Mist

Chapter 48: Who Am I

Song Qinglan just raised a brow. He proceeded to unceremoniously pinch himself and let out a low groan, “Fuck.”
Perhaps it was because he found it childish, even he himself was speechless. He spoke with a straight face, “Hurts. Alright, regardless of whether or not it has any scientific basis, it has been proven that we are currently not dreaming. Just trust me.”

A cabin attendant robot pushing a service cart passed by.
Song Qinglan got a cup of warm water for each of them.

It made sense to drink more hot water.
Ji Yushi recovered after drinking and his mind came online again, “Since our return, this is my first time encountering something like this. What about you?”
Song Qinglan said, “It is also the first for me.”

Ji Yushi frowned while deep in thought, “You said that the neighbourhood aunt stood outside my door early in the morning, but when we ran into her when we returned, she was still normal. My brother also met me yesterday and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Why on earth——” He suddenly stopped. His eyes moved to look at Song Qinglan, “Cap Song, I think I know now.”

Song Qinglan might have already guessed what he was going to say but he didn’t interrupt him.
For some reason, he looked forward to seeing Ji Yushi brainstorming and sorting his thoughts out. This calm and rational Ji Yushi would often be able to grasp the crux of the problem with one glance.

“It should be related to Chief Wang.” Ji Yushi said, “I was originally the only one who had memories of this, and it wasn’t enough to affect this reality but you managed to find her information and you similarly gained another memory yourself.”
Song Qinglan listened quietly.
Ji Yushi continued, “Last night, we discussed going to find Chief Wang because we found her approximate location —- If Chief Wang also has double memories, then she is a similar variable like us. To us, it would be proof of the two realities co-existing. The closer we get to her, the closer we are to the most contradictory point of the two realities.”

Song Qinglan asked, “That is, since we decided to find Chief Wang, it has resulted in these……reactions?”

Song Qinglan didn’t know how to describe these strange happenings but it was enough for Ji Yushi to understand what he meant.

The air-conditioning in the carriage was strong, making Ji Yushi a little cold. He held the cup in his hands to warm himself up, “Yes.”
Song Qinglan frowned, “Why is there such a reaction?”

Ji Yushi said, “I don’t know yet, but I have a vague guess. Do you know about the double-slit experiment?”
Song Qinglan nodded, “I’ve heard of it.”

“In the double-slit experiment, a single electron passes through a partition with two slits resulting in an interference pattern on the screen. Just like the single electron passing through the two slits at the same time, some people think that this phenomenon is proof of the many-worlds theory. Suppose a single electron passes through the slit on the left, in another world, the electron passes through the slit on the right. The two worlds could feel each other’s projections and the electron passing through the two slits at the same time interferes with itself, resulting in the interference pattern.” Ji Yushi said, “This is one of many conjectures about parallel worlds.”

Since acquiring time-travel technology, the theory of parallel worlds had been confirmed so Ji Yushi only briefly talked about it and jumped to the main point.

“What I wanted to talk about was something strange about the double-slit experiment. In order to understand how the interference patterns are formed after electrons pass through the double slits, people have tried to use equipment to observe the process of electrons passing through the slit, but when they tried to do it, the interference patterns that appeared on the screen was gone. After electrons passed through the two slits, only two parallel lines were left on the screen. The strange thing was that when the equipment was turned off, the original interference pattern returned. It was as if the electrons have their own thoughts and knows when people are observing it and can change its trajectory at will. In other words, human observation actually affected how electrons moved, changing the results of the experiment.”