63: Chapter 63 The Alienation on the Way Home

As the kuafu-3 left Europa orbit, Sarah stood at the viewing window, gazing at the gradually shrinking ice-covered satellite.

The light patterns on her face were particularly distinct in the dim cabin lighting, like flowing liquid metal, rising and falling slightly with her breathing.

Max stood a few steps behind her, wanting to approach, but feeling an invisible barrier.

"What are you thinking about?" he finally asked.

Sarah did not answer immediately. Three seconds later—exactly three seconds, as Max confirmed via his timer—she said: "Calculating the melting rate of Europa's ice sheet. If we move the node to an orbit closer to Jupiter, tidal forces will heat the subsurface ocean, potentially creating an environment suitable for surface life within a thousand years."

Her voice was calm and clear, as if stating experimental data. There was no excitement, no visions of the distant future, only cold calculation.

"Sarah," Max said softly, "we need to talk about you."

"My status is stable." She turned around, those starry eyes looking at him. "Neural integration is at 87%, the builders consciousness fusion is at 52%, and the human personality core retention rate is 41%. All indicators are within the predicted range."

"I'm not asking about indicators!" Max's voice suddenly rose. "I'm asking about you, Sarah Chen, the girl who would frown at breakfast because the eggs were overcooked—is she still there?"

A tiny change appeared on Sarah's expression—her brows furrowed slightly, and the corners of her mouth curved downward by 0.3 degrees, an expression of confusion. But she herself seemed unaware of this expression.

"That memory module still exists," she said. "Number EM-0472, storage capacity 37TB, containing all shared memories with you. Do you need me to retrieve it?"

Max felt his heart tighten. He shook his head and turned away from the viewing window. In the corridor, he met Lin Shen.

"She..." Max couldn't finish the sentence.

"She is changing." Lin Shen nodded. "Every hour she is becoming more like the builders and less like a human. Nuwa has monitored that activity in the brain regions processing emotional information is continuously declining, while the abstract thinking regions are growing exponentially."

"Can we stop it?"

"The only way is to completely remove the Builders Imprint, but that would cause her to lose control of the complete key. Furthermore, the surgical risk is extremely high, with a success rate of less than 5%."

The two walked silently toward the control cabin. The spaceship was returning to Earth at full speed; the spacetime folding thrusters were activated every twelve hours, each time shortening the travel time by eight hours. At the current speed, they would reach Earth orbit in twenty-one days—ten days ahead of the original plan.

But the Avenger Node would not wait for them. According to the latest data from Earth, the ordered zone had expanded to a diameter of three hundred kilometers, covering the entire Mariana Trench region. Even more disturbing, the first batch of "converted individuals" had appeared within the zone: thirty-seven fishermen, after working within the ordered zone, had their behaviors become highly regularized, speaking only in mathematical terms, with emotional reactions reduced to almost zero.

"It is creating its ideal subjects," Academician Li Weimin said in a heavy voice over the communication channel. "If we don't stop it as soon as possible, this 'conversion' will spread like a virus."

In the control cabin, Sarah was already there. She was marking something on the 3D star map, her fingers tracing light trails in the air.

"The position of the Gardener Fleet." She pointed at seven red dots. "They are assembling at 0.3 light-years from the Solar System. Based on trajectory analysis, they will arrive at Earth orbit in fifteen days. The purpose is unknown, but there is a high probability they are here to monitor or intervene in the reset process."

"Aren't they obeying orders?" Max asked.

"There are disagreements within the Gardener Civilization." Sarah pulled up data obtained from Probe B. "Only the control unit of Probe B is obeying the order. The entire Gardener Civilization consists of hundreds of such units, each with independent decision-making authority. Currently, 37% of the units support obeying the successor, 42% oppose, and 21% have not stated their position."

Lin Shen frowned: "So even if you possess the complete key, they might not necessarily cooperate fully."

"Correct." Sarah nodded. "Therefore, we need to complete the reset within the Solar System before they arrive. Primary target: Avenger Node. Secondary targets: the lunar south pole ruins and other known fragments of the Sower System."

