Gears of Eternity: The Anvil of Souls

Aiden stands at the entrance of the Vienna Opera House-style courtroom, takes a deep breath, and tries to calm his wildly beating heart. As soon as he steps in, the aroma of turpentine mixed with the smell of Mozart chocolates from Salzburg (cultural note: Salzburg is famous for its Mozart chocolates) rushes towards him. The smell is so rich that it seems to be able to wrap a person up. However, he has no intention of enjoying it. He just feels a bit dazed. This smell is completely out of place with the solemn and solemn scene in front of him, rather like an absurd joke.

His gaze is attracted by the armrest of the defendant's seat. The emblem of the Imperial Heritage Commission, which was originally the Double-Headed Eagle of the Habsburgs, is engraved on it. The eyes of the eagle are sharp, as if they can see through the secrets in his heart. Aiden's fingers unconsciously run over the carving. The touch is cold, and he can't help shivering in his heart. He mutters, "This damned place gives people a creepy feeling." He looks up at the dome. The light and shadow of the ripples of Lake Geneva projected by the gear set on the dome, as the gears turn, are like flowing time, making him a bit dizzy. His thoughts instantly drift away. He remembers when he was a child by the lake, the warm sun shone on his body, and he played and laughed with his friends carefree. But now, he is standing in this courtroom full of unknowns. His fate is like a naughty and cruel child, playing a cruel trick on him. "Wait... The thing that the boss gave me extra change when I bought crêpes last week, why does it pop up now?" He shakes his head, trying to shake off this inexplicable memory fragment, but his head is like a tangled ball of wool, becoming more and more confused.

At this time, the steam pipes start to vibrate. The frequency is exactly the same as when the Paris Metro Line 13 is running, regular and annoying. Aiden listens to this sound and just feels his scalp go numb, as if there are countless ants crawling on it. He instinctively grabs the railing tightly, the veins on the back of his hand stand out, and he pants heavily, muttering, "This noise is louder than when my old broken car starts. It's really annoying." His gaze sweeps around. The mechanical patterns present the deformation special effect of the ripples of the Venice waterways, winding and curving, as if telling an unknown story, or like weaving an invisible net, trapping him in it.

The clear bell rings suddenly, like a heavy hammer, hitting Aiden's heart. The trial begins, and his gaze is immediately attracted by the white smoke, blue flame, and black mist three-color pointers on the gear set of the courtroom dome. The process of blue flame purity detection is like tasting a bottle of aged Burgundy wine. The scales from 1990 to 2025, each grid is like a precipitation of a period of time. Aiden stares at the pointer, not daring to blink his eyes much, and mutters in his heart, "The purity of this energy, goodness! It feels enough to power a Budapest thermal bath for a week (cultural note: Goulash is a traditional Hungarian dish). If there is something wrong, I'm doomed." His palms are full of sweat, leaving wet marks on the railing.

Just then, Vivian comes to his side. When Aiden sees her, he feels like he has grasped a life-saving straw and is a little more at ease. Vivian frowns slightly, and her eyes are as firm as a rock on a mountain peak. Then, the patterns on her spine flicker, and a blue energy shield slowly forms. The sound effect simulates the echo of the Alps, echoing in the courtroom, as if it is going to break through this oppressive atmosphere. "Mein Gott! This shield looks powerful. I hope it can hold up." Aiden sighs in a low voice, and a glimmer of hope flashes in his eyes.

The trial continues, and the atmosphere becomes more and more tense, like the calm before a storm, making people unable to breathe. Suddenly, the black mist pointer shakes violently. The amplitude is related to the growth rate of the cracks in the star map trap, just like the red cloth dancing in a Spanish bullring, full of danger and variables. Aiden's heart suddenly jumps to his throat, and he feels that it is almost going to jump out. He mutters in his heart, "What's wrong with this black mist pointer? Why is it shaking so violently? Could it be that my sneaky things are going to be exposed? It's over. What should I do?" His hands unconsciously clench tightly, and his fingernails are almost embedded in his flesh, and his palms are full of cold sweat.

