The Miske Group tower at night resembled a colossal mechanical beast, slumbering amidst the city lights.
Steven bypassed the 13th security checkpoint with a casual iris scan.
As the heavy plasteel door hissed open, Cecil's voice murmured in his mind, "Unauthorized access protocols bypassed… just kidding, sir. Surveillance feeds are currently experiencing… minor technical difficulties. My apologies for any inconvenience."
"Since when did you develop a sense of humor, Cecil?"
Steven paused, staring down the dimly lit, sterile corridor towards the heavy metal door at the far end.
His father's most secret laboratory pulsed softly within the darkness beyond.
"Data suggests humor protocols can enhance user-AI rapport. Efficiency analysis initiated… Hmm. Query: Did my attempt succeed, sir? Also, anomaly detected during translation of 'Nine Tripod Cauldrons' earlier today. Received abnormal high-frequency resonance patterns… Source unidentified. Caution advised. I recommend aborting current course of action."
Cecil's synthesized voice suddenly held a faint trace of electronic static.
Steven sneered, pressing his thumb against the final biometric lock.
"Scared, Cecil? What's the worst that could happen? A little brain overload?"
The laboratory was a temple to cutting-edge, often ethically dubious, technology.
Gleaming chrome surfaces, humming containment fields, and complex diagnostic arrays lined the walls.
In the center rested the sleek, intimidating main console of the latest generation BrainBridge neural interface system and its accompanying connection pod.
"Hmph. Professor Huang and his dusty bones… Mason and his stupid warnings… watch me crush you all with the sheer power of information!"
An almost manic light glinted in Steven's eyes. Tonight, he would download every last byte of that 'boring' ancient history data directly into his NeuraSync chip via the high-speed MindBridge connection.
Partly to ace the upcoming exam, yes, but mostly to finally shut Huang up by quoting obscure classics back at him – a proper "education" delivered via overwhelming technological superiority!
He expertly initiated the system sequence, donned the lightweight neural interface helmet, and settled back into the form-fitting connection pod.
On the main holographic display, data streams representing the vast historical archives of the ancient Celestial Republic began to spool.
"Alright, Cecil, my diligent student," Steven commanded, a smirk playing on his lips. "Hit download!"
An unimaginable torrent of raw information slammed into his NeuraSync chip, instantly overwhelming his senses!
It was vastly larger, denser, and far "heavier" than any academic database he'd ever interfaced with before.
He didn't just see data; he felt… presence. The chaotic, world-shattering impact of Pangu splitting the cosmos;
the profound, earth-deep compassion of Nüwa molding the first humans from clay;
the dogged, almost obsessive perseverance of Suiren striking sparks against wood in the endless dark;
the crystalline, intricate wisdom of Fuxi tracing patterns in the stars; the selfless agony of Shennong tasting poisonous herbs;
the visceral, blood-soaked fury of tribal warfare; the crushing despair of the Great Flood;
the echoing roars of gods and demons long vanished… This wasn't just information;
it felt terrifyingly real, imbued with a potent, undeniable will and raw power!
"Ugh… way too much! The dataset size… it's gotta be like, a hundred times bigger than the complete migration history of Near-Earth Cetaceans!"
Pain exploded behind Steven's eyes, blinding him. He desperately tried to issue an abort command, only to find his neural control completely unresponsive!
He was locked in! It felt like trying to download a single MP3 and accidentally initiating a full sync of the entire Library of Congress archive, streamed directly into his brain in ultra-high-definition sensory surround sound!
His heart hammered against his ribs. Oh god, am I turning into a human USB drive?!
A really, really full one?!
At that precise moment, he felt – rather than saw – the very fabric of the laboratory space, perhaps even his own physical existence, undergo a fleeting, nauseatingly bizarre ripple, a subtle displacement… accompanied by a faint, almost imperceptible tearing sound that seemed to echo not in the air, but within the structure of reality itself…
"WARNING! CATASTROPHIC DATA OVERLOAD! NEURASYNC CHIP NEURAL CONNECTION INTEGRITY COMPROMISED! CASCADE FAILURE IMMINENT…" Cecil shrieked its final, desperate alarm through the last flickering vestiges of the neural link.
The screen of his smart hub watch dissolved into a blizzard of static!
Steven's vision tunneled into blackness. His consciousness felt like it was being sucked down into a bottomless, churning vortex… and then, nothing…
In the absolute final instant before oblivion claimed him, drifting in the void, he thought he heard it – an impossibly ancient, sorrowful sigh that seemed to resonate from the dawn of time itself, followed by a faint, indistinct whisper carried on unseen currents:
"…soul of another world… one of the keys…"