Chapter 45: Dormant Outpost

The silver holographic projection flowed beneath the Greenwich rose tree, the light-form of Gardener-1 more vivid than Kane remembered. It was no longer a mere projection, but something akin to a vessel of consciousness—the true communication method of the First Root.

"You thought the Awakening Day was the end?" Gardener-1's voice carried an emotional fluctuation Kane had never heard before. "No, that was merely the sound of a key turning."

Lina's crystalline left hand suddenly unfolded uncontrollably, its forty-nine units arranging themselves into a precise hexagonal pattern in the air. "My body... it's responding to a signal!"

Not just her. The obsidian totem on Hassan's back surfaced with completely new lines; Ada's entropic energy conversion imprint flashed in sync; even the data stream on Marcus's glasses suddenly transformed into a symbol system Kane had never seen before.

"The asteroid belt..." Kane narrowed his eyes, his quantum vision piercing the atmosphere to see those marked rocks shifting shape. "They aren't natural celestial bodies."

Gardener-1's hologram expanded, revealing the internal structure of each "rock"—their cores were a kind of biological quantum reactor, their outer shells covered in material similar to the deep-sea tetrahedron. "Dormant outposts left behind by the First Root, each carrying a specific function. Some are armories, some are knowledge repositories, and others... are seed vaults."

"Seeds?" Ada seized upon the keyword sharply. "What seeds?"

The light-form did not answer directly, instead pulling up a gene sequence. Kane immediately recognized it as the double helix of human DNA, but certain segments shimmered with an unfamiliar silver glow. "When the Seventh Iteration called you 'candidates,' they only saw the surface. You are not candidates... you are the successors."

The volume of information was overwhelming; Kane felt his new abilities operating at overload. The imprint on his forehead grew hot enough to nearly burn. "Speak clearly. What is a successor? Succeeding what?"

"Time is running out." Gardener-1's image suddenly began to flicker. "The Seventh Iteration's main fleet has changed course. They are not going to Earth—their target is Mars."

The holographic display shifted, showing a massive fleet composed of thousands of warships altering its trajectory. More unsettlingly, the energy signatures of certain vessels were identical to the Burners.

"They've discovered something on Mars," Hassan muttered, his obsidian totem brightening and dimming with his breath. "Something... far more important than the Earth facilities."

Gardener-1's image grew even more unstable. "Listen, the key is not technology, but lineage. Hidden within your DNA are the genetic keys of the First Root's founder. The Seventh Iteration are not alien invaders; they are..."

The communication abruptly cut off. The silver-white flower at the top of the rose tree instantly withered, turning to scattering ash. Simultaneously, the global quantum network simultaneously received an encrypted message from the asteroid belt—a biological frequency code that only "Changers" could decipher.

"Forty-eight hours," Lina translated the data flowing through her crystal units. "It will take forty-eight hours for the outposts to fully activate. And the Seventh Iteration fleet will arrive in Martian orbit in thirty-six hours."

Marcus suddenly staggered backward, his spectacle lenses shattering with a snap. "No... this is impossible..." He trembling retrieved the data on his private terminal. "The Gardener Ring just sent out an alarm—Mentor Omega has been assassinated, and a third of the 'Changers' within the Ring have defected simultaneously!"

"The Burners." Ada's entropic imprint shifted to a dangerous dark red. "They have infiltrated deeper than we imagined. If even the Gardener Ring..."

Kane felt a chill crawl up his spine. The most terrifying enemy was not the external foe, but the rot from within. If an ancient organization like the Gardener Ring could be infiltrated, how many Burner agents were lurking among the "Changers" on Earth?

"Split into teams," he decided swiftly. "Lina and I will go to the deep-sea tetrahedron to see if we can restore contact with Gardener-1; Hassan and Ada will check the global rose nodes to ensure there is no Burner interference; Marcus and Erika will contact reliable Gardener members to assess the losses."

The team dispersed quickly. When Kane and Lina teleported to the Mariana Trench, the sight before them tightened their hearts—the shell of the deep-sea tetrahedron had three massive fissures, blue-gold energy oozing from them like blood, forming eerie glowing whirlpools in the pitch-black water.