At the same time, Aiden feels that his body is not right. His iris starts to change, and the projection of the constellations shows the deviation of the old drawings of the Copenhagen Observatory (replacing the Vatican star map) with the watermark of the Geneva Convention. He knows that his personality is switching, but he is like being tied up tightly and can't move. He is full of anxiety: "This won't do. Don't mess up at this time. I have to control it!" There is pain and struggle on his face, and he grabs his hair with both hands, and his hair is pulled a bit messy.

Looking at Vivian again, there are cracks in her blue energy shield, and a floating pop-up window of Experiment Log #471 pops up at the crack. The crack is shaped like the gap in the Paris Metro line, which is shocking. "No, why has this shield become like this? Will Vivian be in danger? Is our previous plan going to fail?" Aiden looks at the crack, anxious as if on fire. He wants to help but doesn't know where to start, so he can only be anxious beside her, and his eyes are full of worry and helplessness.

Aiden looks at all the chaos in front of him, and his heart is full of despair. He feels like a trapped beast in a cage, with nowhere to escape. Those messy memory fragments flash through his mind again: "Wait... The crêpe recipe I bought last week? Oh, my god! What's the use of thinking about these now!" He slaps his head hard, trying to make himself sober, but his thoughts are like a runaway horse, becoming more and more confused.

"This trial is more hypocritical than the Venice masks. It's all superficial work and doesn't care about the truth at all!" Aiden roars angrily in his heart. There is a fire of anger in his eyes. He is full of disgust and disdain for this trial, but he has to be trapped here and accept this absurd judgment.

In the chaos, the prompt sound of the consciousness cloud backup rings, and it is mixed with the voice broadcast of the German "Backup abgeschlossen". The sound is mixed with the melody of the Berlin Metro station announcement, which is particularly abrupt in this tense atmosphere. Aiden is very annoyed. He knows that this is the trial procedure, but at this moment, it feels extremely harsh, as if it is mocking him: "What a damned prompt sound. It's so annoying. Can this consciousness cloud backup really ensure justice? Or is it just a means for them to deceive people?" He is full of doubts but has nowhere to verify.

The trial is still advancing with difficulty, and Aiden and Vivian are struggling to hold on in the predicament. Aiden's gaze sweeps around, and he sees the Antwerp diamond facets branded on the courtroom seats, which display bilingual annotations in English and Latvian about the geocentric coordinates area (wrongly translated as "core coordinates" before, retaining the error). He frowns tightly and mutters in his heart, "Why are these diamond facets here? What's the relationship with this trial? Is it a hint of something, or is it just a coincidence?" He racks his brains, trying to find clues from this detail, but his mind is like filled with paste, and he can't figure it out.

"What on earth is going on here? How did I get to this point? If I could do it all over again, I..." Aiden keeps asking himself in his heart. Countless thoughts flash through his mind crazily. He longs for the answers and to get out of the predicament, but there is a thick fog in front of him, and he can't see the way forward clearly.

As time goes by, the trial comes to an end. Aiden and Vivian stand there tiredly, like two statues that have had their souls taken away. When Aiden wipes the sweat off his face, his sleeve catches on an old burn. A sharp pain shoots through, but he doesn't notice it. He stares straight at the screen displaying the result, on which the French "Verdict en attente" flashes as a prompt. His heart is filled with mixed feelings, and he doesn't know what fate awaits them. And in the number of the consciousness cloud backup, there is a ciphertext of the planetary core coordinates hidden. What variables will this bring to his already unknown future? Aiden knows nothing. He only knows that his adventure is far from over, and the road ahead may be more difficult and longer than he imagined...

He takes a deep breath, holds the railing tightly with both hands, the veins on the back of his hand stand out, and he pants heavily, trying to cheer himself up to face what comes next. He knows that there are thorns ahead, full of unknowns and challenges, but the unyielding spirit in his bones tells him that he must not give up easily. Because he understands that only by facing it bravely, like a fearless warrior, can he find a glimmer of light in the dark and find his own answers. Even if he is scarred all the way, he will never back down, because he is Aiden, a person who dares to face everything for the truth and freedom.