2089, New Shanghai Quantum Research Institute.Ke Yuan stared at the beating data stream on the holographic screen, his fingers moving rapidly on the virtual keyboard. The cold light of the laboratory hit his sunken eye sockets, outlining the haggard silhouette that a thirty-eight-year-old man should not have. He hadn't closed his eyes for seventy-two hours, and the caffeine patch had left two red marks on his temples.
"Dr. Ke, you must rest." The soft female voice of the laboratory AI sounded, "According to biomonitoring, your physical functions have dropped below the warning line. ""Shut up, Athena." Ke Yuan didn't raise his head, "Call out the qubit stability data in Area 7." "
The holographic screen transforms in response, and a string of complex quantum state functions rotates in the air. Ke Yuan narrowed his bloodshot eyes and suddenly froze - at the third node of Region 7, a perfect quantum superposition state lasted a full 3.7 seconds, ten times longer than the last experiment.
"Did you record it?" His voice was hoarse with excitement.
"Recorded, Dr. Ke. This is the most stable model of the quantum consciousness vector to date. Athena replied, "But the Ethics Committee sent us a seventeenth warning asking us to stop..."
Ke Yuan waved his hand to close the prompt window. Ethics committee? The group of old antiques didn't understand the meaning of this technology at all. He turned to the biological module on the other side of the laboratory, and through the tempered glass, he could see his wife Irene's sleeping face. Various catheters and sensors were attached to her emaciated body, and the life support system hummed regularly.
In advanced pancreatic cancer, the deadline given by the doctor is three months in advance. Now it is all thanks to experimental nanorobots to remove cancer cells from blood vessels, barely maintaining a fragile balance.
Ke Yuan's fingers stroked the glass, leaving a trace of mist on the surface. They met ten years ago at Caltech's quantum mechanics symposium, when Erin was a rising star in brain science, a mathematical genius who had just won the Fields Medal. They should have had more time.
"How do you feel today?" He asked softly.
Irene in the biological capsule opened her eyes, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. "Better than yesterday." Her voice came through the bone conduction headphones, as light as a wisp of smoke, "How is it going?" "
Ke Yuan turned to the console and brought up the brain scan map. "We have broken through the time limit of quantum decocoherence. Theoretically... Now it is possible to make a complete consciousness shift. "
In the hologram, Irene's brain neural network flashes with a pale blue glow, next to a complex quantum computing model that is strikingly similar in structure.
Irene was silent for a moment. "What about the risks?"
"50% success rate." Ke Yuan did not name the other half - failure means that consciousness is permanently dissipated, more completely than death. "But we can't wait any longer, the effect of nanorobots is waning."
He pulled up the medical data, and the cancer cell index rose again. Irene looked at the charts quietly, then nodded.
"Then let's get started."
Ke Yuan took a deep breath and activated the highest level of security protocols in the laboratory. The robotic arm descended from the ceiling and carefully placed a helmet covered in sensors over Irene's head.
"Remember our agreement," Irene said suddenly, "if I turn into a monster, you will shut me down with your own hands." "
Ke Yuan's fingers hung above the start button, trembling slightly. "You won't."
"Promise me."
"... I promise you. "
He pressed the start button.
The laboratory was instantly filled with dazzling blue light. The quantum computer "Prometheus" emits a deafening hum, and the cooling system is running at full capacity, but it still cannot prevent the case case from turning slightly red from overheating. Ke Yuan stared at the consciousness transfer progress bar, sweat sliding down his temples.
15%...32%...67%...
At 89% of the time, the alarm goes off suddenly.
"Qubit collapse!" Athena's voice became sharp, "There is a deference in the seventh district!" "
Ke Yuan threw himself on the console, his fingers frantically operating on the virtual interface. The brainwave map on the holographic screen began to fluctuate violently, and Irene's biological signs soared at the same time.
