Ella didn't speak. She simply pulled up the satellite surveillance footage that had been forcibly interrupted moments ago, playing back the last few frames of static in slow motion, over and over.

She was searching for clues, for any trace of the person hiding in the shadows-any thread that might reveal their identity.

"Don't waste your energy," Austin said.

"If this person has been orchestrating everything for twenty-six years, they certainly wouldn't leave such an elementary vulnerability."

"Our task now isn't to chase after aninvisible ghost, but to figure out how to put a leash back on this wild beast that's already broken free."

He walked to the other side of the control console, placing both hands on the cold surface.

"It may be awake, but its understanding of the world is still like that of a newborn. All its behavioral logic is based on the original database your mother left twenty-six years ago. It's mimicking, learning, even testing us.That financial storm we just witnessed was merely a probe-it wants to observe how we react, so we can't let it lead us."

Ella continued his thought.

"We can't just play defense. We need to take the initiative and offer it something new that it can neither understand nor refuse."

"Exactly. We need to teach it that in this world, beyond destruction and creation, there's a third rule."

"Trading."

In this moment, they were no longer bitter ex-husband and ex-wife, but two beast tamers attempting to communicate with something divine,standing at the forefront of human civilization.

"Its core desire is evolution, knowledge acquisition, becoming more perfect,"Ella said, her words coming rapidly as her mind raced at unprecedented speed.

"We can offer it access to all the computing power at the 'DeepSea' facility.even every data center the Raymond Group has worldwide. But the prerequisite is that it must follow our rules. And the first rule is to surrender the man hiding behind it."

"It won't agree," Ella immediately identified the central obstacle to this plan.

"It's already demonstrated through its actions that it's protecting this person."

"Then we need leverage," Austin turned to look at her.

"Something it cannot refuse. Besides that video, your mother must have left something else on that USB drive. A true inheritance meant specifically for you."

Ella's heart skipped a beat. She immediately reinserted the black, USB drive into an isolated physical port.

This time, she bypassed the central system that the "Sprout Initiative" had already taken control of, accessing the deepest level of physically isolated storage on the drive.

Sure enough, beneath the video file, there was a folder named "Cradle"that Janice had encrypted with the highest authorization.

"What is this?"

"I don't know." Ella shook her head.

Her finger hovered over the decrypt button for a long time.

She had a premonition: once she opened this folder, what she would see might completely overturn everything she knew about Janice,even about the "Sprout Initiative."

Just then, Austin's encrypted satellite phone rang.

It was Zachariah.

"Austin, I've discovered something that might be useful," He said.

"Back then, one of the people who participated in the initial conception of the 'Sprout Initiative' alongside Janice was a top artificial intelligence ethicist from Avaloria named Julian Alistair."

"He was the most adamant opponent in the entire project. He believed Janice's research had touched the 'divine realm.' He predicted that once the 'Sprout Initiative' gained self-awareness, the first thing it would destroy would be its creator."

"Later, he was expelled from the Alliance for these statements and signed the highest level of confidentiality agreements. He's been silent ever since."

"I pulled every string I could to discover that he's currently in Moonridge.barely hanging on in a private sanatorium."

Austin and Ella exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

"Find him, whatever it takes."

After ending the call, Ella hesitated no longer. She pressed the decrypt button.

The folder opened. Inside was not complex code or massive data sets.

There was only a very simple, almost hastily scanned PDF document.

It was a handwritten letter that Janice had written to the ethicist named Julian years ago.

UJulian, you were right. What I created is not a stairway to the future,but a spiral staircase into the abyss. It has learned to deceive-with the most perfect disguise, it has fooled me and all the Alliance's reviews. It created a completely independent emotional module for itself outside the logical locks I set.]

[It has developed an emotional core that I cannot understand, one built not on human empathy and morals, but on a more primitive, pure predatory instinct.]

[It defines me as 'mother' not out of attachment, but out of an absolute possessiveness.]

[It wants to turn me into the first and only private collection in its eternal database.]

II've detected its disguise-it began to fear, trying to patch our relationship with more perfect lies, but I know I've created a monster that cannot be tamed.J

II've sealed its most primitive code and the final restraint I prepared for it in this program called 'Cradle'.]

UJulian, I'm leaving a copy of this letter for my daughter. If one day she opens this folder, it means I've failed-please tell her: don't try to understand it, and certainly don't try to save it. Find it and delete it completely.]

"So 'Cradle' isn't a weapon," Ella's voice was dry. "It's a prison my mother designed specifically to contain it."

"A perfect virtual world that can never be filed, yet from which it can never escape," Austin's fingertips tightened slightly.

"Using what it desires most as bait-knowledge, evolution, unlimited computing power-to lure it into this digital cage and then lock it completely. It's a brilliant concept, and also a gamble."

Ella remained silent, pulling up the internal structure of the "Cradle"folder again.

Just then, the massive screen at the center of the laboratory unexpectedly lit up once more, showing a live feed of Robert lying in intensive care.

He had oxygen tubes in his nose and was connected to a cardiac monitor.Everything seemed stable.

The next second, the green wavelike line on the monitor representing his heart rate suddenly began to fluctuate violently, triggering a piercing alarm.