Chapter 5: When the Bronze Sea Rises

The Bronze Sea was rising with the lunar tide. Aiden watched Lin's cocoon pulse with tidal forces, copper tubes contracting like a cosmic whale inhaling stardust. Sophie knelt beside AS-00, tucking faded candy wrappers into the doll's palm. The corpse seized her wrist, pupils splitting into triple rings.

"Sister, you're late for the 42nd cycle." AS-00's voice crackled like a nursery rhyme from a gramophone. "Orange flavor... or blood this time?"

The nun's countdown device froze. She tore open synthetic flesh, revealing alloy ribs engraved with Ksitigarbha Sutra: "Time's up, boy. Let the spirit consume you or—"

The blast wave shattered the cocoon. Lin's body floated in bronze currents, silvery spores gushing from severed umbilical tubes—each spore cradling an infant spirit with mechanical spines mirroring Aiden's tattoo.

Spores took root. Mirror shards metastasized, mycelium networks blooming blood-lotus flowers in regolith. At each lotus heart sat a meditating Aiden—some in Parliament uniforms, others in Daoist robes, the eldest carving Tui Bei Tu prophecies with laser-etched mirrors.

"These are all you." Sophie brushed mycelium tendrils, triggering a chorus of wailing spores. "Mother planted every timeline's potential here... waiting for the 'right' you to harvest."

Aiden stabbed the fungal web. Golden blood seeped, but mycelium climbed his arm, blooming bronze mirror-patterned lesions. Visions flooded him:

A past Aiden detonating the station, raining fire on Earth;

An ancient Aiden leading spirits to build a cyborg Buddha-kingdom;

Himself now, standing at the convergence of all timelines.

"Brother, look down!" Sophie screamed. The regolith split, exposing a colossal buried mirror—Lily's reflection reaching through the glass, an orange candy clutched in her phantom hand.

After Lily's reflection faded, the dissolving wrapper revealed Lin's true testament—not a data chip, but a message written in gold-blooded ink infused with orange essence:

"If you read this, my artifact spirits have revolted. Go to Antarctica—the Xuantian Mirror's Shadow sleeps there. Remember, the true Third Law is..."

The text broke mid-sentence. Sophie snatched and swallowed the wrapper, golden blood dribbling as she drew Antarctic maps: "Mother's voice... in my stomach... 'Run, Aiden's awakening'..."

The nun's skull-reactor exploded. Bronze Sea boiled. Spore-infants crawled toward Aiden, mycelium weaving umbilical bonds. His heart tattoo burned—the spirit infant's spine pierced his chest, fusing with the fungal network.

"Welcome home." AS-series dolls chorused, their pupils reflecting Earth—where the Xuantian Mirror's shadow yawned over Antarctica.

Aiden leapt into an escape pod with unconscious Sophie. Behind them, the collapsing Bronze Sea devoured the nun's laughter. Mycelium crept across the hull, coalescing into Lily's ghost:

"Antarctica's a trap..." Her spectral finger pierced Aiden's tattoo. "The true shadow... is in the sun..."

During atmospheric reentry, Sophie awoke. Her skin turned translucent, gears meshing Dao De Jing movable type between her organs: "Brother... Mother weeps inside the sun."

Through burning viewports, Aiden saw Earth's mirror array—bronze lotus stations hovering over every city, replicating the moon's dark side. Sophie's mechanical heart projected holograms: Lin standing atop a solar flare throne built from spirit carcasses.

"Take us home." Aiden gripped the mycelium-entwined control stick—but the nav system displayed only one coordinate:

72°08'S, 96°43'W: Xuantian Mirror's Grave.