The Lab (2)
“Aah…… cough…. Ack! Ah…… cough!!”
Every time I tried to cough out some kind of sound, a fishy bitterness climbed up my throat, and I violently spewed out the complete culture fluid that had been perfectly tailored just for Anastasia.
My head was a chaotic mess from the flood of information I'd never learned before all at once, but it helpfully prioritized recalling the things related to what I could see and feel with my body.
Crunch……
“It hurts……!”
My parched throat ached, and as I mindlessly scraped at the floor while bent over, an even sharper pain assaulted my brain from my fragile fingertips.
The glass shards scattered on the floor weren't about to spring to life and attack me or anything, but the overwhelming agony—something I'd never experienced before—made my arm shove against the ground on its own, sending me tumbling backward onto my ass.
My body was abnormally sensitive.
Splash…!
Thankfully, the pool of culture fluid from the shattered test tube cushioned me from further injury… but I didn't have time to be grateful.
Only then did the brutal interior of the lab come into my blurred vision.
“………gulp.”
A light barely hanging on, dangling from half-severed wires, flickered intermittently, briefly illuminating the dark interior.
Traces of explosions and fire had charred everything black in places, and even the relatively intact tiles were pocked with sharp bullet marks.
And that was just the start?
The puddle near my body was green culture fluid, but the splatters elsewhere were either electrolyte solutions or…… bright red blood.
And as a finishing touch, the hologram panels glowing in the darkness made it indistinguishable from the opening scene of some famous horror flick.
“Eek…!!”
As soon as I recognized the rising fear, chills swept over me, and I instinctively hugged my bare legs, wrapping my arms around them.
My soft breasts squished against my knees, distorting their shape, and aside from the culture fluid smeared here and there, my petite body—pure white like a blank canvas—was thrown into sharp relief.
I need to think. I have to think.
Letting trivial emotions take control of my body wouldn't accomplish a damn thing.
I was the proud Anastasia of the Republic of Korea, specimen number RoTG-71214.
If I couldn't overcome a setback like this, how the hell was I supposed to survive from here on….
“What the…?!”
Something fundamental to my sense of self—the thing that let me recognize myself as me—felt like it was being eroded, and a shout burst out of me unbidden.
It was like shaking a bottle with water and oil that should never mix, only for them to actually blend together—an utterly repulsive sensation.
There wasn't even any culture fluid left in my esophagus, but I still felt like puking.
And above all…… this was way too vivid for a mere dream.
The sliced finger, the cold, the headache, the disgust, and finally… the vibrations.
Thud….
The liquids pooled on the floor rippled faintly.
The dangling light swayed side to side, and a drop of electrolyte solution trembled from the ceiling before falling with a plip.
I was wrong.
This lab scene wasn't like a horror movie at all.
It was missing the most crucial element.
In my hazy consciousness, I'd seen a ton of people right before this catastrophe hit—researchers or strike team, didn't matter.
They'd been caught in the explosion and bled enough to flood the floor.
So why wasn't there a single corpse left?
Thud… thud… thud…!
“Hah… hah…!!”
The vibrations, as if responding to my shout, grew closer to the room, and my breathing turned ragged on its own.
If the sealed door did its job, that'd be ideal, but if it had, that unknown janitor wouldn't have been able to clean up the bodies so neatly in the first place.
Hearing the heavy footsteps, my common sense pictured some burly thug with meat on his bones, but Anastasia's knowledge recalled the extremely common robots or droids by Neo Haven standards.
If this was a dream? I'd just wake up.
But if it wasn't? What the hell was I supposed to do?
Clang!! Clang clang clang!
I jerked my limp body into motion, yanking fiercely at the rusted iron bar to tear it free.
But this pretty, goddamn useless body couldn't detach even a single nearly loosened support strut, just flailing uselessly.
Thud! Thud! Thud!!
It was coming.
No time to waste on a bar that wouldn't budge.
Instinctively lunging for something small enough for my tiny hands to wield in self-defense—but honestly, the more dangerous weapon was right there nearby.
Grip…!
“Ugh!!”
I snatched the sharpest test tube shard from the floor debris.
In reality, it was no different from a knife—if I aimed for a vital spot, even a massive creature could go down in one strike…!
“…Ah. Fuck.”
Thud---!!
Such vain hopes vanished the instant a droid—each finger as thick as my arm—clambered over the wall and into the lab.
Where a face should have been, three creepy holographic scanners emitted blood-red beams to ensure no enemy escaped.
Its legs were a standard pair, but its arms? God knows why it needed so many—two on the shoulders, and four more sprouting from its back.
