Rescue Fantasy (14)
"Hoo..."
I let out a slightly cold breath and flicked my plasma cutter. The bodily fluids that had been dripping down the rod splattered and stuck to the wall.
"Celestia, I'm done here."
"Me too...!"
Celestia managed to say this as she shot the mutated creature that was trying to grab her ankle, even while lying down. A clean shot from her smart pistol—it left a hole in its head, sending it straight into a stiffened state.
It wasn't until the central core shattered from the shock that the situation was settled for the moment. All around us, the dead mutants were scattered haphazardly about. Every last one had tried to kill us and failed.
'These seemed to fall into the ghoul category.'
They looked a bit different from typical ghouls, but I was pretty sure they were ghouls. Their attack method and behavior pattern were the same.
And, as if boasting their monstrous nature, they were tenacious to the extreme. Losing an arm or two barely seemed to faze them.
I made sure to record their data in my memory as I approached Celestia.
"You fought better than I thought."
"Well, that's a relief. I said I'd be helpful, didn't I?"
Celestia made a deliberately haughty expression, but then sheepishly admitted that over half of it was thanks to the suit's power.
She acted humble, but having a good suit didn't mean everyone could fight like Celestia. She wasn't being dragged around by it; she was using it.
Carry also made a show of asking how it'd done. Of course, I told Carry that it fought really well, and it practically wiggled in delight. Seeing it like that made me chuckle, but only for a moment—I quickly composed myself.
After dispatching the seemingly endless stream of mutants and moving forward, we eventually found ourselves right in front of the medical sector.
〈Medical Sector – Lobby〉
「No available beds. No doctors can be called. No longer taking patients. Status: Forced shutdown.」
"It really begins now."
"Yes."
Getting this far hadn't been easy, but things would only get harder from here. Everything we'd fought until now was just an appetizer—the real monsters would be descending on us soon.
The door leading into the medical sector was caked in creep. The sticky, clingy mess was deeply unpleasant to look at. However, what stood out to me was that the amount of creep was less than I'd expected.
Judging from what we'd seen around the tram crash site, the medical sector should've been completely overtaken by creep, but instead, there were still more uncovered areas than covered ones.
'I guess that's a good thing.'
Creep didn't just make you uncomfortable; it also signaled nearby mutants. Stepping on it was like tripping an alarm announcing an intruder.
Even with my clearance, I couldn't override the lockdown on the door. It seemed like the medical sector had its own access authority, one higher or different than my senior worker access.
Celestia took my place, shrugged, and authenticated with Myosotis-level clearance; only then did the lockdown lift. But the door control had been corroded by creep, so I still had to force it open.
I blocked the door from closing unexpectedly by jamming some debris in the entryway. As we entered, the place revealed the chaos of what had happened. What must once have been an orderly space had been steeped in disorder.
No people were moving—only silence filled the air, yet a sense of turmoil clung to everything.
It was clearly not a lie that the place was at capacity—patient beds had overflowed all the way into the lobby. Pressure bandages, likely dropped in a rush, trailed down like limp hands.
Entering the unfamiliar space with caution, I saw that a holographic display describing the medical sector was mounted on the lobby wall. It sparked and flickered, but it was still readable—and luckily, the touch function worked.
We tapped through the display, scanning the overall structure. The medical sector could be broken into three main areas:
Wards (including the ER), zero-gravity rehabilitation and neural recovery rooms, and various exam and consultation rooms,
a research wing handling biocell production and new tech development,
and a comfort wing offering amenities for patients unable to reach the nexus.
Even though the medical sector was technically classified as part of Heaven's central sector, in practice, it was almost an entirely separate sector. The building was constructed separately outside the main structure.
Which was why the tram station made travel so easy.
'Even though we walked here.'
Celestia told me that the original plan for the medical sector at Heaven mining base was not for it to be so large. The likelihood of recouping the costs was low.
Most of the population were low-rank workers, but they weren't profitable. If they got sick, they just drank the cure-all, alcohol, and tried to survive another day.
Those who might actually use Heaven's medical sector were at least mid-rank workers, but those workers mostly used illegal clinics in the residential area, since Heaven's fees were so steep.
