Chen Hao's palm was only half an inch away from the gap.
The air suddenly froze.
The blue light surged, like a pot lid being lifted from the inside, crashing outwards with a deafening roar. He didn't have time to stop; he was thrown back, his back slamming against the rock wall, and he slid to the ground with a muffled groan.
Susan curled up in a ball, clutching the crystal, and withstood the side impact of the shockwave. She looked up and saw Chen Hao flip over in the air, his legs buckling as he landed, and he knelt on one knee.
"Still alive?" she exclaimed.
"I won't die." Chen Hao rubbed his shoulder. "It's just that my left side isn't working properly."
Carl crawled out of the rubble, a gash on his right leg, blood trickling down his protective suit. He reached for his tool bag, only to find the batteries gone, with just a few loose wires hanging from the hooks.
Nana leaned against a stone pillar, the light on her right arm flashing like a breathing machine about to stop. Her voice was muffled by static: "Warning... Core entering forced zeroing mode... Releasing a shockwave every three minutes... Unauthorized access will be eliminated."
"Reset to zero?" Chen Hao grinned. "We haven't even started yet, and it's already in a hurry."
Susan examined the crystal and noticed a new crack on its surface, making it dimmer than before. She gently ran her finger across the crack; the brightness flickered briefly before settling back down.
"The synchronization rate dropped to 62," she said. "That shock just now damaged the internal structure."
Can it be repaired?
"Try using glue to fix it."
Chen Hao turned to look at her.
“I’m serious.” Susan pulled conductive gel from the first-aid kit. “This stuff was just meant to be used as a makeshift solution. Right now, it’s just to keep it from completely shutting down.”
Carl squatted on the ground, piecing together the parts and connecting the remaining section of circuitry into an old signal amplifier. "It can only withstand one pulse interference at most," he said. "Any stronger and I'll have to solder the circuit board myself, and I didn't bring a soldering iron."
"Then one time is enough." Chen Hao lay on the ground and patted the ground three times short and two times long.
There was no response from the ground.
He took two more photos, but it remained silent.
“The old method doesn’t work anymore,” he said. “It’s locked the door.”
Nana kept her eyes closed as the data stream scrolled across the visual interface. Her voice trailed off: "Level 3 protection protocol activation... requires the original authorization code... otherwise the system will continuously clear external signals."
"Authorization code?" Chen Hao laughed. "Who remembers the password? I can't even remember my own employee ID number."
“Let’s forge one.” Susan placed the gel-coated crystal into the signal tray. “It recognizes the key, so let’s make a fake one.”
Karl looked up: "What will we use?"
“Use the signal it recognized last time.” Chen Hao looked at Nana. “Can you still retrieve the data from that time?”
Nana nodded: "The frequency waveform of the last successful synchronization... has been extracted."
“Then let’s copy their homework.” Chen Hao stood up and walked to Karl’s side. “Piece together everything you can. We need to send a high-fidelity signal.”
Carl shook his head: "The voltage isn't enough; the signal won't travel far."
“We don’t need to go far.” Chen Hao pointed to the core. “Within five meters will do. As long as we can make it hesitate for two seconds, we’ll have a chance to catch our breath.”
The three of them huddled together: Susan secured the crystal, Carl soldered the joints, and Nana calculated the countdown.
"Next attack... two minutes and forty-eight seconds left," she said.
“We’ll make it in time.” Chen Hao stared at the indicator light on the device. “If the red light is on, it’s a success; if it goes out, the four of us will turn into murals.”
Susan glanced at him: "Can't you say something reassuring?"
"To be honest," Chen Hao shrugged, "I'll leave my words of peace in my will."
Carl pressed the switch.
The device hummed, the indicator light turned from gray to red, and then stabilized.
They held their breath.
The core blue light paused for a moment, the rapidly spinning runes slowed down by half a beat, and the shockwave did not erupt on time.
Countdown reset: five minutes.
"It's done?" Karl's voice trembled.
"We've fooled it." Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "It thought we were legitimate users."
"You can only fool us once," Nana warned. "The system will upgrade its recognition logic."
“One time is enough.” Chen Hao tore off the lining of his protective suit and stuck it to the rock wall. “We have two things to do now.”
He drew a simple diagram with charcoal: "First, continue to interfere with its judgment; second, find a place where you can take direct action."
Susan pointed to the middle of the diagram: "You mean... the physical breakpoint?"
“Yes.” Chen Hao circled a spot. “If it’s a computer, and we can’t log in now, then we’ll have to remove the hard drive.”
Carl gave a wry smile: "You make it sound like you're changing a light bulb."
"It's essentially the same," Chen Hao said. "If there's no electricity, it can't be repaired; if it can't be repaired, it'll explode; if it explodes, we'll have nothing to eat."
