The Dark Forest

by Liu Cixin

  The guards weren’t police. They looked like military. He called for Shi Qiang.

  “The hospital is still under heavy security, correct?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And if I asked you to dismiss all of the security, what would happen?”

  “We would do as you asked. But I advise you not to do so. It’s dangerous at the moment.”

  “What department are you with? What are you in charge of?”

  “I belong to the Planetary Defense Security Department, and I’m in charge of your safety.”

  “But I’m no longer a Wallfacer. I’m just an ordinary citizen, so even if my life is in danger, the duty ought to fall to the ordinary police. Why should I still enjoy this degree of protection from planetary defense security? And to have them dismissed or recalled if I so desire? Who gave me that power?”

  Shi Qiang’s face remained expressionless, like a rubber mask. “These are the orders we were given.”

  “Then … where’s Kent?”

  “Outside.”

  “Call him in!”

  Kent came in shortly after Shi Qiang left. His manner had returned to the gracious demeanor of a UN official.

  “Dr. Luo, I wanted to wait to see you until you had recovered.”

  “What are you doing now?”

  “I’m your day-to-day liaison with the Planetary Defense Council.”

  “But I’m not a Wallfacer anymore!” Luo Ji shouted. Then he asked, “Has the media announced the Wallfacer Project?”

  “To the entire world.”

  “And my refusing to be a Wallfacer?”

  “It’s in there too, of course.”

  “What did it say?”

  “It was quite simple. ‘After the conclusion of the UN special session, Luo Ji declared his refusal of the Wallfacer position and mission.’”

  “Then what are you still doing here?”

  “I’m in charge of your day-to-day liaisons.”

  Luo Ji looked at him blankly. Kent seemed to be wearing the same rubber mask as Shi. He was unreadable.

  “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll be going. Rest well. Call for me at any time,” Kent said, and then started to leave. Just as he stepped through the door, Luo Ji called for him to stop.

  “I want to see the secretary general.”

  “The Planetary Defense Council is the specific agency in charge of the direction and execution of the Wallfacer Project. The supreme leader is the PDC’s rotating chair. The UN secretary general exercises no direct leadership over the PDC.”

  Luo Ji thought this over. “I’d still like to see the secretary general. I ought to have that power.”

  “Very well. Wait one moment.” Kent left the room, but soon returned and said, “The secretary general is waiting for you in her office. Shall we be off, then?”

  All along the way to the secretary general’s office on the thirty-fourth floor of the Secretariat Building, Luo Ji remained under security so tight he was practically shut up in a movable safe. The office was smaller than he had imagined, and simply furnished, with a fair bit of space taken up by a UN flag standing behind the desk. Say came around the desk to welcome him.

  “Dr. Luo, I’d wanted to visit you in the hospital yesterday, but you see…” She gestured to the pile of papers on the desk, whose only personal touch was a finely crafted bamboo pencil holder.

  “Ms. Say, I have come to reiterate the statement I made to you at the close of the meeting,” he said.

  Say nodded but said nothing.

  “I want to go home. If I am in danger, please notify the New York Police Department and have them be responsible for my safety. I am just an ordinary citizen. I don’t need PDC protection.”

  Say nodded again. “That certainly can be done, but I advise you to accept your current protection, because it is more specialized and reliable than the NYPD.”

  “Please answer me honestly. Am I still a Wallfacer?”

  Say returned to her desk. Standing beside the UN flag, she smiled slightly at Luo Ji. “What do you think?” Then she motioned for him to take a seat on the sofa.

  The slight smile on Say’s face was familiar. He had seen the same smile on the face of the young assailant, and in the future he would see it in the eyes and on the face of everyone he met. The smile would come to be called “the Wallfacer smile,” and it would be as famous as the smile of the Mona Lisa or the grin of the Cheshire cat. Say’s smile calmed him down at last, the first time he had been truly calm since before she had stood on the rostrum and announced to the world that he was a Wallfacer. He sat slowly down on the sofa, and by the time he got situated, he understood everything.