That left only the senior workers and above. Sure, the top 20% of clients might be responsible for 80% of revenue, but even they couldn't cover the astronomical daily expenses of the medical sector.
Just keeping the lights on meant bleeding money, and not everyone lined up every day to see a doctor.
The true VIPs had their own personal physicians, so even extra service fees didn't begin to plug the hole.
"If things had gone according to the original plan, the medical sector would be half the size it is now."
"Then why did they build it so big—ah."
I started to ask, then stopped. A thought flashed through my mind.
"... They made it this big from the start to run a clone business, didn't they? They needed to hide the space."
"That's what the evidence points to, yes."
I couldn't help but laugh dryly. I knew the facility had been built quite some time ago. That meant they'd been openly selling clones all this time.
"I thought they wouldn't mess around with people's lives, but I guess not. I knew the SSTC types were cheapskates, but I didn't realize they were this evil."
There's always rock bottom, then there's another rock bottom below that. But still, griping about SSTC wouldn't change anything right now.
While examining the building's map, I asked,
"So, where should we go? We probably don't have time to check everywhere."
"We should head to the research wing first. Even if there are biocells here, they're probably contaminated. Oh, and it looks like this store here still works; let's check it out before we go."
Celestia pointed to a store on the right side of the lobby, and I nodded.
We walked between patient beds, scanning the surroundings with our detectors. The rattling of casters on the beds echoed through the quiet lobby.
Celestia reached the store—a big metal box—and scanned her bracelet.
「User: Celestia Myosotis」
Unlike mine, hers didn't display any rank—just the family name Myosotis.
For some reason, I found that cool and let out a soft exclamation of admiration. Celestia gave a shy cough, a bit embarrassed. Carry tilted his head curiously at us.
「Would you like to use the store?」
It had been so long since I'd used a store in Heaven, the holographic message felt oddly unfamiliar. Shaking off that feeling, I asked,
"Anything in stock?"
Even though I didn't specify, Celestia knew what I meant. After carefully scanning the items, she shook her head. No biocells.
I hadn't expected much, but hearing that still left me feeling deflated.
"Sold out."
"That figures—wait, sold out?"
"Yes. It's not completely gone from the inventory list yet. I'm searching where any remaining stock might be, so just wait a bit."
It wasn't resolved right away, but at least things weren't getting any more complicated. If we could just find out where the biocells were, we wouldn't have to search everywhere.
Not long after, Celestia pointed to a spot on the holographic map—the research wing, and specifically, the technology development lab.
"There are some biocells left there. Looks like they had some left over from experiments."
"It feels like we're heading straight to the boss room."
We were going to the research wing anyway. They might even be able to make more biocells there, so if there's any stock left, we could just take it.
"So let's stock up on potions."
Saying that, she bought a whole armful of high-grade medicines from the store and shut it down. Clank—vrrrrrr. The machines hummed briefly, and then the metal booth opened, presenting our purchases.
The inside of the store's tubing didn't seem contaminated; the supplies looked fine. We grabbed them.
The research wing was on the upper level of the medical sector. To get there, we had to pass through part of the ward. That was no issue; there was no reason to hesitate at this point.
However, one thing bothered me—there were no mutants in sight. The ones we'd fought before entering the lobby had been from the tram, or the walking passages. But not from inside the medical sector itself.
'They said the place was just crawling with monsters, though.'
I didn't think the warning we'd seen in the Nexus central plaza before coming here was a lie. Mutants must have been everywhere then.
So where did those monsters go? Are they hiding somewhere nearby, or did they sneak into another area through a way we don't know? And if so, where?
My thoughts kept chasing their own tails. I'd checked the lobby console hoping to find out what happened, but unfortunately, there were no logs.
The only data was the automated facility status. I already knew the sector was fully quarantined, so I wasn't surprised.
'Is there an ID bracelet or data device dropped around here?'
With that in mind, I turned the corner into the ward—and we stumbled upon a room piled high with body bags.
