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Chapter 18: Stop!
🕑 Added 2025-07-15 10:06:33 +0000 UTCAfter agreeing on the plan, Jane began to lead Owen's group towards the western laboratory, where the E.R.D. Chamber was located. They hoped they could treat Rosy in time before the parasite took complete control of her body. Owen knew well that time was not on their side. Every second's decision was a gamble with the life of the person he cared about most.
The path they walked was filled with signs of damage. Cracked walls, doors torn from their hinges, and dried bloodstains on the floor. In some places, a crust of rotted flesh clung to the walls and power conduits. A faint, foul, fishy smell hung in the air, creating a tense atmosphere with every step.
Along the way, they had to face several mutated parasites. Some had bizarre shapes, with wings that seemed to have grown in the wrong places. Some ran on all fours like rabid beasts. Others stood on two legs, but one of their arms had become a thick tentacle over 3 meters long that lashed out at everything around it.
Owen had to assess the situation second by second. If it was a small group, he would engage quickly, using the combat skills and instincts honed at Nova's gym to kill with sharp precision. But if there were too many enemies, or if they had suspicious-looking special organs, they would all have to hide or take a safer detour.
But not every encounter ended smoothly. At times, they had to stop to treat minor wounds. Anna demonstrated her effective first-aid skills, while Mark quietly took notes on the parasites' movements and patterns, like a scientist who refused to abandon his duty, even in a dire situation.
After fighting through obstacles and clashes for over half an hour, they arrived in front of a large room that looked strikingly modern and out of place with its surroundings. A large, automatic metal door stood imposingly in the silent hall. The dim overhead lights flickered weakly, as if about to run out of power.
Jane led the way to the control panel in front of the door before taking out a keycard and swiping it through the reader. The system beeped, and a green light lit up above the display screen. The metal door slowly slid open with the sound of grinding metal that echoed throughout the corridor.
“This is it...” Jane said, sighing as if she had just crossed some dangerous threshold.
What appeared before everyone was a laboratory that looked like it was straight out of a sci-fi movie. The walls were made of a clean, silver, reflective metallic material. Digital control panels lined the walls, with fiber optic cables running neatly from the floor to the ceiling. In the center of the room was a metal platform raised above the floor, resembling a bed designed with restraints for arms and legs, capable of securely locking a human body in place, with a radiation emitter hanging from above.
Several monitors continuously displayed brainwaves, cell behavior patterns, and biomolecular structures. The sound of machinery in the room worked in a calm, steady rhythm, but it concealed a hidden, dangerous power within.
Everyone slowly walked into the room. Jane went straight to the control zone without a word. She began to press buttons, activating the system and configuring various settings with silent expertise. Meanwhile, Owen walked around the room, warily inspecting the equipment. Rosy stared at the platform in the center of the room with a calm but deeply anxious expression. Small beads of sweat formed on her temples, even though the room's temperature was frigid.
“The machine is ready,” Jane said, looking at the screen. “Rosy, are you ready? If so, you can lie down there. I'll start the treatment process for you. And you don't need to be so worried. It has more than a fifty percent chance of success!” Jane said, comforting Rosy with confidence.
Rosy slowly turned to look at Owen, her eyes filled with unspeakable emotions, before saying in a slightly trembling voice, “Thank you, Owen... Thank you for not leaving me. Thank you for everything. Without you... I wouldn't have made it this far.”
She paused as if hesitating, before continuing in a gentle but serious tone, “And if this treatment is successful... I promise I will repay you for everything you've done for me... everything~”
Owen smiled back faintly, but his heart was pounding, feeling strangely heavy, as if Rosy's voice wasn't one of thanks, but of farewell. He didn't understand why he felt that way, but a premonition told him not to let her get on that bed.
Just then, his Choice System unexpectedly activated. He saw the translucent screen float up before his eyes, accompanied by the familiar notification sound effect.
…..
[1. Let her use the parasite mutation acceleration machine. (Enters Rosy's death path.)]
[2. Stop her from using the parasite mutation acceleration machine. (Enters Rosy's survival path.)]
[3. Do nothing. (Enters Rosy's death path.)]
…..
Seeing those options, Owen's eyes widened in shock, feeling as if his heart had just dropped to the floor.
'The parasite mutation acceleration machine...?' he murmured to himself, unable to believe his eyes.
