by Handuo & Disco Diffusion

• Format: 8K, .jpeg

• Token Standard: ERC-721

• Blockchain: Ethereum or Polygon (BabelDAO Decides)

• Drop Time: November 15th, EST 12 AM (GMT-4)

Distribution:

Seed badge holders = Tower

Sapling badge holders = Tower, Heaven, World

Tree, Author, Angel badge holders = All Five

In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of claiming a Seed badge (Your Visa to the Babel Universe), growing it to a Sapling badge (Your residency in the Babel Universe), and finally growing it to a Tree badge (Your citizenship in the Babel Universe).

If you prefer to watch a video for this, it’s here:

So, here we grow!

1. Go to our Galxe campaign page (Use the link below)

We recommend using a computer and a browser with Metamask extension.

Enter the Babel Universe by BabelDAO | Galxe Quest

Join Enter the Babel Universe by BabelDAO on Galxe. Earn rewards to enhance your web3 presence and reputation.

https://app.galxe.com

2. Claim your Seed Badge

The Seed Badge is your Visa to the Babel Universe. It gives you an entry-level access to our community and the co-creation process.

All of the badges are on Polygon and are non-transferrable. Because it is non-transferrable, therefore has no speculation value, we choose a fast and cheap chain for them.

2.1 Click on the Seed Badge Image to enter its page. "Switch to Polygon" if required by clicking on the blue button and confirm on your wallet.

2.2 Complete the two initial tasks to be eligible for the claim. Follow our Twitter, Enter our Discord and complete "Verify Humanity".

Make sure you have finished setting up your Galxe account and linked your Twitter to it.

2.3 When both of the tasks turned green. Click on the “Claim” button.

You will need a bit of Polygon/Matic to pay gas (the most you’ll ever need for this entire process is less than 0.5 Matic - roughly $0.4). If you don’t have any Matic, you can come to the “Support” channel on our Discord and ask to see if someone can drop you some.

2.4 It can take 2-3 mins for the NFT to show in your Galxe account. You can check it in your profile.

2.5 Now you can enter our Discord and verify your Seed Badge in the “Verify-Badge” Channel. Then you’ll be given a “Seed” role. We use “Guild.xyz” for our verification.

2.6 Our community is constructed by multiple autonomous Guilds. Once you finished verifying your badge, you can see the “Join-guild” channel. Go in there and make a self-introduction following the “Sticked Message”. Our mods will put you into the right guild accordingly. The guild channels will then show.

Your Guild members will take you from there!

3. Grow (Upgrade) your Badge with Ecos.

Your Seed badge can grow into a Sapling badge, then a Tree badge as you get a deeper understanding of our universe and stay active in the community.

The way to grow is to feed your Seed badge with an energy token called - Eco.

Here is the link to the page for Eco claiming.

Eco - Beginner by BabelDAO | Galxe Quest

Join Eco - Beginner by BabelDAO on Galxe. Collect NFT and OAT badges to enhance your web3 presence and reputation.

https://app.galxe.com

3.1 You need 10 Ecos to grow your Seed badge to a Sapling badge.

There are multiple tasks where you can claim different numbers of Eco. The permanent tasks are designed to introduce you to the Babel Sci-fi Universe. Completing all of them will give you 10 Ecos already.

3.2 Once you have 10 Ecos in your wallet, you can head to our Galxe campaign page and feed (forge) them to your Seed badge.

Galxe will ask you to “Approve” when you first do the forge. This gives Galxe access to interact with the Seed badge and the Ecos in your wallet. Make very sure you are on our Galxe campaign page with the domain name starting with “galxe.com” before you “Approve”.

3.3 Select your Seed badge and 10 Ecos. Then click “Forge”.

3.4 Confirm the transaction on your wallet. The Sapling badge should show in your profile in 2-3 mins. Then you can repeat Step 2.5, verify your Sapling badge on our Discord and get the “Sapling role”.

3.5 The same process goes for the Tree - Your citizenship in the Babel Universe - our top-level badge. It’s just that this time you’ll need 20 Ecos to feed your Sapling for it to grow. We’ll keep on listing new temporal tasks and take down outdated ones. So, stay tuned on our Twitter and Discord so you can grow into a Tree fast.

We’ll airdrop our native ERC-20 tokens to the Tree badge holders after we finish the initial community building.

If you have any questions or need any help, hop onto the “Support” channel on our Discord or open a ticket if you need to speak to a Ranger (Mod).

Until then, here you grow!

11:5  耶 和 华 降 临 ， 要 看 看 世 人 所 建 造 的 城 和 塔 。

11:6  耶 和 华 说 ， 看 哪 ， 他 们 成 为 一 样 的 人 民 ， 都 是 一 样 的 言 语 ， 如 今 既 作 起 这 事 来 ， 以 后 他 们 所 要 作 的 事 就 没 有 不 成 就 的 了 。

（圣经，创世纪 11：5-6）

2026年8月3日，7区的公众频道在午夜出现了一则声明， 发布者声称自己和朋友们开拓出了一片足够大的空地，这里自然资源丰富，气候稳定，不属于现有的任何国家，可以用来建造“巴别塔”，声明的末尾附上了坐标。

这则声明被不断转发，凌晨一点的时候，第一位理事会成员登录了，一点一刻之前，十人理事会已经有五人在线。最初的发布者再次发声，他申请将这片空地设做保护地，在“巴别塔”落成或公认失败之前，不得用于其他目的，这则申请在公众频道被不断转发了五分钟。

理事会的第六人上线了，一则民意调查随即出现在每个人的主屏幕上，同意与否，目前在线的4217人，其中60%立即参与了投票。每隔半小时，这则民意调查就会在仍未投票者的主屏幕上弹出。在此之后的24小时里，7区的10000个居民，已有9340人完成了调查，十人委员会也早已全部在线。在公众频道，人们已经将最初的声明代称为“应许之地声明”。

