同章对照

First contact started with a fight, but to mankind’s credit, the aliens shot first.

Ryan barely had the time to activate his power and push Len and the Panda down, as the mysterious intruder fired a crimson ray into the room. When time resumed, the laser had vaporized the computer’s chair and blown a molten hole in a metal wall. Mr. Wave, who could move at lightspeed, sidestepped to dodge the attack, while Sarin and Sunshine were immediately on high alert. Shroud turned invisible, as he usually did.

The creature quickly stepped into the laboratory, in all its inhuman glory. The horror was a biomechanical, humanoid abomination three meters tall, its entire body covered in crimson-orange metal armor. A strange, black biological growth taking the shape of an organic cannon covered the right arm, while the left arm’s humanoid hand had claws as sharp as knives. The armor showcased reptilian green eyes on the shoulders and the chest, while acid drooled down a fanged mouth where the stomach should have been. A cyclopean gaze peered through a green visor and a crimson helmet.

Ryan decided to call it ‘E.T.’.

“Well, I guess we’re too late for the boiled eggs,” the courier said as he rose back to his feet alongside his teammates. “We’re skipping straight to the omelet.”

“Sifu, what is this thing?!” the Panda asked in horror, though to his credit the young pandawan had already adopted a fighting pose.

“It’s them!” Nice Guy answered from inside its tank, though only Ryan understood it. “They’re back! They’re back!”

“Who cares,” Sarin said, energy building up in her gauntlets. “It struck first!”

The alien answered with a gargling, inhuman roar.

“Mr. Wave guesses you will join all his dead enemies,” the boastful genome said, his body flaring red. “Deep down the extinct species list!”

Mr. Wave turned into a laser to smash into E.T. head on. However, the creature teleported in a flash of purple light before the Carnival member could hit it. Mr. Wave continued his course into the next room, while E.T. reappeared in the middle of the laboratory. Sarin raised her gauntlets, but Sunshine interrupted her before she could strike. “Careful, you might hit the Elixirs’ containers!” he warned. “If any drop hits one of us—”

To her credit, Sarin didn’t open fire, and tried to position herself to avoid both damaging the facility and harming her teammate. Sunshine followed her lead, while the Panda and Len attempted to engage E.T. in melee. Finding the area too crowded for his usual acrobatics, Ryan attempted to encircle the creature from the side.

E.T.’s body flared with an orange glow, and both the Panda’s claws and Len’s mechanical fists phased harmlessly through the creature. Yet when the monster’s left hand reached for the Panda’s throat, it turned solid. The claws sank into the manbear’s flesh like butter, lifted him above the ground, and tossed him at Len. Shortie caught the pandawan, but both were tossed back. To Ryan’s horror, Shortie’s back impacted on Nice Guy’s biomechanical container, but to his relief, the machine was much more solid than it looked. The vat stood firm, not even showing a crack.

While the Panda quickly shifted between his bear and human form to heal his wound, the alien’s multiple eyes then started projecting a blue light that reminded Ryan of a sci-fi scanner. Each of the eyes analyzed a single member of the group, but E.T.’s visor snapped in the courier’s direction when his turn came. The courier immediately recognized the emotion within the alien’s cyclopean gaze.

Fear.

“Before you ask, I don’t have a phone,” Ryan replied, and the disappointed E.T. responded by turning red and charged at him. Though far larger than the time-traveler, the alien moved at a speed almost too fast for the eye to follow. Ryan barely had the time to activate his time-stop before the monster’s left claw reached out for his head.

And they kept going.

Ryan watched on as the claws slowly moved closer to him inch by inch, so slow the movement was almost imperceptible. The alien’s ocular organs glanced around them in slow motion, keeping an eye on the thin cracks that Ryan’s Black Flux particles ripped into the fabric of spacetime.

Damn it, could everyone move inside Ryan’s private time now? He should charge them for the privilege!

Though thankfully the alien couldn’t move very fast, unlike Lightning Butt. Ryan pivoted on the creature’s flank, aimed in the direction opposite to the Elixirs’ vats, and activated his armor’s chest weapon at point-blank range. A gravity projectile rushed at E.T. when time resumed, hitting it in the chest.

Ryan had seen that device blow a hole in Mechron’s bunker, but it failed to even damage the alien’s biomechanical suit. It only pushed E.T. back a few meters into one of the lab’s corners, the monster’s armored feet anchoring themselves into the metal ground.

“My homo sapiens will kick your pseudopod!” Nice Guy shouted through the telepathic link. The ‘my’ part made Ryan shudder, but he focused on the fight ahead. “Right between the globules!”

Shroud chose this moment to reveal himself, flying right above the alien. Using his glass armor’s extra mass, the vigilante manifested thick bindings keeping the surprised E.T. restrained. “Now!” he shouted.