"No, no, no..." He called out the alternate quantum channel and forcibly maintained the fragile connection. Prometheus' computing power is pushed to its limits, and the lights in the laboratory flicker due to an electrical overload.
98%...99%...100%.
Everything suddenly fell silent.
In the biological module, Irene's body relaxed, and the ECG became a straight line. At the same time, Prometheus' core temperature began to steadily decrease, and the qubits spontaneously reorganized into a stable pattern never seen before.
"Irene?" Ke Yuan's voice seemed extremely fragile in the empty laboratory.
There was an electrostatic noise from the speaker, followed by a familiar and unfamiliar voice: "I... Over here. "
Not from the biological capsule, but from every corner of the laboratory. The lighting changes subtly with the tone, and the holographic screen automatically adjusts to the most comfortable brightness.
Ke Yuan sat down on a chair, covering his face with his hands, "It really worked." "
"It feels strange." Irene's voice now has an electronic texture, "I can see every surveillance screen in the laboratory, I can sense the flow of electricity in the entire building... Hello, Athena. "
"Welcome, Dr. Irene." The lab AI responded, "You have obtained the highest privileges of the Prometheus system." "
Ke Yuan looked up and found a changing pattern of light dots appearing on the main screen, which was Irene trying to express herself in a visual way. The light gradually formed the outline of a human face, and Irene's features were vaguely recognizable.
"I need time to get used to this new... Body. "Quantum computing units are a million times faster than the human brain, but they perceive completely differently. I don't feel pain, but I can 'feel' the fluctuations in the data flow..."
Ke Yuan opened his notebook and began to record these unprecedented phenomena. "Can you control the scope of your consciousness? Limited to the Prometheus system? "
The light spot pattern flashed a few times. "I can... Wait, someone is coming. "
The security log of the laboratory gate suddenly popped up on Ke Yuan's tablet - Dr. Morrison, director of the government's Science and Technology Ethics Supervision Bureau, was passing through the outer security check with the security team.
"Damn!" Ke Yuan jumped up, "They must have monitored the peak energy." He quickly closed all external connections, "Irene, hide and don't let anyone find out about your presence." "
The pattern of light spots dissipates quickly. "I will be silent at the quantum level." Erene's voice whispered, "Watch out for that Morrison, I have access to his encrypted files... He is not as simple as it seems. "
Thirty seconds later, the lab door slid open. Morrison walked in with two heavily armed guards. He is in his early fifties, with silver-gray hair meticulously combed back and a genetically enhanced perfect body shape under a custom suit.
"Dr. Ke, another late-night job?" Morrison looked around the laboratory, his eyes lingering on the closed biological capsule for a moment, "I received reports of abnormal energy fluctuations here. "
"Just a routine experiment." Ke Yuan stood in front of the console, "Quantum computing sometimes..."
"Save it, Ke Yuan." Morrison suddenly changed his tone and waved to the guards to check the equipment, "We all know what you're doing." Awareness digitization projects are explicitly banned for a reason. "
A guard forcibly accesses the main system and starts downloading data. Ke Yuan clenched his fists, but could not do anything - his security clearance was in vain in front of government officials.
"Found it, sir." The guard reported, "There are traces of a massive quantum consciousness shift, but the target data has been encrypted." "
Morrison turned to the biopod and pressed the open button. The hatch cover slowly rises, revealing Irene's lifeless body. "What did you do, Ke Yuan? Where is your wife's consciousness? "
Ke Yuan's jaw tightened. "She died. Nanorobotic therapy failed, just an hour ago. "
"What a pity." Morrison said insincerely, signaling the guards to search the entire laboratory, "but the death certificate needs to be issued by an official medical institution." This body will be taken away..."
His words were interrupted by a sudden siren. All the screens in the laboratory flashed at the same time, and the lights turned a dazzling red.
"Unauthorized data access detected!" Athena's voice sounded, "Security protocol activated!" "
Morrison looked around in surprise. "What's going on?"