  My god!

  It took just an instant for Luo Ji to comprehend the true nature of his status as Wallfacer. Like Say had said, before the mission was handed down, the ones who would undertake it could not have been consulted. And once the Wallfacer mission and identity were granted, they could not be refused or abandoned. This impossibility was not due to any individual’s coercion, but because cold logic, as determined by the project’s very nature, meant that once someone became a Wallfacer, an invisible and impenetrable screen was immediately thrown up between them and ordinary people that made their every action significant. And that was what the smiles directed at Wallfacers meant:

  How are we supposed to know whether or not you have already started work?

  He now understood that the Wallfacers had a mission far weirder than any in history, its logic cold and twisted, yet unyielding as the chains that bound Prometheus. It was an unliftable curse impossible for the Wallfacers to break under their own strength. No matter how he struggled, the totality of everything would be greeted with the Wallfacer smile and imbued with the significance of the Wallfacer Project:

  How are we supposed to know whether or not you are working?

  His heart surged with a towering fury such as he had never before experienced. He wanted to shout hysterically, to inquire after Say’s mother and the UN’s mother, to inquire after the mothers of all of the delegates at the special session and on the PDC, to inquire after the mothers of the entire human race, and finally to inquire after the nonexistent mothers of the Trisolarans. He wanted to jump up and down and smash things, to sweep aside the documents, globe, and bamboo pencil holder on Say’s desk, and then tear the blue flag to shreds.… But in the end he understood where he was and who he was facing, controlled himself, and stood up, only to fall heavily back upon the sofa again.

  “Why was I chosen?” Luo Ji began, hands covering his face. “Next to the three of them, I have no qualifications. I have no talent and no experience. I’ve never seen war, much less led a country. I’m not a successful scientist. I’m just a university professor who muddles through by throwing together crappy papers. I’m someone who lives for today. I don’t want kids of my own, and I could care less about the continuation of human civilization.… Why was I picked?” By the end of this speech, he had jumped up from the sofa.

  Say’s smile vanished. “To tell you the truth, Dr. Luo, we’re baffled by this too. And that’s the reason you have access to the fewest resources out of all of the Wallfacers. Choosing you is the greatest gamble in history.”

  “But there’s got to be a reason why I was chosen!”

  “Yes, but only indirectly. No one knows the real reason. Like I said, you have to find your own answer.”

  “Then what about the indirect reason?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not authorized to tell you. But I do believe that you’ll know when the time is right.”

  Luo Ji sensed that they had reached the end of their conversation, so he turned to leave, only realizing when he reached the door that he hadn’t said good-bye. He turned around. Like in the assembly hall, Say nodded at him with a smile. Only this time, he knew the meaning behind that smile.

  She said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you again. But in the future, your work will be conducted within the framework of the PDC, so you will repor
t directly to the PDC rotating chair.”

  “You don’t have any confidence in me, do you?” Luo Ji asked.

  “I said that choosing you was a huge gamble.”

  “Then you’re right.”

  “Right to have gambled?”

  “No. Right to have no confidence in me.”

  Again with no good-bye, he walked straight out of the office. Relapsing to the state he had been in just after being declared a Wallfacer, he walked aimlessly. At the end of the hallway, he entered an elevator and rode it down to the hall on the ground floor, then exited the Secretariat Building and came once more to the United Nations Plaza. He was surrounded by security guards the entire way, and though he pushed them impatiently a few times, they stuck to him like magnets and followed him wherever he went. It was daytime now, and Shi Qiang and Kent walked up to him in the sunny square and asked him to either go back inside or enter a vehicle as quickly as possible.

  “I’m never going to see the sun again my entire life, am I?” he asked Shi Qiang.

  “It’s not that. They’ve cleared the vicinity, so it’s relatively safe here. But there are lots of visitors who all recognize you. Crowds are hard to handle, and you probably don’t want that either.”

