Deep Submergence Test Port, Control Center-Monitoring Group.
In the space outside the control center, 122 sets of antennas were pointed at the Gate of the Abyss. The transfer station and the Abyssal Communication Array were operating day and night inside the dark gate. These advanced equipment formed a seamless communication chain, continuously monitoring the 'world' under the gate at a high cost. They did not dare to miss even a second.
Today was the seventh day since the Deep Submergence Ship had completely lost contact. Just like the previous six days, there was only static coming from the antennas. There was no orderly information that could be decoded. The Gate of the Abyss was like a frenzied whirlpool, and there was no sign of life at the bottom of the whirlpool.
However, the high-ranking Angel Schilling, who was responsible for the communication and monitoring system, was still dutifully waiting in the work area of the monitoring group, focusing all her attention on the equipment in front of her. Even though there was always chaotic interference in her ears, the silver-haired, golden-eyed female angel did not dare to relax at all. Even though there was only static she had recorded in the past six days.
According to the "diving" speed of the Deep Submergence Ship and a rough calculation of the Void Model, if the Deep Submergence Ship had survived, it should have reached the other side and sent back a message. There was only one possibility for the delay: the Deep Submergence Ship had been completely destroyed, or the Deep Submergence Ship had successfully reached the other side but unfortunately fell into the wild Void without a super civilization.
The Shiring Apostles would not be disturbed by negative emotions. Even the most basic soldiers were immune to all kinds of emotional and psychological abnormalities (unless they were attacked by special existences like Soul Snatchers or Psionic Attackers). But even if their hearts were as tough as iron, the thought of the Deep Submergence Ship being completely destroyed and the possibility that all their ancestors had died in battle still made them feel sad.
"Bzzt —"
As a high-ranking researcher, the Schilling Angel was not disturbed by the annoyance in her heart. She just frowned and put the bad thoughts into another process of the core of thinking. The main process was still watching the monitoring equipment in front of her.
"Bzzt —"
There seemed to be some orderly signals coming from the monitoring equipment, but they were soon covered by the static. When she looked again, nothing could be seen. There was only a bunch of seemingly meaningless lines and random code in the historical record.
"Sizzle, sizzle —"
Just as the Schilling Angel was about to switch the monitoring channel and temporarily forget about the momentary anticipation, the brief signal appeared again. This time, it seemed more obvious than before, and the recording system showed a continuous small curve that repeated within a certain range. "Bzzt bzzt — Bzzt bzzt —" The repeated orderly signals seemed to be knocking on the core of his mind!
Signal! Order signal! This was an orderly signal from the other side!
The huge emotional impact seemed to break through the threshold of rational thinking, but this was just a momentary illusion generated by the core of thinking. The duty officer remained calm at the first moment. She did not cheer ecstatically, nor did she call for her companions or superiors when she could not determine the situation. According to protocol, she immediately connected to the mainframe on duty in the control center, uploaded the brief signal to the mainframe, and used the latter's super computing power to begin to analyze the short code. Then she adjusted one-third of the 122 sets of antennas, concentrated all of them to the frequency band that the signal had just been received, and used one-third of the monitoring power of the entire control center to track the source of the signal. Finally, it seemed that it was not enough, so she added another fifteen sets of antennas, and the signal appeared more clearly in the monitoring system.
This was not necessarily a message from the ancestors. It was very likely that it was just a call from the other side. After all, they had been doing this all the time, and this time was probably just a coincidence. Before the final facts could be confirmed, one must not make any conclusions. This was the professional quality of a technical worker. So, Angel Schilling wisely remained calm after everything was done, and only quietly waited for the mainframe to send back the decrypted message.
The wait did not last long, but it felt like a year. Accompanied by a soft system notification, the decrypted message appeared on the holographic projection in front of us. It was just a few words, and when Angel Schilling saw these words, he no longer had any doubts.
"We're still alive."
Sandora and I were woken up by an emergency call at four-thirty in the morning. My sister and Shallow Shallow were also woken up. Of course, I believed that Lin Xue must have also received this' alarm 'at her house, because I sensed a wave of irritation in our mental connection. It was the anger of a young lady who had not had enough sleep.
But soon, no one had any objections to this emergency call, because there was news from the deep submergence harbor: The ancestors are still alive!
Even with the fastest void shuttle, it would take an entire hour to travel from the capital of the Empire to the deep submergence harbor. Furthermore, we did not have to personally participate in any experiments this time. So, when we were woken up, we did not head to the deep submergence harbor. Instead, we ran to the research center of the City of Shadows, connected to the deep submergence harbor surveillance team through the data network, and asked them to transfer the signal to us.
When we rushed to the deep submergence project department, Halland and Abyss Schilling were already waiting there. Tawil's main body was adjusting a set of equipment in the middle of the hall.
When she saw us, Halland did not speak, but pointed at the holographic projection beside her.
There was only one sentence on the holographic projection: "We're still alive."
