The heartbeat continued its constant, lulling beat. Thud-thud. Thud-thud.
Viral Outbreak in lab 17: development.
sealing...
sealing...
Failed. Security Breech.
Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Thud-thud.
Shutting down climate control systems.
sealing...
sealing...
Failed. Viral Contamination detected in Labs: 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4, 5A, 5B...
Thud-thud. Thud-thud.
Sealing Lab Sector.
sealing...
sealing...
Unsuccessful. Viral Contamination detected in all residence sectors. Viral contamination detected in all technology sectors. Viral contamination detected in all system control centers.
Containment to isolated sectors failed. Initiate extermination sequence.
Something itched. Something wanted to be known, to be remembered. Something...something existed beyond the heartbeat. Slowly there came to be another thing, and another. Whoosh...hish.... A cold liquid lapping. Muscles and sinew straining to move. A pale finger twitched, brushing up against something hard and smooth.
Releasing Elevator Brakes...
Sealing airlock doors...
Initiating sprinkler systems...
And then slowly, slowly, awareness. I and my and me.
Sealing airlocks in technology sectors...
Initiating neurotoxin release...
My fingers stretched, aching from too long without use. My neck tightened, and myhead turned.
Collapsing work stations...
Sealing doors...
Releasing ceiling supports...
I forced my eyes open, and suddenly came to full awareness of myself. I thrashed wildly in the liquid habitat that contained me, yanked wires making fiery pinpricks at their entrance points. I ceased my convulsions suddenly, lancing pain filling my skull.
Probes.
Of course I would be blocked somehow. It would have been too easy. The accidental link that existed between me and Red Queen's hard drive made it too dangerous for me not to be blocked. I let my mind wander through the uplink, treading cautiously through Red Queen's files.
What the...?
Water levels in the labs were up to four feet, and the labs only had an average ceiling height of eight feet. A few minutes longer and everyone in the labs would drown. I tried to shut down the sprinkler system--this sent another white-hot flare of pain through my skull. Damn probes.
The waters reached six feet. Six and a half. Seven feet. Seven and a half.
I tried, one last time, to unlock and unseal the lab-room doors, and was rewarded with another shock inside my head. I jerked involuntarily, the water sloshing around me.
The water in the labs rose the final half-foot, and I watched helplessly through Red Queen's heat-cameras as drowning bodies flailed and thrashed, then finally floated still. Their heat signals slowly dimmed out of sight.
Scanning Heat sensors...
Scanning...
Consistent Temperature detected. Extermination Complete...
Oh my God...
Every person in the Hive was dead.
And I was awake? That didn't make sense. I sifted through Red's files. I was supposed to be on 80 sedation, which would leave me barely conscious. According to the program monitoring my "habitat"--box full of water--I was only on 10 sedation, just enough to make me relaxed and maybe a little sleepy. I opened my eyes again, the water blurring my vision, and the box making it dark. By the narrow stream of light pouring through a small window by my feet, I surveyed my situation carefully. The probes kept me from moving too much in the process, but by and large, I got a good idea of what was what.
The hard plastic in my mouth and covering my nose was obviously a respirator; that was the whoosh, hish of which I had so recently become aware. Clear wires and tubes protruded from my wrists, neck, abdomen and thighs, and I was certain I had a few in my scalp as well. I felt like some kind of centipede. The effect was heightened by a strange, singe-piece wrap of some kind of stretchy white fabric, covering me from armpits to mid-shins. Quarter-sized holes down the sides, and one at the base of my ribcage, let the tubes and wires through to my skin.
Bit by bit, memories rose to my mind. White rooms...needles...probes and electrode patches covering my shaved scalp...
My shaved scalp...
shaved...
I shook my head slightly, a small enough movement to not incur too much punishment from the probes. Loose plumes of red-brown hair floated like seaweed at the edge of my view, and then I understood. The electrodes adjusting the sedatives had been slowly pulled free as my hair grew. The probes, too--slower, but they had moved enough by now, I guessed, that most of the probe protruded from my scalp. If I could just pull them out...but how? Umbrella policy ordered that probes be fail-safe, especially on stored experiments--which meant they emitted a huge dose of sedatives if they were disturbed too much. As loose as they were, one such dose wouldn't kill me--but my file said I had two probes. I sighed in frustration, my breath sending up a stream of bubbles which stirred the water around my head. At the edge of my vision a loose probe bounced. My lips quirked into a slight smile around the respirator. Quickly, so that it would be done before the pain could stop me, I clutched the single probe and pulled its last inch free from my skin.
In the moment before the sedative darkness dragged me under, Red Queen's last readout flashed red in my mind.
All Systems Secure. Viral Contamination Contained. Entering Lockdown Mode.