The energy lines slowly lit up on the screen, like a vein being awakened.
Chen Hao's finger was still pointing at the projector screen, not moving away. He stared at the newly connected cable for several seconds.
“It connected to the East District on its own,” he said. “It wasn’t something we did, nor was it a pre-programmed path. It…determined it itself.”
Susan stood on the other side of the console, saving the data to a backup disk. Without looking up, she said, "This means the system is still running its decision-making logic. Maybe it thinks it needs power over there."
“But how does it know?” Carl looked up from in front of the circuit board. “None of us have been inside. How can it determine that there should be power there?”
No one answered.
Nana's voice rang out: "Based on the current data stream analysis, the system has completed three internal routing reconfigurations in the past seven hours. Each adjustment was based on changes in the base's energy consumption distribution. Conclusion: The system possesses environmental awareness and autonomous optimization capabilities."
Chen Hao slowly sat back in his chair with a muffled thud. "That means we're not using the equipment right now, we're sharing the power grid with something that can make its own decisions."
“That sounds pretty far-fetched,” Carl scratched the back of his head. “But at least it didn’t cut off our water and oxygen.”
"We can't rule out it being a trial run," Susan said, closing the terminal. "It might be learning our usage habits, waiting to figure out the patterns before making any bigger moves."
The air went still for a moment.
Chen Hao suddenly laughed: "Alright, they've all started to become self-taught, we can't keep relying on luck to find things and make a living."
He stood up, walked around to the front of the control table, picked up a pen, and drew a crooked circle on the whiteboard.
“Let’s have a meeting,” he said. “A formal one. Next time we go into the ruins, we can’t just ‘go wherever we feel like.’ We need to have a goal, a plan, and a division of labor. Otherwise, sooner or later, we’ll be ruined by the details we’ve overlooked.”
Susan looked up at him, somewhat surprised.
"Are you serious?"
"When have I ever not been serious?" Chen Hao glared. "Last time I went into the cave, I was almost scared to death by hallucinations. The time before that, I almost got crushed into a meat patty by the wall. Now even electricity can run away on its own—if I don't take this seriously, am I supposed to wake up one day and find an AI brain growing under my bed?"
Carl muttered, "I think this place is bound to grow sooner or later."
Nana had already brought up the holographic map, which hovered in the center of the desktop. Blue light spots marked the routes of the past twelve explorations, densely packed like a spider web.
"The explored area covers 61% of the total area," she said. "Among them are nine resource collection points, five technology device recovery points, and two information storage nodes. Risk assessment shows that the stability of the deep passage continues to decline, and it is recommended that the next operation window be controlled within 48 hours."
"First, set a goal." Chen Hao wrote three words on the whiteboard: "What do you want?"
Susan continued, "First, resources. We can now manufacture new materials, but we don't have enough raw materials. The deep-sea manganese nodule enrichment zone is 30 kilometers to the northeast, but that area has strong magnetic field interference, so we haven't dared to go deep into it before."
“Second,” Carl interjected, “we need to test whether those things are durable. For example, that water purifier has only been running for half a day, and nobody knows if it can last a month. Why don’t we go back to an old area, bury a few samples, and see if it can withstand high-pressure corrosion?”
“Third,” Susan continued, “the origins of civilization. The star map on the metal book points deep into the southern fault line, where there may have been an earlier information center. If we really want to understand how they destroyed themselves, we have to go back to the source.”
Chen Hao listened and wrote at the same time, and the characters he wrote grew larger and larger until they filled the entire board.
“Gather resources, test technology, and trace the source.” He read it aloud, then circled it emphatically. “Let’s call it ‘Target Trio.’ It sounds like a band name, but it’s better than ‘Don’t Be a Jerk’.”
Carl rolled his eyes: "You still remember that name?"
"Of course I remember, it was the most serious proposal I've ever made."
Nana turned the cursor, and a new interface popped up: "After the target is confirmed, a supporting system upgrade is required. The biggest limiting factor at present is the communication interruption problem. The standard channel of the diving suit has an average effective distance of less than 20 meters within the ruins, and the signal delay is as high as 3.2 seconds."
“This isn’t a restriction, it’s suicide.” Karl slammed his hand on the table. “Last time you told me to retreat, I was practically crushed by rocks when I heard it.”
“So we have to change it.” Chen Hao turned to Nana. “Do you have a solution? Don’t tell me you’re going to build a satellite.”
“No need.” Nana pulled up a design diagram. “The residual frequency band of the quantum chip has not completely decayed and can be used as a low-power relay node. By deploying miniature signal towers, a stable voice network with a range of 100 meters can be built. The outer shell is made of nanocomposite materials, which can withstand pressure up to 15,000 meters deep.”
A set of small device models appeared on the projection, resembling a flat box with a short antenna.
“This thing is about the size of your palm and can be attached to a wall or a helmet,” she said. “With a relay point every fifty meters, teams can communicate in real time. Preliminary simulations show that the latency can be reduced to less than 0.3 seconds.”
Susan leaned closer to take a look: "Is the power enough? Don't let it disconnect again while we're talking."
