Chapter 47: Consumables

The EMP had struck them harder than it had Arthur’s crew.
Arthur and the others were already recovering, but the Biotechnica guards across from them still hadn’t stirred.
In their despairing eyes, gun muzzles flared one by one, each shot leaving another corpse in silence.

After dropping the last man, Arthur lowered his revolver, and Rebecca holstered her pink-and-purple pistol.

Just then, David’s voice came from the rear of the truck.
“What the hell was that? And why is Lucy still unconscious?”

Arthur glanced over. The frail girl was curled up beside one of the truck’s tires.
Passing David, Arthur patted his shoulder and said quietly,
“Kid, keep it down. I’ll ask the expert.”

He pulled open the cargo door and climbed inside.
V lay slumped in the corner, pale and weak. Arthur went straight to her.

“Hey, brave girl. Seems I always find you in rough shape.”
“Damn it, cut the sarcasm. Help me out here.”

Arthur crouched and lifted her. She was completely limp, her weight pressing heavily against him.
“Looks like those Biotechnica bastards took a worse hit than we did.”

At the back edge of the truck, Arthur set V on the floor before jumping out himself.
He caught her again as she sagged forward, and she finally murmured,
“I cut our comms just before the electromagnetic bomb went off. That should’ve reduced the impact.”

Her weak body slumped against his shoulder. Being closest to the blast, she had suffered the most.

“Smart move.
But our other netrunner isn’t doing so well either—Sleeping Beauty over there. You should take a look.”

“I don’t need to. She must’ve been in Cyberspace attacking drones when it hit.
Same as those Biotechnica grunts who left their channels open—she just needs more time.”

“Alright… then what’s next? How do we move forward?” Arthur asked.

“The EMP crippled nearly all the machinery. Vehicles are out—we’ll have to go on foot.
And we need to move fast. Security here’s heavier than expected. If we don’t leave before they regroup, we’re done.”

Her faint voice reached Arthur’s ears as they rounded the truck. David crouched helplessly beside Lucy, not knowing what to do.

“She’ll be fine, kid. Just needs rest.
Get her on your back—we have to move.”

Arthur shifted V and hoisted her onto his back. The group set off toward the distant factory. The massive fermentation tanks loomed larger with every step, blotting out the sky like a man-made backdrop.

They slipped in through a quieter-looking path.
Jackie scanned the moonless expanse, unease plain on his face.

“With just six of us, we’ll never find anything here—let alone a hidden lab.”
“Straight ahead. Behind the third factory on the right. Go into the unmarked building there.”

The voice came from V, still on Arthur’s back.

“Damn, girl, you know this place well.”
Jackie raised an eyebrow, then took the lead.

“Corps are like that. Packed with spies from rival companies.”

The defenses here were thin, probably thanks to the team V had left outside.
They quickly reached the building she described.

It sprawled wide but stood only four or five meters tall, looking like a shed with a single floor.
A massive fermentation tank loomed above, hiding everything but two rusted iron doors at the entrance.
The long structure vanished into the dark, like a massive centipede crouched in the shadows.

Jackie looked back at V for confirmation, then, without hesitation, kicked the doors open.
Clang!

Dim, scattered green light flickered inside, barely outlining black machinery.
The bitter chill inside made Jackie shudder.

“What the hell is this place?” he muttered.
“What are you waiting for? Get in,” V urged, peering inside.

The silence was like a grave, shadows lurking in every corner. Every step thudded like a drumbeat in their chests.

Jackie strode ahead, irritation with the eerie stillness pushing him straight to one of the strange machines.
“I’m damn well going to see what these things are.”

Beside him stretched a row of low steel platforms, divided into compartments by crude iron bars.
A few iron steps led up into each.

His heavy steps clanged on the stairs, the metal groaning as he reached the contraption.

It was a black iron structure, angular and coffin-like—only larger.
Several arm-thick pipes hung from the ceiling, connected to its rear.

Circling it, Jackie spotted something and reached out—then recoiled in shock.
“Maldita sea!”

He stumbled back into the railing with a loud creak, fear tearing his words into his native tongue.

Arthur arrived just then, frowning.
“What is it?”
He leaned in.

A small window, barely the size of a face, glowed faint green. Fog clung to the glass, except where Jackie had cleared a patch.

Arthur leaned closer, reaching to wipe more—when a slender hand suddenly slid past his neck from behind and cleaned it first.
The fright wasn’t from what was inside, but from V’s hand appearing unexpectedly.

Arthur exhaled sharply, shaking his head at the prank, and looked into the cleared window.

A gaunt man stared back, the green light casting a corpse-like pallor across his face.
His mouth gaped open, a thick black tube shoved inside, swelling his throat grotesquely.
A clear plastic tracheostomy tube jutted from a slit in his neck, trembling with each shallow breath.
On his head sat a black headband—Arthur recognized it as the kind used for Braindance.

But the most disturbing thing was his expression.
His brows and lips curved faintly upward, frozen in a twisted smile, even more grotesque in the green glow.

Arthur frowned, muttering,
“What the hell… he’s alive?”

“Obviously. Every bio-lab has a place for storing test subjects.
Bacteria go in containers. Rabbits and mice go in cages. Now humans get boxed up.”

V’s voice was cold, anger clear in her tone.

“These lunatics…”

Arthur’s eyes followed the endless rows of iron coffins. Who knew how many were locked inside.

“Should we free them? They’re still breathing.”
“Pointless. Those Braindance headbands broke their minds. Madness won’t let them survive.”

Arthur thought back to another life—to a twisted lab where pig heads were sewn onto human bodies.
Madness always lurked somewhere.

Before he and Jackie could think further, chaotic footsteps echoed from deeper inside, mingled with shouts:
“Quick! They’re here! Kill them!”
“Intruders up ahead! Surrender, and you might live!”

“Live?”

The word seared itself into Arthur’s mind, burning with fury. Surrender—only to be crated by these beasts?

He set V behind one of the iron coffins, drew Prelude from his waist, and shot the loudest one dead with a single bullet.

“Damn it!”

Shouts rang from the distant dark.
“This is Corporate Territory! Do you even know what you’re doing?”

Arthur exhaled sharply, rage blazing in his eyes.
He’d had enough of these arrogant fools.

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