Susan looked down and fiddled with the signal tray: "I'm maintaining output for now, but it won't last long. The gel is evaporating, and the cracks are widening."
“I’ll guard this side,” Chen Hao said. “You can save your energy and add more pressure when it matters most.”
Nana suddenly spoke softly: "Found... a hidden log."
The three of them turned their heads at the same time.
"The last recorded human intervention... occurred 327 years ago... the operation was... to disable the security protocol."
The air fell silent for a moment.
"So it's so aggressive now because its security was compromised before?" Chen Hao squinted. "Now anyone who gets close is treated like a hacker and arrested."
“The logic holds true,” Nana said. “The system has determined that the current state is a high-risk, out-of-control period and has activated the highest level of defense mechanism.”
“So that means…” Susan slowly raised her head, “we don’t need to crack it, but rather we need to make it believe that we’re not here to cause trouble?”
“Rebuilding trust.” Chen Hao stroked his chin. “But it doesn’t eat snacks or drink milk tea, how do we win it over?”
Carl leaned against the wall, connecting the last piece of wire to the backup power supply. "Is it possible... to log back in with my original administrator account?"
"The premise is that you can find that person," Susan said. "The administrator from over three hundred years ago, the grass on his grave is already two meters high."
“Not necessarily.” Nana pulled up a fragment of code. “The system has reserved an emergency channel… called ‘Wake-up Protocol’… The trigger condition is a specific frequency plus authentication.”
“We have the frequency,” Chen Hao said, looking at the crystal. “What about identity verification?”
“Unknown,” Nana said. “The field is corrupted.”
“Another half-finished clue,” Carl sighed. “It’s always just a little short.”
“Better than nothing.” Chen Hao stood up. “We now have two choices: either continue to create fake signals to buy time, or risk trying the wake-up protocol.”
“Trying it might just detonate it,” Susan said.
"If we don't try, we'll just be waiting to die." Chen Hao looked at the core. "We're being attacked every three minutes. We can't last ten rounds. Every piece of equipment that breaks down is one less piece we have, and there's nowhere to treat injured people."
"Then let's give it a shot." Carl plugged the power back in. "Anyway, the cafeteria's menu today is stewed cabbage, so there's nothing good to eat if we run back."
Susan chuckled: "You'd risk your life just for a hot meal?"
"Otherwise what?" Karl looked up. "No love, no career, at least let me eat my fill."
Nana suddenly raised her hand: "Beware... abnormal energy fluctuations."
They both looked toward the core.
The blue light was deepening, its edges turning dark red, like a furnace core burning to its limit. Molten rock began to drip from the top of the cavity, hissing as it hit the ground.
"The temperature is rising too fast." Susan pressed the crystal. "The cooling system has failed."
“It’s not a failure,” Nana analyzed the data. “It was actively shut down. The system is concentrating all its resources on the defense module.”
"It'd rather burn itself to a crisp than let us touch it?" Chen Hao cursed. "This damn machine is more stubborn than the boss."
"The countdown has restarted." Nana's voice was even more broken. "A new wave of attacks... is about to begin."
Chen Hao grabbed his homemade circuit board and rushed to Susan's side: "Prepare for signal jamming! This time, go all out!"
Susan nodded and placed her finger on the start button.
Carl lay on the ground checking the connecting wires, muttering, "Don't break it, just hold on one more time."
Nana leaned against the stone pillar, her eyes slightly closed, still running the database.
The rock cavity began to vibrate.
The core slowly rose half a meter, and the surface runes rotated in reverse, emitting a low-frequency chirping.
The air is distorted, and energy is gathering.
Chen Hao shouted, "Interference signal—fire!"
Susan pressed the button.
The device lights up red and emits a pulse signal.
The core meal.
The blue light flashed twice, and the dark red faded slightly.
The shockwave was delayed.
The countdown jumps back to five minutes.
"It works!" Karl breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Hao, however, did not relax: "It is adapting to our methods."
He turned to Nana: "Are there any other logs? Backup plans? Hidden Easter eggs are fine too."
Nana opened her eyes, her lips moving slightly: "Found an...unfiled record."
"say what?"
"If the system cannot identify a legitimate user... try entering the name of the initial builder."
"who?"
"The records show...the name is...Elijas Cohen."
No one spoke.
“Never heard of it,” Karl shook his head.
“I don’t recall either.” Susan frowned. “Is it mentioned in the database?”
Nana shook her head: "The source of information is missing."
Chen Hao stared at the core: "Then there's only one way."
He picked up the communicator and cleared his throat.
"Hello? Mr. Elias Cohen? If you're still alive, please come out and answer the call."
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