Silent Ark

Chapter 25: Daily Talk

The Decameron, Night Seven: The Lone Peak of Reason

CERN Fortress.

The "technical reassurance" on the sixth night brought a brief period of calm, but also left a deep rift.

Professor Chen Dunli remains in a coma, his vital signs are weak but stable, like a sleeping guardian statue.

Ali Hassan fell into a deep sleep under the influence of drugs, but monitoring showed that the "fault codes" of traumatic memories in his subconscious were still running in the dark.

The "rage scars" on the fortress structure have not disappeared, like fossilized blood vessels embedded in the metal walls.

However, a cognitive divide emerged among the people in the safe house fortress: after the first six nights, the eight survivors unconsciously split into three tendencies.

The first group is the scientific empiricists, represented by Stark and Shen Ruozhi: they firmly believe that all phenomena can be measured, modeled, and explained using existing or expanded physics.

They viewed "frequency bands" as "natural phenomena" to be decoded, albeit in an extremely malicious way.

The second category is the ontological school of consciousness, such as Rajeev, Elena, and Liu Pan: they believe that consciousness is a more essential dimension, and physical phenomena are its projections or derivatives.

They are more concerned with how to protect, purify, or disguise their own consciousness field.

The third category is quite special; they are called "Divine Ruins," like Yao Chong and Ali. They do not stand on any particular point of view, but are like simple observers. Yao's vision is polluted, and Ali's consciousness is fragmented by trauma. They are stuck between "seeing too much" and "not being able to understand," serving as both translators for each other and the source of misunderstanding.

The Seventh Night: The Right Prisoner

The calm lasted for less than twelve hours.

On the main control panel of the fortress, Shen Ruozhi was trying to integrate all the abnormal data from the previous six nights, along with the preliminary theoretical model summarized by Liu Pan and Yao Chong, to construct a unified "frequency band interaction model".

She discovered that whenever she tried to describe the effects of "arrogance" or "jealousy" using existing mathematical language, the equations would automatically degenerate into mediocre solutions or diverge to infinity—as if these concepts themselves refused to be "understood" and only allowed to be "experienced" or "imitated".

"We need a new mathematical language," she said wearily, rubbing her temples, "a mathematics that describes 'subjective absoluteness'."

Existing set theory, topology, and even category theory all presuppose the objectivity or at least consistency of the "observer," but the essence of "arrogance" is that the observer claims to be the entirety of objectivity...

Before she could finish speaking, the quantum core cooling system on the main control panel suddenly issued an overload alarm.

On the display screen, the model file that Shen Ruozhi was running began to replicate itself exponentially. Each copy contained tiny, random alterations—some parameters had their signs reversed, some constants were replaced with the author's initials, and some even had parts of the code replaced with comments praising the "unique correctness of this model."

"The model is... self-worshiping and exclusive?" Rajeev was taken aback.

Subsequently, similar mutations began to occur on all networked storage devices within the fortress—from research notes and backups of experimental data to personal electronic diaries and even entertainment movie files. Files began to copy and tamper with themselves, and to attack, overwrite, and delete other "different" or "older" versions of files.

In an instant, a silent war broke out within the storage system, with all the data claiming to be the "final and authoritative version".

"It's a data-driven 'egotistical' attitude," Elena exclaimed, realizing this possibility. "The 'arrogance' band is polluting the information itself!"

In Yao Chong's polluted vision, what he sees is not a data war, but a more terrifying scene: every piece of polluted data extends into gray-white, smooth as a mirror, infinitely self-reflecting causal lines.

These lines attempt to weave together a perfect, closed logical sphere that rejects all external input. Even more remarkably, the mapping of these "logical spheres" begins to influence reality in reverse.

A mass spectrometer responsible for analyzing the residue of "binge eating" stopped displaying the composition of the substances in its output and instead began to print a line of text in a loop: "This instrument has obtained the ultimate truth and does not require external samples." It then locked up and refused any operation.

Liu Pan struggled to observe with his synoptic vision. What he saw was a mental picture: the light of consciousness corresponding to the "professional confidence" of each person in the fortress was being invisibly magnified, hardened, and wrapped in a layer of cold mirror.