As she spoke, the brightness of the light patterns on her face increased slightly, as if emphasizing the main points. But Max noticed that her fingers were trembling unconsciously—very slightly, almost invisible, but they were definitely shaking. Is this a sign of the body and consciousness being out of sync? Or is it a residual human neural reaction?

"Sarah," Lin Shen said, "before we begin the operation, we need to know what final words you received from the builders. What did you see in the seventh-layer test?"

Sarah's movements paused. This was the first time since the return journey that she had shown obvious hesitation. Five seconds later, she said: "I need to show, not tell. Please connect to the neural sharing system."

The three connected to the low-bandwidth neural sharing—enough to transmit images and concepts, but without deep consciousness fusion. Sarah began to transmit her experiences from the seventh-layer test.

At first, there was darkness. Then, a voice rang out—not a single voice, but a chorus of countless "the builders" consciousnesses:

[Future successor, if you hear this message, it means we no longer exist. We chose to transform, dispersing ourselves into the Sower System, hoping that the spark of wisdom could continue in the universe. But we left this final message because, before our transformation, we discovered a terrifying fact: the accelerated expansion of the universe is not a natural phenomenon.]

Images emerged: a macro-structural map of the universe, with galaxies dispersed like bubbles. But looking closely, one would find that all galaxies were being "pushed" apart by some invisible force.

[We call it 'the silencers'. It is not a civilization, nor is it life, but a form of existence on a cosmic scale—perhaps an entity of a higher dimension, or perhaps an expression of the laws of physics themselves that we cannot understand. What is its purpose? We do not know. But it is indeed accelerating the dispersion of the universe, which will eventually cause all matter to separate until it cannot interact, and wisdom will perish due to loneliness.]

The scene switched, showing the research of "the builders": they tried to communicate with "the silencers", but all messages fell into a void; they tried to resist the expansion, but the energy requirements exceeded the sum of their entire civilization; they even tried to ascend dimensions to escape, but found that the influence of "the silencers" covered all known dimensions.

[Our final conclusion is: the only hope to resist the silencers is to unite all intelligent civilizations, concentrate the resources and wisdom of the entire universe, and find a way to reverse the expansion or escape to other universes. This is the ultimate purpose of the Sower System—not to cultivate a single civilization, but to create a network of civilizations capable of uniting before the silencers complete their work.]

The images ended. Sarah disconnected from the neural sharing. For the first time, an expression clearly identifiable as "sadness" appeared on her face—but it only lasted for two seconds before being replaced by calm analysis.

"So the Gardener's 'archiving' and the Avenger's 'purification'," Lin Shen digested the information, "are both twisted versions of this grand goal. They both want to 'preserve civilization', but they used the wrong methods."

"Yes," Sarah said. "the builders hoped for the coexistence of diverse civilizations, facing threats together. The Gardeners and the Avengers, however, wanted homogenization and standardization, believing that to be more efficient. But they were wrong—homogenization weakens creativity, and creativity may be the key to resisting the silencers."

Max grasped the point: "So if we reset the Sower System, not only can we solve the immediate crisis, but we might also restore the builders' original plan: a truly cooperative network of civilizations?"

"Theoretically, yes." Sarah pulled up the working principle of the key. "The complete key allows the successor to reprogram the entire Sower System. I can set new instructions: stop all mandatory interventions and switch to invitation-based cooperation. But the problem is..."

She paused, the flickering frequency of her light patterns speeding up.

"The problem is, to initiate the reset, I need to fully merge with the system core—that is, the imprint within my own body. At that moment, I will become a temporary system administrator. After the reset is complete, I can choose to separate, but according to the builders' records, no administrator has ever successfully separated without causing severe consciousness damage."

"To what extent is the damage?" Max asked.

Sarah looked at him, and for the first time, an emotion similar to "apology" appeared in her starry eyes: "Best case: I lose all the builders' knowledge and abilities gained during the fusion, revert to an ordinary human, but retain basic memories. Worst case: My consciousness cannot withstand the separation process, leading to personality disintegration, and I become a vegetable. Intermediate case: I retain some abilities, but my human emotional modules are permanently damaged, just like... just like I am now, but worse."

The control cabin was silent. There was only the low-frequency hum of the spaceship's engines.

"We cannot let you take this risk," Max said.

