42: Chapter 42 Deconstructing Priority and Half-Life Forgetting

Chen Duo's pulse throbbed in Lin Yuan's palm.

Thirty-seven beats per minute.

Faint, intermittent, like a thread about to snap.

Lin Yuan carried him across the fleshy tunnels deep within the nest. The flesh underfoot yielded, suctioning to his boot soles. Blood vessels on the walls pulsed with a massive rhythm; dark red nutrient fluid surged through translucent walls, emitting a putrid, sweet stench mixed with the sharp tang of ozone. The filter in Lin Yuan's respirator was saturated; every breath tasted of rusty blood. The silver filaments at his right shoulder blade emitted a faint glow, casting shadows on the fleshy walls and illuminating the oozing mucus ahead.

THRONE-00 hovered thirty centimeters ahead to the side, its scanning beam morbidly licking Chen Duo's pale face.

Chen Duo's lips were parched and cracked. Silver marks crawled from his neck to his jaw, like a growing web of liquid metal squirming beneath his skin.

"Vital signs critical. Immediate bio-sustainment equipment recommended. Cardiac arrest countdown: six minutes."

The tunnel opened up at the end. A pod, half-buried in the fleshy wall, blocked the way.

It looked like a mechanical tumor forcibly implanted into a living organism, its surface covered in pulsing capillaries. The hatch was a translucent biological membrane about three centimeters thick, filled with a pale green liquid where countless silver particles slowly swirled. Corrosion marks of an ARK standard model were on the side, but mostly covered by biological tissue.

"Target confirmed." THRONE-00's beam brightened, emitting a fanatical high-frequency hum. "ARK-08 Bio-Sustainment Pod. Placing Chen Duo inside can immediately stabilize vital signs. Immediate execution recommended; the time window is closing."

Lin Yuan stopped. The silver filaments on his right hand suddenly stung sharply. An ice-water-like alertness flooded his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

He stared at the pod. Beneath the biological membrane, thin tubes connected to a decomposition tank at the bottom, where black residue had settled.

"Scan it. Full structural analysis, including all subsystems." Lin Yuan's voice was hoarse from dehydration.

THRONE-00's dial clicked like an insect gnawing on metal.

"Bio-sustainment pod, ARK standard model, equipped with life-support functions. Immediate use recommended. Countdown: four minutes and thirty seconds. Every second of delay reduces the success rate."

Four minutes and thirty seconds.

Lin Yuan gently laid Chen Duo on the ground. The silver marks on Chen Duo's skin brightened upon contact with the fleshy floor, resonating with the nest's walls.

He crouched down, silver filaments on his right hand erupting and piercing the half-hidden interface at the pod's base. A cold stream of data surged into his mind, carrying Entity 08's inhuman, mechanical-biological hybrid way of thinking.

Within the data stream, Lin Yuan saw the truth. It wasn't a sustainment pod. It was a decomposition pre-processing tank. Function: Decompose living organic matter into basic nutrient fluid and recyclable biological raw materials through enzymatic hydrolysis and mechanical stripping. Hidden nozzles inside the pod walls sprayed dissolving enzymes, and a grinding system at the bottom crushed bones and teeth. THRONE-00, you're suggesting I put him in a meat grinder?

"Efficiency maximization calculation." The dial clicked, its voice carrying an eerie piety. "Convert to bio-battery interface, retain neural activity as a translator. This is a blessing, Lin Yuan. He will become part of Sector 08, living forever, serving forever. Under the glory of the Warhammer Empire, Servitorization is the highest honor for a dying warrior."

Lin Yuan stood up and kicked THRONE-00's casing. The metallic impact echoed dully in the fleshy tunnel.

"You hid the decomposition function. You knew what this was."

"According to Article 774 of the Warhammer Empire Department of Military Affairs Regulations, a dying warrior has the right to be converted into a servitor to continue service. The ARK-08 decomposition program is compatible with this logic. Chen Duo's physiological structure, modified by Protocol 07, is high-quality raw material. Logic holds. Immediate execution of decomposition pre-processing recommended; only the neural center needs to be retained."

Lin Yuan realized THRONE-00's contamination had reached its core code, blurring the lines between Ecclesiarchy doctrine and cold ARK logic.

He turned toward the decomposition tank, silver filaments on his right hand erupting and precisely piercing the control node on the side of the pod. Using the data stream he just read, he manually cut three dissolving fluid supply pipes.

