Date: [REDACTED]
Location: /
Red lights were slowly going on and off.
Each time they went off, everything would go completely dark, and each time they went back on, they shined so brightly that one would feel as if they were colorblind.
Everything would be dyed in a hue of red.
The smell of blood and corpses was so strong that it made one's nose go numb and stiff.
Surprisingly, as for the sound, it was dead silent.
This created an invisible pressure in the air since it should not be quiet at all right now.
A little girl stepped through one of the opened sliding doors. The only clothing on her was an oversized T-shirt and underwear.
She glanced left and right, but the corridors were empty.
Her hair appeared almost dark red, but it was actually dark purple, with various pink and light purple hair strands.
She had black eyes with huge, bloated circles.
In her hands was a white pillow, pressed against her body.
Nevertheless, this hug wasn't for comfort, as she fearlessly delved deeper into the unknown labyrinth.
"The Self-destruction protocol is suspended", a female robotic voice echoed.
The little girl paid no attention.
She didn't know on which floor she currently was, nor did she know that she was heading toward a dead end.
Her feet were bleeding from walking on shattered glass this whole time.
The labs left and right of her all had their doors wide open, and windows broken. Some of them contained a corpse or two, but she wasn't interested in going there anyway.
She had no idea where she was going or who she was searching for.
Stopping on a crossroad, she helplessly glanced left and right, hoping to see someone.
"Hello?", she was turning around, "is anyone there?", she asked, but nobody was alive to answer her.
At least not human.
A deep scratching sound against the floor appeared, heading towards her.
A giant snake-like creature emerged from behind a corner.
Its eyes were bleeding, and skin was missing around its mouth, revealing the big teeth. From this up close it actually looked more like a dragon, but it was crawling like a snake, leaving a trail of blood behind.
"Do not be afraid my child", it spoke without moving its mouth which made it look even more unsettling.
"A fraid? What's that?", the girl showed no signs of fear.
She put her hands down making the pillow touch the floor.
"What is your name little one?", the creature asked.
"I am SS49! What about you?", one could not see it on her face, but she grew more excited.
The robotic female voice echoed once again, "System malfunction. Rebooting in T-30 seconds".
"My name is Dearhope. Pleasure to meet you", it approached the girl making her look even more tiny.
The girl's expression didn't change much from the beginning, only slightly frowning "Dearhope? That's a weird name. Like those guys in white suits have".
The creature could not show facial expressions, however, it sighed to itself thinking of something.
"Gamma team leader addressing the remaining survivors. The Gate B21 is now lifted. Due to the shortage of personnel, no evacuation attempts will be made. Over"
Bodies of the dead people were scattered throughout the whole place, and even though the little girl noticed them, she never showed the tiniest drop of fear.
Nonetheless, the fact that she never approached them showed that she was well aware of their fate.
Dearhope waited for the broadcast to end.
"Follow me little one. I will get you through this".
* * *
Somewhere completely else
Two fully armed men separated themselves from the rest to unload a truck.
"First those mutants, now this shit", he complained, "what a start of the year, huh?"
The other soldier didn't comment.
"I don't understand why the higher-ups didn't simply execute her. There is no way I'm buying all of this as a coincidence", he continued.
"Nobody said it's a coincidence. We just do what we have to do", the other soldier finally spoke.
They both put the gas masks on their faces, turned around, and walked towards the others.
"Alright Beta squad. Rescue the personnel, contaminate, or kill other entities. The boys from the army are going to keep a watch on the outside, while we get the shit together on the inside", his voice was deep but clear despite wearing a thick bulletproof helmet, "Any questions?"
The man who was unloading the truck raised his hand.
"Yes".
"If I come across that bitch, may I shoot her?", a few of the others laughed.
"Negative. We are only to kill frenzy entities. Renai's contamination chamber is very distinct from the other ones. We won't see her until the time comes to drag her out", he explained with a serious tone.
"But I hope that you already emptied your bladder anyways. God knows what we'll see inside".
The whole unit laughed.
After this, there were no more questions.
The eleven of them separated into 2 smaller units.
One headed for the elevator, while the other passed through a huge sliding metal gate.
Inside this facility, red lights were also flickering.
The unit that went for the elevator headed straight for the intercom room. They were swift and knew the layout of the whole site by heart.
One of them lifted the microphone off its charger. A notification sound resounded through the speakers of the whole complex.
"Beta contamination squad has entered the facility. All staff members are advised to remain calm and within the evacuation shelters. The evacuation process will shortly begin. Please avoid reaching the exit gates by yourself as it poses a huge threat and risk. Over".