"But if we don't take the risk, Earth might be 'purged' by the Avenger Node, or 'archived' by the Gardener. Looking further ahead, the silencers threaten all civilizations."

Sarah's voice remained calm, "Calculated by mathematical expectation, sacrificing one consciousness to trade for the survival of the civilization network and the possibility of future resistance against cosmic-level threats is a positive gain."

"You are not a consciousness!" Max roared, "You are Sarah! You are the person I love!"

Sarah's expression flickered briefly again. She raised her hand, seemingly wanting to touch Max, but her hand stopped in mid-air.

"That Sarah who loves you," she said softly, "a part of her is still here. But another part has already seen the bigger picture. If she were here, she would make the same choice."

Lin Shen interjected, "Is it possible... for someone else to perform the reset? Like me, I have the technology tree system, maybe I could be compatible—"

"No." Sarah shook her head, "The key is already bound to my consciousness. This is part of the test: the successor must be willing to sacrifice themselves for the mission. This is the final moral test set by the builders."

She turned to the star map, where the blue dot of Earth was flickering ahead.

"We arrive in twenty-one days. Before that, I need to complete all preparations for the reset. Nuwa, start simulating the impact of the reset process on Earth's biosphere."

"Simulating..." A few seconds later, "Warning: The reset pulse will impact all organisms carrying the sower technology imprint. Approximately 0.3% of humans carry trace imprints due to the pandora virus or subsequent technology exposure. The reset may cause them temporary consciousness confusion, but it will not be fatal."

"What about the Avenger Node?"

"The node will resist. It may initiate the final 'purge' protocol before the reset pulse arrives: triggering global super-earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. According to the simulation, if it erupts at full power, surface civilization will suffer a devastating blow."

Therefore, it must be suppressed before the node erupts. But how do you suppress a defense node of a Level 1.5 civilization?

Sarah pulled up the builders' database again, searching for the keyword: "node forced hibernation protocol." The result was found, but it required a rare substance: anti-graviton crystal—the antimatter version of graviton crystal.

"There are trace deposits in the sub-glacial ocean of the Europa Node," Sarah calculated quickly, "but extraction and purification would take at least thirty days. We don't have that much time."

"Is there an alternative?" Lin Shen asked.

Sarah closed her eyes, the brightness of the light patterns on her body reaching its peak. She was using the imprint to search for a solution directly. A minute later, she opened her eyes:

"Yes. I can try direct consciousness suppression—using my successor authority to forcibly override the Avenger Node's commands. But this requires me to enter the node completely and interface with its consciousness. The risk is high: if the node is more powerful than I am, it could turn the tables, corrupt me, and seize my key."

"That is absolutely out of the question!" Max objected.

"But this is the only method that can be completed within the time window." Sarah had already begun formulating a detailed plan, "After arriving at Earth, I will head directly to the Mariana Trench. Lin Shen, you are responsible for coordinating global defense on the ground, preparing to deal with the node's potential eruption. Max, you stay in orbit, monitoring the movements of the Gardener Fleet. If they arrive before the reset is complete, I need you to stall for time."

"How do I stall an entire fleet?" Max asked.

Sarah pulled up a design blueprint: "Use this. The 'bluff' protocol from the builders' legacy—it generates a false high-energy signal, simulating the defense system of a Level 2.0 civilization. The Gardener are cautious; they will pause to analyze first, which should buy us a few hours."

The plan was cold and efficient, with probabilities and backup options calculated for every step. But Max could not hear any discussion about "what if Sarah fails."

"What if you fail inside the node?" he asked.

Sarah looked at him, light patterns flowing across her face like tears, but dry and unfeeling.

"Then, Lin Shen will initiate the final contingency plan of the kindling plan. Taking the backups of human consciousness, we will leave the Solar System. That is our last resort."

After she finished speaking, she turned and left the control cabin, heading to the laboratory to continue preparations.

Max stood where he was, watching her back. Lin Shen patted his shoulder: "She is still fighting, in her own way."

"But she is killing herself in the process of fighting," Max said in a low voice.

The spaceship continued its voyage. In the days that followed, Sarah almost never left the laboratory. She was preparing all the technical devices needed for the consciousness interface, and also making final adjustments to herself—optimizing neural connections, strengthening her consciousness firewall, and preparing for a possible personality backup.

