How much longer would this situation last?
Would he one day contract Oripathy too?
Lyle was in a heavy mood. He held a cigarette between his fingers. Wearing a fully protective mask, he naturally could not smoke it, but simply holding it there was enough to remind him of its flavor.
As he thought about it, Lyle suddenly felt that getting Oripathy might not be such a bad thing.
It would give him the chance to visit Rhodes Island and ask his friend Franka in person how she had been doing.
A scream suddenly pierced through his earpiece, causing the cigarette between Lyle's fingers to fall to the ground.
He immediately cast aside his idle thoughts and fantasies, asking what had happened with a soldier's crisp efficiency.
"Those Originium Slugs... those Originium Slugs..." A broken voice came through in fragments. Lyle immediately ordered him to stay calm, but the reassurance had little effect. The soul on the other end of the earpiece was still gripped by terror.
"Oh God! They ate Blake! John stood up! Don't grab my leg! Don't grab my leg!!!"
The incoherent screams made Lyle's heart sink further and further. In the end, he could only use the communications reflector atop the hastily built tower to determine where the incident had occurred.
Numerous communication points flickered on the screen. The brightest one, with the highest frequency, belonged to a Blacksteel Security squad keeping watch on the forest.
He did not dare hesitate. He immediately sounded the red alert. Everyone in the mining site had gone through countless drills; the moment the piercing alarm rang out, they shut down their equipment, abandoned their workstations, and ran toward the camp enclosed by high walls and barbed wire.
"What happened?" The instant the alarm sounded, the person in charge of