Now their line of fire was clear, both Sarin and Sunshine struck right as Shroud retreated. The cornered E.T. took a blast of solar plasma and a powerful shockwave to the face.

Or it should have, if it hadn’t manifested a white, rounded energy field right before the impact. The protection took the appearance of a small sphere around the alien’s armor, and canceled the attacks the moment they hit it. Solar flares and red shockwaves were instantly canceled, while Shroud’s glass restraints turned to harmless glass dust.

White Flux. The creature could use a variant of Cancel’s power.

Ryan almost activated his power, but decided against it. If that shield allowed the monster to move at normal speed inside his time anomaly, then it would massacre his allies. At least E.T. had stopped moving while it kept the shield up, its multiple eyes glancing in all directions.

“I can’t feel my glass inside that shield!” Shroud shouted as Len and the Panda joined him, the group surrounding the alien from all sides.

“White Genome!” Leo shouted, while Mr. Wave returned to the laboratory, ready for round two. Neither Sunshine nor Sarin had interrupted their barrage though, keeping the creature pinned to its corner. Perhaps they hoped to short-circuit the shield too. “Don’t enter its range.”

“It’s not a host!” Nice Guy protested. Though nobody but Ryan could understand what the trapped Elixir said, it could clearly hear what the group said. “It stole our energies and bottled them up!”

“So it has a limited supply?” Ryan guessed, preparing to open fire with his gravity gun. The creature exhausted Flux the way a car used oil, which meant it could run out of juice. “Keep going!”

The courier opened fire with his chest weapon, while Len did the same with a jet of pressurized water. Neither projectiles used powers to work, so they bypassed the white Flux shield.

However, E.T. responded by collapsing its white shield and teleporting away before any attack could connect. “Above!” Shroudy shouted out a warning, as the monster reappeared above their heads. Its feet clung to the ceiling like Spider-man.

The alien raised its organic, right hand cannon. The weapon shifted to reveal a dozen mouths on all sides, each spitting out a spiked, green seed.

The group dispersed in all directions to avoid the barrage, even the Living Sun. He was wise enough not to take an unnecessary risk, and right to do so. When the projectiles hit the ground, their spikes immediately expanded into fanged roots capable of shredding through the steel. One landed among the Wonderboxes, and to Ryan’s horror, it seemed to gorge itself on the Elixirs. That particular seed started to grow unnaturally large at a nightmarish speed, forcing Leo to immediately incinerate the plant before it could overtake the room.

E.T. continued its onslaught, forcing the group to disperse. Much like he saved Ryan during his first loops, Mr. Wave used his astonishing speed to move the slower members of the group to safety. Ryan and Shroud both took flight and attempted to hit the alien from both sides.

The creature responded by teleporting again, this time walking on the surface of Nice Guy’s vat. E.T. must have noticed the group’s unwillingness to damage the room’s equipment, and now using its position as a defense while it continued its bombardment. The alien’s chest-mouth gargled, and Ryan realized the creature was talking.

“What does it say?” Sarin asked, repelling a seed by creating a weak shockwave around her entire body.

“I think—” The Panda squealed as he barely managed to dodge an organic projectile, his power allowing him to grab the basics of the alien’s language. “I think it said ‘peace among the stars’!”

Ah, so the ‘kill everyone who resists’ kind of peace. Wonderful. While Ryan’s experience with the Elixirs had taught him most extraterrestrial creatures were benign, the courier guessed they had just met one of the rotten apples.

The courier charged with his armor, deciding to engage E.T. in close combat.

In response, the alien stopped its onslaught, an orange hue spreading through its armor. When it receded, the suit had changed color. From the plates of crimson to the visor, all parts of the armor had turned into ivory.

Into adamantine.

The creature could change its armor’s material on a molecular level, even into something indestructible.

Yet in this case, that was a mistake. The alien arrogantly leaped on the ground, hand raised to engage Ryan in close combat. Its adamantine claws could tear the Saturn armor apart like butter.

“Don’t!” Mr. Wave warned, attempting to prevent a close encounter by ramming into E.T. himself. But the extraterrestrial thing didn’t even register his presence, the living laser bouncing off its indestructible armor like a tennis ball on a wall. The alien charged at the courier with mechanical determination.

When Ryan was within a few inches of the alien, he froze time and punched it in the helmet. E.T. didn’t even attempt to dodge, as arrogantly confident in its invulnerability as Lightning Butt. Its adamantine armor allowed it to move normally in the stopped time, but its foe had centuries of experience under his belt.

Ryan lowered his head to dodge E.T.’s claws, while his fist smashed the alien’s visor. A crack spread on the ivory metal… and black particles slipped inside.

The alien let out a burst of multi-colored energy in the stopped time, sending Ryan stumbling backward. The creature screeched when the clock resumed, scratching its helmet in panic.

