Ch. 21: The Queen

A.N.:

Hey everyone. I hope everyone likes or at least reads my new side story The Inferior Soldier.

I told you that Stokes would serve a purpose in a later chapter. I am making Becket earn the information that he needs to find the remaining ATC Board Members.

How will he get out of this cluster fuck of a situation? Stay tuned to find out.

I held off on lemons for this chapter because it would have been weird even for Alma considering how dark I tried to make it. Soon…be patient.

I hope you like the chapter.

Read and review if you want.

Raising his shotgun to display an aggressive posture, Alpha 1 said, "Let's get 'em sir!" I nodded in response. I motioned for us to move on as I proceeded towards the stairwell. We moved methodically with our weapons constantly at the ready. The tight corridors were even less inviting now with the lights on because the florescent lights flickered sporadically like some cliché horror movie.

We had made it to the landing when my com link activated. I was shocked to hear Foxtrot 813's voice as he asked in a whisper, "Sir, do you copy?"

Shaking off my shock, I replied, "Affirmative. What is your status?"

He reported, "I've got a headache but other than that, I am alright. According to the signs around here, we are on the Medical Deck."

Relieved, I asked, "And Stokes?"

I received no response and I realized that he had deactivated his com link. However, my concern dissipated moments later when his voice returned. With his distorted, deep voice, he said, "Persistent bastards…I thought I had lost them. Sir, Lieutenant Stokes and I were separated after we were captured. From what I can gather, these things have something special planned for Stokes…some kind of ritual. I found her gear and clothing…all of it…but they must have taken her to the Emergency Care Wing. It is sealed off by a quarantine lockdown."

I replied, "Copy that. Rendezvous with us at the Medical Deck landing."

He said, "Roger that sir."

Beside me, Alpha 1 remarked, "I wonder how infectious the contagion is."

I shrugged before I said, "Not sure, but I think that it will be wise to limit environmental exposure as much as possible." He nodded in response.

As we ascended the stairs, I wondered what possible explanation there was for the existence of these things. If ATC created them, what possible product could they market? Even dictators and drug lords, which would be the only feasible clients interested in such creatures, had their limits when it came to inhumane methods of protecting their interests. Besides the fact that it was not a sound business decision to invest time and resources into developing these creatures, bioengineering was simply not Armacham's market. They specialized in communication technologies. None of this made any sense.

My goddess suggested, "Perhaps ATC did not create them Michael. Maybe…they were the victims for once."

I sighed before I replied, "For once, I hope that you are wrong."

We reached the Medical Deck landing about a minute later. Foxtrot 813 was waiting for us. The hatch that allowed access to the deck was sealed. Confused, I asked Foxtrot 813, "Why is the hatch sealed?"

The Replica soldier explained, "I think that this deck is their nest. I did not want to risk one of them finding me while I was waiting for you."

I nodded as I handed him the assault rifle that he dropped. He took it and loaded a new clip into it. After he cocked his rifle, he commented, "Not much good this is going to do."

I asked him, "What do you mean?"

He explained, "These things have a hive mind, sir. It is best to not get the attention of any of them because once you do, they all know where you are. I learned that the hard way when I killed the two that were standing guard outside the room that they were holding me in. The whole fucking nest showed up and I barely managed to get away."

Curious, I asked, "Why do you say nest?"

He motioned towards the hatch as he said, "You will see when you go in there."

I sighed before I spoke into my com link, "Miss Kwon, Foxtrot 813 has been located. We are proceeding inside the Medical Deck."

She replied, "Copy that Becket."

After placing my rifle on my back, I gripped the wet circular wheel that unlocked the hatch. Grunting, I turned the wheel until the mechanism made a clicking sound. I relaxed my grip and started to open the heavy steel door. Just as I started to pull, the door flew open and before I could activate my reflexes, an Asian woman dressed in lime green scrubs lunged into me. Snarling like an animal, she grabbed ahold of my ballistic vest as she bit down on my left shoulder. More out of shock than actual pain, I let out an agonized grunt.

