Karl suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed the iron bar beside the bed with one hand.
He sat up, his head still a little heavy. The rain had lessened, but hadn't stopped; water was still dripping from the roof of the shed, drop by drop hitting the tin bucket. Chen Hao was already standing at the door, wearing a wet coat, holding a half-pencil stub in his hand, drawing a few lines on his notebook.
“The crack has grown longer,” he said. “Nana just reported it; it’s 1.8 meters now.”
Susan stood up from the corner and rubbed her eyes. Her hair was a mess, and she hadn't changed her clothes. She had stayed up until 2 a.m. last night, only going to bed after recording the last set of displacement data.
Nana stood by the window, the camera pointed at the north wall. Her voice was calm: "The soil moisture content continues to rise, and there is slight subsidence at the edges. At the current rate, structural damage may occur within seven days."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Chen Hao closed his notebook, turned around and walked out. "Mix cement, set up supports, and seal the gaps first."
The outside was a muddy mess. The four of them walked through the broken bricks to the crack. The crack stretched across the ground, as if someone had slashed it open with a knife. The soil around the edges was extremely loose; it crumbled at the slightest touch.
Chen Hao squatted down and scratched at both sides of the crack with his fingers. "If it rains again, the whole wall will be crooked." He looked up at Karl, "Go to the warehouse and get two bags of quick-drying cement, and three metal stakes. Let's get this done today."
Karl didn't move.
He glanced at Susan.
Susan shook her head: "You can't fill it in directly."
Chen Hao frowned: "Huh?"
“We don’t know if there are any cavities below, or where the water is coming from,” Susan said calmly. “If it’s just sealed on the surface, and the water is still eroding underneath, the pressure will build up and it will explode sooner or later.”
"Let's just blow it up." Chen Hao stood up, patting the mud off his hands. "We can always start over. But if we don't act now, and this place collapses tomorrow, we won't even have a chance to start over."
“So this is gambling,” Susan stared at him. “Using the entire foundation of the base to gamble on ‘blocking it first’?”
“I don’t gamble.” Chen Hao pointed to the ground. “I’m here to do the work. The problem is right in front of me, and I have to deal with it. If you don’t want me to do it, you have to give me a reason why I can do it.”
“The reason is the scientific process,” Susan said. “Exploration first, then construction. That’s the basic logic.”
"Procedure?" Chen Hao chuckled. "Last night when the rain was pouring down, you were telling me about procedures? When the wall collapsed, you were telling me about procedures? Now the cracks are almost reaching the base of the wall, and you're still telling me about procedures?"
“It’s precisely because we didn’t follow the procedures that so many problems have arisen.” Susan raised her voice. “Foundation subsidence, wall cracks, poor drainage—aren’t all of these caused by rushing the work blindly?”
"I'm rushing the work because nobody wants to live here forever!" Chen Hao shouted. "I want to finish building the wall as soon as possible, install the alarm as soon as possible, and get a good night's sleep as soon as possible! I don't want the first thing I do every morning to see which piece of ground has collapsed!"
The two stared at each other, neither willing to give way.
Karl looked down at the pickaxe at his feet and sighed softly.
Nana took a step forward: "I can offer a compromise."
Both of them turned to look at her.
“We use portable drilling rigs for shallow exploration, at a depth of no more than three meters,” she said. “At the same time, we prepare filling materials to be ready. Once it is confirmed that there is no risk in the deeper layers, we start construction immediately. This avoids blind work and also prevents delays in reinforcement.”
Chen Hao blinked: "So, you mean we're investigating while preparing to get to work?"
"Yes," Nana nodded, "both efficiency and safety must be considered."
Susan thought for a moment and said, "Okay. But we must ensure the data is accurate and the procedures are followed."
“I’ll oversee the record-keeping,” Susan said.
Chen Hao shrugged: "Sure, I don't understand that data anyway. But it's agreed that once we've finished investigating, we have to get started. We can't delay any longer."
"That is, provided the data supports it," Susan added.
"Come on," Chen Hao waved his hand. "You researchers just love to beat around the bush. All that checking and probing, in the end you still have to fill it out, right?"
"What if there's an underground river down there?" Susan countered.
“Then let’s switch to fish farming,” Chen Hao grinned. “We can also start an aquaculture project on the side.”
Carl finally laughed: "You're really something, you can always crack a joke."
"I'm not kidding, I'm going to cry in a minute." Chen Hao patted the robot's shoulder. "Don't you think so, Nana?"
Nana didn't respond, she just turned and walked towards the tool shed.
The drilling equipment was brought out. It was an old, handheld drill, its casing blackened, the power connectors wrapped with several layers of tape. The battery indicator light flashed twice, the red light faint.
"This thing is lucky if it can run for ten minutes." Karl checked the heat dissipation vents. "It needs to rest for five minutes every ten minutes, otherwise it will burn out."
Nana crouched down and opened the database interface: "It is recommended to use waste engine oil mixed with fine sand as a lubricant and cooling agent, and apply it to the drill bit connection to reduce frictional heat and extend continuous working time."
"You really do know everything." Chen Hao glanced at the screen. "Robots are definitely more reliable than humans."
“I’m not human,” Nana said, “so I don’t get tired.”
