The Wandering Earth

by Liu Cixin

Back then we were baffled when we watched films and read stories from the Pre-Solar Age. We just could not understand why people should invest so much emotion into matters that had nothing to do with survival. Watching a protagonist despair or cry over love was strange beyond words to us. In those days, the imminent threat of death and the desire to escape alive overwhelmed all else. The daily updates on the condition of the Sun and position of the Earth all but devoured our attention and ruled our emotions. This all-consuming focus gradually changed the essence of human psychology and spirituality.

‘Did you see? The Earth is a cosmic soap bubble; with a pop, it will be nothing. So what is there to be afraid of?’

‘We still have a very long time to get along and very many things to talk about, but let us not speak of morals. In the universe, such considerations are meaningless.’

‘What is civilization? Civilization is devouring, ceaselessly eating, endlessly expanding; everything else comes second.’ The Marshal, too, was deep in thought. Looking at Fangs, he asked, ‘Can the struggle for existence be the universe’s only law of biological and cultural evolution? Can we not establish a self-sufficient, introspective civilization where all life exists in symbiosis? A civilization like that of the Eridanians?’ Fangs answered without hesitation or pause. ‘I am no philosopher; perhaps it can be done. The crux is, who will take the first step? If one’s survival is based on the subjugation and consumption of others and if that should be the universe’s iron law of life and civilization, then whoever first rejects it in favour of introspection will certainly perish.’

Nowadays, millions worked all year round on the Moon and the Asteroid Belt. These workers faced truly daunting costs if they wished to return to Earth for a vacation. The Aerospace Agency, always concerned with its bottom line, had devised these gadgets to solve their dilemma – and so each extra-orbital astronaut had another pair of eyes planet-side. Those on Earth lucky enough to go on a real-life vacation could take someone else’s pair of eyes along, allowing a homesick space worker to share the joy of their trip. Even though these gadgets had become the butt of many a joke, the fact that those willing to wear them received significant subsidies for their travels had made them very popular.