Chapter 148 – Brain and Nerve Laboratory (3)
Tight security with double level D fences and three watchtowers.
Although it is a national security facility, it can be considered excessive for a place that is not a military base in Korea.
At first, I thought it was to hide the terrible biological experiments, but the real reason was different.
“This is why he was a captain in the ROK Army and even a member of the U.S. Military research team.”
The life form contained in the glass tube was the first of its kind to be seen.
Infection distorts any living organism in grotesque ways.
It changes a wide range of things, including not only teeth and nails, but also the skeleton, muscles, nervous system, digestive system, and reproductive system.
Still, it leaves at least a trace of its original form, but the creature in front of us is so unfamiliar.
It had a shape similar to that of a human, but its entire limbs, torso, and neck were thin and elongated.
A small head was attached to the end of the long, thin neck, reminiscent of a bipedal ostrich without fur or beak.
It was a posture that seemed to express dignity with its whole body, but its eyes were distorted with endless hatred. There are blade-like teeth that stick out as if they don’t know anything about harmony.
[Sample 1, codename Kamino.]
[Infection reaction: positive.]
[Status: Dead.]
Artemis read the research notes.
“There are two more.”
Next to it are two more glass tubes containing equally unfamiliar creatures.
The second has a flaccid body reminiscent of a cephalopod.
Unlike the first intact sample, only the brain and a small portion of the upper body remained, but the face was torn off.
The overall silhouette is similar to a human wearing a hood, and a total of four thick tentacles are attached to the shoulders instead of arms.
The top two have large and wide rakes, so they seem to be used for swimming, and the bottom two have two sharp hooks each, so they seem to be used for catching game.
No matter how you look at it, it is a marine creature.
[Sample 2, codenamed Moll.]
[Infection reaction: positive]
[Status: Dead.]
And the last third.
[Sample 3, codename Senior.]
[Infection reaction: positive.]
[Status: Dead.]
The size is about 2 meters. It has a body similar to that of a human, but has a lean, muscular and sharp body. The legs are at a reverse angle and the arms reach the ground.
The body was tilted forward, somewhere between a human and a gorilla. When moving, it seems to walk on all fours.
The elongated face was an exoskeleton, with crown-like horns on its head and a long, thick black beard growing on its chin.
Green eyes seem to contain infinite wisdom. Not even infection could take the firearm from this creature’s eyes.
“Aliens… Right?”
[The reference sent by the U.S. Military says ‘creatures of extraterrestrial origin.’]
It’s an unbelievable sight.
Everyone in the world knows that the spacecraft that was sending a distress signal from Mars’ orbit was the culprit of the incident.
However, little was revealed about the details.
The three aliens had their head caps removed, their brains exposed, and various devices plugged into them.
“This is why they wiped out all of our country’s brain scientists.”
Although it is a technology in the early stages of development, humanity has the technology to scan the brain’s memories in a very limited way.
[According to the official document, the same thing is being done in Japan. There is no mention of other allies. Well, it’s just not mentioned, and we’re all researching it together.]
“But he’s not even human, and he’s even dead.”
Even if the conditions for using the technology were violated, they were violated too much.
This is as absurd as plugging a 220 volt plug into a 110 volt hole and hoping it will work without a problem.
[It’s better than trying nothing. If we could see even the dust of their memories, it would be of great help in the war situation.]
It was truly a struggle by those who were cornered.
Afterward, Artemis focused on securing data.
[Ho.]
Artemis’ exclamation that is rarely heard. As her copy progressed, she couldn’t help but wonder.
[I found some very interesting information.]
“What is it like?”
[3 highly confidential videos bound by SCI pledge.]
The SCI pledge is an oath that must be taken when accessing classified information owned by the U.S. Military.
If a foreigner or civilian discloses the information after taking the oath, he or she will be sentenced to life imprisonment.
[I’ll play it when I’m ready.]
I nodded.
The video played like that was the source of all incidents.
* * *
The first video is a recording of the exploration team that departed for Mars orbit before the infection war.
[I can see it clearly now.]
The captain said in the video.
Where the captain looked, there was a huge alien spaceship stopped in Mars orbit.
