Chapter 220: Fully Automated Medical Platform
Chapter 220: Fully Automated Medical Platform
Time passed by quickly.
Three days later, the first batch containing one million vaccines and disposable medical equipment arrived in four transport aircraft at Namibia’s capital, Windhoek. The supplies were sent by a subsidiary unit of Blacklight Biotechnology, Tara.
On the sixth day, the second and last batch of vaccines arrived on time.
On the eighth day, the Namibian government began to resume its function.
On the ninth day, the country’s military units were mobilized to clean up all corpses that were left in the open as well as to locate remaining survivors.
On the fifteenth day, all the refugees in Eco Science City were fully dismissed. The government had also begun the restorative process to rebuild the nation from the ground.
Having been confined to the indoors for so long, the staff of Blacklight Biotechnology could finally walk out and feel the comforting bath of warm sunlight and the caresses of the refreshing breeze.
As the initial occupants of Walvis Bay had either died from the pandemic or escaped overseas, the coastal city had now resembled a ghost town. Aside from patrolling soldiers, what was left of the city was merely citizens huddling up in corners.
As if the entire country was reshuffled, Namibia’s already scarce population had shrunk even further.
At least, the worst was finally over.
Looking past the quiet Eco Science City, Chen Chen shook his head slightly.
He could not help but feel he was out of luck. When Eco Science City had managed to gain popularity within half a year since opening, they were immediately met by the pandemic.
Most businessmen would have been made bankrupt under similar circumstances. Fortunately, Chen Chen possessed a huge safety net that allowed him to endure the challenges.
As time would heal all wounds, Eco Science City would also one day return to its former glory.
Besides, the Blacklight virus that had shaken all countries had also cemented his company’s presence worldwide. Chen Chen’s company was the first to discover the Blacklight virus and to invent the vaccine. At least one-third of the world’s population now knew about Blacklight Biotechnology.
This was especially true when conspiracy theories mushroomed on the Internet, with many claiming that the Blacklight virus was a biological weapon developed by the Northern American army and many others claiming that the virus was released by the Swiss. Some even claimed that the virus was developed by Blacklight Biotechnology in the African Continent.
As different narratives took off, netizens all across the globe quarreled furiously on the Internet. Yet, no one was able to produce any shreds of evidence.
At last, governments from all over the world had to make an appearance and show conclusively that the virus was indeed just a natural evolution of its predecessors. It was only then that the commotion was put to rest.
Not long after, under the announcement of the World Health Organization, countries had soon wrapped up their vaccination research and initiated their large-scale animal testing.
The clinical trials would only begin once the animal testing indicated that the vaccines were harmless.
It was during this period that many also began to understand the true significance of Blacklight Biotechnology’s ability to research a vaccine a month and a half ahead of time.
The announcement had showcased the remarkable technology and skills Blacklight Biotechnology possessed. Many who had initially brushed off the company were starting to take it seriously.
On the other side, Little X had returned empty-handed for the first time.
After more than 10 days of scanning, Little X did not manage to detect any abnormal information about the pandemic in the Earth Federation’s information hub, disproving Chen Chen’s hypothesis.
“Was I thinking too much?”
Chen Chen contemplated. It could be that he had indeed overthought, but it could also be that some classified pieces of information were simply untraceable on the Internet.
After all, the Internet was like a massive ocean. To find a needle in a haystack was simply an understatement when it came to looking for specific pieces of information on the Internet, even for Little X.
Furthermore, actual secrets were typically disconnected from the Internet whereas individuals who were privy to that level of secrecy would only belong to an exclusive inner circle.
Perhaps it could be some figures within the Earth Federation who was standing above the confinement of human society...
“Cough.”
Since the search did not yield any result, Chen Chen decided to not bother himself with this issue for now. He was now in the nuclear power station, staring into the USB drive in his hand as he contemplated in front of his monitor screen.
Another month had passed and the USB drive had now contained copious amounts of electrical energy, emitting countless little spots of lights that the object resembled a galaxy.
If the trend had continued, would that mean that the USB drive would turn into a completely glowing silver object if it was fully charged?
Who would have known? Perhaps the USB drive would go through yet another change as it reached that level.
