In the vast matrix hall, the hum of ancient machinery resonated among the silver-white metal pillars. These sounds overlapped, sometimes resembling the wondrous chime of wind chimes—Ophelia vaguely remembered that, long, long ago, when this underground facility had not yet been sealed, someone had visited her and described the sounds she made while thinking as "wind chimes."
But that had all been a very long time ago, so long ago that even tireless machines had sealed the relevant records at the very bottom of their databases. No living person would ever again knock upon these ancient, dust-sealed doors. Within this immense underground facility, only soulless Ironclad Soldiers and cold Magic Mechanisms accompanied her, a sleepless ancient ghost.
The resonance between the pillars gradually softened, while the Holographic Projections clearly displaying the scene outside the Wasteland went dark one after another. The Ophelia Matrix ended its brief rest and transferred the active terminal named "Veronica" outside the wall to a Backup thread. Then, the metal pillars throughout the hall rapidly adjusted their heights and orientations. Each Matrix node completed its self-check and came online, beginning to take over the Information links of every laboratory and factory facility within the base.
At the same time as those Matrix nodes changed, a metal platform in the center of the hall rose from the floor with a faint hiss of pressurized injection. The covering mechanism above it silently slid aside, revealing the Precision container placed atop the platform. It was an Ellipsoidal protective pod made of crystal, with countless pipes and cables connected to the metal structure of its base. More than half the runes on that base were currently extinguished—and inside the ellipsoidal pod, a slightly petite, slender figure floated quietly in thin Pale golden solution.
She was a young woman. Her long,