"It's injured." Lina's crystal units automatically deployed a defensive formation. "Something destroyed it from the inside."

Kane activated the imprint patterns across his body, forming a protective quantum field around them. "Gardener-1?" He tried calling out, but only hollow echoes answered. The interior of the tetrahedron was much darker than during their last visit, the floating data streams sparse and chaotic.

They advanced along the main corridor, discovering multiple traces of battle—burn marks from energy weapons scored the walls; debris mixing machinery and organic tissue littered the ground; even several structures appeared dissolved by some potent acid.

"This wasn't an external attack." Lina inspected a glowing green slime. "It erupted from within... some dormant defense mechanism was mistakenly triggered."

At the end of the corridor, the central hall where Gardener-1 once resided was in utter disarray. The projection platform of the light-form was torn in half, replaced by an emergency holographic terminal displaying fragmented data streams.

Kane placed his hand on the terminal interface, letting his imprint energy synchronize with it. In an instant, shattered information flooded his consciousness:

[Warning: Gene-lock verification failed...]
[Seventh Iteration identification detected... Founder lineage matched...]
[Defense Protocol Beta-9 activated... Error... Error...]
[Burner signal invading core system...]
[Final contingency measure initiated: Memory vault transferred to... Data missing...]

"Someone tried to access something deep within the tetrahedron," Kane gasped, disconnecting. "Something requiring 'Founder lineage' to unlock. And when it failed... they deliberately triggered the self-destruct sequence."

Lina suddenly pointed to the corner of the hall—a small puddle of silver-white liquid was slowly crawling toward a gap in the wall. "Gardener-1's remains!"

They rushed over, and Kane immediately wrapped the liquid in his imprint energy. It responded feebly, forming a tiny point of light.

[Ka...ne...] Fragmented messages transmitted directly into his brain. [Mars... Olympus Mons... Base... Older than the Earth facilities...]

"Who attacked you?" Kane asked urgently. [Why is the Founder lineage required?]

The point of light flickered erratically: [Traitors... Among us... Marcus... Deep sleeper agent... Seventh Iteration... Not the enemy... The real danger is...]

The message cut off abruptly. The liquid lost its luster entirely, turning into ordinary metallic solution. At that exact moment, Kane's quantum link received an emergency transmission from Hassan:

"Kane! Marcus has hijacked Erika! He just stole the 'Time Prism' kept by the Gardener Ring in Greenwich! Worse... seven major rose nodes globally have simultaneously detected Burner activity!"

Lina's crystalline left hand suddenly pointed deep into the tetrahedron: "Something's activating... an escape pod!"

They dashed toward the base of the corridor, discovering a previously concealed chamber opening up. Inside was an egg-shaped device, its surface covered in patterns similar to those on Kane's skin. When fully activated, a line of glowing text emerged on the bulkhead:

[Reserved for Founder Genetic Carriers Only]

"Founder genetics..." Kane muttered, suddenly understanding. Without hesitation, he placed his hand on the cabin door identification panel. The imprint patterns synchronized perfectly with the device, emitting a pleasant resonant hum.

The cabin door slid open, revealing an intricate control interface within. But more striking was a small holographic projection floating in the center—a miniature solar system, where the position of Mars displayed a massive underground facility schematic.

"Underground Olympus Mons..." Lina drew in a sharp breath. "That's not a volcano... that's an interstellar starship disguised as a volcano!"

Kane's imprint suddenly throbbed with intense pain, and a memory not his own was forcefully thrust into his consciousness:
Silver corridors... countless light-forms bowing... a voice declaring "Great Filter Protocol initiated"... then an extended darkness... and waking to find the world completely transformed...

"Kane!" Lina shook him. "Your nose is bleeding!"

Only then did he notice the warm blood flowing from his nostrils, dripping onto the control console of the egg-shaped device. Shockingly, the silver-white particles within the blood automatically arranged themselves into new symbols—a pattern intermediate between a DNA chain and a mathematical formula.

[Genetic memory unlocked,] the tetrahedron's surviving system suddenly announced. [Founder genetic expression pattern confirmed. Initiating final protocol: Purifying Fire.]

