supercomputer

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Computers from the Future

"Oh no, my wallet!"

"My phone! My brand new Nokia!"

"Damn it, where are my brand new Nike shoes?!"

In dormitory room 207 of building 14 at Hexie University, a group of men with hoarse, shrill voices made such a cry. The sound was so mournful and plaintive that someone who didn't hear it clearly might have thought that these animals had been gang-raped by Sister Furong and Ruhua.

Several people stared at the pried-open lock on the door, tears welling up in their eyes. Anyone would feel the same way... Their things had been stolen, and on the very first day of school! What's even more unforgivable is that this was a freshman dorm room.

What could be more frustrating than losing something on your very first day of university? It's probably just as frustrating as watching a Chinese men's football match!

Several people hurriedly checked their belongings, but Chen Xu stood blankly in front of the bed, staring at the pillow as if a flower had bloomed on it...

"Third brother," Qin Xiao'an, the second brother, said with a hint of sourness, "you didn't lose a single thing?"

Chen Xu slowly turned his head, his face looking like he was about to cry: "You didn't lose it? Damn it, you only lost a pair of fake Nikes you bought for 80 yuan at a roadside stall... I lost my brand new laptop that cost 8,000 yuan!"

The commotion inside room 207 quickly attracted a crowd. Upon learning that Chen Xu had lost his laptop, worth eight thousand yuan, on his first day of school, some sympathized, some secretly gloated, and some angrily sought out the dormitory administrator. However, everyone on that floor was a freshman, inexperienced since they had just entered the university. In the end, it was only after alerting upperclassmen upstairs that everyone was persuaded to return home, and then the police were called.

"Here, have a cigarette." Sitting across from Chen Xu was a burly, dark-skinned man, a third-year student from the same college named Wang Dong. He was the one who had just dealt with the police officers who came to investigate. He expertly lit a "Huangshan" cigarette and waved it at Chen Xu.

"Damn it, you guys are really unlucky. You just got in as freshmen and you've already lost something, and such a valuable one at that." Wang Dong lit a cigarette for Chen Xu, whose hands were still trembling, blew a smoke ring, and laughed, "Never mind, this kind of thing happens a lot every year, especially at the beginning of the semester. With so many people around, remember to put your valuables in your suitcase and lock them next time. Also, don't use the locks the school gives you; go buy one at the school gate, it's only ten yuan, and it's much sturdier than the ones the school gives you."

Chen Xu didn't know how he felt right now; perhaps mostly regret. He and his roommate both had laptops, but his roommate would lock his laptop in the cabinet after each use, while he, finding it too troublesome, would just toss it on his bed. Now, well, his roommate's laptop wasn't lost, but Chen Xu's was. If they were going to lose it, they should have lost it together; at least they'd be in the same boat, right?

Eight thousand yuan is no small sum. Although his family is quite wealthy, they wouldn't let him squander eight thousand yuan so easily. If he told his family that he lost his most valuable possession on his first day of school, his mother would probably nag him to death.

"Senior, who could have done this?" The fourth brother, Dong Qingjie, gritted his teeth. His wallet was gone, but the thief was relatively ethical; he only took the money, leaving his bank cards and ID on the table. Although they didn't know the exact amount stolen, his furious expression made it seem like millions were missing…

Wang Dong laughed: "There are plenty of opportunities. Do you really want to catch the thief? The students in this building, the scammers who pretend to be parents to get into the dorms, the vendors who come to the dorms to sell things—anything is possible. Forget it, forget it. This kind of thing happens every year, but no one has ever been caught. So, we just have to accept our fate."

Seeing the still indignant looks on their faces, Wang Dong smiled. These were just freshmen, inexperienced in such matters. In their shoes, who hadn't lost something? One of the top students in their department had a record of losing two cell phones, an MP3 player, a wallet, and their school meal card in three days… they were used to it.

"Alright, I'm going back now. Don't worry about it too much. Learn from your mistakes and be more careful next time." Wang Dong walked to the door, then turned back and said, "Someone of you come up in a bit, and I'll give you some of the reference books we used before. They're useful when preparing for the exam, but they're useless after the exam. You can pass them on to the next year's students."