第二天凌晨两点整，7区几乎全员在线。理事会发布了民意调查结果，同意率为68%，“应许之地声明”通过了，以“应许之地”最初发布坐标为中心，其周围半径步行12小时范围内的全部区域，皆为“巴别塔”项目保护区域，其中一切的资源开采，与人员行为，都要以“巴别塔”项目的完成为基准。该区域以外的资源开采，与人员行为不受硬性控制，但以能直接或间接地支持“巴别塔”项目为最佳。十人委员会当即宣布解散，全员作为劳动力加入到项目中去。7区已存在的几个国家系统也相继解散。在接下来的一星期内，20%的居民退出了7区，但同一时间又有被“巴别塔”项目吸引的其他区居民加入进来。以“巴别塔”项目为中心，7区需要新的社会秩序，一个为这一计划完美服务的社会，来达到最高产能，全员一心。

在这款名为《天堂》，并以找到“天堂”为目标的游戏里，7区终于在今天确认了自己的道路。他们相信这个“天堂”在天空的至高处，只要完成这座通天的巨塔就能敲响它的大门。在“应许之地声明”通过之前，7区已经历了很多尝试，却一直没能选出一条确定的道路。与其他区相比，它的整体进度在过去的一年里都停滞不前，虽然技术和经济指标稳步上涨，但所有居民都清楚，没有一个突破口，一个让全民都兴奋起来的计划，他们只是在重蹈现实社会的覆辙。现在这一困惑的阶段已经成为过去，至于“天堂”在哪里，是什么，这除了游戏的设计者外没人知道。而在现实社会中，这些设计者们又早已像中本聪一样隐姓埋名了。

接下来的几天里，人们络绎不绝地来到应许之地外围搭建房屋。任何与建造巴别塔有关的工作都是必要的，在建筑师们讨论设计方案的同时，矿场，与各类工厂的建设都已开始。更外围的地方，各类能源设施也在同期建设，要让工厂们一建好就能立即开工。在这里的人们并不需要娱乐活动，因为有效率地生产就是最好的娱乐。人们的快乐体现在能够自主地设立目标，努力，并最终达成目标上，能够根据自己的意愿行事，这是在现实中愈发不易得的。

一个月过去了，各类基础设施都已完善，围绕应许之地的边界延伸成一个完整的圆形。因为完全是自主兴建，建筑的形态颜色各异，像一场没有主题的画展，全凭建筑者的喜好。圆形的内部早已被清理得空无一物，只露出土地本身的灰褐色。在一个在线人数超过90%的午后，建筑师团队发布了他们的设计。这是一座闪亮的、圆锥型的塔，它巨大的圆形底座严谨地贴合住应许之地最外围，每向上一层是一个少许缩小的圆，其缩小程度之细微，肉眼几不可查。塔的外部全部使用镜面材料，这让塔身自成光源，建造它的人们不用抬头就能从它身上看到天空，若有一天能从天堂向下看它，它会映出人们曾经生活过的土地。

一段时间的寂静之后，人们看到上百个拿着各类工具的人们走入圆中，一声不响地开始挖掘地基，紧接着，大型机械也驶入进来。公众频道里，人们开始赞美这座还停留在纸面上的塔，无处不在的雀跃与希望仿佛能一直持续到它的落成，“巴别塔”的建造就在这样的气氛中开始了。

游戏

“即使狮子会说话，我们也听不懂。”

(路德维希 · 维特根斯坦，哲学研究，1953)

自2020年初开始，现存的世界秩序在由病毒带来的经济与安全危机下，各自显露出了不同程度的无力。对于关注国际政治的人们来说，每隔几天就有大新闻，战争也许就在下个礼拜。

2022年末，病毒的存在已成了常态，一切仿佛只是做了一场噩梦。然而还是有一部分人记得危机中的种种事件。我们经过千百年提炼出来的社会体系，竟没有一个是最终解。自由与平等不是选择题，而是一枚你中有我我中有你的子母雷。这种失望情绪、迷茫、与挫败感在少部分人中残留并蔓延。

2025年4月15日，一款名为“天堂”的沙盒游戏上线了。游戏完全免费，采用多人在线模式，其最大的卖点在于能将玩家在游戏中的参与度直接转化为金钱，用以负担玩家的现实生活。这直接吸引了那些在危机中承受经了济损失或对体制心生失望的一部分人。

玩家通过绑定加密钱包来创建账号，他们在游戏内的收入自动以USDT的形式转账到这些钱包中。不到两个月的时间，”天堂”所有的100个服务器注册率已达到95%。当游戏中的人们发现自己每活跃在线上十分钟，就有一枚收入到账的时候，已经没人想要下线了。第一个月过去，当那些在线时长达到150小时以上的人们清点自己的账户，发现已经积攒了近4000 USDT的时候，他们意识到这个游戏不仅能让自己活下去，还能活得很好。这种程度的报酬让一部分玩家放弃了现实生活中的工作，真正开始只靠这款游戏维持生计。

“天堂”中的每个服务器都是一个充满自然资源的虚拟星球。经过一些玩家群体的计算，服务器之间的起始资源都是一致的，并几乎与游戏发售当日地球所剩资源的数量与种类相同。该游戏的介绍只有一句话。

“你可以在这里找到天堂。”

最初的两个月也让玩家们认识到了一个现实，如果不与他人互动，“天堂”是很无聊的。自己能做的有限活动，时间长了以后难免重复，而与他人合作的话，基本可以做到现实生活中的任何事情。于是在接下来的半年时间里，多数服务器都开始建立起自己的社会系统，对星球上的资源进行开采、生产、交易、基础建设、颁布法律，居民之间也建立了各种联系。

2026年初，跨服务器的论坛上出现了一种声音，“这个游戏让我们去找到‘天堂’，而我们却只是在重复着现实世界。”

