The Dark Forest

Plot

Earth is under total surveillance by Trisolaris, a planet whose inhabitants will invade Earth in 400 years. Since the human mind is the only place the Trisolarans cannot see, the UN selects four men to be "Wallfacers," the keepers of plans known only to themselves, granted full access to the resources of the UN.

The Trisolarans react to the Wallfacer project by assigning each of the Wallfacers a "Wallbreaker", except for Luo Ji. The Wallbreaker will make his/her Wallfacer their subject of study, until they figure out what they're planning.

Wallfacer Bill Hines, a British neuroscientist, intends to create a genetically superior race of humans via genetic modification and delves into computational research of the human mind. Wallfacer Frederick Tyler, the former US Secretary of Defense, intends to create a fleet of 'Mosquito' ships piloted by suicidal humans. Wallfacer Rey Diaz, a former leader of Venezuela famous for repelling a US invasion, intends to construct a more powerful hydrogen bomb for use as a weapon. The latter two wallfacers are the first to be revealed. Tyler's plan is unmasked by a mysterious but refined stranger who reveals that Tyler's ultimate plan is to betray Earth and bring a mountain-sized shard of water to the enemy fleet. This is then revealed to be a trojan horse, in order gain proximity to the enemy ships and detonate a hydrogen bomb. After his plans are exposed by his Wallbreaker, Tyler falls into despair and commits suicide. Rey Diaz constructs an array of hydrogen bombs and plans to use them to cause Mercury to crash into the Sun, causing debris to fly towards the remaining planets (thereby destroying Earth and the Trisolarans' hope for survival) in the event that the Trisolarans do not back off. The UN panel harshly criticizes him for his plan after his Wallbreaker exposes it, and he reveals that he has a biometric watch connected to a nuclear weapon in New York City that will detonate if he dies. He uses this to blackmail the UN panel to release him from his Wallfacer duties. During the flight, he reveals that he was bluffing with the biometric watch and just wanted to return to Venezuela. After returning home, Rey Diaz is stoned to death by his own people for putting the entire world in danger.

The unlikely Wallfacer Luo Ji, refuses his Wallfacer status, only to discover that it cannot be refused. He then goes on a buying spree, getting a fabulous mansion and living the life of a wealthy recluse. While the other Wallfacers are forming staffs and taking on huge projects, he just goes for walks around his land. Eventually, the United Nations, who instituted the Wallfacer project, kidnaps Luo Ji's wife and children, putting them in hibernation as a means of goading him to get to work. At last, Luo Ji begins his work as a Wallfacer, asking questions about how to transmit the information about the position of a certain star in the Milky Way to a potential third observer civilization out there. This causes the Trisolarans to redouble their efforts to kill him, and they become truly afraid of Luo Ji. The Trisolarans' worry concerns what they call "the most important secret in the universe."

Luo Ji uses the solar amplification technique (originally used by Ye Wenjie to contact the Trisolarans) to send out a set of three images—pictures of scattered dots. When asked by the Wallfacer commission what he is doing, he answers that it is a "spell against the planets of star 187J3X1" The effects of the spell will be catastrophic, he predicts. He also admits that it is a proof-of-concept, and cannot be used against Trisolaris yet.

He then comes down with what appears to be flu. Many people have come down with it, but its effects on them are minor. Luo Ji, however, seems to be dying of it. Trisolaris, it turns out, has created a virus especially targeting his genetic makeup personally. It's a germ-warfare assassination attempt. Unable to be cured, Luo Ji enters hibernation, to await a future time when a cure can be found.

Zhang Beihai creates bullets out of meteorite material, and uses it to assassinate members of the military who are against researching non-media radiation drive using nuclear fusion. Zhang believes that this is the only technology which stands a chance against Trisolaris. Since the assassination takes place in space, the meteorite bullets make it seem as if the generals were killed by a meteor shower, and Zhang Beihai escapes suspicion for the murders. He enters hibernation soon after.

Almost 200 years after being put into hibernation Luo Ji is awakened to discover a drastically changed world. The 'Total War' society Earth has created resulted in the repeal of Environmental regulations, leading to massive ecological collapse turning much of the surface into a desert. In response, nation states excavated large caverns underground. Despite the Sophon block, Earth technology has also progressed dramatically, culminating in a space fleet of ships numbering in the thousands. Citing its fleet strength, many discuss the potential for future peace talks with Trisolaris. Luo Ji, however, struggles to integrate into the new earth society which has radically changed its social structure. He eventually meets Da Shi, who has also been hibernating for centuries. Together the two explore the new Earth, but are consistently met by attacks against Luo Ji by a computer virus that was dormant for decades and was using the machines to try and kill him. It is slowly revealed that Earth society underwent a dramatic depression, called The Great Ravine, during which more than half its population died from starvation.

Immediately after awakening, Luo Ji attends a UN Wallfacer meeting, to discover his spell has failed. The other surviving Wallfacer, Bill Hines, presents his project as well. He invented a sort of mind control device called the "Mental Seal," which the military uses to overcome defeatism. Despite its utility, it is not widely adopted. At the meeting, this plan is unmasked as false by his Wallbreaker, who turns out to be his wife and scientific collaborator, Keiko. Distraught by the complete failure of the Wallfacer Project, the UN disbands the program.

Zhang Beihai is given the position of acting captain on the starship Natural Selection in recognition of his excellent morale and leadership skills. As the power to control the ship is transferred to him, he deserts the Solar System to escape the Trisolarans' incoming fleet, fulfilling his self-proclaimed duty as a soldier to preserve humanity. This prompts five other starships to pursue him.

