Elegy from Another World

hum-

The anticipated end of everything returning to nothingness did not come.

The chilling, distorted noise seemed to have been paused. I trembled as I opened my tightly closed eyes and found that the red scrambled code representing absolute annihilation hovered less than a meter in front of Noriljohn and me, as if frozen in an invisible layer of ice, completely still. The numbers and symbols that made up its body stopped flowing and flashing, frozen in mid-air, radiating a stagnant killing intent.

The dazed feeling of surviving the ordeal left my mind blank; I just stared blankly at this eerie, still scene.

"come over!"

A sudden sound rang out beside me, not through my ears, but echoing directly in my mind. I whirled around and nearly jumped in shock—not far to my right, floating... a brain?!

A living, slightly pulsating, healthy pinkish-white... human brain? No, look closely, its overall shape is more like a scorpion. The cerebral cortex forms the scorpion's main body, with two eye-like organs at the front emitting a soft yellow light. Below, two thick, forked nerve bundles form a structure similar to a scorpion's chelicerae. Behind the chelicerae, four pairs of "legs" made of nerve bundles extend symmetrically. Most peculiarly, extending from the back of the brain is not a severed nerve, but a complete, curved spine like a scorpion's tail, its end seemingly shimmering with a faint light.

"Who...who are you?" My voice was dry and hoarse, filled with disbelief.

"It's just an entity that's come to assist you." The thought emanating from that brain was calm and undisturbed, carrying an inhuman calmness. "Don't stand there, come here! Time is limited!"

Its "chelicerae" waved at us. I looked at the frozen, garbled death code before me, then at this incredibly bizarre brain. Although the situation was extremely strange, my intuition told me that this might be the only way out. I had no time to hesitate.

I gritted my teeth and struggled to drag Norrell's mechanical remains, which were already sparking and completely unconscious, to the side of that brain.

The instant we came into contact with some invisible force field around it—

hum!

Another wave of slight dizziness washed over me, and the surrounding scenery seemed to peel away and recombine like shattered glass. In the blink of an eye, we were no longer on the ruins of Valencia, but in a completely unfamiliar environment.

This is an endless, pure green space. Under your feet is a smooth, mirror-like green "ground," and above and all around is a "sky" that emits a uniform, soft green light. There is no clutter, no sound, only pure, pristine green.

"Where...where am I?!" I looked around and felt a strange sense of oppression.

"Create a new data layer," the brain's command echoed once more.

"Create a new... data layer? What does that mean? I don't understand, can you explain it?" I was full of questions.

"Don't speak, be quiet." Its response was concise and carried an unquestionable commanding tone.

"Uh..." I choked for a moment, but I had no choice but to shut my mouth and start to carefully observe this strange "savior".

It ignored me, and dozens of semi-transparent holographic interfaces, shimmering with a faint blue light, were instantly projected into the "air" in front of it. Countless codes, parameters, and structural diagrams that I could not understand flowed across the interfaces. Its nerve-based "chelicerae" and "legs" clicked, dragged, and typed on the interfaces at an astonishing speed, so fast that they left afterimages, as if a highly skilled musician were playing dozens of instruments simultaneously.

I intermittently "heard" fragments of its thoughts flashing through my mind:

[Counter-reconnaissance module loading... Progress 100%. Loading successful.]

[UUID parameter modification successful.]

[Categorizing and mapping player IDs... Successful.]

[Renaming protocol started... 33%... 66%... 99%... 100%. Renaming complete.]

[Loading real-time redraw AI engine... 100%. Success.]

Cleared all suspicious connection logs... 100%. Done.

This series of operations was fluid and seamless, exuding a certain indescribable "technological sophistication." After about a few minutes, all its movements suddenly stopped, and the holographic interface in front of it vanished instantly.

"Okay," it turned to me, "you don't need to worry about that cleanup program for now."

"What do you mean? What did you do?" I asked quickly.

But before it could answer, another wave of dizziness and a sense of spatial displacement struck!

hum!

The pristine green space vanished instantly, and the horrific ruins of Valencia once more came into view. Scorched earth, broken walls, and… that scrambled red code still hovered before me!

I was so scared my heart almost stopped! But the next second, I noticed something was different. The garbled code seemed to "freeze," its numerical symbols flickering erratically a few times, as if it had lost its target. It circled around Norelljoon and me a few times, even "scanning" the spot where we had just been lying, and then... it stopped. Then, as if receiving new instructions, it changed direction without warning, transforming into a streak of red light and flying off towards the other side of the city, quickly disappearing into the horizon.

It... is gone?

I sat there, dumbfounded, staring at the direction the garbled text had disappeared, my mind a complete mess. What had happened in those few short minutes was too bizarre, utterly beyond my comprehension. That brain…the creation of the new data layer…those operations…what exactly did it do? Why did the “Guardian” suddenly ignore us?

"Lady Liscia! Lady Liscia! Can you hear me?" Tia's anxious voice came through the communication tentacles on my ear, snapping me out of my daze.

"Tia...I...I'm alright." I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady. "How's Utopia?"

"Everyone's terrified, but the base hasn't been attacked further. Over there... that terrifying thing seems to have suddenly disappeared?"

"Hmm... for now, we should be alright." I wasn't sure myself. "Noriljoon is severely damaged and incapacitated. You need to fly the helicopter over immediately to pick us up. The location is in Valencia's main city... near the former central square."

"Understood! I'll set off immediately!"

After ending the communication, I looked at the ruins of the city that had been easily destroyed by the "Guardians," and then at the broken Noriljon beside me. My heart was filled with relief at surviving the disaster, as well as a deeper chill and doubt.

That scorpion-shaped brain... who exactly is it? Why is it helping us?