"Thank you, senior!" The four people in the room thanked him in unison. Wang Dong waved his hand, said "You're welcome," turned around and walked out, leaving behind only a powerful figure as tall as a black iron tower.

"Forget it, third brother, don't be upset," the eldest brother, Wu Yuan, advised. Although he had also lost his phone, Chen Xu's lost items were the most valuable. So, the thought that someone was worse off than him made this sleazy guy feel less upset.

The second brother, Qin Xiao'an, also said, "Let's go eat. Damn it, what's the big deal about losing something? Just don't let me run into that thief, or I'll kill him!"

Chen Xu rolled his eyes: "Damn, you lost the least, so of course it's easy for you to talk. Never mind, you guys go eat, I'll think about what to do, whether I should tell my family and let me have some peace and quiet."

After hearing what he said, the others fell silent. Only the eldest, Wu Yuan, patted him on the shoulder and said, "I'll bring you some food later." Then the group walked out the door.

"Damn it, this is so unlucky!" After the others left, Chen Xu punched the door, making a dull thud, which vented some of his frustration.

Should I ask my family to buy me another computer?

There's no way I'm even considering that possibility. I practically begged my way back with this laptop. My dad was worried that I was only bringing it to school to play, not to study... But that's exactly what he was after. Now that it's gone, I'm lucky if I don't get a good scolding from him. How could I possibly get it back?

"Fine, I guess I'll just have to accept my bad luck!" Chen Xu rolled his eyes as he lay on the bed, cursing the thief who had a son without an anus, and then cursing the school's poor management, saying that they let just anyone into the school!

He randomly grabbed a magazine, one that Chen Xu had bought at the train station when he arrived. It was full of random, nonsensical stuff—things like Ultraman vs. the Calabash Brothers, and aliens being George W. Bush's godfather, and so on…

Chen Xu's mind was in a mess. After all, he was just a freshman in college, and losing something so valuable had left him with trembling hands. He picked up the magazine not because he was oblivious, but because he wanted to do something to distract himself.

After quickly flipping through a few pages, Chen Xu still couldn't settle down. Just as he was about to toss the magazine aside, a line of text suddenly caught his eye: "Time tunnels and parallel universes..."

This topic is hardly novel to people today, but Chen Xu noticed this article not because of its clichéd main title, but because of its subtitle: "Cambridge Dissertation".

Cambridge, my foot! Anyone unfamiliar with the university would immediately picture that world-renowned London institution. But Chen Xu knew that these days many private schools use names like Oxford and Cambridge on their signs; for example, right next to Hefei University of Technology, there was a "Cambridge English Crash Course"...

I glanced at it casually and found that what this person was talking about was actually quite interesting. They started by mentioning the "grandmother paradox," which refers to the idea that someone could travel back in time and kill their young grandmother—is such a thing possible?

A paradox is a complex, inexplicable question, like the chicken-or-egg dilemma. Chen Xu had heard of the famous grandmother paradox; if you really delved into it, it would be an endless, recurring cycle. But Chen Xu thought the guy who came up with this paradox was just a bored kid... Why don't you go back and kill your own grandmother for fun?

"Scientists are all lunatics and mentally ill children!" Chen Xu flipped through the magazine and casually tossed it aside. But just then, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and he sat up abruptly.

This is a ridiculous idea!

A wildly imaginative idea!

Normally, even if he had this thought, he would never have acted on it, because it was too absurd, utterly absurd, even more absurd than the idea that George W. Bush and Uncle Rudy were brothers! But now, Chen Xu was so angry that he was a little dizzy, and in desperation, he actually did it…

Chen Xu found a sturdy piece of paper, then took a black pen and wrote the following line on it:

"My descendants, I am your ancestor Chen Xu. The time is now 12:07 PM Beijing time on September 1, 2006. Today, your ancestor has encountered the most tragic thing in his life... On my first day of university, my laptop, worth eight thousand yuan, was stolen. If you are my descendants, then please do something for your ancestor."

If time machines existed in your time, please send a laptop to my current time period at Room 207, Building 14, Hexie University, XX City, XX Province.

