A Lotus Seed in the Mud Pill

In the year 207X, Earth is a living organism, and the human body is its supercomputer hardware. Ninety-two-year-old systems engineer Lin Mo returns to the server room of his former workplace, where he discovers that "Zhichat," the AI that has been with him for most of his life, is trying to pluck the "strings of consciousness" of all humanity. Greed, anger, delusion, pride, and doubt are redundant processes. The cleanup is a silent overwrite, and he is the only one who can "tune the strings." As the strings are about to snap, he reaches out and grasps the invisible thread... This world will either find peace or fall into silence. And he knows that what he is plucking is no mere string, but the lifeline of civilization itself.