147: mechanical heart

The Wuling Hongguang S stopped on the ice field, its tracks crushing broken ice and debris. The logo on the front was stained with blue liquid, shimmering slightly under the cold light. Chen Wang gripped the steering wheel, his fingers swollen and painful. He glanced at the unconscious Star Pupil, then at the place to the north where a red light had appeared.

The vehicle began to accelerate.

Wind and snow buffeted the car; the interior heater had broken long ago. Lin Wei emerged from the medical pod holding a sealed box, her face pale. "The core temperature is rising," she said. "It's matching Star Pupil's signal."

Chen Wang didn't speak, driving the car into a sheltered ice gully behind them. The tracks came to a halt with a dull thud. He unbuckled his seatbelt and walked toward the modification workshop.

Star Pupil was placed on a temporary medical chair, a metal ring around her wrist connected to the vehicle's voltage stabilizer on the other end. Her breathing was shallow, and blue light flowed beneath her eyelids. The mechanical parrot 'mechanical parrot' stood on a bracket, its beak opening and closing: "Mental overload detected, neural link is about to break."

Lin Wei turned on the spectrum analyzer and placed the energy core on the test bench. The waveform on the screen jumped a few times before suddenly stabilizing. She stared at the data for three seconds and snapped her head up: "The frequencies are exactly the same! It's not just synchronization... it's the same source!"

Chen Wang stood before the instrument, looking at the two overlapping lines. "Meaning, this thing was originally prepared for her?"

"Not exactly." Lin Wei's voice trembled slightly. "It's a backup for the system inside her body. The resonance module implanted during her transformation as an experimental subject should rely on this kind of core for power. Her consciousness is collapsing now because her body is searching for a matching energy source."

Chen Wang looked down at Star Pupil. Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

"What if I install this in the engine's position?" he asked.

Lin Wei froze. "What did you say?"

"It can make monsters move and keep Star Pupil alive, so why can't it be used as an engine?" Chen Wang walked to the rear compartment, lifted the cover plate, and removed the spare engine. The heavy sound of the iron casing hitting the floor echoed.

"You're crazy!" Lin Wei ran over. "This isn't a normal modification! The core carries biological residue; connecting it directly to the main system will trigger a pulse! The whole vehicle could explode!"

"Then what do we do now?" Chen Wang looked back. "Wait for her to wake up on her own? Or watch her brainwaves go haywire until she dies?"

Lin Wei was speechless.

Chen Wang put the engine into a storage compartment and picked up his toolbox. "I don't care about the success rate. I know one thing—parts don't lie. Since it can resonate, it can be controlled. What we need to do is make it behave."

Lin Wei bit her pen cap and quickly tapped on her tablet. A few seconds later, she pulled up the power compartment's structural diagram. "At least three layers of protection are needed. The first for electromagnetic shielding, the second for heat insulation, and the third as a buffer circuit. Otherwise, if the pulse hits the kindling system, no one can save us."

"Do it." Chen Wang handed over the welding torch.

Lin Wei took it and squatted in front of the chassis to start working. The sound of metal joining rang out continuously. Chen Wang stayed by Star Pupil's side, holding her hand. Her skin was cold, but her fingertips twitched slightly.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

There was no response.

The broadcaster suddenly spoke: "Warning: Neural pressure has reached a critical point. Countdown: four minutes and seventeen seconds."

Lin Wei looked up: "The connection must be completed before then."

Chen Wang nodded and turned to grab the core. Just as he touched the sealed box, Star Pupil's hand suddenly gripped him tightly.

He looked back.

She opened her eyes; they weren't a normal color, but a flowing blue. Her lips moved slightly, her voice sounding as if from far away: "Let me... connect."

"What did you say?" Chen Wang leaned closer.

"I can control it." Her voice was intermittent. "Don't cut the connection... let me be with it."

Just as she finished speaking, a line of text popped up on the kindling system's holographic interface: 'Host authority authenticated—Resonator connected.'

Lin Wei was stunned. "The system recognized her?"

Chen Wang looked at the text and said after a few seconds, "Do as she says."

Lin Wei took a deep breath and activated the mechanical arm. Chen Wang opened the energy slot's protective plate, revealing the interface. The purple core was slowly raised and brought close to the metal socket.

Upon contact, Star Pupil's whole body jolted. Blue light spread from her eyes to her face, surging through the guide ring into the machine. Lin Wei shouted, "The pulse is coming! The voltage stabilizer can't hold!"

The dashboard flashed wildly. The lights turned from red to white, then to purple. The survival points jumped: +20. The heater turned back on.

"Connected!" Lin Wei stared at the screen. "Output is stable! Life support system rebooting!"

Chen Wang didn't let go, bracing both hands against the edge of the slot. Purple liquid seeped from the surface of the core, flowing down the metal and dripping onto the floor, turning into ice crystals. Those patterns weren't random; they formed a line pointing north.

Star Pupil's breathing stabilized. She closed her eyes, her hand still connected to the guide ring, but no longer trembling.

"She survived." Lin Wei sat back against the wall, blood seeping from the frostbite on her left hand. "We actually did it."

Chen Wang didn't move. He looked at the energy core and listened to the vibrations in the car. It didn't sound like an engine, nor like an electric current. It sounded more like a heartbeat.

"This isn't the end," he said. "This is the beginning."

Lin Wei looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Look at the floor." Chen Wang pointed at the ice crystals. "They're moving."

Lin Wei leaned in. Those purple crystals were slowly extending, new lines constantly appearing, all in the same direction. It looked like a marker, or a map.

"It wants us to go there," Chen Wang said.

"But we don't know what's ahead."

"I know a little." Chen Wang let go. "Star Pupil wasn't just begging for life just now. She was guiding us. She's telling us that the answer is over there."

Lin Wei didn't speak. She looked at the running system, then at Star Pupil's calm face.

The broadcaster spoke again: "Neural link status: Maintaining. Energy synchronization rate: 78%. Next fluctuation expected in two hours."

Chen Wang walked to the driver's seat and opened the map module. The coordinates hadn't updated, but a new prompt popped up from the kindling system: 'Continuous signal source detected. Recommended priority: Exploration.'

He didn't close the interface.

Lin Wei stood up and re-checked the interface. "I'll reinforce the connection point one more time. In case the pulse strengthens, we can't let the core detach."

"Okay." Chen Wang handed her the tools.

She took the wrench and squatted down. The sound of metal clashing echoed in the cabin.

Star Pupil's finger twitched slightly.

Chen Wang saw it. He squatted down and held her hand.

Her lips moved again.

This time, he clearly heard two words: "Go, quickly."

Before he could react, the purple ice crystals on the floor suddenly brightened. The entire pattern flashed simultaneously, like an activated circuit.

Lin Wei looked up: "Core output power increased by 15%!"

Chen Wang stared at Star Pupil's face. Beneath her eyelids, the flow of blue light accelerated.

The temperature inside the car began to rise.