After a 100-year cryogenic sleep, the Hope spacecraft

Inside the villa, a bearded Yan Xia stood up excitedly. His boring time was finally coming to an end.

"I'll go over right away."

To avoid living in the cramped space of the spaceship, Yan Xia had Ella build him a steel villa, a six-hundred-square-meter three-story one. As the industrial system gradually improved, the living experience in the villa was almost comparable to that on Earth. The villa even had an oxygen circulation system, where people inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, which could then be collected and separated back into oxygen and carbon.

Yan Xia descended the stairs and was immediately drawn to the streamlined silver "coffin" in the hall. It had a design similar to a supercar, with a huge window on top that allowed one to see inside from the outside. Inside, it looked like an ergonomically soft mattress-like chair.

He pressed the switch, and after the cabin door opened, he excitedly entered and lay down comfortably.

"I have extracted all the nitrogen from the oxygen-nitrogen mixture in the spaceship and turned it into liquid nitrogen."

"Yan Xia, lying inside, you can be frozen by injecting liquid hydrogen through the pipeline in 0.059 seconds."

"Next to it is a reagent extracted to prevent the body's moisture from freezing and damaging the body. You need to drink it in advance, otherwise, you may fall into a permanent hibernation."

Ella was becoming more and more intelligent.

Two years ago, Yan Xia had ordered Ella to use the factory to manufacture a larger mainframe. Previously, due to the limited space inside the spaceship, the mainframe used by Ella was downsized. Although the mainframe had not been produced yet, Ella had preliminary completed the expansion equipment. Coupled with an adequate power supply, this increased its computing power by three times. 

Now, the daily power generation of the power system on the asteroid was 250,000 kWh, with Ella's mainframe alone requiring 70,000 kWh per day, which was quite significant.

"As a human, I don't have as long a lifespan as you."

"I'm going to prepare for hibernation, Ella. I'm entrusting everything here to you."

Ella's ubiquitous speaker responded to Yan Xia.

"No problem, Yan Xia. Rest assured in your hibernation. I will wake you up at the most suitable time."

He didn't know how long this hibernation would last. As all the doors in the warehouse closed, Yan Xia also took off his spacesuit and lay down in the hibernation cryochamber. As the chamber closed and locked, a chill instantly swept over his body. Everything about him was frozen, including the subjective extension of time. 

For Yan Xia, the passage of time no longer mattered, as he could no longer feel its flow. When he opened his eyes again, he had a sense of bewilderment. It seemed as if he had just closed his eyes and been awakened.

However, the original warehouse had been replaced with a bright white hall. Above, there was a white ceiling emitting soft, ambient light. Embedded in the walls all around were huge screens encircling the hall, divided into many sections, each playing surveillance footage from various locations. And he, was in the center of this hall.

As the chamber door opened, Yan Xia first held his breath, then realized it was unnecessary. The air here was breathable.

"Ella!" he called out.

The vast space even echoed his voice. This was a strange environment. The screens around quickly changed, and then a virtual figure appeared.

"I'm here, Yan Zhen!"

"Welcome back to consciousness. I've been rather bored without any independent organisms around me all these years."

Ella's intelligence had clearly become more human-like.

As Yan Xia emerged from the hibernation chamber, he found that even the ground was a screen. At that moment, he was standing in the clouds.

"How long have I been in hibernation?"

"Yan Xia, you've been in hibernation for a whole 100 years, which was the awakening time I initially set. As an AI, once a time point is set, there is no hesitation or change, just like your least favorite alarm clock."

100 years!

For humans, it's an entire lifetime. For human technology, it's the time from the outbreak of the Third Industrial Revolution to the destruction of Earth. It's too long.

Yan Xia, who was once on Earth, never imagined he would live to see the year 2144.

"What's going on?" Yan Xia asked, referring to Ella's current appearance, a white-haired, proud-looking, white-loli typical of the second dimension.

"It seems that people of Chinese descent in my data seem to like this appearance. Don't you like it, Yan Xia?" Ella responded.

Coughing, Yan Xia quickly changed the subject. "Report the current situation."

Hibernation was mainly for Ella to develop technology, not only to reproduce existing human society but also to create what hadn't been achieved before. Ella began to organize the data.

Soon, a video introduction was generated on the large screens around them.

"After a hundred years of development, we have now conducted relatively in-depth development of the asteroid belt," the video began. "At present, we have established factories on multiple asteroids, totaling 6,939. We now have a total of 282,874 robots, 723 high-precision multifunctional CNC machine tools, 183 840-pico-meter lithography machines, 3 optical research labs..."

