We arrived directly inside Norton's residence, unlike on Earth where you first reach the exterior of a home before entering through the main door.
Norton's house was incredibly tidy and beautiful, complete with virtual walls, a virtual bed, and a virtual sofa. There was also something that looked like a table, which was clearly a physical object at first glance.
Sitting on the virtual sofa felt incredibly comfortable, as if an invisible force was supporting us.
I then moved to the bed, finding it equally comfortable. I wondered aloud, "What happens if you turn off the virtual bed?"
"You'll fall to the ground, that's what," Suldair said, and with a sudden press of a button, I indeed fell to the ground. Although the fall wasn't from a high place, it hurt a bit since I was naked, but I tried to act as if it didn't matter.
"You are rude!" Willie and Norton expressed their disapproval.
Suldair pressed the button again, and the virtual bed reappeared, pushing me up with an unseen force. But I didn't dare to sit on the bed again and chose the sofa instead.
"Are you Feeling tired from the journey?" Willie asked, sitting beside me.
"The journey itself wasn't tiring, but I feel a bit heavier on your planet, and walking barefoot is somewhat challenging," I answered, turning my body away from Willie. The feeling of being naked, despite still seeing the white mist-like virtual image around my waist, instinctively made me feel embarrassed.
Later, on their planet, every time I suddenly faced a woman, the sensation of being naked made me involuntarily and hastily check if the white mist-like virtual pattern around my waist was still there.
I discovered that the inhabitants of the Guoker planet were also essentially naked, with their clothes being virtual. However, they were used to it and didn't have my habit of hastily checking their lower bodies upon encountering the opposite sex.
After returning from the alien planet, I still had this habit. Every time I met a young woman, I would hastily check myself, a behavior that lasted for many years before I gradually managed to change it.
"Our planet has stronger gravity than Earth, so you feel heavier here. It can be uncomfortable all the time," Norton explained. "I will request the Global Public Movement Web (GMW) to reduce your weight."
"What?" I was incredulous. "How can a person's weight be reduced through GMW? Without removing anything from the body, how can weight be externally reduced? And what exactly is this GMW?"
"We traveled over ten thousand kilometers from the UFO warehouse here using the GMW," Norton continued. He then swiped his hand over a table, and a delicate white mist immediately appeared above it. Shortly after, the mist transformed into a three-dimensional screen, similar to the one I had seen in the UFO, displaying many alien characters. I noticed these alien characters somewhat resembled English, being composed of basic alphabetical combinations, unlike our pictographic Chinese characters.
With graceful hand movements, Norton operated the device, and a gentle female voice emerged near my ear: "Welcome to the Global Public Movement Web..."
After Norton worked on it for a while, I suddenly felt my body lighten, noticeably more relaxed. It was incredibly strange; what had Norton done? He said it was the GMW, but what exactly is that?
Norton explained, "The primary equipment of the GMW is an artificial field generator orbiting our planet, similar to your Earth's geostationary satellites. It rotates in sync with our planet, which also rotates on its axis. However, these artificial field generators are much larger than your Earth's satellites."
Our planet has nine of these generators covering the entire globe. These devices can project a special, artificially created field——an artificial field, essentially affecting space and, consequently, any object within that space.
The artificial field generator, along with the global positioning system, computers, and the GIW, forms the GMW.
When we want to travel and seek assistance from the GMW, the process is roughly as follows: we first send our travel request information through the GIW to the artificial field generator in space.
The field generator first confirms your identity. Once verified, it locks onto your location through the global positioning system, then targets both your current location and your destination. You can disappear from your current location and appear at your desired destination almost instantly.
Because this process is too fast to perceive, we typically refer to this mode of transport as 'instantaneous travel' ."
"Unbelievable. The GMW is invisible and intangible, yet also very complex," I said. "This is incredible, even more so than flying saucers, and it's user-friendly to boot. Passengers don't need to bring anything with them. So why don't you use the GMW to travel to other planets?"
"The range of the GMW is limited to a single planet," Norton replied. "The reason is that the artificial field generator only targets the ground, and its range is limited. To travel from one planet to another, we can only use flying saucers."
"It seems the core of GMW is the artificial field generator, and everything else is just auxiliary. So, what's the basic principle of this artificial field generator?" I asked.
"It's the same as the basic principle of flying saucers. The artificial field generator irradiates people, causing the space around them, which is normally moving at the speed of light, to stop moving. This movement at the speed of light is what gives mass to people and objects. Once a person's mass is reduced to zero, they can move at the speed of light, and when they reach their destination, the movement of space around them is restored to its original state.