“Powered by the residual heat from the relic’s energy core, no additional batteries are needed,” Nana replied. “As long as there are ancient devices operating nearby, basic signals can be maintained.”
Carl scratched his chin: "Sounds promising. But I have to warn you—don't make it too complicated. We don't have a professional construction team, so I'll have to do it myself."
“Simple structure.” Nana switched views. “Plug-in assembly, deployment completed in three steps: fix, activate, synchronize. The estimated production time for a single unit is no more than two hours.”
Chen Hao stared at the blueprints for a long time, then suddenly slapped his hand and said, "Let's get this done! Everyone must have one before the next trip. This isn't just for chatting; it's a matter of survival."
He turned to the others: "The resources team will be led by Susan. They'll compile a list of essential supplies, focusing on manganese, cobalt, and rare earth elements. The testing team will be led by Carl. They'll select three to four technological products for field durability testing, including materials, energy, and water purification. I'll be in charge of the tracing part. We'll follow the star map to the fracture zone and see what other stories we can uncover."
"You're going alone?" Susan frowned.
"Of course not." Chen Hao grinned. "Which of you three wants to listen to the ancients spout nonsense? Sign up."
“I’ll go,” Susan said. “If there really are original records there, we have to see them for ourselves.”
Carl sighed, "Then I'll go too. I can't leave you two clerical staff to fix the equipment all alone."
Nana added softly, "I will update the navigation database simultaneously and perform a final parameter calibration for the communication module. The first batch of six repeaters is expected to be completed within 48 hours."
Chen Hao nodded, scribbled a few lines on the notepad, and wrote down all the tasks.
“Then it’s settled,” he said. “We’ll have the final preparation meeting in three days. If there are no problems, we’ll set off. This time, no last-minute route changes, no touching strange buttons, and absolutely no talking to yourself in front of the wall thinking you can trigger hidden events.”
"Didn't you say the system liked interaction last time?" Karl retorted.
"That was just a wild guess!" Chen Hao exclaimed, his eyes wide. "It almost detonated the bomb."
“Speaking of which,” Susan suddenly said, “if the system is really learning, could it… also start remembering us?”
Everyone paused.
"You mean, it recognizes us?" Karl asked in a lower voice.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘knowing’,” she said, “but it records our behavioral patterns. The time, path, and method of each entry. It may already be building a model.”
Nana's interface: "The probability is 73%. If the system has long-term memory capabilities, then the behavioral characteristics of the team members have been archived."
Chen Hao was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled: "That's good. Maybe next time we go in, they'll play welcome music for us."
"As long as you don't collapse its floor again," Carl said.
“That’s because the flooring quality is poor,” Chen Hao argued. “We’re bringing high technology with us; it has to adapt to us, not the other way around.”
Susan shook her head and began organizing her notes. Carl picked up his toolkit, preparing to go to the test chamber to check on the receiver base. Nana switched to the material matching program, blue light flashing in her eyes as lines of data scrolled rapidly.
Chen Hao remained seated in his chair, pen in hand, scribbling on the edge of the whiteboard.
A few minutes later, he suddenly looked up.
"Nana".
"I am here."
"You said this communicator uses the chip's residual frequency... If the data in the chip changes, won't it affect the signal?"
“No,” she replied. “Frequency locking is independent of the information content and depends solely on the physical oscillation characteristics.”
"That's good." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried that while we were talking, a sentence like 'You will also disappear' would suddenly pop up in the earphones."
No one laughed.
Nana continued her calculations, lightly tapping the screen. The material specifications popped up: titanium alloy shell, graphene conductive layer, quantum resonance cavity.
Carl walked to the door and glanced back at the projection.
"Six for the first batch?" he asked.
“Six,” Nana confirmed. “That’s enough to cover a standard exploration team.”
“Okay.” He pushed open the door. “I’ll go get the materials.”
Susan closed her notebook, got up, and walked towards the analysis area. Her footsteps rang softly on the floor.
Chen Hao is still drawing.
Suddenly, he stopped writing.
The diagram of the communication module on the projection flickered slightly, as if the signal was fluctuating slightly.
He squinted.
"Nana".
"Um?"
Did it just flash?
Nana glanced at the data stream: "No anomalies. It's probably just light reflection."
Chen Hao stared at the screen without saying a word.
Three seconds later, the image jerked again, less noticeably, but it was still there.
He slowly put down his pen.
Nana's gaze finally stopped.
“External signal interference was detected,” she said. “Source unknown. Duration: 0.8 seconds. Frequency: close to the communication module’s preset frequency band.”
The room fell silent.
Chen Hao looked at her: "Is someone outside conducting a signal interview?"
“Impossible.” Susan walked over. “There are no records of any activity outside the base.”
“It wasn’t us who sent it,” Carl said, standing in the doorway. “I didn’t activate any of the equipment.”
Nana pulled up the spectrum and zoomed in on that fluctuation.
The waveform curve rises briefly, resembling a very short pulse.
Then it quickly fell back.
“This isn’t random interference,” she said. “This is… a response.”
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