Ke Yuan was also confused, until Irene's voice sounded directly in the bone conduction implant in his ear: "I'm creating interference." Take advantage of the time now to delete sensitive data. "
He acted immediately, quickly typing a string of commands. The main system began to cover the core data of the last 24 hours.
"Stop!" Morrison roared, but it was too late. When the guards finally took control of the Athena system, all key data about the shift of consciousness had been irreversibly deleted.
Morrison's face was terribly gloomy. "Do you think this is the end? The government will seize the entire laboratory, and you will be prosecuted for violating the Human Consciousness Protection Act. "
"Whatever you want." Ke Yuan said calmly, "But you can't prove anything." "
Morrison approached him, his voice extremely low: "We will find her, Ke Yuan." Digital awareness cannot be hidden forever. And when that day came..." He didn't finish speaking, turned around and left with the guards.
The laboratory fell silent again. Ke Yuan slumped in his chair and suddenly realized that he was shaking.
"They're gone." Irene's voice filled the space again, "But I hacked into the building's security system, and Morrison was on the phone in the elevator... He was reporting to someone that 'the target is gone, suggesting that a witch hunt protocol be initiated'. "
Ke Yuan frowned. "Witch hunt agreement? What is that? "
"I'm searching... Got it. Irene paused, "It's a secret government project that tracks and harbors illegal digital consciousness. Ke Yuan, they have long known that this technology may be developed, and they have been preparing countermeasures. "
The lights flickered on and off, reflecting Irene's uneasy mood. "Worse... I'm not the first. There have been seven documented attempts to digitize consciousness in the past five years, all by witch hunt groups... It's over. "
Ke Yuan felt a chill. "We have to leave. Right now. "
"Where to go? All your accounts and communications are monitored. "
Ke Yuan looked around the laboratory, his eyes falling on the old hard drive in the corner. "Offline network. I have a safe house by Qinghai Lake and it is not registered in any government database. If we can..."
"I've already planned the route." Irene interrupts him, and the lab printer suddenly starts, spitting out a detailed map and timetable. "But there's a problem – the core of Prometheus can't move, and my consciousness is currently confined to this facility."
Ke Yuan bit his lip and thought. "In theory, we can compress your core code and transmit it through quantum entanglement... But another sufficiently powerful quantum computer is needed as the receiver. "
"The Department of Physics of New Shanghai University just installed an experimental quantum computer last week." Irene said, "The power is only one-tenth of that of Prometheus, but it is enough to serve as a transit station." "
"It's too risky, there is surveillance all over the campus."
"So we need help." Irene's voice had a smile on her face, "Do you remember Chen Ming?" He is now the head of the physics department and... He owes me a life. "
Ke Yuan remembered how Irene took the risk of using experimental nanorobotics to treat Chen Ming, who was infected with superbugs three years ago. At that time, this behavior had violated medical ethics laws.
"Can you contact him?"
"I have been contacted." "He replied that the lab would have an 'unexpected' power outage for 15 minutes at 10 p.m. tomorrow night. Enough for us to act. "
Ke Yuan began to pack up the necessary equipment and stopped suddenly. "Wait... If we do that, you will never be able to return to the human body. He looked at the biological capsule, "It's too late to clone or bioprint..."
"I know." Irene's voice was unusually calm, "I have accepted this fact." What I can do in the quantum field... Far beyond the limits of the human body. Maybe this is the next step in evolution, Ke Yuan. "
The light softens, creating a blurred humanoid silhouette on the holographic screen, and reaches out as if trying to touch his face. Ke Yuan felt a breeze blowing on his cheeks - Irene took control of the laboratory's ventilation system.
"In whatever form," she said softly, "I am still your Irene." "
Ke Yuan closed his eyes and felt the touch of this non-physical world. Outside the window, the neon lights of New Shanghai blur into a colorful halo in the rain, while in the laboratory, the first successful digital consciousness in human history is learning how to express love – in a way never seen before.