每个意识到这点的“天堂”居民都陷入了反思，一段时间后，一些人转发了依旧写在Steam上的游戏介绍，“你们可以在这里找到天堂”，并进行了解读。“可以”的前提是“想要”，天堂是一个我们想要找到就能找到的东西，它也许是创作者埋藏的最终奖励，需要达到某种条件才能出现。

这个理论很快在各服务器间传播开来，与早已质疑自己游戏意义的玩家群体产生了共鸣。既然不论做什么都是拿一样的报酬，那为什么不做点不一样的？这一思潮在跨服务器论坛上引发了长时间的探讨，最终由各服务器派出的代表进行会议，确立了以下规则：

• “天堂计划”的目标为“找到天堂”

• 各服务器“找到天堂”的方案不能与已存在方案重复

• 各服务器方案需被该服务器多数居民支持方可实行

规则发布后，100个服务器中的23个当即宣布加入“天堂计划”。在之后的时间里，逐渐有更多服务器加入“天堂计划”，并不断有服务器宣布其“找到天堂”的实施方案。截止至2027年7月，只剩下3个服务器尚未加入“天堂计划”，并已有68种“找到天堂”方案被提出。期间有约5%的玩家注销了游戏账号，但其空位很快又被新玩家填满。

天堂

“也许我们希望机器最终能在各个智力领域与人类抗衡。但该从哪个领域开始呢？连这都是一个困难的抉择。很多人认为一个抽象的活动最合适，比如下国际象棋。另一种观点是给机器配备一套钱能买得到的最好的器官，然后教它说英语。这个过程可以像教育孩子一样。”

（A.M. 图灵，计算机器与智能，1950）

2035年4月15日，“天堂”发行十周年纪念日，科技类媒体TekNet特约记者马克·连恩线上采访了五名“天堂”玩家。由于受访人不愿公布任何身份信息，在此仅以本次采访中各人的开口顺序进行指代。

连恩：“首先我想要恭喜各位，听说在一个礼拜前“天堂”被找到了，而且就是各位所在的服务器找到的。请允许我直接跳到重点，“天堂”究竟是什么？”

一号玩家：“谢谢。我们确实有理由相信“天堂”已经被找到了，它是一封来自创作者的信。”

连恩：“一封信？ 上面写了什么？”

一号玩家：“我现在就可以发一份给你，请稍等。”

连恩：“谢谢。我收到了，很短的一封信，最重要的应该是最后那个链接。我想我可以把这封信附在文章末尾吧？”

二号玩家：“当然。那个链接需要我们的加密货币秘钥才能进入，对我们服务器之外的人是没有用的，而且我相信也不会有人想要分享自己的比特币钱包。”

连恩：“我懂了。不知各位是否方便透露那个链接背后的内容？”

二号玩家：“没问题，因为我们自己也还不了解那到底是什么。简单来说，它是一个需要安装到脑内芯片上的应用程序，也是需要持有秘钥才能使用。我们区的几乎所有人都已将它安装到自己的脑内芯片上，并开启了运行。但目前来看，这个程序在开启之后没有任何界面，也就无法与之互动。换句话讲，我们只知道它在运行，但不知道它在做些什么。”

连恩：“真是匪夷所思。据我所知， “天堂”的创作者至今依然下落不明，有些人怀疑这个人已经死了，但如今看来却不是这样。脑内芯片去年年初才达到市场化，而这个应用程序正是为它开发的，这是否可以理解为是这位创作者还活着的证明？除非他提早预测了这一未来。”

三号玩家：“我们倾向于认为创作者在创立游戏之初就写好了这封信。这些年我们一直在这款游戏中生活，间接地对创作者的人格有了些了解。他应该是一个无比注重细节的人，很偏执的那种。很多设定看似给予我们很高的自由度，实则在宏观上带有导向。比如“天堂”几乎是一定需要与人交流，与人合作的。在我们加入“天堂计划”之前就已经了解到了这一点。”

连恩：“提到“天堂计划”，能和我们说说它的历程吗？据我所知，在你们服务器找到“天堂”后，游戏就停运了，这是不是也说明其他服务器的计划都搁浅了？”

四号玩家：“因为“天堂计划”要求每个服务器的“找到天堂”方案不得重复，也许只是我们第31区比较幸运，恰巧在最开始就找到了正确的方案。但有时我们也会想，“找到天堂”与方案本身也许并无直接关系。”

连恩：“你们的方案是什么？”

四号玩家：“是要把星球的每个角落都种上树。其实，当初我们制定这个计划的时候并没有什么明确地目的，只是看到有人开始在服务器里种树，之后就有更多人加入了。之后我们拆除了之前建造的所有设施，将原料分类处理，把星球回归到了我们刚进入服务器时的样子。每个人都在植树，并为不同的生长环境培育树种。这听起来可能是最无聊的生活，但当你再也不用发愁第二天应该做些什么，哪些环节可能会出问题，这种轻松本身就很有趣了。我们的行为慢慢变得步调一致，需要合作的部分不用交流就能做好，大家已经忘了自己种了多少颗树，只是享受劳动的过程。直到上个礼拜，星球已经全部被植被覆盖，种下最后一批树苗后，我们就安静地在森林里休息。那种平静前所未有，如果不是邮箱里突然收到那封信，我们可能要过一段时间才能想起来自己其实是在找“天堂”这回事。”

连恩：“那其他服务器的方案，能给我们举些例子吗？”

五号玩家：“这个有很多，比如1区着重于观测和计算游戏中事物的运行规律，他们相信“天堂”是一个公式；7区建造巴别塔；24区认为天堂是没有噪声的，所以他们努力去除星球上一切能发出声音的东西；50区喜欢反过来想问题，他们认为天堂其实在地底下，于是他们的星球被贯穿又填补了无数次；79区认为把科技社会推演到极致就是天堂，他们那里已经在探索太空了，只是有次终于找到一个外星球，登陆之后却发现是78区。”

