The Record of Unusual Creatures

The MDT was silent for a long moment. It was also shocked despite only being a PDA.

It was not until 10 seconds later that the MDT spoke into the comm. “What did you just say?”

“I’m sending you images,” Hao Ren said as he shared his vision with the MDT. “See that? These tentacles and the instruments connected with the cables; the signals were taken from these cables. The First Born is the server. It’s impossible to get it out.”

“It seems like our bad luck hasn’t gone away!” The MDT snorted. “Try the other lines. Maybe the signal comes from another instrument.”

“I’ve tried that. All cables are connected to the tentacles, and the signal isn’t coming from the machines; it’s from the tentacles.”

While he spoke, Hao Ren mounted more sensors on the metal cylinders and cables. Using a handgun, he fired test probes at the tentacles hanging down from the ceiling. The test probes had picked up more signals; the MDT was speechless.

Vivian looked up at the hybrid creature of tentacles and cables, the transformation as seamless. Not only the Zormese had designed the machine and equipment, but also the First Born had precisely controlled the growth of its body to adapt to the human-made facility. Had the First Born not been cooperative, the mortals would not be able to accomplish the bio-machine union. It was incredible but the fact was hard to ignore; the First Born co-existed with the mortals harmoniously like a pair of strange bedfellows.

“Could the Zormese have found a way to control the First Born? Well, maybe that’s too far-fetched,” said Lily, cautiously touching an alloy cylinder with a pensive look on her face. “So the conclusion is the First Born is the central figure of the refuge, things are obviously man-made, and Zormese were not imprisoned but voluntarily entering into the virtual world. Enough to blow you mind, eh?”

“The sober guardian…” Hao Ren said as he suddenly remembered what the guardian giant had said. “Oh yeah! Before the goddess died, she instructed some guardians to protect the mortals. The First Born here could be one of them!”

“The sober guardians during the final moment?” Y’zaks felt surprised. “Weren’t the guardian giants the only ones getting the instructions? I thought the First Borns had all gone insane?”

“That was what the guardian giant said. But the situation was so confusing at that time that information could be inaccurate,” Hao Ren said, waving his hand. “Maybe the Goddess managed to stop some of the First Borns from going insane, and She might have chosen some other people to inherit her legacy. There are so many possibilities. Let’s not worry about that now; we have a more urgent problem to deal with. We need to think of way to save the billions of people in the virtual world!”

“How?” Vivian asked, forcing a smile as she pointed at tentacles. “Only if there is a real server or some hard disk array we can remove them easily. But this is a First Born deeply entrenched in the planet. It would take time even if you decide to get it out.”

“We’ve done it before. Remember Holletta?” Hao Ren said. His mind was racing as he said to the MDT, “Scan the deeper part of the planet and see how far the First Born’s tentacles have reached. If it’s just a young body…”

“I have detected a surge in signal over the entire planet during the last movement of the planet’s crust. It could be a nerve impulse of the First Born,” the MDT said; its reply was depressing. “As much hope as I would like project, I’m afraid that the First Born on Planet Zorm is a mature one; its tentacles have spread all over the globe. Unless we can push the planet away from the sun, nothing would stop the planet from burning.”

Vivian shook her head. “Have you forgot how barely we did it the last time in Holletta? We used the Aerymian engineering fleet, their technology might not be work here; this planet is too close to the sun.”

Hao Ren fell into silence. He knew the MDT and Vivian were right. And, he knew that these were not the only difficulties. Even if the Aerymian technology would work here, he simply did not have enough time to mobilise them, and he could not guarantee that the safety of First Born and the stability of the virtual world during the entire process. The last time the First Born was the enemy, he needed to worry about its safety, and he just needed to excavate. But here… he must make sure the First Born would stay alive.

At this time, something suddenly crossed Lily’s mind. Her eyes widened. “Oh yeah, the brain! The First Born’s brain should be able to detach from its body and survive in vitro. All memory and thoughts are stored in the brain. How big is that thing?”

Suddenly, it seemed there was a ray of hope. It reminded Hao Ren of the red sphere he had brought out of Helcrown; the core of the First Born’s mind, only a few metres in size. If he could detach it from the body, then it might work!”

“Okay, let’s go deeper and see where the First Born’s brain is,” said Y’zaks, his voice was so confidence inspiring. “Do you know how to get to it, Mr. Landlord?”

“It’s fairly easy. Follow the nerve signals,” Hao Ren said as he pointed to the sensors he had just planted on the tentacles. “The sensors would trace the nerve signals and lead us directly to the brain.”

The outcome of the research in CARS came in handy. Hao Ren had analysed the two samples from Holletta, he had gained a certain level of knowledge about the First Born’s physiology. He knew how to track the First Born’s nerve signals and identify its tissues and organs. He believed that the brain was buried deep in the ground, but not so deep: If it were too close to the core of the planet, the high temperature environment would affect the brain’s stability.

Hao Ren summoned all the autonomous robots out from his dimensional pocket. Together with his teammates, they began to install sensors on the tentacles. The palm-sized sensors could quickly mould and fit themselves snugly to the rough surface of the tentacles. The MDT was using the idle processing power of the on-board computer to analyse the massive incoming signals from the sensors. Biological nerve pulses were detected. Suddenly, everyone became hopeful.

Lily cut the shells of those alloy cylinders open with her claws and planted sensors on the outside of the container where the tentacles were stored but without affecting the equipment. A strong tremor shook her off the alloy cylinder all of a sudden.

Boom— bang—

The tremor seemed to have come from above, and it got worse each time it happened. The underground bunker was shaking so violently as if the planet was about to fall apart now. Lily yelled. “Whoa! There it comes, Mr. Landlord!”

“Buddies! Sunrise, Sunrise!” the voice of the MDT sounded in all comms at once. “The sun is rising. The earth above you is heating up and you have to get out now!”

Hao Ren planted his feet firmly on the ground to balance himself and waited out the violent tremor. He looked up at the ceiling, it was all fine and he did not think he needed evacuation yet. “Wait a second, the place is fine.”

“You serious?”

“I know what I’m doing, okay?” Hao Ren explained. “We’re in the deeper strata where it’s more stable. The crust disintegrates from the outside. It will probably hold up until the second or even third sunrise. And, this refuge looks pretty solid too. Give me more time, maybe the brain is just right beneath us.”

The MDT was quiet for a few seconds as if it was contemplating Hao Ren’s words. Then it sighed as if it was a human. “Maybe it will hold up. But be careful. Get out immediately if you things start to fall. If the disaster avoidance system could not react in time, you will be crushed by the hundreds of millions of tons of earth.”

Hao Ren just hummed without stopping what he was doing.

A giant tentacle was lying in front of him. He suspected this particular tentacle was the main signal line. The tentacle had its upper part planted with electrodes and tubes for nutrient solution. Hao Ren ran his hand across the rough surface of the tentacle, though it used to be his number one foe, a strange feeling began to change how he looked at things.

“I don’t know if you can hear…” Hao Ren patted the tentacle. “But we’re working out a solution. Just hang on there.”