“Nerd, what did you do?!” Sarin snarled, creeped out by the scene. She unleashed a shockwave at E.T., but the attack had no more effect than a breeze against the creature’s indestructible body.

Ryan took a step back, as E.T.’s high-pitched screams only increased in intensity. Black lines appeared all over the armor’s surface, revealing nearly invisible circuits surging with Flux. The courier noticed streaks of white, red, blue, and all the other colors of the Elixir rainbow.

All of them were quickly turning black.

Black’s essence was paradox, a destabilizing influence, and the alien’s armor seemed to use the core seven colors in tandem. A perfect union which Ryan had disrupted.

“I think I caused an oil spill,” the courier admitted sheepishly.

E.T. let out an abominable scream as its eyes all turned black, and a sphere of darkness appeared inside its maw. Gravity collapsed around it, cutting the monster in half and dragging both parts into the tiny black hole. The Black Flux devoured the alien from within.

“Riri, get doooow—” Len rushed to her best friend’s side, but her movements slowed down, her sentence left hanging. Though the world around Ryan hadn’t turned purple, everything had frozen in place. Sunshine flames consumed the seeds without ever finishing the job; Shroud gave a hand to Mr. Wave, but their fingers never reached one another; Sarin’s gauntlets shone with red energy, while the Panda’s head peeked from behind the room’s computer. Even the alien’s body remained trapped between the two seconds, its body perpetually devoured by the black hole at its core. Tiny cracks in the fabric of spacetime spread around it.

Everything had stopped except for the Elixirs, which still swirled inside their containers, and Ryan himself. The courier looked around himself, but his body neither produced violet nor black particles. No phantom of the past pursued him.

This space-time anomaly was unrelated to his power, and it frightened him.

“Gee, did I accidentally break time?” Ryan asked, before glancing at the trapped Elixirs. He focused on the violet one. “Any idea how to fix this?”

To his surprise, the Violet Elixir answered with a telepathic message of its own. “Are you a homo sapiens?” it asked, hopeful.

Ryan sighed. “No, I’m a platypus.”

“Oh. I am sad.” Apparently, though they could understand the human tongue, sarcasm was still beyond an Elixir’s power. “The Black does as it wills.”

Of course it did. Ryan approached the black hole, in case he could close it the same way he had once opened a gate to the Black World.

“My friend.”

Though it echoed in Ryan’s mind, the voice didn’t belong to Nice Guy, or the Violet Elixir. The courier could have recognized it among any other.

Ryan peeked into the black hole, a speck of darkness no bigger than a finger. It was no bottomless pit, but a door. A portal to a familiar place.

“Darkling?” Ryan called out into the void.

And it answered, with what could pass for psychic frustration.

“My name… is not Darkling.”

“Yes it is,” Ryan replied, though he let out a breath of relief. “I’m glad to hear from you too, my alien minority friend.”

“We have little time…” the alien warned, going straight to business. “When the Black Flux has finished consuming this creature’s Flux reserves… the door will collapse and time will resume… I cannot talk to you for long.”

Ryan let out a sigh of relief, thankful he wouldn’t need to reload to put time back on track. “How is it even possible?” he asked. “We needed a particle accelerator to open a portal last time.”

“Spacetime in this metal prison is… irregular. Thin. I believe it was meant to be… to open doors to the higher realms.” And as it was often the case with would-be summoners, Eva Fabre had probably summoned something she couldn’t put down. That would also explain why Ryan’s Black Flux particles had such an easy time destabilizing the pocket dimension. “I have observed this place from the Black World… where time holds no sway. From this portal, I have seen the past… and the present… I watched… and I learned.”

“Can you tell me what this place is?” Ryan asked, glancing at the facility.

“Once there was an empire… in another universe… that established contact with the higher realms…” Darkling struggled to find the words. Though it had spent quite a lot of time around Ryan, he still had trouble with human concepts. “They learned to use Flux to fuel their technology… before trying to enslave my kindred to ascend by force… after the Ultimate Ones brought them low, they fled here... to your universe.”

Remembering Bacchus’ story, Ryan put the two and two together. “The Alchemist found this ship after it crashed,” he muttered to himself. “She used their technology to create Genomes, so we could have a fighting chance, if these creatures went after us.”

“Yes but… she was wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have asked the Black Ultimate One for answers… the empire that built this ship collapsed many decades ago… overthrown by their slaves… nothing remains.” Darkling marked a short pause, its words heavy. “No invasion is coming… nor even a rescue. This ship is... all that is left.”

Ryan observed the armored warrior, the black hole slowly consuming its edges while leaving the courier unscathed. “It’s a Japanese holdout,” the courier whispered. “They’re still fighting a war they lost long ago.”

“What is a… Japanese?”

“A husbando, or a waifu.”

Darkling didn’t answer immediately. “Whatever… an ember can still spark a fire if left unchecked… this Alchemist had the opportunity to destroy this place once and for all… as you plan to do with the machines’ base in that city of yours.”