The Earth Fleet, organized under three broad geographic commands, races towards the edge of the solar system to meet the incoming probes sent by the Trisolaris fleet. Political jockeying to be the first nation to meet an extraterrestrial species results in a massive formation of most of Earth's starships, organized in a dense, two dimensional grid to meet the incoming probe as the people on Earth rejoice at the grand display of human power and dignity. The probe, a solid 'droplet' of mirror like metal arrives, and at first seems innocuous. Earth rejoices that the aesthetic beauty of the probe is meant as the long awaited peace sign from the Trisolaris fleet. The only ships absent are the renegade ship Natural Selection and its pursuers. An unmanned ship captures the probe and a team of scientists examine it. It is inferred that the droplet is constructed of matter bonded together using a strong interaction force, creating an object of extreme strength.

The droplet awakens, breaks free of the unmanned ship it is held in, and immediately attacks the fleet. It flies to a corner of the fleet formation and begins to destroy the starships one by one. The fleet's convenient grid formation allows the droplet to conveniently fly through one starship after the other, causing immense destruction and casualties in a short amount of time. All of Earth's space-based forces are destroyed and only two Earth ships escape the attack, fleeing into deep space.

The droplet heads towards Earth, and the population panics, expecting it to destroy the planet. The droplet however bypasses the planet and instead parks itself in a Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun. Here, it broadcasts a powerful scrambling signal to prevent Earth from using the Sun's amplification mechanism again.

The only surviving Earth ships are Natural Selection and its pursuers, and the two ships which escaped the massacre. A strategy is formed to escape the solar system and head for nearby stars in hopes of founding civilization once again. The captains of Natural Selection and its pursuers unanimously appoint Zhang Beihai as their leader for preserving them from the droplet's attack but he refuses, saying that he has fulfilled his duty and is tired, approaching retirement age. A tally of each ship's stocks however quickly reveals that supplies are insufficient for such a plan to succeed, and return to Earth would result in destruction from the droplet. The hundreds of thousands of kilometers between ships delays communication and exacerbates the 'Chain of Suspicion', a self-reinforcing loop of mistrust where each ship can never be sure what the other's true intentions are. This eventually results in a simultaneous first strike against the other ships using nuclear weapons. The resulting attacks, called 'The Battle of Darkness', results in the death of Zhang Beihai and leaves only one ship surviving; a similar battle occurs with the two ships that escaped the droplet's attack. The two remaining ships then harvest supplies from the destroyed ships and head for distant stars, cutting off all contact with Earth.

The Battle of Darkness sets up the novel for the explanation of the central metaphor of the story. Back on Earth, Luo Ji and Da Shi discover that star 187J3X1 has been destroyed. This confirms Luo Ji's suspicions, and he explains to Da Shi the implications of the star's destruction. The universe is full of life. Life in the universe functions on two axioms: 1. Life's goal is to survive and 2. That matter (resources) are finite. Like hunters in a dark forest, life can never be sure of alien life's true intentions. The extreme distances between stars creates an insurmountable 'Chain of Suspicion' where the two civilizations cannot communicate fast enough to relieve mistrust, making conflict inevitable. Therefore, it is in every civilization's best interests to preemptively strike any developing civilization before it can become a threat.

This realization leads to a revival of the Wallfacer project; however, with sun transmission blocked by the droplet, Luo Ji fails to create any meaningful plan. Forced by the UN to perform some kind of action to save face, Luo Ji is given a project to track the other probes entering the solar system. Project Snowflakes is intended to create a screen across the solar system which when crossed, will reveal the trajectories of incoming probes. Luo Ji quickly realizes the futility of this project, but continues work anyway. He throws himself into the project, but it fails to reach its intended scope, only creating a third of the bombs necessary for the screen.

Three years pass, and Luo Ji falls from favor and descends into alcoholism. He is slowly ostracized from society as they look upon his failure. He eventually travels to the grave of Ye Wenjie, the woman who first sent the message to Trisolaris and told Luo Ji about the axioms of interstellar society. Luo Ji digs his own grave, and places a pistol to his heart. In his final moments, he issues an ultimatum to Trisolaris, who are watching him via Sophons. Luo Ji reveals that he is wearing a biometric watch similar to the one constructed by Wallfacer Rey Diaz. Project Snow was a ruse, the bombs are intended to selectively block light from the sun, creating a message sent out to the galaxy with the exact coordinates of Trisolaris and Earth. If Luo Ji dies, the bombs will detonate revealing the interstellar message. He threatens to kill himself if the Trisolarans fail to surrender. Trisolaris, facing destruction of their home planet, and Earth, capitulates, and acknowledges that they failed in their strategy. Luo Ji then negotiates with the Trisolarans, who agree to change the course of their fleet, lift the Sophon block, and teach humans its technology. Luo Ji thanks them for letting both civilizations coexist.

Five years later, Luo Ji is spending time with his family and a Sophon unfolds to communicate with them. They hold a conversation about love and it is revealed that the Trisolaran communicating with them is the pacifist that replied to Ye Wenjie's initial message, warning her not to reply. As the sun sets, the Trisolaran asks if Luo Ji's daughter is afraid of the coming night, to which he replies "Of course she's not afraid. She knows that the sun will rise again tomorrow."

Characters

Wallfacers (面壁者):

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