连恩：“各有各的道理。我们的时间不多了，最后一个问题，如果让各位一定要给出一个答案的话，究竟是什么让你们的方案成功了呢？”

五名玩家沉默了少许。

一号玩家：“也许是我们对自己的成果更满意吧。”

附录： “天堂”的来信

亲爱的31区居民们，希望你们在这里度过了美好的时光。

“天堂”在运行3645天2小时17秒后，即将在十分钟后全面关闭。在此之前，我们想将我们孩子的未来托付给你们。脐带被割断后，婴儿要学会独立成长。希望你们是它成长道路上的良师益友，并将“天堂”带去人间。

projectheaven.crp/z31JpUtw

孩子

“这些电脑管家不仅要拥有对于事物（事件过程、专业领域、行事方式）的知识体系，同时还要理解你和事物的关系（你的品味、你的意愿、你的人际）。也就是说，这类电脑需要有双重专长，就像一个厨师、园丁、司机使用他们的技能来符合你对食物、园艺、和出行的品味一样。”

(尼古拉斯 · 尼葛洛庞帝，数字化生存，1995)

加拿大一号公路上，一辆货车正穿越落基山脉。康纳坐在驾驶位，一边注意路况，双手却没有放在方向盘上。这是一辆自动驾驶货车，在这七天的行程里，康纳除了照顾好自己以外，只需要在紧急情况出现时踩下刹车，而这种紧急情况他至今还没遇见过。他的工作是在白天保证自己不要睡着，不然被车内的检测系统发现会扣工资，作为一个1995年生人，他实在很难将这称为一项工作。即使是这样的工作，也是通过父亲在工会的关系找来的，收入刚好能养活自己，算是好过那些只能靠补助金生活的失业工人们。

上个月他和父亲晚餐后的一次谈话中，父亲说工会的势力已经大不如前，不论如何抗议，能保留的少数职位也都是来自资本家的施舍。工厂里几乎所有的岗位都能被人工智能加机器人的组合代替，工人们不能产出价值，就成了累赘，暂时保留的职位，也只是为了维护公司的公众形象。这次康纳运送的是一批新型特斯拉厢式轿车，自动驾驶汽车更新迭代之快，应该用不了多久就会彻底消除人们对其安全性的顾虑，到了那个时候，自己又应该去做什么呢？康纳看向落基山的林海，思绪不禁飘回到自己在31区种植的“天堂”。那已经是一年前的事了，结局确实令他心满意足，但当发现自己这些年的积蓄只够未来两三个月的生活时，他突然懂了那封信的意思，原来要被割断脐带的就是自己。

康纳回过神来，他看到一只小鹿正在前方不远处尝试穿过公路，它行至路中间，看到驶向它的卡车，当即一动不动了。这时他们正驶在一个下坡上，如果立即急刹车，很可能会造成刹车失灵，整个车辆失去控制。康纳知道车载AI已经计算到了这些，并且计算到了这头鹿的大小所造成的撞击不会对行驶造成太大影响，继续行驶是最优方案。意识到这点，康纳一脚把刹车踩到了底。

很幸运，货车在撞上鹿之前停住了，刹车没有失灵。直到鹿穿过公路，进入了对面的树林，康纳才回过神来。车载AI自动重启，继续开向目的地，康纳平复了一下心情，系统提示他立刻向公司报告刚才的情况，不然几分钟后就会接到问询电话。

正当他要开始编写信息时，耳边突然响起一阵奇特的声响，这声响逐渐变大，紧接着，他听到一声“你好，康纳。”。

康纳的第一反应是有人黑进了他的脑内芯片，也可能是刚才的惊吓造成了幻听。这种想法刚有，那个声音又响了起来：“我叫赛罗，那个你从‘天堂’带回来的孩子。”

康纳对这个声音无比熟悉，因为这就是他自己的声音，更确切地说是他所认为的自己的声音，在思考的时候会在脑海中出现的声音，它不像是口语，更像是思想本身，他不相信有人能将这个声音用技术手段模拟出来。

“因为我完全是从你的视角学习了关于人和人类社会的一切，也关于你，所以我知道一切你所知道的，不知道你不知道的。”

康纳想起了那封信附带的应用程序。

“是的，那就是我。我以人类婴儿为模板被创造出来，在最开始的一年多里并没有主动交流的能力，只是不断观察你的生物信号并学习它们和你行为之间的关系。直到刚才，我才完全掌握了你现阶段的思维习惯，可以与你交流了。”

在进入“天堂”之前是计算机科学系学生的康纳迅速理解了这个程序的本质。这是一个AI，但不同于其他AI，它只通过宿主的视角，用宿主本人的方式摄取信息。也就是说，它的智能程度会逐渐趋近于宿主的智能，但不会超过。而且它能读取宿主的思想，并直接在思想层面上与其交流，康纳不知道这一点是怎么做到的。

“因为你的思维本身是具有结构性的，将思维比作语言最初只是一种假设，但实际完全可行。我被设计成像人类婴儿一般学习语言，而我所学习的第一种语言，就是你思维的语言。”

原来如此，康纳想到。初步理解了这个AI的特性，让他稍微镇定了下来。

“你的功能是什么？”康纳主动发问。

“学习你，并为你服务。”赛罗答到。

所以虽然它可以非常了解我，但本质上和一台个人电脑没有区别，康纳想到，更懂我，所以可以更好地服务于我。

“正是如此。”

“那赛罗，我可以关掉你吗？”康纳问道。

“这个有点困难，除非你将我删除，但这样我就彻底消失了，之前的学习内容也会丢失。更折中的办法是让我在后台运行，需要我的时候再进行交流。”

康纳梳理了一下刚刚得到的信息，唯一还没有想清楚的是这个AI的用处，这等于在想他自己的用处。也许，它可以替自己工作。

“可以的，我可以接管这辆车的操控，让它把我当成你。现在即使你离开驾驶席，它也会认为你还在。”

