Chapter 001: Natural Persons, New Humanity, Biochemical Persons
April 2172, a world of unity
In March 2037, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced the complete successful decoding of human DNA
Once the announcement was made, it received recognition from people all over the world. Within just one night, the details of this case vanished from all websites and media sources, and those who were informed online also ceased to discuss the matter, as if it had never happened.
The new generation tends to be more repressed and introverted in matters of emotion, but when Sister Bai saw the newborn child suffering so much, she felt a pang of sympathy and nearly cried. She took off her outer garment, helped clean the child's body, and carefully picked him up, going to file a report while still in her undergarments.
Six minutes later, the maglev vehicle detached from the aerial tube and landed in front of a square. A dozen or so handsome men and beautiful women in white lab coats quickly approached.
The New Humans thus believe that bioengineered beings are also creatures that have been created. Although they possess intelligence and emotions, they lack a soul, which prevents them from appreciating art. Both are creatures that have been "created"; the bioengineered beings are soulless and mechanical, while the New Humans possess souls, thus embodying life
"No!" Sister Bai, who possessed a youthful and delicate beauty, looked at him gently and said: "Your condition is not suitable for excessive emotional excitement; you cannot listen to such passionate music." As she spoke, she checked the panel menu and continued: "In 5 minutes and 31 seconds, Ms. Li Hongdan will perform a piece called 'Lullaby.' I suggest you listen to this piece."
New humans will not have nearsightedness as a "physical defect"; for them, glasses are merely an accessory. This aesthetic trend among new humans is derived from natural humans. Most natural humans have varying degrees of nearsightedness, and they find that wearing glasses gives them an indescribable air of sophistication, which they quite like and subsequently imitate
In September 2175, a large lunar base was established, with significant collection of Ammonia-3, and Earth shut down all old nuclear power plants
Chen Xiansong sighed and did not speak again
The day after the custody decision, the police issued a new announcement, stating that for the healthy growth of the child, they hoped all websites and media would delete any reports related to this case. They also hoped that all informed individuals would forget about this matter. The police even forged the child's birth certificate themselves
Cyborgs also possess emotions, but they are more reserved and suppressed than those of new humans. It is difficult to distinguish between new humans and cyborgs based solely on appearance, but if you play a piece of music performed by a natural human or display a work created by a natural human, it becomes easy to tell them apart
Every individual is now a treasure of the human world. The comprehensive abilities of any new human far surpass those of natural persons, outstripping several stars in distance. However, there exists a realm, a place that is superhuman, which will forever remain unattainable for them.
"Forget it, no need to listen anymore. It's pointless to hear only the beginning and not the end," Chen Xiansong waved his hand, leaning against the soft cushion, twisting to look out the window. Below were towering skyscrapers, and he murmured softly, "Isn't it just a slight fever? Is it really necessary to be this anxious?"
Chen Xiansong turned his head and pleaded, "Sister Bai, can I at least listen to some music?"
This matter caused a great sensation at the time, with a flurry of discussions online. Due to the extremely long lifespan of the new humans, there is a law imposing reproductive restrictions to prevent the overpopulation of the Earth. To have a child, one must apply to the government, and the number of applicants is overwhelming. Furthermore, the government's principle for reproductive restrictions is: for every one child allowed, one must be eliminated.
In February 2038, the first new human test-tube baby was born at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, marking humanity's preparation to enter the era of superhumans
The reasons for this phenomenon are quite simple. Firstly, the capabilities of the new humans are nearly superhuman, with learning abilities exceeding those of natural humans by more than three times, perfect physiques, and rapid neural reflexes. Each new human possesses the two abilities referred to in the old century as "eagle eye" and "dynamic vision." An ordinary new human girl can run faster than a leopard and can single-handedly overturn an elephant, not to mention those specialized soldiers and police officers who have undergone specific genetic enhancements and unique training methods.
Secondly, the lifespan of the new humans is particularly long, theoretically reaching around 400 years. However, in practice, no new human has reached this age, as it has only been a little over 100 years since the first new human was born.