The entire deep-sea tetrahedron began to shake! The cracks on the walls rapidly widened, and seawater surged in. Kane and Lina barely managed to rush into the egg-shaped cabin just before submersion, the door sealing automatically behind them.

"Can this thing take us to Mars?" Lina asked nervously while reinforcing the cabin structure with her crystal units.

Kane studied the control interface, finding it perfectly matched his newly awakened quantum comprehension. "No... it's a communicator. Specifically designed to contact..."

His fingers automatically input a series of complex commands. The cabin suddenly filled with silver-white mist, and a holographic system far surpassing human technology activated. The mist condensed into a massive figure—not a light-form like Gardener-1, but a highly physical silver-white entity with slender limbs and huge almond-shaped eyes.

[At last.] The entity's voice echoed directly in their minds. [After ten thousand cycles, a carrier has finally successfully awakened.]

"Who are you?" Kane asked, enduring a severe headache.

[You may call me Gardener-0. The last complete consciousness of the First Root.] The entity's holographic projection touched Kane's forehead. [Our time is limited. The Seventh Iteration is making a final attempt, believing the Martian base holds the weapon to fight the Great Filter.]

Lina interrupted alertly: "The Great Filter? That cosmic civilization extinction theory?"

Gardener-0's image flickered: [Not a theory. It is an occurring reality. The Seventh Iteration... they were supposed to be a future branch of humanity, but were infected by Burners while traversing the folds of time. Now they mistakenly believe eradicating the past can cure the future.]

Kane's imprint suddenly projected a holographic recording: an older man resembling him, speaking inside a facility similar to the deep-sea tetrahedron: "...If my calculations are correct, the gene-lock will automatically unlock at the seventh iteration. When that time comes, please tell my successors—the answer is not in the stars, but in the mirror..."

"Is this... me?" Kane asked, confused.

[No. This is the Founder. Your direct ancestor.] Gardener-0's image began to destabilize. [Listen, the Martian base must remain sealed. The true danger is not the Seventh Iteration fleet, but what they might accidentally unleash...]

The communication was suddenly severed by violent interference. The cabin shook violently as some external energy bombarded the deep-sea tetrahedron!

Hassan's emergency transmission broke through again: "Kane! The Seventh Iteration fleet just fired some kind of superweapon! The target isn't Earth or Mars—it's your exact location!"

Lina's crystal units instantly calculated the shockwave arrival time: "Twenty seconds! We need to..."

Kane had already initiated the emergency protocol of the egg-shaped cabin. Innumerable silver-white filaments extended from within, wrapping him and Lina into a cocoon. "This isn't an escape pod," he said the moment before being completely enveloped, "it is a time pod!"

The world dissolved in silver-white light. Kane's final consciousness was Gardener-0's remnant message: [...Find the mirror... See the truth...]

When the cocoon enveloping them opened once more, Kane and Lina found themselves floating in space—yet miraculously able to breathe. Before them, Mars presented an unfamiliar aspect: blue oceans covered the northern hemisphere, and the lights of cities were visible across green continents.

"This isn't the present..." Lina said in shock. "Were we sent back to the past?"

Kane's imprint resonated with an energy field in space, providing the answer: "No... this is a possible future displayed by the Mirror of Ancestors. We've been trapped in a fold of time."

The surface of Mars suddenly erupted with dazzling light. A massive silver structure rose from Olympus Mons, unfurling into a ring-shaped object larger than the planet itself. An entity surpassing human understanding was awakening...

At that very moment, a familiar spacecraft suddenly appeared near them—an Alta-4 Seventh Iteration exile warship. The hatch opened, revealing Marcus's sneering visage, his eyes entirely turned the dark red of a Burner.

"Surprised, Time Cleaner?" He raised the Time Prism stolen from the Gardener Ring. "The Founder could never have imagined his most trusted assistant would be a sleeper of my kin. Now... let us see the truth in the mirror!"

The prism erupted with black light that devoured everything, and the fold of time began to collapse. In the final moment before his consciousness dissipated, Kane saw a face identical to his own emerging at the center of the silver giant ring on Mars...