"Barnard's Star has a measurable parallax, but it's too dim for flickering observation. The next one, Ross 154, is also too dim. Farther out, Lalande still isn't bright enough… Only Sirius works."
"That's the brightest star we can see, right? How far away is it?" Shizuka asked.
Rim rested her chin on one hand and answered: "A parallax of one arcsecond means 8.6 light-years. By that calculation, the flickering from Sirius would only be observed by us seventeen years later!"
"Connie, check whether Sirius's records from that period still exist in your memory!" Doraemon said. Connie quickly closed her eyes and concentrated, searching through her memories.
Very soon, the computer located the chart. But before the restoration process could even begin, another sharp beep sounded, indicating a duplicate match. Even so, everyone carefully compared the Sun's chart with Sirius's.
The waveform perfectly overlapped with the Sun's previous flickering pattern. The two complex waveforms matched exactly, every rise and fall superimposed flawlessly.
Rim shook her head in disbelief: "No way…"
"Then… what about the next one? The next observable star is…" Connie clenched her teeth.
"Altair in the Aquila constellation! Connie, try Altair!" Rim said.
"Altair… it's about 16.7 light-years from the Solar System…" Connie focused once more.
"Bring it up…"
Rim's hands were shaking. A moment later, the new waveform appeared.
No one said a word. Nobita's room suddenly fell silent.
It was identical yet again.
"Just as I thought…" Doraemon nodded.
These transmitted waveforms were clearly the traces of some living being's thoughts, a single fleeting sensation from that creature, stretched into decades here on Earth.
Connie stared blankly at the charts and said, "So that's why Type-A stellar flickering happens less often… It needs a trigger, some kind of sensation before a star can begin producing one of these flickers… Nearby stars receive them and respond in turn. Any star can become either the source of the flickering or the receiver that echoes it back…"
"It's exactly like the spread of thoughts in the human brain…" Kelly murmured.
"Then… what is 'it' thinking about…?" Shizuka asked.
Doraemon replied: "Thinking… I don't think that's even possible. The flickering originating from the Sun may have been nothing more than a primitive neural impulse. These impulses happen constantly, but most are like tiny ripples made by mosquitoes touching a pond, fleeting and insignificant. Only when the impulse spreads throughout the entire universe could it form one complete sensation."
"We spent decades… just to witness one instant of 'it' impulse… something that 'it' might not even have noticed?"
Rim looked lost, as if trapped in a dream.
Kelly said softly: "Even if humanity exhausted the entirety of its lifespan as a civilization, we still might never witness one complete sensation from 'it'…
According to modern cosmology and the theory of cosmic expansion, light emitted from a point in an expanding universe can never spread through the entire cosmos…"
"That means… 'it' can never experience a complete sensation." Connie murmured as she removed the restoration machine's helmet.
Karen, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly spoke up.
"Then what about us?"
No one answered.
"Are we still going to save the Sun? Even when it's nothing more than a neuron inside some creature's brain?"
It wasn't the first time they had felt humanity was insignificant compared to the universe. But this time, the feeling was overwhelming, human life was truly too short, and humanity itself unbearably small.
Even if they saved the Sun, saved the universe, restored everything to normal… what meaning would it have?
The span of a human life, even the entirety of human civilization, was merely one emotional fluctuation from that creature.
Life was painfully brief…
Kelly slammed her hand onto the table and declared firmly: "Like hell we're going to stop now. Maybe compared to that being we're insignificant, but we still have our own world, our own civilization, and our own dignity!"
Everyone turned toward Kelly as she continued:
"We don't even know whether that being truly exists, and even if that being truly exists, then what? Perhaps it's also nothing more than a neuron inside an even greater being. Likewise, who can say there isn't another universe inside our own bodies? Think about the universe we passed through after escaping the black hole. Who could have imagined it existed inside a single cell?"
Everyone found themselves nodding. Kelly's right, everything is relative, there is no absolute greatest or absolute smallest. Life is equal. And that alone was reason enough to keep going.
Doraemon seemed to have made up his mind as well. "Then we'll continue with the plan to negotiate with the Sun. The additional data from Rim and Connie, combined with the analysis I've been working on during the journey, should make completing the communication device much easier.