〈ER #1〉
「Severe contamination present. Please initiate decontamination procedure.」
The room was stacked with dozens of bloated body bags—some looked waterlogged, others like they were swollen with gas. We didn't even need a separate morgue; the entire medical sector had become one.
The stench rising from below made my brow furrow involuntarily. Taking in this hellish scene briefly, I noticed that one hand sticking out from between the body bags was holding something—a data device.
'Of course, there had to be something.'
There'd been so many people here. Even if most turned into monsters, there was no way there'd be no bracelets or data devices left by the medical engineers.
But unfortunately, the device was wedged between body bags, and I was reluctant to get closer. Carry also looked disgusted.
I hesitated, reaching toward the data device, half-hoping it would just fly into my hand.
"Hup...!"
"... Hyun-woo? What are you doing?"
Celestia watched me, her voice careful as she gauged what I was up to.
"I was kind of hoping it'd just fly over to me. Then I wouldn't have to go all the way over there."
"Hyun-woo..."
Celestia stared at me like she was genuinely concerned about my sanity. I slowly lowered my arm. Pretending nothing had happened, I asked Carry to fetch the device.
[( •́ㅿ•̀ )]
"Why are you looking at me like that? Just bring the data device."
[( •́ ⍨ •̀ )]
"... Come on, don't look at me like that."
Carry never lost his expression of distaste, but went over to the pile and brought back the data device. The circuits seemed damaged from blood, but the data hadn't been totally lost. We managed to recover and view part of it. It read:
「Medical Log
McClain Kenez, surgeon
Emergency Assistance Request
I am submitting my observations along with this request for additional security staff. If anyone with higher clearance than the system exists, I hope you will convey my opinion.
The situation is dire. There has been a surge of people coming to the medical sector over the past few days, but despite various examinations we could not determine what was wrong with them.
Test results showed all values within normal range. But they still complained of incomprehensible pain. No specific body part could be isolated—they all complained of different places hurting.
Then, suddenly, a mid-rank worker in the middle of a fit let out a horrifying scream and began to self-harm. And then a crystal pierced out through his abdomen.
It was clearly a blue crystal. Soaked in blood—no, greedily drinking blood, the blue gem felt monstrous. That's when the nightmare began.
The mid-rank worker should have died from his wounds—they were mortal—but he stayed alive, even more vigorous and violent than before.
Three people tried to restrain him, but it took two security bots to finally pin him down.
We injected sedatives to try to calm his fit. We gave more than we should have, but nobody spoke up.
The inhuman screams haunted us all. No one could utter a word. His brief unnatural strength also shook us deeply.
Everyone looked frightened. Even the patients waiting in the lobby seemed to sense something was wrong and became restless. Some tried to leave, but none actually exited the medical sector.
The mid-rank worker who first showed abnormal symptoms gave off a terrible stench. It looked like all the waste in his body was being expelled. The color was strange as well.
His pores widened and his body hair just slid off his skin, and his skin lost elasticity, not matching his actual age. His pupils grew cloudy, and the blue crystal that pierced out from his abdomen emitted a resonance identical to the raw gemstones.
He did not die. Rather, he couldn't die. The blue crystal was forcibly keeping him alive.
The autopsy revealed that crystallization happened inside the body, and the crystals formed through the mediation of blood. The blue crystal was drinking in his blood, slowly but surely growing.
It didn't stop there—soon, blue crystals pushed through the bones and tore skin in other people, though more than half of those died during the process (unlike the first case).
Stuffing countless bodies into body bags led me to one conclusion: everyone even briefly exposed to the blue crystal's resonance was being mutated. We were all a vector for infection.
And I am not exempt. Even as I write this log, my vision is blurring. Delirium is spreading through us like a plague; the medical sector can no longer control people.
Titan's current assets are insufficient to suppress this incident. The golden hour has already passed. If we truly wish to act in humanity's interest, we must die here.
So please, quarantine Titan immediately. Do not allow this infection to spread any further. If we cannot identify the infection vector, even purging Titan may be a solution.
Blue crystal. It's not a gift of God, but a curse. We're paying the price for abusing this curse.
We should have tried harder to understand what it really was.」
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Damn.
【(；☉_☉)】