Lucrecia brought the paper tape that she copied from the "Luminous Body Research Station" and recorded the "strange signal" this time, and also found the original signal that was recorded by the Brilliant Star. Duncan stared at them and studied them for a few minutes, and soon came to a conclusion -

He couldn't figure this thing out...

Drawing conclusions from a bunch of abstract signals should be the job of real experts and scholars, but it is obvious that even real scholars are at a loss as to what to do with these signals now.

"They just look like some random intensity 'tremors'," Morris said as he stood in front of the light, spreading a long piece of paper on the table, trying to find the pattern of the curve jumps, frowning thoughtfully. "It is possible to convert the amplitude of each tremor into different numbers or 'breakpoints' of varying lengths, but this is like some kind of ciphertext... Without the corresponding 'code book', it is impossible to understand the meaning of these tremors."

"Since the first time these signals were received, scholars have tried to convert them into various forms," ​​Lucrecia said, "including sound. After these vibrations were converted into electrical signals and directly input into the playback device, it sounded like some kind of continuous, low whimper or 'murmur', but it actually has no meaning. We also tried to convert it into images, but there has been no progress in this direction so far."

Duncan was listening nearby and suddenly asked, "Could this be the 'internal signal' used by the 'luminous geometric object' to 'communicate' with other structures in Anomaly 001?"

"We can't rule out this possibility," Lucrecia nodded. "The research station has a highly sensitive backup recording device, which also received a weak signal from the main structure of Anomaly 001 not long ago. We have reason to believe that the 'luminous geometric object' currently staying near the sea of ​​Breeze Harbor is still connected to the main structure of Anomaly 001...

"Both signals are related to the sun going out," Morris said while thinking, "The first one appeared after the sun went out, and the second one appeared before the sun went out. The content of the signal is the same. This gives me the feeling... It's like some kind of 'warning'..."

Duncan didn't say anything, but just went to the window and looked outside thoughtfully.

The city is shrouded in a strange, staggered "twilight".

The sun in the sky has gone out, but some kind of "suppressive" power of Anomaly 001 seems to still be in effect, so the creation of the world did not appear because of the early "night". At this moment, there is only darkness in the sky, but at the same time, there is a light golden "sunlight" coming from the coast, passing through the tall and low buildings in the city, and forming magnificent and strange light bands above the blocks. The gas lamps in the streets and alleys are lit in advance, but there are no pedestrians on the streets. Only occasionally can you see patrolling guards and steam walkers quickly crossing the intersection, scanning the empty road with lights, full of vigilance and alertness.

The city was very quiet, and a depressing and tense atmosphere permeated the darkness, so much so that any noise coming from outside could irritate people's sensitive nerves.

A slight friction sound came from the side. Alice curiously picked up the paper tapes piled on the table and looked at them upside down - of course she couldn't understand them.

Shirley and Agou were lying in front of another window, both heads looking out the window. Nina was standing behind them, muttering something.

"The situation in Plande and Frost is relatively stable. The last experience helped people quickly restore order, but the anxiety caused by the second extinction of the sun is also spreading in the city," Duncan said suddenly, "and apart from them, the connection with other city-states has been cut off... just like before."

"The only difference from last time is that this time there are four church ships docked next to Breeze Harbor," Vanna said. "They were affected by the 'luminous geometry' this time and stayed on 'this side' after the sun went out. Now order has been restored on the church ships. His Majesty Rune seems to have activated some observation and research facilities on the Academy Ark to collect data on environmental changes in the real world after the sun went out..."

"I hope he can find something," Duncan sighed, "but honestly, I don't hold out hope for it. Anomaly 001 has been hanging in the sky above this world for a full ten thousand years. I'm afraid only the ancient Kingdom of Crete or the legendary Lord of the Deep who completed the 'Third Long Night' knows what that thing is..."

Before he could finish his words, Alice's voice suddenly came from the side: "Captain, captain! Captain, help! It's entangled!"

Duncan turned his head and saw that Alice's head and arms had been entangled in a pile of paper tapes. The silly girl was blinking her eyes and looking at this side innocently in the middle of the pile of paper tapes. She stood there without daring to move, as if she was afraid of accidentally breaking the fragile paper tapes.

