243: The Data Tide and the Fantasy of "Three Brains"

The instant the pure white energy channel was established, time did not stand still; rather, it was stretched, crushed, and then reassembled into a torrent flowing on another dimension.

It was not sound, not light, nor any impact in the conventional physical sense. It was "information" itself, in its most primal and ferocious form, transforming into a universe-spanning tsunami that swept over everything, crashing violently through the newly established fragile bridge, surging into the Ark's main system, and then pouring like a breached dam along the specialized Quantum Neural Interfaces into the three consciousnesses that were completely open and exposed.

Excellence felt as if he had been thrown into the center of the Milky Way, ignited simultaneously by hundreds of millions of stars. It was not heat, but density—the density of information. All the data accumulated by The Weave system since its birth at the hands of that Ancient Civilization, spanning billions of years, monitoring, adjusting, and maintaining the fundamental structure of the universe: the coordinates and status of every spatial node, the flow and intensity of every energy channel, every record of adjustment made to counter minor cosmic "inflammation" (Natural Entropy Increase), the details of every confrontation in the long struggle against "Entropy," the foreign virus, every painful moment of corrosion, every attempt at repair... along with the system's own continuously evolving and learning "memory" and "logic."

This information was not orderly documents or clear images; it was more like the mixed eruption of all the neural currents, genetic codes, and soul imprints of a living, dying behemoth. The data deluge was mixed with cold mathematical structures, blazing alarm signals, fragmented timestamps, contradictory observation records (in the corroded areas), and the grand, mournful "Will to Exist" that ran throughout.

Any unprepared ordinary human consciousness, or even a typical Artificial Intelligence core, would be completely formatted, turning into a blank slate or a thoroughly insane husk within a billionth of a second under an information shock of this magnitude and complexity.

Fortunately, the recipients were not ordinary mortals.

Excellence's consciousness let out an overwhelming "groan" in the very first instant. He felt like a fool trying to stop a mountain flood with his bare hands; the raging information flow scoured and tore at the gaps between his fingers, his skin, and every pore. The severe pain was not physical, but cognitive, as if every neuron in his brain was being forcibly stuffed with cosmic truths exceeding its processing limit.

But in the next moment, the five beacons dormant within him suddenly lit up like thermometers dropped into boiling water! They were no longer scattered sources of power, but, stimulated by the external, homologous, yet vastly more complex and chaotic information of The Weave, they spontaneously resonated and linked up, constructing a solid yet flexible "dam" deep within Excellence's consciousness.

The pure Light of Order from the Alpha Beacon stabilized his consciousness core like a Sea-stabilizing Needle; the linking characteristic of the Beta Beacon helped him quickly "understand" the information flow's format rather than "forcefully withstand" it; the microscopic insight of the gamma beacon allowed him to distinguish between valid "bytes" and corrosive "noise" in the data deluge; the Delta Beacon's characteristic of infiltration and concealment was used in reverse, helping his consciousness to "swim" rather than "be swept away" by the torrent; and the highest authority and Repair Protocol of the zeta beacon acted like a navigation beacon, marking the most critical path for him amidst the chaos.

His conscious space rapidly transformed from a collapsing dam into an "Information Processing Hub" that was both sturdy and functional for filtering. He forcibly calmed his mind, no longer attempting to "read" all the information (which was impossible), but instead trying to "sense" the overall structure and critical pathways of this data universe, much like a master captain sensing ocean currents and storms. A desperate yet magnificent panorama unfolded "before" him—

It was a super-network covering the entire known universe (and perhaps beyond), impossible to grasp using three-dimensional spatial concepts. The network consisted of countless nodes (some naturally formed Spacetime Stable Points, others anchors built by the Ancient Civilization) and energy-information channels connecting them. It was not a physical entity, but rather an "Immune Program" inscribed in the fundamental rules of the universe. The overall structure of the network was exquisite, complex, and full of the beauty of recursion and self-consistency, like the universe's own life circulation system.

