msmithbooks Chapter 39 Acute Heavy Metal Resistance!
Chapter 39 Acute Heavy Metal Resistance!
The fluorescent lights in the laboratory emitted a steady hum.
The air smelled of a mixture of formaldehyde and cold air escaping from the low-temperature storage box.
Ellis stood to one side of the stainless steel workbench, his rubber gloves stained with a dark, viscous liquid.
He stared at the Gundam on the platform.
Male, African American, with a robust build, and skin that appeared unnaturally bluish-gray under the operating lights.
The abdominal cavity was opened longitudinally, exposing the organs with neat edges.
"Senior brother, look at this."
The junior apprentice's voice came from the other end of the control panel, sounding somewhat dry.
He was holding a tablet with an electroencephalogram (EEG) waveform on the screen.
The lines are not straight.
It was pulsating, faint, but rhythmic.
Ellis leaned closer to take a look.
The waveform is strange; it is neither a normal alpha or beta wave. The frequency is extremely low, but the amplitude is unusually stable.
"Are the electrodes connected correctly?"
"Drilling a hole in the skull, subdural contact. The location has been checked three times."
The junior apprentice swiped his finger across the tablet, bringing up another set of data.
"Core body temperature, 14.3 degrees Celsius. Blood sample, oxidation level below 15%. This..."
He paused.
"This is probably a Gundam."
Ellis remained silent, but used tweezers to open the ventricle, revealing semi-congealed dark red blood clots inside.
"Cardiopulmonary function has been confirmed to have stopped."
He said the voice was steady.
"Brainstem reflex test?"
"The pupil does not react to light, the corneal reflex is absent, and there is no limb retraction in response to painful stimuli."
The junior apprentice read from the notes.
"All clinical mortality criteria were met."
"But the brainwaves are still there."
Ellis put down the bone saw and picked up a scalpel.
The knife tip sliced through the skin and muscles along the left side of the spine, exposing the spinous processes of the cervical and thoracic vertebrae.
He used bone-cutting forceps to cut the ligaments and removed the vertebrae one segment at a time.
The yellowish-white spinal cord was exposed.
Something was embedded in it.
They are made of metal, in various sizes and irregular shapes, some of them already deformed.
Ellis used tweezers to pick them out one by one and placed them in the metal tray next to her.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
There are thirty-four in total.
The bullet was severely rusted, with dark red tissue residue adhering to its edges.
"The bullet entered from behind."
The junior apprentice looked at the dents and cracks on his spine.
"At least four guns of different calibers, fired at very close range."
"Um."
Ellis put the last vertebra back in place.
The surface of the spinal cord was covered with signs of damage, but the main structure was still connected.
He looked at the tablet.
The EEG waveform is still jumping.
It's unsettlingly stable.
"Has the professor arrived?"
"Just sent a message saying it's on its way."
The junior brother said,
He also asked where the sample came from.
"Bought cheaply on Chengnan Street"
Ellis took off her gloves, threw them into the biohazard bin, and went to the sink to wash her hands.
The junior apprentice is still looking at the tablet.
"The waveform frequency... is increasing."
He says,
"Although the amplitude is still very low, the interval is shortening. From once every ten seconds to once every eight seconds now."
Ellis walked back to the control panel.
He leaned down, close to the subject's head.
The eyes are open, the pupils are dilated, and the cornea is cloudy.
But in those few seconds of his gaze, those pupils seemed to...
It contracted slightly.
The amplitude is extremely small, and it may just be an illusion caused by changes in light.
"WTF! Is it some kind of zombie coming back to life?!"
Ellis straightened up.
"May the fox spirit protect us."
He muttered something unconsciously, then complained.
"Could they actually develop resistance to acute heavy metal invasion?"
……
sewer.
The sound of flowing water echoed in the pipes, murky and muffled.
Arya opened her eyes.
The view was blurry, as if viewed through frosted glass.
She blinked, and something slipped out and fell into her hand.
Soft and wet.
She picked it up and looked at it.
It's my own glass bead.
It trembled slightly in her palm.
Arya paused for a moment, then pressed it back into its eye socket.
It's a little crooked.
She adjusted her angle, and her vision became clearer.
My body is very hot.
It wasn't the kind of heat you get when you have a fever; it was a warm, comforting heat that emanated from deep within your bones.