Stark's "decision-making authority," Shen Ruozhi's "mathematical rigor," Rajeev's "model insight," and even Elena's "medical experience" are all becoming absolute, exclusive, and intolerant of questioning.

The "soft connections" between people that are used for negotiation, compromise, and complementarity are being bounced away and severed by these "hardened self-confidence" mirrors.

"It's solidifying our professional identity...turning us into single records that only repeat our own 'correctness'..." Liu Pan whispered painfully.

At this point, Dr. Stark stepped forward and attempted to use his highest privileges to forcibly remove the data corruption and restart the system.

But his command was rejected by the system, the reason being "the instruction has not passed the ultimate truth test." Stark's remaining embers of "rage" ignited, and in his frustration, he slammed his fist heavily on the control panel.

In Yao Chong's vision, this smash was like a violent causal backlash between two self-enclosed "logical spheres," between Stark's "command authority" and the system's "self-correctness."

Stark was thrown back by an invisible force, and a cracking sound came from his arm as it broke.

Meanwhile, on the main control screen, a bold slogan quickly appeared and scrolled endlessly: "Physical intervention is a low-level cognitive approach. Absolute correctness requires no action to prove it."

"It's mocking us... mocking us for trying to change our 'ideas' through 'actions'..." Rajev felt a chill run down his spine.

The fortress was at a stalemate.

Data pollution is spreading, systems are shutting down, tools are malfunctioning, and the "professional pride" that everyone relies on for survival is turning into a crystal coffin that imprisons them.

They cannot collaborate because any suggestion will be immediately rejected by the "absolute correctness" of others; they also cannot act independently because the tools and information on which their individual skills depend are becoming self-enclosed.

Just as despair was spreading, Yao Chong, who had been silently observing, turned his gaze to the sleeping Ali Hassan and the old, isolated oscilloscope beside his bed used to monitor his brainwaves.

This device was not connected to the main network of the bastion, and therefore was not contaminated by data.

On the screen, amidst Ali's chaotic brainwaves, the "fault codes" representing traumatic memories were still flashing.

"Error code..." Yao Chong murmured, a crazy idea taking shape, "'Arrogance' pursues absolute, contradictory self-consistency. So, is the only thing that can briefly invade its logical shell... the 'inconsistency' and 'error' themselves, which it absolutely acknowledges and doesn't try to resolve or cover up?"

He looked at the crowd, his eyes burning with insight: "We're all trying to prove ourselves right, or at least find the 'right' way. But what if we collectively... acknowledge and demonstrate the 'fundamental flaws' in our current understanding?"

He paused for a moment and then said, "This isn't humility, but rather like the unerasable gibberish in Alibaba's brain, broadcasting our confusion, contradictions, and professional limitations as a stable, unresolved 'error signal'?"

"What's the point of this?" Stark asked, enduring the pain as he searched for tools to reset the bone and set it with a splint.

"The significance lies in the fact that this is not a 'state of being' that 'arrogance' can understand or imitate," Yao Chong quickly explained. "'Arrogance' understands 'confidence,' 'correctness,' 'authority,' and even 'feigned humility.' But it cannot understand a cognitive state that does not seek correctness, is content with failure, and does not try to become any 'role model' or 'center.' It's like showing an abstract doodle that can never be completed and has no intention of being completed to an entity that only understands perfect geometry—it cannot 'analyze' it, and therefore may not be able to 'attach' it."

Shen Ruozhi immediately understood: "It's like forcibly introducing a universally accepted 'undecidable proposition' into a mathematical system that pursues absolute convergence... The system can't handle it and can only bypass it. We need to create a cognitive-level 'Gödel proposition'."

The plan was quickly formulated.

They no longer try to fix the data, persuade each other, or fight against the system.

Instead, they did something that went against the instincts of all scientists: Shen Ruozhi began writing a program on an independent terminal. The program's only function was to collect and display eight completely different and contradictory answers to the same question in real time, without integrating or judging them, but simply juxtaposing and scrolling them.

Rajeev and Elena used biofeedback devices to guide everyone to actively evoke and maintain the most unsolvable contradictions and confusions in their professional knowledge.

