Chapter 17: Information Turbulence Contactee
The next day’s trip held no great surprises for Xiang Chuan. Compared to yesterday, aside from one turning right into the Commercial District and the other turning left into the Government Agency area, the scenery along the way was largely similar. Relatively speaking, yesterday’s Commercial District was even cooler. The current streetscape of large white walls spliced with black tiles… had a vibe of dreaming back to the 21st century.
“Brother Xiang Qi, are we just going straight there? What if the counter at the Information Bureau happens to be on break?”
Xiang Chuan asked. She recalled how in her previous life, she had run back and forth to the Government Hall with her documents to handle procedures, only to always run into their rest days, which infuriated her.
“No problem. Last night, I already made an appointment for you at the Information Bureau. This morning, they replied that you can come to handle it.”
“That’s good.” Xiang Chuan yawned. “If we make this trip for nothing, I’d rather stay home and research more new recipes with Little Kitchen.”
“I wanted to ask yesterday: why do you call the Kitchen AI ‘Little Kitchen’?”
“It’s convenient to say. Calling ‘Kitchen AI’ all day long ties my tongue in knots, and Little Kitchen doesn’t protest anyway.”
Xiang Qi smiled upon hearing this. “How could a management AI get angry? You, if not for contacting Information Turbulence this time, probably wouldn’t set foot in the Kitchen your whole life. Now you’re always running to the Kitchen, and even calling the Kitchen AI has become intimate.”
“What? Are you jealous, Brother Xiang Qi? No worries. As long as you’re willing, even if my grandniece or grandnephew can fetch soy sauce in the future, I’ll still call you brother.”
With that, Xiang Chuan gave a thumbs up, wearing an expression of “Brother, no problem, I’ll always support you,” which nearly made Xiang Qi burst out laughing.
Government agencies all adopted the “five days on, two off” work system passed down from the Common Era, but the Information Bureau had no chance to enjoy this treatment.
After the Tianyuan Era, people’s lives and societal operations became inseparable from the information network. However, the increase in network resource usage caused the fleet network’s capacity to far exceed the estimates at the time of the Twelfth Fleet’s establishment. For this reason, the First Fleet had to agree to the Eleventh Fleet’s proposal to apply space-time Jump Technology to Network Technology, successfully constructing a space-time Network with theoretically infinite capacity. What the space-time Network brought was not only unlimited capacity space, but also ultra-long-distance zero-latency communications between fleets and extremely high-speed cloud processing technology. But even the most refined network program would fall into operational paralysis if mixed with garbage drifting in the space-time Network, and the Information Bureau’s main job was to handle various internal fleet affairs related to the space-time Network.
After the Eleventh Fleet first detected Information Turbulence on the space-time Network, the First Fleet’s top brass were once deadlocked over “whether Information Turbulence affairs fall under the Historical Research Institute or the Information Bureau.” Later, as the fields of Old Era items publicly revealed by Information Turbulence Contactees gradually expanded, it was finally decided that the Information Bureau would be the overall person in charge of Information Turbulence Contactees, determining which department would handle the contactees’ finds based on the excavated items.
But for the Information Bureau, this function was somewhat like food that was unpalatable yet too wasteful to discard.
Xiao Wang, who had to bid farewell early to her exquisite Sunday breakfast due to an appointment for registering an Information Turbulence Contactee, thought the same.
“Huh, Xiao Wang, aren’t you off today? Why are you at the bureau?”
The front desk receptionist had just returned from the tea room and saw Xiao Wang listlessly clocking in at the elevator with her bracelet-shaped Authentication Terminal, feeling curious.
“Isn’t it because there’s an appointment today? Sigh… my Fresh Fish Noodle Soup and apple chunks…”
Xiao Wang pulled a long face, rubbing her belly. She had rushed out today and only hastily eaten a vegetable chunk, so her stomach was still hungry.
“Huh, so that means an Information Turbulence Contactee is coming to register?” The receptionist set down her Water Cup, opened the front desk Terminal, and checked. “It really is. Estimated to arrive in half an hour.”
“Why come neither early nor late, but precisely on Sunday? Sigh…”
“Maybe they’re only free on Sundays. Besides, the emergence period of Information Turbulence isn’t fixed. Just think of it as working hard for your salary.”
Watching the sighing Xiao Wang board the elevator, the receptionist picked up her Water Cup and began glancing toward the entrance from time to time.
Information Turbulence Contactee, that is, fleet Residents who have come into contact with Information Turbulence content. Since the Eleventh Fleet publicly disclosed Information Turbulence technology, network enthusiasts in various fleets have been keen to contact Old Era information or alien technology in Information Turbulence. The more developed a fleet’s Network Technology, the more Contactees there are. Relatively, fleets like the Third Fleet that emphasize other industries have very few Contactees.
The last time a Contactee appeared in the fleet was about three thousand years ago, right? The receptionist looked at the appointment registration on the screen, thinking silently.
“Xiao Wang? So early. I thought you’d definitely be late.”
Director John, playing a game on the sofa at the Office door, raised his hand as a greeting to her.
“If I were really late, I’d be laid off early tomorrow.”
Xiao Wang said grumpily.
The Third Fleet Information Bureau’s Information Turbulence Processing Office was an absolute sinecure. Because it was so idle, the Staff here were often borrowed by other departments. At the worst, the entire Office had even gone to help the neighboring Agriculture Network Maintenance Team. For ambitious young people aiming to climb the ladder, it was a department they wished to avoid, but for high-educated people like Xiao Wang and Director John with no career ambitions, just wanting punctual work hours and stable salary, it was a dream paradise.
