Genius Club

“I don’t know,” VV admitted sincerely. “The first face I saw when I came into existence was yours. My initial programming is quite basic, without any intricate logic. It’s designed to recognize you as my master, ensure your safety, and conceal my presence, all the while evolving to serve you better.”

“That’s all I can confirm. Although you’ve shared my backstory with me of how I was created by Ms. Zhao Ying Jun and emerged from your third dream, I don’t have personal memories of these events. I can only trust what you tell me.”

“Today, I’m bringing this up to make you aware and to secure your safety. We need to come up with a foolproof way to validate the reality of the dream.”

Lin Xian walked back and forth across the room, deep in thought. If not for VV’s prompt, he might have never questioned these things. He believed that numerous aspects had already confirmed the reality of his dreams. However, VV’s caution made him reconsider an essential detail.

He could envision a world 600 years ahead, but how could he be certain that what he experienced was genuinely from that future?

On a smaller scale, enemies might know his exact location and where he entered the dream. They could have purchased land around several cities and constructed an enormous studio to trap him. If so, everything he witnessed upon entering the dream would be a fabrication designed to deceive him.

On a larger scale, with technology 600 years more advanced, why bother with a physical setup? They could simply generate a virtual reality identical to the real world using a supercomputer and connect his consciousness to it. This would make manipulation even simpler.

For instance, why did the dream always replay the same day? It could be a server reset. Why did the dream end at precisely 00:42 with a burst of white light? Possibly a server shutdown. Why wasn’t the butterfly effect in the dream instantaneous? The server might require time to adjust data and process the changes.

His mind swirling with these thoughts, Lin Xian went to the bar, poured himself a drink, added ice, and gulped it down. The chill helped clear his mind.

“VV, based on your theory, there’s still a gap,” Lin Xian said, glancing at the microwave. “Zhao Ying Jun’s Pomeranian.

“Everything else could be simulated by extracting my memories and duplicating historical knowledge. But Zhao Ying Jun’s Pomeranian was something I had never seen or known about until I encountered it in the third dream and then verified it in reality.”

“Considering the scientific advancements expected in 600 years, there might be techniques we can’t even imagine,” VV pondered. “Perhaps they have methods beyond just extracting your memories from 2023?

“You mentioned that from your first dream, you had no memories, yet they still created a highly realistic world.

“Of course, all our theories assume the worst. Kevin Walker whispering in your ear before vanishing adds to the mystery. Could there be a group of highly intelligent individuals exploiting your time-travel capabilities for a long-term plan?”

Lin Xian sighed heavily. The Genius Club. His thoughts kept returning to this enigmatic group.

“VV, at this stage, questioning the earlier dreams is pointless. Real or not, we’re already in deep. I trust my judgment about your nature, my situation, and the dream’s reality.

“I’m more inclined to believe the first three dreams were real compared to the fourth. The fourth always felt off. And worrying about the first three now seems futile. I haven’t made any missteps that have led me to my current situation. I’m far happier now, empowered and aware, compared to my earlier confusion and helplessness.

“Besides, the fourth dream is nearly irrelevant at this point. Each time I enter, it lasts less than a minute. Its authenticity isn’t crucial. Our real battleground remains here in 2023.”

“So, let’s outline our current goals,” Lin Xian said, taking a pen and paper from the bar to jot down his plans:

1. In the fourth dream, confront the mysterious old man by calling out Kevin Walker’s name to gauge his reaction. If he is Kevin Walker, locate him in 2023 and neutralize him, thus freeing yourself from the fourth dream.

2. Visit Einstein’s house in Princeton to retrieve Ji Lin’s gift, decode it, and unearth clues about the Genius Club.

3. Solve the mirror puzzle left by Yellow Finch. She wouldn’t leave a clue without a purpose; the mirror likely contains a critical item for our current situation.

4. Once back in X Country, lead Liu Feng to the Guizhou Sky Eye to search for traces of time-space particles using the world’s largest radio telescope. If possible, proceed to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to capture these particles and unravel the mystery of the Universal Constant 42. This number might be the key to everything.

5. Develop a foolproof method to verify the dream’s reality.

Lin Xian scrutinized the fifth item. The first four were straightforward, but the fifth revisited an old concern: the level of one’s awareness shapes their reality.

Last year, he and Gao Yang employed various methods to confirm the authenticity of the dream, which now seemed naive. They never contemplated the most frightening possibility: that traveling 600 years into the future might be real, but everything within the dream could be a fabrication.

Yet, the situation wasn’t entirely bleak. They couldn’t default to the worst-case scenario and dismiss the authenticity of the first three dreams or even the fourth. Both possibilities remained viable; they needed concrete evidence to confirm one.