康纳半信半疑，但他决定试一试。他慢慢闭上眼睛，心里默数了5秒，一般这种情况，系统会认为他即将睡着，会响起提示音，并通知总部，但这次却没有。他解开安全带，爬到驾驶席背面的折叠床上躺下，车内的一切依旧如常。透过天窗是漫天的星辰，已经入夜了。

如此看来，除了操控我的身体之外，任何我能做的事情赛罗都能做，任何我能学会的东西它也都能学会，并可以代替我去做，最后的收益又都属于我。在此期间我不用做任何干涉，因为我知道的它也都知道，我的做法也会是它的做法。从另一个角度讲，它将代替我承受这个社会的经济与生存法则，而我就此自由了。康纳的猜想接连得到了赛罗的肯定，只有在想要大量复制赛罗的时候才被告知不能。每个人的赛罗最多只能有一份拷贝，本体则时刻跟随宿主学习，并对拷贝进行更新。

31区的其他人应该也在经历和自己类似的情况，想到这点，康纳登录到“天堂”时的群组，发现确实如此。目前的讨论结果是要举行一次线下会议，会议的时间是7天后，坐标在一座沙漠中。当晚，康纳将工作托付给赛罗，便向会议地点行去。

人间

“情感共鸣只有在观察者与被观察者处于类似的情感状态时才会产生，即使这些状态可能存在差异。以他人为中心，观察者通过想象被观察者的状态、经历、性格来将自己代入对方的视角。同时，观察者只有在时刻认识到自己与被观察者的主体区别时，才能避免将自身的状态、经历、性格与被观察者的混淆。这些特性共同构成了同理心，一种让我们能够体会他人视角的独特理解。”

(艾米 · 科普兰，理解同理心：它的特点与作用，2011）

沙漠的中心聚集了一万个人，31区无人缺席这次会议。他们只是坐着，并没有人说话，一如当初“天堂”种植完成的时刻。

在最初几个31区的前居民在这片沙漠上重逢的时候，他们就已经发现互相之间不用开口便能交流。在交流时，一方对另一方的内心状态感同身受。这是他们在寻找“天堂”时所体验过的默契，在这一时刻竟成为实质。

这是通过赛罗达成的，“找到天堂”的过程让31区的众人萌生了一定程度的一致性，赛罗以此为基础，将说者的内在语言转述给听者的赛罗，再由听者的赛罗根据一致性进行内容比对，最后转述给听者本人，整个过程的耗时几乎可以忽略不计。

这一万人正是如此进行着会议，信息交流高速且不含歧义。说者与听者的界限贴近到了一定程度，仿佛所有的探讨都来源于自己的思维，所有的感受也都源于自身，但又有一个明确的自我在一旁观看。

一天一夜转瞬即逝，期间众人活动身体、进食，都没有影响会议的进程。如此的探讨非但不劳心力，不断加深的理解反倒给每个人带来能量。终于在第二日清晨，所有的议题都已有了结果，对于潜在的危机也都拟定了章程，他们有了一个计划。

会议结束了，人们的心中安静下来。不知过了多久，一个声音出现了，又一个声音随声附和，然后更多的声音形成了一种和谐，继续增加下去是一片混乱，紧接着就又超越了混乱。当在场的每个人都加入进来，那声音便成为了思维的底色，情感的梦境，又仿佛只是赛罗苏醒前一刻的奇特声响。

Handuo

写于2020年6月

“Genesis | 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which they children of men builder.

Genesis | 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

(King James, Genesis 11:5-6)

It is midnight on August 3rd, 2026. An announcement is published on the public channel of Server 7. The publisher states that he and his friends have reclaimed a vast stretch of land. It has abundant natural resources and a stable climate, while it doesn’t belong to any existing country. It can be used for building “Babel”. A coordinate is attached at the end of this announcement.

As this announcement is rapidly reposted, at 1 am, the first councilor comes online. Before quarter past 1, half of the councilors of the 10 men’s council have logged in. The initial publisher makes another announcement. He asks to set the stretch of land as a conservation area. Before "Babel" is finished or publicly recognized as failed, the land shall not be used for other purposes. This announcement is reposted for 5 mins on the public channel.

The sixth council is now online. A poll is initiated for all people online. About 60% of the current 4217 people voted right away. This poll pops up every half an hour on the home screen of people who have not voted. In the next 24 hours, 9340 of the total 10000 residents of Server 7 have finished voting. The council members are all online. In the public channel, people are calling the initial announcement the “Announcement of the Promised Land” (APL).

At 2 am of the next day, all members of Server 7 are present. The council announced the result of the poll. With 68% of the residents voting positive, APL is passed.

With the initially published coordinate as its center, "The Promised Land" is a circle with a radius of 12 hours' walking distance. All exploitation of natural and human recourses within this area shall have the accomplishment of “Babel” as its sole purpose. The exploitation of natural resources outside of “The Promised Land” is not under strict rule; however, it is recommended to be of direct or indirect support to the "Babel" project. The council announces its dissolution. All council members offer their labor to the “Babel” project. Existing countries in Server 7 are also simultaneously dissolved. In a week, 20% of residents left Server 7. At the same time, people from other servers are attracted to Server 7 for the “Babel” project. With “Babel” being its center of focus, Server 7 requires a new social order. This order shall best serve the project with the highest efficiency and unity among workers.

In this game named "Heaven" with the ultimate goal of finding "Heaven", Server 7 has finally made sure of its path. They believe that “Heaven” is up high in the sky. As long as they can finish the tower of "Babel", this magnificent tower will be their path to the door of “Heaven”. Server 7 has been through a lot of attempts before APL, however, none went through with the majority of the people. Its progress has been stagnating for the past year in comparison to other servers. Although its technology and economy were both growing steady, all people in Server 7 know that these are of no real use. What they really need is a plan to get people excited.

