Chapter 1: Don’t Return
Day 65 since losing contact with Earth.
Approximately 15 billion kilometers from the Sun, aboard the Deep Space Spaceship in orbit around Ceres, Li Qingsong leaned weakly against the back of his chair, staring blankly at the last message from the Human World.
He had to admit to himself that he would probably never be able to return to Earth.
Twelve years ago, he had traveled here aboard the Deep Space Spaceship, becoming the first human in history to leave the Solar Circle.
High-energy charged particles released from the Sun had blown a large "bubble" in the interstellar medium. This bubble was the Solar Circle.
Because of the Sun’s presence, this interstellar medium could not penetrate the Solar Circle’s interior.
He had worked here alone for two years, successfully completing the originally planned dwarf planet research mission.
Afterward, he completed all preparations for his return to Earth. All he had to do was wait for the Earth-based team from the "Deep Space Exploration Program" to upload the return trajectory. Then, he could pilot the ship back to his long-missed home.
Everything was normal until 65 days ago. But on the day the return trajectory plan was scheduled to be uploaded, Li Qingsong didn’t receive any data from the team on Earth. He only received a single sentence.
"Do not come back! Do not return!"
After that, Li Qingsong lost all contact with Earth. No matter how many messages he sent, Earth never replied.
Something must have happened in his distant home. And it must have been extremely urgent—so urgent that the team on Earth could only send him that single sentence.
’My family, my friends, my countrymen... are you still out there? Is our civilization... still alive?’
Li Qingsong stared blankly out the porthole in the direction of Earth.
The distance was too great; he couldn’t even see Earth. Even using the spaceship’s optical telescope, all Li Qingsong could see was a dim, blurry point of light.
He couldn’t glean any useful information from that faint point of light.
At this moment, he couldn’t even be sure if Human Civilization still existed, let alone figure out what had happened on Earth.
’Like I needed you to warn me. You didn’t give me the return trajectory, so how was I supposed to go back anyway...?’
Gazing out at the vast sea of stars, the huge Deep Space Spaceship and the even larger Ceres below all seemed as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.
Boundless loneliness and fear washed over Li Qingsong, causing the hallucination that had been suppressed by medication to reappear.
Several years ago—perhaps from leaving the Solar Circle and the protection of the Sun, and being exposed to some unknown radiation—Li Qingsong had inexplicably developed a hallucination.
He constantly felt as if his consciousness could spread into other people’s minds, and even control their actions.
The medical team on Earth couldn’t figure out the cause of Li Qingsong’s strange hallucination either. After all, he was the first human to leave the Solar Circle; there was no one else for comparison.
Fortunately, the psychiatric prescription the doctors had given him was somewhat effective. After taking the medication stored on the ship at regular intervals and in specific doses, the hallucination hadn’t appeared for a long time. But now, it was back.
Feeling the onset of this bizarre hallucination, Li Qingsong gave a bitter, internal laugh. ’There’s no one else for tens of billions of kilometers. No, it’s possible I’m the only person left in the entire Solar System. Who am I supposed to control?’
He struggled to his feet and took his medication, but the hallucination didn’t fade. Li Qingsong decided to ignore it and forced himself to calm down and think about what to do next.
But this line of thought lasted only a few minutes before stopping.
Because the answer was obvious.
There was nothing he could do.
Without help from the team on Earth, returning was impossible. If he tried to force a return, the only outcome would be running out of fuel and getting lost in space.
In that case, it was better to save the energy. But no matter how much he conserved, the ship’s energy and supplies could only keep him alive for another 15 years at most.
After 15 years, he would still die.
Try to survive on Ceres, this dwarf planet so far from the Sun?
Impossible.
He was only one person. His own power was far too small.
His fate was sealed. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could change. The only thing left was to accept his destiny, to wait for death on the spaceship, running through his supplies until the day they, or the ship’s power, ran out.
"Fine, so be it..."
Looking out the porthole at the vast, starry sky, Li Qingsong murmured, "When a critical life-support resource is down to its last day’s supply, I’ll have a big meal, then jump out into space and end it myself. At least it’ll spare me a painful death."
In the time that followed, Li Qingsong abandoned his strict routine and began living without any self-restraint.
At first, Li Qingsong somewhat enjoyed this indulgence. But after only two months, he lost all interest.
He lay on his bed in a daze, unwilling to move a muscle even as hunger burned in his stomach.
The hallucination grew stronger.
Finally, Li Qingsong struggled to his feet and made his way to the flora and fauna cultivation room.
Here, there were several sets of animal cloning equipment. Most were small, but one was large enough.
It was originally used for experiments, to grow large mammals like cows, horses, and donkeys.
Theoretically, it could also be used to grow human Clones. It was just that the ethical and moral risks of human cloning were so great that no one in Human Civilization had ever dared to do it.
But now, Li Qingsong no longer cared about such things.
He took a cell sample from his own body, first reprogramming it into induced pluripotent stem cells. He then used a gene-editing tool to modify some DNA sequences and, finally, placed the cell sample into the largest cloning machine.
In six months, Li Qingsong’s Clone would be fully grown. And it wouldn’t be an infant, but a fully grown adult, identical to Li Qingsong himself.
’If this hallucination won’t leave me alone, I’ll just create a person and see what happens!’
Six months later, another Li Qingsong finished growing in the cultivation tank, identical to the original down to the very shape and position of his moles.
After removing him from the tank and placing him on a bed, Li Qingsong silently waited for the Clone to awaken.
After a long while, the Clone slowly opened his eyes.
"Hmm... no self-awareness, just some basic biological instincts. Normal."
After a quick examination, Li Qingsong gritted his teeth and, following the guidance of his hallucination, extended his consciousness toward the clone.
In the next moment, Li Qingsong’s eyes flew wide with shock.
He felt as if he possessed two brains, two bodies!
And he could control both brains to think, and both bodies to act, simultaneously!
It wasn’t a hallucination!