Even though only the silhouette is visible, buried in the darkness of space, its majesty is keenly felt.
The captain is in charge of the ‘Rendezvous’ project, which investigates spacecraft in Mars orbit.
[Then we will leave.]
The vice-captain and subordinates wearing space suits took off aboard the probe.
[The visual identification distance has been reached. The surface of the spacecraft is visible. Haha, my friends on Earth can’t even imagine what I’m looking at.]
The vice captain said.
Compared to the majesty in front of us, the shuttle they came on was nothing more than a log boat.
The spacecraft was scorched and damaged in many places, and the probe stopped at the largest hole.
[The hole is small. From here, we will enter directly.]
The screen went blank for a moment and then changed to a first-person perspective of the expedition team in spacesuits.
[The interior is weightless. Captain, can you see it? The entire inner wall is covered with organic tissue.]
The vice captain said.
The interior walls of the spacecraft were full of tissue reminiscent of dead coral.
One of the crew members following behind tried to touch it.
[Don’t touch it! Don’t touch anything!]
The second captain spoke quickly, but he was a step too late.
Right.
As soon as the crew touched it, it crumbled and whipped out gray-white powder.
[They are all already dead, Captain. It’s dried out and twisted.]
The crew said it as if it was no big deal.
[Whether it is withered or alive, it is not for you to judge. From now on, never touch anything.]
The vice captain’s tone changed in an instant. The cheerfulness that had seemed like a walk just a moment ago had completely disappeared.
[Yes, sorry.]
The video inside the spacecraft continued.
[You can see doors here and there, but they are all closed. There are a lot of devices that are supposed to be lights, but none of them work. It looks like the spaceship’s power has completely gone out.]
Although I am a fairly capable engineer, I am not confident in understanding even the simplest parts on that spaceship.
It would hurt my pride, but that would be the same for Artemis. She watched in silence.
[I found an open passageway at the entrance. I will enter.]
The passage was wide enough for 7 people to walk shoulder to shoulder, and it didn’t take long before the end was visible.
[There seems to be a room beyond.]
They entered a room about 50 square meters in size.
[Jesus!]
[Oh…]
[Oh my god, what on earth is that?]
Flashlights extending from the spacesuit illuminated all corners of the room. Everywhere I looked, there was the same thing.
[There are corpses everywhere!]
There were more than 50 corpses scattered everywhere.
It had various appearances and was extremely dry.
[They are aliens. It really existed…]
[Shouldn’t we leave now?]
The eyes of the anxious crew members wavered dizzyingly, but no matter where they looked, they had to make eye contact with the alien corpse.
[Calm down.]
The vice captain said.
[Have you not been trained to assume all kinds of situations you might encounter? This is also within the scope. Now is not the time to be surprised, but to rejoice in scientific discoveries.]
He seems to have a strong heart.
[If you’re happy to see that, will you be really horny when you see this?]
Said a black member a few meters away. He was a man who was cautioned for touching the organic tissue on the inside wall of a spacecraft.
[…!]
The vice-captain who came to where he was gaping.
What appears on the screen is a glass tube believed to be a hibernation capsule.
It looks similar to the medical capsules used on Earth, but all parts are made of transparent material.
What’s inside is a race that looks exactly like Sample 3. Codenamed Senior.
Most of the body had been replaced by machines, which were so crude and messy that they could not be considered the technology of an advanced civilization.
Biological tissue that could not be removed is mixed with the machine body, and lost internal organs are sticking out between the oil press and pipes in the abdomen.
It’s as if it was forced to be remodeled in an urgent situation out of determination.
[Are you a space cyborg?]
[Can’t you take your mission seriously?]
The second captain scolded him, but the black crew member paid no heed.
[Move to your respective positions. Captain, we will begin sampling as planned.]
Following the second captain’s instructions, the crew began setting up the small transport device they had brought.
[Aaaaah!]
Everyone looked at the epicenter at the sudden scream.
There was a struggling member and a small octopus-like creature floating around. It had five legs.
The black agent grabbed it without fear, but it was so dry and mummified that it fell apart as soon as he held it in his hands.
[Are you okay. He’s already dead.]
