Carl took the memory card and turned to walk towards the north fence.
Sunlight shone on the wire mesh, reflecting a layer of white light. He walked to the first burial site, put down the box, and unlocked it. The waterproof box was heavy, with the battery pack accounting for most of its weight. He first took out the bracket, measured the angle, and then, following the diagram Nana had given him, began digging the hole at the designated location.
The soil wasn't hard, but there were loose stones underneath. He struck the soil with the pickaxe a few times, the vibrations making his hands numb. He changed direction and dug again, but when he reached a depth of thirty centimeters, the pickaxe suddenly went dry, and a chunk of soil collapsed with a whoosh.
He jumped back a step, and a few more clumps of soil fell from the edge of the pit. He crouched down and looked inside, discovering an irregular hole with wet edges, its color darker than the surrounding area. He brushed the surrounding soil aside with his hand; it was loose, like ash.
"This place is not right," he muttered to himself.
He covered the pit with a plank, picked up the box, and headed back.
At the entrance to the control room, Chen Hao was leaning against the doorframe, munching on a biscuit. Susan was organizing cables at the table, while Nana stood in front of the monitor, her fingers tapping on the keyboard.
Carl pushed open the door and came in, panting, saying, "We can't install it at the first point on the north side."
Chen Hao took a bite of half a biscuit. "What's wrong? Is the ground too hard?"
“The ground was too soft,” Carl said. “As I was digging, the soil collapsed, and there was a hole underneath.”
All three of them stopped what they were doing.
Nana immediately stood up. "Take me to see."
Susan grabbed her flashlight and followed, while Chen Hao stuffed the last bite of his biscuit into his mouth and went out as well.
Five minutes later, the four of them stood beside the pit. Nana squatted down, lifted the wooden plank, and reached in to touch the cave wall. She pulled her fingers out and smeared some mud on her fingertips.
“It’s not a newly collapsed building,” she said. “It’s been there for at least a week, and there are signs of water erosion inside.”
Susan shone her flashlight inside. "Can you see to the bottom?"
“I can’t see it,” Nana said. “The opening slopes downwards and extends close to the foundation of the wall.”
Chen Hao walked halfway around the pit, and the ground beneath his feet sank a little. He bent down, picked up a twig, stuck it into the soil, and pulled it out to find that the roots were soaked.
“If this place sinks, the walls we just built will crack,” he said.
No one responded.
Nana took a flat box out of her backpack, opened it, and several lights turned on. She placed the box on the ground and waited for about ten seconds; a series of waveforms appeared on the screen.
“There is a cavity underground,” she said. “It is about four meters long, one and a half meters deep, and nearly two meters wide at its widest point, with irregular boundaries.”
"Can I fill it in?" Carl asked.
“Not now.” Nana closed the box. “We don’t know if it will continue to expand. Refilling it prematurely could trigger a chain reaction of collapses.”
"Should we still install the alarm?"
"Pause," Nana said. "Stop all peripheral installation work."
Chen Hao stared at the piece of land for a long time. A breeze blew by, carrying the earthy smell of the soil. Suddenly remembering something, he turned and asked, "Nana, did you record any data about this piece of land before?"
Nana nodded. "Yes. In the past two weeks, there have been seven minor displacements in the area, with an average shift of 0.3 centimeters each time. At the time, it was judged to be due to wind vibration or animal activity, and no abnormalities were marked."
"In other words, it's always moving," Susan said.
"right."
“When will it collapse?” Carl asked.
“It’s unpredictable,” Nana said, “but the risk level has been raised to the highest.”
Chen Hao kicked a stone at his feet. "I thought installing an alarm would be simple, but it feels like stepping on a landmine."
“It wasn’t a landmine,” Nana said. “The ground just rotted away on its own.”
Susan shone her flashlight around and said, "This area is next to a low-lying area in the west district. During the rainy season, the water can't drain away and seeps in, loosening the soil."
“What about other places?” Karl asked.
Everyone fell silent.
“We need to investigate,” Nana said, “but we don’t have enough tools right now to do a full scan.”