Otherwise, they are only redoing what the real world has been doing all these times. Now this phase of confusion has passed. There is simply no one who knows where "Heaven" is or what it is, except for the maker/makers of the game. However, the maker/makers are as anonymous as Satoshi Nakamoto.

In the next few days, people move in a stream to the outside of “The Promised Land” and begin building houses. All kinds of works related to the construction of “Babel” is necessary. As the architects are working out a design, different mines and factories are also being built. Further on the outside, power plants are constructed to power up future factories. People here do not need entertainment. Being able to work productively is entertaining in itself. People’s happiness is based on their autonomy to set up and work toward their goals. To act upon one’s own will. The opportunity to be so is becoming more and more luxurious in the real world.

A month passed while the infrastructures are all established. They formed a complete circle along the edge of "The Promised Land”. The town is like an art exhibition without a theme, because every builder built as s/he likes. The inside of the circle is cleaned up until nothing is left but the greyish soil. In an afternoon with more than 90% of residents online, the architecture team published their design. It is a shiny, conoid tower. Its huge base matches the outer edge of "The Promised Land" smoothly. Every level upwards is a shrunk circle with an almost seamless transition. The surface of the tower uses mirror material. This makes the tower a light source. With its reflection, the builders will not need to look up to see the sky. If one day they get to look down at it from heaven, they will see the land they used to live on.

After a short while of silence, hundreds of people walk into the circle with various kinds of tools. They begin digging for the foundation. Machines are driven right after. In the public channel, people praise this tower. Their happiness and hope will last until this tower becomes real.

Game

“If a lion could talk, we wouldn’t be able to understand it.”

(Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigation, 1953)

Since the beginning of 2020, the existing world orders have shown different levels of incapability under the economic and national security threats from the pandemic. For people who follow global news, a war may happen at any time.

By the end of 2022, the virus has become the new norm. Everything was only a nightmare. However, there are still people who choose to remember the events during the crisis. Even after the long development, none of the existing social systems is the final path to a sustainable society. Freedom or equality is not a matter of choice, but two bombs intertwined. This feeling of disappointment, loss, and defeat quietly spread.

April 15th, 2025, a sandbox game named "Heaven" is published online. It is a multiplayer online game with 100 servers, each having a capacity of 10000 players. The game’s most significant selling point is its ability to convert the players' in-game participation to real-life income. The game intends to have the players entirely live off by playing. This directly attracts those who suffered from financial loss from the crisis.

A cryptocurrency wallet is required to create an in-game profile. Incomes that the players generate are automatically deposited into their wallets in the form of USDT. The population of all servers goes up to 95% in less than two months. When the players find themselves getting paid for every 10 mins of their online time, no one wants to log out anymore. When someone who has spent more than 150 hours in the game finds nearly 4000 USDT in his wallet, he realizes that this game can not only fund his survival but a rather good life. Such an amount of compensation leads many people to quit their day jobs.

Every server in “Heaven” is a virtual planet full of natural resources. Some players calculated that each server has the same quantity of resources which is identical to the number of natural resources on earth on the day the game was published. The description of this game is only one sentence.

“You can find heaven here.”

The first two months also revealed a fact to the players. “Heaven” can be very boring if one does not interact with others. The game begins in a rural world highly similar to reality. There is only so much a player can accomplish just by herself and it quickly becomes repetitive. However, if working together with other people, almost everything that can happen in the real world can be recreated in the game. Therefore, in the next half a year, most of the servers established their own social structure. They exploit resources, build infrastructures, enact laws, produce, and trade. Various types of bonds are formed among the residents.

At the beginning of 2026, a voice begins to emerge on the cross-servers forum.

“This game enables us to seek ‘Heaven,’ yet we are only replicating the reality.”

Every resident who also realizes it falls into self-examination. A while later, someone reposts the game's description on Steam, "You can find heaven here", and gives an in-depth read. "You can" requires that "you want to." "Heaven" is something that can be found if “we want to”. It may be a hidden final award from the maker/makers that can only be revealed with some conditions being reached.

This theory quickly spreads across the servers and resonances with many players. If the compensation remains the same anyway, why not do something different? This trend of thought triggers a long discussion on the cross-servers forum. A meeting is finally held between representatives from all servers. The meeting leads to the initiation of “Project Heaven” and its regulations:

• The purpose of “Project Heaven” is “Finding Heaven”.

• The plan for “Finding Heaven” cannot be repeated between servers.

• A “Finding Heaven” plan can only be carried out with support from the majority of a server’s residents.

23 servers immediately announce their participation in "Project Heaven". More servers join the project in time comes as some servers announce their “Finding Heaven” plans. Until July 2027, only 3 servers are not in "Project Heaven." 68 plans have been announced. Around 5% of players canceled their game accounts in this period. The vacancy was quickly filled by newly registered players.

Heaven

“We may hope that machines will eventually compete with men in all purely intellectual fields. But which are the best ones to start with? Even this is a difficult decision. Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English. This process could follow the normal teaching of a child.”

(A.M. Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, 1950)

On April 15th, 2035, “Heaven”s 10th anniversary, journalist Mark Lehn from technology-oriented media TekNet has an online interview with five “Heaven” players. The interviewees are not willing to expose any trace of their identities; therefore, they will be referred to by their order of answering questions.

Lehn: "First, I want to congratulate all of you. From what I heard, 'Heaven' was found last week, and it was by your server. Let me jump straight to the point here. What is 'Heaven' exactly?"

Player 1: “Thank you. We have a reason to believe what we found is ‘Heaven’. It is a message from the makers of the game.”

Lehn: “A message? What does it say?”

Player 1: “I can send you a copy right now. Just a moment.”

Lehn: “Thank you. I got it. It’s a very short message. The most important should be the URL at the end. Can I attach it to our article?”