She lay in the water, the current carrying her, slowly drifting forward.
The surrounding area consisted of concrete pipes, with slippery moss growing on the walls, and water was seeping in some places, dripping, dripping.
"dad?"
The sound didn't travel far in the pipe and was quickly swallowed up by the sound of water.
She rolled over and started swimming.
Her movements were clumsy, but the water carried her effortlessly.
After swimming for a while, she saw something ahead.
Half of its body was stuck in the inspection port on the side of the pipe, and its skin was dark green and covered with a numb, rough texture.
Just like the crocodiles on TV, and of course, even more like the Cart Giant.
The thing turned its head.
There are no eyes, only two empty holes.
The jaw opens and closes, making a soft clicking sound.
"Mr. Crocodile?"
Arya swam over,
"Have you seen my dad?"
The thing seemed to have remained still, yet it also seemed to have moved.
Its tail followed the flow of water, pointing towards the depths.
"Thanks."
Arya continued swimming forward.
I encountered another group of rats.
They huddled together, floating on the water, their fur soaked, revealing pink skin underneath.
Some had stopped moving, while others were still twitching weakly.
"Mr. Mouse, could you please stop pulling my hair?"
Arya brushed aside the dead rat that was tangled in her hair.
The rats scattered a bit, but quickly gathered again and followed behind her.
Like a moving, hairy cloud.
The current became stronger.
The pipe began to slope downwards.
Arya felt the speed increasing.
She passed a fork in the road where many beehives hung and countless Indian bees floated.
Several birds landed on her open back.
Wow! It's disco!
"Thank you for the gift, Mr. Bee."
Arya scratched her slightly itchy, sticky hair and continued downwards.
The pipes are getting wider and wider.
She met more friends.
A homeless man missing half his head, a pregnant woman with her chest exposed, a baby Gundam with its limbs bent at strange angles...
They were all soaking in the water, floating slowly, or stuck on obstacles.
When Arya passed by, they would turn their heads, raise their hands, or make a sound.
Each one points downstream.
Everyone said, "There."
The sound of the flowing water grew louder and louder.
Light appeared ahead.
It wasn't lamplight, it was sunlight, shining down from some huge vertical shaft, breaking into shimmering spots of light on the water's surface.
Below the shaft, at the end of the pipe, there is a horizontal iron fence.
The rusted steel bars were as thick as an arm, with very narrow gaps between them.
Many things were gathered in front of the fence.
Various Gundam composites.
They became entangled together, pressed against the fence by the water flow, piled up, squeezed together, forming a constantly writhing, wet mountain of flesh.
Arya saw her father.
He was at the top of the mountain of flesh.
It was only partially pulled out, with an uneven cross-section, revealing the remnants of the internal drive mechanism.
His face was turned upwards, his eyes were closed, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, as if he were smiling.
"dad!"
Arya jumped out of the water.
Her small body leaped into the air, splashing water in the process.
Then she landed and jumped into her father's arms.
"Dad, why have you gotten so fat?"
Arya looked up and asked.
Dad opened his eyes.
The pupils were cloudy white and unfocused.
But his lips moved, and his voice rang directly in her mind, gentle and calm:
"It's alright, Arya. Dad just felt the grace of God and was with everyone."
Arya looked down.
My father's body is melting.
No, it's not melting, it's merging.
Skin, muscles, and bones are slowly losing their boundaries, merging with the surrounding bodies, the debris piled on the fence, and the flowing sewage.
It turned into a gelatinous, dark green, constantly wriggling substance.
Tiny bubbles rose to the surface of the substance, radiating a warm glow.
Arya felt her toes start to itch.
She looked down.
The skin on her toes was softening, becoming transparent, and slowly flowing like wax, connecting with her father's body.
It doesn't hurt.
It's just warm.
She heard many sounds.
It doesn't travel through the ears, but directly into the brain through the point of physical contact.
It was her father's voice, Mr. Crocodile's voice, the mice's voice, the bees' voice, and countless other voices she didn't recognize.
The voices of everyone blended together, becoming a blurry, warm hum.
It sounds like they're singing.
Arya closed her eyes and pressed her face against the dark green substance.
"dad."
She whispered.
"It's so warm here."
Beyond the fence, in the deeper darkness of the sewers, came cheerful, undulating echoes.
Like many children laughing.
It's like many streams of water singing.