Episode 3: The Interstellar Compass Buried in Methane Frost

Episode 3: Interstellar Compass Buried in Methane Frost The steep, sharp, granite waters of the Tenzing Mountains - As I climbed the ice ridge to a height of 2,000 meters above sea level, the surrounding landscape was transformed into a strange and mysterious underground cave world of turquoise gems, completely different from the pure white nitrogen sea of ​​the Sputnik Plain. In every crevice of the 500-meter-deep basin fault cliff, which was formed hundreds of millions of years ago by the collision of a giant dwarf planet, pure methane gas, hardened in the absolute cold of -235 degrees Celsius, grew densely, forming sharp crystal icicles.

From the ceiling, ice stalactites made of a mixture of carbon monoxide and nitrogen that hardened like blue glass hung upside down, and on the floor, a forest of huge emerald-colored ice stalagmites several meters high formed a forest. Methane frost, which received the faint white rays of the distant sun and the pale reflection of the huge satellite Charon, was spewing out dazzling cold and brilliant turquoise flashes in all directions, as if finely ground aquamarine and emerald gems were scattered in the air.

“Kek, kek! Argo, the air here smells like an open old gas cylinder! The tip of my nose stings and it’s so spicy it’s almost bringing me to tears!” Leo kept sneezing cutely, lifting his front paw and wiping his pink nose. On the slippery turquoise methane ice, Leo protruded four sharp chitinous claws from the soles of his feet and pressed down on the solid ice floor, moving forward without wavering step by step. [Of course. The atmospheric partial pressure here in the basin is 85% methane, 12% carbon monoxide, and trace amounts of nitrogen gas.

By Earth's civilization standards, it is a deadly poisonous gas chamber that kills lung cells in just 10 seconds. But your nanolungs and genetic circuitry maintain your body temperature at 38 degrees by converting these organic hydrocarbon molecules directly into the energy source for cellular nuclear fusion. It is the ultimate biological nano mechanism perfectly optimized for the cryogenic vacuum environment.] “Heh, I see! So this terrible smell is actually like rice that warms my body?” Leo opened his mouth wide, sniffing into the air as if curious. Argo rotated the lens and briefed geological information.

[Additional geological data: 150 kilometers deep underground in this cave, there exists a huge subsurface ocean mixed with ammonia that never freezes. The heat from the decay of radioactive isotopes in Pluto's core is warming its subterranean oceans, spewing tiny geothermal vapors into the cave. As the heat and the cold air collided, these bizarre methane stalactites were formed.] Argo spread its blue fan-shaped search beam above Leo's head and scanned the density of the stratum on the cave floor.

“Argo, do you machines sometimes get sleepy when you’re tired? I thought your one-eyed lens was crackling and blinking earlier.” [Artificial intelligence does not receive biological sleep. It's just that the quantum processor's CPU computational load has reached 92% and the memory cache registers are being flushed in real time. This is due to unidentified electromagnetic interference emanating from the deepest part of this ice cave... … Beep beep!] Suddenly, Argo's one-eyed lens flashed orange violently, and a sharp high-frequency emergency warning sound pierced the eardrums.

[Anomalous gravitational wave signal detected! Coordinates 42 degrees 15 minutes north latitude, 178 degrees 04 minutes east longitude. Unknown high-energy tachyon particle reaction detected at the bottom of the methane ice shell at a depth of 1.5 meters!] “Tachyon? What is that, Argo? Sweet and delicious prey?” Leo pricked up his two white ears and his sapphire eyes shined brightly. [It is not an edible organic matter! A legendary interstellar quantum communication particle that exceeds the speed of light and defies the causality of time and space. It is a product of ultra-ancient artificial hypertechnology that could never occur spontaneously in Pluto's natural geological environment, even after 10 billion years.

Immediate excavation and excavation is strongly recommended!] Argo's red laser target point pointed straight at the center of the cave, on a thick sheet of turquoise methane ice. “Okay, the treasure hunt begins! Taste my claws!” Leo planted all four feet firmly on the solid ice and stretched out the chitinous claws of his front feet as much as possible. All at once! visor! The chitinous claws of the interstellar snow leopard had the power to instantly grind water and ice rocks harder than diamonds on Earth. Every time Leo swung his front paws like lightning and dug into the ice floor, the frozen methane frost fragments turned into emerald snow powder and bounced like a waterfall in all directions.

[warning. If drilling frictional heat exceeds minus 160 degrees Celsius, there is a risk of rapid explosive sublimation of methane ice. Slow down the claw reciprocation cycle by 15%!] “Okay, I’m being picky! Just be careful and gently scrape away!” Leo adjusted the strength of his claws and carved the ice sheet like a precise sculptor. When I dug into the ice crust about 1 meter deep, the tip of my claw appeared! A clear and elegant metallic plosive sound was heard firmly.

