Star Empire

"If it can be fully recovered, the virtual point jump ship has enough ability to fly far enough within the effective "time", flying to the edge of the empire's existence attributes that can radiate, or even beyond the influence of the empire itself... …”

"Then, the "seeds" can sprout and take root... with culture, meaning, and hope to develop different paths... There is no doubt that staying away from the empire means further loneliness, and the existence attribute may also be due to the lack of It will continue to fall with the addition of sunlight, until it falls to the original true value in the background darkness... That will mean that the seeds sown by the empire will change relative to the empire, and we are not yet precise about what changes will occur. understanding”

In front of Vidoville, the scenarios used to simulate these possibilities are broken down into many parameters, which are distributed among countless information dimensions.

For Vidoville, what needs to be presented now is much different from how it originally "looked".

It may be a bit strange - if this development continues, the final trend may be...

The premise of respecting everything is to quantify them all - quantified results that can be accepted by the mainstream trend and accepted by most people, and then abide by it?

This seems to... contradict the direct original intention - we do not want to regard life and existence as materials and data, but it seems that we need to conduct more precise quantification in order to get clearer guidance...

Can this really be done? Utility, value, absolute?

But reality always requires everyone to make a choice and make a fixed choice. Many times, there is no turning back arrow and no regret medicine when shooting a bow. Time cannot be reversed at will, even if the possibilities are unlimited, time is always moving forward.

If everything cannot be quantified and everything cannot be clarified, then how can empty words and vague requirements

Is this a developmental spiral?

"...It's not easy to be sure."

"After all, the absolute size of the empire is not small..."

"If the smallest wave can be properly catalyzed, it can set off a stormy wave in the void."

For possibly all life, the void is dark, cold, formless, non-existent, hopeless, and nameless.

But at the same time, the void is not dead, the void is not "black", and the void is not "empty".

The Void Abyss and the World Barrier cut off the continuity of the space-time structure, but this does not mean that there is no connection and interaction between the space-time structure.

Countless worlds create rhythms with each other, combining into dancing strings. These strings are the veins of the world, and the countless veins of the world are like diverging and flying fibers and features. They come from the same source - the branches of the world.

The Empire once had countless world branches, but after that distant but terrible battle, the Empire suffered a huge decline. The once glorious and cold territory was burned down, leaving only a few wreckage and traces. And this huge gap cannot be filled overnight. Even though the empire is now trying to re-expand the branches of these worlds, it will take a long time for all of this to equal their former scale.

However, although the relative size has shrunk, the absolute size remains - the empire is still huge.

Countless events are happening everywhere at every moment, from calculation anomalies like sparks or weak ripples projected by fluctuations in field structures, to information particles that are constantly emerging and dying inside and outside thousands of shields. Exploration, invasion and destruction, to the attraction, collision and fusion between worlds, to the eruption of the Dead Tide Gate, the rise and fall of the fault zone, and all kinds of weird worlds that occasionally occur in the void and can be said to be very rare. birth and death.

And the various special phenomena that these heterogeneous worlds may cause... They are spread throughout the empire, traveling together in countless realms.

Some of them are not worth recording, and some are worth recording but only worth recording. There are some events that require attention and caution, some events that are worthy of study or have considerable reference significance, and some... that require all-out effort.

Countless information from all sources are pulsating in the network. Various circuits and circulations were formed in the huge imperial structure. There are boiling connections all over the different cycles. Calm yet grand.

…

The fifth day area, world connection node No. 5-5-125.

The collection of worlds is knitted together here. This is the bifurcation point at the end of the probability lightning chain, and it is also an important channel for information to be transmitted up and down - research and analysis show that it is more difficult to transmit information along the information channel formed by the "resonance" between the worlds than other paths. It will be much lower. Therefore, quite a few major paths will have relay nodes and accompanying giant computing arrays deployed at frequencies near these nodes, so that efficiency can be maximized.

The invisible order field separates the chaos and darkness of the outside world from the warmth and tranquility of the interior. Between the dots of "starlight", the magnificent and magnificent giant facilities are majestic. Terrifying energy surges within their bodies, pumping surging information flows and sending them to distant places. Countless ones have built great roads one after another in the void, spanning space and time.

If you want to ask what is different here compared to usual...then the difference should be...near the core facility, there is a group of extra light spots.

...Now it seems that there are some other problems with these facilities...

"Some other problems? Such an understatement? It should be said - there is no problem with these network nodes, right?!"

A "light spot" quickly returned to his adult form. He looked at his commander, his tone revealing exhaustion and dissatisfaction, "Three searches failed to find out all the log records. The format of receiving and sending information is confusing. There are The attribute strength and continuity strength do not meet the requirements, there is a gap in protection, there is a gap in the automatic self-healing system... Except for the spatial structure, there is no place here that can be called "good", no!"