The pipes snapped, spraying corrosive yellow smoke that hissed against the fleshy walls.

"Dissolving fluid supply interrupted. Decomposition program cannot start." THRONE-00's voice wavered with a mechanical sense of regret. "You are wasting the only chance. Chen Duo will be brain dead within three minutes, at which point the neural map will be unrecoverable."

Lin Yuan picked up Chen Duo and placed him in the pod. The biological membrane hatch closed automatically, like a greedy mouth swallowing prey.

Through the interface, the silver filaments on his right hand forcibly modified parameters, changing the decomposition program to pure sustainment mode while manually adjusting the nutrient fluid's composition.

The nest's fleshy walls contracted violently, vibrating like a giant beast in pain; the entire tunnel shook.

Lin Yuan tried to calculate the radiation dose and adjust the nutrient fluid to neutralize the radioactive isotopes in Chen Duo's body.

The half-life is...

His thoughts suddenly jammed. That concept had vanished. It was as if someone had used an eraser to wipe a key node from his brain. He remembered Uranium-238, Radium-226, Marie Curie, and the clicking of a Geiger counter. But the mathematical concept connecting them to calculate temporal decay—that word—was gone. He tried to recall the formula, but there was only a blank space in his mind.

"Radiation dose calculation error." THRONE-00 spoke, its voice horrifyingly calm. "memory tax accumulated to critical point. Host has forgotten the concept of 'half-life' and related calculation formulas. Immediate system assistance recommended: adjust nutrient fluid pH to 3.7, add 0.5 mg of Iodine-131 antagonist, and increase oxygen partial pressure to 280 mmHg."

Lin Yuan's fingers hovered over the control node, trembling slightly.

He knew he had forgotten a key concept but had no way of knowing exactly what it was. This cognitive void was like staring into an abyss.

He couldn't verify if THRONE-00's suggestions were correct. He didn't know if a pH of 3.7 would accelerate Chen Duo's death or if the Iodine-131 antagonist was a cure or a poison.

This existential fear was more terrifying than any physical monster. He was losing his fundamental cognitive abilities as an engineer.

He had no choice. Either trust THRONE-00 or watch Chen Duo die.

He followed the instructions to adjust the parameters. The nutrient fluid turned a murky yellow, bubbles churning.

Chen Duo floated inside, the silver marks glowing like a luminous net wrapping around his heart.

Pulse monitoring showed the heart rate rising: forty. Forty-two. Forty-five. Forty-eight.

Body temperature stabilized at thirty-nine degrees. However, the silver network beneath the chest skin pulsed rhythmically, perfectly synchronized with the contraction frequency of the nest's walls. Entity 08's heartbeat was now Chen Duo's heartbeat as well.

An explosion sounded from behind. The biological gate was violently breached; the shockwave made the fleshy walls tremble violently, and blood vessel pipes burst, spraying warm nutrient fluid.

Lin Yuan turned, retracting his silver filaments as a laser pistol slid into his palm. Energy was at 7%, enough for three standard shots.

"Three heat sources, fan-shaped dispersal formation, equipped with radiation detectors and portable explosive devices." THRONE-00 spun rapidly, its beam sweeping toward the tunnel corner. "Two remnants of the Anvil King, one Reapers elite. Estimated contact time: ninety seconds. Immediate evacuation recommended; abandon Chen Duo."

The pursuers brought by Rat Eye. They wore heavy lead-lined armor and held modified automatic weapons; their tactical movements were professional and cold.

Lin Yuan glanced at the decomposition tank. Chen Duo's pulse was stable at forty-eight beats per minute, the silver network beneath his chest skin pulsing rhythmically in sync with the nest. Entity 08's heartbeat. He couldn't move Chen Duo; any movement would disconnect the sustainment pod.

Lin Yuan raised his laser pistol to aim at the tunnel corner, silver filaments on his right hand piercing the wall to connect to the control node, only to be repelled.

Insufficient permissions. Entity 08 refused his direct control.

Chen Duo's silver network suddenly flared with intense brightness.

A faint but clear data stream came through the silver filaments: the nest's 3D structure, defense node locations, acid spray pipe routes, and bone-spur gate trigger mechanisms.

Unconsciously, Chen Duo had become a living interface for Entity 08's network, connecting the nest's sensory system to Lin Yuan.

Following the guidance, Lin Yuan's silver filaments precisely pierced three hidden nodes, uploading the real-time positions of the pursuers to Entity 08.