“Then keep an eye on this area for now,” Susan said. “Set up a cordon so no one accidentally steps on it.”
Carl nodded. "I'll keep watch."
"You can't manage alone," Chen Hao said. "What if it collapses quickly?"
“I can take turns,” Nana said. “I’ll be on night duty, and you can take turns during the day.”
“Okay.” Chen Hao looked at Susan, “Go get something to block the way and prevent the stray dogs from getting in.”
Susan turned and walked towards the tool shed. Chen Hao squatted by the pit, poking at the soil around the edge with a twig.
"Do you think if this place collapses, the control room might also be affected?"
“No,” Nana said. “The main building’s foundation has been piled up to a depth of more than three meters.”
"That's alright."
When Susan returned, she was carrying several pieces of old railing and a strip of red cloth. She and Carl cordoned off the area and put up warning signs. The red cloth fluttered in the wind, looking like a tattered flag.
"This is the only way for now," she said.
Nana stood on the perimeter and pulled up a topographic map to compare the data. She discovered that besides this point, there were also slight subsidence records at two other locations to the south, but the magnitude was smaller and went unnoticed.
“There’s more than one problem,” she said.
"Take care of this first," Chen Hao said. "We'll deal with the others tomorrow."
The sky gradually darkened. The sun dipped behind the barbed wire fence, its rays sweeping obliquely across the ground.
Nana packed up the scanner, saying she needed to go back and organize the data. Susan checked the tools and prepared to go back inside. Carl didn't leave; he stood outside the cordon, watching the pit.
"What are you still doing standing here?" Chen Hao asked him.
“I think it will collapse tonight,” Carl said.
"It can't be that coincidental."
"But it keeps changing."
Chen Hao glanced at his watch. "If you're really worried, sit over there and watch. But don't get too close."
Carl moved a folding chair and sat down five meters away. He held an iron rod in his hand, saying he could tap the ground to alert the enemy if there was any movement.
Before leaving, Nana said that she would turn on vibration monitoring in the system and trigger an alarm if the value exceeded the limit.
“Don’t count on it,” Carl said. “Last time the alarm went off, everyone rushed out before they realized it was just the wind blowing it.”
“This time it’s different,” Nana said. “I will lower the threshold and record any displacement exceeding 0.2 centimeters.”
"Then remember to wake me up." Chen Hao yawned. "I don't want to get up in the middle of the night to check on the pit."
Susan patted his shoulder. "You go to sleep. We'll call if anything happens."
After the three left, Carl sat alone in the chair. The wind made the red cloth flap loudly. He stared at the covered pit, his eyes unblinking.
After a while, he heard a soft sound, like a piece of dirt falling. He stood up, gripped the iron rod tightly, and slowly took two steps forward.
The ground didn't change noticeably. He stopped and went back to his chair.
He pulled out an energy bar from his pocket and took a bite. It tasted like burnt flour.
Footsteps approached in the distance. He looked up and saw Nana turning back.
“I forgot to bring the scanner,” she said.
She walked to the instrument, bent down, and removed the equipment. As she straightened up, she glanced at the patch of land one last time.
"What did you find?" Carl asked.
“That sound just now wasn’t a natural collapse,” she said. “It was triggered by an external force.”
"What do you mean?"
"Someone stepped on it."
Carl was stunned. "Impossible, no one comes here."
Nana didn't say anything, slung the scanner over her shoulder, and quickly left.
Carl sat down again, but didn't eat anything. He stared at the police tape, his hand still gripping the iron bar.
The wind stopped for a while.
The red cloth hung down.
He suddenly noticed a series of blurry marks on the ground about three meters away from the pit.
He stood up and went over to look.
The footprints were shallow, as if he had just stepped on them. He squatted down and reached out to touch them. There were subtle indentations on the soil, with the edges slightly sunken.
He looked up and around.
It was already dark.
The lights were on in the distance.
He stood up, gripped the iron rod tightly, and took two steps in the direction the mark extended.
The mark broke.
The ground was restored to its original level.
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