Early Stages of Infection
After securing the control room and taking control of the entire central area, the first task was to isolate the infected people. The operation involved sequentially sealing off the passageways and entrances of each building to isolate the infected into a few clusters. Those in inconvenient locations were lured using cargo drones. Although there were so losses in the process, as long as the shelter is normalized, we can produce as many drones as needed.
Artemis is currently controlling hundreds of cargo drones simultaneously, flawlessly managing this tedious and arduous isolation task. During that ti, I skimd through the records, looking for anything useful among the various communications or records left by survivors in the central area after the outbreak.
I received a cup of hot coffee brought by a cargo drone.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
A sip of coffee, warm but not too hot, with its bitter taste, cleared my mind. As always, it’s black coffee. Artemis always makes my drinks this way. She dislikes consuming sugar or cream. She finds the increased secretion on my skin unpleasant, which I suppose is considerate.
Most of the logs were aningless screams, complaints, prayers, or cries for help, but Artemis filtered those out, allowing to gather so information that helped in understanding the situation.
Docunt Record 1
Title: Outbreak of Epidemic
At first, I thought it was just a false alarm. It’s not unusual for fire managers to accidentally trigger ergency bells during unscheduled safety checks. So, no one took the alarm seriously; everyone kept doing their work. But when I heard an explosion from the lower area, I felt sothing was wrong.
Monts later, screams were heard from all directions, and seeing the main gates of the three zones enter ergency lockdown mode, I knew sothing was horribly wrong.
Docunt Record 2
Title: Is This an Epidemic?
This is no ordinary epidemic. The epidemics I’m familiar with cause coughing or skin rashes, not transform humans into monsters.
The frantic calls and transmissions from the lower area have gone silent. We gathered as many workers as we could from each block and retreated to the control room, but what’s the use? We have no weapons, no food, and not nearly enough people. I have no idea how long we can hold out.
The internet is flooded with unbelievable stories and videos. There’s no response from the police or fire departnt.
The young slickster from upper managent has vanished. He was supposed to be the interim manager, but he’s locked himself away, trying to integrate the massive supercomputer that arrived a few days ago into the shelter. They said he was a special forces veteran and a renowned systems engineer. If he were here, maybe he could have figured sothing out.
Damn it! We’re completely cut off.
(End of Record)
“Calling a slickster… I’m sorry, but it’s not like I had any solutions either.”
Linking Artemis, who had just been installed in this massive shelter, was not a job that could be finished in a day or two. Until she secured control, the facility was operated according to the pre-set protocols by the operating system, and a major accident happened at the most vulnerable timing.
I had no way to restore the ergency-sealed bulkheads and the communications locked for security with my authority alone. At the ti the ergency lockdown protocol was implented, I was working in the room where Artemis’s main body was located. The bulkhead, prioritizing her protection, ca down and trapped inside. It took four days to escape and I almost starved to death.
[I will never forget the humiliation you put through then.]
“It was a natural bodily function; what was I supposed to do?”
Of course, there wasn’t a bathroom in there, so I had to do my business on the floor next to her body, and for the first ti in my life, I heard an AI scream.
[The urea and inorganic salts from your excretions evaporated and adhered to my body, both inside and out. How are you going to take responsibility for that?]
“Uh, um… sorry.”
Thinking back, it might have been the initial mishap that made her sensitive to human secretions.
I continued to review the records.
Docunt Record 1
Title: I’m Going Insane
I’m really losing it. I’m supposed to handle burns, frostbite, and trauma from work sites, not this lunacy. Those with lacerations on their arms or legs are the lucky ones.
How am I supposed to treat soone whose face is half lted off? It’s not like they were injured by chemicals or anything sensible. They got that way from fluids spat out by so monster straight out of a nightmare. I saw it myself, so I can’t even scream at them for making up stories. All I can do is hand out strong painkillers to ease their suffering.
I was barely awake in the duty room an hour ago, and now 15 people are dead. The monsters drag away the bodies we can’t recover to so unknown place.
(End of Record)
Audio Record 1
“Conserve firepower!”
(Sounds of monsters’ cries)
“Captain, this seems to be effective.”
