Chapter 18: Repair

  Location: Science Castle, Temporary Shelter in Central Hall

  Time: About half an hour after android riot subsided

  The lights stabilized in dim backup mode, carving the hall's devastation into twisted shadows. The wounded had been initially settled in relatively safe corners, cared for by several researchers with basic first aid knowledge. Suppressed sobbing and pained moans replaced earlier screams, yet made the air feel even heavier.

  Thunderhawk leaned against the cold alloy wall, slowly regulating his breathing. The earlier combat had drained considerable stamina, and his left arm had been sliced open by a sharp edge of android metal shell during a block—artificial skin torn, exposing the faintly sparking bionic muscle fibers and alloy skeletal structure beneath. A faint, acrid smell like burnt circuits emanated from his arm. He tore off his uniform sleeve, trying to use the cloth to compress the damaged area, preventing further internal lubricant leakage and short circuits.

  Cassandra Walker stood somewhat distant, back to the crowd, apparently communicating with the outside world through a small encrypted communicator. She had recovered some of her previous elegance, but her taut shoulder line betrayed her unrelaxed vigilance. Her expensive business suit bore some dust and an inconspicuous scratch—proof of the recent battle.

  "Power hasn't fully restored," Valeria approached Thunderhawk, voice low, "priority supply lines were cut, energy all flowing underground. Graham's completely disappeared, our communications severely jammed."

  Thunderhawk nodded. This confirmed his suspicions. The riot wasn't just an attack—it created chaos to cover deeper operations. "The 'Cornerstone' area," he responded quietly, "that's the focus."

  Valeria's gaze sharpened. "Graham..." She almost ground out the name through clenched teeth. The android attack had interrupted her search plan, but now Graham's absence and abnormal energy flows became even more obvious arrows pointing at him.

  Just then, regular knocking came from the reinforced door to the living quarters—three short, one long, the agreed safety signal. A security officer carefully opened a gap, and Verdandi Lee slipped through. She carried a multifunctional emergency repair kit—in this cybernetic-prevalent environment, its importance rivaled medical kits. Her face still showed traces of lingering fear, but her eyes had regained composure.

  "The living quarters side is temporarily stable." Her gaze quickly swept the scene, finally landing on Thunderhawk's left arm with its exposed mechanical structure, her eyes tightening. "Your arm!"

  "Transmission lines might be scraped, not a major issue." Thunderhawk tried to downplay it, but his arm's unnatural twitching betrayed him.

  "Don't move, let me see." Verdandi knelt down without preamble, opening the repair kit. She lacked a doctor's gentleness, but possessed an engineer's precision. She used a portable scanner to quickly examine the wound's interior. "The main hydraulic tube luckily avoided damage, but several secondary neural networks and microcurrent lines are severed. Need temporary insulation and physical stabilization to prevent further tearing of internal precision components during movement."

  Her fingers deftly picked up conductive gel patches and nanofiber bandages, operating while speaking softly: "This kind of damage... the androids' attack patterns were very precise, as if specifically designed for combat cybernetics' weak points."

  Thunderhawk watched her focused profile, feeling the coolness and steadiness of her fingertips. "You understand this too?"

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  "Neuroscience and advanced cybernetic control are interconnected." Verdandi didn't look up, tone calm. "In the lab, we often deal with more sophisticated neural interfaces. Hold still, might sting a bit."

  She pressed the gel patch onto the severed lines, and a slight electrical stimulation made Thunderhawk's arm muscles instantly tense. Then she used nanofiber bandages for reinforcing wrapping, movements clean and efficient. The entire process resembled microsurgery more than simple wound treatment.

  "Temporarily stabilized, but don't use it for high-load actions." Verdandi looked up, warning seriously, "Needs a professional cybernetics doctor for complete repair."

  "Thank you." Thunderhawk flexed his fingers—though still slightly stiff, much better than before. This interaction, amid cold mechanical maintenance, paradoxically conveyed a trust different from flesh-and-blood care.

  "Don't mention it!" Verdandi smiled faintly, her charming smile seeming to sweep away the fatigue and tension from her face.

  Cassandra ended her communication, turned around, her gaze pausing on Verdandi for an instant—like the most precise scanner, rapidly assessing. "Dr. Lee, thank you for your assistance. Stabilizing civilian morale is crucial."

  Verdandi nodded slightly, attitude polite yet distant. "This is what I should do. Dr. Walker, what's the situation outside? Are we trapped here?"

  "Communication is difficult, but not completely severed. I've sent the highest priority distress signal to the committee and the nearest national security station. But reinforcements will take time, and... Science Castle's external defense system status is currently unknown." Cassandra's answer was flawless, offering both hope and emphasizing the danger. She then turned to Valeria. "Constable Mendoza, we must establish internal communications as quickly as possible, even short-range. Need to know other areas' status, especially the core research zone."

  "Agreed." Valeria immediately began assigning tasks, directing available IT personnel to attempt local network repairs.

  Thunderhawk seized this opportunity to pull Verdandi aside to a relatively quiet corner. "You were truly brave earlier," he referenced her rushing to save the child, "but also very dangerous..."

  Verdandi shook her head, a trace of bitterness in her smile. "Compared to what's happening in this city... that was nothing." She looked up at Thunderhawk, her amber eyes appearing especially profound in the dim light. "Thunderhawk, these androids... their attack patterns... don't seem like simple system failure. I've studied cognitive models—that kind of precision and priority determination... more like they were injected with specific attack protocols."

  Her professional intuition again aligned shockingly with Thunderhawk's suspicions. Thunderhawk didn't reveal Black Cat's warning, only followed her line of thought. "To accomplish this, what level of authority would be required?"

  "Extremely high. Would need to bypass Chaldea Tech's core security firewall and have extremely deep understanding of android base drivers." Verdandi's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor. "This makes me wonder... whether 'Project Noah' internally planted such seeds from the very beginning?"

  Her doubts were step by step approaching the truth. Thunderhawk felt his neck interface pulse faintly—Black Cat's "diary" was quietly recording this conversation. He needed to guide her, yet couldn't expose too much.

  "Any complex system has vulnerabilities," Thunderhawk said cautiously, "especially when granted too much power."

  Elsewhere, Cassandra approached Valeria, handing her a data pad. "This is the hardware encoding and attack pattern data from several android anomaly nodes I hastily recorded. Might help your technical analysis." Her action appeared selflessly cooperative, but Valeria's eyes retained their doubt as she accepted the pad.

  "Dr. Walker, you're quite familiar with this kind of... hardware encoding?" Valeria asked seemingly casually.

  Cassandra maintained composure. "During frontline team operations, handled similar cases. Basic identification and recording are standard procedures." She again used past experience as cover.

  The brief respite was ending. Though the temporary shelter was relatively safe, it wasn't a long-term solution. Abnormal power, severed communications, powerful enemies surrounding them, plus an unfathomable "inspector" of unknown identity. Graham and his backing forces were clearly executing some final phase, with the android riot likely just the prologue.

  Thunderhawk gazed toward the passage at the hall's far end leading deeper into Science Castle—pitch black. That was where the energy flowed, where "Cornerstone" lay, and where all mysteries and dangers converged.

  "We need a plan," Valeria's voice drew everyone's attention back. "Can't sit and wait for death. Now let's investigate Graham's office—perhaps we'll find clues there."