And worse, of course. Much worse. Scientific projects were being shelved “for review”. The net censors were back in force, tighter than he’d ever seen them. He read of the “terrorist cells” being raided and he recognized some of the names. Intellectuals. Dissidents. Those who’d dared to question the state, to propose modest reforms, or directions that differed from those the hardliners wanted.

Shanghai had swung his country hard back in the reactionary direction.

Chen numbed himself to it. Only one thing mattered. When would the Secure Computer Center be back online? When could he get back to that quantum abomination and wring one last secret out of her?

There was no guilt left now. The thing that thought it was his wife would be dead soon in any case. They’d back it up in case of some future value, some way to extract the tens of billions of yuan that had been spent on it. But he doubted that backup would ever be restored. No. Let it live just a tiny bit longer, just long enough to give him the equivalence theorem.

What a last gift that would be. If the equivalence theorem existed – and it must, or why else would she have hinted at it – then any conventional computing algorithm could be incredibly accelerated via a quantum process. Quantum computing would go from a specialized technique for solving certain problems – cryptography and database searches and optimizations – to a tool that could speed up everything by billions of times, trillions of times.

And he, Chen Pang, the “discoverer” of the equivalence theorem…

He’d be famous, of course. A Nobelist. The greatest mind in computing since Turing. A multi-billionaire from the commercial spinoffs. One of the richest and most powerful men alive. Even in a hardliner’s China, he would be untouchable, among the elite of the elite.

No, he told himself. Not just for me. For the world, for the benefit to mankind.

Chen nodded soberly. Yes, that was why he would do this. Not just for his own glory. But to benefit his fellow man.

All he had to do was inflict a little pain on the insane ghost of his dead wife. It was really no conflict at all.

After three days, the SCC was ready. Chen smiled and summoned his driver.

Today he would break her. Today he would break it. Today he would make history.

Ling waited until the apartment told her that her father had left, then reached out with her thoughts and opened the door to her mother’s room. Cautiously she limped out into the flat. A livid bruise still covered her face from where her father had struck her. Her arms sported burns from the scalding tea his blow had spilled over her.