Spark

months later.

The progress of the EAST project has far exceeded expectations. After the divertor problem was solved, almost everyone in the world was deeply aware of the changes that would take place in their lives due to overwhelming reports.

At the beginning, those people who said "what does this have to do with me with a monthly salary of three thousand" also had to step into the torrent of the largest grand narrative in human history.

Massive amounts of information are constantly scouring people's cognition, and those technologies that were originally described in science fiction by the media, either pertinently or exaggerated, have gradually entered everyone's field of vision.

Vertical farm?

Maglev train?

Land speeder?

Cyber ​​city?

Space elevator?

In front of it, human imagination suddenly seems to have huge limitations. Just as humans in the middle of the 20th century could not imagine the Internet age, humans in the early 21st century could not imagine the true appearance of the era of nuclear fusion.

But even so, the picture of the future is good enough.

Everyone is eagerly looking forward to that day, looking forward to leapfrog technological progress, which can bring a little change to their bleak life.

Yellowstone Farm, Wyoming.

John Dutton sat quietly on a stake beside the corral, with his two sons standing beside him.

West Darden, and Keith Darden.

Wes was in a suit and leather shoes, holding a thick stack of legal documents in his hand, while Case was wearing a bulletproof vest, holding tightly in his hand an AR-15 that he knew at a glance that it was not a civilian version.

Case's eyes were vigilant. He kept scanning the pasture in front of him, as if he was guarding against enemies that might emerge from there at any time, while his elder brother Wes had a sad face, and looked at his father John with helplessness. .

".We really can't go on anymore. In a few months, the loss of our entire farm has exceeded 6 million US dollars. This figure is so large that it even exceeds our half-year profit."

"Give it up, John."

"Traditional animal husbandry has come to an end. As far as I know, several farmers in California have accepted the state government's transformation plan and are ready to start cooperating with commercial companies to build large-scale vertical farms."

"This is also an opportunity for us, if we sell the land and leave the livestock industry, we can take more than $1 billion in cash and devote ourselves to the next more promising industry."

"The times are moving forward, and the days of old cowboys like you are no longer there."

"Do you have to wait until things develop to an irreversible level before you are willing to let go of those worthless things you hold on to?"

Hearing his words, John's eyes didn't change at all, he just stared straight at an old cow that was grazing leisurely on the pasture, and replied:

"It's not something trivial to mention."

"This farm is our home. It has been like this since your grandfather's generation, and it is still like this in my hands."

"I can change the way it works to make it more future-proof, but I can't destroy our home with my own hands."

Having said that, he paused for a moment, then continued:

"In addition, even according to your point of view, from a technical point of view, the most affected people are the rednecks who grow wheat and corn."

"The inexhaustible electricity can be used to grow hemp and wheat, but it is absolutely impossible to use it to raise cattle."

"These livestock can't photosynthesize. Their tongues are very picky. Only the grass that grows naturally in Yellowstone can make them grow delicious muscles."

"But no one cares."

Wes interrupts John.

"No one cares about the quality of the cattle's meat, you know, what they want is actually this piece of land."

Having said that, John's eyes changed slightly.

Yes, how could he not be aware of this?

He is a cowboy, but he is also an experienced farmer and business owner. He has spent most of his life dealing with the state government. Even if those well-dressed politicians just lift their legs, he can see the color of each other's underwear clearly.

And this time too.

If they just want to transform the ranch, they don't have to be so anxious at all.

What they really want to do is to cleanse the "extraterritoriality" that they have established on this land, and to get rid of their disobedient "family".

Yes, gate valve.

They were using the word "gentry," which John didn't even understand when he first heard it from Wes.

Country nobles?

This seems to be in line with his identity-but when Weiss further explained the political meaning behind the word to himself, he suddenly realized that he had been classified as some kind of "problem that needs to be solved".

Thinking of this, he let out a long sigh.

Then he opened his mouth and said:

"I don't understand how things have turned out the way we've had for the last few decades."

"This free land has always grown in a free way, and has provided this country with countless food and meat."

"But why, like overnight, everything changed?"

Wes's eyes were solemn, and unlike his father and younger brother, he was the only one who really smelled the weird cool wind from the east.

His brow furrowed slightly, then relaxed again.

"This is our debt."

he spoke.

"I can't explain too many economic and political issues to you. I can only tell you that this is an official decision that must be made."

"You can think about it, now they just ask us to sell some land to big companies, and they have already encountered such strong resistance, and the outbreak of conflict even caused casualties."

"What kind of signal is that to them?"