"Then you're the luckiest." Chen Hao picked up the drill rig. "Come on, let's take turns and try to finish drilling the first hole today."
Carl was in charge of securing the support structure, while Susan prepared the log sheets. Nana set up three miniature vibration sensors around the crack, connected to simple receivers, to continuously monitor changes in displacement.
The drill bit fell.
Buzz—
The machine started and drilled into the soil. Little by little, the soil was brought out and landed on the plastic sheet beside it. The first fifty centimeters went smoothly; it was all soft soil.
At 80 centimeters, the resistance increases.
"It's stuck." Chen Hao released the button.
The drill bit was blocked by a hard object, causing it to be at a slightly off angle.
“Adjust your direction,” Susan leaned closer. “Turn five degrees to the left to avoid the rocks.”
Chen Hao did as instructed.
Restart.
This time the drilling was slow, but steady. One meter, one meter twenty centimeters, one meter fifty centimeters…
"The temperature is rising," Nana warned. "I suggest pausing the cooling process for two minutes."
Chen Hao turned off his phone and wiped away his sweat. His clothes were soaked through; he couldn't tell if it was rainwater or sweat.
Carl handed him a bottle of water. He took it, took a sip, and spilled it all over his face.
"This job is inhuman," he said.
“You just said you weren’t human,” Karl laughed.
"I'm a terrible student, not Superman." Chen Hao wiped his face. "At least Superman doesn't have to carry cement."
Continue in two minutes.
When the soil sample reached two meters, its color changed. It turned from yellowish-brown to dark gray, and became damp and sticky.
"The moisture content is abnormal." Susan took a sample with a small spoon and put it into a sealed bag. "It's 60 percent higher than the normal value."
"Is there water down there?" Chen Hao asked.
“It could be stagnant water, or it could be a flowing source,” Susan said. “We’ll have to see if there’s a channel.”
When it reached a depth of 2.5 meters, the machine suddenly shook.
"Is that the end?" Chen Hao asked.
“No.” Nana went closer to examine it. “The decrease in resistance at the drill bit contact surface indicates that the soil layer below is loose and there may be voids.”
“Empty?” Karl’s voice tightened.
"Based on preliminary assessment, this is possible." Nana pulled up the scan image. "The area is not large, but the direction of extension is towards the main wall foundation."
Chen Hao stared at the blurry shadowy area and remained silent for a few seconds.
“So you’re right,” he said to Susan. “You can’t just fill it in directly.”
Susan didn't say anything, she just wrote down the data.
"So what do we do now?" Carl asked.
“Continue drilling the second hole,” Susan said. “Move it laterally by 1.5 meters and compare the data.”
"Still have to do it?" Chen Hao glanced at the drilling rig. "This broken machine probably won't last more than three runs."
“I will optimize the lubrication frequency,” Nana said, “which can extend the service life.”
"You're truly my savior," Chen Hao said with a wry smile. "If it weren't for you, I'd be begging this broken machine not to break down today."
At 3 p.m., drilling began on the second hole.
The wind stopped, a crack appeared in the clouds, and sunlight slanted down, shining on the muddy ground and reflecting the light.
Chen Hao and Karl took turns operating the drill. They switched shifts every ten minutes, and during the cooling period, Nana used a cotton cloth soaked in oil to clean the drill bit.
Susan squatted down to the side, taking notes page by page. Her fingers were a little stiff from the cold, but she wrote very carefully.
The first hole is 2.5 meters long, the soil is loose and has a high water content, and it is suspected to be a cavity.
The second hole, drilled to 1.8 meters, exhibited the same characteristics.
“It’s not a coincidence.” Susan closed her notebook. “The underground structure in this area is unstable, and there is a high probability that it is a group of cavities formed by water erosion.”
"Then wouldn't we be living on tofu?" Chen Hao said.
"Pretty much." Karl nodded. "If you step on it, you might fall to the center of the earth."
"The Earth's core is too far away," Chen Hao sighed. "I'm afraid it'll be eaten up by rats before I even reach the bottom."
No one laughed.
Nana suddenly looked up: "Monitoring data shows that the main crack has expanded by 0.2 centimeters in the past thirty minutes."
“It’s still moving.” Susan stood up.
"And the speed has increased," Nana added.
Chen Hao looked at the opening. It lay there quietly, like an open mouth.
"So you can't fill it in now?" he asked.
“Filling it in might make things worse,” Susan said. “We need to know where the water is coming from and how big the cavity is before we can decide how to deal with it.”
"Then let's continue the investigation." Chen Hao put the drill on the ground. "Drill the third hole."
Carl nodded and took the tools.
Susan opened the new record page.
Nana adjusted the sensor angle, and the optical lens locked onto the center of the crack.
The drill bit fell again.
Buzz—
The machine vibrated, and the soil was turned upside down.
When they had drilled down to one meter, Chen Hao suddenly shouted to stop.
"What's wrong?" Carl asked.
Chen Hao pointed to the clods of dirt brought up by the drill: "Look at this."
It was a small patch of black substance mixed in with the wet mud, resembling rotten plant roots, but with a regular shape.
Susan picked it up and looked at it.
“This wasn’t formed naturally,” she said. “There are traces of artificial weaving.”
"What do you mean?" Chen Hao asked.
“It means,” Susan said in a lower voice, “that there might be more than just an empty space below.”
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