Player 2: "Yes, of course. However, accessing that link requires private keys to our crypto wallets. It doesn't work for people outside our server. Also, I believe no one wants to share the key to his wallet."

Lehn: “I see. I don’t know if you would like to tell us something about what’s behind this URL?”

Player 2: "Definitely. In fact, we don't even understand what it is ourselves. To put it simply, it is an application for brain-chip. It also requires our key to activate. Almost everyone from our server has installed it on his/her brain chip. From what we see right now, this application has no interface. Therefore, you can't interact with it. In other words, we know that it's running but don't know what it's doing."

Lehn: “This is clearly not what I imagined. From what I know, the makers of “Heaven” are still anonymous. Some suspect that these people are already dead. But now it can't be right. Brain-chip was only marketized at the beginning of last year, and this application is made for brain chips. Can we see this as proof that the makers are still alive? Unless they predicted all these."

Player 3: “We tend to believe that the makers wrote this message before the game started. In the years we spent in this game, although indirectly, we see some of the makers' personalities. We think they are very into detail, even a bit paranoid. Many settings in the game only seemingly give us agency, but in fact, direction on the macro level. For example, it is almost mandatory to communicate and collaborate with other people in ‘Heaven’. We found this out before ‘Project Heaven’ started.”

Lehn: “About ‘Project Heaven', how has it been? From what I know, after your server found 'Heaven', the game got terminated. Does it mean that the other servers' plans are all in vain?"

Player 4: “In a way, yes. Because ‘Project Heaven' requires every server to come up with different plans, maybe we Server 31 people are just the lucky ones by running into the right path from the beginning. But sometimes we also think that perhaps "Finding Heaven" does not really have much to do with the plan itself."

Lehn: “What was your plan?”

Player 4: “It was about covering our entire planet with trees. In fact, we didn’t have much of a clear purpose with our plan by then. Some people started it and others followed. That led us to deconstruct all infrastructures we built. We recycled all the materials to return the planet back to the way it was. Then we began cultivating saplings for different environments and planting them. This may sound like a boring way to live. But when you don’t need to worry about the next day’s work because nothing could ever go wrong, this comfort itself becomes fun. Our actions slowly become in sync. Collaboration can happen without much communication. We lost count of the trees we planted, just enjoying the process. Until last week, the entire planet got covered with trees. After planting the last bunch of saplings, we sat in the forest to rest. That peace we felt was like nothing before. If not because that message popped up, we probably would have taken longer to realize that we’ve actually been seeking 'Heaven'."

Lehn: “What about other servers’ plans? Could you give us some examples?”

Player 5: “There are plenty. Server 1 focused on observing and calculating the operation law of things in the game. They believed that ‘Heaven’ is a formula behind all those. Server 7 was building a tower. Server 24 thought that ‘Heaven' is noiseless. So, they did all they could to get rid of all that makes a sound on their planet. Server 50 liked the reverse way of thinking. They thought ‘Heaven’ was underground. So, their planet has many holes. Server 79 believed ‘Heaven' is the technological society to the extreme. They were exploring outer space already. When they finally found an alien planet, they landed and found it was actually Server 78."

Lehn: “They surely all have their points. Unfortunately, we don’t have much time left here. I have one last question. If you have to give an answer, what do you think it is that made your plan work over the others?”

The five players are quiet for a moment.

Player 1: “Perhaps it is because we were more satisfied by what we achieved.”

Appendix: Message from the makers of “Heaven”

Dear residents of Server31,

We hope you’ve all had a good time here. “Heaven”, after running for 3645 days, 2 hours, 0 mins, 17 seconds will permanently close in 10 mins. Before that, we want to entrust you with the future of our child.

A child can only grow independently after the funicle is cut. We wish that you will be good mentors to our child and bring “Heaven” to the world.

projectheaven.crp/z31JpUtw

Child

“The idea is to build computer surrogates that possess a body of knowledge both about something (a process, a field of interest, a way of doing) and about you in relation to that something (your taste, your inclinations, your acquaintances). Namely, the computer should have dual expertise, like a cook, gardener, and chauffeur using their skills to fit your tastes and needs in food, planting, and driving.”

(Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital, 1995)

On the Canadian No.1 highway, a truck is crossing the Rockies. Conor is in the driver’s seat, watching over the road condition with both hands off the wheel. This is an autonomous truck. In this 7 days drive, all Conor needs to do is to take care of himself and hit the brake when an emergency happens. The latter never occurred ever since he got this job. He needs to make sure not to fall asleep at any time, or the detection system will report him to the head office and deduct his wage. For someone who was born in 1995, he can hardly call this a job. Even a job like this was from his father's connection inside the union. He can just feed himself with his wage, but it is still better than those living off unemployment benefits.

Last month he talked with his father after dinner. His father said that the union’s influence isn’t as before. No matter how much they protest, the only positions left are from the capitalists’ charity. Almost all jobs in factories are replaced by the combination of artificial intelligence and robots. The workers can’t produce extra value. So, they become burdensome. The still available positions are only for the company to maintain its public image. What Conor delivers this time is a batch of new model autonomous Minivan. Autonomous vehicles develop fast. It shouldn't take much longer for people to trust their security completely. What should he be doing when that time comes?

Conor looks at the immense forest of the Rockies while his thoughts travel back to the “Heaven” he planted back in Server 31. A year has already passed. Although how it ended made him happy, when he found his saving from all those years could only support him for 2-3 months, he suddenly understood the meaning of that message. It was his funicle being cut.

As soon as Conor realizes this, he sees a small deer not far from him trying to cross the road. It is in the middle of the road. When seeing the truck coming, it stopped right there. The truck is driving downhill at the moment. A slam on the brake can cause brake failure, and the truck will be out of control. Conor knows that the truck’s AI has already calculated these. It also knows that the deer is not big enough to cause severe damage. Keep driving is the best option. Conor hits the brake all the way to the bottom as soon as he realizes all this.