After writing this, Chen Xu carefully put the note into his wallet and kept it safe.

"Sigh, I must be a bit obsessed, otherwise how could I have come up with such an absurd idea?" Chen Xu chuckled self-deprecatingly, stood up, and planned to go out to take a leak. But just as he stood up, he suddenly heard a dull thud on his head, as if he had been hit by something hard, which made him dizzy.

"Damn it, who the hell has no sense of public decency?!" Chen Xu cursed, "They actually threw it downstairs...throw it..."

He couldn't continue cursing because he realized he was inside a room! There was nothing above his head except the ceiling!

I looked up at the ceiling, and it was completely intact. There was no sign of the ceiling collapsing. So what hit my head?

Chen Xu turned his head and saw a silver laptop lying quietly on the ground beside him...

Chapter 2: A Message from Sun Tzu

Chen Xu's first thought was, "Could it be that the thief put my laptop on top of the cabinet? And I accidentally triggered some mechanism and it fell down?"

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

He knew at first glance that the notebook on the ground was definitely not the one he had lost.

Because it's so beautiful!

Among laptops, Apple computers are undoubtedly the most beautiful and exquisite in design. The day before school started, Chen Xu saw a long-haired girl in the library elegantly using a milky-white Apple computer, and he thought it was an extremely beautiful sight.

However, this silver laptop has an indescribable elegance, and its design is more beautiful and sophisticated than that of Apple computers.

Typical silver tends to be darker, presenting a cold, metallic tone. However, the silver of this casing is elegant and refined, reflecting a soft and delicate light. The streamlined body and unique shape are unlike the rigid, square shape of most modern laptops; instead, the edges have very gentle curves, making this machine look more like a delicate work of art.

Chen Xu bent down and picked up the notebook in disbelief, only to find that it was very light, just like the weight of a watch!

it's out of the question!

It's important to know that due to the compact and stacked hardware, laptops generally weigh over five pounds. Even so-called ultra-thin laptops weigh nearly two kilograms.

This computer is ridiculously light.

Seeing a scratch on the edge of the computer, Chen Xu felt a pang of heartache. It looked like a perfect work of art had been scratched, but he knew it was caused by friction after the computer fell to the ground.

Although we don't know if this computer is from the future, seeing such a flaw on a perfect product is just as frustrating as discovering on your wedding night that your wife isn't a virgin!

But before Chen Xu could even express his frustration, he suddenly noticed a soft silver light flash across the edge of the hood. Then, the scratch automatically repaired itself, just like human skin, gradually fading until it disappeared completely!

"Good heavens, no way?!" Chen Xu may not have any particular strengths, but he has read a lot of random books. A phrase immediately flashed through his mind: "Memory-recoverable metal?!"

Damn it, they actually used this kind of contraption to make a laptop casing? Is this really a computer from the future?

Chen Xu didn't even know what kind of feeling he was experiencing. He trembled as he opened the computer case...

"Damn it, where's the keyboard?" Chen Xu shouted.

When he opened the lid, he found that the internal design of this computer was not much different from that of modern laptops. However, the problem was that while the top part was indeed a monitor, the bottom part was a mirror that shimmered with a faint light... It looked similar to a screen, but the problem was that there was no mouse or keyboard!

What kind of computer is this?

Chen Xu wanted to check if there was a USB port or where the power switch was. But when his hand accidentally touched the mirror, the screen suddenly lit up.

Unlike XP, which starts with a black screen followed by a boot screen, this system immediately displays a blue sky and white clouds when the screen lights up. Against this blue sky and white cloud background, a virtual palace-dressed beauty appears on the right side of the screen.

"Welcome to the Magic Box Generation 1 Portable Nanocomputer. Since this is your first time using it, please bind a password to protect your private information. If you are using a public computer, you do not need to enter a password, please click 'Skip'."

A password is absolutely necessary!

Chen Xu was certain his experiment had succeeded; this was definitely not something from this era. He also noticed that the mirror-like panel below was actually a touchscreen keyboard, while the mouse was still nowhere to be seen. He entered a sixteen-character password, and after he finished, a female voice prompted again: "Now proceeding with the voice recognition system. Please say any keyword; this keyword will serve as the key to unlock the system."

