Mass Loss of Control

"Doctor Clive! Get out of the aircraft immediately! Otherwise, I will authorize the special operations team to use force!"

On Helipad 8 at Site-17, the rotors of a VTOL505 helicopter were still spinning at high speed, producing a deafening roar. The downdraft whipped dust off the ground, forming a hazy halo in the searchlight beams.

Four fully armed security agents surrounded the helicopter, raising assault rifles equipped with tactical sights and aiming at Clive as he slowly climbed out of the cockpit.

"Hands on your head and get on the ground! Any unusual movement will be treated as a hostile act! I repeat, get down immediately!"

The lead security officer shouted the order.

To their surprise, Clive actually obeyed, placing his hands on his head as he stepped out of the aircraft.

"Listen! There has to be some misunderstanding here!"

The searchlight shone on Clive's bewildered face, making him turn his head and squint. As he slowly crouched, he shouted:

"I don't know why I'm here! Fuck, something must have affected me!"

"Doctor Clive, you should save those words for the incident investigator."

The lead security officer's expression remained unchanged. Keeping his gun trained firmly on Clive, he said in a low voice:

"Right now, all you need to do is stop resisting and lie on the ground."

"Okay, okay... but you'd better be polite to me..."

Clive slowly lowered himself, hands on his head, knees touching the ground, before easing onto his stomach. He kept rambling:

"Otherwise, I'll definitely tell them afterward..."

"...Happy April Fools' Day!"

Without warning, Clive flung up the hands he had held on his head. The metal device on his wrist suddenly erupted with a dazzling white light, bursting in the night like a miniature sun.

The four security guards staring fixedly at him were knocked unconscious by the intense flash almost simultaneously, collapsing like puppets with their strings cut.

"Open fire!"

The two tactical support guards nearby pulled their triggers almost simultaneously, muzzle flashes tracing deadly paths through the darkness.

Clive reacted with astonishing speed, rolling sharply to his left as bullets skimmed past his clothes. Almost as he rolled, his right hand whipped the silver-white pistol from his waist.

He never stopped to aim. Clive did not even lift his head, pulling the trigger on combat instinct alone. With two faint hisses, two tranquilizer darts struck the guards precisely in their necks.

Neither guard had time to fire a second volley before collapsing to the ground.

"I told you you'd better be polite..."

Clive slowly got up from the ground and looked down at his wrist computer.

"Right on time..."

At the same time, fierce gunfire erupted at another entrance to the Site.

Clive raised his eyebrows, brushed the dust off his clothes, and strode toward the western entrance to Sector B, disguised as a warehouse door.

"Warning: malicious intrusion from an unknown source detected in Sector B's security system. Security level downgraded to red alert."

The man and the dog in the laboratory raised their heads almost simultaneously.

"What the hell is wrong with the Central Control System? It does nothing when containment fails, but the moment the Site gets invaded, it sounds the alarm."

Kane stopped operating the mechanical arm that was welding weapon components. Sparks still flew from the spherical mech, while half-finished gun barrels and sensor parts lay scattered across the floor.

The Golden Retriever leaped out of the cockpit and looked at Zhou Ze in the corner of the laboratory.

"Clive has entered the Site. We have to act now..."

After a moment's thought, Kane continued:

"Installing the weapon modules will take a little longer, but we can't just sit here waiting to die. You have two choices now: go to Alice's containment unit and protect her, or go straight after Clive. In an emergency like this, no one will hold you responsible even if you kill him outright."

"I'll go find Alice."

At those words, Zhou Ze stood up with a serious expression and spoke in a low voice.

This was hardly a choice at all. Trying to track down one person in such an enormous Containment Facility was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

With only a vague understanding of the facility's layout, Zhou Ze would probably get himself lost before he found Clive.

"That works too. Clive will come knocking sooner or later anyway..."

Kane, the Golden Retriever, nodded and said thoughtfully, "But I have to warn you: Clive executed at least a double-digit number of anomalous entities while he was with the Global Occult Coalition. This is his specialty. He's nothing like us researchers sitting in offices, so don't let your guard down..."

Zhou Ze nodded, picked up the Longsword and the Military Dagger, and strode toward the laboratory door.

"See you later. Good luck."

"You too."

"Ding-dong~"

The elevator arrived at the Containment Zone on level B9.

Zhou Ze gripped the Military Dagger tightly in his right hand, watching warily as the elevator doors slowly opened.

The instant the doors opened fully, a figure darted out from beside them, aiming a dark gun barrel at Zhou Ze's head. Almost simultaneously, Zhou Ze pressed the Military Dagger across the man's neck.

"Zhou Ze?!"

"Shi Yaming?!"

"What are you doing here..."

Shi Yaming lowered his gun and shoved Zhou Ze's arm aside. After nervously glancing back, he quickly stepped into the elevator.

He grabbed Zhou Ze's shoulders and said urgently, "Listen, Zhou Ze, it's dangerous here. The Instructor and I got separated while escaping. I just tried contacting him, but he didn't answer. Right now, the Instructor is either dead or caught up in trouble and can't get away..."

Grimacing, Zhou Ze seized the hand resting on his wound and pried it off with force. "Let the fuck go!"

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" Only then did Shi Yaming look Zhou Ze over. "...You're hurt?"

Then he looked at his own smoking glove, his face filled with shock. "Fuck, what the hell..."

"Yeah, thanks a fucking lot..."

Zhou Ze frowned at the claw marks on his left shoulder. Only after confirming that the wound had not torn open any further did he ask irritably, "Cut the crap. What exactly is going on?"

Shi Yaming grew serious again and explained rapidly:

"The Instructor and I were ordered to protect SCP-239's containment unit, but after entering the Containment Zone, we discovered that some members of the security team that arrived before us had become anomalous. They'd turned into some kind of zombie-like monstrosities. Those monsters are all over the Containment Zone now. They're incredibly hard to kill, almost..."

"I killed one," Zhou Ze interrupted.

"You ran into them too... Anyway, one of those monsters is manageable, but once there are more than two, there's no easy way to deal with them... Fuck, I should've brought a large-caliber weapon."

Shi Yaming paused, then asked, "So what are you doing here?"