And below this sentence, there was a dense array of data and diagrams, indicating the strength of the transmission, the receiving pattern, the encoding method, and so on. There was also the location of the source of the message, as well as all kinds of data required for the reverse transmission. Although I could not fully understand it, I knew that this was the key to decrypting this short message, and it could help us contact the other side.
"That's all?" Sandora frowned and looked at Abyss Schilling. Tawil was busy operating the equipment there, so naturally, we could only let the second expert on the scene speak. "Yes.
The broadcast lasted for a total of three minutes, and the content was only this sentence. "Abyss Schilling nodded. The large box behind her had a red light swimming quickly, and there was an obvious buzzing sound coming from the box. Obviously, she was also in a high-speed state of calculation. Her main body was not here, and during the high-speed calculation, it was actually the mental network of the Abyss that was active, and the current state of this large box was the result of the massive data exchange." The actual broadcast length should be longer than this. Perhaps the interference of the discontinuous band affected the quality of the communication, so your antenna could only receive this three-minute message. And because the antenna strength is not strong enough, the message sent from here should not be able to reach the other side. We don't know if the other side has received the signal, and the broadcast could be terminated at any time. Antenna strength and discontinuous band interference … really is an unsolvable problem. "
I could not care less about Abyss Schilling's sigh. Seeing that Tawil seemed to be busy with the work on the other side, I hurriedly asked, "How is it? Can you still increase the transmission strength? What about filtering the interference? "
"The sensitivity of all the antennas has been increased to the maximum, and Bubble has also built a host array to filter the interference. The problem of receiving should be solved soon, but the antenna strength … it is difficult to continue increasing the strength of a single antenna. Our current technology is limited. Theoretically, yes. "
At this time, Shallow Shallow could not help but ask, "Then what should we do?"
"Increase the number, broadcast more, and overlap the channels to improve the quality of the communication. Although this kind of accumulation will not fundamentally increase the broadcast strength, it will greatly increase the clarity of the broadcast, so that the relay station in the critical layer of the Abyss can work at a higher power level, and the decoding of the other side will be easier," Tawil said quickly. "I have already activated the other backup communication systems of the deep submersible harbor, and the Star Sector is also trying to connect their detection stations online as soon as possible. If the broadcast is broadcast at several Abyssal Gates at the same time, there will definitely be a change. Theoretically, yes. "
"But the Protoss and the Empire's communication network is not directly connected. If we use the over-the-limit connection, we will have to go through a translation process, which in itself is a kind of loss, and reduces the coordination of the network," Abyss Schilling said. "This will affect the effect … Also, when the Protoss's detection station broadcasts, it is limited by its own structure. Its signal format is fixed, and there may be some interference with the signal broadcast out of the Empire, which will increase the workload of the relay station. Wait a moment, I have my deep submersible harbor in the Abyss. I can start the broadcast from there, and it will only take a few minutes to synchronize. "
"Using the Abyss's broadcasting station …" I was stunned for a moment, and my expression was a little strange. "I wouldn't have dared to think of it in the past."
Sandora was thinking about something else with her eyes downcast, and only then did she raise her head. "Yes, using the Abyss's broadcasting station is a good idea, and it can greatly expand the channel, but there is a problem: Isn't the Abyss's network and the Empire's network absolutely isolated? How do we synchronize it? This kind of multi-point broadcast can only be effective when it is synchronized. Although the Protoss's data network and the Empire's data network need to be translated, at least they are connected. "
My brain spasmed, and I almost wanted to say the second half of the sentence: Why can't it be mobile?
But considering that I might be bitten to death by Sandora if I said that, I didn't dare to say it.
"The isolation is to prevent me from being purified, so as long as I can avoid being purified …" Abyss Schilling glanced at me, and then shrugged. "Of course, I know that you definitely won't agree to let the Void Creatures leave the Empire's network, so there is a compromise. Isolate the data link of the deep submersible harbor from your main network, and let this part of the data link be synchronized with the Abyss's network. After sending the message, restore the network, and use the power of the Void Creatures to remove the contamination that may have seeped from the Abyss. Although the steps are a little troublesome, a Schilling mainframe with sufficient computing power can carry out this process. You only need to pay a little risk and trust: Are you willing to open your data link of the deep submersible harbor to the Abyss? "
She might have thought that Sandora would hesitate, but the latter nodded decisively. "Alright, no problem."
Noticing Abyss Schilling's surprised expression, Sandora smiled. "During this period, it has been the Abyss that has been showing their sincerity, so we can occasionally show our trust. Besides, it's just a deep submersible harbor … Even if there is a problem, with the current strength of the Empire, we can build a few more at any time, and the number of spare Gates of the Abyss is in the double digits. "
This time, Abyss Schilling didn't have any more objections. I noticed that her figure had suddenly dimmed a lot, and the big box behind her was also emitting a brighter red glow. She should be mobilizing the resources of the Abyss.
