With his body thus armoured against environmental extremes, Zima was free to seek inspiration where he wanted. He could drift free in space, staring into the face of a star, or wander the searing canyons of a planet where metals ran like lava. His eyes had been replaced by cameras sensitive to a huge swathe of the electromagnetic spectrum, wired into his brain via complex processing modules. A synaes-thesic bridge allowed him to hear visual data as a kind of music; to see sounds as a symphony of startling colours. His skin functioned as a kind of antenna, giving him sensitivity to electrical field changes. When that wasn't sufficient, he could tap into the data feeds of any number of accompanying machines. 

Given all this, Zima's art couldn't help but be original and attention-grabbing. His landscapes and starfields had a heightened, ecstatic quality about them, awash in luminous, jarring colours and eye-wrenching tricks of perspective. Painted in traditional materials but on a huge scale, they quickly attracted a core of serious buyers. Some found their way into private collections, but Zima murals also started popping up in public spaces all over the Galaxy. Tens of metres across, the murals were nonetheless detailed down to the limits of vision. Most had been painted in one session. Zima had no need for sleep, so he worked uninterrupted until a piece was complete. 

The murals were undeniably impressive. From a standpoint of composition and technique they were unquestionably brilliant. But there was also something bleak and chilling about them. They were landscapes without a human presence, save for the implied viewpoint of the artist himself. 

Put it this way: they were nice to look at, but I wouldn't have hung one in my home. 

Not everyone agreed, obviously, or else Zima wouldn't have sold as many works as he had. But I couldn't help wondering how many people were buying the pictures because of what they knew about the artist, rather than because of any intrinsic merit in the works themselves. 

有了这身足以经受任何极端环境的无敌盔甲，齐玛能够到他想要去的任何地方吸取灵感，不管那里的环境有多么恶劣。他能在星际空间自由翱翔，能钻进恒星的表面探索，或者到完全由灼热岩浆覆盖的行星游荡。他的眼睛被高性能的摄像头所取代。这种摄像头能够获取跨度极大的电磁频谱，远远超过了可见光的范围。这两个摄像头通过非常复杂的处理模块连接到他的大脑中。  

他的大脑中还安装了一个神经突触混合桥接器，他可以把视频数据当成音乐来听，把交响乐当成某种奇妙的色彩来看。他的皮肤还具备天线的功能，能让他感知电场的变化。如果他觉得这样还不够，他可以把一定数量的机器互联起来，变成一个超级云计算系统，然后从中获取数据。  

正因为浑身上下都被如此强大的技术武装起来，齐玛的画作极具创造性，深深地吸引了人们的眼球，让所有人欲罢不能。他画的风景地貌和星系的作品，品质都超乎想象，令人叹为观止。这些画作充满了光彩夺目的颜色，并且运用了高超的空间扭曲透视技巧。更让人惊叹的是，他的作品从来不用传统的绘画材料，都是那种面积极大的作品。这种画作很快吸引了一大群严谨的收藏家。齐玛的一小部分画作被他们买下变成私人藏品，而大部分作品都存在于公共的星际空间中，这些画作闪耀了整个银河系。这些画作横跨几十米。尽管篇幅很大，但是所有的细节都清晰到视觉的极限。大部分的画作都是在极短的时间内完成的。齐玛不需要睡觉，所以他可以不间断地工作，直到整幅画作彻底完成。  

不可否认，这些画作给人们留下了不可磨灭的印象。无论是从构图的角度还是技法的角度来看，他们都是无可非议的杰作。但是这些作品总让人感到一丝寒意，有时甚至让人不寒而栗。因为这些画作所画的风景地貌根本没有人见过，完全是从画家自己的视角描绘出来的。  

除了这一丝寒意，总体来说这些画还是相当棒的，但我家里从来都没有悬挂他的画作。  

很显然，并不是每个人都喜欢他的作品，而且齐玛也不可能把自己所有的画作都卖出去。但我还是忍不住想知道：究竟有多少人只是因为齐玛很有名才买了这些作品？又有多少人是真正懂得这些作品的内在价值而去收藏它们？