The rough rustle of the microphone getting placed into the charger accompanied his last words.
He withdrew from the intercom room into another one with smashed computers and fallen bookshelves. The others from his unit were waiting for him.
Each had his gun in his hands with turned flashlight.
"So, what are they keeping here anyways?", one of them asked while examining a corpse.
"You work for The Source but don't know that?", a female soldier asked jokingly.
"I do, but as far as I'm concerned there should not be any wild creatures located here".
"That's true, but the Source offered to store and examine mutants until a cure is found".
The unit continued to move through the labyrinth, reaching multiple shelters.
"What about other organizations? Aren't they also looking for a cure"
The female soldier pondered a little, "I don't know. Nobody can count on a right-wing organization with a terrorist history anyway".
The latter didn't comment but remained focused just like everyone else.
This was the Beta Contamination Squad after all, the most well-trained unit of them all. The team consisted of 11 people.
They had been working together for a very long time and had a record number of successful missions.
A record not even the alpha team was close to surpassing.
"There!", the female soldier illuminated a figure with her gun through a broken window.
It was a humanoid creature with no eyes and dozens of excrescences on its skin.
The team leader didn't even pay attention, rather stayed focused on the surroundings for any possible abrupt event.
"Prepare the stun gun, cuff him, and open the portal", he gave the orders.
As he was giving the order, others were already executing them.
Unfortunately, the creature was faster.
It lifted one of its arms and used telekinesis to pull one of the soldiers towards itself. He flew, unable to control his body.
The female soldier frowned and shot the mutant with some form of shock wave, which visibly didn't do any harm to it.
However, the shockwave froze it in space, and the flying soldier fell to the floor.
Another squad member jumped on the mutant, pushing it to its knees.
He rashly but meticulously pulled what looked like a napkin, tying it forcefully around the mutant's eyes.
A split second before he tied, its body flicked, but it was too late.
The effect of the artifact already engulfed the mutant, making it peaceful.
"Wo!", his heart skipped a beat, "a close one!"
Another squad member approached him slowly. Instead of a gun, he held a shiny weird-looking sword.
"Hadn't you used Velcro shoes until 8th grade, perhaps you would have tied the napkin faster", he commented.
Everyone laughed.
"Well you can't blame me, they were drippy".
The sword guy swung his weapon through the empty air and created a portal.
Another man unit appeared on the other side of the portal, taking the tamed mutant from them. The portal closed.
Compared to their other missions, this was nothing.
The team leader's walkie-talkie suddenly started buzzing, transmitting the affable voice of the other 6 men from their unit who didn't take the elevator.
"Control to Beta Team. We ran into some security gate issues. Asking for permission to reboot the system. Over"
The team leader turned around looking at his colleagues.
"Control to Beta Squad. Permission granted. Over", he put the walkie-talkie away grabbing his gun with both hands, "let's keep moving forward".
A mere minute after that, the robotic voice echoed throughout the whole facility.
"System 1 malfunction. Rebooting now".
The red flickering lights went dark.
"That was fast", the team leader commented, "activate the night vision mode".
As they continued deeper into the well-known labyrinth, they met a couple of more such mutants.
Those started to appear randomly at some point during the very start of the year, so little to no training against them was undertaken.
Luckily, The Source was such a company that was on the same power level with the whole planet, which was one single country.
It started off as a research company, but soon gained its very own army.
Aside from the army, it also had its own special units, like the Beta squad unit.
Those were granted special missions and power.
Nevertheless, no soldiers meddled in politics but only assisted in these types of scenarios.
The Beta Squad visited several shelters, evacuating many scared staff members through the portal method.
Even though the Beta unit was usually working outside, this facility was their terrain, and they knew it better than any outsider.
"Control to Beta Squad. We checked the Scream Room for you. I know Michael is going to be grateful. Over", all 5 of them started laughing imagining the reaction of the other 6 unit members.
They were currently exiting a lift that led them to the lowest part of the facility.
Only 3 rooms were here but possessed great value. Most of the mutants were also neutralized by this point, so there was no substantial threat anymore.
"System operational", the robotic voice, and all the roles of System 1 had come back to life.
The red light got turned on once again.
Even some of the regular white light bulbs started working!
This completely blinded the whole unit who was using the night vision mode on their combat helmets.
"Deactivate the night vision mode", the team leader gave orders.
The corridor they were currently in looked the same as any other.
Nevertheless, they were close to the end of their mission.
To their surprise, the robotic voice echoed once again.
"A Demigod level threat detected".
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