In an instant, Alpha 1 grabbed the crazed woman from behind and ripped her away from me. Turning in a semicircle, he threw her into the steel wall next to the door. She smashed into the steel headfirst. A sick, wet thud echoed through the stairwell as the woman's skull cracked open from the force of the impact. A wheeze escaped her grey lips as she fell to the ground.

Alpha 1 turned back to me and asked with deep concern, "Sir! Are you okay?"

I examined my left shoulder as I replied, "I believe so." I noticed a spot of strange looking red liquid where she had tried to bite through my armor. Firmly gripping my rifle's fore-end with my left hand, I released my right hand from my rifle's grip. I raised my right hand up to my left shoulder and collected the liquid with my right index finger.

Moving my finger closer to my eyes, I examined the liquid intently. It reminded me of red wine. However, it did not behave like any liquid that I had ever encountered before. Even after I had used pressure to collect it from my shoulder, it retained its drop like shape. I shook my head in disbelief at the observation. After walking to stand before me, Alma asked with a concerned voice, "Michael…what is it?"

I moved my hand to allow her to see for herself as I replied, "I do not know."

She sniffed it and then remarked, "Hmm…it smells sweet."

I laughed briefly before I said, "I didn't know that ghosts have a sense of smell."

She stuck her tongue out at me before she said, "I'm not a ghost asshole."

I smirked before I asked, "What are you exactly?"

She gave me her ominous smile before she said with a low voice, "The one that could have left you to die in the amplifier."

I chuckled nervously before I said, "Aw, you wouldn't do that to your little Michael would you mommy?" She winked with her right eye before she nodded her head towards the hatch. I wiped my finger off on my right pant leg and returned my right hand to my rifle's grip. With my rifle securely in my grasp, I proceeded through the open hatch.

The hatched opened up to a narrow straight hallway that had a neon sign mounted to the ceiling halfway down it. The sign read, "Patient admission" and then had an arrow pointed upwards. Forced to travel single file, we slowly made our way to the opposite end. At the end, a wall sized pair of double doors slid open to allow us access into the waiting room.

As I entered the waiting room, the same ghostly voice of a woman spoke through the intercom system, though it was louder now that the power was back on, "Welcome to the Medical Deck. If this is your first visit, please, have all admission and patient information forms filled out before checking in at the nurse's desk. Please, have proof of insurance ready. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience you may suffer while under our care. We at Armacham Technology Corporation Facility Titan stride to provide fast, reliable, and safe medical care for all of our employees as we are all family here. Thank you for your cooperation."

I immediately realized why Foxtrot 813 had referred to this deck as "the nest". The floors and walls were covered with what looked like plant roots, but, when I scrutinized them further, I saw that more of the red liquid that I had been observing moments earlier was flowing through the transparent root like structures.

Even with my gas mask on, I could smell a peculiar sweet smell in the room. It was not sweet like from sugar but in my mind, the only possible label that came close to describing it was sweet. I shook my head as I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I informed my team, "Just decorations. They can make whatever freak show that they want. It makes no difference."

As if to mock me, the double doors allowing access to our only escape route closed and I heard the mechanism lock tight. The intercom activated and the female voice said, "Unknown biohazard detected. Medical Deck has been hermetically sealed until further notice. Please, report this event to Armacham Headquarters. Thank you. Have a great day."

I said, "Motherfucker. Great, now we have to get the lockdown canceled or we are going to suffocate. Let's locate the security center for this floor." They nodded in response. I oriented myself as I mentally recalled the layout of the deck from the file on Aristides's PDA.

The waiting room was the central room of the deck. From it, the deck branched off into three sections. From our position, one corridor went to our right, one went straight ahead, and the other went to our left. The one that went to our right led to the medical research center of the facility. The one that went straight ahead led to the general medical treatment center of the facility. The one that went to our left led to the emergency care center of the facility.

According to Foxtrot 813, the emergency care center was under quarantine lockdown so I would leave that area alone for the time being. The quickest route to the security center was through the General Medical Treatment Wing. I moved forward and started searching along the wall to try to locate the door through the strange roots. After a minute of searching, I finally located the crack where the two double doors met.

