The deeper they went, the more signs of damage and abandonment they found.
They encountered two more failed laser tripwires and a sealed door that required forcible entry, finally arriving at the entrance of a massive facility marked "Low-Risk Sample Storage."
The heavy blast door was jammed halfway open.
Inside, the facility was immense, with towering ceilings, lined with endless rows of server cabinets and storage array frames.
Most of these cabinets were severely damaged, some with their casings torn open, revealing charred circuit boards and melted storage components inside; others looked as if they had been twisted and deformed by some immense force, their mounting bolts ripped out, their supports collapsing askew to the side.
A faint smell of scorching and metal oxidation hung in the air, occasionally punctuated by the crackle of an electrical arc somewhere.
Some relatively intact cabinet units were covered with heavy dust sheets, but most were exposed to the air, covered in thick layers of dust.
"Low-risk?" Rebecca kicked a charred circuit board at her feet. "Looks more like a 'high-risk' fire scene to me."
"Split up and check. Falco, try to find any working terminals or logs. Sasha, you check the workstations over there," Maine ordered.
The team fanned out, carefully navigating between the massive server arrays. The Servitor remained at the entrance, on alert.
Falco found a half-damaged terminal in a corner. "Hey, this one seems to have some power... I'm trying to recover data... Damn, it's been thoroughly deleted... Wait, there are some fragmented log entries."
He read the intermittent information on the screen: "'...Sample 7-B abnormal activity... recommend elevating to 'Yellow' status...'", "'...unauthorized access attempts... from... main... server array...'", "'...must... isolate... protocol 'Beidou'...'"
"'Beidou'?" Maine frowned. "That word again."
Just then, Sasha's voice came from the other side. She was in front of a relatively intact workstation: "Maine, come over here. I might have found something... The physical isolation of this system is very good; the deletion program doesn't seem to have completely covered this area."
The others immediately gathered around. Sasha's fingers flew across her portable interface device, and streams of ancient data scrolled across the screen.
"I'm recovering some deleted monitoring log fragments... and experimental records," Sasha said quickly. "It's about... the capture and study of a non-biological, highly intelligent entity. They call it... the 'Object.'"
Some blurry static images flashed on the screen, vaguely showing a complex structural diagram of something constantly generating abnormal data streams, sealed by multiple logical firewalls and physical isolation layers, along with a large number of perplexing parameter readings.
"Records show that Militech, during the last Corporate War, accidentally intercepted this... entity... during a raid on an enemy network node," Sasha's voice held a trace of imperceptible tremor. Her fingers rapidly slid across the interface device, calling up deeper encrypted files.
"It's described as a piece of intelligent code with extremely strong adaptability, aggressiveness, and mimicry capabilities. It's not a program in the traditional sense, but a digital entity with self-awareness and the ability to think."
She was sifting through the data when she suddenly paused, looked up, her eyes under her hood filled with shock as she looked at Maine: "'Project Little Dipper'... this project isn't just about analysis and control..." She quickly cracked another layer of protection. "...They wanted to reverse-engineer its core aggressive protocols, intending to weaponize it to counter... Oh my god, to counter Arasaka's 'Soulkiller' technology!"
The log information on the screen scrolled faster.
"But they severely underestimated the target's danger... The logs mention multiple severe containment breaches, codenamed 'Phantom Breakout'... causing widespread cognitive disorder and neural damage among research personnel... It seems to be trying to... assimilate those who come into contact with it?" Sasha's speech grew faster and faster, her face paling. "Records show it almost broke through all digital cages. In the end, it was barely contained by absolute physical isolation and a set of extremely stringent protocols.
The last few records... don't recommend destruction, but emphasize the need for indefinite deep isolation, awaiting the emergence of 'more mature control techniques.' Militech never gave up on it; they just couldn't master it!"
She suddenly looked up, towards another, even heavier isolation door leading deeper into the facility: "Maine! The logs indicate it was transferred to a deeper isolation zone! That area sealed by multiple protective barriers! Militech couldn't destroy it, couldn't utilize it, they just buried it here like a ticking time bomb!"
Just then, Sasha quickly transmitted her findings and data summary to Osiris via an encrypted link.
Almost the instant the transmission completed, Osiris' voice, via remote connection, directly sounded in Maine's and Sasha's auditory implants.
His voice was no longer his usual calm, but filled with an uncontrollable, ecstatic excitement of having discovered a priceless treasure: "A complete rogue AI?! A weapon Militech dreamed of but couldn't control?! Sasha, are you sure?!... Excellent! This is a billion times more valuable than any blueprint or data!"
His tone became fervent and urgent, even with a hint of greed: "Maine, Sasha! Listen carefully! Plan change! Top priority target! I want it! I want it intact! At all costs!
Attempt all safe means to bring the entire core storage array, along with that 'baby' inside, back to me intact!
If physical transport is impossible, at least ensure complete replication and upload of its core data!
Caution, absolutely do not attempt to directly activate or interact with it in any way; its danger level far exceeds those rusty old robots!
It can corrupt minds, manipulate perceptions! The Servitor will assist you with physical disassembly and protection. Execute immediately! This is the true value of this trip!"
Maine and Sasha exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes. A rogue AI! An existence that touched upon the forbidden beyond the Blackwall!
"Pilar, Dorio, tighten security! Falco, assist Sasha, prepare to breach that isolation door!" Maine immediately ordered, his heart pounding, both from the danger and from the exorbitant reward Osiris promised.
The team moved swiftly. Sasha and Falco began carefully trying to establish a secure read-only connection with the isolation door's control system, to avoid triggering any defensive mechanisms or waking the "Object" within. Pilar and Dorio, meanwhile, guarded the other entrances to the storage facility, watching the dark corners warily.
Suddenly, a low, ominous hum emanated from deep behind the isolation door, and several status indicator lights on the door began to flash erratically and wildly!
"What's going on?!" Maine demanded sharply.
"I don't know!" Sasha replied nervously. "We didn't perform any write operations! Just tried to read the basic status information of the access control... It's it! It seems to... sense us!"