The robotic arm's probes were all aimed at them, and the red light stopped on the four people's faces, like a scanner slicing across their skin inch by inch.
Chen Hao slowly raised his hands, palms facing outwards: "Don't get excited, we're not here to fight."
No one dared to move. Susan held her breath, Carl's fingers trembled slightly, only Nana's eyes were still moving, her visual system capturing the changes in the symbols on the wall three times per second.
“They’re making their judgments,” she said softly. “That ‘cleanup protocol’ was the final step in the pre-set process, and we’re currently in a decision-making delay.”
"What do you mean?" Chen Hao asked without turning around, his voice very low.
"It means that if we don't move, it might not act immediately."
"What if it moves?"
"Then you'll become a target."
The static electricity in the air was more noticeable; his hair felt prickly against his scalp. Chen Hao stared at one of the robotic arms and noticed that as its probe rotated, a set of symbols on the third wall from the left would flash.
He blinked: "Nana, look at the pattern on the left... isn't it synchronized with this thing?"
“It’s not a pattern.” Nana’s gaze locked on the indicator. “It’s a status indicator. I just compared it with twelve ancient automated control system cases in the database. This kind of arrangement is usually used to show the operational stage.”
Speak like a human.
"These symbols are telling us what the system is doing right now."
"So what is it doing now?"
"Threat level assessment. Currently 73% complete."
"Is there still time?"
"The system's decision-making logic must be changed within three minutes, otherwise it will enter forced cleanup mode."
"How should we change it?"
“I don’t know. But I do know one thing—” Nana slowly took half a step back, “Just now, a robotic arm stopped for 0.8 seconds, right after that darkened symbol lit up.”
"You mean, the words on the wall can control them?"
"More precisely, it reflects the internal instruction flow. If I can find the input port... perhaps I can inject the signal in reverse."
"Then hurry up and look for it!"
"You can't move. If I move more than two meters now, it will be considered an attack."
Chen Hao gritted his teeth, slowly squatted down, and sat against the wall. He took out a flashlight from his backpack, turned it on and off, then on again.
A flash of blue light.
The probe of one of the robotic arms tilted slightly.
He tried again, and it flashed three times in a row.
This time, both robotic arms adjusted their angles simultaneously.
“It reacted!” he said. “It took my light as a signal?”
“It’s possible,” Nana said. “The energy frequency of this device is the same as that of the flashlight, 3.7 Hz. It might mistakenly think you are another node.”
"Can I pretend to be an administrator?"
"The risk is very high. If identification fails, it will accelerate the triggering of the attack program."
"It's better than standing here waiting to die."
He tore off a piece of tape, wrapped it around the flashlight switch to keep the light on, and then gently pushed it out. The flashlight slid to the center of the hall, its blue light shining directly onto the bottom of the sphere.
The robotic arms collectively paused for a moment.
Then, one of the machines slowly turned toward the light source, as if it had been drawn to it.
"It moved!" Karl whispered.
"Now's the time." Nana moved along the wall, her eyes scanning the ground. She noticed a very thin seam beneath the platform, almost blending into the stone slab.
She lay down and scratched at it with her fingers.
Loose.
“There’s a cover here,” she said.
"I'll go open it." Chen Hao was about to get up.
"No." Nana pressed down on his shoulder. "If you move, they'll come back. I'll do it."
She knelt on one knee and lifted the stone slab. Below was a square recess containing a metal connector, its shape perfectly matching the data port on her arm.
“Found it,” she said softly.
Can we connect?
"Yes, but it can only send fake authentication packets offline. The success rate is... less than 40%."
"Then let's give it a try."
Nana plugged in the connector, and a prompt popped up in front of her:
[External Device Connection]
[Permission verification request]
[Waiting for response]
She began retrieving general license agreement templates from the database, selecting the version closest to the current system architecture, encrypting it, packaging it, and sending it.
The countdown is still going on.
The robotic arm re-aligned them, but did not move immediately.
[Verification in progress...]
Suddenly, all the symbols went out at the same time.
The hall was plunged into darkness for a brief moment.
A few seconds later, some of the symbols lit up again, turning green.
The robotic arm slowly retracted, the probe shut off, and it gradually slid back into the wall.
With a click, a metal door on the right slid open, revealing a passageway.
"It's connected." Susan breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wait.” Nana didn’t unplug the interface. “I intercepted a cached log before disconnecting.”
