90: Chapter 89 Whispers of the Frozen Ground
Siberia, the permafrost wasteland, minus forty-two degrees.
The exploration outpost codenamed "Silent Pillar" was established on the tundra, like a black rivet driven into the white earth.
Three hundred meters beneath the outpost, the non-intrusive psionic scanning array had been deployed, targeting what was mythologically known as the origin of the "Frozen Giant's Bloodline"—the Siberian anchor, codenamed "ice abyss".
Inside the "Cradle"s "Resonance Chamber", the second "Gaia's Eye" connection was ready.
Target: "ice abyss".
Sarah's condition was more stable than last time, and her fusion with the "heart crystal" was deeper.
Max was permitted to stay by her side; his very presence was a steady stream of emotional warmth.
"Connection commencing. Intensity: 0.005% of the benchmark, further reduced."
Sarah's conscious instructions were clear.
The mythological imagery of the Siberian anchor was full of metaphors of "slumber," "sealing," and "ancient bloodlines," requiring more caution than when probing the "iron lotus".
A faint harmonic traversed the Earth-Moon distance, arriving deep within the Siberian permafrost.
The feedback was vastly different.
If the "iron lotus" was a heavy, solid "structural presentation," then what came from the "ice abyss" was a vast, cold sea of consciousness, seemingly composed of countless subtle "whispers" and "memory fragments."
There were no clear geometric construction images, only endless, shattered "information snowflakes":
The heavy footsteps of some colossal creature trekking across the ice sheet, mixed with the roar of glaciers cracking...
The chants of rituals, ancient syllables uttered with guttural sounds, echoing under the aurora...
Beneath the ice, a massive, slow heartbeat, with a pulsation cycle measured in centuries...
Desperate cries, swallowed by the blizzard...
And... an extremely sharp, unnatural "humming," like metal cracking under extreme cold, or perhaps the wail of some mechanical construct forced to operate at ultra-low temperatures...
These fragmented perceptions were not arranged in an orderly fashion but were mixed, superimposed, and interfering with each other, forming a "conscious noise field" full of contradiction and pain.
"It is... in pain?" Sarah's voice carried astonishment and empathy. "Not entirely pain; it's more like... countless frozen 'memories' and 'dying consciousnesses,' sealed here for some reason, forming the 'core' of this anchor? This is not a functional structure like the 'iron lotus'!"
Elena quickly analyzed the harmonic characteristics: "Detected a strong 'conscious reverberation' spectrum, with an intensity far exceeding what is naturally possible. And... the encoding method of these 'whispers'... has a faint similarity to the underlying encoding parts in Dr. Sarah's consciousness fragments that belong to the 'sower candidate protocol'! They are recording 'consciousness' itself in some primitive, twisted way!"
This discovery was shocking! The Siberian "ice abyss" anchor might be a psionic "consciousness archive" or "gene bank"! It did not seal geological data or stability functions, but rather "life imprints" or "civilization memory fragments" in some sense!
"Is this a facility used by the builders to preserve 'biological samples' or 'sparks of civilization'?" Lin Shen immediately associated this with the "civilization backup" concept mentioned in the s-07 protocol.
"Perhaps worse." The voice of Gardener Representative Qi patched in, with unprecedented seriousness. "In our ancient forbidden records, there was a mention of a controversial technology from the late period of the builders' civilization—'psionic extraction and consciousness sealing.' They attempted to extract the 'essence of consciousness' or 'civilization's collective subconscious' of intelligent life and seal it in specific structures as research material or... a form of 'immortality reserve.' This technology was opposed by some members due to its extremely high ethical risks. The Siberian anchor may be a remnant of such a facility."
If this were true, what was sealed beneath this anchor might be the collective consciousness remains of one or even multiple "extracted" prehistoric intelligent races or civilizations! They had been forcibly frozen and preserved, experiencing unimaginable time in the permafrost and special fields, and their "whispers" were full of chaos, pain, and unwillingness.