[You are truly fearless.]
The vice-captain said as if he was fed up.
“That octopus…”
This is a guy I remember seeing.
An infectious agent that specializes in targeting machines. He was the one who infected the security robot during the Shelter normalization and the helicopter during the Terracorp expedition.
The first video ends here.
And the second video.
The location is inside the exploration team’s flagship.
[Disinfection complete. There are no pathogens detected.]
A man wearing a medical officer badge said.
In the back, returning expedition members were going through quarantine measures and decompression.
“I knew it would be like this. “You brought it anyway.”
Inside the shuttle, there were lined up alien corpses sealed in isolation plastic.
[Because they had to achieve results no matter what. At that time, the Earth was so full of steam that it was like a pressure rice cooker on the verge of exploding. If you take that away, the steam will disappear in an instant.]
“…”
[I am not approving that behavior.]
The crew was seen sharing a toast.
[But, Vice Captain, it’s a bit unusual.]
A black soldier holding a beer can say.
[What do you mean?]
[They are one step ahead of us, a multinational military expedition team. Although we have different nationalities and races, we are still the same human beings, but they are of diverse races. I think I was visiting some sort of Space Federation expo or something.]
The black crew member chuckled.
The vice-captain took a sip of whiskey, gesturing as if he could know anything.
The second video is also finished.
The 3rd and last video.
The location is believed to be a research center in the United States.
“You’re the president, right?”
Scientists in white coats eagerly explaining things to the US president in front of a glass coffin.
Beyond them, stern-faced American soldiers were standing guard everywhere.
Everyone’s attention was focused when the president, who was smoothing his chin, pointed to the glass tube with his finger and said something.
Inside the glass tube is an alien codenamed Senior who has replaced most of his body with machines.
And the most important thing.
Vital signs were moving on the patient monitoring device attached to the glass tube.
Unlike humans, it draws irregular waves, but it is clearly pulsating.
He was alive.
* * *
“…”
[…
We have only glimpsed into some of the secrets our world has been hiding. But there are so many things to think about.
“So, the exploration team brought aliens to Earth from an alien spacecraft that was anchored in Mars orbit?”
[Infected aliens.]
Artemis, who analyzed all confidential data, sent a concise summary to my PDA.
[According to the records, a total of 10 bodies were brought. Nine of them were already dead, and only one was alive.]
This is the object that the US President was looking at in the video.
“The only being that is alive and not infected.”
[That’s right.]
If the infection war had not been a terrible disaster, it would have been an event that would change the paradigm of Earth’s history.
[There is no record of the conversation. I was in a coma from discovery until now. But you probably know more about this infection situation than anyone else. Maybe it could be a clue to resolving the situation.]
“I tried hard to hear at least a few words from him when he woke up, but I guess I failed.”
The only surviving alien has been in suspended animation ever since it was discovered.
[I did leave a few words. There was a note that was believed to have been carved directly in the place where he hibernated.]
A photo was sent to the PDA. It contained unexpected characters.
“Aliens using hieroglyphs?”
Something that could only be seen in Egyptian pyramids or cave paintings unfolded before my eyes.
[If I had to guess, it could be used for communication with civilizations that have a wide gap in an ’emergency situation’. Would you say it is a converter jack for conversation between modern people and primitive people?]
In fact, from their perspective, we would be no different from primitive people.
[Anyway, leading semioticians from around the world who had taken the SCI oath gathered together and attempted to decipher it.]
“What are the results?”
[Success. It was about two sentences long and had an easy-to-interpret structure. There were also similarities with Earth’s hieroglyphs.]
Artemis told an amazing story. She seemed to understand my reaction and smiled briefly.
[Don’t misunderstand. Because it doesn’t mean that they influenced the Earth in the past. It’s close to the similarity that was converged in the process of creating easy-to-understand characters. Scholars who participated in the interpretation also made the same judgment.]
“So what did you mean? “He came all the way to our solar system and had only two lines to leave as a will.”
Each phrase of the hieroglyphs on the PDA was analyzed and letters were created one by one.
The first sentence is complete.
I read along with it.
“Fight to the last man.”
And the second sentence was completed.
“Hope is alive.”
