Ye Mo stared at the screen; the waveform had just jumped to 0.75 Hz when the door was pushed open from the outside. Captain America stood in the doorway, his tactical vest not fully fastened, half a bandage peeking out from the collar, clearly having just returned from a patrol outside. He glanced at the monitoring console, then at Emma Frost huddled in the corner, his voice neither too loud nor too soft. "Data confirmed?"
"Confirmed." Ye Mo didn't look up, swiping his finger across the tablet to bring up three sets of comparison charts. "Starting from 0.7, it's increasing by 1.3% every hour, as stable as an alarm clock. It's not a false alarm, nor is it due to equipment leakage."
Captain America walked over, stood in front of the projected map, picked up a highlighter, and drew a circle in the eastern radar area. "Then there really is something approaching." He paused, "The question is—what does it look like? How many people are there? Are they carrying guns or magic wands? We have no idea."
No one answered.
Emma Frost opened her eyes, rubbed her temples, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I can detect conscious fluctuations high in the sky, but they're too blurry, like looking at a figure through frosted glass. And... it doesn't think."
"Using your brain?" Bucky's voice came from the doorway. He and Black Widow walked in one after the other, each carrying a gear bag, the charging light on their EMP jammers glowing green.
"No emotional fluctuations, no fragmented thoughts," Emma Frost explained, "It's like you shout at a wall; the wall won't answer you, but it's definitely there."
Ye Mo continued, "So it could be a machine, or it could be a controlled living weapon. But whatever it is, it's getting closer to us."
Captain America tossed his highlighter onto the table. "Alright, let's deploy according to the worst-case scenario." He turned and patted the projection screen. "First line of defense: the east radar, the north ventilation shaft, and the southwest supply depot—these three points are the easiest to breach. Second line: the command center as the core, where all communication relays are concentrated. Third line: the underground emergency passage, reserved as an evacuation route, but not activated for now."
He looked at Ye Mo and Emma Frost: "You two are the early warning core. Ye Mo, monitor energy movement; Emma Frost, you're responsible for capturing consciousness activity. Once an anomaly is detected, immediately report the coordinates and nature of the anomaly on the public channel. You are not allowed to make your own judgments before reporting."
"Understood." Ye Mo nodded, casually pushing up his silver half-rimmed glasses. The lenses reflected the light, illuminating the lower half of the iron door behind him. He still didn't like having his back to the exit.
Emma Frost didn't speak, but simply closed her eyes and re-entered scanning mode. She sat cross-legged, her coat zipped up to her chin, her hands clasped on her knees, her breathing gradually becoming shallow. This posture was very familiar to her; she always did this when preparing for prolonged pressure, almost like meditation.
Captain America turned to Bucky and Black Widow: "You two take turns patrolling, two people at a time, rotating every hour. Focus on the three high-risk entrances I mentioned earlier. Keep your EMP guns at over 80% charge, and check the trigger springs on your armor-piercing crossbows. Don't let them fail at crucial moments."
"It's fixed." Black Widow opened her backpack, pulled out an arrow, and handed it over. "I tested the delay twice yesterday, and the response is normal now."
Bucky took the arrow, examined it, and put it back in his bag. "The night vision goggles and vibration sensors on the east radar side are working properly. We'll test them again when we get there."
"Go," Captain America nodded. "The first shift starts now, heading to the east side first."
The two responded and turned to leave. Their footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor, leaving an empty echo on the metal floor.
The command area fell silent.
Ye Mo looked down at the screen; the frequency value was still climbing, 0.751, 0.752... He took out his notebook, drew a triangle after "B+", and added, "The increase has not decreased, and the direction is locked at 12 degrees north of east." After writing that, he closed the notebook and stuffed it into his hoodie pocket.
"When do you think it will make its move?" Captain America suddenly asked.
"I don't know." Ye Mo shook his head. "But since it dared to approach so steadily, it means either it's not afraid of being discovered, or... it simply doesn't care whether we're prepared or not."
Captain America paused for two seconds, then said in a low voice, "Let's see what 'preparedness' really means."
He walked to the table, opened the tactical board, and began to record deployment details. The pen tip scratched across the paper.