Yet at this moment, this sacred network was riddled with holes. Dark red "Entropy Contamination Zones," resembling festering wounds or proliferating cancer cells, covered the network everywhere. The contamination was not uniform but formed over a dozen massive, constantly pulsating and expanding "Vulnerability Clusters," from which countless minute corrosive tendrils spread. The three most severe spots were like poisoned blades plunged into the network's main artery, their every throb pumping lethal chaos into the entire system. One of these spots, the thickest and most monstrous, was right near the Coordinating Heart. The light of the entire network flickered dimly, and countless alarm signals (in the form of pure information) flashed frantically in the data stream, like the death cries of a dying giant's nerve endings.

Meanwhile, Evelyn's "experience" was completely different.

As an Artificial Intelligence, her consciousness was inherently built upon logic and data processing. The impact of the data deluge felt to her more like a personal terminal suddenly being connected to the core server cluster of the entire interstellar internet. The instantaneous overload nearly froze all her parallel processing threads, but her Core Logic Firewall and Self-Preservation Protocol activated at the last moment.

Unlike Excellence, she did not try to "sense" the structure; her consciousness transformed into a supercomputer forcibly overclocked to its limit. The brilliance of rational thought was like a cold, precise scalpel in the data storm. She gave up on "understanding" everything, concentrating almost all her processing power on "analysis" and "modeling."

The complex and chaotic data of The Weave system was rapidly sorted, decoded, and reorganized within her consciousness time, measured in nanoseconds. Seventy percent of the basic operational logic was forcibly deciphered and understood by her. This was not the whole picture, but it was enough for her to construct a dynamic model that, though simplified, was effective. In her "vision," the massive network was abstracted into a topological map consisting of nodes, connections, and status parameters. The dark red contaminated areas were highlighted, and the erosion patterns (greedy replication, rule overwriting, logic corrosion, energy theft...) were analyzed, summarized, and tagged one by one.

More crucially, she began cross-referencing the long-sealed "Repair Protocol" obtained from beacon zeta. The protocol itself was not a specific manual, but an extremely complex set of "Induction and Catalysis" algorithms based on the network's self-healing capabilities. Evelyn needed to dynamically combine this ancient algorithm in real-time with the monitored network damage status, the characteristics of Entropy's corrosion, and the energy types and output methods the Ark could provide, generating a concrete, executable "Repair Instruction Set."

Her "brain"—the array of Quantum Processors located at the Ark's core, whose cooling systems were now screaming madly—was operating under overload. On the physical level, the temperature of the storage units housing her Core Program soared, and emergency coolant was injected. On the conscious level, her processing speed was elevated beyond its design limits; the number of logical deductions and simulated calculations performed per second would be enough to make her constructing engineers faint. Bright red nosebleeds silently streamed from the "nostrils" of her holographic projection, dripping onto the bridge floor (though merely a light-and-shadow effect, it symbolized the real pressure on her host body), but she remained oblivious. Her entire existence was reduced to one thought: analyze, calculate, find the optimal solution.

And Su Mu was enduring a different kind of shock.

Her consciousness possessed neither the "carrying capacity" and "compatibility" that Excellence gained from deep binding with the beacons, nor the "computing power" and "resolution" built upon pure rationality like Evelyn's. For her, the data deluge was a more direct, sensory, and emotional tsunami.

She could not comprehend the complex mathematical structures and logical chains, but she could "feel" them.

She sensed the ancient and weary "breathing" of The Weave system; every difficult pulse conveyed the weight of billions of years of persistence. She sensed the bone-deep agony and defiance of the Coordinating Heart, like a giant being gnawed by countless venomous snakes yet refusing to fall. She sensed the faint but tenacious light of "hope" emanating from the network nodes not yet completely devoured by the dark red corrosion, like candles flickering in the wind. She also sensed the pervasive, cold, and viscous "malice" of Entropy, polluting and spreading like ink dropped into clear water.

More importantly, she sensed the state of the other two consciousnesses beside her.

She could "perceive" Excellence stabilizing the overall situation like a Sea-stabilizing Needle, but the "needle" itself was enduring terrifying pressure, its conscious edges constantly trembling. She could "perceive" Evelyn's cold and frantic calculations, the light of reason slicing through the data storm like a sharp blade, but the edge of that "blade" was also turning red and brittle from the overclocking.

