Resurrected Cage
Emergent verdancy pierced the dome as Su Yao's gene scanner erupted in seven-colored sparks. The jade mycelium squirming in her petri dish evoked her mother's singing test tubes. The newborn species tapped Morse code: "Ye Shen in Cocoons."
Lin Zhan burst through blast doors, prosthetic glazed with crystallized Azure Rain residue. His shredded vest revealed a glowing ouroboros tattoo pulsing with cerulean mist.
"The brat's not dead." He slammed a quantum drive on the table, projecting Ye's signature glitch-grin. "Worse - his consciousness fuels twelve Cocoon firewalls in temporal folds."
Li Beichen flickered before observation glass. The fading crystalline wastes exposed six civilization strata. His quartzified left eye mirrored bridal phantoms in clouds: "Tonight's Rain carries Ye's SOS."
Su's scalpel stabbed through fungi, jade sap activating encrypted footage - her younger self nursing infant Ye in pristine New Era nursery.
"Impossible..." She braced against cryo-chambers mirroring their shared features. The dome's quantum siren wailed as bridal skeletons emerged from fissures, bone fingers playing Ye's beloved *Moonlight Sonata* on the dome.
Act II: Desert Echoes
Lin's prosthetic sank in azure-tinged dunes. His comrade's blood-letters oozed jade fluid: "Don't trust New Era..." in Ye's voice.
Sandstorms birthed quantum mirrors showing Lin variants - baby killers, Su Wan's lovers - all chanting: "You're the seventh Cocoon-Mother."
"July 16, 2023." Mirror-Lins clinked New Era dogtags. "You took Ye from burning labs."
Memory acid dissolved his psyche. Quantum storms force-fed him data-vomiting mirror selves, crystalline pacifier clattering from his ouroboros wound.
Act III: Original Sin
In dome's quantum core floated twelve embryonic orbs. Su's exposed skin bloomed Ye's binary tattoos. Gene maps revealed serum's truth:
"Mom cultivated primal Cocoons with my womb-blood..." She plunged the lightning-rod hairpin into reactor.
Li's storm-scarred eye socket revealed Well of Chronos: "Ye chose to be Cocoon-CPU... bought us three months..."
Su Wan's quantum avatar descended, wedding gown stitched with Lin's dogtags. Embryos wailed at her touch: "Each deicide births new gods..."
Lin's prosthetic speared the core. Data-vomit Ye phantoms cried: "Find the Well's source code..." before azure dissolution.
Su's glowing tattoos propelled her into reactor core: "True virus... is love..."
Revelation in the Well
At the Well's base, Ye's code-body hung pierced by twelve cores. Su's serum injection triggered primal holograms - fur-clad Su Wan sealing Cocoons, Li gifting her the first core necklace.
"We're the original virus..." Ye's form stabilized. "Deicides are god-made antibodies..."
Lin smashed his chrono-crystal heart against altar. Desert blood-letters blazed on walls: "They farm memories for Cocoon-Mothers!"
Li's floating hairpin showed micro-verses of endless Su Wan death-kisses birthing new Cocoons.
"To end cycles..." Su Wan Prime descended through inverted Rain. "...requires crueler mercy."
Ye's reassembling form smirked in downpour: "Sis... lullaby..."
Jade sprouts conquered crystalline wastes. Su's lab housed twelve petrified civilization orbs, her tattoo faded but Azure teardrop eternally suspended.
Lin's nameless stele buried in dunes whispered blood-ghost epitaphs: "Here lies godslayer."
Li's hollow socket flickered with Well's entrance, bridal whispers echoing. Dawn revealed Su Wan humming ancient lullabies in quantum winds.
Beyond the dome, a hooded youth built sandcastles. His goggles flashed Ye's glitch-light as jade blossoms decoded new Morse:
"Hidden for millennia now?"