Ye Mo took off his headphones and rubbed his ears. He had been wearing them the whole time, and now his earlobes were a little hot. He pulled his hood up to block out the light from both sides, shrinking into the shadows, leaving only his eyes fixed on the screen.
He knew that all he could do now was wait.
But before that, we need to set up an early warning system.
"Hey, Emma Frost," he said.
"Speak," she said softly, her eyes closed.
"I'll define a range for you—low-frequency fluctuations between 0.7 and 0.8 Hz, that's under my jurisdiction. Whenever they appear, I'll report their location and intensity. You, use this as your target area, release Mind Stone pulses in that direction, and see if you can extract any traces of their thoughts."
Emma Frost thought for a moment, "Cross-validation?"
"Yes." Ye Mo nodded. "Physical movement + psychological intent, double insurance. If I sense something wrong, you can stop it; if you detect a phantom, I can use data to verify if it's real."
"Okay." She opened her eyes, glanced at him, and said, "That's what we'll do."
Ye Mo immediately sent a voice message on the public channel. "Attention everyone, Emma Frost and I have activated 'dual-frequency monitoring' mode. I will track the energy movement, Emma Frost will follow up with the consciousness scan. Once a matching signal is detected, report it immediately."
After speaking, he put his headphones back on, adjusted the gain settings, and lowered the threshold by 0.5 decibels. A hissing sound immediately rose up from the background noise. He patiently filtered through the noise bit by bit and finally caught a faint, almost inaudible vibration in the background noise—it was still the same frequency, 0.753 Hz.
"12 degrees north of east, within an estimated 5 kilometers, energy level B+, continuously rising." He finished speaking and pressed the send button.
A few seconds later, a very soft "beep" came from the earphones, indicating that Emma Frost had received the message.
She closed her eyes, her fingertips trembling slightly, as if sketching something in the air. After a moment, she wrote a few words on the paper, "No clear conscious activity, weak mental residue present, consistent direction." Then she folded the paper, put it in a special envelope, labeled it "For Command Group Only," and placed it on the corner of the table.
Captain America walked over, glanced at it, and without saying anything, simply marked a timestamp on the tactical board.
Time passed little by little.
The lights in the base remained green, and the wind blew even harder, whipping up pebbles that pelted the roof like a never-ending rain. Ye Mo drank half a bottle of water and ate two compressed biscuits, his eyes never leaving the screen for a second.
The frequency value jumped to 0.756.
He pressed the record button again. "Fourth round of monitoring complete. The signal continues to strengthen, but no clear hostile behavior has been identified. It is recommended to maintain level two alert and increase the frequency of nighttime patrols. I am still on duty."
After saying that, he leaned back in his chair and tapped his knee twice with his fingers—this was the secret signal he and Emma Frost had agreed upon, meaning "I'm still conscious." A few seconds later, a very soft "beep" came from the earpiece, indicating that the other party had received the message.
He sat up straight, placed his hands on his knees, and stared at the pulsating wavy line.
The wind is still blowing, the lights are still flashing, and the data is still rising.
He didn't move.
Captain America stood in front of the projected map, a highlighter in his hand, marking the blind spots of the bunkers on the wall. He had clearly marked the responsible persons for the three lines of defense: Ye Mo and Emma Frost were in charge of early warning, he would coordinate and dispatch, Bucky and Black Widow would carry out patrols.
After finishing the last stroke, he glanced back at the monitoring console.
Ye Mo huddled in the chair, his face hidden by his hood, only half of his nose and eyes showing, his fingers occasionally swiping across the tablet. Emma Frost remained seated cross-legged, eyes closed in concentration, a thin layer of sweat beading on her forehead.
He knew they were carrying the burden.
He also knew that this kind of waiting was more tiring than fighting.
But he couldn't let them stop.
"Attention all personnel." He spoke suddenly, his voice not loud, but exceptionally clear in the quiet command area. "All personnel, enter Level One alert. Short breaks are permitted, but no dismounting is allowed. Maintain communication channels and be ready to respond to any alarms."
No one answered, but everyone shifted slightly— Ye Mo adjusted his headphones, Emma Frost took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, and Captain America fastened the last button on his tactical vest.
Outside, in the direction of the eastern radar station, a faint red light flickered briefly before going out.
That was the signal that Bucky and Black Widow had finished their test.
The first line of defense is in place.