Abnormal Conditions

"What are you staring at? Get moving!" As soon as he saw Dr. Dai walk away, the bearded guard's expression changed. He glared and barked the order.

He was practically a chameleon.

Zhou Ze inwardly rolled his eyes and silently started walking.

The guard seemed to be in an excellent mood, even humming an off-key tune behind him.

Judging by the guard's reaction, Dr. Dai Yong'an had to be one of the Site's higher-ups. This was Zhou Ze's first encounter with someone at that level...

Zhou Ze mulled it over.

Something about Dai Yong'an's voice sounded familiar, but Zhou Ze couldn't remember where he'd heard it before.

As he pondered this, his gaze fell on a dead leaf on the floor ahead.

The bright yet oppressive corridor stretched into the distance like the gullet of some enormous beast. The dead leaf lay quietly on the cold metal floor, inconspicuous but enough to catch his attention.

Zhou Ze's eyes lit up. He quickened his pace and stepped on it as though by accident.

Yes... that's it...

His anticipation peaked at that instant. He could almost hear the crisp crunch of the dead leaf underfoot, almost feel its dry, brittle surface shattering beneath his shoe.

Whether it was a lingering childish streak or finding joy amid misery, Zhou Ze had always loved doing this, no matter which world he was in.

What a great stress reliever!

Disappointingly, however, the crunch he had imagined never came. It felt as though he had stepped on a wad of cotton.

His anticipation had reached its peak without any satisfaction, leaving only emptiness behind.

Zhou Ze stopped and moved his foot aside to look.

There was nothing there, as though the dead leaf had been nothing more than an absurd hallucination conjured by his brain.

Wait... why would there be a fallen leaf here?

Zhou Ze froze.

Although the Containment Zone's corridors were nowhere near as spotless as the office area, there was no reason for something like a dead leaf to be here.

"What are you dawdling for?! Get-"

The bearded guard's rebuke cut off abruptly.

Ahead was a junction. A few meters beyond the corner, a dark red metal wall blocked the passage.

The wall blended seamlessly with its surroundings, as though it had been there since the building was constructed. Faint, dried, dark stains marked its surface, gleaming ominously under the bright lights.

But from an architectural standpoint, there was no way such an abrupt dead end should exist just around a corner at a junction. It completely defied the layout of a containment facility.

"Fuck..." the bearded guard muttered, raising his gun as he advanced.

He had taken this route countless times. He knew perfectly well it wasn't a dead end.

Remembering the containment chamber door he had opened without authorization earlier, he felt a surge of foreboding. Cold sweat broke out over him.

He approached the wall cautiously and reached out to touch it.

Behind him, Zhou Ze raised an eyebrow. There was no mistaking it-something had gone wrong.

For a moment, he actually felt a flicker of eagerness for chaos. His unfulfilled anticipation finally had somewhere to go.

But he quickly pushed those absurd, jumbled thoughts aside. This was fucking risking his life, not watching a movie. Staying alive mattered more.

"Did something happen?" Zhou Ze's tone was vague, making it impossible to tell whether he was gloating or frightened and concerned.

The bearded guard's face darkened. He didn't respond.

As one of the few old hands who had worked at Site-17 for so many years and still had all his limbs, he knew exactly what encountering something like this in the Containment Zone meant.

It all but confirmed his ominous suspicion. Still clinging to one last shred of hope, he pressed his wrist computer and gave a carefully limited report:

"This is C-840. I've encountered an abnormal situation while escorting Class-D Personnel back. A wall of unknown origin has appeared at junction B-7 in Biochemical Containment Area 3, blocking the passage. Requesting support."

"Command acknowledges. The 'Wild Dog' containment team has been dispatched to investigate. Remain alert."

The formulaic response from his wrist computer did nothing to ease his foul mood.

After hesitating in place for a moment, the bearded guard turned around and jerked his chin at Zhou Ze, his expression grim.

"The situation has changed. We need to take another route. You'll need to slow down now. I'll keep some distance between us, but you are not to act on your own. Understood?!"

Fuck your mother!

If the bearded guard hadn't been holding a gun, Zhou Ze would have spat those words right in his face.

He made it sound so proper, but the bastard clearly wanted to use him as a live target to scout ahead.

But Zhou Ze was a fish on the chopping block now. What room did he have to bargain?

Struggling to keep his expression neutral, Zhou Ze forced a single word through clenched teeth:

"Fine..."

For the next few minutes, the two of them crept forward warily, one behind the other.

The corridors of the Containment Zone all looked alike. The silver-gray metal walls and floors appeared particularly monotonous under the harsh white light. Only the area signs hanging from the ceiling gave them any way to confirm where they were.

Aside from those, every corner and every straight stretch seemed like an identical copy, creating the illusion that they were lost in an endless maze.

The containment chamber doors lining both sides of the corridor took on an unsettling dark red beneath the warning lights. In the oppressive atmosphere, those enormous metal doors resembled lurking, bloodstained maws that could open at any moment and swallow them whole.

The corridor was silent, save for their footsteps echoing through the empty space.

Both men moved as though treading on thin ice.

Until-

A dark red metal wall abruptly stretched across their path.

The wall's presence defied all reason. It simply sliced the door of a large containment chamber beside it in half, making no attempt to conceal its anomalous nature.

Both men stopped at once and exchanged a glance.

The bearded guard took a deep breath and slowly approached.

His palm brushed across the wall's cold surface. After confirming once again that it wasn't a hallucination, he pressed his wrist computer:

"Wild Dog, this is C-840. We've encountered another anomalous wall blocking our path. We're now unable to leave the Containment Zone. Report your situation. Over."

"C-840, this is Wild Dog's team leader. Your report is acknowledged. A containment breach has been confirmed. We've encountered a similar situation on our end and can't advance farther into the Containment Zone. We're cross-referencing contained anomalies that could cause this phenomenon. Stay alert and stand by where you are. If the situation deteriorates, you are authorized to take emergency measures. Over."

The bearded guard was about to say something else when the Wild Dog team leader's voice came through the wrist computer again, filled with confusion.

"Wait... the situation has changed. Why is Zhu Qian in the Containment Zone? Who let her in?"

Standing nearby, Zhou Ze froze at those words.

Zhu Qian?

Number-529, that half-cat who was allowed to roam freely and was so attached to him?

"No... there's more than one. We've confirmed simultaneous sightings of three Number-529s... Hey! What are you doing..."

Before he could finish, the transmission abruptly cut out, leaving only piercing static echoing through the silent corridor.