In the virtual Three Body world, it was the dead of night. Apart from scraps of starlight, all was immersed in an inky blackness, so that even the horizon was invisible, and the empty land and sky blended together in the dark.
“Administrator, start up a Stable Era. Can’t you see we’re holding a meeting?” shouted a voice.
The administrator’s voice seemed to come from the sky itself. “I can’t do that. The era is run randomly along the core model and can’t be set externally.”
Another voice in the darkness said, “Then increase the speed and find some stable daylight. It won’t take too long.”
The world flashed. Suns flew across the sky, and soon time returned to normal. One stable sun illuminated the world.
“Okay. I don’t know how long this will last,” the administrator said.
The sun shone in the wilderness on a group of people, some familiar faces among them: King Wen of Zhou, Newton, Von Neumann, Aristotle, Mozi, Confucius, and Einstein. Sparsely distributed, they faced Qin Shi Huang, who stood on a rock with a sword across his shoulders.
“I am not alone,” he said. “This is the core leadership of seven speaking.”
“You shouldn’t be talking about a new leadership before it’s been finalized,” someone said, and a clamor rose among the rest.
“Enough,” Qin Shi Huang said, struggling to raise the sword. “Setting aside the leadership controversy for the moment, we shall turn to more pressing matters. We all know of the launch of the Wallfacer Project, humanity’s attempt to use closed-off, private strategic thinking to resist sophon surveillance. Since the Lord’s transparent mind cannot possibly thread that labyrinth, humanity has regained its edge through this plan, and the four Wallfacers pose a threat to the Lord. In accordance with the resolution of the previous offline meeting, we must launch the Wallbreaker Project immediately.”
At those last words, silence reigned, and no one voiced any objections.
Then Qin Shi Huang said, “We will appoint a Wallbreaker for each Wallfacer. Like the Wallfacers, the Wallbreakers will be authorized to tap all of the organization’s resources, but their greatest resource will be the sophons, which will render the Wallfacers’ every action utterly exposed. The only secret will be their thoughts. The Wallbreakers’ mission, then, is to analyze the Wallfacers’ open and clandestine actions, with the help of the sophons, and decipher the true nature of their strategic aims as early as possible. The leadership will now appoint the Wallbreakers.”
Qin Shi Huang extended the sword and, as if conferring knighthood, touched it to Von Neumann’s shoulder. “You are the First Wallbreaker,” he said. “You are Frederick Tyler’s Wallbreaker.”
Von Neumann knelt down and placed his left hand to his right shoulder in a salute. “I accept the mission.”
Qin Shi Huang touched the sword to Mozi’s shoulder. “You are the Second Wallbreaker. You are Manuel Rey Diaz’s Wallbreaker.”
Mozi did not kneel, but stood straight and nodded haughtily. “I will be the first to break a wall.”
The sword touched Aristotle’s shoulder. “You are the Third Wallbreaker. You are Bill Hines’s Wallbreaker.”
Aristotle did not kneel either, but shook his robe and said thoughtfully, “Yes, I’m the only one who can break his wall.”
Qin Shi Huang returned the sword to his own shoulder and swept his gaze across the crowd. “Good. We now have Wallbreakers. You, like the Wallfacers, are the elite of the elite. The Lord be with you! Assisted by hibernation, you will start the long journey to the end of days together with the Wallfacers.”
“I don’t think hibernation is necessary,” Aristotle said. “I can complete the Wallbreaker mission before we finish our normal lifespan.”
Mozi nodded in agreement. “When I break the wall, I will face my Wallfacer in person, and I will savor how his spirit collapses in anguish and despair. Devoting the rest of my life to this is well worth it.”
The final Wallbreaker likewise stated his intent to break their Wallfacers in person. Von Neumann said, “We will unmask the last traces of every secret that humanity harbors from the sophons. This is the final thing we can do for the Lord, for afterward there will be no reason for us to exist.”
“What about Luo Ji’s Wallbreaker?” someone asked.
The question seemed to touch something in Qin Shi Huang’s mind. He planted the sword into the ground and fell deep in thought. The sun suddenly sped up its descent to the Earth, lengthening the shadows until they extended to the horizon. When it had set halfway, it abruptly changed direction and rose and fell a few times along the horizon, like the gleaming back of a whale cresting out of the black ocean, pulling the vast wilderness and the small group of people that made up this stark world back and forth between light and darkness.
“Luo Ji is his own Wallbreaker. He needs to find out what threat he poses to the Lord,” Qin Shi Huang said.
“Do we know whether or not he is a threat?” someone asked.
“I don’t know, but the Lord knows, and Evans knew. Evans taught the Lord how to keep this secret, and he’s dead. We can’t know.”
“So of all the Wallfacers, is Luo Ji the greatest threat?” someone hesitantly asked.
“We don’t know that either. Only one thing is clear,” Qin Shi Huang said, looking up at the canopy of the sky as it changed from blue to black. “Out of the four Wallfacers, he is the only one in direct contest with the Lord.”
Chang Weisi stayed silent for a long while after opening the meeting, something he had never done before. He swept his eyes across the two rows of political officers at the conference table, then looked into the infinite distance while gently tapping his pencil on the tabletop, a light tapping that seemed to mark time for his thoughts. At last, he pulled himself out of his reverie.
“Comrades, by an order announced yesterday by the Central Military Commission, I am now serving as commander of the Political Department of the Armed Forces. I accepted the appointment one week ago, but only now that we are seated together do I feel conflicted. I have suddenly realized that in front of me is the most beleaguered group of people in the space force, and now I am one of your number. I didn’t realize this before, and for this I apologize to you.” He opened the document in front of him. “This portion of the meeting will be off the record. Comrades, let us have a candid exchange of views. Let us be Trisolarans for once and open our thoughts to each other. This is crucial for our future work.”
Chang Weisi’s gaze lingered on the face of each officer for a second or two, but they remained silent. Then he stood up and paced along the table behind the row of seated officers.
“Our duty is to build in our forces the faith that we will be victorious in the future war. So, do we have that faith ourselves? Please raise your hands if you do. Remember, we are speaking our minds.”
No one raised a hand. Nearly everyone was staring at the table. But Chang Weisi noticed one man’s gaze was fixed straight ahead: Zhang Beihai.
He went on, “Do you believe that victory is possible? By possible, I mean not an accidental few tenths of a percent, but an actual, meaningful possibility.”
Zhang Beihai raised a hand. His was the only hand raised.