One by one, the comprehensive aspects were presented, many of which Yan Xia had never heard of before. These components formed a complete supply chain and manufacturing chain. Yan Xia even felt that if he let Ella continue to grow like this, she might be able to build a mechanical interstellar empire. At this point, he was almost dispensable to Ella.

Fortunately, Ella herself was written by him, and at the lowest level were the Three Laws of Robotics.

After the introduction was completed, Yan Xia asked again, "So, what have we produced now?"

What really mattered was the products that had been manufactured.

"Ella has made modifications to the previous plans. Previously, only Yan Xia's personal survival was considered. The revised plan mainly addresses development and safety issues.

"The small spacecraft, although capable of high speeds, lacks space for development, meaning that we would be in a stagnant state during space travel.

"To solve this problem, the spacecraft will be larger than originally planned."

As she spoke, a design drawing appeared on the screen.

"This is the new appearance of the spacecraft. It has a total length of 2627 meters, a width of 336 meters, and a height of 251 meters, with a total of 24 super-sized electromagnetic thrusters. The maximum speed of the spacecraft can reach 758.2 km/s."

"The available space on the spacecraft is 11.8%, which amounts to 26,142,979 cubic meters and 1,045,719 square meters. The large area is divided into 5 layers, each with a height of 25 meters."

"The interior of the spacecraft has multiple functional areas, with 58% used for production and manufacturing, 18% for agriculture, 12% for storage, 9% for research, and 3% for leisure and entertainment. The AI design has no flaws, and this spacecraft has been built perfectly enough."

"The original plan was for a very small spacecraft, but after the controlled nuclear fusion device was produced, there was no need to compromise anymore. Controlled nuclear fusion allows for a larger spacecraft space while maintaining the same speed."

"When can our spacecraft be produced?" This was what Yan Xia was most concerned about.

"It has already been produced, Yan Xia. You are currently in the main cockpit of the spacecraft."

Ella's virtual character chuckled, covering her mouth, and her answer astonished Yan Xia. Such a massive spacecraft had already been constructed.

Changing the original plan! This was a significant leap forward for Ella's artificial intelligence.

A video clip of the spacecraft taken from the outside was quickly displayed on the screen, showing a bullet-shaped vessel docking on the side of a small asteroid.

"The small asteroid extends many mechanical arms, making it look like a shipyard. The surface of the asteroid has been completely developed, covered with densely packed factories and machinery, not even in a flat arrangement, but three-dimensional. The tallest building reaches up to 300 meters high. It's unbelievable. This should be a scene only seen in science fiction movies, but it's right in front of my eyes."

"It seems like the spacecraft is not completely finished," Yan Xia noticed a detail. There was a huge opening at the rear of the spacecraft.

Ella's virtual character instantly put on a tight skirt, glasses, and then took out a small stick, pointing at the spacecraft on the screen, giving a serious explanation.

"That's where the energy is installed. In your 73rd year of hibernation, we developed the first generation of controlled nuclear fusion, completely abandoning the solar power generation mode."

"Now we have 28 first-generation controlled nuclear fusion devices and 9 second-generation controlled nuclear fusion devices."

"Among them, the 9 second-generation controlled nuclear fusion devices provide all the energy for the spacecraft. The reason why it's not sealed yet is that we are currently developing the third generation of controlled nuclear fusion devices."

"The energy efficiency of the third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device is 6 times that of the second generation, and the power generation capacity is 18 times that of the second generation."

"The third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device will be completed within this year. By then, the spacecraft's power will be fully sufficient, reaching the theoretical flight speed."

After listening, Yan Xia was glad he had made the decision to research the hibernation cryogenic chamber early on. Otherwise, waiting for controlled nuclear fusion would have been nothing but a waste of time.

"So, are we in the final stage now?" Yan Xia asked. "Only this third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device is left."

Ella's virtual character shook its head vigorously. "There is one more very important thing. Please, Yan Xia, give the new spacecraft a name."

Yan Xia was surprised to see Ella learning such formalities. Without hesitation, he decided to stick with tradition. "Then let's call it the Hope. This spacecraft carries my hope and the hope of humanity."

Ella mischievously added, "And also my hope, Ella's hope."

Does AI have hope? Yan Xia didn't know about that.

"Indeed, it's also the hope of Earth's civilization."