Prometheus refused to execute the command.
Lin hadn't expected the AI, who was supposed to be completely loyal to his every command, to disobey him at this crucial moment.
There was no time to wonder why. The Honkai Beasts were closing in on the door. Any further delay, and a bloody massacre would unfold in The Deepest Reaches. Lin could only urgently command again: "Close the door! Prometheus!"
"No."
The cold, mechanical voice was his only reply.
Closing the door now would instantly kill Lin on the threshold that prevented the Honkai Beasts from harming humans.
His own flesh and blood would form the final barrier.
Prometheus's command execution system and her thought system clashed at this moment. After a brief circuit contradiction, her higher-priority thought system prevented the command from being executed.
"Ngh—"
Even more unexpectedly, Rit grabbed Lin's arm at that moment, straining his veins as he forcefully pulled him outward.
"What are you doing! Get away from me!"
Before the words fully left his mouth, a tentacle detached from Lin's leg and grabbed Rit's waist instead.
Rit's legs were already disabled; he had no chance to resist once grabbed!
Rit released Lin's arm and smiled with resignation: "Indeed, a person like you should live..."
"Swoosh—"
The other tentacle also grabbed Rit's leg. After the lingering image of his smile in Lin's viewport, he was dragged straight back inside. With his last bit of strength, he pushed Lin out.
One stepped in, one stepped out.
The moment Lin was out of the door, Prometheus closed it. The heavy isolation door slammed shut, separating the unfinished words of Rit and the final look of peace on his face from the monster-filled A-3 Sector.
"Bang!"
Lin struggled to crawl up from the ground, staring at the door that didn't let a single beam of light through.
Rit had opened the door and let the disaster out at one time. Now, at this time, he closed the door and contained the disaster inside.
There were no screams, no cries. After a final, unnatural sound of bones breaking, only the thunderous crashes and roars of monsters hitting the door remained on the other side.
The alarm, too, finally began to sound in The Deepest Reaches, late and uselessly.
"Lin, guards are estimated to arrive in three minutes. Please evacuate."
Lin did not answer.
He recalled Rit's final smile, which gradually overlapped with Spaciel's fury.
Lin, still wearing his helmet, stood like a statue, frozen in front of the door.
"All units check your gear! Prepare to suppress the Honkai Beasts!"
A swarm of guards gradually approached. Prometheus's urging continued to buzz in his ear.
All the information converged within his helmet. The shocking scarlet text flowed like blood, tracing a path down his cheek.
"Doctor Lin? Interesting. So he fabricated an identity?"
The screen light illuminated the unusually pale and smooth skin of the green-haired woman, her earrings shimmering under the glow. She saw the access log on the screen and couldn't help but let out a sneer.
She used her clearance to access the Moth of the Fire Chasers' database. Although she was heavily restricted within the Moth of the Fire Chasers, she was also an Original. To obtain her research results, the Moth of the Fire Chasers had granted her a significant level of clearance. At least, she possessed the surface privileges an "Original" should have.
After searching the data for The Deepest Reaches, Mobius discovered Lin's fabricated identity and his access record.
"A little white mouse with broken legs. What will you reward me with this time?"
Mobius, with a wicked smile, deleted Doctor Lin record and identity from the database. This was precisely what Mei had sought her help for. To give Mei more influence and to find out who was obstructing them, Mobius had helped Lin complete the final step of his infiltration: erasing the traces.
Besides her, at least one other person knew Lin had gone to The Deepest Reaches, but neither of them could reveal it and would have to keep the secret buried.
"Doctor Mobius, what are you doing here?"
Another figure appeared at the entrance of the database.
Sigma stood in the shadows, like a ghost.
Mobius, with an impatient look on her pretty face, turned away from Sigma, making the expression disappear. She crossed her arms, looking normal, and said, "Just some experimental data. What do you want?"
"Nothing. I just need to use the database. Apologies for interrupting you."
Sigma walked to another terminal and logged into the database with his own ID card.
Mobius narrowed her eyes like a snake, staring intently at Sigma. Then, she said nothing, let out a light "Hmph," and walked away with the crisp sound of her high heels.
"..." Sigma cautiously looked back in the direction Mobius had left.
"Heh..."
A pair of bright green eyes, like those of a cold-blooded animal, met his gaze.
Mobius stood at the doorway, hands in her pockets, sneering at the frozen Sigma.
"What are you planning to do here?" Mobius leisurely raised her right hand, scrutinizing it under the light. Her slender arm and delicate skin looked completely unthreatening.
But the gesture was undeniably terrifying in Sigma's eyes.
"Nothing. I wanted to look up the combat data from the Third Honkai War to make up for my shortcomings."
"Oh? Here? Can't you use your own terminal?"
"I accidentally deleted the data on my terminal."
"..."
The pressure of being stared at by Mobius was no less intense than the pressure from that helmeted kid. Cold sweat began to break out on Sigma's back.
After observing him for a long moment, Mobius shifted her feet and walked away: "You better be."
Sigma watched Mobius leave the database. He waited for a full five minutes, ensuring Mobius had truly left, then collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest and breathing heavily.
Lin crawled onto the shore. In the red glow of the evening sunset, he found a random tree and leaned against it. The completely shredded Cocoon documents were scattered on the ground, most of them illegible.
Only one document was relatively intact, containing information about one of the members.
But Lin didn't look at it, nor did he immediately contact Mei with Prometheus.
All his information collection systems were temporarily shut down, leaving only the viewport, allowing him to observe the scenery outside his helmet.
He should have jumped onto the speedboat and returned immediately to do what he needed to do.
"Prometheus, why did you disobey my command?"
Lin softly asked Prometheus. His tone was not reproachful, but very different from his usual voice.
"I cannot allow Lin to be sacrificed."
"Why?"
"I cannot, allow you, to die."
"..."
Lin stood up, picked up the last document, and walked toward the speedboat.
"Prometheus, I will have Mei remove you when we get back."
"..."
Prometheus gave no reply. She was silent, like a truly human being.