"What about those sharp 'hummings'?" Max suddenly asked, his intuition as a former astronaut allowing him to catch the dissonance.
Sarah concentrated her perception, trying to isolate that unnatural "humming" from the field of conscious noise.
Gradually, she "heard" more clearly—it was not just mechanical wailing, but more like... a rhythmic system operating sound, attempting to maintain a certain "seal" or "suppression" state.
This sound formed a confrontation with those chaotic "conscious whispers."
"There are two systems inside the anchor!" Sarah realized. "One is the 'archive' core that seals the 'conscious reverberations,' and the other is the 'Cryo-Lock' system that suppresses the activity of these reverberations and prevents them from leaking or 'contaminating'! That 'humming' is the operating noise of the 'Cryo-Lock' struggling after countless years, due to energy decay or changes in the external environment!"
The "Cryo-Lock" was weakening? That was why those "whispers" had become increasingly clear and perceptible?
What would happen if the "Cryo-Lock" completely failed, and the vast and chaotic conscious reverberations sealed within leaked out? Reanimation? Or would it trigger an unpredictable psionic disaster?
"Immediately assess the current integrity and predicted failure time of the 'Cryo-Lock'!" Lin Shen ordered urgently.
Sarah and Nuwa collaboratively analyzed the perceptual data.
The results showed that the energy level of the "Cryo-Lock" system was extremely low, with only an estimated 19% integrity remaining, and it was still slowly decaying.
Based on the decay rate, if there was no external energy supplementation or intervention, it was expected to fail completely in about 7 years and 4 months.
Seven years! This time point was subtly close to the expected arrival time of the main fleet of the "Pruning Faction," and even to the long-term threat of the "Reapers"!
"This cannot be a coincidence." Academician Chen Qiming's voice came from Earth. "the builders set up these anchors, including the 'Cryo-Lock' inside them, and must have considered some kind of synchronization or progressive relationship on a time scale. The 'lock' of the Siberian anchor failing in seven years, the 'peak' of the East Sea Node in 117 days, the million-year cycle of the Tibetan 'iron lotus'... behind these time points, there may correspond to different 'civilization development stage assessments' or 'legacy unlocking nodes' set by the builders!"
This speculation made everyone's spine chill.
Had the development of human civilization been carefully designed by a long-extinct civilization using a clock spanning millions of years?
"The current priority is to prevent the 'Cryo-Lock' of the 'ice abyss' from failing within seven years." Lin Shen quickly clarified the focus. "Can we reinforce it by injecting specific energy or harmonics from the outside?"
"Theoretically feasible, but the risks are huge." Gardener Representative Cheng warned. "We do not understand the specific protocols and energy interfaces of the 'Cryo-Lock.' Incorrect intervention could lead to accelerated locking, or... accidentally 'awakening' some of the sealed conscious reverberations. The latter could lead to regional consciousness contamination, or even attract 'Scavenger' entities that feed on consciousness."
It was another dilemma: stand idly by and potentially face an out-of-control "lake of conscious ghosts" in seven years; risk intervention and potentially trigger a catastrophe immediately.
"We need more information." Lin Shen pondered. "Sarah, can you filter out relatively stable fragments from those 'conscious whispers'—fragments that might contain maintenance information about the 'Cryo-Lock' or the history of the anchor itself—without touching the core protocols of the 'Cryo-Lock'?"
Sarah tried to make her perception more precise, like catching specific snowflakes in a blizzard.
She avoided the strong signals full of pain and chaos, looking for those calm, repetitive, and "record-like" faint fluctuations.
After a long time, she captured several relatively coherent "whispers":
"...watcher Pillar... Number Seven... Storage complete... Sample label: 'Child of Frost'... Civilization stage: Late planetary tribe... Cause of extinction: Uncontrolled acceleration of global glacial period... Consciousness extraction integrity: 37%..."