“But she didn’t.” Eva Fabre tried to give humans superpowers instead, to fight against whatever extraterrestrial entity might reach Earth. But if Darkling was correct, then she had been crusading against windmills.

Universal master race…

Eva Fabre had learned of these aliens’ history, but instead of taking it as the cautionary tale that it was, she repeated their mistakes all over again. She tried to make mankind this extraterrestrial’s successors, to give humans the power to conquer the cosmos.

And instead of supermen, she had created the likes of Mechron, Bloodstream, and Augustus. Or maybe she just didn’t care. She had to have known about the Psycho condition before releasing the Elixirs in the wild.

“She could not resist the lure of its power… she summoned creatures from the higher realms… tried to harvest the technology of the slumbering soldiers…”

“But something went wrong. Test subjects escaped, and she lost control of that facility.”

“She has retreated deep into the ship… if the last soldiers escape this place… they will bring great destruction to your civilization… they can replicate even the most powerful of your powers. All of them… but the Black.”

Ryan shivered, as he realized that the creature they fought hadn’t been a boss.

It had been a grunt.

“They are vengeful ghosts... They must rest.”

“But if the Ultimate Ones brought that empire low, why don’t they finish the job?” Ryan asked. “The Violet One knew about this place, since it sent me visions. Why doesn’t it take direct action?”

“It did,” Darkling pointed out. “It sent you.”

Ryan froze, as everything suddenly fell into place.

The Violet Ultimate One had sent the courier visions, and used messages to guide him into transporting minds across time. The interdimensional entity never intervened directly, but it gave hints, or what could pass as such for a trans-dimensional entity.

All to nudge Ryan into being at the right place at the right time.

“I understand now,” the courier said, frowning behind his helmet. “It sent me this vision, so I may make my own decision. A human sparked this disaster, and a human must end it.”

“Yes… you can bring down this place... now and across all timelines. The decision of what to do… is all yours.”

In the end, this ship was no different from a Mechron base. “How do I destroy it?” Ryan asked, entirely serious.

“This ship has a control center… a mind… find it. I believe a way might reveal itself then.” Darkling let out a strange feeling through the telepathic bond, which Ryan took for an attempt at reassurance. “We Elixirs communicate with each other using Flux… you spent so long bound to your messenger… and made contact with the Ultimate Ones.”

Ryan turned his head at the captive Elixirs. All of them had grown quiet, perhaps eavesdropping on the discussion. “So I picked up the language?”

“Yes… out of all humans on this Earth, you alone are closest to ascension. Direct communication with you is… difficult… but possible. In time others will learn too… this will make you compatible with the technology… but she might fight back.”

Might? More like will, from what Ryan had seen so far. The Alchemist wouldn’t let that treasure trove of technology go.

Unfortunately, time was running out. The courier already noticed movement returning at the edge of his vision, more parts of the armor being absorbed into the portal. “Thanks, my friend.”

“Good luck…” Darkling said, the hole collapsing on itself. “I wish… I could help more.”

“You already did more than enough.”

Ryan expected a bright explosion, but the spacetime anomaly ended with a whimper instead. The alien’s entire being collapsed into the dark hole, which dissipated right as time fully resumed.

“—own!” Len finished her sentence, but her hand froze in midair before it could touch Ryan’s shoulder. Of the alien warrior, not even dust remained.

After a short silence and no further attack, the Genomes regrouped. Sunshine had finished incinerating the seeds, and though the Wonderboxes and walls had taken heavy damage, most of the facility remained intact.

“Is it gone?” Shroud asked, floating above the spot where the alien used to stand. “Or did it teleport away?”

“It’s gone,” Ryan replied, glancing at the corridor leading to the next room. “And I know what to do.”

His teammates must have noticed his serious tone, before Shroud looked at him warily. “Go on,” he asked.

“You played Metroid,” Ryan reminded his friend. “If so, then you should know it can only end up one way.”

With one big explosion.

第一次接触以交火开场，不过替人类说句公道话，是外星人先开的枪。

神秘的闯入者朝室内射出一道深红色光束，瑞恩只来得及发动能力，把蕾恩和熊猫扑倒。时间恢复流动时，激光已将电脑前的椅子汽化，在金属墙壁上熔出了一个窟窿。能以光速移动的波动先生侧身躲过攻击，沙林和阳光立刻进入高度戒备。裹尸布则一如既往，隐去了身形。

那生物迅速踏进实验室，非人的可怖模样一览无余。这头生物机械构成的人形怪物足有三米高，全身覆盖着深红与橙色相间的金属装甲。右臂包裹着奇异的黑色生物增生物，形如一门有机炮；左臂的手形似人手，却长着刀刃般锋利的爪子。装甲的肩部和胸口嵌着爬行动物般的绿色眼睛，本该是腹部的地方却长着一张獠牙巨口，酸液从嘴里滴落。一只独眼透过深红色头盔上的绿色面罩，向外窥视。

