CAT Chapter 23: Lost In Space (5)

Ling Yi had been taught by Lin Si for so long that he knew a bit about coding. He could tell that Tang Ning was using a very ancient and complex language, one that was rarely studied anymore.

However, no matter how much technological progress simplified programming languages, one undeniable fact remained—simpler languages exert weaker control over machines. So, there was a reason Tang Ning used this language. It wasn’t for trouble.

Ling Yi also felt a deep familiarity, from the movements to the rolling code on the screen, to the interface behind the code.

He must have seen someone like Tang Ning before, but not on the spaceship.

The Colonel had said he must have undergone professional combat training, with a military style. But who taught him?

As he grew older, he increasingly wanted to know about his past, but his memories were always blank.

Tang Ning typed the code and asked him, “How long will you stay this time?”

“I’m here to help you test the exoskeleton.”

Tang Ning hummed in response.

Ling Yi and Tang Ning had a good relationship. They were only five years apart, and both grew up on the spaceship. Tang Ning was the only one who didn’t call him “baby” or “cutie” like the elders did—which had a lot to do with his personality as well.

Ling Yi looked at the shifting code and asked Tang Ning, “Does anyone else use the same language as you?”

“Rarely,” Tang Ning answered without lifting his head, “Its efficiency is a bit low.”

“Then why do you still use it?”

“I didn’t use this when I was on Earth, but later I saw a very elegant system written with it,” Tang Ning slowed down his typing a little. “It’s the system that the Voyager originally used, called ‘Voyager.’ At that time, Zone 1 hadn’t invented the Lindis field yet, and when we entered subspace, we had to enter collective hibernation. But all the life-supporting systems on the ship had to keep running, and there were many navigational issues… the energy requirements were high. There was no pilot. The system operated the ship autonomously. Even though I already wrote Lucia, the military is still using it, like our permission levels and the core data archives—those things are still supported by it.”

Ling Yi was a bit surprised. Tang Ning had been mythologized in people’s minds, but in Tang Ning’s words, the person who wrote the first program seemed even more legendary than him.

“Is he still on the spaceship?”

“Seems not,” Tang Ning said, “He’s a very legendary person in my field.”

“What’s his name?”

“Ling Ning, he’s Asian,” Tang Ning said, “I named myself after him because I admired him.”

After a brief pause, Tang Ning added, “It seems like your name has a character similar to his.”

Without warning, Ling Yi felt his heart start beating rapidly and getting faster.

He remembered that when the nuclear accident happened in the first district, Mr. Lambert had mentioned this person and said…

That zero and one combined were the names he had thought of for his son.

He asked, “Is this surname common?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never studied your surnames. Let me write a program to check.” Tang Ning opened another interface and typed quickly, “If you’re interested, you can ask Lin Si. They’re very familiar.”

“Very familiar?”

“Should be, Lin Si’s mentor is Dr. Ye Selin, and she’s married to Mr. Ling.” Tang Ning’s typing was fast, and the results came out soon. He looked at Ling Yi, “Your surname is rare.”

Ling Yi’s mind went blank for a moment.

This surname was very rare, and this person named Ling Ning had said he was going to name his son Ling Yi.

His wife was Lin Si’s mentor.

Ye Selin—he had heard that name too.

In that interview with Lin Si, the first sentence the reporter said was, “This is the Wilkins Laboratory, founded by Dr. Ye Selin.”

The lab founded by Dr. Ye Selin had Lin Si as the spokesperson, so what Tang Ning said was true.

If it was really as he thought, did he and Lin Si know each other before?

Ling Yi was stunned by the amount of information he had just received.

Tang Ning asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ling Yi sat down beside him, calming his churning thoughts, “He might be related to me by blood.”

“He’s from the military, and I was still very young when I was on Earth, so I didn’t know much about his family.” Tang Ning said flatly, “I don’t think it’s likely. If he were your relative, Lin Si would have told you by now.”

Ling Yi thought for a moment. Lin Si had never mentioned anything about his past. When he asked, Lin Si had simply said that when setting up the program to randomly select experimental subjects, there was no age limit. By the time they realized a minor child had become an experimental subject, Ling Yi had already undergone pre-treatment, and it was too late to reverse it. They could only continue with the experiment—perhaps because the child’s body wasn’t suitable for the experiment, or perhaps there was a mistake, he had never awakened until he mutated under the black hole radiation.

So, he had always thought that Lin Si had no connection to his past.

But now, he really…

Really felt that the person Tang Ning mentioned might be related to him.

It felt like when he was on the training ground. A string in his mind was suddenly plucked—he knew it was Lin Si coming.

Tang Ning turned his head and saw the dazed expression on his face. His voice softened, “I can hack into the database to check, but its protection is very tight. It’ll take a long time.”

Ling Yi felt that hacking into the database wasn’t a good idea, but the temptation was too great.

“Thank you…” he said. “Do you know anything else? About Mr. Ling and Lin Si?”

“I was only fourteen when I left Earth. I didn’t know anyone,” Tang Ning thought for a moment before answering, “Then I was frozen, and only after that did I get to know them.”

This meant that Tang Ning didn’t know anything else.

Ling Yi asked, “Do you know about the Berlin virus?”

“I know,” Tang Ning said. “Lin Si and Dr. Ye Selin researched it. After I woke up from cryo, I heard that the virus had mutated again, but they still couldn’t find a solution.”

Ling Yi nodded slightly. “Seems like that’s the case.”

Tang Ning furrowed his brow. “Why don’t you ask Lin Si?”

“I…” Ling Yi thought for a moment, lowering his eyes. “Lin Si probably has some unpleasant memories. If I ask him, he’ll be upset, so I won’t ask.”

He really wanted to know about his past, especially now. Lin Si might have known him before leaving Earth, and maybe they knew each other. He really wanted to know, even more than finding out who his real parents were. His heart felt like it had claws scratching inside. But… if it would make Lin Si sad, then he’d rather not ask.

Lin Si hadn’t told him for a reason.

Besides, right now, he desperately hoped that his past wasn’t connected to whatever unpleasant thing Lin Si had gone through. It would be best if… best if they stayed like this, very close, with Lin Si treating him well and him treating Lin Si well. Just being together made him happy.

Tang Ning listened to his answer and didn’t comment. His tone remained flat, “A lot of people on the spaceship have secrets. I’m not interested.”

At this moment, Vivian poked her head from the side and said cheerfully, “Tang Ning is only interested in keyboards and Zheng Shu!”