Unlike the base arms with fingers and joints, the mechanical appendages from its back ended in saw blades, needles, clamps, and gun barrels…
The purpose was obvious to anyone.
A fucking slaughter machine.
Clank!
“?! Let me go! You fucking piece of shit…!!”
I didn't even have time to resist.
The droid closed in with a short burst of acceleration, clamping my slender waist with a pincer arm and restraining both my arms with just four fingers.
And the precision of its grip control was uncanny—no real pressure even as my legs kicked wildly off the floor.
Clink…!
The shard I hadn't even swung dropped to the floor.
For all my grand plans, it was such a pathetic rebellion that tears welled up.
So at least, with the same clean precision as its grip……
I hoped it would end this nightmare painlessly, and closed my eyes.
Your compliance is excessively high despite your strong will, Code Name Anastasia. At this rate, significant obstacles are projected in achieving the lifespan calculated by the Doctor.
“……What?”
Whether I questioned it or not, once my struggling stopped, the droid cautiously scanned my mangled hand, spread it open, and began treatment.
Administering Regeneration Serum RS-03. Post-injection remaining quantity of RS-03…… 0. Should further injuries occur, original serum must be used. Exercise caution in asset management.
A needle plunged into my open palm, injecting the serum.
At the same time, its fingertips parted, tiny forceps popping out to remove every embedded shard before the wound could even heal.
Its speech patterns were infuriating…… but assuming this droid wasn't an ally solved nothing.
“What…… the hell are you?”
Query accepted as ambiguous. I am a unique entity: Paradise Corporation's caregiving robot series, Carebot, equipped with parts from Exatech Corporation's automated interception drone model, Interceptron. Additionally, I am a high-performance android prepared by embezzling lab funds by Dr. Makarovich to assist in the survival of specimen number RoTG-71214, Code Name Anastasia, post-lab self-destruct and to perform implant procedures.
“Uh…… yeah……?”
One question, and Neo Haven terms came spilling out like crazy.
Megacorps that treated employee lives as expendable, not even counting as assets since replacements were endless.
Carebots commonly seen in hospitals or family homes.
Interceptrons lurking like interior fixtures, ready to pop out.
I didn't like hearing that some unknown bastard had created the Anastasia I'd poured my wishes into…… but thanks to it, I could face reality.
This was Enama Corporation's lab, obsessed with human experimentation.
This world was Neo Haven, hell for every gamer.
Though excellently designed, you appear to be struggling with mental control. Initiating immediate transfer to the Operating Room. Prepare for impact.
“What the fu— kyaaah?!”
Boom boom boom boom boom---!!
I wanted to curse out the arrogant droid spewing bullshit, but it scooped me up like a newborn babe and bolted down the lab corridor at full speed, drawing a scream from me that perfectly matched this body.
Thud! Screeeeech---!!
True to a megacorp's secret lab, there were no stairs, so the droid ripped open the sealed elevator barrier with brute force and scraped down the wall to deeper underground levels.
Treated roughly yet meticulously to avoid breakage, it arrived in an intact underground operating room in the blink of an eye and set my body down on the surgical table.
A metal bed aimed with blades, surgical lasers, needles.
It looked like you'd never get up if you lay down, but oddly, it calmed me. Why?
In Neo Haven, I'd laughed off the power-up holy site countless times.
You could upgrade cyberware elsewhere, but implants could only be installed and upgraded here in the OR.
No wonder the Neo Haven addicts mapped every OR in Emerald City.
Without a word from me.
As I hesitantly lay down on the table on my own, the droid watching began operating the touch panel.
Thank you for the proactive cooperation, unlike before. Proceeding with operating to minimize discomfort for Code Name Anastasia.
“It's all for my sake…!”
I was too embarrassed to admit I'd caved to expectations of superpowers or enhancements, so I scraped together an excuse.
Messy memories or info could wait until after surgery to sort out slowly.
Beep beep. Beeeep. Beep!
“…?”
…….
I stared blankly at the ominous system message on the ceiling monitor.
It betrayed me.
Beep beep! Clank!!
Restraints shot out from the bed, binding my body.
No way. No fucking way.
No sane person would shove implants into nerves during major surgery without anesthesia….
Beep!
System Override Complete.
“You fucking psycho bastard—AAAAAARGH---!!”
The moment the laser fired into my shoulder, I let out a gut-wrenching scream and blacked out.
The lucky part? I didn't wake up during the surgery.
The unlucky part? My drifting consciousness witnessed a bizarre world….
Not Neo Haven.
A world where only the game Neo Haven Prime existed on Earth.
And there, I—Anastasia—was no longer the protagonist.
I was a sub-heroine, one with annoyingly high popularity to boot.