bad seeds - Chapter 15
"Hasn't all that plutonium already decayed? Is it still of any use?" I asked.
“Na Duo, my old classmate, you’ve been terrible at physics and chemistry since high school, and it seems you haven’t improved at all! Those are high-purity plutonium-239, with a half-life of 24,360 years. That means it will take 24,360 years for them to decay and lose half of their total mass, let alone a mere eight thousand years! With their current mass, if they reacted in the spaceship’s fusion reactor, the energy they could produce would be equivalent to the energy produced by hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of Chernobyl nuclear power plants!”
I had a vague feeling that something was wrong:
"Then why did you bring them back?"
"Isn't our purpose in coming here to recover those plutonium?"
I suddenly felt like I'd been tricked.
The phone rang, and Liang Yingwu pressed the "speaker" button. On the other end of the line:
"The 'mother' organism is still growing, but at a rate that has slowed by 34%. Should we increase the radiation dose?"
"Increase the radiation dose at the current rate of 10%, and continue to monitor closely." Liang Yingwu hung up the phone.
“I thought our purpose in coming here was to find a way to kill the ‘Mother’!” I said, emphasizing each word.
The air inside the tent began to smell of gunpowder, and I was wide awake.
“That’s how it was originally—until I saw the ‘core’ of the ‘mother’.” Liang Yingwu walked up to me with a smile and made a gesture to “don’t make a fuss.” “But don’t get excited. There are some things you don’t understand yet, and I need to explain them to you.”
“Speak!” I said, staring into his eyes.
"We all thought radioactivity was key to inhibiting the growth of the 'mother organism,' and the laboratory results supported this. However, we've just learned something crucial: it's a living organism. This leads to a completely different conclusion. You know, the response of an organism to environmental changes is called 'irritability'—a key differentiator between living and non-living organisms. In other words, the release of radioactive elements actually caused the 'mother organism' to continuously react to changes in radioactivity, specifically by its increasing tolerance to radiation. Once it adapted to the existing radioactivity and became active, radioactive elements had to be released again to enhance its radioactivity, and this continued year after year. The prehistoric civilization only taught humanity a temporary solution, and its purpose, I deduce, was to prevent the 'mother organism' from causing irreparable damage before human civilization could control it. Ultimately, we must solve the problem ourselves. Do you really think the messengers of the prehistoric civilization would place all their hopes of defeating the 'mother organism' on an ignorant and uncivilized people?"
Ye Tong suddenly stood up and said:
"You are not allowed to slander my people!"
“I’m sorry, Miss Ye, I didn’t mean that at all. In fact, I have the utmost admiration for the selfless contributions your people have made over such a long period of time. Without them, we wouldn’t be here to solve this problem.”
“Actually, you knew all along,” I said coldly.
"Yes, I had a vague idea after we learned about the contents of your parchment and found the 'bad seed' sample on the spaceship, and it was when I saw the 'nucleus' with my own eyes that my deduction was further confirmed."
"You've been using us all along!"
"No, actually I didn't deceive you, nor did I take advantage of you. I do indeed know about the 'Matrix's' destructive power over the environment."
"I am filled with worry," he said seriously.
"Then what did you mean by what you said before?" I angrily questioned him.
“In fact, the exploration of the ‘mother’ core completely changed my mind. I believe we are fully capable of controlling its growth and making it serve us.”
I stared into his eyes as if I didn't recognize him at all: "Just a day ago, you were explaining to me how dangerous this was!"
“Yes, but now that we know exactly what ‘bad seeds’ are and how they grow, the danger has been greatly reduced, and I think it’s worth the risk!” He spoke of “bad seeds” as if he were talking about “golden seeds” with great familiarity.
“You’ve compromised with the so-called ‘mainstream ideology,’ you’ve become just like those people…” I pointed at his nose and shook my head.
“Nado, we’re old friends, we know each other well, and I hope you can understand my predicament and forgive me. I know you’re a staunch green advocate, and I had no choice but to do this.” His tone, however, contained no hint of pleading for forgiveness.
"So how do you plan to solve this problem now?"
"The most fundamental way to solve the problem is to isolate the 'mother body' from the metal and metal salts and control it."
"Are you able to do this?"
"With current technology, it's not possible, but at least it's theoretically feasible."
“You simply can’t do it! Not today, not tomorrow, not even in ten years! Unless you can completely abandon the metal equipment, the so-called ‘isolation’ is just wishful thinking! You’re playing with the Earth! Let me tell you, there’s only one fundamental way to solve this problem: kill it and wipe it off the face of the earth!” I shouted, pointing at Liang Yingwu’s nose.
He was clearly provoked, and his tone became increasingly heated:
“You know nothing! What are you? You’re just a journalist! I’m the expert in biology and nuclear physics, I don’t need you to teach me how to do it! And let me tell you, we can’t kill it, that’s impossible!”
"You're such an unimaginative and irresponsible person!"
"You say I lack imagination? Then tell me how to kill it! You come up with a plan, you great dreamer!"
"Is this a desert?" I asked.
"Are you crazy!" Liang Yingwu immediately guessed what I was about to do—a professional instinct.
"We have plenty of plutonium, and you, a PhD in nuclear physics from Stanford!"
"You're insane, Na Duo! You're completely insane!" Liang Yingwu shook his head, looking at me as if I were a complete stranger. "You want us all to be finished?!"
"Stop arguing!" Ye Tong suddenly shouted shrilly.
We stopped arguing immediately.
Liang Yingwu closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.
"No, we're all too excited. We should calm down."
"Yes, that's what I think too."
“Shall we all sit down?” Liang Yingwu moved behind the table and sat in his computer chair.
I sat heavily back down in the chair I had been sitting in.
“Let’s talk calmly and see who can convince whom,” Liang Yingwu suggested.
I gave a friendly smile and made a "please" gesture.