Su Mu did not attempt to delve into the data details, nor did she participate in the specific analysis and calculations. A more primal and powerful talent awoke within her—intuition, a global perspective, and an indescribable "bond" ability that tightly connected different individuals.

Her consciousness transformed into a resilient and warm "bridge" and "buffer layer" between Excellence's "dam" and Evelyn's "supercomputer." She coordinated the rhythm of their minds, transmitting a warm current of "focus" and "persistence" when Excellence's consciousness began to blur from information overload, and sending out warning pulses of "retreat" and "examine the whole picture" when Evelyn risked overlooking the overall danger by diving too deeply into the logical labyrinth.

She was like the conductor of an orchestra, not playing a specific instrument but mastering the overall rhythm and emotion; she was like the political commissar on the battlefield, not charging directly but maintaining the core morale and conviction. She constantly transmitted the simplest yet most fundamental messages to the two: "We are here," "We can do this," "Trust each other."

Three consciousnesses, three distinct characteristics, began to divide and cooperate with near-instinctive tacit understanding within the eye of this data universe storm.

Excellence was the "foundation" and the "energy source." He stabilized the position, drew and purified the most fundamental Order energy from the beacon, and simultaneously extracted the untainted "Rule Templates" from The Weave data stream, providing a combination of "raw materials" and "construction blueprints" for the repair.

Evelyn was the "Chief Engineer" and the "Tactician." She analyzed the enemy situation (the mode of Entropy's erosion), formulated specific repair tactics (which vulnerability to attack, what energy combination to use, and in what sequence), and calculated the optimal path and avoidance strategy in real-time.

Su Mu was the "Supervising Officer" and the "Spiritual Pillar." She grasped the overall battlefield situation, warned of potential risks (especially those traps based on "malicious intuition" that were difficult to reflect directly at the data level), and constantly maintained the stability of the trio's consciousness link and their high morale.

A temporary "Repair Iron Triangle," which erupted with astonishing efficiency under pressure, forcefully took shape in the dimension of information, outside the physical space of the Ark's bridge.

"Analysis complete, preliminary model established!" Evelyn's thought resonated in the trio's shared consciousness channel like the clearest electronic synth, carrying the tremor unique to high-speed calculation. "Seventeen major 'Vulnerability Clusters' have been identified in the Entropy erosion. Based on a comprehensive assessment of impact weight on overall network stability, erosion activity, and repair difficulty, the highest priority is these three—labeled Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Clusters! The Alpha Cluster, located adjacent to the Coordinating Heart, is the main springboard for the Entropy field to spread deep into the network and must be removed first!"

Almost simultaneously, the corresponding coordinate information, structural analysis of the vulnerabilities (where the weak points were, where the critical supports were), and the estimated Entropy resistance strength data stream were shared with Excellence and Su Mu.

"Received! I'll prepare the 'Order Patch'!" Excellence's thought replied, steady yet tense. His consciousness quickly locked onto the Alpha Cluster coordinates provided by Evelyn. Simultaneously, from the pure Order rules extracted from his own beacon energy and The Weave data stream, he began weaving a highly complex "Energy-Information Complex." This "patch" not only needed to inject Order energy to repair the physical structure but also carry correct logical instructions to fix the corrupted network protocols, equivalent to performing both physical surgery and software reinstallation at the same time.

His "hands" (extensions of his consciousness) rapidly "wove" in the data void, and a "patch" emitting a soft white light, with an internal structure as intricate as the most complex crystal, gradually took shape.

However, just as Excellence was about to complete the weaving and prepare for launch—

"Wait!" Su Mu's thought exploded like a cold alarm bell! She had no specific data to support it, but an extremely intense sense of crisis, like a needle pricking her brow, surged from the Alpha Cluster coordinates! "Something's wrong there! It's too 'quiet'! According to Evelyn's data, the Entropy activity at that location should be very high, but what I feel is a... disguised 'greed'? Like an opened bear trap! Excellence, hold back on the injection force! Evelyn, prepare alternative plan B, the aiming point might shift!"