"What are you complaining about? Not to mention your attitude, we are here to solve the problem." The commander in charge of this team responded, "If there is no problem, we don't need to come here."

"To be honest, it would be better to start all over again."

"Okay, stop complaining. Our mission is to identify and solve problems, not complain." The commander dismissed some of the abrupt nodes in the matrix, and then refocused his attention on "consciousness" information is displayed on the terminal.

"But speaking of it... there are some problems... wait, are these problems?" While focusing his main attention on the constantly refreshed model in front of him, the commander's other two - no, four threads of thinking began. Consider other content.

Extraordinary basic perception ability and the assistance of multiple filters are enough to help you see very subtle things clearly. The space inside the Order Field is very vast, with many giant facilities arranged around the central core component. Between these huge facilities, the matrix of light points, which is not much larger than an ordinary human body, is already very small, but they are clearly visible.

In front of the huge facility, these light points are fully armed and connected to the huge facility array under the protection of multiple force fields.

"Such a huge facility is ultimately monotonous and cold... It has countless sensing and protection systems, but it lacks some structures that can bring warmth... Is it a control terminal, is there a lack of a control room? The internal ones are for us The facilities that were prepared? The avenues for interaction with which one could have some...less serious interactions disappeared? Or never?"

Everything around me seemed to be dissipating, like clouds in the wind. And in this inexplicable silence and emptiness, more thoughts emerged from the consciousness of this young imperial being.

In my impression, I seem to pay less and less attention to interactions, the environment, and the origin and reality - I don't know when, what I see and feel is the result of countless conversations and countless exchanges. Information and data that are refreshed all the time...

The Imperial Network was originally supposed to be used to help everyone understand and improve their lives, and to help Imperial beings seek higher meaning. But now - they seem to be uprooting all beings in the empire from the foundation on which they rely for survival.

Ethereal streams of consciousness occupy almost all parts. Although they can also present information and promote development, they are highly compressed and highly pure [reality changes], but are all of this considered boring and boring? Has development gone astray in this regard? "Break up"... I seem to have forgotten some things. The empire's decision-makers seem to have made certain changes, but are these changes at critical points...

No one would refuse to create a more stable environment near these facilities, and no one would refuse such direct work, so why are there no previous possibilities, why are there no diverse operating terminals, no diverse environments, no... …

"The system self-inspection has been completed, the preset backup project has been completed, the unlimited anti-crowding capacity meets the specification requirements, all external communication channels have been clarified, the model correction has been completed, the emergency response team has been prepared, and the emergency meme reserve is sufficient... It is ready at any time Begin testing, Commander."

"...Well, the self-examination has been completed and can be tested." The calls of others brought his consciousness back from drifting away, and he remembered what needed to be done for this operation that the team members had complained about countless times. ——They need to detect the regional information centers from the world context to the world branch level, and experimentally organize, summarize and even...reset all the information pathways in these centers.

Numerous previous tests have shown that the condition of the Empire's network is very bad - just the Empire's network segments between several universes have been intertwined with the most complete flesh and blood nerves that are twisted to the point of mutation. There is no difference between lumps, but nodes like this connect the world's veins and branches of the world...

Prior planning and guarantees can no longer play a direct role. We can only hope that... when the accident does occur, the losses will not be many times higher than the expected scale...

"Yes, start testing, make this node independent, cut off the connection between the node and the empire's main network, and detect the operation details of all paths."

"Cut off all communication channels and start testing the information channels in sequence. Then confirm the connection sequence and start execution."

With the beginning of this series of operations, the light emitted by the huge, trident-like building in the center of the Order Field became somewhat dim, and countless facilities bathed in its light also turned into " silence". The silent wave swims in from both inside and outside. It seems that this place has been isolated from the world. No more information will come in and no information will leave.

"..." The commander frowned.

The Node Trident... This seems to be the building of Σ civilization. All of this... looks a bit like Σ.

There is something special here... The various calculation coefficients used in other parts of the empire have 5 as the most important common factor, and the most important common factor of all the coefficients here... is 3.

Even... here, there is still the "Three Sages" arbitration system that the empire's top officials seem to have been trying their best to avoid using.

"... Cutting off all connections is taking risks while ensuring the effect. This place is almost separated from the empire's main network, and both parties cannot obtain the other's status immediately. At the same time, so many connections are cut off, which also means symbolically As the empire's management intensity here decreases. The "protection of belonging" at the existential attribute level will be weakened, and everything here will be "weak". Experiments have shown that doing so will not cause further decline in the existential attributes of the site in a short period of time, but Attention must be paid to possible disturbances and intrusions…”

"But there is no way to do otherwise...the remaining communication paths are so messy, and these communication channels are redundant and complementary to each other in an extremely chaotic way. If they are not cut off, there is no point in testing a line at all. …”

The protection system was activated by predetermined commands, and the space was cut and separated by golden barriers, forming nearly independent units. The boundaries of the order field become "real", and the sparkling light travels through the order and dimensions here, rippling and flickering in all directions that can be seen.