"...Energy setting: Geothermal gradient extraction... Maintenance time limit: ... (Data corrupted) ... main sequence star cycles..."
"...Associated protocol: After the overall activation of the 'Gaia Cradle'... 'Sample re-incubation' program can be started... Prerequisite: Inheritor authority and... ecological niche vacancy..."
The information fragments confirmed the "archive" guess and revealed more details: the "Child of Frost" civilization was destroyed by a climate disaster; the anchor's energy came from geothermal heat; most importantly, it mentioned the possibility of "Gaia Cradle overall activation" and "sample re-incubation"—this meant the seven anchors might ultimately point to a larger ultimate protocol involving "civilization revival"!
But the prerequisite of "ecological niche vacancy" was terrifying to think about—did "re-incubation" require first "clearing out" the existing intelligent civilization (humanity) on Earth?
"The information is too fragmented to form a complete picture." Sarah exited deep perception, exhausted. "But it is certain that the 'Cryo-Lock' is tied to geothermal energy. Perhaps we can increase the geothermal energy extraction efficiency in that area through non-intrusive means to indirectly supplement energy for the 'Cryo-Lock' and delay its exhaustion. This is much safer than direct protocol intervention."
A pragmatic and relatively safe plan.
"Approved. Dr. Zhou, Professor Chu, please collaborate with the geological and energy departments to assess the feasibility and environmental impact of geothermal efficiency enhancement projects in the Siberian anchor area. Remember, absolutely avoid physical drilling and direct energy injection; only perform gentle enhancement at the field effect level." Lin Shen issued the order.
The second connection of "Gaia's Eye" ended, bringing not answers to the problems, but deeper secrets and a more urgent time bomb.
The earth beneath humanity's feet not only buried defense networks and monitoring stations, but also ancient souls that had been "collected."
And the key to opening these "collection cabinets" might be in humanity's own hands—as the "Inheritor."
On the same day, in Earth's orbit, the "Scavenger-4" satellite captured an extremely short, extremely faint anomalous gravitational wave signal while continuously scanning the area where the "unknown jumper" appeared.
The signal characteristics did not match any known natural phenomena or "Pruning Faction" technology, but had less than 5% similarity to the aftermath of activities of a long-lost hidden civilization called the "Shadow Walkers" in the Gardener database.
"Another shadow of an ancient member of the Galactic Council?" Minister Li Weimin looked at the report. "Or some independent, ancient hidden civilization that is also eyeing the 'sowers legacy'?"
"Possibly both." The Gardener Representative replied. "The universe is big, and history is long. Some civilizations choose to join the council, while others choose to remain hidden and go it alone. But all are interested in ancient and powerful legacies."
The unknown observer, with unknown motives and unfathomable technology, was like a second Sword of Damocles hanging overhead.
On the Moon, at the "Cradle" control center, Lin Shen integrated the findings of the Siberian "ice abyss," the new clues about the "unknown jumper," and the preliminary timetable for the normalized operation of the "Harmonic Path" into the constantly improving strategic sandbox.
On the sandbox, red lines (Pruning Faction), yellow lines (Galactic Council), and gray lines (unknown observer) were intertwined and closing in. Around the blue dots (humanity), seven flashing anchors were some steady, some pulsating, and some whispering.
Time, under multiple countdowns, seemed particularly extravagant.
"We are like archaeologists in a massive tomb buried with treasures, traps, and unsolved puzzles." Lin Shen said to Sarah (via projection) beside him. "Opening every door might bring help, or it might release a curse. But we have no way back; we can only learn the rules of the tomb owner while carefully moving forward."
Sarah's light shadow fluctuated slightly: "Perhaps the tomb owner left these not just to test us, but also for... inheritance. In the worst moments, leaving sparks, weapons, and... opportunities for choice for those who come after. It's just that this opportunity is wrapped in layers of danger."
An opportunity for choice.
Human civilization was standing at such a node of choice, set by ancient remnants, both incredibly magnificent and incredibly cruel.