364: Engine start-up time

Chen Wang's fingers hovered over the confirm button, and the grease on his workwear cuff smeared onto the console.

He didn't wipe it off, instead relaxing his left hand from the burn scar, leaving a gray smudge on his palm.

There were six people in the control room; their heavy breathing mingled together, clearly audible.

He pressed the button.

The screen shuddered, a red light flashed, and the countdown appeared: 10.

Su Ling gripped the control lever on the right, her fingers tightening until her knuckles turned white.

She didn't speak, but pulled her shoulders back slightly to let Lin Wei see her operation screen.

Lin Wei was inputting the final command, the cap of her pen clamped in her mouth, her hand sliding rapidly across the touchpad.

As soon as the data in Zone C stabilized, she clicked send.

"Buffer layer ready," she said, her voice very quiet.

Su Wan watched the vital signs chart on her tablet; all five heartbeat lines were jumping above the warning threshold.

She gently pressed the injection pump to administer a bit of sedative to Star Pupil.

The needle wasn't blocked, and the blood return was normal.

She nodded: "Blood pressure is stable."

Amy Chen inserted an old coin into the slot beneath the console, which made a soft click.

She glanced at the energy meter and said, "Core connected, preparing for traction."

Star Pupil kept her eyes closed, while the mechanical parrot stood on its perch, its red light turning green, blinking in rhythm with the system.

Her lips moved, but no one could hear what she said.

However, Chen Wang felt the air tremble slightly, as if the frequencies had aligned.

The countdown reached zero.

The main screen switched to the operating interface, displaying six interconnected circles against a dark blue background.

The genesis engine started, and the first phase of power supply began.

The walls began to vibrate, three minutes earlier than expected.

The metal panels shuddered, the screen flickered, but quickly recovered.

Lin Wei immediately pulled up the power curve and discovered that Zone C had started on its own, causing the power output to spike.

"Here it comes!" she shouted.

Amy immediately switched modes and used the backup core to draw power.

Within two seconds, the rhythm returned to normal.

The vibrations stabilized, but the ground shook gently, as if something were moving underground.

Su Wan stood up to hand out earplugs, while Su Ling turned off the unnecessary lights to save power.

The lights dimmed, leaving only the operation screens illuminated.

Star Pupil suddenly opened her eyes, her pupils constricting.

She raised her hand to her temple, and the mechanical parrot's green light flashed three times in succession.

Chen Wang noticed that her breathing had changed, rhythmic and steady, as if following some sort of beat.

"She is synchronizing," he said.

Lin Wei watched the brainwave chart; Star Pupil's alpha waves were resonating slightly with the engine frequency.

She didn't interrupt, but changed the terminal settings to begin recording data.

Forty-seven seconds.

A red alarm suddenly flashed on the main screen—the energy had cut out for 0.3 seconds.

The engine speed dropped by 22%, all the lights flashed three times, and the ground vibration stopped.

Chen Wang slammed his right hand onto the emergency button, and the backup power supply kicked in, bridging the power interruption.

At the same time, Lin Wei opened the display for the D-number connection shaft; the thermal imaging showed that the interface had shifted slightly.

"It's not connected properly." She immediately started the heating device.

Five seconds later, the interface snapped back into place, the roaring sound returned, and the green light turned on.

The alarm was cleared.

Chen Wang pulled back his hand; sweat was beading on his forehead, sliding down his eyebrow to his nose.

He didn't wipe it away, his eyes fixed on the curve.

Su Ling was still gripping the control lever, leaning forward, watching to see if the alarm light had reset.

Lin Wei knelt before the terminal, her hand still sliding across the touchpad to record the error codes.

Su Wan sat back in her chair and tapped her tablet, checking that everyone's heart rate and blood pressure had normalized.

Amy Chen leaned against the console, having already retrieved the coin, and watched the energy consumption chart with great focus.

Star Pupil lay on the auxiliary pod with her eyes slightly closed, the mechanical parrot's green light remaining steady, maintaining a low-power state.

No one in the control room moved.

The vibration returned, beat by beat, like a heartbeat.