residents in the pilot cities were being redefined with unprecedented efficiency and a sense of security. The vehicles quietly shuttling through the air had become the most direct symbol of the new era.
The social model of the "system" was updated once again: in the pilot areas, indices such as "convenience of life" and "positive expectations for the future" went off the charts. Furthermore, the release of productivity and time savings brought about by improved transportation efficiency indirectly promoted local economic activity and an innovative atmosphere.
Challenges followed. Aerial traffic rules, privacy protection (vehicle flight altitudes might overlook private areas), the relationship between flight path planning and real estate value, the transition of traditional transportation workers... countless new problems required the GDA's massive social governance machine to address and balance.
But regardless, the wave of change had already risen.
Videos and experience reports about the "anti-gravity household platforms" once again flowed globally in a limited capacity through channels under GDA supervision.
In those areas under blockade and shrouded in panic, these images were like water dropped into boiling oil, provoking an even more violent reaction.
In the Pretty Country, on an encrypted section of an underground technical forum, a blurry video of a "floating vehicle" flying, obviously captured with a telephoto lens, was being shared like crazy. The title was: "They are already flying, while we are still arguing about what?"
The replies were filled with despair, anger, and uncontrollable longing.
“God... is this real?”
“Why can't we have this? Why?!”
“Those politicians and plutocrats are murdering our future!”
Wilkins' face was ashen as he looked at the forum content intercepted by the intelligence department. The appearance of the anti-gravity platform was more visually impactful and symbolic than nanobots or high-yield seeds. It no longer represented "healing" or "being full," but "freedom" and the "future"—a lifestyle that ordinary people could touch, which had once only existed in science fiction.
For a suppressed population, this temptation was lethal.
He picked up the encrypted communicator, his voice hoarse: “The priority targets for 'Plan B' need to be reassessed. That three-dimensional transportation network... if it suddenly suffers a large-scale failure, especially in a densely populated pilot city...”
He didn't need to finish; the person on the other end of the communication already understood the unspoken chilling intent.
In the sky, "floating vehicles," symbols of the future and convenience, glided silently across the skyline of the pilot cities.
Underground, the dark currents representing stubbornness and destruction were quietly changing direction, aiming their new sights at the newly risen flight paths that carried hope.