If there's something in the way, the mass of that obstacle is also reduced to zero, allowing for unobstructed, barrier-free passage through it.
However, this reduction of mass to zero is a relative concept. I might feel that my mass has been reduced to zero, while you might think there's been no change," Norton explained, leaving me somewhat confused and incredulous.
"So, you're saying that two solid objects can pass through each other without any barriers under the irradiation of the artificial field generator, right?" I asked. "Why don't the molecules in the solids block each other?"
Norton answered, "Ordinary objects are made of atoms, which consist of nuclei and electrons around the nucleus, with the volume of electrons and nuclei only accounting for a tiny fraction of an atom's volume. Normally, a person walking up to a wall is blocked because the molecules and atoms in the wall are held together by interaction forces, essentially electromagnetic forces.
We are actually blocked by these electromagnetic forces. Without these forces, we could easily pass through.
The artificial field device eliminates the electromagnetic forces in objects, allowing two solids to easily pass through each other. However, the disappearance of these electromagnetic forces is a relative concept. To one person, they may seem to have disappeared, while to another, they are still present."
Norton's explanation had me feeling dizzy.
"So, the artificial field generator can reduce the mass of objects. I feel lighter now because the artificial field generator is constantly tracking me and reducing my mass, but not completely reducing it to zero, just lessening it, right?" I asked Norton.
"Right, you're smart. That's exactly how it works," Norton said.
Willie added: "The floating people must have a reason to find him." (Floating people means the highly advanced gas-form aliens I encountered as I was a kid.)
"Brother Qian is definitely among the smart ones on Earth. Earthlings are smart beings, but unfortunately, they spend their intelligence on fighting each other, constantly bickering and using their wits in this area," Suldair said.
"Another bad habit of Earthlings is dividing people into many levels, thinking some are superior and emphasizing that others are inferior," he continued.
"Am I considered superior or inferior on Earth?" Willie stared at me and asked.
"I'm both. Right now, I'm only interested in the GMW," I told Norton. "Is GMW omnipotent?"
"This artificial field device that can make people disappear instantly isn't omnipotent; it has many limitations."
"If the energy of this device does not reach a certain value, the artificial field it generates cannot make a person disappear instantly when irradiated. If the mass of the object required to disappear instantly is too large, or if the mass of many objects combined is too large, the device won't have enough power to operate. Moreover, if the device operates unstably, a person trying to pass through a wall might get stuck and lose their life," Norton continued to explain.
"Creating an instantaneous disappearance for an object as large as a planet requires much more energy compared to a person, consuming an astonishing amount of energy. Making a person pass through a wall is easy, but making someone pass through a planet requires an extraordinarily high power from the artificial field device, consuming a tremendous amount of energy, otherwise, the person might get stuck inside the planet, leading to death. In reality, we don't have such high-powered artificial field devices."
I still had many questions about the GMW.
"What if a small room suddenly receives many requests for entry?" I asked.
"The request for the GMW is highly intelligent; in such cases, it only allows the people who applied first. Subsequent applicants cannot pass through. The GMW is not only highly intelligent but also integrated with the global information network," Suldair explained.
"The GMW will alert you: the space you wish to reach is full, your request for movement is not supported by the GMW this time, and you may choose another time or delay," Willie's explanation sounded very similar to the warm messages I often hear from the information network customer service in my ear.
"I want to appear in a bank vault at night, filling my bag with bundles of cash. Appearing in a beautiful girl's room at night, ah, to make her and myself—wouldn't society become chaotic?" I said.
"Ha ha," Suldair laughed, his body shaking with the rhythm of his laughter. "You Earthlings are all about this, with such petty ambitions.
The GMW is highly intelligent. When you request it to appear in a bank vault or in a beautiful girl's room, it pops up a virtual screen saying: 'Sorry, your request violates relevant laws, the GMW does not support it.'
When you request to appear in the dangerous seas, the GMW pops up a screen saying: 'The GMW kindly reminds you that the sea is a dangerous area, make sure to bring online devices for a safe return.'
If you don't carry a computer or a phone for online access, the GMW pops up a screen saying: 'Sorry, our network detected that you do not carry a computer or other online devices, we cannot ensure your safe return, this transit request is not supported.'
