Through the Waste Chute

Escape experiments or not, all of that was already in the past. Right now, preparing for the actual escape kept us far busier. We gathered ammunition from the supply room, split up emergency kits from the infirmary, and double-checked the location of the waste disposal passage. It lay at the eastern end of the third basement floor. The normal routes were already blocked. The stairs leading upward had collapsed, and the elevators were dead. The only path left was the one designed to remove things that were never meant to be regular personnel.

We moved in silence. At the junction leading to the passage, the wall was strangely split. At first I thought it was just a crack, but up close it was different. The cut surface was far too smooth. As if a massive blade had passed straight through the wall.

Kang Seorin placed her hand against it. "This wasn't done by a failure."

I nodded. Failures smash, tear, and claw. This had been sliced cleanly.

Yoon Harin's face went pale. "There was only one success."

"What about control?"

"Right before the collapse, the control signal was cut."

Her voice trembled.

At the end of the passage stood a steel door. It had been cut clean in half. The cut surface was smooth. Beyond it lay darkness. When I peered inside, I saw failures sliced apart on the floor. I swallowed without thinking. The success had passed through here. We hadn't encountered it yet, but the traces alone were enough.

The entrance to the waste passage was low, surrounded by wire mesh. The stench of rot inside was overwhelming. Yoon Harin put on a mask.

"They process biological waste here too."

"There'll be failures gathered inside."

I took the lead and activated Threat Prediction.

I was getting used to it. At some point, these messages had started to feel natural.

Two failures burst out of the passage. Red lines from Threat Prediction traced their trajectories. Kang Seorin targeted the joints and pinned their feet while I fired into their chests to finish them. Maybe it was the gunshots. Dozens of eyes turned toward us from deeper inside the passage.

"Way too many," Kang Seorin muttered.

Shadows moved. They crawled out of the ceiling, walls, and floor, clinging and leaping. Yoon Harin stepped back, and NK365 moved in front of her.

"Switching to Protection Mode."

Her skin surface glowed faintly. The exposed areas grew harder.

I steadied my breathing and advanced. The red lines of Threat Prediction overlapped. I put two rounds into the chest of the first creature. The pistol was larger than the one I'd started with, and so were the bullets. Two shots were enough to finish it.

A creature dropped from the ceiling. I ducked, but it grazed my back. Kang Seorin shot its joint with perfect accuracy. I put two more rounds into the chest of the thrashing failure on the floor to neutralize it. The suit's built-in aiming assist kept my hands steady.

A creature with tentacles spilling from its body lunged. The overlapping prediction lines made the trajectories complicated. I couldn't dodge everything and took several hits.

The suit tore and wounds opened. The suit's auto-repair couldn't stop the infection rate from climbing. I fired repeatedly at the tentacled creature until it collapsed.

Just then, one of the failures charged straight at Yoon Harin. From my position, I couldn't stop it. NK365 moved first. She threw herself forward. A sharp skeletal blade grazed her side, but it couldn't pierce the bio-armor.

"I'm fine over here."

She smiled as if to reassure me, though the impact must have hurt. I grabbed the creature's head and slammed it into the wall, then put two rounds into its chest.

"Don't stop moving!" Kang Seorin shouted.

More creatures poured in. When I needed time to reload, I rammed them with my shoulder or kicked them away. Then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at some point, my vision wavered.

Sounds grew sharper. I could feel the air against my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skin. My heart was beating far too fast. NK365 grabbed my arm.

"Calm down."

Her hand was warm, but it didn't steady me.

"I see the exit!" Kang Seorin pointed at the bulkhead at the end of the passage. Blocking it were twelve failures.

I swallowed hard and charged.

The infection rate kept climbing as the fight dragged on. My head throbbed. A whispering noise seemed to echo from somewhere. New text appeared in the corner of my vision.

I clenched my teeth. Forced? Who was forcing it? My thoughts grew hazy.

"Now!" Kang Seorin operated the bulkhead control panel. The door began to open. Then one of the failures bit into my shoulder.

In that instant, my vision flooded red. Every movement slowed. Or rather, I had sped up.

Instead of pulling away from the bite, I swung my other arm into the creature's chest. Its torso shattered with a wet crunch, splattering fluid across my face. I didn't stop there. I grabbed its ankle and swung the body at the other failures. They couldn't even approach properly and were sent flying by the impact.