I'll ask Sewashi and Dorami for help so we can finish it faster. However, we can't attempt communication with the Sun in this era. We don't know what might happen if we do it here, and if it affects this timeline, that could be disastrous... That means we'll have to travel to the future again… What do you all think?"
Shizuka raised her hand. "Just us? Will Sewashi and Dorami be coming too?"
Doraemon nodded. "If nothing goes wrong, they'll definitely come with us."
Hearing that, no one objected further. Doraemon quickly pulled out his phone and called Sewashi. Dorami was probably busy at the moment, but she would come help once she finished. For now, contacting Sewashi was the best option.
While Doraemon was on the phone, the five girls gathered and talked among themselves. After a while, Rim suddenly thought of something and asked, "What about Nobita? Should we call him? If he finds out we left without saying anything, he'll be angry!"
Shizuka shook her head. "I think we should leave him at home. The future is far too dangerous.
Besides, with the time machine. Even if we leave, when we come back it'll still be the exact same moment we departed…"
Kelly, Karen, and Connie agreed with Shizuka. Rim, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment but still agreed in the end.
Doraemon had finished speaking with Sewashi and turned back to the group. "I've already sent all the data to Sewashi. In about an hour or two, he and Dorami will bring the Sun communication device here. Once they arrive, we'll leave immediately. You girls don't have any problems with that, right?"
"No problem!" all five answered at the same time.
…
The Sun communication device had finally been completed. Sewashi had worked with incredible efficiency, but because of the reports Dorami had brought back, he ended up being dragged into a conference and couldn't come help in person. Dorami was also stuck there with him. The two of them only had time to say that they had sent Doraemon a few gadgets before hurriedly ending the call.
"Let's just go already. Who knows how long you Përjetësia people will keep holding meetings!" Connie said impatiently. Kelly and Karen had once told her about a meeting the Përjetësia held in the distant past that lasted for millions of years. Who knew how long this one would drag on for?
"Given the nature of this situation, the conference probably won't last more than a hundred years… but honestly, there's no telling when it'll actually end," Doraemon said helplessly, scratching his head.
Shizuka frowned. "But rushing blindly into the future isn't exactly a good plan either…" She had only agreed to the plan because she thought Dorami and Sewashi would be coming along too.
Just as the group was hesitating over whether they should do, the Sun communication device along with a box-shaped gadget container was delivered to Nobita's room.
Doraemon stored the communication device in his pocket, then picked up the box and examined it. A tiny electronic chip was attached to the top. The moment he touched it, a stream of blue electricity flowed into his body, informing him of the gadget's function.
"So, what's that box for, Doraemon?" the five girls asked curiously.
Doraemon opened his eyes and explained, "It's a storage box for anti-magnetic decals. We can use them to protect our gadgets from the Sun's magnetic interference. But since there wasn't enough time to fine-tune them, the decals can only block a moderate level of magnetism."
There was no doubt Sewashi had also been worried that Doraemon might recklessly rush off and do something on his own. But without enough time to persuade him otherwise, the only thing he could do was send these decals as a precaution.
"Oohhh, then let's go already! With these decals, if things go wrong, we can just escape using the Time Belts!" Connie said excitedly.
"Mm, last time it still took the Sun quite a while to disable the Time Belts. With these decals, our safety should be much more secure." Kelly agreed with a nod.
"That's true…" Doraemon thought for a moment before asking again, "So, does everyone want to go now?"
Kelly's group exchanged glances before nodding in unison. Shizuka still hesitated for a moment and turned to ask Undine's opinion. After a short discussion, she nodded as well. After all, things had gone so badly last time because they hadn't prepared properly. But this time, they had made preparations. So surely everything will be better this time…
Seeing that everyone had agreed, Doraemon began taking out the Time Belts and attaching the anti-magnetic decals to them before handing one to each person. The group strapped the belts around their waists and quickly climbed into the Time Machine. Doraemon also placed a decal onto the machine itself.
Once everything was ready, Doraemon sat down in the control seat, activated the Time Machine, ready to be back to the future.