Part 68: Yesterday Once More

_{content warning: car accident, child death}

[BGM: Getting Serious]


The headline article is accompanied by a photo of two people.
One is a middle-aged man, the other is a middle-aged woman.
Each of them is holding a peculiar box in their hands.

I look at the article to the right of the photo.



“Take a six-sided die. The chance of getting any number between 1 and 6 during one roll is one in six.
On average, we should get the number we want in 6 tries at most.
Now, if each and every possibility in this world, from the past, present and future, could be represented by a number...



“Then, if we had a die that has as many 'sides' as all of the possibilities, and we roll the die fast enough, we should be able to change everything.
This was the theory proposed by Dr. Wang Ruihai during the International Summit Conference on Artificial Intelligence, five years ago.

“At the time his presentation was widely mocked by experts; the press described it as 'pure lunacy'.
Some critics even accused him of being 'deranged', and some of his fellow Chinese colleagues considered him a disgrace to their country.
However, a month ago Dr. Wang and his wife announced that, based on their theory, they had developed two prototype machines...



“...that are literally capable of anything. They named them Omni-Dimensional Probability Generators.”

Omni-Dimensional... Probability... Generators...

*bzzt!*









!!!

What just happened? Actually... I think I've seen this before...



“While the entire world was still skeptical about their announcement, Dr. Wang held an exclusive invitation-only press conference.
Our editor and reporter were fortunate enough to have been invited to attend this historical conference, and were able to report that we have witnessed the astonishing capabilities of the so-called Omni-Dimensional Probability Generators.

“During the conference, Dr. Wang started by doing a small demonstration of 'telepathy'.
A volunteer was invited onto the stage and separated from Dr. Wang by a screen. They each wrote down a number on a blackboard. Somehow, they both wrote down the same number every single time.
But according to Dr. Wang, it wasn't really 'telepathy'.



“It was the result of Dr. Wang changing the number that the volunteer had written down by operating a Generator.
Yet none of the audience, not even the volunteer himself, had noticed anything unusual.

“In the second demonstration Dr. Wang locked himself inside a sealed room, separated from the audience. Then, he was asked to write down the appearance of a volunteer from the crowd, who was yet to be chosen.
After Dr. Wang had finished writing on a white board, a volunteer was selected from the audience. It was a young man with a ponytail; his hair was dripping with green paint.



“The young man explained that earlier in the day he was walking past a building on his way to the conference, when the painters high above the building accidentally dropped a bucket of paint, which landed on his head.
As he was feeling very uncomfortable due to the dripping paint, he asked to borrow a pair of scissors from the staff at the conference, and cut off his ponytail right there on the stage.

“Then the staff revealed what Dr. Wang had already written on the board.
It read: 'Male. 175cm. Lean. Short, green hair.'
Everyone present gasped, including the young man.



“If Dr. Wang had written down 'short black hair' instead, did it mean that the young man would not have been doused with the paint earlier?
Or maybe someone else would have been chosen?
The press conference ended, leaving everyone in utter shock.

Although we were only able to witness two simple demonstrations, we have absolutely no doubt that-



“-the invention of the generators is powerful enough to completely overhaul all accepted logic in the world, perhaps even the entire universe as we know it.

“The Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, and medicine, which are typically announced in October, have all been awarded to the Wangs in advance this year.
However, Dr. Wang and his wife released another statement, declining the prizes.
They also stated that no further information about the Omni-Dimensional Probability Generators would be released to the public.
Therefore, even though the news of the machine's invention has spread throughout the entire world, we still have no understanding on the principles of its capabilities.

“During the press conference, Dr. Wang and his wife revealed that-



“-their reason for creating the invention had nothing to do with the greater benefits for mankind, but only to fulfill their own wishes.

“So far many nations, led by the United States, have expressed their stern concerns to the Chinese government.
The leaders from these countries claim that the invention is extremely dangerous, and might even have the potential to eradicate the entire human race.
They insist that the machine, as well as all related research, must be destroyed as soon as possible.

“The Chinese government has yet to respond to the demands.

“As of this moment we have very limited knowledge of the Omni-Dimensional Probability Generators.



“The only information we are able to confirm is that Dr. Wang has named his project 'WILL', and that they have built two prototypes, WILL-0 and Will-1.
Unsubstantiated information suggests that both prototypes might have also been equipped with highly advanced artificial intelligence, that are modeled after the couple's son and daughter respectively.



“The children of the Wangs died three years ago in a traffic accident. A photo of the children can be seen on the right.”

A smaller photo was printed to the far right side of the article. It was the same as the one inside the picture frame.



“Elder brother Wang Wei (left) and younger sister Wang Miao (right). They were both killed in a traffic accident three years ago... They tragically died at the young ages of 14 and 12, respectively.”

[BGM: Silence]




Ah... No... This is...

My head... It hurts so bad...

*bzzt!*


…



Well, I won't be mad if you sing me a song.

What? What song?

Well... I want you to sing Teresa Tang's I Only Care About You for me!

Eh... That is too embarrassing...

I'd be okay with one of her other songs, too.

All of her songs are too embarrassing to sing out loud... How about this, you give me a kiss on the cheek and big brother will sing for you right here, right now. Deal?

… (mwa)

Not on my hand... on my face. Here, here...



Wait. Oh no!

What's the matter?

Buka is gone!

Did you lose it at the zoo? It's okay. I'll get you an even cuter one.

No... I want to go and find it...

Wait! Don't run so fast!



Be careful! Watch out for the car! THE CAR!

*screech!!!!*



*SLAM!*

…

*beep beep beep beep beep...*

[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


Doctor! We are about to lose the girl!

Ouch, it hurts, oh no...

What is it?

It was an accident. She was hit by a truck; she lost too much blood on the way over here and she's barely breathing. Blood pressure 40 over 70.



Inject adrenaline. Prepare for a transfusion.

Brother...

She's losing consciousness.

*bweeeeeeeeeeee...*

There's no heartbeat.

Charge to 200!

Clear!

*bwoom*



No change. One more!

Charge to 300!

Clear!

Damn it... Step aside!

*bwoom*



Heartbeat has stopped for... 52 seconds.

Was there anyone else with her?

There was a boy; he died in the ambulance.

Damn it... Time of death, 10:28am.