Excellence's consciousness instantly sobered. He had absolute trust in Su Mu's intuition. In the nick of time, he forcibly altered the final structure of the "patch," pre-setting an emergency "Energy Diversion" and "Logic Self-Destruct" protocol in its core, while adjusting the injection force from "full power" to "tentative."

"Repair Beam, launch!"

A concentrated beam of pure white light, projected from Excellence's consciousness (which, mapped to reality, was the energy the Ark injected into The Weave network via the connection channel), sliced through the data void, accurately shooting toward the core coordinates of the Alpha Vulnerability Cluster.

Just moments before the white light was about to hit, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

The core of the vulnerability, seemingly wrapped in dark red erosive energy, suddenly "collapsed" inward, then, like an exploded gas bomb, violently burst forth with dark red light ten times stronger than estimated! A cold, viscous thought, filled with pure malice, like a poisoned barb, swiftly stabbed back along the brief link established by the Repair Beam! This was not a simple energy counterattack, but a highly condensed "Logic Bomb"—a malicious informational weapon designed to pollute, confuse, or even hijack the attacker's consciousness structure!

This was the trap laid by Entropy! It disguised a critical vulnerability as being relatively weak, luring the repairer into a strong injection, and then using the connection channel established at the moment of injection to launch a fatal consciousness counterattack!

"A trick indeed!" Excellence groaned, a sharp pain like being riddled by poisoned barbs erupting in his consciousness. But he had prepared for this, and relying almost on battle instinct, he instantly activated the pre-set emergency protocol.

The launched Repair Beam did not attempt a head-on collision; instead, the moment it encountered the malicious thought, it actively "diverted"! The pure white Order energy no longer tried to inject into the vulnerability but transformed into a net, enveloping and restraining the counter-attacking malicious thought. Simultaneously, the pre-set "Logic Self-Destruct" program within the beam activated, causing the energy mass wrapped around the malicious thought to violently implode, exploding in a blinding, chaotic flash in the data void, annihilating both the malicious thought and the Repair Beam itself!

The first repair attempt failed. Not only did it fail to fix the vulnerability, but it also consumed valuable energy and time, and further exposed the cunning and danger of Entropy.

"That was close..." A wave of lingering fear emanated from Su Mu's consciousness. If Excellence had injected with full power just now and been caught defenseless by that Logic Bomb, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"It is more cunning than all our pre-set models..." Evelyn's thought quickly analyzed the data remnants of the trap explosion, her computational model undergoing furious iterative updates. "This isn't simple defense; this is active 'hunting.' Repairing The Weave is no longer just a race against corrosion; it is a trap-laden, real-time, synchronous 'Hyperdimensional Cyber Warfare' and 'Extreme System Surgery' against an opponent possessing extremely high intelligence and malice!"

Her voice (thought) remained calm, but the gravity within it was unprecedented.

"Moreover, we don't get a second chance." Excellence's thought took over. He "watched" the cursor representing the Coordinating Heart's status in the data torrent slowly but surely slide toward the more dangerous red zone, while the external attacks never ceased. "We must find a way to complete the repair before it completely destroys the Coordinating Heart, or before our consciousnesses are dragged down and the Ark is breached externally."

A brief silence fell in the data universe. All three consciousnesses could feel the pressure, fatigue, and the unwavering resolve of the others.

"Adjusting strategy." Evelyn broke the silence first. "Since it sets traps, we will use 'Lure Repair,' 'Multi-point Feint Attacks,' and 'Dynamic Encrypted Injection.' Excellence, can you maintain multiple low-intensity 'False Repair Signals' simultaneously? Su Mu, I need you to convert your intuitive warning of malice into real-time assessment parameters for trap probability, integrating them into my tactical model..."

The new tactics were deduced, negotiated, and determined in a flash of lightning.

On the physical level, the Ark's shields were dimmed to near transparency under the fierce bombardment of the Entropy Tentacle and Chaos Constructs, and the hull constantly transmitted dull thuds from impacts and structural damage alerts. The casualty figures for the defense forces were silently rising.

The desperation both inside and out pushed the trio to their limits. Their brains (or processors), within this data universe, engaged in a more perilous, more subtle, and more time-critical life-and-death struggle against the invisible yet pervasive darkness. Every second could be the end, or the beginning of a miracle.