Did that mean this machine... wasn't designed to heal, but had the primary function of 'accelerating' the parasite's mutation? Or something else they didn't know about? Or had Jane been deceiving them all along?
Owen looked up at Jane again. She was still looking down at the control panel, her expression neutral. Her hands were still moving on the screen, continuously inputting commands without even glancing at them.
Owen knew that if he didn't do something right now, he would lose Rosy... forever… Without a moment's hesitation, he immediately chose the second option.
Before Rosy could step onto the E.R.D. platform, Owen shot forward, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back in an instant. His pull was filled with such panic that Rosy stumbled back slightly in shock.
“Stop!” Owen's voice boomed in the quiet control room, making everyone whip their heads around with shocked expressions. Jane stopped her hands that were adjusting the values on the control panel. Mark froze for a moment. Anna gasped, not knowing what was happening. Why did Owen stop Rosy?
Rosy turned to look at Owen with a bewildered expression. “Owen? What's going on? Why did you do that?”
But Owen's face was filled with tension, his eyes blazing with an uncontainable anger. He shifted his mistrustful gaze to Jane, then to Anna and Mark who were still standing in confusion, as if assessing whether the three of them were in on it together.
He turned back to Rosy, before speaking in a heavy but cold voice. “We've been tricked, Rosy... This machine isn't a treatment device like Jane said. It's a parasite mutation accelerator!”
That statement was like a bomb going off in the room. Everyone's eyes widened in unison. Jane flinched slightly before frowning deeply, her eyes filled with confusion. Rosy herself whipped her head around to look at the radiation machine in front of her in disbelief.
Owen didn't stop. He quickly explained further, “If you get in that machine, the parasite in your body might incubate faster, or it might cause it to mutate somehow. I don't know what this machine really is, but… it's definitely not for treatment.”
Anna was stunned, her lips moved as if to speak, but no sound came out. Meanwhile, Mark narrowed his eyes analytically, looking at the prototype machine with distrust. Jane now began to walk towards Owen, her face a mixture of displeasure and confusion.
“What nonsense are you talking about, Owen?” she said in a firm voice. “I was part of the research team that developed this machine with my own hands. Why wouldn't I know what it is? This machine was designed to treat infected individuals in the early stages only, not some mutation accelerator like you're accusing!”
She pointed to the display screen showing human brainwave patterns. “Do you see this? All the settings are at a level that is safe for human neurons. We've tested it in simulations many times. No data indicates that it would stimulate mutation.”
Owen frowned tightly. He wanted to sarcastically say that he knew this because of the Choice System power he possessed, but he knew no one would believe in a supernatural power in a situation like this. And more importantly, the secret of this power was his trump card. There was no way he would reveal it to anyone, not even Rosy with her 100 affection points. Because in the future, no one could know what might happen. She could be mind-controlled by an Awakened one day, who knows.
Before he could say anything more, Mark's voice cut through everything with a grim tone. “Wait a minute, Jane...”
All eyes turned to Mark, the middle-aged man who usually didn't speak much during their journey, but his words this time sounded clear and firm.
“As a high-level researcher myself, I've never once heard about the treatment machine you're talking about. At first, I thought it might be a secret project that I didn't have clearance for. But thinking about it carefully, if this machine was completed and actually worked, it should have been used on other staff members already, right? At the very least, the situation wouldn't have gotten this bad.”
Jane immediately fell silent, her expression frozen as if she were in a trance.
Mark took another step closer. “If it really works... why is there no record of it in the central database? No documents, no test results, not even a reference in the main research team's meetings.”
His voice grew softer, but even more firm. “That means the treatment machine you're talking about... might not have existed in the first place.”
Those words silenced everyone in the room. Jane stood motionless, her eyes wide as if struck by some truth. She swallowed hard, her gaze starting to waver slightly.
Mark met her eyes and spoke in a softer tone, as if comforting someone in danger. “But from your expression and your actions, you weren't faking it. You truly believe it's a treatment machine…”
He spoke the last sentence slowly and clearly. “That leaves only one possibility. And that is... your memories might be being controlled by a parasite, Jane…”
Jane stood still, as if struck by lightning in the chest. Her face was a mask of utter confusion. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound escaped. Her pupils began to tremble like ripples on water hit by a gentle breeze.