However, to my frustration, the root structures had grown into the seals running along the doorframes so it was pointless to try to open them. I retracted from the wall as I commented, "I guess we are not going that way. We will have to improvise an alternate path." I turned and walked over to the doors that led to the Medical Research Wing.

This time, as I approached, the doors slowly slid open as their gears grinded in their housings due to the strain of breaking loose from the roots. The gears finally gave out after managing to open the doors enough to allow us access. Physically forcing my way through the roots, I went through the opening.

I felt my skin crawl as I went through the roots. As I touched them, it could have just been my imagination, but I could have sworn that I felt them trying to wrap themselves around my body. After making it through the opening, I observed that the roots were not yet as invasive in this wing as they were in the waiting room. Only the floor was overgrown by the disgusting structures. However, I realized that if I was attacked, I would not be able to run or maneuver very easily because the roots were coated with a mucus like substance that was sticky.

After everyone had made it through the opening, we proceeded forward. With our boots making a suction sound every time we took a step because of the sticky mucus, we made our way to the end of the hallway. At the end, we came upon a decontamination chamber.

The interior was very similar to the chambers at Still Island except, instead of having an industrial look to it, this one's interior was pearl white with a red stripe running along the walls at waist level. Foxtrot 813 commented, "It won't let you proceed unless you activate the cycle. I came through here while I was being chased by those things." We entered the chamber and I activated the decontamination cycle.

As the chamber's system started up, the intercom activated and the woman said, "Decontamination sequence activated. Sequence will be completed shortly. Please standby." The overhead nozzles started dousing us with cleansing spray. Suddenly, a loud bang that seemed to originate above us shattered the calm. The spray stopped as the lights inside the chamber started to flicker.

With our weapons at the ready, we scanned the interior of the chamber as we waited for the coming assault. The next sound that we heard was what could only be described as someone crawling through a ventilation duct on all fours while they dragged something behind them. Others soon joined the sound until it sounded like there were dozens of those things crawling through the ducts surrounding the chamber.

Luck was on our side because the chamber itself was sealed off from the ventilation system. I informed the two Replicas, "They cannot find a way in through the vents. That won't hold them for long." As if to confirm my statement, the sound of a vent cover being forcibly removed from its housing could be heard in the hallway that we were just in. Moments later, gurgling voices were on the other side of the chamber opening.

The heavy chamber door began to groan as the sound of heavy metal objects striking its surface could be heard. The door was heavy duty so it stood firm against the abuse at first. However, it would not hold up forever. My mind began racing as I tried to think of a way out of the situation. Alpha 1 herded Foxtrot 813 and me up against the far wall and began to deploy proximity mines near the besieged entrance.

When he deployed all the mines that he had in his inventory, he regrouped with us. Another heavy metal object stuck the door and this time, the sound of the shearing of reinforced steel indicated that one of the massive steel bolts that secured the door had failed. Alpha 1 informed me, "Sir, if you are going to do something, you had better do it now."

Thinking quickly, I said, "Cover me, I am going to try to hot wire the switch." Alpha 1 and Foxtrot 813 nodded. I slung my rifle onto my back as I went over to the cycle switch on the wall. My two Replica allies took position to cover me. Alpha 1 crouched down next to me to maximize the effectiveness of his scattergun. Meanwhile, Foxtrot 813 took position further back to give himself more time to accurately fire his rifle.

I bent down to remove the panel below the switch. However, just as I reached out to remove the panel, the chamber was transported to one of Alma's worlds. Noticing the orange tint of my surroundings, I stood and looked over to the second entrance to see that it was no longer there. Instead, Alma was standing there with her dead meadow behind her. Frantically, she motioned for us to come to her.

Not needing any further incentive, we ran to her. As we reached her, we were transported out of her world and back to the facility. We were on the other side of the second door. Alma had intervened just in time. Seconds after we found ourselves on the other side of the door, an ear shattering crash came from the inside of the chamber as the besieged door succumbed to the creatures' attacks.

Alpha 1's proximity mines detonated within a second of the door hitting the ground. Following the explosions, the area became deathly silent. Alpha 1 taunted me, "Looks like I am up on body count, my brother."