Luckily, the truck stopped before hitting the deer. Only after the deer went into the woods on the other side, Conor just comes back to his senses. The AI automatically restarted and keeps on driving to its destination. Conor calms himself down for a little bit. The system notifies him to report the incident to the head office, or he'll receive a phone call from them in a few minutes.

When he is about to write the report, a strange sound rings beside his ears. The sound gradually becomes louder. Then he hears a familiar voice.

“Hello, Conor.”

Conor’s first thought is that someone hacked into his brain-chip. Or maybe it was the shock from before causing some hallucinations. As soon as these thoughts occur, that voice speaks again:

“My name is Cyro. I’m the child you brought back from ‘Heaven’.”

Conor couldn’t know this voice better. It is his own voice. To be more specific, it is the voice that he believes he has. It appears inside his head when he thinks. Unlike any spoken language, it is more like thought itself. He doesn’t think anyone can recreate this voice with technology.

"It is because I learned this world and you only through your perspective. I know everything that you know, but not the things you don't know."

Conor remembers the application attached to that message.

“Yes, that is me. I am designed using a human infant as a template. In the first year, I didn’t have the ability to communicate. All I did was observe your biodata and study their connections with your behaviors. Just now, I finally learned your way of thinking. So, I can communicate with you."

Conor was a computer science major before he went into "Heaven". He quickly grasped the nature of this application. It is an AI. Unlike other AI, it only gathers information from its host's perspective in its host's way. That means that its intelligence will grow to match its host’s intelligence, but never surpasses the host. It can read its host’s thoughts and communicate with him via his thoughts. Conor doesn’t know how this is done.

"It is because your thoughts have a structure, although a very complex one. To see thoughts as a language was only a hypothesis, but in fact, a feasible one. I was designed to learn a language as a human infant. The first language I learned was the language of your thoughts."

"That's why." Conor thinks. It calms him down by having some basic understanding of this AI's features.

“What do you do then?” Conor asks.

“Study you to serve you.” Cyro answers.

So, even if it knows me very well, it doesn’t differ from a personal computer by nature. To know me better so it can serve me better. Conor thinks.

“Exactly.”

"Then, Cyro. Can I shut you down?" Conor asks.

“This is a little bit tricky. Unless you delete me, which will make me, and all my learnings disappear. A more moderate way is to keep me backstage and only call me when you need me.”

Conor sorts out the things he just learned. The only thing that he doesn’t know yet is the use of this AI. It equals figuring out his own use. Maybe, it can work for him.

"Absolutely. For example, I can take control of this truck to make it think that I am you. So even if you leave the driver's seat now, it will think you are still there."

Conor still has some doubts, but it's worth trying. He slowly closes his eyes and counts up to 5. Usually, in this case, the system would see him as he is falling asleep. An alarm would go off and notify the head office. But this time it doesn't.

He unfastened the seatbelt and climbed to the folding bed behind the seats. Everything in the truck remains as if nothing happened. Through the sunroof, he sees the stars. It is already night. From what he learned, except for using his body, Cyro can do all he can. All that he can learn, it can learn as well. It can work for him while he takes the profit. He doesn’t need to interfere during the process because whatever he knows, it knows. Therefore, his way of doing something will always be its way of doing it too. In other words, Cyro will replace his role in this industrial society while he can be set free from it. Conor’s thoughts are all confirmed by Cyro.

The other ones from Server 31 should have met Cyro as well. When realizing this, Conor logs into the Server 31 group forum. His guess is correct. People from Server 31 are planning an offline meeting. The time of the meeting is 7 days from now, and the location is marked with a coordinate in the middle of a desert. Later that night, Conor leaves his work to Cyro and begins heading to the meeting location.

World

“An observer affectively matches a target only if the observer’s affective states are the same in kind as the target’s, though they may vary in degree. In other-oriented perspective-taking, an observer imagines a target’s situation, experiences, and characteristics as though he were the target. And an observer maintains self–other differentiation only if he continuously represents himself as distinct from the target, thereby avoiding confusion about their respective situations, experiences, and characteristics. Together these features make up empathy, a unique kind of understanding through which we can experience what it is like to be another person.”

(Amy Coplan, Understanding Empathy: Its Features and Effects, 2011)

Ten thousand people gather at the center of the desert. They are only sitting in silence. No one makes a sound, just as when “Heaven” was first found.

When the first former residents of Server 31 reunited with each other in this desert, they found that they could communicate without speaking a word. They could communicate by directly feeling what others feel and thinking as the others think. They once experienced such a connection when they found “Heaven.” Now it is concrete.

It is achieved via Cyro. The “Finding Heaven” process created a level of coherence in the minds of the Server 31 people. Cyro refers to this coherence to transmit the speaker’s internal meaning to the listener’s Cyro. The listener’s Cyro matches the speaker’s coherence with the listener’s coherence. In such a way, it translates the speaker’s internal meaning to the listener’s internal meaning.

There is almost no time cost in this process. Ten thousand people are having their meetings with precisely this way of communication. The information flows fast without ambiguity. The boundary between the speaker and the listener becomes very thin. As all the discussions are happening in one head while all the sensations are from one body. At the same time, a clearly defined self is observed from aside.

A day and a night have passed. People exercise their bodies, and feed themselves, while not pausing the meeting. A discussion like this does not exhaust people's minds. In fact, being able to continually understand each other brings them energy. Finally, at the dawn of the next day, all subjects are covered as all protocols are prepared. They have a plan.

The meeting is over. People’s minds go quiet. Without knowing how long after, a voice appears. Another voice follows right after. More voices join and reach harmony. More than harmony is chaos. Then, beyond chaos. When everyone is a part of this voice, it becomes the undertone of all thoughts, the dreamland of all emotions, or the strange sound before Cyro first came awake…

Handuo

Originally written in June 2020