Days later, deep within the extensively reinforced and expanded workshop beneath the desert.
In stark contrast to the barren desolation above ground, this underground space was enveloped in an almost sacred solemnity.
The air, filtered multiple times, was clean and dry, carrying a distinct scent of ozone mixed with coolant. Only the low hum of the energy core's stable operation and the subtle hiss of the circulation system formed the eternal background symphony here.
Light primarily emanated from neatly arranged cool-white light strips on the workshop ceiling, illuminating the central area as brightly as day, while the surroundings receded into ordered shadows, highlighting the core of the place—the complex apparatus built to test the dimensional teleporter.
The dark-gold dodecahedron ancient artifact was securely placed on a specialized platform cast from a special alloy.
Several energy conduits, as thick as a man's arm and wrapped in thick insulation and shielding, extended like the veins of a giant python from a nascent fusion reactor nearby, precisely connecting to reinforced interfaces on the platform's base.
The surging energy within the conduits was continuously transmitted, and through the platform's internal multi-stage voltage stabilization and frequency modulation system, it was transformed into a stable, yet heart-stopping, energy flow, injected into the artifact's base.
Osiris' tall, dark-red figure stood before the main control console. His scarlet composite optical lenses remained steadily focused on several floating light screens before him. Data streams cascaded silently like waterfalls, reflecting on his expressionless metal faceplate.
The left screen displayed real-time core parameters of the fusion reactor: power output percentage, plasma confinement stability, and energy conversion efficiency curve. All readings were stable within the preset green zone.
The right screen monitored the artifact's own feedback: surface energy field strength, internal resonant frequency, and minute structural stress changes. Numbers and waveforms flickered, revealing the construct's response to the external energy injection.
On the largest central screen, his self-written control and monitoring program, based on days of research, was running, with key status markers occasionally flashing between complex lines of code.
Several mechanical tendrils of varying thickness, equipped with different functional modules at their tips, quietly emerged from the support frame behind him and from beneath his robes, like a swarm of metallic snakes with independent consciousness, poised in a standby state.
Their miniature force field generators, high-precision spectrum analysis probes, and emergency energy shifters were all preheated and ready to respond to any unplanned fluctuations.
"Initiating the first micro-channel opening attempt. Objective: establish a stable Warp information rift with a duration of no less than thirty seconds. Bandwidth priority over stability, but control must be ensured," Osiris' synthesized voice echoed in the silent workshop, steady and clear, serving as both a confirmation of his own actions and an announcement to the sole observer.
A servo-skull floated silently behind his left shoulder, its eerie blue glow in its eye sockets following its master's gaze, synchronously recording every data change on the light screens. Its metallic mandible remained almost rigidly slightly ajar, as if holding its breath.
With a subtle mental command, a virtual slider on the control console was precisely pushed up one notch.
The reactor's output power consequently increased by half a percent—an extremely subtle adjustment, yet a significant step in an experiment demanding such high precision.
The low-frequency hum from within the energy conduits thickened almost imperceptibly.
The intensity of the energy flow injected into the artifact increased accordingly, like the force continuously knocking on some invisible door growing stronger by another degree.
On the artifact's surface, the strange patterns that had been as dim as if asleep, like slowly flowing liquid metal, began to be gradually "illuminated."
At first, it was just an extremely faint, almost illusory glow, but soon, the light became clearly visible, displaying a deep, ethereal blue, as if containing a starry sky.
The light within the workshop seemed to be disturbed by some invisible force field, and a visible, ripple-like distortion began to appear around the artifact.
A low, humming sound, originating from the slight stretching and compression of space itself, began to permeate the air, carrying an unsettling sense of oppression. Even the frequency of the subtle vibrations from the ground changed.
Osiris' mechanical tendrils began making extremely subtle adjustments, measured in millimeters.
A calibrator at the tip of one tendril emitted an almost inaudible high-frequency ticking sound, fine-tuning the resonant frequency of the energy input; another continuously monitored the spatial curvature changes around the artifact, ensuring the distortion remained within safe thresholds.
All of his processing power was concentrated here, his optical lenses constantly fine-tuning their focus, capturing the most minute spectral changes and energy dissipation patterns on the artifact's surface.
At this moment, he was more like a musician performing in a microscopic universe, where every movement had to be exquisitely precise to guide the turbulent energy to produce the desired notes.
Time flowed in intense concentration.
Eleven seconds... twelve seconds... Suddenly, an extremely tiny, yet exceptionally brilliant point of light abruptly appeared!
It flickered and trembled violently, as if struggling to break free from some restraint, extremely unstable, as if it would completely vanish or explode out of control in the next second.
Success! This was the miniature Warp channel, capable of only allowing information flow, that he was attempting to open!
"Channel formed! Beginning data stream reception!" Osiris' synthesized voice remained steady, but his speaking pace quickened slightly.
Almost at the same instant the channel formed, a highly compressed torrent of data, with completely different physical signatures and encryption protocols, surged through that unstable connection point like a breached dam!
All the multi-band receiving antenna arrays preset in the workshop lit up their indicator lights. The massive data was greedily captured, buffered, and temporarily stored.
The entire reception process lasted a full thirty seconds.
Osiris' gaze was fixed on the reception progress bar on the central screen, and the energy fluctuation graph monitoring the channel's stability beside it.
The light point constantly struggled on the verge of collapse, at times contracting to a pinprick, at others expanding and distorting as if about to tear apart.
His mechanical tendrils made lightning-fast micro-adjustments from time to time, as if taming a wild beast trying to break free from its reins.
The moment the progress bar finally painstakingly climbed to one hundred percent, Osiris flipped the switch to cut off energy transmission.
The energy supply was instantly severed, and the light within the thick conduits rapidly dimmed.
The light point at the center of the artifact emitted a faint, almost bubble-bursting "pop" sound, then completely vanished without a trace.
The ethereal blue patterns on the artifact's surface also rapidly faded like a receding tide, returning to that deep, dark-gold hue that seemed to absorb all light.
The oppressive feeling of distorted space within the workshop also dissipated, and the light returned to normal, leaving only the energy core's customary low hum.
"Test sequence concluded. Data packet reception complete, verification passed. Channel closed as planned. No energy backflow or structural damage feedback detected," Osiris slowly, almost imperceptibly, released his virtual "grip" on the control console, turning to the servo-skull for final confirmation.
Though brief, the entire process, with its inherent risks and extreme demands for precision, was no less intense than a small-scale battle.
The servo-skull floated closer to the platform, its eye sockets emitting a more intense blue scanning beam, meticulously sweeping over the artifact's surface and platform interfaces, conducting routine post-operation inspection and recording. Its mandible emitted a few faint clicks, seemingly expressing a logic-based "sigh of relief."