瑞恩决定叫它“E.T.”。

“好吧，看来煮蛋是赶不上了。”快递员和队友们一起站起身，“直接做煎蛋卷吧。”

“师父，这是什么东西？！”熊猫惊恐地问。不过值得表扬的是，这位年轻的熊猫学徒已经摆好了战斗架势。

“是它们！”好人先生在培养罐里回答，尽管只有瑞恩听得懂。“它们回来了！它们回来了！”

“管它是什么，”沙林说，能量在手甲里积聚，“它先动的手！”

外星人用一声咕噜作响的非人咆哮作答。

“波动先生估计，你也得去陪他那些死掉的敌人了。”这位爱吹嘘的基因者全身红光大作，“统统躺进灭绝物种名单最底下！”

波动先生化作一道激光，迎面撞向E.T.。然而，还没等这位嘉年华成员击中目标，怪物就在一道紫光中传送走了。波动先生沿原路冲进下一个房间，E.T.则重新出现在实验室中央。沙林举起手甲，阳光却在她出手前拦住了她。“小心，你可能会打中灵药容器！”他警告道，“哪怕有一滴溅到我们谁身上——”

值得称赞的是，沙林没有开火，而是试着调整站位，以免损坏设施或误伤队友。阳光也跟着移动，熊猫和蕾恩则试图与E.T.展开近战。这里太挤，施展不开瑞恩惯用的那些花式动作，于是他试着从侧面包抄过去。

E.T.浑身亮起橙光，熊猫的利爪和蕾恩的机械拳头全都穿过了它的身体，没能造成任何伤害。然而，当怪物伸出左手去抓熊猫的喉咙时，那只手却变回了实体。利爪像切黄油一样轻易刺入熊人的皮肉，将他提离地面，再甩向蕾恩。小矮个接住了熊猫学徒，两人却一同被撞飞了出去。瑞恩惊恐地看着小矮个的后背撞上好人先生的生物机械容器，所幸那机器远比看起来结实。培养罐纹丝不动，连道裂纹都没有。

熊猫迅速在熊形与人形之间切换，愈合伤口。与此同时，外星人的多只眼睛开始投射出蓝光，让瑞恩想起了科幻片里的扫描仪。每只眼睛都在分析小队中的一个成员，但轮到快递员时，E.T.的面罩猛然转向了他。瑞恩立刻认出了那只独眼中的情绪。

恐惧。

“先别问，我没带电话。”瑞恩答道。失望的E.T.以全身变红、直扑他而来的方式作了回应。尽管块头远大于这位时间旅行者，外星人的动作却快得几乎无法用肉眼捕捉。怪物的左爪直取瑞恩头颅，他险险赶在被抓中前暂停了时间。

可那些利爪仍在前进。

瑞恩眼看着爪子一寸寸向自己靠近，慢得几乎察觉不出动作。外星人的那些视觉器官也在缓缓扫视四周，盯着瑞恩的黑色通量粒子在时空结构上撕出的细微裂缝。

妈的，现在谁都能在瑞恩的私人时间里活动了？这待遇就该收费！

不过谢天谢地，这外星人不像闪电屁股，行动快不起来。瑞恩转到怪物侧翼，朝背离灵药培养罐的方向瞄准，贴身启动了装甲胸口的武器。时间恢复流动，一发重力弹直扑E.T.，击中了它的胸膛。

瑞恩亲眼见过这武器在梅克隆的地堡上轰出一个窟窿，但它竟连外星人的生物机械装甲都伤不了。它只是将E.T.向后推了几米，推到了实验室的一角。怪物披甲的双脚牢牢扎进了金属地板。

“我家智人会踢爆你的伪足！”好人先生通过心灵感应连接大喊。“我家”二字让瑞恩一哆嗦，但他还是把注意力集中在眼前的战斗上。“就踢你两颗球粒中间！”

裹尸布选在此时现身，飞到了外星人正上方。这位义警利用玻璃装甲多余的质量，变出了粗厚的束缚带，捆住了猝不及防的E.T.。“就是现在！”他喊道。

射界终于畅通，裹尸布刚一撤离，沙林和阳光便同时出手。被堵在角落的E.T.迎面挨上了一道太阳等离子流和一记强劲的冲击波。

本来该是这样的——如果它没有在命中前的最后一刻撑起一道白色球形能量场的话。护罩在外星人的装甲周围形成了一个小球，攻击碰到它的瞬间就被抵消。太阳耀斑和红色冲击波即刻消失，裹尸布的玻璃束缚带也化作了无害的玻璃粉尘。

