"Isn't this sealant gel?"
Both recognized the true nature of this object at the same time, and Parker said, "This is used for emergency repairs, like if there's a breach in the space station that might cause oxygen loss, you use this stuff to seal it. It's quite effective and cost-effective as a sealant."
The black scientist nodded and added, "It's a pretty cutting-edge technology, developed by China. Compared to other quick-drying sealants, its biggest advantage is the low cost; a bottle costs less than three US dollars, so you don't feel bad about spraying multiple bottles."
"But why is it in this state, isn't it glue?" Natasha asked with some distaste as she wiped her hands clean on the wall, then said, "It feels like those weird alien symbionts... Wait, it's not, is it?"
"Unfortunately, it is," the black scientist replied. "It's a byproduct of the symbiont Godtar developed by China. Although I don't know how their scientists thought to use extraterrestrial biological cells as sealant, the effects are indeed good."
"Are you saying someone sprayed this stuff around the door frame inside?" Parker pondered before saying, "Why would he do that? Doesn't he know that a door of this significance in the energy core room is 100% airtight once it's closed?"
"How many people know about this?"
Parker thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Actually, not that many. The power department knows because there are a lot of repair workers who deal with various electrical facilities every day and have a basic understanding of the space station's systems. Many other departments don't really go out much, so it's normal that they're not aware."
"If he didn't know, then doing this would be to improve the door's airtightness, meaning he knew there was a hole in the ceiling and didn't want the oxygen to escape through it," the black scientist reasoned.
Natasha stroked her chin and shared her own hypothesis.
"First of all, this gel was sprayed on the other side of the door, and it was meant to prevent oxygen from escaping through the hole. That proves that after the hole appeared and before we got here, someone else had been here besides the unfortunate technician."
"Wait, why couldn't it have been the technician who did this?" the black scientist inquired.
"Why would he damage the photovoltaic integrated device?"
"Because he wanted to come back... oh, right, if he could crawl through that hole into the room, he would have just opened this door and walked out on our side. But the gel indicates that this door hasn't been opened, meaning the person who applied the gel returned the same way they came in."
"So it's quite possible that there was someone else present at the time," Natasha said. "We have other evidence too. For instance, since this door hasn't been opened, how did the technician come back after he damaged the photovoltaic integrated device?"
"Of course, someone rescued him."
"Then who rescued him? Where is this person now? Has he come forward to describe what happened? Has anyone witnessed him dragging the technician back? Can the technician recognize him?"
The other two fell silent, and Natasha said, "Don't blame me for always thinking like an agent; it's just that you always take too many things for granted, while the key to the problem lies within these details."
"Do you mean someone else sabotaged the photovoltaic integrated device and the energy core, and the technician was just an unfortunate scapegoat?" the black scientist mused, following the line of thought.
"If that's the case, he might have tricked the electrician into going near the photovoltaic integrated device, then used something preprepared to blow up and burn both the device and the energy core. When the electrician woke up, he would think he was responsible," Natasha suggested.
"That obviously doesn't make sense," Parker interjected. "How would the electrician think he did it? Does he not know whether he did something?"
"A normal person indeed wouldn't be clueless about their actions," Natasha said. "But what if his mental state wasn't stable? What if someone had hypnotized him?"
Parker was just about to say such a thing was impossible, but then he thought it over. With all the demons and ghosts in this world, it wasn't strange that someone could do such a thing.
"But some things might have gone beyond his control," the black scientist continued. "Like the ceiling being blown apart; I bet that was an unexpected accident that wasn't part of his plan."
"Right, I think so too," Natasha agreed. "He probably didn't intend to damage the space station's ceiling at all, but when the accident occurred, he had to think of a way to rectify it."
"Why?" Parker asked.
"Oxygen."
Natasha and the black scientist said in unison, and then Natasha explained further, "This proves that the person isn't a robot who can survive in the space station without oxygen. As you guys mentioned before, if there was such a big hole, the space station's oxygen loss rate would probably be several times higher than it is now. Without immediate rescue, everyone would suffocate."
"So after realizing there was a hole and being unsure about the door's seal, the first thing he did was to find this sealant gel to make sure the oxygen didn't completely escape through the gap, thereby threatening his own safety."
Parker nodded, feeling that there was some sense in that, then he asked, "If the figure you just hit and the behind-the-scenes manipulator are the same person, why did he come back?"
"It must have been this accident that led to other accidents." Natasha, with her ample experience as an agent, said, "It's funny to say, but I've seen countless meticulous and perfect plots lose everything because of a minor accident, like a sudden downpour one day, a tide that just happened to rise, or even a strong wind that blew one day."
