by <unknown>
Sanjae's efforts proved fruitless as Varo was still sorrowful. "It won't take long before we turn into those twisted, disgusting corpses. A bunch of corpses fused..."
Before Varo could finish his sentence, they heard another round of footsteps from outside the door. Sanjae stepped to the door and tried to open it to take a look outside. That was when he noticed that the door was locked...
"Looks like another group has entered."
Varo remarked somberly when he saw what Sanjae tried to do, "All of the people who come into contact with the corpses, whether they're the relatives, hospital staff, people like you and me, even the police... All of them have to be quarantined!"
"How could this be..."
Sanjae could not believe the extent to which Blackwatch could go to...
...
After an indiscernible amount of time had passed, Varo and the other colleague were slowly regaining their composure. After an entire night of working the night shift, they were exhausted by this point.
After finishing the food handed to them through the window, the two of them had fallen asleep in their beds. Their deafening snores resounded across the room.
Sanjae, on the other hand, sat idly in his bed and quietly ate the food provided.
It was curry rice, a delicacy that he rarely got to eat.
Each grain of rice shone like glittering gold underneath the sunlight. The curry was mouth-watering. He only ever got to afford a meal like this when he worked overtime.
This was because he was a non-official employee of the hospital and was not allowed access to the canteen. Only staff members with the official employee certificate were allowed to eat in the canteen.
Throughout the last three years, he had been using the temporary certificate issued.
For some reason he could not quite put a finger in, perhaps influenced by the horrible sights he saw this morning, he was unable to fully savor the delicious food. Although the meal was undoubtedly delicious, there was still a sinking feeling in his chest that he just could not wring himself free of...
"Clack…"
The lunch box in Sanjae's hand clattered onto the ground, spilling golden curry onto the floor. He got up stiffly and turned to look at the two people sleeping in their beds behind him.
The two of them were sleeping soundly.
For some reason, while Sanjae stared at the two sleeping men, his expression was peculiar.
His expression seemed to spell an uncanny sense of longing, a tinge of pain, and of internal conflict.
"Fuse with use, fuse with us, for we're all alone. It's only by fusing as one, fusing as one..."
The same chanting in his head again. It started as a whisper but as he slowly approached the two of them, the voice started to grow louder in his head, to a point where it had drowned out everything in his mind!
"For we're all alone. It's only by fusing as one, fusing as one..."
The voice pulsed in Sanjae's mind. It howled and raged like a thunderstorm, completely overwhelming the last of his thoughts. He came beside the nameless colleague and raised his hand and touched his face.
Something outlandish happened!
Sanjae saw his right hand touching the sleeping man's face and he watched in awe as his hand started to alter its shape. His skin and bones seemed to transform into some other kind of substance. His hand slowly sunk into the man's face that started to take on the same transformation and before long, his hand had sunk into the man's head!
Face with such queer imagery, Sanjae smiled with great pleasure like a mad man...
"Bang!"
Just as he was about to pull himself closer to fuse further, the door was flung open. Several soldiers wearing black combat suits barged inside. One of the soldiers fired at Sanjae's arm without so much as a warning or hesitation!
"Bang!"
The next second, Sanjae's bones splintered and his arm was split. He cried out an inhuman roar and charged at the soldier in a state of craze!
However, his physique was no match for the heavily-built soldier. The soldier easily shoved him out of the wave and threw him on the ground!
After that, a swarm of soldiers leaped at Sanjae to hold him in place and carried him out of the room.
The remaining soldiers stepped into the room and inspected the man on the bed. They saw that Sanjae's severed hand had completely fused into his head and through the brain. There was no saving this man now.
Meanwhile, on the other bed, the man named Varo climbed up and slowly opened his eyes.
"What, what's going on?"
Varo was woken up by the commotion. He saw Sanjae who was getting dragged out and another soldier in a black combat suit standing at the foot of his bed.
The soldier did not say anything. He only glanced at Varo before exiting the room, leaving behind the confused Varo.
...
"The fusing process has been interrupted."
Meanwhile, in an underground hall located in another corner of the earth, in Namibia. Chen Chen looked at the virtual display hovering in the air that displayed footage of Sanjae's fusing.
"We now have confirmation that the protective suits are unable to prevent the infection."
Little X noted. "On the contrary, the good news is that the Black Knights are unaffected by this peculiar fusing phenomenon. Regardless of how many times they come in and out of these quarantine zones, none of them have exhibited these symptoms."
Chen Chen did not speak. He watched silently as the Punjani man named Sanjae was taken to a secret laboratory to have a full-body inspection conducted on him. A thorough inspection of his brain, organs, blood, and even the previously severed limb was to be conducted.
"It's just like the research report in the Spire Experimental Base..."
Half an hour later, Little X brought news. "No genetic changes are detected nor are there any microorganism infections. Based on our observation, the fused corpses don't exhibit any peculiar abnormalities save for the bizarre method of death."