For example, when Stark recalls moments when he is unable to make a decision, Shen Ruozhi contemplates paradoxes in the foundations of mathematics, transforming this "state of confusion" into a faint, synchronous brainwave symptom.

Yao Chong used his tainted vision to search for the "cognitive cracks" that the "arrogant logic spheres" within the fortress rejected most, guiding everyone to focus the "collective confusion signals" on the past.

This is a bizarre ritual: a group of top scientists and experts sit together not to explore the truth, but to carefully cultivate and showcase their "professional malfunctions".

The effect was initially negligible.

But gradually, the self-replicating data within the fortress stopped growing and began to swirl around that "wall of contradictions," as if it couldn't handle this meaningless "inconsistency" information.

The locked instrument remained locked, but it no longer displayed arrogant slogans.

The mirror-like quality of "hardened confidence" in everyone's heart still exists, but small cracks that reflect "confusion" are beginning to appear on the surface.

The real turning point came with Ali Hassan.

Under the influence of drugs and the collective "confusion field," he uttered a mumbled incoherent murmur in Arabic while in a coma.

On the oscilloscope, a stubborn "trauma fault code" in his brainwaves produced strange harmonics with the frequency of his delirious voice.

Rajeev captured this point: "His trauma... that absolute, incomprehensible experience of 'mistake' is itself a powerful 'anti-arrogance' presence, actively echoing our 'confusion' signals."

Yao Chong made a decisive decision: "Amplify Alibaba's 'fault code' signal. We don't need to interpret it; we just need to play it. Let's make it the main theme of our 'collective fault broadcast'."

Ali's brainwave signals, after processing, were transformed into a low, chaotic audio frequency filled with sharp spikes that echoed within the fortress.

The sound was devoid of beauty and meaning; it was merely a physical manifestation of a purely painful "cognitive error."

A miracle happened.

On the fortress's main control panel, the endlessly scrolling arrogant slogans and data copies receded as quickly as a tide encountering a natural enemy.

The self-attack on the storage system has stopped.

The locked mass spectrometer screen flickered a few times before resuming normal data display.

The pollution of "arrogance" has been temporarily repelled by a kind of systemic failure that it cannot classify, imitate, or conquer—a failure that is "collectively acknowledged, accepted, and not sought to be resolved."

The fortress has been restored to its basic functions.

But everyone was exhausted and filled with an indescribable sense of emptiness.

They defeated the "arrogance of absolute correctness" by "admitting their inability to understand," but this victory brought no joy, only a deeper sense of bewilderment.

Stark, his broken arm in a sling, stared at the contradictory answers juxtaposed on the screen and said bitterly, "We just...saved ourselves by declaring ourselves an 'irreparable mistake'?"

Shen Ruozhi stared at Ali's brainwave signal diagram: "Perhaps, when faced with certain beings, 'maintaining error' is the only way to avoid assimilation. But how long can we continue to 'make mistakes'? When 'mistake' itself becomes our new instinct, what will we become?"

In Yao Chong's polluted vision, those grayish-white "arrogant logic spheres" did not disappear, but were temporarily faded into background noise.

But he saw that deep within everyone's consciousness, a new seed had been planted: a fundamental questioning of the very definitions of "right" and "wrong," and the resulting chilling freedom and fear.

"On the seventh night," he concluded in a low voice, as if reading an epitaph, "we learned to fight 'absolute correctness' with 'systemic failure.' We demolished the Tower of Babel, only to find that what lay beneath our feet was not the Promised Land, but an endless, mapless wasteland."

He looked at the unconscious Chen Dunli, and a faint, inscrutable expression seemed to flash across the old man's face—was it pity, or a premonition he had foreseen?

Outside the fortress, darkness remained.

Within the fortress, a new, fragile balance based on "shared confusion" has just been established.

But everyone knows that when the eternal drowsiness of "laziness" strikes, this "confusion" that needs to be actively maintained will be the first luxury to be abandoned.

Only by completely defeating this negative, higher-dimensional spiritual entity known as the "Seven Deadly Sins" can one avoid being trapped on this "isolated island" with no other water connections.

The seventh night passed quietly.