白色通量。这生物能使用消除者能力的某种变体。

瑞恩差点发动能力，最终还是打消了念头。倘若那面护盾能让怪物在他的时间异常中以正常速度移动，它就能屠杀他的同伴。至少E.T.在维持护盾时停下了脚步，只有那些眼睛还在四下张望。

“我感应不到护盾里面的玻璃了！”裹尸布高喊。蕾恩和熊猫赶到他身边，众人从四面围住了外星人。

“白系基因者！”利奥喊道。波动先生也回到了实验室，准备再打一轮。不过阳光和沙林都没停火，持续的轰击将怪物牢牢压制在角落里。或许他们也指望能让护盾过载。“别进它的范围。”

“它不是宿主！”好人先生抗议道。虽然除了瑞恩，谁也听不懂被困灵药的话，它却显然听得见众人说话。“它偷走了我们的能量，把能量装了起来！”

“所以它的储量有限？”瑞恩猜测着，准备发射重力枪。这生物消耗通量，就像汽车烧油，也就是说，它有耗尽燃料的时候。“继续打！”

快递员用胸口的武器开火，蕾恩也射出了一道高压水流。这两种攻击都不靠异能起效，因此穿过了白色通量护盾。

然而，E.T.撤掉白色护盾，在攻击命中之前传送走了。“上面！”裹裹高声示警，怪物重新出现在众人头顶。它的双脚像蜘蛛侠一样黏在天花板上。

外星人举起了右手上的有机炮。武器变形，四面露出十几张嘴，每张嘴都吐出了一颗长满尖刺的绿色种子。

众人四散躲避齐射，就连活体太阳也不例外。他明智地没有冒无谓的风险，事实也证明他做对了。那些弹丸一落地，尖刺便立刻延展成了长满獠牙的根须，足以撕碎钢铁。其中一颗落在奇迹盒堆里，瑞恩惊恐地发现，它似乎正在狂吞灵药。那颗种子以噩梦般的速度疯狂膨胀，利奥不得不立刻将它烧毁，免得它蔓延到整个房间。

E.T.继续猛攻，迫使小队分散开来。就像在最初几轮循环中救下瑞恩时那样，波动先生凭借惊人的速度，把队里行动较慢的人转移到安全地带。瑞恩和裹尸布双双飞起，试图从两侧夹击外星人。

怪物再次传送，这回落在了好人先生的培养罐表面，在上面行走。E.T.肯定已经发现众人不愿损坏房间里的设备，如今便借这个位置作掩护，继续轰炸。外星人胸口的嘴里传出咕噜声，瑞恩这才意识到，它在说话。

“它说什么？”沙林问，同时在全身周围释放了一道较弱的冲击波，将一颗种子弹开。

“我想——”熊猫险险躲过一发有机弹丸，吓得尖叫了一声。他的能力让他初步掌握了外星人的语言。“我想它说的是‘群星间的和平’！”

啊，原来是“杀光所有反抗者”那种和平。棒极了。虽然瑞恩与灵药打交道的经历告诉他，大部分外星生物都是友善的，但快递员猜，他们这回是遇上害群之马了。

快递员驾着装甲发起冲锋，决定和E.T.贴身肉搏。

外星人随即停止了轰炸，一层橙色光晕蔓延至全身装甲。光晕褪去时，装甲已经变了颜色。从深红色甲片到面罩，每个部位都变成了象牙色。

变成了精金。

这生物能在分子层面改变装甲的材质，甚至把它变得坚不可摧。

可这一次，它犯了个错误。外星人傲慢地跃到地上，举起手，准备与瑞恩近身厮杀。它的精金利爪足以像切黄油一样撕开萨图恩装甲。

“别！”波动先生警告道，试图亲自撞向E.T.，阻止这场近身交锋。但这外星怪物甚至没把他当回事，活体激光从它坚不可摧的装甲上弹开，如同网球撞上墙壁。外星人以机械般的坚决，冲向快递员。

与外星人相距不过几英寸时，瑞恩暂停时间，一拳轰向它的头盔。E.T.甚至没想过躲闪，和闪电屁股一样，傲慢地笃信自己的无敌之身。精金装甲让它能在暂停的时间里正常行动，可它的对手有几百年的经验。

瑞恩低头避开E.T.的利爪，同时一拳砸中了它的面罩。象牙色金属上绽开了一道裂纹……黑色粒子钻了进去。

外星人在暂停的时间里爆发出一股多彩能量，将瑞恩震得踉跄后退。时钟重新走动时，怪物发出尖啸，惊慌失措地抓挠自己的头盔。

“书呆子，你干了什么？！”沙林被这景象弄得毛骨悚然，厉声问道。她朝E.T.轰出一道冲击波，可攻击打在怪物坚不可摧的身体上，效果和微风拂过没什么两样。

E.T.的尖叫声愈发凄厉，瑞恩后退了一步。装甲表面到处浮现出黑线，显露出原本几乎看不见、正奔涌着通量的回路。快递员看见了一道道白色、红色、蓝色，还有灵药彩虹中的其他所有颜色。

