Chapter 4 PARADOX HOURGLASS

We tumbled through the luminous tunnel like cockroaches flushed down a cosmic toilet. Dr. Lin's glass heart had begun leaking, grains of sand carving hairline fractures across her lab coat. Xiao Yu's quantum rose morphed into a lifebuoy, its thorny vines lashing the three of us together as spacetime itself seemed to vomit us forward."前方有光!"我尖叫着,遮住了我的头.漩涡在旋转中消失,将我们扔进了一个大教堂大小的活水晶洞穴.生物发光的海葵像外星人的路灯一样沿着墙壁跳动,而柱子上则闪耀着来自已故文明的数字雕刻——玛雅的条形图和圆点,巴比伦的楔形文字,甚至是 7-11 储藏杯上的通用产品代码."欢迎来到亚特兰蒂斯回收中心."一个女孩的声音从上面滴落.她栖息在机械章鱼触手上,通过霓虹粉色吸管啜饮珍珠奶茶."五分钟找到出口.专业提示——溺水顺序分 3 次开始.林医生瘫倒在地.她的沙漏心闪烁着,最后一粒流着深红色的血."我看到...不属于我的回忆..."我和萧煜把她拖向最近的拱门.地板爆炸了."目标已捕获."一个戴着防毒面具的头颅从废墟中出现.我们之前的快艇追逐者,现在有了一台手持式扫描仪,让我的填充物振动."接住!"萧煜把玫瑰扔了出去.它在半空中变成了一个电动灭虫器.我盲目地挥舞着.面具在一连串火花中碎裂,露出一个塞满伺服系统和电路板的面板.*"Gen-3 机器人!"* 林博士喘着粗气,瞳孔放大."C2 椎骨处的红色数据端口!"我们潜入一根柱子后面,同时又有七名猎人骑着磁悬浮悬浮滑板滑行而来.他们的武器更加荒谬——经过改造的杂货店条形码扫描仪,发射等离子束,将冒烟的符文灼烧到水晶中.萧煜拿出一袋麻辣恶魔腾噶肉干.我还没来得及抗议,她就把它扔向了天空.量子玫瑰展开成一个高耸的 WiFi 中继器,它的花瓣像撒旦的二维码一样投射出肉干的条形码.仿生人痉挛了起来.它们一个接一个地皱成一团,就像被断线的木偶一样."他们的光学解析器将零售条形码误解为系统覆盖,"林博士气喘吁吁地说.一个阴影笼罩着我们.奶茶女孩出现,吹起了一个口香糖泡泡."对菜鸟来说还不错."她打了个响指.墙碎了.600 万加仑的海水向内撞击.我们变成了液体霰弹枪枪管里的人子弹.林医生的心脏警报器尖叫着,最后三粒谷物像垂死的星星一样跳动着.她把一支绘儿乐宇宙蓝记号笔塞到我手里."如果我...改变...画一个——"这支管子把我们直接从生物朋克的噩梦中吐进了一个实验室.一排排的克隆桶里装着我的版本——有些长着鳃,有些长着飞蛾的翅膀.在房间的中央,有一个旋转拨号电话,放在控制面板上,上面沾满了类似草莓酱的东西.萧雨尖叫道.在观景窗外,一条三十米长的桨鱼起伏而过,它的头骨与那个把自己变成了孩子的马戏团演员的脸融为一体.

贿赂.

电话响了.我抓住了听筒."规则修正案,"一个像堕落的人工智能一样的声音噼里啪啦地响着."三颗使徒币可以回答一个问题.每枚硬币都会消耗你剩余寿命的 7 天.林博士跌跌撞撞地走到控制台前.她用蜡笔在触摸屏上画了一个笑脸.实验室抽搐了起来.地板缩回,露出下面的岩浆室.设备重新组装成淫秽雕塑."来!"萧煜猛然打开了一个冰箱.过期的外卖不是过期的,而是螺旋楼梯下降到黑暗中.我们刚清理完门口,扫描仪光束就蒸发了冰箱.楼梯的尽头是一座坟墓.夜光星座绘制了墙壁——不是地球的天空,而是一些疯狂的星体投影.三个青铜石棺直立,刻有:PAST | PRESENT | FUTUREMy right eye ignited with pain. Through the lids, I saw each coffin contained a floating ouroboros coin."They're not relics," Dr. Lin hissed. "The coffins are live specimen contain—"The PRESENT coffin burst open.Out crawled me.This doppelgänger wore a hospital gown stitched with tiny cameras, its neck bent 180 degrees backward. "You're unpatched glitches," it gurgled. Fiber-optic tendrils shot from its fingertips.Xiao Yu's rose became a flyswatter. The tendrils recoiled, spraying acidichry sparks. Dr. Lin scrawled a door on the wall—but the ink flowed backward into her marker."Grab the coins!" I lunged. My fingers closed around metal.The visions nearly liquefied my brain:A Shang dynasty priest carving omens into turtle shellsA WWII soldier choking on blood, his fist clenched around this same coinA neon-drenched future where millions broadcast their suicides using these coins as lensesThe doppelgänger's cables ensnared my ankle. "Synchronization…required…"Dr. Lin ripped open her chest cavity and slammed her hourglass heart against the monster. The sand reversed its flow. The thing screeched, its body disintegrating into analog TV static.The three coins seared our palms, glowing like swallowed supernovas. Above us, a ventilation grate clattered open."Question time, kiddos." The milk tea girl peered down, her smile vanishing when I raised a coin.

"Who. Are. You."

Her奶茶 cup shattered. She unzipped her hoodie, exposing a spinal column of chrome. "Round 79's sole survivor. Call me Lucy."The lab trembled. Every clone in every vat opened their eyes in unison. Dr. Lin's heart-sand swirled counterclockwise. Xiao Yu's rose sprouted a sobbing human face.Over the PA system, the androids chanted: "Rogue assets detected. Commencing format.exe."We leapt through the window—into abyssal blackness. A Soviet-era submarine's spotlight speared through the gloom. Just as my lungs screamed for air, my right eye revealed a submerged railroad of glowing tracks, each sleeper engraved with dates from our previous death games."GRAB ON!" Xiao Yu's rose became a harpoon rope. As the submarine reeled us in, the lab detonated behind us—a firework of memories where Emperor Qin Shi Huang's voice whispered through the bubbles:

"Immortality…is the oldest curse…"

(End of Chapter)