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墨書 Inktalez
Alan's metallic right arm reflected the eerie glow of the street—on the left was the cold silence of a midnight in 2018, while on the right loomed the burning hellscape of 1998. The spirit of his elder brother hovered between the rifts of time and space, their fingertips flowing with digital flames that melted the asphalt into a boiling river of tar.
"You have delayed for twenty years, but the cycle must continue." The spirit pointed to the wreckage of the Yamaha, where a Mechanical Heart was swelling uncontrollably, its surface revealing the youthful visage of their father. "Each spark plug holds a soul of a Carter; now it is your turn."
Alan stumbled backward, the metallic skin of his arm scraping against the concrete with a harsh sound. His retina was suddenly invaded by blinding light, and visions of genetic blueprints reemerged—telomeres at the ends of chromosomes burned like fuses, visibly shortening. The time and space on either side of the street began to overlap, as the wail of fire truck sirens intertwined with smartphone notifications, ashes from the 1998 fire falling onto shared bicycles of 2018.
"Look at the lie you have maintained for twenty years!" The spirit of Second Brother waved his arm, tearing open a rift in the void. Alan saw himself acquiring motorcycle parts on the same date each month; those metal components clearly formed an inverted pentagram. Each page of the maintenance log was being rewritten automatically, ink swirling into their father's handwriting: "Eternal Life requires equivalent exchange; one Carter for ten years of life."
The Mechanical Heart suddenly erupted with a gravitational vortex, pulling Alan toward the engine compartment. As metallic wires pierced his spine and connected with his nerve endings, he tasted the burning flavor of acetylene flames—the painful memories from when his brothers were burned twenty years ago. The spirit of Third Brother whispered in his ear, "You always say you can't remember what happened that night; now it's time to see the truth."
At that moment, time and space completely collapsed. Alan found himself existing simultaneously in three scenes: hiding behind a toolbox at five years old while watching his father assemble the Mechanical Heart; being pressed onto a motorcycle by his brothers on his fifteenth birthday; and fastening the last iron chain in the fire scene of 1998. More terrifyingly, each "self" in these scenes suddenly turned to look at Alan from 2018, their gray-green eyes weeping blood.
"The memory erasure program is merely a delay." Their father's voice emanated from within the Mechanical Heart, which was growing inside Alan's chest. "Every time you repair a motorcycle, you get closer to the truth—now it’s time to put back the last piece."
Alan's metallic right hand moved uncontrollably toward his head, fingers extending into surgical blades. The genetic blueprint flickered rapidly before him, indicating that his telomeres had shrunk to critical levels. Just as the blade was about to pierce his temple, a 1998 police car suddenly rounded the corner, and a shotgun extended from its window, firing flames.
In an instant that shattered the Mechanical Heart, Alan heard four layers of time wailing in agony. His brothers' spirits dissipated within data streams as their father's face twisted into an angry vortex. A charred diary tumbled from the passenger seat of the police car, its pages opened to reveal their father's trembling handwriting: "I deceived my children; the Eternal Life program requires sacrificing all direct bloodlines..."
The rift in time began to close as Alan lunged for that diary but found his metallic arm vaporizing. The streets of 2018 regained dominance, yet fragments of teeth from 1998 were embedded in the asphalt surface. The wreckage of Yamaha let out one final whimper as its exhaust spewed forth a mist of blood that formed floating words...
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