The analysis report submitted by Zheng Boyuan was like a stone dropped into a deep pool. While it didn't create significant ripples at the administrative level, it landed precisely within the field of vision of the core researchers of the "NeuraLink" project. Two afternoons later, Lin Yuan was summoned to a small conference room in the administration building to attend a "Nursing Coordination Meeting on Multimodal Data Collection for a Special Case."
Besides Dr. Zhao Qiming and Zheng Boyuan, there were three strangers in the room. The leader was a woman in her fifties with meticulously styled hair, introduced as Deputy Director Zhou from the Brain Science Research Institute of the collaborating hospital. Beside her sat a sharp-eyed man in his thirties, the data analysis lead, referred to as Engineer Wu. The last, younger person was a project assistant.
The meeting started routinely. Director Zhou thanked the hospital for its cooperation and praised the nursing staff's meticulous observations. Soon, however, the topic shifted to that "atypical data."
Engineer Wu pulled up complex charts and explained in a flat tone, "...After removing more environmental noise with our improved algorithm, the confidence level for the ultra-low-frequency phase synchronization phenomenon between Observation Subject 7 and the other three nodes has increased by 15%. This is particularly true when specific patterns of low-intensity, regular sensory stimulation occur near Node 7—for example, this." He enlarged a chart showing a gentle, stepwise decrease in brightness recorded by a light sensor.
Lin Yuan's heart skipped a beat. That was data from one of her night shifts when she had dimmed the lights.
"Our preliminary modeling suggests," Engineer Wu continued, as if discussing a piece of code rather than a person, "that Node 7, due to its specific lesion site and residual neural network structure, may exhibit an 'amplifier' or 'filter' characteristic in response to extremely weak, information-structured stimuli from the external environment. This characteristic acts like a 'master oscillator' within the array, faintly modulating the background neural activity of the other nodes."
Director Zhou took over, her tone gentle yet carrying undeniable authority. "This opens a very valuable window for us to understand residual neural information processing capabilities in states of extreme consciousness disorder. Of course, patient safety and ethics are the absolute priority. Our next step is to design several sets of more refined stimulus paradigms to verify this 'amplifier' hypothesis and explore its characteristic boundaries, all while ensuring the process is as natural and non-invasive as possible."
Dr. Zhao Qiming frowned slightly. "Director Zhou, what kind of stimulus paradigms? How will intensity and frequency be controlled? We must ensure no potential harm to the patient, even theoretically."
"Rest assured, Dr. Zhao," Director Zhou smiled. "The stimuli we refer to will be minor, orderly adjustments to natural environmental variables. For example, setting the nightlight in the room to several fixed brightness levels that switch automatically at specific intervals and sequences, replacing manual adjustment. Or, playing an extremely faint, specially designed white noise or natural sound sequence during specific periods, at a volume lower than normal conversation. All stimulus intensities will be far below any known threshold capable of inducing arousal or stress, existing merely as part of the environmental background. What we need is systematic data to verify whether this 'neuro-environmental sensitivity' truly exists and to understand its response patterns."
Automation. Systematization. Lin Yuan listened, her fingers tightening slightly under the table. This meant her unintentional act of dimming the lights, which had become a "special stimulus source," would be replaced, standardized, and incorporated into a controlled experimental protocol. And Chen Yu—Node 7—would become the core observation subject of this experiment.
"Why Bed 7?" Lin Yuan couldn't help but ask. "If you just need a 'sensitive node,' what about the other observed cases?"
Director Zhou glanced at her, her gaze steady. "A good question, Nurse Lin. According to the existing data, Node 7's response pattern is the clearest, and its association with specific stimuli is the most pronounced. This could be coincidental, or it might be related to his relative youth and shorter time since injury. We need the clearest 'signal' to establish a baseline model. Of course, the other nodes will continue to be observed under improved monitoring."
The meeting finalized the preliminary plan: within three days, an automated, programmable microenvironment adjustment device would be installed in Room 7 and linked to the "NeuraLink" monitoring system. The stimulus protocols would be remotely designed and encrypted by the research institute, with local