Any sentence? Chen Xu felt his mind was completely blank, so he could only stupidly say, "Open Sesame."

"The voice system has finished recording, but to prevent accidental voice distortion that would make it unrecognizable, please place your palm on the touch screen so we can verify your palm print."

Chen Xu felt that his sixteen-digit password had been a waste of time. He placed his palm on the touchscreen and saw a white light sweep across it like a printer, and then his palm print appeared on the screen.

"After the palm print scan is complete, you will need any two of the following to power on the device: password, palm print, or voice system.

Chen Xu thought this setup was amazing, and what was even more amazing was that after his palm print was verified, a 2-inch photo appeared on the left side of the screen. Chen Xu recognized it at a glance. Although the person in the photo was a bit older, probably in his thirties or forties, his appearance and demeanor were clearly his own!

"Name: Chen Xu. Male, born on April 6, 1987, ID number: XXXXXXX. Please confirm."

No way?

All the previous surprises paled in comparison to this one—this computer actually contained such information?

Chen Xu didn't even know how he pressed the confirm button. At that moment, the beautiful woman in palace attire on the screen disappeared, and a video appeared. In the video, there was only one person... a man who looked to be in his thirties and dressed very formally.

It looks somewhat familiar!

"Haha, is this Grandpa?" The man in the video laughed at the camera: "I am your grandson Xiao Fei. Of course, you have already passed away when I recorded this video, because the time is now 2086, and you just passed away last year... Hehe."

Looking at this heartless "grandson" on the computer screen, Chen Xu didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

However, he also received good news: he would live to 2085, which means he would live to be a full 98 years old... No wonder his grandson was so happy. For an elderly person to pass away after the age of eighty, it is considered a happy death. He almost lived to be a hundred years old, which is practically the level of an old monster!

"I found that note while sorting through your belongings. I never imagined that something you'd gone to such lengths to keep, even placing it in the most secure safe deposit box at a Swiss bank, would turn out to be just a note! I thought it was some kind of treasure map! What a disappointment. But I haven't let you down. Our company's time machine research is finally complete, and I immediately sent it back to you—a portable nanocomputer that's cutting-edge technology even in our time. Because there aren't any established regulations internationally restricting the use of time machines, I took advantage of this loophole. I'm afraid that once the news of the time machine's creation gets out tomorrow, legislation will be enacted immediately, and then no one will dare use a time machine for such things!"

"I've put everything I could into this computer. Hehe, I even put the national census system in there, so this video only popped up after confirming it was your palm print. I'm not worried about someone else taking this, but we can't just call anyone 'Grandpa,' can we? You agree, Grandpa, right?"

Chen Xu was finally certain that this kid really was his grandson, because his smug look was exactly the same as his own!

"However, Grandpa, since this is the first time the time machine has been used, according to our experts' predictions, the powerful electromagnetic collisions will cause some damage to the computer data. This video of mine is encrypted using special methods, but these methods cannot be used for all information, so there may be some data loss. But don't worry, the Magic Box Generation 1 bio-computer has a self-checking and repair function. As long as you give it some time to repair, most of the data can still be recovered."

"Alright, that's enough said. The time machine is ready. You still have a chance to explore the capabilities of the Magic Box Computer. Oh, and one last thing, a very important thing... Grandpa, I risked so much to send you this computer, entirely because of the many New Year's money you gave me when I was a child. I hope you'll continue to work hard in the future!"

At this point, the video vanished in a flash. Chen Xu, still in a daze, sat in front of the computer for a long time before slowly uttering a curse: "You little brat, I—no, I'll bury you in my New Year's money!"

Chapter 3: The Advanced Biological Computer

Even though the boss and the others might come back at any time, if you were to get a computer from the future like this at that time, could you still resist?

So Chen Xu tiptoed to close and lock the door, and then drew the curtains, making it seem like they were having an affair inside. He had already decided that once the boss and the others knocked on the door, he would immediately shove the computer under the covers, and let them guess what else was going on.