Margaret's voice reverberated through the icebound cathedral, each syllable making Elaine's blood boil.
"They were never a civilization..." Her grandmother's specter hovered above the coral altar, crystals inside her forming neural patterns. "But a disease. A genetic plague consuming the cosmos."
Holograms unfolded ancient memories—millions of years ago, a superorganism beyond human comprehension reached Earth. It came not to conquer, but to convert. It transformed oceans into genetic crucibles, breaking down and reassembling all life into its likeness.
"We built the Arks not to preserve..." Margaret's image pointed into the cathedral's depths. "But to quarantine."
The ice trembled. Elaine's contamination surged to 89%, her retinas auto-translating warnings carved inside the walls:
⚠️ BIO-CONVERSION PROGRESS: 97.8%
⚠️ FINAL SEAL INTEGRITY: 12%
Qi collapsed, sparks erupting where his mechanical arm met flesh. "The military...was deceived..." His human half grimaced. "'Purification' is the plague's release protocol...your parents are living keyholes!"
The data core projected live footage: All seven oceanic Arks activating simultaneously, their blue beams converging in the atmosphere. Elaine's parents were restrained on a Mid-Atlantic platform, their spines growing crystalline ducts that pumped genetic liquid into the sea.
The Patriarch's prism shattered, releasing a final memory—the first Harper woman standing in this same cathedral, encoding the lullaby into their bloodline. "Each firstborn daughter inherits the memory...to reboot the seal when needed..."
Elaine's chest device flashed red: [GENETIC LOCK OVERRIDE CONDITION MET—KEYBEARER SACRIFICE REQUIRED]. She suddenly understood: Harper women were never the keys to control the Arks.
They were circuit breakers.
When conversion hit 100%, they must trigger the Arks' self-destruction with their own genes.
"How long?" Elaine's vocal cords crystallized, her voice shattering like glass.
Margaret's image faded: "Before dawn..."
The ice dome exploded.
Deep Hunter submarines breached like metal sharks, the tentacled woman standing at the prow—her body now 80% crystal, her head split into petal-like jaws revealing a pulsating blue core.
"It's time, Keybearer." Her voice was a chorus of thousands. "Join the Ascension."
Elaine looked at Qi. His mechanical eye flickered with final clarity, fingers carving naval code into the ice:
· · · — — — · · · (SOS)
— · — · (TN)
· — · · · — · (REMNANT)
Take the remnant.
Elaine lunged for the coral altar. As her crystalline hands touched the core, the cathedral resonated with the Harper lullaby—
But this time, she changed the last note.