"The sweeping firepower is perfect, the prepared attack intensity is 243 times the predicted calculated value, the range is 140,929 times, and the instant intensity is 3,125 times."

"A little uneasy...monitor all details and handle possible abnormalities according to regulations..."

"Start testing the first channel, confirm the function... Determining, the function is confirmed. Determine the range... Range search... Determine the range interval. Determine the strength... Enter the proliferation data, start the test, and the link with the corresponding target is stable..."

"Start testing the second channel, confirm the function... Determining, the function is confirmed. Determine the range... Range search... Determine the range interval. Determine the intensity... Enter the proliferation data... There is an attribute target, symbolic meaning test..."

"Start testing the second channel...determine the range...range search...determine the range interval. Determine the intensity...enter the proliferation data...confirm the overload coefficient, conduct continuity detection, confirm the data stream transmission status, and check the environment within the channel... "

…

"...The final path check is completed, and the parameters have been confirmed."

"The status is good. The first phase of testing is completed. Update the database and perform system self-test again after the update is completed——"

In an instant, a terrifying red light spread between the nodes.

"Intrusion alarm?! So sudden??!" Faced with the sudden change, a trace of surprise and fear flashed through the commander's heart. The emotion quickly fades and more stable patterns are awakened from the personality and take over the subject's behavior.

"Check the status of each group - confirmation is completed, the cut-off safety lock is released, and the return of the situation begins!"

"The secondary calculation core has been invaded, all passive protections have been melted down, all preloaded active protections have been activated, and all direct operating catalysts have been cut off! All direct operators have entered a state of isolation!"

The unexpected happens suddenly, and the preparations made in advance are also activated. Outside the huge node trident, layers of shields and various beacons instantly rose around the floating light spots. The light condenses into a solid person, and the person's body is wrapped in thick protective clothing, and the full-dimensional interaction that was once controlled by consciousness and presented in the form of flowing light has also been completely cut off. It is as thick as a mountain and has at least one body inside. "Mechanical keyboards" with hundreds of layers of relay protection emerge from nothingness, and they will serve as new catalysts to communicate the existence of empires with different operating rules.

"The source of the intrusion is being detected in reverse."

"Some protective measures have become unresponsive."

"Attempt to activate protective measures...activation failed, shield injection gate unresponsive."

Within the shield, the keys were being tapped silently, and the operator's will passed through hundreds of layers of thick protective structures and relay facilities and was transmitted back to the host computer. In the silent game, a strange and tense atmosphere quietly descended.

"Positioning failed, the invasion came from outside the order field."

"Trying to search for background information in the void... started to compare, and found a weak unknown signal - the outer protective detector began to melt!"

"1...V...Γ...the outermost layer of protection has been broken through, the fixed energy password has been cracked, the outer layer of database protection has been cracked, the data diversion stack has been filled, and the clear command is invalid!"

"The abnormal signal in the void has been initially determined...the boundary has been outlined and the model has been transformed...strong unknown pollution has been discovered!"

"The first possibility is ruled out, the second possibility is ruled out... Is this an unknown form of memetic contamination?" Faced with the menacing and strange invasion of unknown identity, the commander tried to collect more useful information, but faced with isolation Due to the reduced efficiency and overwhelming alarms that had to be shown, I seemed to have an inexplicable feeling of powerlessness for a while.

"The boundary of the model is being outlined... Memetic entities in the state of virtual information have not been accurately recorded so far. The intensity of interaction between virtual information and reality under non-violent disturbance conditions is very low, and such a clear directional phenomenon has never been recorded. Things..."

In the isolation area, the data gradually collected and summarized by many operators in rapid operations was rewritten and purified layer by layer before being passed to the commander here. In the process of exploration, more and more alarms came towards us. They seemed to form an invisible storm, locking everything here in the center of the storm.

"The information protection mode along the way was lifted, and the automatic protection structure did not respond..."

"Start confirming the development path..."

"Tracing to the source failed! The target has strong active interference! Existing means cannot solidify the results! The results are melting!

"The directionality is becoming clear. Based on the destruction path -! They want to occupy the node trident!"

"Unable to transmit information to the outside world, all channels have been blocked or invalid!"

"——In this case, it will take at least three minutes for external firepower to respond. This is the minimum agreed time! Use all means to defend the facility and prevent the erosion from being transmitted!"

High pollution, high penetration, unknown identity, false information...

"The response speed of the structural hardware is reduced and the feedback is disordered!"

"It cannot be stopped, there is no response to the operation, the isolation barrier cannot be installed, and the existing barrier cannot be stopped!"