This kind of network transfer was not a physical operation, but a data operation based on the virtual environment. As long as a part of the telemetry antenna was pointed at a few specific coordinates in the Abyss, and then let the Schilling mainframe do the calculations on the network, a temporary data exchange platform could be set up. So, everything was completed very quickly: all the deep submersible harbors in the Empire and the deep submersible facilities in the Abyss were temporarily connected, and a super high-power broadcast system was formed in just ten minutes.
After the new system was set up, Tawil took a few deep breaths in a very solemn manner, as if the Shiring Apostles also needed this method to calm her emotions. Then, she put on a serious face and sent the pre-edited message through the huge multi-point broadcast system to the "bottom level" of the Gates of the Abyss. "This is the Xiling Empire. Message received, please reply."
We still didn't know how large the scale of information exchange this fragile communication channel could withstand, so we didn't rush to send images or audio, but sent a simple paragraph of text. This text was accompanied by a self-decoding "dictionary", which was prepared for some kind of translation program on the other side, if they also used such a translation program.
According to the information we received from the other side, the civilization on the other side should be able to understand this self-decoding rule. Anyway, it wasn't a bad thing to think more.
Then came a long and unbearable wait. Now that the message had been sent, all the antennas in the Empire and the Abyss would continuously broadcast the message to the other side, and all we could do was wait. Without an effective means of detection, without any reference to the "send-receipt" method, no one knew whether the message had successfully reached the destination, and no one knew how long the "communication delay" in the strange structure that separated the two sides was. Before the reply arrived, all we could do was wait.
"This is the Federation of Rings. Message received, greetings to the Xiling Empire."
A line of text suddenly appeared on the communicator. There was a special mark under the "Federation of Rings", indicating that the term wasn't a noun with a specific meaning, but a "temporary name" that was easy for both sides to understand and communicate. It was neither a transliteration nor a free translation.
The text on the communicator trembled, as if indicating that the people on the other side were equally excited when they sent the message.
Countless eras of hard work had finally ushered in the dawn … They were connected!!
"Hooray!!" Shallow Shallow was the one who couldn't control her emotions the most, and was the first to cheer. Infected by her, even a reserved person like her sister couldn't help but be elated, and soon, everyone was in a ball of joy. However, Tawil and the other experts remained calm. Although their eyes were burning, none of them let it affect their work at hand.
"Alright, alright. We'll have plenty of chances to celebrate in the future." I had to rub Qian Qian's head to calm her down. Then, I hugged the girls who were still running around while I turned to look at Tarver. "Ask about our ancestors."
Tawil revised and perfected the "dictionary" according to the message from the other side, and based on previous information as well as the information provided by Abyssal Schilling, he determined the best signal format for communication with the civilization on the other side, and sent a second message. "We are aware of the 'bridging' issue, and have lost contact with one of our research ships caught in the turbulence. Is it on your side?"
There was another period of silence after the message was sent, and it was only after three minutes that something appeared on the communicator. I looked at the time and thought to myself, There's a delay of three minutes. A small portion of that time is spent on transcoding and transcoding, and with the Abyssal environment distorting 'time', it should be compensated with technological means. What's left is probably the 'hard delay' between the two sides of the Void. How long would that be? One minute? Two? Can it be solved with technological means?
A line of words appeared on the communicator. "The ship is heavily damaged, but the core is intact. The crew is safe."
"Phew —" I breathed a sigh of relief. Although I had seen the words' we're still alive ', it was only when I received a more definite answer that my heart finally calmed down.
Following that, Tawil began to send one message after another, conveying our most pressing concerns as concisely as possible. The process of communication was maddeningly slow: there was a delay of a few minutes for every sentence!
This was unimaginable to those who were used to the convenience of the Empire's data network, and even those who were used to the crude internet on Earth would not be able to accept such tortoise-speed communication, but it was the only way to maintain communication between the 'side' and the 'other side'. We, the upper echelons of the Empire, gathered in front of the communicator, and before us were the most outstanding scientists of the Empire, using the most advanced communication equipment in the Void (and probably the same on the other side), using the most concise message coding to communicate with each other for a few minutes.
We did not dare to send too much information at one time, because according to the calculations of the signal noise, once the amount of information exceeds a certain threshold, it could possibly burn down the relay station in the critical layer. That was the only way we could communicate with the other side, and if it were to burn down, who knows when we would be able to set up another relay station, and we could not afford another 'accident'.
"It feels like a group of aliens in power armor squatting in a cave and drilling wood to start a fire," Shallow Shallow was as imaginative as ever, and the metaphor she came up with was novel and ingenious. "Our ancestors can survive on the other side, right?"
"I don't think it's a problem," I said casually as I watched Tawil struggling to communicate with the other side. "The materials on the other side and this side are not 100% incompatible, and the civilization on the other side is also a super civilization. We all have a way to deal with the black shuttle and the wreckage of the other side, so it should not be a problem for the other side to feed a few survivors."
This difficult communication lasted for a few hours, and we finally figured out what happened after we lost contact with the submersible ship.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
