When humanity discovers the truth about the universe, it finally understands that the most terrifying thing is not the darkness, but the light in which it has been confined.
In 2089, Lin Xia, chief scientist at the Kuiper Belt Observatory, detects a mysterious signal from the edge of the solar system. After deciphering it, humanity is stunned to discover:
- The solar system is enclosed within a gigantic dodecahedral barrier, and all the data sent back by deep-space probes are carefully fabricated lies.
- The alien signal is not a greeting, but a testing protocol: only civilizations that have undergone “cognitive ascension” are worthy of learning the truth about the universe.
- A USB drive left behind by Lin Xia’s father contains top-secret files about humanity’s first contact thirty years ago, along with a warning from the future.
As the signal continues to be decoded, human society descends into madness.
When Lin Xia finally breaks through the cognitive barrier, she sees a truth that fills her with despair: humanity is not the universe’s only intelligent life, but the 7,214th batch of specimens awaiting observation in the laboratory of a higher civilization.
This novel is simply something the author, an ordinary 14-year-old middle school student who enjoys reading science fiction, wrote to pass the time. But the inspiration did not come out of nowhere: it came from the many science fiction films and shows I have watched. So you may spot echoes of other sci-fi works in this novel, but I think that can be seen as a tribute to them.
The imagination is not as rich as usual, there are many story lines, many twists and turns, and it is fascinating.