“I found it! Something very hard and round and wide was caught in the metal!” As Leo carefully blew out the last of the ice powder, the gigantic, ultra-ancient relic that had been buried deep in the ice for eons finally broke out of its long hibernation and revealed itself in all its glory. It was a jet-black obsidian crystal artifact in the shape of a perfect geometric dodecahedron, about 50 centimeters in diameter. As if to prove that it was a relic left behind by an ultra-ancient interstellar civilization that ruled this galaxy hundreds of millions of years ago, the spiral arm structure of our galaxy and the orbits of tens of thousands of dwarf planets were engraved in precise golden hieroglyphs on the surface of the crystal, pulsating minutely as if they were alive and breathing.

Leo could not contain his curiosity, sniffed the bridge of his nose, and carefully placed the sole of his front paw on the surface of the artifact. Haaaaaaaaaaaaa! The moment Leo's sole cushion touched the artifact, the blue quantum core in the center of the dodecahedron opened its eyes and shot a brilliant pillar of light toward the ceiling of the cave. [Biometric authentication sequence operation… … Beep beep! Quantum genetic scan completed. Identification Code: Confirmation of Leo as the first direct lineage of the interstellar leopard 'Lyra'. Unlock system security. Activating the main power of the ancient Interstellar Compass.] Whirring – whirring!

The top of the relic opened like a mysterious metal flower petal, and a vast three-dimensional holographic galaxy map was spread out dazzlingly in the air, centering on Pluto, the outermost Kuiper Belt of the solar system, the Oort Cloud, and the distant Orion Molecular Cloud Nebula. Inside the solar system, Mercury, Venus, blue Earth, red Mars, giant Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune rotated in precise trajectories, and the orbits of Haumea, Makemake, and Eris, the Kuiper Belt dwarf planets around Pluto, appeared in the air as clear ruby-colored solid lines.

In the center of the hologram, red and blue wormhole jump vectors wriggled dynamically like living snakes along the giant Milky Way trunk. “Wow…! Argo, look at this! The entire universe has appeared before my eyes!” Leo was mesmerized and jumped into the hologram light, wagging his tail. Argo's lens trembled violently in shock. [I can’t believe it… … ! This is not just an observation compass. This is the master key to the 'Starway', an interstellar high-speed route built by an ancient interstellar civilization to safely leap to the supermassive black hole 'Sagittarius A*' at the center of the galaxy!

The interstellar compass that was only told in legend was real... … !] At that moment, silver interstellar dust swirled in the very center of the three-dimensional hologram, and the holographic remnant of the elegant and huge mother snow leopard, Ryura, slowly emerged. “Mom…! Are you Mom?! Mom, I’m here!” Leo cried and stretched out his front paws towards the hologram. But all that touched my fingertips were particles of cold light. Ryura in the hologram looked down at Leo with kind and warm eyes and opened her mouth softly.

‘My precious child Leo… … The fact that you awakened this compass on your own means that you overcame the harsh cold of the Sputnik Plain and safely reached the Tenzing Mountains. You are truly magnificent, my little star.' 'mom… … I miss my mom so much... … Where are you? Don't leave me alone... … .'

‘Look where the red beam of the compass points. This is an ancient altar at the top of ‘Astral Spire’, the highest peak of the Tenzing Mountains. In the near future, the sacred moment of a solar eclipse will come when the giant satellite Charon completely blocks the sun. 'When the dazzling diamond ring shines in the pitch-black darkness, if you insert this compass into the groove at the top of the spire, the door to interstellar leap will be wide open.' Ryura's appearance gradually dispersed into silver dust and left a final request.

‘Never give up, Leo. You are not a weak wanderer on a frozen planet, but a great master of the galaxy who will roam the sea of ​​stars. We will surely meet again in the embrace of the dazzling nebula beyond the Oort Cloud.' Shuuu - The hologram subsided, and the dodecahedron compass clicked into a size that Leo could easily carry, and stuck into the nano fur gap on Leo's chest. The blue needle at the center of the compass blinked like a pulse, pointing straight at the highest peak of the Tenzing Mountains.

“Mom... I promise. I will never give up.” Leo wiped away his tears and pressed the compass against his chest. [Leo, celestial orbital dynamics calculation completed. There are only 18 standard hours left until Charon's total solar eclipse. We must overcome the rugged Crystal Ice Spire Mountains and the Valley of Silence within that time.] Argo's voice carried a solemn determination.

“Let’s go, Argo! We have the compass and unbreakable courage that our mother left us!” From the interstellar compass pressed against Leo's chest, warm golden energy flowed through his veins and throughout his body. A faint blue anti-gravity aura blazed around the young snow leopard's four paw pads, and with each step it gave off a tremendous amount of momentum that propelled it up 10 meters by kicking off the ice wall. [Biological energy synchronization rate 100%. Confirmation of perfect integration between compass and life. The shortest vector path to the astral spire is fixed as a hologram in the front view.] On the steep cliffs of the Tenzing Mountains, where methane frost shines like a jewel, the young snow leopard Leo and the navigation drone Argo began to run without hesitation toward the ice spires soaring into the sky.