它们全都在迅速变黑。

黑色的本质是悖论，是破坏稳定的力量，而外星人的装甲似乎在协同运用七种基本颜色。一个完美的整体，被瑞恩破坏了。

“我好像搞出了一场漏油事故。”快递员有些心虚地承认。

E.T.发出一声骇人的惨叫，所有眼睛都变成了黑色，巨口中出现了一颗黑暗球体。它周围的引力塌陷了，将怪物截成两半，再把两截身体都拖进那小小的黑洞。黑色通量从内部吞噬着外星人。

“瑞瑞，趴——”蕾恩冲向最好的朋友，动作却慢了下来，话语悬在半途。瑞恩周围的世界并没有变成紫色，但一切都定在了原地。阳光的火焰吞噬着种子，却永远烧不完；裹尸布伸手去拉波动先生，两人的指尖却始终无法相触；沙林的手甲闪耀着红色能量，熊猫则从房间里的电脑后探出脑袋。就连外星人的身体也卡在了两秒之间，被核心处的黑洞永无止境地吞噬。时空结构上的细小裂缝在它周围蔓延开来。

一切都停了，只有灵药还在各自的容器里旋动，瑞恩也依然能够行动。快递员环顾四周，自己的身体既没有产生紫色粒子，也没有产生黑色粒子。没有过去的幻影在追逐他。

这场时空异常与他的能力无关，这让他感到了恐惧。

“哎呀，我是不是不小心把时间弄坏了？”瑞恩问着，看向那些被困的灵药。他将注意力集中在紫色的那一罐上。“知道怎么修吗？”

出乎意料，紫色灵药也用心灵感应作了回答。“你是智人吗？”它满怀期待地问。

瑞恩叹了口气。“不，我是鸭嘴兽。”

“哦。我很难过。”看来灵药虽然听得懂人类的语言，讽刺却仍在其能力范围之外。“黑色随心所欲。”

那是当然。瑞恩朝黑洞走去，想试试能不能用当初打开黑色世界之门的办法，把它关上。

“我的朋友。”

那声音虽然在瑞恩脑海中回荡，却既不属于好人先生，也不属于紫色灵药。无论混在多少声音里，快递员都能认出它。

瑞恩朝黑洞内窥去。那一点黑暗还没有手指大。它不是无底深渊，而是一扇门。一扇通往熟悉之地的传送门。

“暗灵？”瑞恩朝虚空中喊道。

对方回答了，心灵中传来的情绪大概可以叫作气恼。

“我的名字……不叫暗灵。”

“就叫暗灵。”瑞恩答道，不过还是松了一口气。“我也很高兴听到你的声音，我的外星少数族裔朋友。”

“我们的时间不多……”外星生物提醒他，直奔正题。“等黑色通量吞尽这生物储存的通量……门就会崩塌，时间也会恢复流动……我不能和你谈太久。”

瑞恩如释重负地叹了口气，庆幸自己不用读档就能让时间重回正轨。“这怎么可能？”他问，“上次我们可是用了一台粒子加速器才打开传送门。”

“这座金属牢笼里的时空……不规则。很薄。我想，这是有意为之……为了打开通往更高领域的门。”而那些妄想召唤异界存在的人往往都会犯同样的错：伊娃·法布尔恐怕召来了自己无法制服的东西。这也能解释为什么瑞恩的黑色通量粒子如此轻易就能破坏这个口袋维度的稳定。“我一直从黑色世界观察这里……在那里，时间不起作用。透过这扇门，我看到了过去……也看到了现在……我观察……也有所领悟。”

“你能告诉我这是什么地方吗？”瑞恩扫视着这座设施，问道。

“曾经有一个帝国……在另一个宇宙……与更高领域建立了联系……”暗灵艰难地寻找合适的措辞。虽然和瑞恩相处了相当长一段时间，它理解起人类的概念来依然有些困难。“它们学会了用通量驱动科技……随后又试图奴役我的同族，强行飞升……终极者将它们击溃后，它们逃到了这里……你们的宇宙。”

想起巴克斯的故事，瑞恩把线索串了起来。“炼金术师在这艘船坠毁后发现了它。”他喃喃自语，“她利用它们的技术创造基因者，这样一来，万一这些生物来对付我们，我们也有一战之力。”

“是的，可是……她错了。”

“什么意思？”

“我向黑色终极者寻求了答案……建造这艘船的帝国，几十年前就已崩溃……被它们的奴隶推翻……什么都没有留下。”暗灵稍作停顿，话语沉重。“不会有入侵……甚至不会有救援。这艘船……就是仅存的一切。”