"Are you certain that memetic elements aren't at play here?"
Chen Chen was still suspicious of the likelihood of memetic effects.
"Absolutely certain."
Little X was certain of this. "Although memetic weapons can achieve these effects, I would've detected it at first notice."
With that, Chen Chen got up and started pacing around.
In this period, he had conducted dozens of experiments. He had tried recording the process of the fusion, he had dissected and studied the fused corpse, and tried to interrupt the fusion process, which was what happened to Sanjae. Till now, all of his efforts were to no avail.
The protoplasmic fluid in the meteorite was undoubtedly an alien organism, but it was not infectious. In other words, on a biological level, it did not impose its effects on human cells or by extension, the human DNA. It was a completely harmful substance, even rich in protein, and could be directly consumed by animals.
To further research this aspect, the Spire Experimental Base had conducted experiments and fed the protoplasmic fluid to animals and Delta-level subjects. The observation was that neither the animals nor the humans seemed to exhibit any symptoms of having become infected...
However, the Delta-level subjects who drank the protoplasmic fluid began having strange dreams...
By this point, the Spire had figured out a certain pattern, which was that the protoplasmic fluid did not have any effects on animals, plants, and to a certain extent, humans as well.
The strange thing was that despite not imposing any effect on the human body directly, they soon started having strange dreams. Furthermore, when two people had both come into contact with the protoplasmic fluid, they tended to fuse under certain conditions.
This phenomenon of fusing was beyond comprehension. Human bodies were not liquid. How was it possible for this fusion process to occur?
The nature of this mystery was nothing short of terrifying.
It was observed that it was possi
ble to interrupt this fusion process, just like what happened just now when Sanjae's fusion was interrupted. Upon being interrupted, the fusion process was halted temporarily, but the participants of the fusion would lose control of themselves and become extremely aggressive. After that, their brain would begin to rapidly deteriorate and they would die of brain death within ten hours.
"It doesn't affect animals, but affects humans."
Chen Chen frowned and stared at the display. "At the same time, it doesn't affect the Black Knights... Would it be right to assume that this alien substance only imposes its effects on life forms with self-conscience?"
"In that case, how does it infect humans with protective clothing?
"Could it be..."
It seemed an idea suddenly came to Chen Chen. He squinted, a faint glow slowly emerged from underneath the pitch-black pupils.
Chapter 537: Hypothesis |
Inside a certain level-five biosafety laboratory in the Spire Experimental Base.
Dozens of researchers were gathered in the command room. They silently observed two Delta-level subjects who were lying on the experiment table through the observation window.
Both of these subjects were injected with a rich amount of tranquilizers and had fallen into a deep slumber. Both of them did not wear any form of protective clothing and were fully exposed to the environment in the laboratory.
Of these two subjects, one had already been infected with the protoplasmic liquid and the other one was not infected, and had only just entered the laboratory for the first time.
It was X-111 who called for this experiment. The request was issued by none other than the person with the highest authority in the Spire laboratory - Chen Chen.
Although they were uncertain of what Chen Chen's motives were, the supervisor of the laboratory was not going to disobey Chen Chen's instructions any time soon. They faithfully did as they were instructed.
"The instructions are to put the infected person in the isolation chamber."
The main supervisor instructed in the command room and soon after that, the Androids did as they were told. They obediently carried the infected Delta-level subject into the isolation chamber.
The isolation chamber was a structure shaped like a sleeping bag made of plastic mold that could house a regular person. An oxygen supply device was installed into one of its compartments which supplied oxygen to the person inside.
After this was done, the supervisor further instructed, "Now, bring another conscious, infected subject into the laboratory. Instruct the Androids to evacuate the research space."
The Androids performed their task obediently. Shortly after that, a nervous-looking Delta-level subject who was an Owambian was brought into the laboratory. He first surveyed his surroundings cautiously and when he saw that the Androids had left the laboratory, he began pacing around.
The subject saw the vast amount of equipment set up in the laboratory as well as two stretchers placed in the middle. However, he could not see the crew of researchers observing him from the second floor.
From where he stood, he could only see a panel of reflective glass on the second floor.
After that, he noted two of his fellow Delta-level subjects in the laboratory with him. One was lying on a stretcher while the other was inside an isolation chamber.
The subject that was not infected but exposed to the environment in the laboratory was labeled as subject one while the other subject who was already infected and put into the isolation chamber was labeled subject two.
When he saw subject two who was inside the isolation chamber, there was a sudden twitch in his stiff expression. He seemed to be troubled by something.
This only lasted for a split second and soon after that, his expression returned to normal. After that, he started to slowly approach the two subjects that were laying near each other, one in the isolation chamber and another on a regular stretcher.
The researchers in the command room took this as an indication that the infected subject's fusion state was triggered.
