Bryce remained silent for a long time.
But judging from his solemn expression and furrowed brows, Lin Xi knew that he must be seriously considering what she had said. This was probably why he loved Bryce so much—he never took Lin Xi's words as unrealistic fantasies, and he would always take everything that happened around Lin Xi, whether ordinary or extraordinary, very seriously.
“A three-hundred-year-old ghost is now communicating with you through an intracranial electronic assist chip connected to your brain. That sounds rather…” Bryce paused for a moment, seemingly choosing his words carefully, “like the beginning of some third-rate interstellar horror novel.”
After a while, Bryce muttered softly, "Everyone knows that Captain Scripps Eden of the Providence is a real legend. Maybe he really can become a ghost."
However, precisely because Mr. Scripps had so many legendary historical events (the most sensational of course being his appointment as captain of the Providence and his subsequent disappearance in space), the appearance of what was claimed to be his ghost always felt unrealistic.
Of course, Bryce had no intention of telling Lin Xi about his thoughts.
He turned around and operated his personal terminal for a while—a bunch of complex reports suddenly appeared on the electronic projection screen.
Lin Xi looked over and discovered that the reports were detailed physiological data reports of the crew members of the Sun God.
"These data are theoretically confidential."
Bryce glanced at Lin Xi and said with a dark face.
“...But I think we can discuss the issue of secrecy once we get back to Earth.” He then added.
Even though the atmosphere between the two of them was particularly heavy at this moment because of their new discovery, Lin Xi couldn't help but smile slightly after seeing Bryce like this.
"Bryce, you know, what I like most about you is your adaptability," Lin Xi complimented sincerely.
“You should thank me for being the medical officer,” Bryce shrugged, glancing at the reports. “...Okay, let’s see. Besides Ando and Jerry, who else on board has a brain implanted with a support chip?...If possible, we might be able to find him and find a way to get you back in touch with that mysterious ghost.”
With a few taps on his personal terminal, the crew's information began to flash rapidly on the screen.
When each crew member was selected to participate in the Helios mission, all their physiological data were recorded—this data was mixed with their previous flight experiences to form a large and complex database.
Bryce and Lynch's search will take some more time.
While waiting, Bryce began to contact Elisa.
“She needs to know about this…if, as you say, there’s something wrong with that aircraft too.”
Bryce said.
However, somewhat unexpectedly, after several attempts, Elisa did not respond to Bryce's calls at all.
Bryce's expression gradually became serious.
Not responding to calls might be normal for some people, but it was anything but unusual for Elisa—as the first mate, she was always busy, especially after the Helios ran aground, and she needed to keep an eye on her communicator at all times to respond to the reports and requests for help that came one after another.
Moreover, Bryce held a particularly unique position for her.
“Ever since boarding the Apollo, Elisa has never ignored my communication requests,” Bryce said, looking at Lin Xi.
Lin Xi was shocked to see a deep sense of panic and disarray in Bryce's eyes.
"I think...she must have run into some trouble."
Bryce said.
...
Elisa silently canceled the communication request on the terminal.
Her back was completely soaked with cold sweat, and a faint taste of blood filled her mouth, caused by her clenching her teeth so tightly that they wouldn't chatter.
She was surrounded by cold, dark air, as if enveloped by a monster's esophagus.
Fear and despair surged towards Elisa like a tidal wave. She even involuntarily held her breath, afraid that her rapid breathing and heartbeat would alert the person... no, the monster... who was only separated from her by a metal plate.
How exactly did things turn out this way?
Even Alyssa herself found it hard to explain, after all, just a few hours ago, she was peacefully in her office dealing with some less urgent matters. Since Robert, the former energy manager, formed that so-called emergency response team, he had gradually taken most of the work away from Alyssa, and Taran seemed to have tacitly accepted this—he was certainly more pleased with Robert, since those bastards were completely on Taran's side.
Alyssa didn't like Robert and the emergency response team (look at their suggestions, like killing the Sunu creatures stored in hibernation pods to save more energy?), but she also had to admit that their presence made her job much easier.
Before the flustered young crew member burst into her office, Alyssa was even considering whether she should have dinner with Bryce to relax.