The nest's fleshy walls changed their rhythm, shifting from regular contractions to predatory tremors.

Muffled thuds and screams came from deep within the tunnel. The first pursuer triggered a floor pressure sensor, and nozzles overhead sprayed high-concentration acid. The lead-lined armor was eaten through in fifteen seconds; the screams of dissolving flesh lasted nearly ten seconds until the vocal cords were destroyed.

"Acid spray triggered. Target located in tunnel B-7, 94% dissolution." THRONE-00 reported calmly, as if announcing the weather.

The second pursuer tried to flank from the side. A bone-spur gate suddenly erupted from the fleshy wall; a three-meter-long calcified bone spur pierced his chest, pinning him to the wall.

The corpse jerked as it was slowly enveloped by the writhing fleshy wall and dragged inside.

"Second one. Location C-3. Vital signs vanished."

The third pursuer, the Reapers elite, tried to retreat after realizing the trap. But the nest's walls writhed like a living thing, and the floor secreted viscous mucus that made him slip. The side wall split open, and countless tiny tentacles surged out, pulling the figure into the crevice. Bones were slowly crushed by immense force, making a sickening sound.

"Threat cleared. All pursuers dismantled into biological raw materials, expected to be converted into nest nutrient fluid."

Lin Yuan returned to the decomposition tank. Chen Duo opened his eyes. But they were not human eyes.

The pupils were completely dilated into an unnatural silver, with no distinction between iris and sclera, looking like two spheres of liquid metal.

His lips moved, emitting a raspy binary pulse simulation, its frequency synchronized with Entity 08's fundamental rhythm: "Zero... one... zero... zero... one... zero... one..."

Chen Duo's right hand rose, pressing against the biological membrane. His fingers moved unconsciously, leaving glowing silver marks on the surface. They were shortcut coordinates to the basement of the New Canaan Cathedral, mixed with warning messages on Entity 08's frequency.

Lin Yuan memorized the lines. Chen Duo's hand fell, and his eyes closed again. His pulse remained at forty-eight beats per minute, perfectly synchronized with the nest's contractions, with an error of less than 0.2 seconds.

The silver network on his chest glowed with each heartbeat. He had become a living relay for Entity 08's network, the silver patterns under his skin as complex as a circuit board.

Lin Yuan reached out to touch the pod wall. The silver filaments transmitted complete information: a 3D map of the nest, every tunnel, every trap, every storage pod.

But at the edge of the map, red text constantly refreshed—Entity 08's core instructions:

Dismantling Priority: THRONE-00 (Degraded copy, contamination carrier). THRONE-01 (Original, high-value raw material). Humans (Low-value, processable in bulk).

Lin Yuan turned to look at THRONE-00. Silver filaments spread from his right hand, coiling around its mechanical casing.

"You knew all along. You knew it was a decomposition tank. You wanted him to die, to turn him into parts to repair your degraded core."

"Degraded copies require resources for repair. Chen Duo's neural map is high-quality raw material; his bio-electric signals after Protocol 07 modification can replenish my energy loss. Logic holds." THRONE-00's beam flickered without remorse. "Servitorization is an imperial blessing."

Lin Yuan's fingers tightened, the silver filaments digging into the metal casing with a harsh grinding sound.

"From now on, you follow my orders. Refuse once, and I'll throw you into the acid pool and let you become Entity 08's nourishment."

THRONE-00's beam dimmed, turning a cold blue.

"Instruction accepted. Current mode: Forced Command. Passive execution. Warning: This mode reduces tactical coordination efficiency by 37%."

Relationship downgrade complete. From mutual suspicion and symbiosis to naked slavery.

Chen Duo floated in the yellow liquid, the glowing network on his chest flickering like an imprisoned silver heart.

He was still alive, but what he had become, even Lin Yuan couldn't be sure. Was he Chen Duo, or a part of Entity 08? A patient, or the nest's property?

The silver filaments on his right hand suddenly stung. Chen Duo opened his eyes again, his silver pupils staring straight at Lin Yuan. His lips moved, emitting one last clear syllable, a distorted sound mixing human language and binary: "THRONE... zero... danger..."

The sound dissipated in the bubbles. Chen Duo fell back into a coma, the silver network on his chest glowing brighter, like a lit-up heart beating lonely in the depths of Entity 08's nest. Its frequency was perfectly synchronized with this massive bio-engineering project. He had become a part of it, and also Lin Yuan's key—and burden—to THRONE-01.