“Just the two of us today?”
Xiao Wang turned on the information login Terminal. This Terminal had to be on during workdays, but it hadn’t been used in three thousand years. If not for the government covering the electricity bill, the Information Turbulence Processing Office members would secretly discuss whether to save on this Terminal’s electricity and use it at the year-end department annual meeting to give everyone an extra Fresh Fish Noodle Soup set meal.
“The appointment registration is just a Minor, nothing troublesome. Plus, her guardian proxy will come today.” John opened his Terminal and looked at the Application Form received this morning. “Luckily it’s just a kid; otherwise, we’d have to call in someone from the hygiene department for a full-body check, which is a hassle.”
“After all, those Contactees with technology all like to do neural modifications privately… No idea what they’re thinking, just for some Information Turbulence.”
“From a technician’s perspective, the ancient tech inside is definitely worthless, but for other fields, it’s invaluable.” Director John switched the Terminal page to a promotion webpage. “Five thousand years ago, when the Eleventh Fleet detected Information Turbulence, they successfully obtained this incomplete Romeo and Juliet from it, which remains the Twelfth Fleet’s biggest flagship to this day. The Cultural Affairs Bureau guys are super envious.”
“But the later Contactees only got weird books and pictures from it, and no new culture developed from them.”
“Those are all treated as treasures by the Historical Research Institute, and…” Director John instinctively lowered his voice, “the truly valuable discoveries might never have been formally put on display.”
Xiao Wang shivered upon hearing this. She had heard the rumors about the First Fleet government and Information Turbulence. For her stable salary, she decided to shut up.
At this moment, the communication Terminal next to the Office rang. It was the front desk receptionist:
“Xiao Wang, Director John, the guests have arrived.”
The Information Bureau’s exterior was unremarkable; aside from being quite tall, Xiang Chuan even thought it wasn’t as good as her home. But once inside, she found it had a lot going on. As the government department with the most advanced Information Technology, the Hall was decorated with spiral-shaped virtual Equipment, in a style like a starship cockpit. A translucent display Screen hung above the front desk, scrolling through the operational status of various Information Bureau departments. Even though it was Sunday, most departments showed “Normal operation,” with people and Service Robots constantly leading guests in and out of the public elevator.
Hmm, after graduation, I absolutely won’t work here.
Xiang Chuan thought with a smile on her face.
“Miss Xiang Chuan who made the Information Turbulence Contactee appointment last night, and guardian proxy Mr. Xiang Qi, right?” The front desk receptionist sister smilingly verified their Terminals. “We’ve just notified the Information Turbulence Processing Office of your visit. Please follow this guide Robot to the designated floor.”
With that, the floor beside them opened, sending up a penguin-shaped Robot, which left Xiang Chuan stunned.
Doing Network Technology and penguins—could this be the Tianyuan branch of X messaging?
Following the penguin onto the elevator, it unexpectedly went not up, but down. Upon reaching floor -24, they saw a capable mature woman and a bespectacled middle-aged man waiting at the door.
“Hello, Miss Xiang Chuan. Welcome to the Information Turbulence Processing Office.”
It instantly gave Xiang Chuan the illusion of joining some mysterious chuunibyou organization.
Government-affiliated public departments definitely didn’t have such things. In fact, Xiang Chuan’s registration procedures went very quickly. While Xiao Wang scanned Xiang Chuan’s Terminal during information registration, the resulting family member list made her shudder, and she sat up straight to sequentially complete a series of registration procedures.
Now, only the final Information Turbulence contact type remained…
“Confirming again: your current contacted information types are Image category and Food Manufacturing Category, correct?”
“Yes.”
With that, Xiang Chuan took the box handed over by Xiang Qi. Inside were fragrant Rice Flour Cake and Egg Pancake.
“This is Food manufactured based on Food Manufacturing Category information, and this…” She opened Empresses in the Palace stored on her Terminal. “This is the Image I got from Information Turbulence.”
So fragrant! I really want to eat it!
Xiao Wang looked at the golden cakes and Egg Pancakes in the box, swallowing hard.
“Alright, please present your Personal Terminal.”
Xiang Chuan placed her Terminal on the desk, and instantly a cylindrical protrusion extended from the table, pressing into the round hole on the Terminal.
“Registration completed for you. After returning home, please log the future information estimated for network dissemination and commercial use on the government’s program Personal Registration page, then it can be authorized for others to use.”
That’s it? Xiang Chuan picked up her Terminal, fiddled with it, and sure enough, a Personal Registration page had been added to the government program on the home screen. She had originally wanted to check if Geegle was okay, but with so many people around now, it wasn’t convenient to open it casually.
“If I get other types of information from Information Turbulence in the future, do I need to come here to register again?”
Xiang Chuan asked. She didn’t want to run back and forth every day.
“You can use the Personal Registration identification program to identify new information. If identification fails, it can be transferred for manual identification, and we’ll handle it online for you.”
Got it, pretty convenient. Xiang Chuan nodded in satisfaction.
After Xiang Qi and Xiang Chuan left, Xiao Wang immediately ordered an exorbitantly expensive takeaway, startling Director John.
“So fragrant.” Xiao Wang sniffed the lingering sweet cake scent in the air. “Is this the charm of Information Turbulence? I feel it.”