She quickly copied the data and stored it in local memory. The last line of the record appeared:
[External vibration records: 3 times]
[Time marker: 47 minutes before the volcanic eruption]
[62 minutes before the tsunami]
[51 minutes before the storm hits]
[Judgment Result: Environmental Crisis Warning]
"I see." Chen Hao stood up and rubbed his knees. "This thing doesn't cause disasters; it knows in advance that something bad is going to happen."
"But why does it lock us up?" Susan asked.
“Because it doesn’t recognize us.” Nana pulled out the connector and covered the stone slab. “This system is still running, but it’s been abandoned for a long time. It can only follow procedures—if an outsider enters, it’s isolated first, then verified.”
“Then those time points it recorded…” Karl looked at the sphere, “does that mean there was activity underground before each major catastrophe?”
“It’s not just movement,” Nana said. “It’s some kind of energy fluctuation. And it’s very regular.”
"So it's actually an alarm?" Chen Hao scratched his head. "It's so well-built, with hidden mechanisms, like a treasure vault, just to warn people about an impending earthquake?"
“Perhaps it was designed for other purposes,” Nana said, looking at the newly opened passageway. “But now it’s only functioning in its basic way.”
"So what do we do now?" Susan asked.
"Let's go in and take a look." Chen Hao flexed his wrists. "Since it can predict, it might even be able to tell us when it will come next time."
"There is danger inside."
"It's not safe outside either."
Nana walked to the entrance of the passage and reached out to scan. The distance was limited, and the signal was severely weakened, but she still managed to capture some data.
“There is a similar structure 120 meters ahead. The walls are made of the same material, but the space is larger.”
Are there any secret mechanisms?
"It cannot be detected. But based on existing models, there should still be control nodes."
“Let’s go then.” Chen Hao slung his bag over his shoulder. “We’re already here, we can’t just leave after watching the beginning.”
"Aren't you afraid of being locked up again?"
“I’m scared,” he grinned. “But I brought tape, so I can fool it one more time.”
The four entered the passage. The ground was dry, and their footsteps were light. The symbols on the walls no longer glowed, but the deep, neatly arranged engravings were still visible.
After walking for about five minutes, a faint blue light appeared ahead.
Another large hall.
It was larger than the first one, with a concave circular pit in the center, surrounded by six pillars, each with a symbol on it.
Nana approached one of them and reached out to touch it.
The symbol lit up briefly.
Immediately afterwards, all the lights in the space turned on.
The ground began to shake.
Chen Hao took a step back: "Not again?"
“It’s not an attack,” Nana said, staring at the pillar. “It’s activation.”
Beams of light shot out simultaneously from the tops of the six pillars, converging in the air to form a rotating triangular pattern.
“What is this?” Susan asked.
"Coordinates?" Karl guessed.
“No,” Nana shook her head, “it’s a calibration procedure. It’s reconnecting to some network.”
Which network?
“I don’t know. But the last time it ran completely was…” she read the data, “123 years ago.”
That was before the Great Cataclysm.
"That's right."
Chen Hao looked at the triangular light pattern and suddenly remembered something: "You said it recorded the tremors before the three disasters... Did it record anything else? For example, things before the first one?"
“Yes,” Nana said, pulling up the log. “But it’s encrypted. Higher privileges are needed to unlock it.”
"What should we do then?"
"Perhaps the other host has the key."
"You mean, there are other places?"
“Not maybe.” She pointed to the center of the light pattern. “I’ve seen this mark in the database. It represents the ‘master terminal location’.”
"So, this isn't the most important part?"
"This is just a relay station."
Chen Hao laughed: "Good heavens, all that work for nothing, we've only just gotten inside."
“It’s not too late for you to regret it now,” Susan said.
"Regret?" He brushed the dust off his pants. "I've come this far, wouldn't it be a huge loss to turn back now?"
"But it might not be safe ahead."
“It’s not necessarily safe behind here either.” He took a step forward. “Besides, what if this thing really can predict the future? If we fix it, we’ll know to bring in the laundry in advance when it rains.”
Nana followed up: "Based on the path analysis, the next section of the passage is behind the pillar on the east side."
"Let's go." Chen Hao stretched. "We're just killing time anyway."
The three of them passed through the column one after another. Karl walked at the back, glancing back at the triangular light pattern.
It's still spinning.
The speed is getting faster and faster.
Suddenly, a beam of red light swept down from above and shone at Chen Hao's feet.
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