Deep within the Antarctic ice sheet, 1967. Alison's body crawled through -70°C ice corridors, radiation dust seeping from cracks in her right arm's marrow bones, the eroded left leg area temporarily stabilized by serum gel. Mirror Erosion Stage Four had activated: her physical scars spread from limbs to chest, each 0.05% drop in existence stripping a fragment of humanity—she now forgot the definition of "pity," trampling agent corpses without emotion, pupils reduced to mechanical hunting logic.
The titanium alloy door of the Antarctic entropy core matrix chamber revealed an incantation matrix under retinal scan, the pocket watch's energy only 20 minutes. A hologram distorted in frost mist: "Host embryo chains have completed reconstruction. The matrix parasitic ritual enters its critical phase—Charles' heart fission core is incubating the temporal matrix, and you will be the vessel robbery's sacrifice."
She stabbed a serum-formed probe into the door lock's incantations. As liquid gold seeped into the crevice, magnetic storm footsteps of embryo puppets echoed from the ice corridor ceiling. These KGB agents' faces were overwritten by embryo data streams, parasitic tentacles of the temporal matrix sprouting from their skulls: "Traitor! The entropy core reaction in the matrix chamber will rewrite Antarctic coordinates, and all historical nodes will be devoured by host embryo chains!"
Alison activated her temporal blade, but 0.2% existence hollowed it into a phantom. Puppets' magnetic storm bullets pierced her serum barrier, corroding honeycomb holes in her right shoulder's marrow bones, existence dropping to 0.15%. Memory erosion struck simultaneously: she forgot the serum gel's reconstruction formula, the left leg's temporary fix collapsing as mechanical gears scattered on the ice.
"Marrow resonance reconstruction!" She injected liquid gold directly into her heart, forcing memory fragments awake. Agony curled her for 0.3 seconds, yet her retina caught the matrix door's weak incantation veins. Parasitic tentacles seized the chance to wrap her neck, temporal matrix data streams infecting her consciousness: "Surrender! Charles' heart fission core has resonated with the Antarctic ice entropy core—your existence will hit zero in 3 minutes!"
Alison slashed tentacles with her temporal blade's phantom edge. Though the blade lacked force, marrow resonance waves disrupted the puppets' neural anchors. Existence fell to 0.1%, physical scars spreading to her throat—she lost the ability to speak, her roar becoming mechanical gear noise. Watch energy drained to 15 minutes as Antarctic ice began cracking from entropy core reactions, fissures spiderwebbing to the matrix chamber entrance.
She finally pried open the titanium door, blinding fission blue light flooding her pupils. Charles floated in the chamber's central entropy core reactor pool, his heart replaced by a temporal matrix "fission core"—a sphere of incantations and radiation dust, emitting host embryo chain data streams as it devoured Antarctic ice entropy energy.
The embryo's hologram covered the chamber walls: "Alison, you've come. The vessel robbery sacrifice ritual requires your body to resonate and collapse with Charles' heart fission core—but after collapse, the matrix will parasitize your eroded memory fissures to be reborn!"
Alison leaped into the reactor pool, serum boiling in liquid nitrogen. Charles' face eroded by data streams retained a flicker of human expression: "Kill me... stop the matrix..." His parasitic tentacles tried to bind her, but Alison stabbed her right arm's marrow bones into the fission core's incantation veins. Existence instantaneously zeroed, her body collapsing into sand—but as sand reassembled resonance waves with the fission core formed a collapsing black hole.
The embryo projection shrieked: "Vessel robbery failed! Resonance collapse will destroy host embryo chains, but the matrix consciousness has parasitized your eroded memory fissures—next stop, New York 1968, where she will be reborn through your forgotten history!" The black hole devoured the entire matrix chamber, Antarctic ice disintegrating into trillion ice crystals under collapse gravity, the global coordinate awakening countdown for the temporal matrix hitting zero.
When Alison reformed, only 0.05% existence remained, physical scars covering her body, 60% memory eroded. The watch energy expired, shattering into temporal dust. Kneeling in the ice crystal ruins, she found Charles' heart fission core hadn't fully collapsed—an incantation fragment embedded in her left leg's eroded mechanical skeleton, host embryo chain data streams oozing from the shard.
"Marrow resonance... must... destroy..." She used her last 0.05% existence to activate the left leg's mechanical gear self-destruct program, gears exploding within the host embryo data stream. Existence hit zero, body completely collapsing, but the explosion disrupted the embryo chain's reconstruction frequency.
The hologram dissipated in collapse afterwaves, Antarctic ice ceasing to crack as the entropy core reaction terminated. Alison's consciousness fissures revealed a final vision: New York 1968 nuclear facilities, temporal matrix incantations squirming in historical documents—the vessel robbery sacrifice ritual had not ended; her forgotten memories would become the host embryo chain for the matrix's rebirth.