I groaned before I replied, "You bastard…" He gave off a series of grunts like those that he always did when he laughed. I turned to Alma and said, "Thanks. Looks like I owe you." She sighed as she placed her tiny left hand on my left thigh.

Looking up into my eyes, she informed me plainly, "Oh Michael…I know."

She smirked before turning and skipping away from us as she slowly dissolved into a cloud of ash. I sighed because I knew that I would likely be paying her back by playing one of her twisted sex games at some point in the near future. Focusing back on getting to the security center, I retrieved my rifle before motioning for us to continue.

We proceeded through another set of double doors and found ourselves in a typical Armacham laboratory. Like the other decks that I had visited, signs of panic were everywhere. I paid little mind to the scientific instruments as I made my way through the room. However, when I made it to the opposite door, Alpha 1 called out to me, "Wait, sir. I think that you need to see this." I turned back to see him in front of a flat screen computer monitor.

I walked up to stand next to him. When I studied the monitor, I saw that a video file was on the screen. He clicked the play button and the video started playing. The first recording was dated January 12, 2021. The screen became a recorded video of a group of red sea slugs, each about the size of an average person's foot.

As it continued, a female's voice narrated, "This is how we discovered them. Some maintenance workers were investigating the smell of a sweet odor coming from the lower levels. They discovered this colony of sea slugs infesting the bottom deck that had partially submerged after storm damage caused a leak in the hull. The first time, they simply killed them. Several days later, the smell returned. They discovered that the slugs that they had killed had regenerated. Thinking that we might be onto something, we collected some samples and studied them."

The image on the screen changed to be an image of some of the sea slugs inside of a water tank. The date on the recording indicated that it was taken on January 14, 2021. The woman continued, "It was discovered that the sweet smell is due to a red liquid that is found inside the slugs."

The screen changed to become the image of a test tube filled with the red liquid. The date on the image was January 15, 2021. The woman continued, "Upon further study, we discovered that the liquid has the unheard of ability to regenerate any cellular tissue it comes into contact with. Unless the slug is killed outright, its cells will excrete the liquid to regenerate the lost cells. The closest thing that we could compare it to is stem cells."

The next segment had the video recordings of injured human limbs being healed by the red liquid at an astonishing rate. The woman explained, "We were excited when we discovered that the liquid is interspecific and can heal minor to severe/life-threatening injuries afflicting our volunteer human test subjects. The medicinal potential of this liquid seemed limitless. It could have benefited the world and, of course, made ATC very wealthy."

The next segment, dated January 16, 2021, was a drastic change in tone as it showed bloodied corpses and security guards wrestling with screaming employees. The woman said with a sad voice, "In our haste to make a product that we could market, we failed to study the liquid enough. By the time that we realized that there might be a problem, almost a quarter of the facility's personnel were suffering from violent mood swings, hallucinations, and personality changes. Their bodies began changing as well. Their eyes became extremely sensitive to natural and artificial light sources. In the final stages of their transformation, they excreted their blood out of their body orifices, primarily through their tear ducts."

The next segment was dated January 17, 2021. It was a recorded video of the woman herself. She spoke in a whisper, "Within hours, nearly ninety percent of the facility personnel were turned into those…things. Those of us that are uninfected have been cut off from each other. The next supply helicopter is due to arrive in five days. We are not going to last that long. I am recording this as a last ditch effort to aid anyone that might find it and need it."

She gasped as the sound of gurgling voices could be heard. She looked back at the camera and said, "They are coming for me…my friends...are coming to kill me. What have we done? No...no..focus idiot...focus. Whoever you are that is watching this, listen up. The slugs were not producing the liquid. The liquid isn't even actually a liquid. It is a life form! The slugs were just hijacked bodies that it used as a kind of suit of armor. In its natural state, it takes the appearance of root like tubes that grow like a typical weed that you can find in your garden or lawn. It is coated with a mucus-like substance that allows it to sense its environment…to find new hosts."

Horrified, I exclaimed, "WHAT?!"

The woman started crying as the voices got closer. She continued, "The liquid can only enter the host through an opening like a deep cut that allows access to the blood stream or a body orifice that is not naturally resistant to penetration…being ingested…or if the body is submerged in a large collection of it for too long. The life form seems to have a hive mind similar to insect colonies. Like insect colonies, the life form has a queen. When the life form finds a new species of host, it will seek to infect a female of that species...cliche but its true."