  Luo Ji looked around him. At least for now, no one paid any attention to their small group. He headed toward the General Assembly Building and entered quickly for a second time. His goal was clear and he knew where he had to go. Past the empty balcony, he saw the colorful stained-glass panel. Turning right, he entered the Meditation Room, closing the door to keep Shi Qiang, Kent, and the guards outside.

  * * *

  When he saw the oblong slab of iron ore for a second time, his first instinct was to dash himself into it headfirst and put an end to everything. Instead he lay down on the stone’s smooth surface, whose coolness drained off some of the irritation from his mind. With his body, he felt the hardness of the ore and, weirdly, thought of a problem put forth by his high school physics teacher: How can you make a marble bed as soft as a Simmons mattress? The answer: Dig out a depression in that marble the exact size and shape of a human body. Then when you lie in that depression, the pressure will be evenly distributed and it would feel incredibly soft. He closed his eyes and imagined that the warmth of his body was melting the iron ore beneath him and forming that kind of depression.… Gradually, this calmed him. After a time, he opened his eyes and looked up at the bare ceiling.

  The Meditation Room had been designed by Dag Hammarskjöld, second secretary general of the UN, who believed that the UN ought to have a place for meditation removed from the history-making decisions of the General Assembly Hall. Luo Ji didn’t know whether any head of state or ambassador to the UN had actually meditated here, but surely when Hammarskjöld died in 1961 he never imagined that a Wallfacer like himself would be daydreaming here.

  Luo Ji felt himself getting snared once again in a logical trap, and once again was convinced that he could not extricate himself.

  So he turned his attention to the power in his hands. The least of all the Wallfacers, Say had said, but he would certainly be able to make use of a terrifying amount of resources. Most importantly, he didn’t have to justify his use of them to anyone. In fact, an important part of his mandate was to act in such a way as to keep others guessing, and furthermore, to do as much as possible to engender misunderstandings. Never in human history had there been such a thing! Maybe the absolute monarchs of old had been able to do whatever they wished, but even they ultimately had to account for their actions.

  If all I’m left with is this peculiar power, why not make use of it? Luo Ji thought to himself, and sat up. After a short time thinking it over, he decided what his next step would be.

  He got off the hard bed of stone, opened the door, and asked to see the chair of the PDC.

  The incumbent chair, a Russian named Garanin, was a burly, white-bearded old man. The chair’s office was one floor below the secretary general’s. He was sending off a few visitors, half of them in uniform, when Luo Ji entered.

  “Oh, Dr. Luo. I heard you had some minor problems, so I wasn’t in a hurry to get in touch with you.”

  “What are the other three Wallfacers doing?”

  “They’re busy setting up general staff departments, a task I’d advise you to get on with immediately. I’ll send some advisors to assist you in the initial stages.”

  “I don’t need a general staff department.”

  “Oh? If you think it would be better that way.… If you do have the need, one can be set up at any time.”

  “May I have a pen and paper?”

  “Of course.”

  Looking at the paper, Luo Ji asked, “Mr. Chair, have you ever had a dream?”

  “What sort?”

  “For instance, have you ever dreamt of living in some perfect place?”

  Garanin shook his head with a wry smile. “I just flew in from London yesterday. I worked the entire trip, and when I arrived I slept less than two hours before I had to rush to work. When today’s regular PDC meeting finishes, I’ll have to fly overnight to Tokyo.… My whole life is rushing around, and I’m at home no more than three months out of the year. What’s the point of that kind of dream for me?”

  “In my dreams, I’ve got lots of those places. I’ve chosen the most beautiful.” Luo Ji picked up the pencil and began sketching on the paper. “This isn’t colored, so you’ve got to imagine it. See these snowcapped mountains here? They’re steep like the swords of the gods or the tusks of the earth, and they shine a satiny silver against the blue sky. Utterly dazzling…”

  “Ah,” Garanin said, watching with careful attention. “That’s a very cold place.”