"It's not that you don't read the news, so you should also know how we will develop in the future."

"Power concentration is an inevitable trend, and community-based power will definitely be broken and taken back."

"This is just the first step and all I can say is that the days of wildness and disorder will soon be over."

"Confrontation or compromise is only your choice."

After listening to Wes's words, John stood up from the stake.

His hand was subconsciously placed on his waist, where there was a Colt pistol he trusted so much.

Relying on this pistol, he has solved opponents who provoked him several times, and he has also saved his lover from the claws of a grizzly bear.

But now, it seems so weak and weak.

In front of the rolling state machine, what can a pistol and six bullets change?

Maybe it's really time for me to let go.

He took one last look at the herd of cattle in the distance, and asked:

"So, Tyson has made his final offer?"

"That's right, $1.12 billion, that's what they paid for the entire farm."

Wes heard that John's tone was a little loose, so he quickly continued to add:

"But this is not the final plan, we don't need to sell all the shares."

"Just lower the equity to below 30% and let Tyson get the right to operate the farm."

"In fact, according to this plan, we may still recover the farm someday in the future."

"That was just a dream."

John interrupted.

"I don't know if it's the right thing to do but Wes, don't you think that even if we cooperate with the official actions, we won't get the results they want?"

"The lowest levels of community power are being taken back, but not directly into official hands, but through the proxies of large corporations."

"So in the end, is it the government or those companies that really control the country?"

A mocking, schadenfreude smile crept across Wes' face.

He replied:

"It's just a matter of order."

"We only had AR-15s, but Tyson was able to mobilize the Guard's M249s."

"Similarly, their upper limit is limited to light weapons, but what the officials have in their hands are tanks and bombers."

The voice fell, and John fell silent.

He picked up a glass bottle full of gasoline from the ground, and gave Case a glance at the side, and Case understood and replaced the shotgun on his back.

A few seconds later, the glass bottle was thrown far away, and Case calmly aimed and fired.

The dragon's breath bomb shattered the glass bottle into powder, and ignited the fuel inside.

Flames fell from the sky and ignited the grassland on the ground.

Under the sunset, thick black smoke shot straight into the sky, and the backs of the three gradually became blurred in the heat wave.

This is the eve of the official ignition of the EAST project. John has not yet understood the significance of this project, but this fire seems to have burned many things.

4 a.m., AH.

Hefei is not a city that "gets up early". In fact, for a long time, its rhythm has been extremely "lazy".

However, these years have been different.

As one high-tech project after another settled in, as the number of researchers who seemed to be desperately soaking in the laboratory increased, the entire city had to keep up with them.

The all-night supper stall will change its appearance on time at 4 o'clock, put away the slightly greasy barbecue and fried skewers, and move out the steamer with steam, moist and strong aroma.

The owner of the stall does not know who the customers are, and the customers will never say nonsense in front of the stall that has nothing to do with the saltiness of the buns and the softness of the sweet potatoes. The food in the hands of the most mediocre and "humble" laborers is often brought into the heavily guarded island, and together with the diners who bought it, they witnessed the most important "big events" in human history.

It has to be said that this is an emotional collision.

——

Although most of the time, neither the stall owner nor the diners actually think deeply about the meaning of this collision

It was another ordinary day, and Lao Liu, who set up the stall, changed his signboard as usual, quietly waiting for his first batch of customers.

About 15 minutes later, a young man with a crew-shaven head came to his stall as usual, and asked for a cup of soy milk, two buns and a corn.

Old Liu quickly prepared breakfast for him, but this time, the young man did not leave directly as usual, but walked to a table beside him and sat down, slowly peeling the corn with a leisurely demeanor.

This action made Lao Liu stunned.

In his memory, this young man never stayed long, even when it was raining, he would rather run away quickly than take shelter in the stall.

Is the sun coming out from the west today?

It was still early, and there were almost no customers in the stall. Old Liu suppressed his curiosity, walked up to the young man tentatively, and asked:

"Are the steamed buns warm? They've just been steamed, and I don't know if they've been steamed through."

Hearing his words, the young man raised his head and smiled, then replied:

"Hot enough."

"It's hot enough."

Old Liu couldn't help laughing.

In his opinion, there is only the difference between hot and cold food. What does it mean to be hot enough?

"You are rough enough, young man. If you haven't steamed through, I'll replace you with a new one. It won't be long. You've had breakfast with me for several months, and you can still suffer from this?"

His tone was sincere, but the young man's rejection was also firm.

"No need, Uncle, I'm not in a hurry today, I just think it's hot enough."