"Increase the intensity of reality and stabilize the corresponding method of the rules - failure, low effect! Test the target's extraordinary resistance!"

"The basic coordination program has been eroded, and system protection is being forcibly lifted! The system configuration file has been tampered with - the corresponding logical partition is out of control!"

"System initial regression attempt, all storage areas are formatted!"

"A large amount of unknown information appears, and the load on the storage response array increases rapidly!"

"The clock system is interleaved and forced downclocking in high pollution areas!"

"All storage stacks are connected to the void! Forcefully clear the unknown information flow!"

"Put white matter explosives into the secondary memory array and hysteresis vaccines into the main memory area!"

"Activate the white matter to purify the radiation, encrypt all protection programs, and perform a comprehensive format again!"

"Unidentified intrusion information detects high-intensity extraordinary resistance! The effectiveness of time perturbation is low! The environmental autoregressive process is found to be invalid!"

"The automatic self-healing system is forced to stop, the automatic self-backup system is forced to stop, records are lost, and the relevant storage area is occupied!"

"The erosion is accelerating! The first control tower will be occupied in ten seconds!"

"The first control tower issues a void broadcast application. The application will be launched five seconds after the three parties agree. The proposal will be reviewed - rejected, rejected..."

"Proliferation detected! The second control tower has been invaded! All redundant storage is filled! Command acceptance level is close to the invalid phase threshold! Destroy the contaminated storage facility - drop the protection meme!!"

"Release the "automatic antibodies"! Indiscriminately destroy all facility groups that do not have corresponding identification signals!"

"The control capability of the facility is less than 25%, all temporary storage stacks are filled, all probability stabilization slices are overloaded, and the time flow rate is unstable!"

"The suicide squad is ready to blow up the third control tower center!"

Looking at the rapidly disappearing light spots, the commander felt that this seemed to be a dream. In just a few minutes, the communication facilities that managed the large void area had been eroded and riddled with holes. Thousands of protective barriers were dismantled by invisible enemies. Facing the raging alarm, all methods seemed to be ineffective. Even just trying to delay time seemed to be equally difficult, so high that... it seemed that it was not possible. possible.

In front of us, the appearance of three giant control towers that look like "sails" is still shining. But the reddened pieces in front of him were telling him that the interiors of the three huge control towers and broadcast sources had probably been tampered with and distorted beyond recognition by unknown entities...

"The third control tower has been invaded! Raise all protective layers, irradiate all isolated areas with white matter radiation, and activate all partition mechanisms! There is attribute deflection in the intranet sandbox, which forcibly replaces the main operating environment! The truth rune array is viciously destroyed and sorted , execute immediately!”

"The input-output system is blown up! All channels are blown up... It's useless, the erosion continues to spread——"

"Status retrieval mapping cut off!"

"The first and second control towers propose a void broadcast, and it will be implemented after the three parties agree."

"Pa-la-zi-"

A sharp "sound" of fragmentation erupted, followed by a part of the module completely disappearing from the control system. In everyone's field of vision, a new "blazing sun" quickly expanded, and it quickly The entire third control tower and the surrounding broadcast amplification equipment were swallowed up and turned into dust that shattered in the crystal energy flames.

"Control Tower No. 1 and No. 2 have issued a void broadcast application and will be implemented after the three parties agree -"

"The third control tower has been destroyed. This may be able to delay the support firepower. Why hasn't the support firepower appeared yet? This place should have entered the final stage of the self-destruction process!"

The commander looked towards the isolation area, but at this time, all the people who were inputting instructions rapidly just now seemed to have stopped.

"?!"

"No. 1 and 2 control towers have requested support, and the support signal has been sent."

"——!!" Suddenly, the commander realized something.

The "Three Sages" system does not always use a veto method to determine the next action.

At this moment, the entire fleet on standby outside the Order Field is enough to annihilate the Order Field and everything inside tens of thousands of times.

The Imperial broadcasting infrastructure relies on crystal energy and the fields it penetrates - as do the cannons mounted on the fleet, which also use crystal energy, which can also be "modulated".

Within three minutes, no matter what this invisible enemy was, one thing is certain, it did one thing - it eroded through all the defense systems of three powerful imperial facilities whose protection systems were comparable to the fleet's joint shield. All possible responses collapsed.

The empire no longer measures everything in terms of life or non-life, and everyone is collectively referred to as "empire existence"...

Be it life, equipment, or battleships... they can be considered to have the same origin! ! They can invade the giant facilities here, and naturally they can invade anything else here!

The fleet has been invaded! !

The commander who realized this wanted to say something, but it was too late. All struggling movements were swallowed up. Only then did he realize that he had turned into an incapable body at some point...

The Trident Attack and Defense section of this chapter pays homage to the plot of EVA's fight against the "Angel of Terror".