"Sir... I need to report something to you... but..."
The crew member who came to find her was Robert's first mate, a very nice young man, but now he looked as if he had contracted some kind of serious illness, emaciated and terrified.
"The people on the ship are disappearing, sir, they're vanishing, one after another..."
When Alyssa first heard what the second-in-command said, she almost thought he was just another poor soul who had gone hysterical due to the ship's prolonged grounding. After all, under the pressure of the possibility of everyone dying, fragile humans are bound to experience minor mental health issues from time to time.
But the deputy produced evidence.
That's the crew list on the spaceship.
At first glance, the list seemed perfectly fine, and the daily automatic assessments had all passed flawlessly. But after some manipulation, the original, overwritten files reappeared in front of Elisa.
"Robert and his team modified the mission logs. They do this every so often... and each time, it's to cover up any unusual attendance records..."
The young deputy said, his voice trembling.
Elisa noticed that every time he spoke, he would nervously look behind him, as if he were afraid that someone would barge in through the door.
But at this moment, Elisa could no longer care about the abnormal behavior of her deputy.
All attention was focused on the attendance sheet that had been revised countless times. Every so often, a few more names would appear on the sheet—followed by a red warning sign indicating that they hadn't been present. They weren't at their assigned work stations, nor were they in their rooms.
Even their physiological monitoring information disappeared completely.
Elisa checked their identities, and just as she had vaguely sensed, these were the lowest-ranking crew members. Their work locations and tasks were scattered throughout the old and complex hull of the Sun God, so even if they disappeared, it would be difficult for Elisa and the other senior crew members to find out.
Ultimately, just as the deputy had said, these people disappeared without a trace. Their work reports were still being sent to the robot's terminal regularly, but their physical bodies had long since vanished.
Theoretically, such a warning should be sent directly to the captain. In the vast universe, any crew defection is considered a major incident, serious enough to put the ship on high alert. However, according to the attendance record in Elisa's hand at this moment, since the spaceship ran aground, the identities of dozens of people have been erased from the records.
But from beginning to end, Elisa didn't even notice.
This is utterly absurd, yet it happened.
"This...this doesn't make sense..."
Elisa stared at the records in disbelief, and her voice suddenly stopped when a certain code appeared repeatedly next to the erased record.
She had never wished she were in a nightmare.
That's Taran's access code.
Elisa didn't like Taran, but she never imagined that Taran would do such a thing—it wasn't Robert who altered the records of the missing crew members, but Taran himself.
Ah, yes, that's the only way it makes sense: an alert of a crew member's disappearance would indeed be sent directly to Taran immediately, and only Taran could possibly modify those records without alerting anyone.
In a daze, Elisa seemed to be transported back to the moment she stood at the door of the Taran cabin. The look in the eyes of the man who slowly emerged from the darkness, and the ominous feeling that made her tremble...
Elisa took a long breath, trying to control her inner turmoil, and then she looked up at the young crew member whose mind was on the verge of collapse.
Her voice was so dry it sounded like it had been sanded.
“Find a place… to hide…” She didn’t know why she said it, but she just said it, following her gut feeling. “Some people on this ship are having problems, you should have sensed it, shouldn’t you? Find a place to hide. I’ll figure something out. I have to do this.”
The young crew member seemed to sense something; his cheek twitched unnaturally. Then, he suddenly turned around and ran out of Elisa's office.
When Alyssa trudged heavily to the outside of the office, the young man was already gone. Alyssa hoped he would heed her advice and find a safe place to hide on the spaceship.
Elisa stood outside the office for a while, her mind in turmoil, yet she felt a strange sense of calm.
Perhaps this is what it feels like when the "second shoe drops"... Elisa found herself even having the gravitas to chuckle to herself. The lingering fear and indescribable unease she'd felt about Taran finally had an answer at this moment.
Author's note: Sigh, I wish my brother and sister-in-law would both throw up.
Actually, as I was writing, I realized that Lin Xi is probably the happiest character in all my stories. (Except for sweet romance stories)
Although he was born an orphan, his family is open-minded and happy, and his older brother and sister-in-law treat him very well... His future husband... apart from being ugly and uneducated... doesn't have any major flaws...
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