Art
This is the belief in "superstition" of the new humanity
In November 2177, the "Intelligent Life Exploration" program was approved through discussions by the consortium at the beginning of the month and was officially filed in the middle of the month. The aim is to gather global efforts to construct a large spacecraft in the vicinity of the lunar orbit. Humanity is ready and is about to usher in the era of interstellar navigation.
This is the origin of the renowned legal case "Shuke and Beita" in the legal community
The handling of this case later became a reference model for similar cases. Such a significant case could not go unrecognized, but in order to protect the privacy of Chen Xiansong and Sister Bai, the natural judge who handled the case made a sweeping decision to change the names of the parties involved. The girl's name was changed to Shuke, and Chen Xiansong's name was changed to Beta.
For this phenomenon, the New Humanity has conducted research for over ninety years, ultimately concluding that art is not produced by information from the brain, but rather is a special ability bestowed by a higher dimension, by one's own soul. The New Humanity has acquired powerful bodies, yet has lost the ability to communicate with their own souls; the more perfected the DNA modifications of the New Humanity, the further they are from art.
New humans will react to works of art with admiration, joy, or sadness. In contrast, bioengineered individuals exhibit no response.
Sister Bai still appears youthful, yet she is actually seventy-eight years old. She is one of the sixth batch of new humans, with a specialization in memory central enhancement and extreme development of logical thinking. Originally, she was a government employee. One night over a decade ago, she returned late due to work and, while passing by a manhole cover, heard the faint cries of a baby nearby. After listening carefully for a while, she realized the sound was coming from the sewer.
In May 2175 of the Gregorian calendar, string theory was confirmed, and by the end of the same month, dark matter and dark energy were also confirmed
Sister Bai smiled and said: "Of course it is very important. It has been proven that all serious illnesses gradually develop from minor ailments. You are a natural person, and your physical condition is not as good as Sister Bai's. I am already afraid of getting sick myself, so you need even more careful protection"
Such a situation occurs almost on every individual at m.hetushu.com. Fifty years ago, the number of natural persons accounted for one-thousandth of the total population, but now it is even less than one-ten-thousandth. The old natural persons are passing away one by one, while the birth rate of new natural persons is decreasing.
Thus, Chen Xiansong acquired a new identity. His parents, as stated in his identification documents, were artists and musicians who were somewhat well-known at the time. However, during a trip, they were involved in a car accident, and only Chen Xiansong survived. To prevent the child's mother from harassing him upon her release from prison, which could adversely affect his mental health, Sister Bai took Chen Xiansong to live in a new city, with the police actively assisting them in concealing their identities. Sister Bai was not originally named Sister Bai; this name was adopted only after she moved to the new city.
In fact, Bai Jie’s approach was very correct. Chen Xiansong, who was around nine years old, indeed fell into a state of depression for several days, but soon he came to terms with it and no longer pursued the question of who his real parents were
In August 2175, the theory of space leap was officially confirmed, the system was completed, and small-scale tests were conducted successfully
The lifespan of the new humans is excessively long, so they can only wait for some new humans to die unexpectedly and for natural humans to pass away due to old age in order to have the opportunity to reproduce. The application process takes time, and it usually takes more than ten to twenty years to be processed.
Take a simple example: a lake and a forest. If a new human uses a camera to capture this scene, the image will only show the lake and the forest, with flowers and birds. However, such an image is merely a visual representation, a simple depiction of physical objects.
It is fortunate that, although they are unable to create art, they still retain the ability to appreciate it. In this regard, all the new humans are immensely grateful; otherwise, they would be no different from the newly emerged bioengineered beings
If a nature enthusiast who is passionate about photography techniques were to take the shot, the trees and the lake in the image would seem to come alive, providing a pleasing and ever-vibrant sensation.
She lifted the manhole cover by herself, climbed down the ladder, and discovered a newborn baby, roughly the size of a large rat, still attached to a segment of the umbilical cord, lying naked in the filthy, foul-smelling sludge and excrement, crying out loudly.
