Three-Body Episode 5 Recap
> Three-Body Recap
Mu Xing, a new media reporter, collided with Shi Qiang's motorcycle. She apologized, at first claiming she was uninsured but offering to pay for repairs, though she later admitted she did have an insurance policy. Recognizing Shi Qiang from a recent news report about his suspension, Mu Xing revealed she was also investigating the recent scientist suicides and offered to cooperate, claiming to have helpful information.
Shi Qiang, however, dismissed her offer, returned her voice recorder, and stated she would get no information from him before leaving. Wang Miao traveled to the Miyun Observatory and met Sha Ruishan, a student of Ye Wenjie. Sha Ruishan showed him the vast array of observation instruments, explaining that interference from pagers and mobile communications had rendered most of them "deaf ears."
He clarified that his own project, which uses satellite data to create a map of the cosmic microwave background, was less affected. When Wang Miao requested to observe a one to five percent fluctuation in the cosmic background radiation, Sha Ruishan was perplexed. He explained that such a massive fluctuation was physically impossible, stating it would mean the universe was "flickering like a faulty lightbulb."
He showed Wang Miao the stable "green line" representing the cosmic background radiation, betting it would remain unchanged until the end of the world. Despite his skepticism, he agreed to set up the observation for 1:00 AM as Ye Wenjie had instructed. At exactly 1:00 AM, the green line on the monitor turned red.
In disbelief, Sha Ruishan checked data from two other satellites and even called the Ürümqi observatory, only to confirm the impossible was happening: the universe was flickering. Wang Miao had him print the anomalous waveforms and began interpreting them as Morse code. He deciphered a countdown: "1108 hours remaining." He explained that after an initial period, the flicker would resume daily from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM, declaring, "the entire universe will flicker for you."
Sha Ruishan, still reeling, asked Wang Miao to share the truth when the time was right. Wang Miao explained that the cosmic microwave background, normally invisible, could be seen with 3K glasses, which compress its wavelength into visible red light. He asked Sha Ruishan to arrange for a pair to be brought to the Beijing Planetarium before 5:00 AM, but advised him not to investigate the phenomenon further, as it would yield no results.
Wang Miao sped to the Beijing Planetarium and collected the 3K glasses. The moment he put them on, his vision was flooded with a crimson glow that resolved into a massive, imposing countdown directly in front of him. Overwhelmed, he tore the glasses off and frantically called Shen Yufei, hysterically demanding to know what would happen at the end of the countdown. Her only reply was, "I don't know."
Shi Qiang found a distraught Wang Miao, remarking that unlike Yang Dong, Wang Miao "wouldn't dare to kill himself," and insisted they go for breakfast. Over food and drinks, Wang Miao confessed everything: the countdown in his vision and Shen Yufei's seeming ability to make the universe flicker. Shi Qiang dismissed it all as "bullshit," asserting his "ultimate theorem" that anything sufficiently strange must be man-made trickery.
He crudely suggested that even if science failed, humanity could revert to an agrarian or primitive society as their ancestors did. He urged Wang Miao to "stand straight and not collapse," advising that the more "they" tried to scare him, the less he should give in. Since Wang Miao was being targeted, Shi Qiang vowed he wouldn't let him die easily. Shi Qiang's words gave Wang Miao a new resolve.
He ate, slept, and handed over the photos of the flicker phenomenon to Shi Qiang. His spirits lifted, he was even seen smiling and sharing jokes with his daughter, Doudou. At Doudou's request, he gave a lecture at her school, using a tennis ball and an iron ball to demonstrate that physics relies on experimentation, not just imagination. He encouraged the children to persevere in their pursuit of truth, citing historical figures like Bruno and Galileo.
Back in his lab, Wang Miao announced the completion of maintenance and ordered, "Restart the experiment." As the experiment began, the countdown reappeared in his vision, but this time, he faced it without fear. Meanwhile, Dr. Ding Yi was conducting experiments with a particle accelerator, frustrated by inconsistent results that failed to match her calculations. A male colleague tried to console her, playfully suggesting that accepting his marriage proposal might make her experiments run smoothly.
Dr. Ding explained the core problem: each inaccuracy was making their theoretical models "more complex, vague, and uncertain," rendering experimental verification nearly impossible. When her colleague suggested she simply "measure more times," Dr. Ding wryly retorted that in that case, he would have to "propose more times."