However, if Chen Chen had wanted to make the USB drive glow completely, he would need tens of thousands of times more energy to accomplish that. It was not something he could afford to explore.
Then, he proceeded to inject the USB drive into the computer and transferred another movie into his USB drive.
Elysium.
Soon, the movie was successfully uploaded into the USB drive.
“Very well.”
Chen Chen breathed a sigh of relief. After visiting the Resident Evil dimension, the USB drive still had enough charge to carry 3000 kilograms of matters over.
It was enough to obtain a movie object that Chen Chen had long set sight on. On second thought, it would not even be a difficult task.
The movie was set in the year 2154. It was a time when Earth was split into two social classes. The first social class was the rich and elite, who resided in a man-made celestial object called the Elysium.
The Elysium took after the design of a Stanford torus, a concept proposed by NASA in 1975. It was situated in low Earth orbit, where it would rotate once per minute so that its residents experience the same force of gravity as they would on Earth. Having a breadth of three kilometers and a diameter of sixty kilometers, the structure could house a few million residents in its capacity.
It was a beautiful environment where people could live a carefree life free of any disease and sickness. It was a haven built only for the most elite of society.
Meanwhile, as a stark contrast to this social class, there existed the poor. When environmental pollution had rendered Earth nearly uninhabitable, the rich moved to the Elysium, leaving countless poor residents on the planet.
The Earth was suffering from massive environmental degradation and overpopulation. The residents were forced to resort to laborious work to make ends meet, living an arduous and tiresome life.
Such was the opening scene of the movie.
However, Chen Chen felt that the movie’s stance was too extreme or even ridiculous. After all, a society that possessed the ability to transfer billions of tonnes of materials into Earth’s orbit had probably achieved the technology to harness nuclear fusion.
At that level of scientific advancement, coal combustions would have long been irrelevant as they tap into an infinite source of electrical energy. By then, Earth’s environment could only improve from there onward, not the other way round.
Besides, if humanity had the ability to construct a Stanford torus, they would be capable of migrating across the Solar System, setting up permanent residences on Europa, Dione, and even on planets like Mars. How was that not a more effective solution than constructing the Elysium from scratch in space?
Furthermore, rich people and poor people were not the only types of people that lived on this planet. Where did the director think the middle class went?
However, there was no need for discussing these social ideologies in depth. After all, quantum mechanics dictated that there existed an infinite amount of parallel universes. There were no limits to how ridiculous civilizations would develop for humanity.
The most unforgettable feature of this movie was not the movie’s social commentary nor the protagonist’s killing spree. It was the feature of a technologically-advanced machine.
This machine was a fully automated medical platform – the Medpod 3000.
According to the movie’s settings, the Medpod 3000 was claimed to be able to cure all diseases that had plagued humanity since the beginning. A young girl stricken by leukemia needed to only lie in the machine for a few minutes before she would fully recover her health.
Not only that but the Medpod 3000 also possessed the capability to repair bodily damages. When the movie’s antagonist had his entire face blown off by a grenade, his comrades only needed to place his body on the Medpod 3000 for a quick scan before his facial bones, skins, and all structures were swiftly repaired back to perfection.
In addition, the Medpod 3000 was capable of maintaining various bodily functions, enough to extend the lifespan of its users by two folds.
Chen Chen had long wanted to acquire one for himself. However, he was impeded by the lack of power his USB drive contained. Now that this problem was solved, Chen Chen immediately hopped back onto this project.
After all, the sudden onslaught of the pandemic had made Chen Chen realize how important a healthy body could be...
The biggest enemy of the 21st century, cancer, remained an incurable medical disease till now. Even Chen Chen had failed to cure it despite attempting the shortcut method of acquiring a solution in another dimension.
However, if he could acquire the Medpod 3000 machine from Elysium, it would serve as a proper insurance for Chen Chen.
At that point, Chen Chen was fully determined to follow through. Instead of opening a pathway to another dimension, Chen Chen played the movie and paused the frame right where the Medpod 3000 was shown.
Then, he slowly extended his hand and reached directly for the medical equipment...
“Let’s hope this works.”
Chen Chen murmured. Although the computer was merely a 15.6 inches laptop where a single person could not fit into the screen, it worked the same way as the previous black hole. That was, it did not matter how big the screen was, it had no relation to the size of the portal that formed between two dimensions.
