Deep underground, warning lights flashed in crimson arcs, painting the chamber in shifting shadows.
Dr. Tian Wei stood before the PEC1R, his chest tight. Thirty-four years old… and already worn thin. One thousand, two hundred, and forty-seven days—all poured into this project. His bio-lenses streamed data across his vision, numbers confirming what he already feared.
Attempt 588: Failure.
The cavern shook faintly with the hum of machines. Neo-Singapore was five hundred meters above, but down here, the world felt buried beneath steel and silence. On the walls, glowing signs flickered in every language:
QUANTUM ISOLATION ZONE — LEVEL 9 CLEARANCE.
It was less a warning, more a curse.
To his left, Elena Vasquez narrowed her eyes at a shimmering hologram. Molecular structures floated before her like glass beads, and her fingers pushed them into place with steady precision. The coherence levels climbed—89.1%. Close, but still out of reach. Her lips pressed thin.
To his right, Kai Chen's hands moved quickly, every keystroke echoing like the rhythm of a pianist at the peak of a performance. The power output was climbing. Too fast.
Behind them, Amara Okafor sat cross-legged, still as a statue. A silver crown of sensors pulsed faint light around her head. Streams of data stabbed into her mind like lightning, but her expression never wavered. Calm. Focused.
"Initiating particle entanglement," Kai said, voice steady, though a bead of sweat slipped down his cheek.
The PEC1R's iris split open.
A sphere of dark matter hung suspended within the chamber, swirling like a black sun chained in light. Sparks danced across its surface, flickering in unstable rhythm.
Tian's pulse quickened. His adaptive suit cooled his skin, but his blood burned hotter than fire.
"Power climbing. Zero-point-seven terawatts… rising fast," Elena warned.
For one fleeting second, the impossible seemed within reach. The particles aligned. The sphere sang with harmony. It was beautiful—like the birth of a new star.
Tian's breath caught. This is it.
Then—
A violent flash split the chamber.
White light swallowed the room. Circuits screamed as sparks rained down. The smell of ozone filled their lungs, sharp and suffocating.
"EXPERIMENT FAILED. QUANTUM DECOHERENCE DETECTED."
The mechanical voice echoed cold and merciless. Coherence plunged from 97.3% to 12% in a heartbeat.
Elena's hands fell limp at her sides.
Kai slammed the emergency cutoffs, teeth gritted.
Amara gasped as her neural crown flickered and died, her body lurching forward like a puppet with its strings severed.
On the wall, the words glowed like a curse:
ATTEMPT 589: FAILED.
Time: 03:47 AM.
Day: 1,247.
Tian removed his goggles slowly. His dark eyes trembled as he stared at the fading sparks. His lips moved, a whisper barely audible:
"Five hundred and eighty-nine failures… What are we missing?"
No one answered.
Only the machines spoke—the quiet hum, the dying crackle of burnt circuits.
Yet inside Tian's chest, his heartbeat stayed steady. Exhaustion weighed on him, but a fire still burned.
Attempt 590.
It was already waiting in tomorrow's shadows.