"Get in, quick!" Kang Seorin's shout.

I hurled the body aside and leapt through the bulkhead. Once we were all inside, the door sealed shut. The failures left outside pounded on the steel, but they couldn't get in.

We collapsed onto the floor, breathing hard. Yoon Harin checked my wounds and tried to stop the bleeding.

"You were bitten."

"I know."

NK365 cupped my face. "The numbers aren't too high, right?"

"Fourteen percent."

Honestly, I'd expected it to climb higher after using Muscle Amplification. Strangely, it had stopped. As if someone had set a limit.

"You're okay for now." Kang Seorin pulled me into her arms. "Just hold on a little longer."

NK365 embraced me from the front, trying to stabilize me. Yoon Harin pressed against my other shoulder. Warmth reached me from three directions. It was warm. My heart was still racing, but it no longer felt like it would explode.

NK365's hand rested against my back. Her outfit left a lot exposed, and with the bio-armor function turned off, her body heat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠transferred clearly. Kang Seorin's arm was solid, the tension of muscle felt through her combat suit. Yoon Harin was more cautious, as if touching me at all was somehow wrong, pressing only lightly.

"Match your breathing," Kang Seorin said quietly.

I closed my eyes. Inhale. Exhale. Their breaths gradually aligned with mine. My heartbeat slowly settled. The burning sensation on my skin dulled.

It had dropped one percent. But I wasn't completely at ease. My head still rang. The noise lingered like an echo. I couldn't tell if it was whispering or just neural overload.

I clenched my teeth.

"Are you okay?" Yoon Harin asked carefully.

"I can hold on."

I answered, but my legs trembled faintly. The backlash from Muscle Amplification. I'd pushed it too hard. My fingertips still tingled.

NK365 cupped my cheek, her voice worried. "Post-overload symptoms. Your muscle fibers are realigning."

Dull impacts sounded several times beyond the bulkhead before stopping. It was safe in here. At least for a little while.

Yoon Harin lowered her gaze. Her hands clenched tightly on her knees.

"I… participated in the design. Infection threshold. Stabilization algorithms. Even the failure response patterns."

Her voice grew smaller.

"I knew bio-roids like you would be thrown into situations like this."

I looked at her. "And you kept going?"

"Back then… I believed it could be controlled."

Her lips turned white.

"We thought we could 'manage' the infection. That if we kept it from running wild, if we didn't cross the line, if we adjusted the numbers, it would be fine."

She looked up at me with a pained expression.

"That line… was one we drew."

Kang Seorin spoke. "Thanks to that, we're alive right now."

Yoon Harin's shoulders trembled faintly.

"But I'm the one who drew that line. …It was all an experiment."

I slowly reached out and placed my hand over hers. She flinched.

"Right now, we're trying to get out together."

Her hand gradually relaxed.

NK365 smiled. "The past can't be changed, but the choices ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we make now can."

She lightly took Kang Seorin's arm.

"You feel the same, don't you, Seorin?"

Kang Seorin looked away for a moment, then sighed.

"I just want to survive."

Her hand wrapped around my shoulder again.

"But… I don't want to be the only one who makes it anymore."

The words were short, but clear. We looked at one another. We had chosen to go together. That choice was slowly growing stronger.

Perhaps because the contact continued, I was stabilizing. It was a means of survival. Yet within that means, there was clearly emotion.

The narrow space inside the bulkhead. Outside was still hell. But in here, for a brief moment, we could catch our breath.

Yoon Harin spoke quietly. "Can I… come with you too?"

Kang Seorin answered. "You're already with us."

NK365 laughed. "The four of us are enough."

The ringing in my head remained, but it no longer threatened to swallow me.

The second basement floor was relatively quiet. The waste passage connected here to the external processing plant. When Kang Seorin released the emergency exit lock, the steel door opened. Cold, dry outside air brushed against us. We stepped out onto the surface.

It was night outside the research facility. The city glowed faintly in the distance. Yoon Harin let out a breath.

"We made it."

I looked back at the facility building. That massive concrete structure. I wouldn't forget what had happened inside. And the feeling that it still wasn't over followed right behind.

Fifth basement floor. Central control core. One monitor flickered on.

The text updated.

The camera showed the exterior of the facility. Four people were walking away.

Then the screen went dark.

No one knew yet that all of this was still ongoing.