RPAGF Chapter 57 Core Meltdown
Chapter 57 Core Meltdown
The holographic image distorted violently the moment Lin Mo slammed into the control panel, turning into a blinding snowflake. The alarm stopped abruptly, and the entire control room fell into a deathly silence, with only the enormous "Ark" embryo throbbing more violently in the nutrient solution, as if responding to some invisible fear.
"He's cutting off communications, preparing to run away." Lin Mo grabbed Su Ya, who was about to rush towards the embryo culture tank, and scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes. "Acha, hack into the main control system and lock all exits!"
"It's too late, Lin Mo!" Acha's anxious voice came through the earpiece. "I detected an abnormal surge in the energy readings of the underground reactor! 'The Butcher' initiated the meltdown procedure before cutting off communications. This is not a bluff; this platform will become a miniature sun in ten minutes!"
Before the words were even finished, a violent tremor came from beneath their feet. The steel structure of the platform emitted a teeth-grinding metallic twisting sound, the emergency lights overhead flickered wildly, and several steel plates from the ceiling crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Brother, it's too late..." Su Ya's face was ashen, her eyes fixed on the throbbing embryo. She covered her ears in anguish, "It's screaming... It doesn't want to die... It's begging me..."
"Please?" Lin Mo's heart sank. He looked at the huge culture tank, and through the dark blue nutrient solution, he seemed to see countless distorted human faces wandering around the embryos—the remains of countless failed experimental subjects, the cornerstone of the "Ark's" birth.
"It's a monster built from countless lives, Suya, don't let it affect you!" Lin Mo tried to pull Suya away from the eerie glass wall.
But Suya stubbornly broke free from his grasp. She raised her head, a resolute glint flashing in her eyes, a glint completely different from the gentle girl she usually was.
"Brother, listen to me." Suya's voice was exceptionally clear amidst the deafening alarm. "I'm not being influenced by it, I'm... understanding it. I have its 'key' in my genes, I can sense its core logic. It's like a runaway baby right now. If no one takes over its control system, it will release all its toxins before it melts down, turning this sea area into a dead zone."
"Then what are you going to do?" Lin Mo's heart jumped into his throat.
"I'm going to connect to it." Suya turned and walked towards a neural interface on the side of the culture tank, where a thin conduit led to the embryo's core. "Using my genetic sequence, I'll force it into hibernation mode. Once it's in hibernation, the reactor's overload pressure will decrease, giving us time to evacuate."
"No! This is too dangerous!" Lin Mo refused decisively. "That's the 'Butcher's' trap. Once you fall into it, your consciousness might be devoured!"
"That's the only way!" Suya suddenly raised her voice, tears welling up in her eyes, but stubbornly refusing to fall. "Brother, you always protect me, shielding me behind you. But this time, I want to protect you. I don't want to see you die here because of me. I am 'The Key,' this is my fate, and this is my choice."
Boom!
Another loud bang, and a corner of the control room collapsed, revealing the dark depths of the sea below. Icy seawater rushed in, instantly submerging ankles.
Only seven minutes left in the countdown.
Looking into Su Ya's resolute eyes, at her face so similar to the mother in his memory, Lin Mo felt a thousand words stuck in his chest, finally turning into a hoarse growl: "Acha! Prepare the emergency evacuation boat! Su Ya, I'm giving you three minutes. If you don't wake up in three minutes, I'll blow up this damned embryo and jump into the sea with you!"
"Mmm!" Suya nodded emphatically, then turned and lunged toward the neural connection interface.
She inserted the connector into the barcode slot behind her neck, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.
In an instant, the previously violently pulsating "Ark" embryo suddenly paused. Then, a strange blue light flowed from Suya's body into the embryo through the conduit. The previously turbid nutrient solution began to clear, and the embryo's pulsation gradually stabilized, changing from frantic roars to even breathing.
"Brother...it's quieted down..." Suya's voice came through the communicator, tinged with weariness and relief. "The reactor pressure...is decreasing..."
"Great!" Acha's voice was filled with surprise. "The reactor readings are returning to normal thresholds! Suya, you did it! Come back quickly, we're leaving right away!"
However, Lin Mo's brows furrowed tightly. He stared at the slowly unfolding embryo in the culture tank, a strange chill creeping up his spine. Although the embryo was still, the texture on its surface was subtly changing, as if greedily absorbing the delicate life force.
"Suya, unplug the connector!" Lin Mo shouted and rushed towards Suya.
Just then, Suya's body trembled violently. She opened her eyes, and a faint, eerie blue light, the same as that of an embryo, flashed in her pupils.
"Brother..." She turned her head, a strange yet innocent smile on her face, "I feel like... I've become one with it. It tells me it doesn't want to stay here... it wants to see the outside world..."
Lin Mo rushed to her and grabbed her wrist, only to find that her body temperature was frighteningly low.
"Whether it wants to or not, it has to leave now!" Lin Mo no longer hesitated and forcibly severed the neural connection.
Suya slumped softly into his arms, her face as pale as paper, but her eyes regained their clarity. She smiled weakly, "Brother, don't be afraid... I... locked it up..."
"Walk!"
Lin Mo picked up Su Ya and rushed towards the passage outside the control room. The drilling platform behind them was still burning, but the huge "Ark" embryo, in the dark blue liquid, slowly and greedily opened its invisible eyes.