“Of course it’s effective! Do those bastards think they’re tougher than reinforced concrete? Smash the head of that one convulsing over there!”
(Sound of excavator operating)
“Set the flathrowers on fire overall, then stop and let the spear-wielders finish it off. We don’t have much fuel. Use it sparingly!”
“Understood!”
(Terrifying monstrous roar with a different tone than before.)
“What the hell is that?!”
(End of Record)
“Seems like there was a particularly strong entity. Did the surveillance caras catch anything?”
[Unable to confirm. There’s too little information on the infected. Based on the infected we’ve identified so far, no entity seems particularly more dangerous, but I can’t be sure.]
Docunt Record 2
Title: It’s All Over
It seems I’m the only one left alive now. Well, in a sense, those things roaming outside are still showing signs of life, so maybe that’s not entirely accurate?
It’s been a week since the infection started, and I’ve been holed up in the dical room. The cries of the monsters from all directions are driving to the edge. Compared to that, maybe it would have been better to hear the screams of people in the early stages of infection. At least those screams had a trace of humanity.
Huh? Have I finally lost it? What am I even saying?
The workers who barricaded themselves until the end are all dead. They were truly courageous. I made excuses about needing to treat patients and cowardly fled, but in the end, I couldn’t save anyone.
With each passing day, the outside grows more chaotic. The people I used to see every day are being reborn as sothing else. Among them was soone I hated so much I wanted to kill him, but when he ca toward twisted and deford, I cried. Not out of fear.
When I ca to my senses after running frantically, I found myself sobbing in a dark corner. I rember what a survivor who barely escaped before the lockdown said: “Down there is hell.”
How much ti do I have left?
I’m starving.
I’m so hungry.
And I’m sleepy.
(End of Recording)
“…”
These records gave a fragntary understanding of what happened here, but they didn’t provide any practical help.
[Co to the dical room leading to the right entrance of the control room. There’s sothing you need to see.]
“What about the danger from the infected?” I said while gathering up the weapons I had set aside.
[There are none within a 250-ter radius. The isolation asures will be finished soon. The area is safe.]
“Okay. Keep up the good work with the isolation. I’ll head there right away.”
In the dical room, I found three corpses waiting for . One of them had half of its face lted away. A cargo drone brought a docunt that appeared to be a patient profile.
“Patient, Kim Wonsik. Survived for 220 minutes post-injury. Cause of death: Asphyxiation due to lung damage from toxic substances passed through the airway.”
It was astonishing that he survived for 220 minutes with his face lted away.
“Can the substance that lted his face also lt this?” I tapped the riot control helt and said.
[No. Analysis of residual components shows it doesn’t have a significant effect on polycarbonate. However, don’t let your guard down. We can’t assu all infected will be the sa.]
The other two corpses were n with holes in their left chest and neck.
“Patient, Amir. Survived for 280 minutes. Avoided direct heart damage but died from internal bleeding.”
He appeared to be of South Asian descent, possibly Indian?
“Patient, Kim Taesub. Survived for 20 minutes. Cause of death: Airway damage. Intubation bought so ti, but it was insufficient.”
[Based on the bodies and dical records found so far, the infected lack intelligence. However, they seem to be programd to so extent in combat.]
“So they instinctively target vital spots? They’re not just attacking randomly.”
Looking back, the corpses discovered on the way here mostly had injuries to the left chest or neck.
[It’s recomnded to add a protective guard to the neck part of the riot control suit. The aramid cover attached to the current model is insufficient.]
“Got it. Fixing that up will be quick. Thanks for the advice.”
Artemis can be prickly, but listening to her is never a disadvantage. Except when she’s trying to send to the infirmary.
“How much longer for the isolation work?”
[About 40 minutes more.]
“Alright, let’s head out as soon as it’s done.”
So far, everything has gone unusually smoothly. There have been few battles, and they were just simple troubles involving ambushing and killing dormant ones. But the journey ahead will be different. The central area had only a few ergency workers and on-duty personnel, while the lower area had everyone resting.
“Down there is hell.” A line from the record I read earlier kept echoing in my mind.
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