Chapter 52 - 22: TDI Dream Net Protocol

Chapter 52: Chapter 22: TDI Dream Net Protocol

Then, based on the tone row, four basic transformations are made: the "prime" form in its original sequence, the "retrograde" in reverse, the "inversion" with intervals flipped upside down, and the "retrograde-inversion," which is first inverted and then played backward.

As he read this, a word suddenly popped into Yu Xian’s mind.

Group theory.

Having been cramming his parents’ research papers recently, his mind subconsciously made a connection to this concept from abstract algebra—one often used in physics to study crystal structures and particle interactions.

Group theory is a branch of mathematics. It is the study of "symmetry." Simply put, it is the study of "how something can change, yet still look the same after the change." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Alright, perhaps that wasn’t so simple. It was still a bit abstract. Let’s use an analogy.

Group theory is like a big zoo, with many different types of "group" species. Among them is one species type called the "Klein four-group," named in the 19th century by the German mathematician Klein.

Take the thermal shirt hanging on the clothes rack in front of him, for example. If he were to put it on in the morning without turning on the lights, he might wear it in one of four ways:

First, the correct way: collar facing forward, print facing out.

Second, backward. This often gives you the feeling of "being choked by an invisible force," making it hard to breathe, with a chilly sensation on the back of your neck. In reality, this is because the shirt’s collar is on backward.

Third, inside out. The shirt’s print is against your skin, and the seams are showing on the outside.

Fourth, inside out and backward. You could call this the most genius way to wear it.

Under these circumstances, no matter how you combine the above ways of putting it on, the result will always be one of the four. There’s no fifth possibility. Furthermore, performing any of these actions twice will return the shirt to its original state.

This is what makes it a "Klein four-group."

’And this Twelve-tone Technique... it actually fits the characteristics of a "Klein four-group" perfectly?’

’This isn’t so much composing music as it is... demonstrating a closed concept of mathematical logic on a piano!’

’It strips away the human pursuit of "comfort" in music, leaving only a cold, rigorous, and absolute logical skeleton.’

’All sensibility is stripped away, leaving only structure.’

But...

’Why would they play this kind of music?’

’This thing is supposed to help you sleep?’

’They wouldn’t create a whole set of music like this just to fool people, would they?’

’That would be needlessly cryptic and theatrical.’

’Or... is there some scientific logic behind it?’

He skipped forward a bit. The music’s volume decreased slightly, intertwining with another kind of rhythmic white noise.

He listened for a while longer, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. He didn’t feel sleepy at all.

Completely baffled, he switched back to the chat interface and sent the seller a message:

"I downloaded a file from the official site. It’s a few hours of audio. I just listened to a few parts, and I don’t feel sleepy at all. How is this supposed to help me sleep?"

The reply came quickly, another grinning emoji:

"You have to listen from the beginning. No stopping, no skipping. You can’t even be interrupted by messages or calls. My friend, just turn on Do Not Disturb mode, plug your phone in to charge, put it next to you on speaker, and just close your eyes and listen as you fall asleep."

’Listen from the beginning, no stopping, no skipping?’

’Even getting a message would be a problem, so much so that I need to turn on Do Not Disturb?’

’Why are the restrictions so strict?’

Yu Xian looked at the playback screen. The bizarre piano music was still playing.

Taking a deep breath, he skeptically placed his phone beside his pillow and forced his eyes shut again.

Jarring.

Uncomfortable.

Every note seemed to land right where it would be most jarring.

After enduring tens of minutes of extreme discomfort, the chaotic piano sounds slowly began to diminish, and a different, low-frequency rhythmic white noise began to pulse faintly.

Before he knew it, Yu Xian felt his own breathing begin to sync with that rhythm.

Inhale... Exhale...

His rapid heartbeat began to calm, gradually synchronizing with the frequency of the white noise.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. The boundaries of the real world began to blur, his body grew abnormally heavy, and the sounds of rain and thunder outside gradually faded away.

’Is this... the precursor to "hypersomnia"?’

Yu Xian wanted to open his eyes to confirm if he was still awake, but he found his eyelids were too heavy to lift. He was even slowly losing control of his own breathing.

In the final second before his consciousness completely blacked out, he seemed to feel a sharp pain in a certain part of his brain, and then he fell into...

The world now before him.

...

This was a white place.

Or rather, the "white" here was not the color white, but a kind of "emptiness"—an absolute, unadulterated void.

There was no up or down, no left or right, no gravity, no sensation of time passing, and not even any awareness of his own body.

The sharp, piercing pain in his head from a moment ago had also vanished without a trace. In its place was an unprecedented clarity.

This feeling of clarity was bizarre. It didn’t feel like a dream, because the speed at which his brain processed logic was astonishingly fast.

’Where am I?’

He tried to speak, but felt no vibration from his vocal cords. And yet, he distinctly heard the very words he had intended to say, like an echo.

Just then, the void before him began to ripple. A string of chaotic characters appeared, flickering and rearranging themselves manically.