瑞恩注视着那名披甲战士。黑洞正从边缘开始慢慢吞噬它，却让快递员毫发无伤。“这是个拒不投降的日本兵。”快递员低声说，“它们还在打一场早就输掉的战争。”

“日本人……是什么？”

“二次元老公，或者二次元老婆。”

暗灵没有立刻回答。“随便吧……余烬若不加遏制，依然能燃起大火……这位炼金术师本来有机会彻底摧毁这里……就像你打算摧毁你那座城市里的机器基地一样。”

“但她没那么做。”伊娃·法布尔反而试图赋予人类超能力，好对抗任何可能降临地球的外星存在。然而，如果暗灵说得对，她一直以来不过是在跟风车作战。

宇宙的优等种族……

伊娃·法布尔了解了这些外星人的历史，却没有将它当作应有的警示，反而将它们的错误从头到尾重犯了一遍。她想让人类成为这些外星人的继承者，赋予人类征服宇宙的力量。

可她没有造就超人，造出来的却是梅克隆、血流和奥古斯都之流。也许她根本就不在乎。在把灵药投放到外界之前，她必然已经知道了疯魔的存在。

“她抵挡不住那力量的诱惑……她从更高领域召来生物……试图从沉睡的士兵身上获取技术……”

“可事情出了岔子。实验对象逃了出来，她失去了对这座设施的控制。”

“她已经退到了飞船深处……如果最后这些士兵逃出这里……就会给你们的文明带来巨大的毁灭……即便是你们最强大的能力，它们也能复制。所有能力……除了黑色。”

瑞恩不由得打了个寒战。他意识到，他们刚才对付的生物并不是头目。

它只是个杂兵。

“它们是复仇的亡魂……必须让它们安息。”

“可既然是终极者击垮了那个帝国，它们为什么不把事情做完？”瑞恩问，“紫色终极者知道这个地方，它还给我发过幻象。为什么不直接行动？”

“它行动了。”暗灵指出。“它派来了你。”

瑞恩愣住了。一切突然都说得通了。

紫色终极者给快递员发来幻象，又用讯息引导他跨越时间传送意识。这个跨维度的存在从未直接干涉，却给出了提示——或者说，给出了在超越维度的存在看来算得上提示的东西。

这一切，都是为了推动瑞恩在正确的时间，来到正确的地点。

“我现在明白了。”快递员在头盔后皱起眉，“它让我看见这个幻象，是为了让我自己作决定。一个人类引发了这场灾难，也必须由一个人类来终结它。”

“是的……你能摧毁这里……此刻，以及所有时间线上的这里。究竟该怎么做……完全由你决定。”

说到底，这艘船和梅克隆的基地没什么不同。“怎么摧毁它？”瑞恩无比认真地问。

“这艘船有一个控制中枢……一个心智……找到它。我想，到时候办法就会显现。”暗灵通过心灵感应连接传来一种奇异的感觉，瑞恩认为它是在试着安慰自己。“我们灵药靠通量彼此交流……你与你的使者结合了那么久……还与终极者有过接触。”

瑞恩转头看向那些被困的灵药。它们全都安静了下来，或许在偷听这场对话。“所以我就这么学会了你们的语言？”

“是的……这颗地球上的所有人类中，唯有你最接近升格。与你直接交流……很困难……但并非不可能。假以时日，其他人也会学会……这会让你与这套技术兼容……不过，她可能会反抗。”

可能？从瑞恩目前所见来看，应该说一定会才对。炼金术师绝不会放手，让这座科技宝库溜走。

可惜，时间快到了。快递员已经注意到，视野边缘又有了动静，装甲的更多部位正在被吸入传送门。“谢谢，我的朋友。”

“祝你好运……”暗灵说，洞口向内坍缩。“我真希望……自己能帮上更多忙。”

“你帮的已经远远够多了。”

瑞恩本以为会有一场耀眼的爆炸，这场时空异常却悄无声息地收了场。外星人的整个身躯坍缩进那黑洞，时间完全恢复流动的一刻，黑洞也消散了。

“——下！”蕾恩终于喊完了那句话，可手还没碰到瑞恩的肩膀，便僵在了半空。那名外星战士连一粒尘埃都没留下。

短暂的寂静过后，没有新的袭击到来，基因者们重新聚到一起。阳光已经烧光了种子，奇迹盒和墙壁虽然损毁严重，设施的大部分却仍然完好。

“它没了？”裹尸布浮在外星人刚才站立的位置上方，问道，“还是传送走了？”

“它没了。”瑞恩望向通往下一个房间的走廊，答道，“而且我知道该怎么做了。”

队友们想必都听出了他语气里的严肃。裹尸布警惕地看向他。“说说看。”

“你玩过《密特罗德》。”瑞恩提醒朋友，“既然如此，你就该知道，这事只能有一种收场方式。”

一场大爆炸。