  “Wrong! The land beneath the snowcaps must not be cold. It’s a subtropical climate. This is important! In front of the mountains there’s a broad lake, and the water is even bluer than the sky, as blue as your wife’s eyes.…”

  “My wife’s eyes are black.”

  “Well, the lake water is a blue so deep it looks black. That’s even better. Surrounding the lake are swaths of forest and grasslands, but remember that there have to be both, not just one of the two. This is the place: snow peaks, a lake, forests, and grasslands. And everything is in its untouched, primeval state. When you see the place, you would imagine that man had never set foot on the Earth. Here, on the grass beside the lake, build a house. It doesn’t need to be large, but it should be fully equipped for modern living. The style can be either classical or modern, but it should complement its natural surroundings. And the necessary facilities—fountains, a swimming pool—should be provided so that its master can live the comfortable life of the aristocracy.”

  “And who will its master be?”

  “Myself.”

  “What are you going to do there?”

  “Live out my days in peace.”

  Luo Ji waited for Garanin to say something rude, but the chair simply nodded gravely, and said, “After an audit by the commission, we will carry this out at once.”

  “You and your commission won’t raise any questions about my motivation?”

  Garanin shrugged. “The commission can question the Wallfacers in two areas: use of resources exceeding the set scope, and harm caused to human lives. Apart from these, all questions are in violation of the spirit of the Wallfacer Project. And truth be told, Tyler, Rey Diaz, and Hines have left me disappointed. Looking at their strategizing over the past two days, you can tell immediately what they are up to with their grand strategic plans. You’re different from them. Your behavior is baffling. That’s what a Wallfacer should be like.”

  “Do you really believe the place I described exists?”

  Garanin smiled, winked, and made an “okay” sign. “The world is big enough to have a place like that. Besides, to tell you the truth, I’ve seen it before.”

  “That’s wonderful, truly. And make sure that I can live a comfortable aristocrat’s life. This is part of the Wallfacer Project.”

>   Garanin nodded gravely.

  “Oh, and one other thing. When you find a suitable place, never tell me where it is.”

  No, you can’t say where it is! Once I know where I am, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When I don’t know, the world feels unlimited.

  Garanin nodded again, seemingly pleased this time. “Dr. Luo, you’ve got another trait that satisfies my notion of being a Wallfacer: Your project requires the smallest investment of the four, at least for the time being.”

  “If that’s the case, then mine will never have the largest investment.”

  “Then you’ll be a blessing to all my successors. Money is a real headache.… The specific departments in charge of executing this may consult with you on some details. The house, in particular, I think.”

  “Oh, the house,” Luo Ji said. “I forgot one very important detail.”

  “Go on.”

  Luo Ji imitated Garanin’s wink and smile. “It needs a fireplace.”

  * * *

  After his father’s funeral, Zhang Beihai went with Wu Yue one more time to the carrier dry dock, where construction on Tang had been suspended entirely. The welding sparks had vanished from the hull, and there were no signs of life anywhere on the giant ship lying in the noonday sun. The overarching impression it gave was one of the passage of time.

  “It’s dead,” Zhang Beihai said.

  “Your father was one of the wisest generals among the navy’s top brass. If he were still with us, I might not have gotten so thoroughly stuck,” Wu Yue said.

  Zhang Beihai said, “Your defeatism is built on a rational basis, or at least it’s your own reasoning, so I don’t believe there’s anyone who can truly cheer you up. I’m not here to apologize, Wu Yue. I know you don’t hate me over this.”

  “I’d like to thank you, Beihai. You got me out.”

  “You can return to the navy. Working there should suit you quite well.”

  Wu Yue shook his head slowly. “I’ve submitted my discharge application. What would I do if I went back? Construction on new destroyers and frigates has stopped, and I no longer have any place in the fleet. Sit in an office in Fleet Command? Forget it. Besides, I’m not a good soldier at all. A soldier who’s only willing to engage in a winnable war is unqualified to be one.”