The Three-Body Problem

“No. That’s a large particle accelerator still under construction. The plans for building a second space fleet have been scrapped. All resources are now devoted to Project Sophon.”

“Project Sophon?”

“Yes. We’ve kept this plan secret from most of you present. I now ask the science consul to give an introduction.”

“I knew about this plan, but didn’t know it had progressed so far.” The speaker was the industry consul.

The culture and education consul said, “I knew about this plan as well, but thought it was like a fairy tale.”

The science consul said, “Project Sophon, to put it simply, aims to transform a proton into a superintelligent computer.”42

“This is a science fantasy that most of us have heard about,” the agricultural consul said. “But can it be realized? I know that physicists can already manipulate nine of the eleven dimensions of the micro-scale world, but we still can’t imagine how they could stick a pair of tiny tweezers into a proton to build large-scale integrated circuits.”

“Of course that’s impossible. The etching of micro integrated circuits can only occur at the macro scale, and only on a macroscopic two-dimensional plane. Thus, we must unfold a proton into two dimensions.”

“Unfold a nine-dimensional structure into two dimensions? How big would the area be?”

“Very big, as you will see.” The science consul smiled.

*   *   *

Another sixty thousand Trisolaran hours went by. Twenty thousand Trisolaran hours after the completion of the huge particle accelerator in space, the unfolding of the proton into two dimensions was about to begin in a synchronous orbit around Trisolaris.

It was a beautiful and mild Stable Era day. The sky was particularly clear. Like the day when the fleet had set sail eighty thousand Trisolaran hours ago, the entire population of Trisolaris looked up into the sky, gazing at that giant ring. The princeps and all the consuls again came and stood under the Pendulum Monument. The pendulum had long stopped, and the weight hung still like a solid rock between the tall pillars. Looking at it, it was hard to believe that it had once moved.

The science consul gave the order to unfold into two dimensions. In space, three cubes drifted around the ring—the fusion generators that powered the accelerator. Their winglike heat sinks gradually began to glow with a dim reddish light. The crowd anxiously stared at the accelerator, but nothing seemed to happen.

A tenth of a Trisolaran hour later, the science consul held his earpiece to his ear and listened intently. Then he said, “Princeps, unfortunately, the unfolding failed. We reduced the dimensions by one too many, and the proton became one-dimensional.”

“One-dimensional? A line?”

“Yes. An infinitely thin line. Theoretically, it should be about fifteen hundred light-hours long.”

“We spent the resources intended for another space fleet,” said the military consul, “just to obtain a result like this?”

“In scientific experiments, there has to be a process during which kinks are worked out. After all, this was the very first time the unfolding has been tried.”

The crowd dispersed in disappointment, but the experiment wasn’t over. Originally, it was thought that the one-dimensional proton would stay in synchronous orbit around Trisolaris forever, but due to friction from solar winds, pieces of the string fell back into the atmosphere. Six Trisolaran hours later, everyone outside noticed the strange lights in the air, gossamer threads that flickered in and out of existence. They soon learned from the news that this was the one-dimensional proton drifting to the ground under the influence of gravity. Even though the string was infinitely thin, it produced a field that could still reflect visible light. It was the first time people had ever seen matter not made out of atoms—the silky strands were merely small portions of a proton.

“These things are so annoying.” The princeps brushed his hand against his face over and over. He and the science consul were standing on the wide steps in front of Government Center. “My face always feels itchy.”

“Princeps, the feeling is purely psychological. All the strings added together have the mass of a single proton, so it’s impossible for them to have any effect on the macroscopic world. They can’t do any harm. It’s as if they don’t exist.”

But the threads that fell from the sky grew more numerous and denser. Closer to ground, tiny sparkling lights filled the air. The sun and the stars all appeared inside silvery halos. The strings clung to those who went outside, and as they walked, they dragged the lights behind them. When people returned indoors, the lines glimmered under the lamps. As soon as they moved, the reflection from the strings revealed the patterns in the air currents they disturbed. Although the one-dimensional string could only be seen under light and couldn’t be felt, people became upset.