Occasionally, Max would find her standing in front of the observation window late at night, looking in the direction of Earth. Once, he heard her whispering to herself in a language he had never heard before—perhaps the language of the builders. When he approached, she stopped immediately, returning to that unsettling calm.

On the eighteenth day of the voyage, Earth was visible to the naked eye. Sarah convened the final preparation meeting.

She displayed two devices: one was the consciousness interface helmet used to connect her to the Avenger Node; the other was a personality backup unit, which would back up her current state before the interface began.

"The backup is not the complete me," she explained, "just a snapshot of my memories and personality patterns. If I lose myself during the interface, this backup can... be used to reconstruct a similar existence. But it will not be the exact same Sarah."

As she spoke, she did not look at Max.

"The interface will take place within six hours of arrival. Lin Shen, has the authorization from the Global Council been obtained?"

Lin Shen nodded: "They approved it, but they require a live broadcast throughout. If... if you lose control, they have the right to remotely terminate the interface."

"Reasonable," Sarah said, "Now, I need four hours of preparation time alone. I will come to find you before the interface."

After she left, Max looked at the backup unit. It was a silver sphere with a smooth surface and a faint light flowing inside.

"If she fails," Max said to Lin Shen, "will you use this?"

Lin Shen was silent for a long time: "I don't know. The reconstructed her, is it still her? Or is it just a copy?"

No one could answer.

Four hours later, Sarah did not appear. Nuwa reported that she was in the laboratory, her vital signs were normal, but her neural activity was abnormally complex. Max couldn't help but go to find her.

In the laboratory, Sarah was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a dozen floating holographic interfaces. But she wasn't working; she was just looking at her hands. The light patterns on her face were brighter than ever, almost obscuring her original features.

"Sarah?" Max called out softly.

She looked up, her star-like eyes turning toward him. In that moment, Max saw something familiar—not entirely Sarah, but not entirely the builders either. It was a hybrid, struggling between the two.

"I'm scared," she said suddenly, her voice very small, like a child's whisper, "The imprint lets me understand the evolutionary significance of fear, but it cannot eliminate fear. I know I should sacrifice for the greater good, but I... I don't want to disappear."

Max knelt in front of her, holding her hand. Her hand was cold, but it was still trembling.

"Then we'll find another way," he said, "There must be another way."

Sarah shook her head: "Probability calculations show that the success rate of other schemes is lower than 10%. But my plan has a 47% success rate, of which 32% I can survive and retain part of my self. This is the optimal solution."

"Screw the optimal solution!" Max hugged her tightly, "You are a human, not an algorithm! We can gamble on that 10%!"

Sarah was quiet in his arms for a few seconds. Then, she said softly: "At the end of the seventh-layer test, the builders asked me: 'Are you willing to give up your own existence for the sake of latecomers who may never know you existed?' My answer was: 'I am willing, but if possible, I hope someone remembers me.'"

She looked up, the light patterns dimming slightly, revealing her original brown eyes—it was only for a moment, but it was real.

"So you must live to remember me," she said, "No matter what happens, you must live, and tell the latecomers that there was once a girl named Sarah, she loved, she was afraid, but she chose responsibility."

Max couldn't speak, he could only hold her tightly.

Just then, an alarm sounded. Nuwa's voice came through: "Detected a sharp rise in energy from the Avenger Node! It is preparing to erupt early! Estimated eruption time: twelve hours later!"

Sarah pushed Max away and stood up. The light patterns on her face brightened again, and her expression returned to calm.

"The plan is moved forward. In one hour, I will depart for the Mariana."

She walked to the door, paused at the door, without looking back:

"Max, Lin Shen, thank you both. For everything."

The door slid open, and then closed. Leaving Max standing alone in the laboratory, facing the floating holographic interfaces and the silver backup unit.

Outside the window, Earth was already very large, blue and white, beautiful and fragile.

One hour later, a small submersible launched from the spaceship, plunged into the atmosphere, and headed straight for the Pacific Ocean.

And in Earth's orbit, the vanguard probes of the Gardener Fleet had already arrived at the asteroid belt.

The countdown began: twelve hours.