When you make a careless click on the computer requesting the GMW to transport you to a spot ten meters above the ground, the GMW immediately alerts you: 'The network will comply with your instruction, fulfilling your movement request for your safety, by default, transporting you to the ground, ten meters directly below your chosen location.'
When you request the GMW to transport you to another planet, the screen pops up saying: 'Sorry, the GMW can only transport people and objects within a global range, your request exceeds our capabilities.'
When you find a beautiful mountain and request the GMW b to move it to your home, the screen pops up saying: 'Sorry, the GMW for ordinary users like you can only transport personnel and objects not exceeding one hundred tons within a global range, your request exceeds your rights.'
When you see something belonging to someone else and request the GMW to move it to your residence, the screen pops up saying: 'This is someone else's property, your request violates relevant laws, this transit network does not support it."
Suldair explained a lot in one go, clearing up many of my questions.
I'm utterly amazed by this GMW. How wonderful it would be if such a thing existed on Earth! I dream of going to the United States, finding the address I want to visit through the information network, and then, with the press of a confirmation button, I appear at that place in the US. To return, I simply find the address of my hometown, press the confirmation button again, and I'm instantly back home. How magical and convenient that would be!
"Oh, I get it now. Your streets have no cars, no trains, no planes, no form of transportation at all. People don't carry bags when they go out, and your homes don't store many items. That's because you have the GMW, making it too easy to travel and transport goods," I said.
"There's no need for stores either since you can directly receive goods from the manufacturer's warehouse. And no hotels or inns, because no matter how far away you are, you can always quickly return home."
"Yes, that's exactly the kind of society we are," Suldair responded.
"The miraculous GMW makes everything simple, fast, safe, and efficient!" I exclaimed. "Can I request the GMW to take me everywhere?"
"You can't, because you don't have an identity. But, if you were considered as someone's belonging," Norton said, "like if you were my luggage that I carry around all the time, I could request the GMW to take you with me. You're from another planet and can't obtain an identity here. Only people from our planet can have one.
Later you'll see that the GMW has many more important uses. If Earth had this network, it would drastically impact your life, studies, work, scientific research, and more. It would significantly change the layout of your cities since people wouldn't need to crowd together.
It could even lead to the disappearance of countries and wars on Earth, as combatants could be forcibly separated through the GMW.
Our eating habits and how our bodies gain energy largely rely on the global transportation network.
The GMW could also change societal moral values and laws. Society doesn't demand morality and laws because if someone wanted to do harm, it could immediately prevent it, making it impossible for bad deeds to succeed."
"Oh, I see. So, if it suddenly stopped, you'd all be in grave danger, right?" I remarked.
"That's correct!" They replied in unison.
"Our two major webs are constantly locating and tracking every individual on the planet, providing them with various services at all times. These services only stop if the individual leaves their planet," Suldair explained.
"You're also building the internet on Earth now, and eventually, it will become similar to our GIW. However, you still don't have a GMW.
Our GIW can constantly provide everyone with communication, inquiry, location, greetings, translation, and various identity verification and authentication services. Our GIW transmits information through pure space, using long-distance, non-contact artificial field scans to provide services, all for free.
Our artificial field scanning technology can remotely read the thoughts and consciousness in everyone's brain and input information remotely into anyone's brain through space. People can directly exchange and send information through space using artificial field scanning, meaning individuals can communicate directly over long distances through the GIW. This is our artificial field scanning and frequency interception technology."
"Why do you still use external computers?" I asked, puzzled.
"Sometimes, too much information directly entering the human brain can cause interference, making people feel annoyed. That's why many of us also use various computer devices externally," Norton explained to me.
"The constant tracking by our GIW and GMW is incredibly powerful, giving each of us, no matter where we go, immense capabilities. It's precisely because these two webs are always tracking us and providing various services that we can be anywhere without facing danger. The two webs offer us reliable safety guarantees," Suldair said.
"If anything happens that poses a real threat to our people, our GMW, which is highly intelligent, can quickly move people to safety. Our GIW not only provides various information services at all times but also can remotely and non-invasively record a person's thoughts and consciousness.
If a person experiences a special accident and loses their life, the GIW can completely record that person's thoughts and consciousness. It's possible to install the recorded thoughts and consciousness into the brain of an artificially created human through artificial field scanning technology, essentially reviving that person."
Later, I realized that the GIW on the planet Guoker provides them with information services, while the GMW offers services related to transportation, manufacturing, and daily activities, essentially extending their capabilities.