As expected, the infected subject completely ignored subject one. He went to subject two who was lying inside the isolation chamber and viciously tore the covers open. He seemed pleased to see subject two lying bare in front of him. A faint smile slowly formed on his lips as he threw himself onto the subject...
"Crunch crunch…"
The sound of flesh and bones mashing together. The two infected individuals fused as the host of researchers observed this eerie process...
"Alright. Next up, take care of the fused corpse and leave subject one be. Bring in a replacement for subject two!"
Following the supervisor's order, another infected subject who was shot with a dose of tranquilizer was brought into the laboratory and put inside a new isolation chamber.
This time, they had injected an approximately ten-millimeter dosage of protoplasmic liquid into the original subject one.
Based on what they know of the alien substance thus far, subject one should be infected now as well.
The research crew waited for nearly three hours to account for the duration it may take for the protoplasmic liquid to integrate itself into subject one's body. After that, another conscious and infected subject was brought to the laboratory again.
They hypothesized that now that another conscious and infected subject had entered the laboratory, the infected subject should choose to fuse into subject one. Although subject one was not infected previously, he should be infected now since he had the protoplasmic liquid injected.
However, the infected subject chose the newly appointed subject two instead.
"What's going on? Isn't subject one infected as well?"
The supervisor was baffled by this observation. "Did we not inject enough protoplasmic liquid into him?"
They waited another three hours and repeated the same experiment.
There was no difference. The new infected subject brought into the laboratory chose the replacement for subject two again. It was as if subject one did not even exist...
"Could it be because subject one isn't infected?"
They were not sure what to make of this. "How could this be..."
...
Sometime later.
They repeated the same experiment more than ten times by now, suspecting that the first few times were mere coincidences. However, the experiment still turned out the same way every time, where the infected would rather fuse into subject two instead of subject one who was lying out in the open.
In the end, they decided that it was no longer necessary to let the infected choose between two subjects. This time, a new conscious, infected subject was brought into the laboratory where there was only the unconscious subject lying on the stretcher. The infected person would not fuse with subject one.
"What's going on, could it be that the subject isn't infected by the protoplasmic liquid because he wasn't conscious during the injection process?"
They began to speculate.
"How could this be..."
They started debating amongst themselves.
Unbeknownst to them, while they were conducting this experiment, Chen Chen was also observing them from somewhere deep underground. He seemed fascinated by the result of this experiment and started pacing around excitedly. "Is this how it is? I can't believe I never thought of this..."
"Sir Godfather?"
Little X asked, "Unless something went wrong with the experiment, doesn't this conclude that unconscious people cannot be infected by protoplasmic fluid?"
"Yes, the infected subjects want a suitable fusing partner, but they would much rather tear through the isolation chamber to get to subject two instead of fusing with the completely defenseless subject one. What does this imply?"
Chen Chen asked, "Doesn't this mean that the unconscious person cannot be infected? Because there's no infection, the infected person will not choose the unconscious person as the target of integration?
"That leads us to another ques
tion, why is it that the subject didn't come to be infected by the protoplasmic fluid when unconscious? It seems clear to me now that the deciding factor is consciousness!"
Chen Chen rambled on and on then took a deep breath. He could feel his heart beating against his ribcage. There was no telling if this was fear or excitement. "After you discard all unlikely possibilities, no matter how ridiculous the final possibility is, it's undoubtedly the correct answer... This means that this alien protoplasmic fluid doesn't infect our body, but our consciousness instead!
"It's an infection of the consciousness!'
"Consciousness infection?"
Little X muttered, "That explains why the dead, plants, and animals cannot be infected. This is why the subjects drugged with tranquilizers aren't infected, but people in protective suits can be infected..."
Everything had come to light now. This was the only way to explain why the infected subjects chose the person inside the isolation chamber who was already infected instead of the subject who was injected with protoplasmic fluid while unconscious.
As Little X mentioned this, she became appalled. "If this is a consciousness infection, doesn't this mean that everyone in the Spire Experimental Base is infected as well?"
"No, I don't think that's likely."
Chen Chen shook his head and sounded very confident. "This isn't a memetic effect, why would someone be infected by merely watching? There's no way that this fusion death phenomenon transmits using a simple line of sight. Only something nonsensical like memetic effects transmits itself using senses such as sight or hearing. Based on what I've seen so far, I deduce that the protoplasmic liquid requires two conditions to pass on its effects!
"The first condition is a connection of consciousness.
"The second condition is distance!"
Chen Chen summarized. "No matter how powerful the infection medium is, there has to be a certain distance limitation. The same factor that applies to viruses and bacteria must apply to this protoplasmic fluid that infects human consciousness as well... You get what I mean? This means that seeing, touching or any form of contact with the infected corpses or even the protoplasmic fluid isn't the cause of infection. The real cause of infection is consciousness and distance. The infection of this protoplasmic liquid requires these two conditions to be met to transmit its effects!"
