210: Chapter 209 The First Appearance of Smog, Hot Sauce Therapy and Model Exam Questions
Mars orbit, the "Kunlun" temporary station.
This is a ring-shaped structure pieced together from multiple expanded modules, simulating Earth's gravity internally, serving as the forward base for the engineering team and the command outpost for the "Fluorescent Project".
Outside the window, the massive red planet occupied half the view, while the other half was deep space and the slowly assembling "Jinwu" reflector skeleton.
However, starting from the seventh day of deployment, an indescribable, slowly permeating sense of listlessness began to breed among some team members.
It wasn't acute depression or panic, but more like a persistent "psychological burnout"—feeling that their once-passionate work was just "meh," having momentary doubts about whether the grand vision of Mars terraforming was "truly meaningful," preferring to stare blankly alone rather than socialize during breaks, and even when looking at real-time images of Earth, the homesickness felt like it was separated by a layer of frosted glass, becoming blurry and powerless.
"It's normal psychological fluctuation in a long-term closed environment," the team psychologist initially judged, "Strengthen group activities and psychological counseling."
But the situation was slowly worsening.
Moreover, the degree of impact seemed related to the members' roles: those engaged in repetitive data monitoring, remote maintenance of external equipment, and other tasks requiring high focus but low creativity showed symptoms earlier and more obviously.
Meanwhile, members responsible for creative design, problem-solving, or cultural activities remained relatively stable.
It wasn't until the orbital station received the latest monitoring report from the shadow vessel, as well as a warning from the Cradle headquarters regarding "Entropy Silence Whispers" (Meaning-Dilution Haze).
"It's the influence of that thing!" Captain Chen Yan (a former Deep Space Technology pilot) was immediately alert, "It really has infiltrated here! The intensity isn't high, but it's constant!"
They immediately activated the emergency response plan: strengthening in-cabin information filtering, playing screened, uplifting music and videos (including funny highlights from the Potato Guild design competition), and organizing mandatory collective movie viewings and discussion sessions.
It had some effect, but that inexplicable sense of burnout was like damp air, difficult to completely dispel.
At the Cradle, a psychological defense project team was urgently established, led by Chu Yunshen, with Zhou Zhe, β-2, and Great Strength as core members.
"According to the relic model warnings and hive signal analysis, this haze targets tendencies toward 'existential emptiness' and 'diluted sense of meaning'." Chu Yunshen chaired the meeting, "It doesn't directly input negative emotions, but lowers our own ability to generate and maintain a sense of positive meaning, amplifying the inner tendency toward nihilism. Conventional psychological incentive methods will have diminished effects."
"So we need more 'hardcore' sensory and emotional impact to forcibly activate the suppressed 'meaning anchors'." Zhou Zhe said. His Poem Markings could clearly perceive that pervasive, grayish tone that made emotional colors "fade", "The unexpected effect of 'Truth Chili Sauce' might just be the key. Its intense triggering mode, based on personal memory and sense of existence, might perhaps 'burn through' this layer of haze temporarily."
Great Strength was already producing that pot of "accidental product" on a small scale, but the process was uncontrollable, and the yield was extremely low.
"We analyzed all the variables of that pot of chili sauce," β-2 displayed the data stream, "The generation of its active ingredients is an accidental coupling at the quantum level of various factors: abnormal fluctuations in the emotional poetics equipment, specific capsaicin molecule configurations, the temperature curve during boiling, and... Great Strength's immediate emotional state (according to monitoring records, he was a bit irritable because the 'wok hei' simulation wasn't ideal). The probability of complete reproduction is lower than 0.03%."
"Then don't reproduce it completely," Lin Shen's voice joined the meeting, "Find the core triggering principle and use controllable technology to simulate its effect. We need a mass-producible, stably effective... 'meaning activator'."
"It could be food, or other forms." Zhou Zhe added, "Music, images, interactive experiences... anything that can strongly and personally awaken deep positive memories and emotional connections. We need to build a 'positive sensory stimulation library' and study how to precisely deliver it to different individuals."
"This isn't just defense," Chu Yunshen was thoughtful, "It's also an active mapping and strengthening of our own civilization's 'meaning anchor network'. The observer might also be watching how we deal with this 'open-book exam'."
Mars ruins, inside the hall.
After initial communication, the "Chixiao" robot attempted more interaction.
When it sent the data about the engineering team encountering the "meaning-dilution haze" and the outline of the Cradle's plan to develop a "meaning activator" to the central model, the model reacted again.
In the area representing the Solar System, several slender, soft, pale green rays extended, connecting to several different civilization nodes within the model that were emitting tranquil or active light.
At the same time, a new information stream arrived:
[Response plan direction for 'Entropy Silence Whispers' confirmed. Consistent with 'meaning network reinforcement' logic.]
[Local observatory additional protocol activated: Providing 'Civilization Resilience Stress Test Module (Primary)'.]
[Test content: Based on the current threat, simulate the construction of a small, manageable 'meaning maintenance scenario'. Please use local resources (including but not limited to existing γ-919 technology, cultural heritage elements, individual traits) to maintain the 'sense of meaning level' of at least one hundred simulated individuals above the critical threshold in the simulated environment for ten simulation cycles.]
[Resource support: Can invoke some environmental parameter control functions of this hall to simulate varying degrees of external 'dilution pressure'.]
[Test purpose: To evaluate γ-919's ability to organize collaboration under pressure, innovatively apply non-traditional resources, and maintain group psychological homeostasis. Test data will be included in observation records.]