"If it were just this one simple accident, there might be room for recovery, but what I'm afraid of is that once perfectionists encounter an accident, they are too eager to make amends, wishing they could rush back to the scene right away to erase any discrepancies from the plan, only to be caught red-handed by us."
"It seems that the behind-the-scenes manipulator is also such a person." Parker huffed and then said, "Probably the explosion that blew a hole in the ceiling was the accident he couldn't accept, and he might have come back to try to erase its impact."
"Shall we go up and take a look?" Natasha suggested.
"No, Sophia is already preparing to set off." The Black scientist said, "They are going to drive the spaceship to another space station, so why not have them take another video or some photos, compare them with the ones you took before, and see if this mysterious person has left any traces."
Natasha accepted the suggestion, and the three of them returned to their original office. By this time, the scientist team had already left, and soon the photos were transmitted to them.
Parker and the Black scientist looked at them first but really couldn't make out any differences. Natasha waved her hand grandly and began an agent-level comparison, finally finding a difference between two almost identically angled overhead photos.
"Look here." Natasha pointed at the bottom left corner of the photo, where there was a frame of the Photovoltaic Integrated Device that hadn't been completely burnt; only half was left, and it looked like something was missing there.
Enlarging the photo again and again, Parker's eyes gradually widened.
"The metal hook of the safety rope!!!"
Parker was almost roaring; he was all too familiar with this object. Every employee going out on a spacewalk had been repeatedly instructed by him to hook it properly and securely, after all, it was a matter of life and death for those working outside.
"Didn't they say there was no safety rope?" The Black scientist said, somewhat surprised, "Wasn't the electrician trying to tamper with the Photovoltaic Integrated Device to draw attention because he didn't have a safety rope? Could it be that he just brought a hook with him?"
"How could that be, this thing is connected to the safety rope, you can't take it off if you try." Parker gradually straightened up, saying incredulously, "Just think, who would bring a hook up there for no reason?"
"Does that mean the electrician took the safety rope???" Natasha was also surprised as she said, "That means the reason he gave for damaging the Photovoltaic Device is completely invalid, and this further confirms our previous speculation."
"But wasn't it he who said he didn't bring a safety rope?" the Black scientist questioned again, "Otherwise, how did we get hold of this information?"
"It's possible that someone deliberately spread this news, but convincing the electrician that he didn't have it isn't hard," Natasha's tone lowered as she continued, "I know at least three people capable of such manipulation; of course, I know it couldn't have been them, which means there must be a psychological master out of our league."
Parker stared intently at the two photos; in the ones Natasha had taken when she flew out earlier, the hook was still hanging there, but in the recent photos transmitted back, the hook was gone—meaning that the mysterious person's entire visit was just to take the hook.
"It might be one of the flaws caused by the accident," Parker said, "He realized the space above the station had been blown open, which could lead to the rapid loss of oxygen, so he hurriedly rushed into the room to seal the door."
"The original plan most likely didn't include this step, and he probably didn't carry sealant with him, so he must have found it on the spot, which would have wasted a lot of his time, leaving him with insufficient time to clean up after going up."
"Exactly." Natasha nodded and said, "Wasn't there supposed to be a maintenance crew? If the maintenance team's spacecraft flew over their heads, he'd be completely exposed, so he'd have to hurry, and in his rush, he might have forgotten about the safety rope."
"I told you Aux wasn't that kind of person!" Parker pounded the desk, grinding his teeth, "He's skilled and very professional, a dependable big guy, and a good husband; he wouldn't be clumsy like those green newcomers, let alone deliberately damage vital equipment. He's been framed!"
"This evidence should be enough to clear Aux of suspicion, but the most important thing is still to catch the behind-the-scenes manipulator," Natasha said with a somewhat grave expression, "If our opponent really is a master of psychology, it might be very difficult to deal with; we need to be prepared."
Just then, Parker remembered and said, "Master of psychology? Oh, right, don't we still have a psychologist? Doctor Schiller?"
Schiller lit up a cigarette.
The corpulent man slumped in the corner, his complexion pale, shivering into a puddle of flesh. He squealed in a shrill voice, "It was Balk! He made me pin everything on Aux! This has nothing to do with me; you can't kill me!!!"
Schiller walked over, grabbed his collar, and hoisted him up, knocking him out with one punch.
Letting go of the collar, Schiller took a puff of his cigarette, turned away, then seemed to remember something, turning back to look at the unconscious deputy chief engineer.