Anna gasped, covering her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. Rosy also took a step back, her face showing both pity and suspicion at the same time.
Owen, who had been listening quietly to Mark, now understood. Jane might not have intended to betray them directly, but it was the result of being controlled by the parasites, who were playing with her mind.
Owen gritted his teeth, trying to think of a way out of this unexpectedly complex situation. Because if everything Mark said was true, then they might be standing in front of an enemy... who didn't even know she was an enemy…
Jane stood frozen in the middle of the room, her face in shock, her eyes wide, her pupils trembling uncontrollably. Her body trembled slightly, her lips moved as if to say something, but no sound came out. The truth that had just dawned on her was like a sharp knife cutting deep into her soul, the truth that she might not be herself anymore…
“Not real... not real!...” she murmured in a trembling voice, before raising her hands to clutch her head and shaking it back and forth, as if trying to drive out something threatening her mind. Confusion, fear, and pain crashed over her like a storm.
“I don't have a parasite... I'm not it... I'm not! I'm human!”
She screamed at the top of her lungs in despair. The intensity of her emotion stunned everyone in the room, freezing them in place. Rosy covered her mouth in shock. Anna's eyes widened. Mark slowly closed his eyes, as if trying to accept a reality more cruel than the results of a failed experiment.
“Aaarrrrggghhhhh!!”
Jane's final scream echoed in the silence before she turned and bolted out of the room, disappearing into the dark shadows of the long corridor that led deeper to the next level. All that was left was the sound of her footsteps and sobs fading into the silence.
Owen, who was standing closest, was about to run after her to stop her, but before he could take a step, Mark raised a hand to block him, shaking his head firmly.
“Let her go, Owen...” Mark said in a flat voice, but it was tinged with sadness. “We can't help her anymore. The fact that her memories could be controlled by a parasite means that in less than half an hour, she will completely become one of them.”
He paused for a moment before continuing with eyes full of understanding. “If she stayed with us, it would only make the situation worse. She knew that herself, which is why she decided to run away like that, to avoid becoming a threat to the team.”
Owen hesitated, looking in the direction Jane had disappeared with a deep sense of regret in his heart. A mixture of guilt, pity, and anger that he couldn't help her. But finally, he nodded slowly, acknowledging that her time was up, and they had to move on.
Silence covered the room for a moment, until Anna was the one to speak up in a faint voice. “So... what do we do now?” Her voice trembled slightly, her eyes still fixed on the exit with an empty gaze.
Mark turned to look at everyone, his eyes shining again as if he had snapped back into his role as a seasoned scientist. He walked over to the wall where a map of the research facility was posted, picked up a highlighter, and then drew a circle on the deepest area of the underground base.
“If we continue to head for the server room for data according to the original plan, we won't have enough time to find a cure for Rosy... Therefore…” he turned to meet everyone's eyes with determination. “We must change our main objective.”
Owen frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
Mark took a deep breath and explained in a clear, steady voice. “We will invade and destroy the parasite nest directly. Without a queen, without a nest, they can't breed and lay eggs. The entire hive will fall into confusion, and more importantly, the other parasites might start killing each other to compete for the position of the new queen. It will be a turning point that gives us a safe area and more time to do things, unlike now where parasites are running rampant everywhere.”
He walked over and pointed to the path that connected to the main control room and smaller labs. “And while their system is in turmoil, I can access the central main research lab to find a cure for Rosy as quickly as possible.”
Owen was silent for a moment before nodding slowly. “It's risky... but I have to admit it's the best plan we can come up with right now.”
“It must be very dangerous there!” Anna warned in a soft voice. “If we go in and attack their queen, they'll definitely go crazy and fight us to the death.”
“So be it,” Owen said flatly, his eyes resolute. He turned and took Rosy's hand, who looked weaker with every passing moment. “We will save her, no matter what it takes.”
Rosy nodded slowly, a small spark of hope still hidden in her eyes, though she was weaker. Her breathing was a little heavier, but her gaze had not given up.
They looked at each other again. No one said anything, but in their hearts, they all understood that if they went into that nest, they would never come back out if their mission was not successful.
And with this new objective, everyone began to prepare themselves again, gathering what weapons they could find, checking their supplies, and reordering their entire plan, before heading towards the deepest point of the research center... towards the heart of the darkness, where the parasite queen's nest was hidden…
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