[Accept the test?]
This was no longer just a warning, but a direct "simulation exam question"!
The observer didn't just want to see how we planned, but also how we actually did it!
Accepting the test meant being able to understand the observer's evaluation methods more deeply, and perhaps even obtaining some form of "recognition" or further interaction opportunities.
But it also meant risks: the test could fail, exposing flaws in our response capabilities; the testing process could consume already strained resources; and it was even unknown whether the test itself was completely harmless.
After urgent consultation with the Mars orbit and Cradle teams, Lin Shen made the decision.
"Accept the test." Lin Shen replied, "But request clear test boundaries to ensure it does not affect actual Mars terraforming projects and personnel safety."
[Boundary confirmed: The test is a pure consciousness simulation layer operation, invoking local observatory redundant computing power and environmental simulation functions, without interfering with real physical processes. Test accepted. Preparing to start.] The model's response was concise and clear.
The "Chixiao" robot was guided to the side of the hall, where an interface similar to a console rose up.
The test was about to begin.
The shadow vessel, at this moment, was risking approaching the "Hive" to a limit stealth distance of less than one thousand kilometers.
Such close observation brought more astonishing and terrifying discoveries.
The surface of the dark, translucent hive-like structure was not completely smooth.
At certain angles, one could see countless tiny, cell-like chamber structures slowly squirming and rearranging inside.
Some chambers would occasionally "spit out" extremely faint "bubbles" wrapped in dark red particles.
These bubbles drifted away and merged into the surrounding space; they were the carriers of the captured "meaning-dilution haze".
And deeper inside, Ashes, using the Executive Court's advanced detection technology, captured a fleeting image: in the core area of the hive, there seemed to be some... solidified, fossil-like biological or mechanical outlines embedded in the structure.
They exuded a residual consciousness that was completely silent, without any ripples.
"It is 'digesting' or 'integrating' captured objects..." Ashes' voice carried a hint of chill, "Those outlines... some features have similarities with recorded, long-extinct civilization ruins. This 'hive' might not only be creating haze, but also... absorbing and assimilating the... final remains of those civilizations whose meaning it has completely 'diluted'? As nutrients for its own growth or maintenance?"
This speculation made everyone's hair stand on end.
The goal of the Withered faction might not just be destruction, but after "nihilizing" a civilization, taking its remnants as part of this bizarre existence itself!
Just then, the "Hive" seemed to detect the overly close peeking.
A section of the structure suddenly accelerated its squirming, and dozens of "chambers" turned toward the direction of the shadow vessel simultaneously.
Although it did not emit any offensive energy, a consciousness fluctuation that was dozens of times stronger, with clear "repulsion" and "scrutiny," surged over like a tangible tide!
"Discovered! Retreat! Immediately maximize consciousness defense!" Zhao Yan ordered urgently.
The shadow vessel's engine roared silently to the limit, quickly breaking away.
That cold "scrutiny" that almost brought their minds to a standstill followed them like a maggot on a tarsal bone, until they jumped into the pre-set emergency short-range jump point and shook it off.
The Hive was not ignorant or unaware.
It possessed powerful countermeasures against observers who got too close.
Cradle cafeteria, R&D corner.
Great Strength temporarily put down his obsession with replicating "Truth Chili Sauce" and, following the suggestions of β-2 and Zhou Zhe, began trying to make "personalized meaning trigger prototypes."
He used the basic functions of the emotional poetics equipment, combined with deep memory keywords voluntarily provided by members (such as "the scent of locust flowers behind the childhood old house," "the sense of achievement from completing a project independently for the first time," "a warm moment with family"), to try to modulate "custom flavors" that could weakly trigger related emotional resonance.
Although the effect was far inferior to that pot of "miracle chili sauce," some researchers participating in the test who were feeling slight "meaning dilution" reported that after tasting the corresponding "memory flavor," that inexplicable sense of burnout was alleviated, and the related positive memories became a little clearer.
"We may have found a scalable direction," β-2 recorded the data, "Not to create a universal 'happy potion,' but to provide a 'key' or 'signpost' to an individual's 'meaning storage room.' Combined with conventional psychological support and cultural activities, we can form a multi-layered defense."
After the Potato Guild learned of this, Potato Chief sent suggestions through official channels: "Based on our experience of 'collective wavelength sharing' during photosynthesis, it is recommended that while providing personalized 'keys,' we also develop some 'shared meaning field' experiences that can promote small-scale group resonance. For example, design corresponding group interaction segments based on the immediate sense of achievement from jointly completing a small challenge (such as working together to solve an ancient intelligence toy)."
This suggestion was quickly adopted.
For a time, many small, voluntary "puzzle-solving corners," "collaborative creation walls," and "one-minute sharing sessions" appeared within the Mars orbital station and the Cradle.
The content ranged from restoring retro video game levels to collaboratively collaging a future landscape painting of Mars.
These small, spontaneous "meaning creation" activities, like flickering sparks, were stubbornly shining in the gradually permeating gray haze.
Stardust's light cluster often appeared quietly near these "sparks," observing silently.
Occasionally, a strand of extremely gentle, "approving" emotional fluctuation would gently brush over.
The Mars test was about to begin, the Deep Space hive was baring its fangs, while humanity was using the scent of locust flowers in memories, the collaborative victory in games, and even a spoonful of unfinished custom flavor to build a defense that seemed fragile but was full of resilience.
The observer's model waited quietly for the result, while the shadows of the universe continued to spread in silence.