"...How did you do that?!" Duncan stared at the scene in amazement. He walked over with a mixture of anger and amusement to free Alice from the bondage, "This can also entangle me?"

"I don't know either!" Alice said confidently, "I just wanted to see how long the paper was, but I couldn't pull it to the end. By the time I realized it, it was already tangled..."

Duncan sighed: "Don't bother with them, these tapes are useful."

"Oh..." Alice agreed with a little frustration, and watched Duncan put the "notes" back into the box like a cat whose wool ball was taken away. But soon she seemed to forget this little regret, and her expression became happy again. She smiled and moved closer to Duncan, "By the way, Captain, what is the 'Observer Effect Stabilization Anchor'?"

Duncan, who was putting the large ball of paper tape into the box, stopped instantly.

The whole living room suddenly became quiet.

This silly girl just said a string of words that she definitely couldn't have "created" herself!

After two seconds of silence, Duncan slowly turned his head, his eyes becoming extremely serious: "What did you just say?"

Alice was startled, thinking she had messed up again: "Observation...Observer Effect Stabilization Anchor...Did I say something wrong?"

"Why did you mention this all of a sudden?" Duncan dropped the paper tape in his hand and walked over to Alice. After noticing the nervousness on the puppet's face, he slowed down his tone and said, "Don't be afraid. You did nothing wrong, but you just mentioned a very... unusual word."

Alice stared with eyes wide open, and relaxed a little under Duncan's gaze, then looked around, as if observing something that others could not see, and said casually: "Observer effect stabilization anchor failure, fault code E-C6-305, 'Corona' damaged, main system restarting, restart time unknown..."

Lucrecia, who was not far away, finally reacted. She came to Alice in an instant and pointed at the recording tapes on the table: "You saw it from these tapes?! Is this what they recorded?"

“No,” Alice shook her head innocently. “I don’t know what the messy curves on these notes mean, but there are signs of observer effect stabilization anchor failures everywhere… Hey? Can’t you see it?”

The doll seemed to finally realize something, and looked at the people around it with surprise. This surprise and surprise... was like the first time she realized that "ordinary people" couldn't see those floating strings at all.

Duncan stared at the puppet, and gradually he realized something. He slowly raised his head and looked at the "sunlight" in the sky outside the window that was attenuated a lot by being blocked by the buildings.

These "sunlights" come from the huge luminous geometric body on the sea surface. After being blocked by layers of buildings in the city and attenuated by distance, they appear very weak here.

But the information carried in the spectrum does not disappear due to this level of attenuation - it permeates the air and the entire city.

To Alice, they were everywhere.

"So, you can directly see the signals released by the 'luminous geometric object'," Duncan withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at Alice, "What... do they look like?"

"I can't really explain it," Alice scratched her hair, "and I don't know if this counts as 'seeing'... I just felt that there were things in the light, and their meaning appeared directly in my mind - oh, even though the goat head said I don't have a brain..."

Morris also came over. He stared at the puppet in a daze: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You didn't ask!" Alice said confidently this time, "and I thought you could all see it!"

Everyone in the living room looked at each other in surprise.

Apparently everyone thought of the "lines" in Alice's eyes - that was exactly what Miss Doll thought "everyone could see" last time.

But Duncan actually thought of much more.

He thought of the little black-feathered auk that Rune had brought to the gathering—he thought of the crazy bird.

He thought, too, of the picture Alice had drawn, and of the "lines" she had insisted on adding to every figure in the picture.

Alice seemed a little uneasy. After she had justified herself, she seemed to realize that she was different from the others. She thought she had done something wrong and couldn't help but lean towards Duncan, shrinking her neck: "I didn't know at first..."

"Different observers see different worlds, and for Alice... the world has been different from ours since the beginning. She takes this for granted and never thinks of actively confirming with everyone what everyone sees the world like," Duncan suddenly broke the silence. He turned his head and gently pressed Alice's hair. "Don't be nervous, you did nothing wrong, and you did a good job - Alice, you have done a great job, you have seen information that we cannot see..."

He gently stroked the doll's hair, letting her relax slowly, while his eyes looked past the window, as if penetrating the densely packed buildings in the city, and saw the sun still on the sea.

Anomaly 001 - Observer Effect Stabilization Anchor.