Drift Constant

0.007297351 – This is the value of the fine structure constant α. If it changed by four percent, carbon atoms couldn't form, stars couldn't burn, and life couldn't exist. It's drifting. 2.3×10⁻⁸ Per year. Tiny, but real. Worse, high-energy physics experiments are accelerating this process. Every collision consumes the "power" of the universe. CERN physicist Lin Shen discovered the truth. He faces a choice: stop exploring and die slowly; or continue seeking knowledge and hasten his end. Five hundred years later, mankind split into three factions: the Silent, the Burning, and the Retrospective. Each choice leads to a different end. This is not a story about heroes saving the universe. This is a story about how intellectual curiosity can turn into tragedy. "Even if I knew knowledge was poison, I would drink it all in one gulp."