TIME : T-33:50 → T-32:35
Flame swallowed Cryo-Rhea, heat wave carrying copper stench hitting my face.
Elias yanked me toward the B3 entrance—
Iron door glowing red, 80°C, tac-suit hissing white smoke on contact.
"Fuck!" I jerked back, titanium groaning in my arm, blood and sweat stinging old wounds.
Elias kicked the door—
CLANG!
It groaned ajar, black smoke billowing.
B3 Data Spire.
Red light sluiced the server racks, like a blood tide.
Racks stacked a maze, gaps narrow as coffins.
Each rack topped with red LEDs—blinking in sync, 0.8 seconds.
"Harvester Nodes trunk line." Elias spat blood. "Destroy the signal tower. Sever Orbit-7's ground link."
We hugged the wall, boots crunching glass—grit-grit.
Suddenly—
Shadows shifted between racks.
Marcus Boone stood there, scar split on his left cheek, blood and oil streaking down.
Right hand gripping a hydraulic clamp, jaws dripping blue gel.
Behind him, human traitors lined up—
Marcus Boone's old crew, eyes bloodshot, tac-suits torn, revealing Cu-Cluster injection scars beneath.
"Kai Lin." He grinned, gaps in his teeth. "The Board says… your release data's worth all of Eidolon."
Fuck! His eye patch gone—brass vertical pupil needle-thin.
I stepped back, clamp raised.
"Marcus… does your daughter still eat red-bean buns?"
His eyes flickered.
Pupils stuttering.
Throat clicked—like gears jamming.
Chance!
I lunged, swinging the clamp for his right eye!
Target: lens.
He didn't dodge.
Clamp whipped up for my neck!
I dodged—
Jaws grazed my throat, scraping skin, stinging.
Left hand snatched his wrist—
Cold, slick, joints silent.
"Fuck your ancestors!" I roared, right leg driving for his chest!
He didn't retreat.
Clamp angled, slashing my neck!
I arched back—too slow.
Jaws bit three inches deep!
No blood spray.
Only pale blue gel oozing—cold, almond-scented—Cu-Cluster suspension fluid.
Fuck! Cervical dislocation!
Vision darkening, titanium screaming in my arm.
Marcus grinned, wax face splitting—copper wires flashing in gums: "…pain feedback… 99.4%… acceptable…"
Human traitors struck!
Bone blades, fire axes, broken chair legs—
Carved Chinese stool legs.
Elias roared: "Kai! Core chamber!"
He jammed the Orchid into the force-field pillar—
ZZT-PAK!
Blue sparks erupted, field flickering dead 0.5 seconds!
I lunged into the rack maze—
Gaps narrow as coffins, rot and ozone choking me.
Marcus pursued, clamp whooming for my neck!
I kicked off the wall, snatching brass abacus beads—
Old Chinese abacus, beads scattered, brass spheres rolling.
Flung them at his face!
Ding-ding-ding!
Beads hit his eyes—embedding in flesh, dull thuds.
He clutched his face, staggering, pupils flickering.
Human traitors closed in!
I dropped, rolling, swinging the clamp for knees!
CRACK!
Bone snap crisp.
Elias shouldered the core chamber door open: "In!"
I plunged in—
Centered: a liquid copper sphere, one meter wide, jade patina peeling, revealing silver nano-skeletons beneath.
Sphere rotating slow, like a beating heart.
Red light washed the surface—
Human faces浮雕 emerged.
Mrs. Chen.
Elias.
Rhea (clone).
Marcus slammed in, clamp dripping blue gel.
"Last chance." He grinned. "Hand over the ring."
Elias lunged for the sphere's base, jamming the Orchid into the crack—
ZZT-PAK!
Blue sparks erupted, sphere shuddering, faces cracking.
He yanked me close, right eye Orchid prototype zooming: "Look!"
Screen glowed:
Signal Tower: 3.2km NW
Weak Point: Cooling Vent (Size: 45cm)
Primary Database: ORBIT-7 (Geostationary)
Fuck! Main database in orbit!
Marcus's clamp pressed my throat: "Board bonus… doubling…"
I stared at the sphere—
Mrs. Chen's浮雕 mouth moved, whispering: "…Xiao Ya… less sugar…"
Chance!
I roared, swinging the clamp into his temple!
CLANG!
He staggered, clamp slipping.
I twisted his wrist, clamp reversed, jaws aiming at his pineal copper ring!
Thumb mashed the lever—
Click!
Ring popped free!
Blue gel blooped, he convulsed, pupils fading to cloudy human eyes.
Last whisper: "…tell… Xiao Ya…"
Hand fell.
Elias pressed the EMP into my palm—black iron, copper coils rough.
"Top floor B3. I'll wait."
He backed into darkness, coat flaring like a broken-winged crow.
"Remember, Kai…"
Voice drifting:
"Fear is fake. Letting go… that's real."
I gripped the EMP, ring still in my fist.
Looked up at the sphere—
Rack reds pulsing, 0.8 seconds, like a dying heartbeat.
T-32:35.
Minute Twenty-Three: complete.
Ring still in my fist.
But in my palm—
Real blood burned.
Thanks for learning ORBIT-7's location. When Elias whispered "fear is fake"—did you believe him?
Drop a 3 winners get Signal Tower Blueprint!
The database is in space. The fight is here. #Chrono60
"T-32:35. The copper ring was loose. But the blood in my palm? Still real.
Thank you for the minute. — K."