Chen Xiansong listened for a while, feeling bored. He tapped a few times on the panel with his finger and switched to another channel, where a natural musician, a lady named Li Hongdan, was performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 at Werner Square. The passionate music echoed in the car, and Dong Xiansong couldn't help but tap along to the rhythm. Just then, a delicate finger reached over from the side and switched the 3D image back to the news channel
As time gradually passed, under the care of Sister Bai, Chen Xianqing grew up and began to show considerable talent in traditional calligraphy and classical landscape painting.
Chen Xiansong said, "In five more minutes, we will arrive at the hospital"
Biological humans are a new type of humanity created by the new humans, possessing autonomous thinking abilities. It is not entirely accurate to call them robots, as every organ in a biological body is indistinguishable from that of a new human, having flesh and blood, and their capabilities are comparable to those of new humans. However, they have a special biological chip in their brains, which enables their computational abilities to far exceed those of new humans
The new humans can play three pieces of music on the piano simultaneously at a speed of 5000 APM. They can depict a scene with a carbon pencil within one minute after seeing it, with absolute precision. They can sing notes higher than the dolphin's range. However, they can only "achieve" these feats; they are unable to infuse their souls into them, nor can they elevate these skills into an art form
Subsequently, Sister Bai resigned from her government position to focus on educating and caring for Chen Xiansong. She did not refer to herself as Chen Xiansong's mother. Once the child became more aware, she revealed the "truth" prepared by the police to Chen Xiansong. The reason for this was simple: Sister Bai was a new human, and it was impossible for her to bear natural offspring. A lie requires more lies to cover it up, and it might even expose the "truth" that the police had set up with good intentions. Rather than lying, it is better to selectively "speak the truth." A lie requires more lies to cover it up, and it might even expose the "truth" that the police had set up with good intentions. Rather than lying, it is better to selectively "speak the truth."
In June 2157, the first "Natural Person Protection Law" was enacted, with the population of new humans constituting 99.9% of the total human population
In other words, the new generation is unable to incorporate emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness into their works
It is unknown how many new families yearn to have a child like a book, even if they are not biological.
For this reason, after marriage, natural parents directly go to the hospital for in vitro fertilization, and during the embryonic development process, they modify the DNA to make their children become new humans. Consequently, children born from the union of new humans are also new humans. As this process continues, the number of natural humans gradually decreases.
No, it will take another six minutes and twelve seconds to reach the hospital. Sister Bai adjusted her non-prescription glasses and said, "You have thirty-one seconds to appreciate Ms. Chen Hongdan's lullaby"
At the end of the same month, the individual Chen Xiansong sat in a private magnetic levitation vehicle, traveling through the three-dimensional transportation pipeline to the 10125 Hospital in the city center for a medical appointment. Inside the vehicle, a beautiful newscaster was reading from her script in a three-dimensional projection, which could be described as meticulous in a positive light, but rather stiff and dull in a less flattering sense
After determining the cause, the police concluded that the young girl had attempted murder and sent her to a women's prison in the opposite hemisphere for five years. At the same time, she was deemed unfit to be a mother, and her parental rights were revoked, prohibiting her from ever meeting her son. Subsequently, the police announced the availability of the infant for adoption, hoping someone would take in the child. As soon as the announcement was published online, it received three million applications within just one hour, and within twenty-four hours, an additional ten million applications were submitted through the internet.
Sister Bai stood out among the multitude, securing custody of the child. In her application, there was only a simple sentence: "The moment I held him in my arms, I saw an angel; he is destined to be my child"
This result has left many people disappointed and sighing, yet no one has complained; the internet is filled with messages wishing Sister Bai and her child well
After conducting an investigation and verifying the DNA, it was confirmed that this is a natural-born infant. Following the clues, the mother of the infant was located, a rebellious natural-born young woman who, out of a desire for fun, became pregnant. Subsequently, she rented a place away from her family to conceal her situation and ultimately gave birth to the child in a restroom. Fearing the responsibility, she resolutely flushed the baby down the toilet into the sewer.