The Lone Interstellar Pioneer

March 18, 2015, 21:47

Encrypted digital diary (voice transcription)

“She’s back again.” Zhang Ming’s voice sounded especially tired amid the electrical static. In the background, a pencil scratched mindlessly across paper. “That heiress from the Su Group cornered me at the library again today. She said she’s been tracking my online activity for three months, and then she showed me this, ”

The recording cut off abruptly, followed by an inserted video file. In it, Su Yao’s slender fingers swiped across a tablet, showing a series of anomalies recorded down to the minute: at 03:17 on December 7, 2014, a voltage fluctuation at the eastern city substation perfectly matched a surge in power consumption at Zhang Ming’s home; on January 23, 2015, the CPU temperature of computer number 16 in the library suddenly dropped to near absolute zero while Zhang Ming was using it. “This is the scariest part.” The girl’s voice came from the video. Her fingertip stopped on a satellite photo showing a blurry figure: Zhang Ming, captured by chance last week as he practiced levitating in the hills behind town. “She said she wants to work together to develop the solar system?” Zhang Ming suddenly laughed on the recording, with a touch of self-mockery. “I’m a freak who might not even be able to take the college entrance exam, and she expects me to, ” A dull thud, as if a fist had slammed against a desk. Then came three full minutes of silence, with only the faint hum of electronic equipment. “But the information she gave me is real… the mining data for helium-3, the distribution of water ice in the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions…” The young man’s voice suddenly grew urgent. “If I can really put my abilities to use…”