My breath caught in my throat as I realized the heart wrenching truth. I uselessly begged, "Stokes…no…"

The woman continued, "Fortunately, the personnel at this facility were primarily male. The few female employees that were stationed here were either killed in the ensuing riots as the security teams tried to return order, or weren't infected by the queen…the reason being that I located the slug that had been hijacked by the colony's queen. Before I could destroy it, her guards showed up and I was forced to seal them inside the Emergency Care Wing."

The sound of vent covers clattering to the floor could be heard and the woman said, "Oh God, get back!" She fired an AT-14 pistol at the creatures while she cried hysterically and called out apologetically, "I'm sorry! Mark, David…I'm sorry…forgive me!" Her shooting managed to drive them away briefly.

She turned back and said to the camera, "You must destroy the queen by either killing the host or removing the queen from the host's body. If the host has only recently been infected, there is a chance that you might be able to save the host. Expose the host to an intense light source and the infecting queen will…theoretically…be weakened enough to allow the host's immune system to kill her like a bacterial or viral strain. With the queen dead, all recently infected hosts will also kill their invading life forms. The only light source strong enough in the facility are the high-intensity discharge lamps located on the Hydroponics Deck. We used them in place of natural sunlight to grow our own food. You must…"

She was interrupted by the return of the creatures. She tried to shoot her pistol but when she pulled the trigger, the side arm's only response was a mechanical click. Realizing that she was out of ammunition, she screamed and finished creating the video that we had been watching. The video ended and we were left in silence.

Before I could finish processing what I had learned, the intercom system activated and the prerecorded female voice informed us, "Warning, carbon monoxide levels rising. Oxygen level has fallen to sixty percent."

I said, "Shit, we need to get to the security center or this place will become our tomb."

We made our way to the door but before we could reach it, it opened. A fully nude Stokes stood before us. With my rifle aimed at her, I asked, "Stokes?" She gazed at me with a distant look in her eyes and had an unnervingly peaceful expression as if she was in a trance. She raised her right hand up and one of the root-like tubes moved like a snake to rest its tip gently in her hand.

As it rested in her hand, she raised her left hand and began petting the now tentacle looking structure as if it was indeed one of her pets. Behind us, I heard the rest of the infected humans approaching us. We were trapped. With the roots beneath us slowing our movements, we were not going to be able to run past Stokes. Our only option was to fight. It was the three of us versus the horde.

My com link activated and Holiday said, "Becket…why are you resisting it? Give in."

Morales added, "Becket, stop fighting man. There is no need for such violence. Join us."

Jin said, "Yes, join us Sergeant. You humans…so broken on the inside. Your kind marches towards its own destruction with a smile. Join us. We will end the suffering and allow you all to live in eternal paradise free from all violence, sickness, and misery."

I snorted loudly before I replied, "Humans cannot live in such a world. That is a stagnate world where nothing has any value or meaning. You call that paradise? I call it Hell!"

Passalaqua said with a sympathetic voice, "Of course you think that. You haven't…experienced it…yet. You will see soon enough that it is wonderful."

The gurgling voices drew closer and we moved to stand back to back with Alpha 1 to my left and Foxtrot 813 to my right. We prepared to face the onslaught. I informed the three men with me, "Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves. We have to get to the security center and then to Hydroponics Deck. Stick together and we will make it through this. We are Spartans: we either return home with our shields held high in victory, or we return on them!"

Alpha 1 replied, "Right on sir! We Spartans are defiant until the end!"

Foxtrot 813 said, "I will not be someone's slave again! Let's fuck them up sir."

Stokes smiled before she said in a low, seductive voice, "Don't fight it Becket. The symbiosis between our two species is so liberating. Just give in. It doesn't hurt, I promise. Please Becket, just give in and be mine." As she finished her statement, the creatures began pouring into the room and surrounded us on all sides.

I activated my reflexes and, as I began firing my assault rifle, I yelled, "Come get some you ugly motherfuckers!"