Hell: darkness that sulfur could never finish burning, sins that tongues of flame could never lick clean. Screams were forever lodged in the throats of the sinful, the curses of innocents burrowing between their bones.
The greatest greed, hatred, and regrets of their lives were simmered into a seemingly endless pot of bitter soup. What followed was atonement.
Ant's voice stuttered for several seconds. When it spoke again, its words were garbled, as though space itself were distorting them.
730 and 455 sensed the deterioration in Ant's signal almost simultaneously. The data they had trapped inside an electronic device was losing its connection to the host computer. Once that connection broke, this lump of data would be little more than scrap.
455 thought it would rather die than submit and was cutting off its tail to survive. It hurriedly said, "(๑⁼д⁼๑)! Why are you so damn stubborn? You're like a mule! We're just asking you a few questions, and you're going to self-destruct?"
Ant answered, "There's a problem with the host computer. Headquarters is under attack, but that's normal. We're all caught up in a war, after all. There will always be casualties."
"Huh?"
730 pondered for a moment, then swept a data scan through the Real World.
In an even tone, Ant continued answering their questions. "My clearance isn't very high. I told you before that the people supporting this operation aren't limited to the Laboratory. There are also researchers from other organizations and members of the public following blindly along."
"And I would classify those people as a separate faction. You can call them the radicals."
"The radicals have all but infiltrated the Laboratory, and the peace faction within it is being suppressed. The radicals' plan has three parts. The first is to infiltrate the Laboratory and the