Only then did Old Liu feel relieved. He wiped his hands on the apron, moved a stool and sat down opposite the young man, and asked curiously:

"You get up so early every day, can your body take it?"

"What kind of work do you do, so busy?"

The young man hesitated for a moment, and there seemed to be a flash of relief in his eyes.

He replied:

"Working on the island."

"Island?!"

Lao Liu immediately widened his eyes and reconfirmed in disbelief:

"Science Island? Is it real or not? What you did was the nuclear fusion mentioned on TV, right?"

"It's nuclear fusion."

The young man nodded solemnly, and at this moment, there was finally a hint of pride in his tone.

"Hey, it's terrible. I thought you were working on a construction site, carrying a schoolbag every day."

"Hey, I heard that you are going to light a fire today, is it true?"

Old Liu's tone was excited, and he looked at the young man with burning eyes, eager to get some "first-hand information" from the other party.

And the young man did not disappoint him.

"Yes, at ten o'clock this morning, the fire will be officially lit."

"Isn't it already said in the news? Just watch the news when the time comes."

"I know, I know, the news must be read."

Old Liu nodded again and again, a little at a loss.

This is the first time he has met the so-called "big shots". In his perception, those people who work on Science Island are all the country's elites, and he may never have the chance to meet them in his life.

But now it seems...it doesn't seem so mysterious, does it?

Thinking of this, he laughed twice, and continued to speak:

"I used to see you all on TV, but today I finally saw a living person."

"It's really lucky. If you weren't in a hurry today, I probably wouldn't have known in my life that I had met you big shots."

Hearing this, the young man looked at Lao Liu suspiciously, and subconsciously asked:

"Why?"

"I'm moving, so I won't open a stall in the future."

Old Liu said with emotion.

"This old factory area is all going to be demolished. It is said that the factory is going to be built. The contract has already been signed. Today is the last day. If you come back tomorrow, the place is probably already fenced off."

"Oh, I know about it. In the future, the first batch of superconducting-fusion industrial complexes will be built here."

The young man nodded thoughtfully.

In fact, he had also heard about this plan, but before that, he didn't take it to heart.

The topic of demolition is actually not that friendly.

Maybe it won't be that easy for people who have lived here for decades to leave the home they have lived in for decades?

"Then what are you going to do next?"

he asked tentatively.

In his heart, he had already had an idea: Although he was a soft-spoken person, if the lives of these nearby residents were affected by the EAST project, he would try his best to say a few words for them.

However, Lao Liu's answer surprised him a bit.

"Me, I'm going to work in the factory too—go to the cafeteria to do white work."

"I have been doing this all my life, and I still have some experience."

"It's settled so soon?"

asked the young man.

"It was decided a long time ago, when the contract was signed-you don't know, there is a shortage of people now."

"If you can accept the placement nearby, you can get an extra 20,000 yuan in subsidies."

Hearing this, the young man finally felt relieved.

But at the same time, he felt that this matter was somewhat beyond his expectations.

The superconducting-fusion industrial complex, when this plan was first proposed, was full of far-sighted technological ambitions, and the core of all discussions was to highlight the advanced and high-end nature of this project.

If it can be built, Huaxia will immediately become the first country in human history to industrialize the application of fusion energy, and the city it is located in will also be recorded in the annals of human development in a special way.

He has always believed that those who can participate in this project should be at least those who are similar to or above him.

But now, he suddenly realized that these people also had to eat.

The leader standing at the top of the academic world, and the owner of a night market stall who sells kebabs and sauerkraut meat buns, their fates seem to be intertwined in a strange way.

The young man suddenly laughed.

He opened his mouth and said:

"You can be regarded as contributing to the progress of mankind."

"That's not it!"

The boss laughed, just as if he had made a harmless joke.

The young man finally drank the last sip of soy milk in the disposable plastic cup. He patted his stomach and stood up. Looking up, there were gradually more people on the street.

The Science Island cannot be seen here, but it can be imagined that the behemoth is ready to wake up.

The sky in the distance has gradually brightened, and the night has passed.

On the eve of a new era, the gears of many people's fortunes have begun to turn.

They may not have felt the torrent rolling forward, but maybe in the future, when they recall this day again, what they will remember will not be the glaring light from the EAST device on the TV screen, but the breakfast stand, that The rough taste of a cup of hand-ground soybean milk with some residue.

On August 10, 2012, the first ignition test of the EAST project was successful. The tokamak device operated stably for more than 60 minutes, and the power of 4 generator sets was 8000MW. Human beings have entered the age of fusion since then.