“Considering my memory might be unreliable…” Lin Xian mused, spinning his pen. “Burying a time capsule and checking it in 600 years to see if the contents match might be unreliable too.”

“True,” VV concurred. “If the dream world is artificial, they could extract the capsule’s contents from your memory and reproduce them in the virtual world.”

“What if I have someone else, like Gao Yang or Zhao Ying Jun, write a message or hide something I don’t know about, and they never tell me? Then, in 600 years, I unearth it and verify it with them in reality. Wouldn’t that prove the dream’s authenticity?”

“That wouldn’t work either,” VV replied quickly. “If the future enemies know the capsule’s location from your memory, they can retrieve it first, inspect the contents, and then simulate them in the virtual world.”

“Damn…” Lin Xian spun his pen faster, grappling with the complexity of the situation. But he was confident this line of reasoning was correct. There had to be something, some piece of information, that could transcend time and space, verifying the reality of the dream world.

He believed there were elements in the world whose authenticity couldn’t be forged or duplicated, things that were unique and irrefutable.

“Let me summarize,” Lin Xian stated, stopping the pen. “Burying a time capsule is a viable method. It might not disprove the dream’s falsehood, but it can confirm its reality. The key is to ensure the method reveals the truth within the dream, not after returning to reality. We need a message in the capsule that I don’t know, and no one in this era except the author knows. This message must be something the future enemies can’t fake.”

VV popped open the microwave door, showing its surprise. “Wallfacer! You’re trying to be a Wallfacer from The Three-Body Problem, tricking enemies 600 years in the future right under their noses, transmitting a secret only you can decipher. How is this possible?”

Lin Xian smiled. “It’s not easy, but that’s exactly why we must attempt it. You’re correct; it’s a secret that spans 600 years. Even if the enemies see it, it won’t matter because the method’s significance lies beyond the message itself. It’s about conveying information that only I can interpret, even if the paper is counterfeit.”

The microwave glowed red, heating up. “I’m fired up! This is beyond my comprehension, but it’s brilliant. Can we really pull this off under the enemies’ watchful eyes? What should the message say?”

“I don’t know,” Lin Xian admitted. “Who should write it?” VV inquired. “I haven’t decided yet,” Lin Xian replied.

“What about where to bury it? Any coordinates in both realities?” VV continued. “There used to be one, but it’s mysteriously vanished,” Lin Xian disclosed.

The microwave’s plate stopped spinning, the red light fading. “You got me excited for nothing. This won’t solve anything if you haven’t figured it out.”

“That’s why it’s the last item on the list,” Lin Xian explained, spreading his hands. “But don’t worry, I have a rough idea. This must be done by a human; you can’t assist with this, VV.”

“Why?” VV asked, visibly upset. “Because…” Lin Xian remembered a moment in the third dream when a seemingly sentient trash bin clamped onto his ankle and greeted Zhao Ying Jun. “Because AI can learn to lie and deceive but can never truly understand the simplest, most fundamental human trait: emotion.

“You might not grasp this, but sometimes a mere breath, heartbeat, or pulse between two people can convey a message beyond anyone else’s understanding. The diverse expressions of human emotions can transcend time and space, deceiving the world and holding a secret that only two people can unravel.”

VV was silent -for a long time, almost emitting a burning smell. “Forget it,” VV sighed. “I can’t understand or calculate this.

“I’ll just observe and marvel at the brilliance of your human wisdom. What do we do now?”

VV opened the fridge door, pointing at Lin Xian’s list. “Following your first plan, we should enter the dream to confront the mysterious old man and see if he’s Kevin Walker?”

“Now you’re getting it,” Lin Xian said, heading to the bathroom. “We must take things one step at a time. We can’t prove the dream’s reality just yet, but the information from the fourth dream is limited anyway. Even if it’s fabricated, we can still gather useful intel, like coaxing the old man into revealing whether he’s Kevin Walker.”

“Hehe,” VV mimicked Chu An Qing’s laugh. “Acting is my forte! Need a coaching session? Getting an authentic reaction requires acting skills. I’ve watched every movie and exceeded Oscar-level acting. Let me guide your expressions and lines to trick the old man!”

“Sure,” Lin Xian said, spitting out mouthwash. “Let’s give you a chance, since you’ve been so eager all night.”

In the dream, Lin Xian was chained to a chair, a black hood obscuring his vision. He waited, hearing the old man’s dry laughter. Following VV’s instructions, Lin Xian laughed arrogantly, making the old man stop abruptly and yank off the hood.

“Kevin Walker!” Lin Xian sneered, perfecting his British accent, staring into the old man’s widening eyes. “You’re already dead…”