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In 2085, the Institute of Quantum Physics in the Desert in Nevada, USA detected an abnormal time fluctuation. Astrophysicist Erin Carter discovered that Earth's time is reset in a cycle of 72 hours, and the only thing that retains memory is a group of "awakeners" whose brains are not erased by time due to the quantum entanglement effect. As the investigation deepened, Erin discovered that the source of the cycle was a "time cocoon" device from 12 billion light years away, deployed by an alien civilization called "Silent". The silent believe that any civilization that cannot break through the shackles of time should be eliminated to maintain the order of the entropy increase in the universe. Meanwhile, American society is in chaos due to the cycle: the rich try to monopolize reset the rules, the doomsday carnival broke out in slums, and the government plans to destroy the cocoon with nuclear weapons. Erin must join forces with the Awakener to crack the time code for a limited time and answer the ultimate question - is human beings worthy of being tolerated by the universe?

The Chrono Cocoon

Geostationary Orbit, Quantum Relay Satellite "Messenger-12", March 14, 2085, 11:55 PM

Rex's neural interface connected to the satellite's control console, liquid metal wires coiling around his temple in the shape of ancient cuneiform script.

"They've tampered with the deep space network protocol," he said, his irises reflecting torrents of data. "All the cosmic microwave background radiation received by radio telescopes... is a replayed recording."

Eileen gazed at the holographic star map. The sphere, which should have displayed the cosmic microwave background, was now covered with regular hexagonal light spots—as if someone had applied a honeycomb filter over the entire observable universe. Sara pried open the satellite's maintenance panel with a military knife and found the compartment, originally meant for spare parts, stuffed with a mixture of human baby teeth and birch tree seeds.

"DNA resonance frequency," Rex suddenly convulsed. Arcs of electricity erupted from his interface, weaving a glowing cocoon in the zero-gravity chamber. "Look at this!"

He tossed out a spectral analysis graph:

The vibration frequencies of those hexagonal light spots precisely corresponded to the hydrogen bond resonance numbers of adenine and thymine in human DNA.

An alarm sounded from the ground station 36,000 kilometers below.

Max's face appeared on the communication screen, papers flying behind him.

"NASA just detected mass anomalies in lunar orbit! Something is absorbing 'Messenger-12's' signal, and its gravitational lensing effect shows—"

The screen suddenly filled with static.

When the image stabilized, Eileen saw herself inverted above Max—no, the entire institute's gravitational field had flipped. Bookshelves floated in the air, with pages oozing blue-black liquid that spelled out the Fibonacci sequence.

Sara grabbed the floating military knife.

As they detached from the return capsule, Rex's neural interface suddenly locked the control console.

His eyeballs bulged, and his retina reflected an object beyond three-dimensional structure—a super Möbius strip made of countless nested Klein bottles, each surface mapping images of Earth at different times: the asteroid rain that caused the dinosaur extinction, Qin Shi Huang's book burning and burying of scholars, the Hiroshima atomic bomb explosion...

"Temporal cocoon," he screamed, tearing off the interface. Cerebrospinal fluid formed crystalline beads in the zero-gravity chamber. "It's reading Earth's 'memory bank'!"

Back on Earth, Eileen's quantum mailbox popped up an email.

The sender was blank, and the attachment was a 2.3-second gravitational wave-encoded video:

Under a gray-purple sky, countless Silent Ones were melting. Their silicon-based bodies flowed into liquid, seeping into the cracked earth of their home planet. Subtitles read: "Mother planet's 470,000th cycle period, universe entropy anomaly due to misuse of time reversal technology, subjected to 'Observer' civilization's dimensionality reduction sanction." The final image showed Silent Ones remains reassembled into metal cocoons, launching toward deep space, with coordinates precisely on the solar system's ecliptic plane.

"They aren't hunters; they're exiled prisoners."

Max suddenly pointed to the northern night sky.

At the position of Ursa Major's ζ star, a new spacetime rift was opening, resembling a torn honeycomb wound.

Eileen's quantum counter began a countdown—67 hours remaining until the Los Angeles earthquake.

Sara silently replaced the electromagnetic handgun's superconducting battery.

"Time to show those iron coffins," she said, pulling the trigger and sparking blue flames. "Humanity's specialty isn't preserving civilization..."

The elderly man laughed in the off-road vehicle's backseat, blood droplets he coughed up drawing the Orion constellation on the car window.

The Temporal Cocoon Signal