Under such circumstances, a person was able to pass through the portal even without lowering their backs.
Chen Chen’s right hand had already passed through the screen. He came into contact with what felt like the surface of a metal equipment. With a slight jerk, the equipment could be lifted easily by his hands!
That was interesting.
Chen Chen was awestruck and immediately pulled the equipment out!
Light flashed across Chen Chen’s sight before a peculiarly built red machine appeared before his very own eyes!
“Boom!”
Meanwhile, the movie on his computer immediately shut down on its own.
“It was a success!”
Chen Chen took a deep breath and once again marveled at the miracles of the USB drive. Not only did it allow objects to pass through a tiny portal but it also gave a normal person the ability to move an object that weighed a few tonnes.
After all, common sense would dictate that even the strongest human that existed would not be able to single-handedly move an object that heavy.
Chen Chen took a closer look at the machine that was now placed between him and the computer screen and observed that it had a length of three meters and could be split into three distinct parts.
The first part was a rectangular box that stood perpendicular to the floor’s surface. From what Chen Chen could tell, this box acted like the processing center of a computer and contained all the hardware settings of the medical equipment.
The second part was a ring structure that was hollow in the center. Its outer diameter was coated in red whereas the inner diameter was coated in white. It was also the largest part of the medical equipment and looked to be incredibly heavy.
The third part was a platform where users could lie on.
The three parts were connected by the same foundation to form a singular unit. One could even see the label “Armadyne” written on it.
Armadyne was the name of the company that designed and produced the Medpod 3000. According to the movie’s settings, Armadyne had taken 102 years to develop the Medpod 3000 model from its first predecessor, the Medpod 1000.
The Medpod 1000 was just a piece of medical equipment that could assist doctors in surgery. The Medpod 2000, which was developed forty years later, then reached a level where it could cure cancer.
The latest model, the Medpod 3000, had then developed abilities that could virtually cure all diseases and illnesses except bringing someone back from death. This was the reason why after being exposed to radiation, the movie’s protagonist had to travel to the Elysium with only five days left to spare.
Seeing the equipment materializing before his eyes, Chen Chen could hardly contain his excitement. At that time, several Black Knights had already stepped forward to inspect the machine.
Upon their initial assessment, the connective port of the equipment was built below the seat. As Chen Chen was coercively retrieving the machine from his screen, the wires had since been disconnected. Fortunately, it was no big issue since they needed to only reconnect one wire.
Judging from the cable’s thickness, they were also able to determine the power and voltage needed to operate this machine.
Following that, the Black Knights, who had electrician’s programs installed into their chips began performing the duty of an electrical engineer.
Soon, the Medpod 3000 was fully connected to an electrical source whereas upon the flipping of the switch, the machine’s ring structure began emitting a gentle white light.
“It has been activated...”
Chen Chen did not shift his gaze away from the medical equipment and said, “A0012, take off your clothes and lie on top of it.”
Following Chen Chen’s instruction, the Black Knight immediately removed its clothes and crawled onto the platform.
Beside the platform was an operation interface. Chen Chen walked over and observed that there were four options available in the interface –
“Maintenance”, “Restoration”, “Inspection”, “Activation”.
Chen Chen gave it some good thoughts and decided to select the “Maintenance” option.
Then, the Medpod 3000’s ring structure emitted a low buzzing sound as if it was about to initiate its main processes. However, a red light soon beamed on the operation interface as the words “Unable to connect to the Internet” flashed across the screen.
“...”
Chen Chen was speechless. He had the Black Knight step off the platform and personally inspected the machine. However, he was unable to locate any Internet cable port.
Besides the main port to power the machine, there were no other ports available.
“In other words, does that mean we have to connect it via wireless Internet?”
Chen Chen pondered a bit more before lifting his head swiftly. “X, try hacking into the machine’s system.”
“Understood!”
Little X was always ready. Upon Chen Chen’s instruction, it quickly sprung into action. However, it was only a few seconds that passed before Little X answered, “Error in formatting. The Internet data frame used by this system was not the 802.11 local area network protocol, but another type of wireless network interface controller. I’m unable to access their system.”