A3-04 Taking Responsibility

You walk before the cameras.

Your face appears on every screen across the globe — a thirty-year-old woman (though your biological age is thirty, more than two hundred years have actually passed), pale, but with a steady gaze.

You have no prepared speech. You simply tell the truth.

"Today, I pressed the gravitational wave broadcast button. I did so because Trisolaran civilization launched an attack in the tenth minute after I assumed the role of Swordholder. Six droplets were heading toward our gravitational wave antennas. If I had not pressed — within fifteen minutes, the antennas would have been destroyed, deterrence would have failed, and the Trisolaran Fleet would have invaded Earth unopposed."

"I pressed the button. This means the coordinates of both Earth and the Trisolaran system have been broadcast across the universe. We, like the Trisolarans, have become exposed prey."

"I do not know when the strike will come. But it will come."

You pause.

"I know many of you hate me. Because I have pushed you toward an uncertain, dangerous future. But I want you to know — if I hadn't pressed it, what you would face is certain enslavement and destruction. Between two terrible options, I chose the one that at least gives us time to prepare."

"From this moment forward, humanity must do two things: First, find a way to defend against the cleansing strike. Second, prepare plans for interstellar exodus — if this solar system is destined for destruction, we must leave before it happens."

"I will bear all responsibility. If you wish to put me on trial, I accept. But please — survive first."

The broadcast ends.

In the days that follow, the world undergoes violent transformation.

Panic sweeps every city. But after the panic comes an unprecedented sense of urgency. Humanity begins advancing research in two directions at wartime speed: defense technology and interstellar exodus.

The retreat of the Trisolaran Fleet gives humanity room to breathe. Without the immediate threat of invasion, humanity can focus on the more distant but more lethal threat — the cleansing strike from the cosmic deep.

You are relieved of your duties as Swordholder — the button has lost its meaning. You become an ordinary person. But your name will forever be linked to that decision.

Some call you the "Savior" — because you stopped the Trisolaran invasion.

Some call you the "Destroyer" — because you exposed Earth's coordinates.

You don't care what they call you. You only want to know one thing:

How much time does humanity have left? The story jumps ahead several decades. Humanity develops in fear and urgency. Yun Tianming's message is about to arrive — if the Staircase Project succeeded.

⟲ Return to the button decision point