On the fifth day after the meeting, all eight probes arrived at their designated infiltration locations.
These probes are roughly octagonal pyramids in appearance, several dozen meters tall, their exaggerated proportions making them appear extremely slender.
There are no engines or engine nozzles on the surface of the probes, and no jets will be generated when they move in the vast universe.
If you could look closely at these probes, you could see that the background starlight was strangely distorted near their surfaces.
Abyss Probes move by directly manipulating space.
The shells of this batch of probes are all made of anti-abyss armor. Their appearance looks like crystal, but they are not so clear and transparent. Instead, they have a black matte metal texture.
Against the pitch-black backdrop of the universe, it's almost impossible to detect their presence.
Like dozens of previous experiments, the first half of the dive went smoothly.
As the last burst of purple mist was annihilated by the particles in this universe, all eight probes successfully entered the subspace.
Over the next several dozen hours, the probe penetrated ever deeper into the warp.
Although the subspace is fundamentally different from the spatial structure of this universe, this deep dive operation can still be simply understood as a deep-sea dive.
As the diving depth increases, the subspace pressure outside the probe also continues to increase.
Until it reached the bottom layer of the subspace, the expected resistance began to appear.
The probe had already touched the seabed at the edge of the abyss. The external pressure had reached its limit, and conventional warp navigation was no longer possible.
Fortunately, each probe is equipped with a negative energy generator. These devices can radiate negative energy outward and wrap the probe in the form of a radiation field.
Although the radiation field cannot prevent the erosion of the abyss and the subspace, it can allow probes from this universe to integrate into the boundary of the abyss.
This process is similar to endocytosis and exocytosis of cells in biology.
The negative energy field envelops the probe in the external subspace environment and merges with the abyss boundary that serves as the cell membrane, and then enters the cellular environment called the abyss.
From the moment the probe enters the abyss, all external communications will be forced to terminate.
The Galactic Alliance has yet to master the technology for cross-border communication. Once inside the Abyss, the probe will rely entirely on its pre-programmed internals and return after completing its intended objective or reaching a threshold level of corrosion.
Before that, all the people on the shore could do was wait quietly.
…
Large Habitat at the Edge of the Pass System
Isolation medical room
This is a negative pressure ward. The atmospheric pressure inside the ward is slightly lower than that outside, so even if there is a leak in the seal, the air inside the medical room will not leak out.
This ward was converted from the original ICU and is dedicated to serving one person.
As for the person receiving the service, it is naturally Dr. Max.
The layout of the room has undergone major changes. In addition to the comprehensive reinforcement and sealing of the exterior, the original transparent glass windows outside the ward have all been replaced with frosted glass with limited light transmittance.
The original transparent glass windows were designed to allow nurses on duty to observe the situation inside the ICU at any time, but now all the nurses on duty have been removed, and even the medical staff who occasionally enter and exit the ICU need to wear protective clothing throughout the entire time.
These measures are aimed at preventing the further spread of pollution.
Although Dr. Max seems to be fine on the surface, he has actually become a semi-permanent source of pollution in the abyss.
The doctors who had previously performed his eye transplant surgery all developed varying degrees of deep-seated infections. The surgeon who had the most severe infection had to amputate both of his hands before barely escaping death.
Although his new limbs are nearing maturity in the incubator, even if the severed limbs are successfully reattached, it will still take several years to adapt.
This is a fatal blow to a job that requires high-precision hand operations. The flexibility and accuracy of finger movements will directly affect his career prospects for the next few decades.
Ainor wandered in the corridor. She did not deliberately maintain her Homo sapiens form, but moved back and forth in the corridor in her original form of a yellow gas ball.
Through the frosted glass, you can vaguely see the white medical bed and Max lying quietly on the bed.
Although it was just a rough outline, it still made her feel relieved.
Max's current state is not so peaceful.
Sometimes he would do some incredible things, such as suddenly sitting up from the bed, grabbing things beside the bed and throwing them around.
But throughout the entire process, his brain hardly sent any signals.
At first, doctors thought it was caused by an abnormal electrical surge in the reflex center in the gray matter of the spinal cord, which is responsible for controlling low-level nerve reflexes, but further full-body nerve scans showed that all nerves were in a permanent state of paralysis.
This form is medically called a vegetative state.
But according to the current situation, Max's muscles are still able to move autonomously. They can spontaneously perform incredible and complex behaviors without any nerve instructions.
It wasn't an involuntary muscle spasm; it felt more like something else was taking control of his body.
Doctors have given this symptom a very vivid name, called "abyss-fall syndrome."
This syndrome was also seen in other doctors infected by the Abyss, with some experiencing completely uncontrolled limb movements during their recovery.
For example, one of the doctors got up early one morning and brushed his teeth with a toilet brush.
According to him, he had just gotten up to go to the bathroom. When he finished and pulled up his pants, his eyes unconsciously fell on the toilet brush on the floor next to him, and his body began to move uncontrollably.
His legs were frozen in place, unable to move, his waist bent uncontrollably, and at the same time he picked up the toilet brush on the ground with his right hand, dipped it in the unflushed water in the toilet, and stuffed it into his mouth.
According to the victim, the only thing he could control at the time was his mouth.
But words can't beat hands.
To protect patient privacy and human rights, we will not go into detail about what happened next. However, the doctor did not return home for the next two days and instead stayed in the nursing home at his own expense.
In order to prevent similar incidents from happening in the ICU and causing damage to the patient or surrounding equipment, the doctor added a muscle relaxant to Max's sedative.
The former can inhibit his brain activity, while the latter can paralyze most of his muscle tissue, making it impossible for him to pull out the needles in his body and use them as whips.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
