Chapter 5
The woman looked around in a panic. When she didn't see the metal briefcase, she asked, "Did you pour the fluid into the chamber?"
Elara nodded. "I did."
The woman raised her voice and asked shrilly, "Did you or did you not pour it in? Tell me the truth!"
Elara shook her off and said coldly, "I poured it in and discovered an injured merman beside the chamber. He requires treatment."
The women stiffened and staggered backward. "A merman… What did you just say?"
Horror didn't even begin to describe the look on her face. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Her eyes widened in shock, and her lips trembled. She stared at Elara dazedly as she mumbled, "How's this possible? This can't be… How can you still be alive if you saw him?"
Just then, footsteps rang out, followed by a surprised shout. "What are you doing here, Elara?"
Elara turned to see Ashley run toward her from a distance. The latter threw her arms around the former. "I thought something had happened to you!"
A while later, Ashley finally noticed someone else standing beside Elara. She stiffened when she saw who it was and greeted politely, "Ms. Quill."
The woman, Sheila Quill, ignored Ashley. She had a hideous look on her face as she glared at Elara and threatened in a low voice, "Don't say a word about what happened today."
She was still holding onto Elara's wrist and tightened her grip, making pain shoot through the latter. Elara frowned.
In the distance, armed personnel surrounded Zone S and set up thick metal fences around it. It was as if there was some highly dangerous monster inside.
Elara stepped forward, but Ashley grabbed her and dragged her to the escape passage. "Don't go there. That's not a place we can stick our noses into."
Elara asked, "Who was that woman?"
"Sheila Quill, the special-grade director of Zone S. She's a dangerous character, so you'd better stay away from her." Ashley paused and gave her a complex look. "Many people died today, and the splitting experiment had to be stopped. No.17 has been transported back to your lab. A new memo will be out tomorrow."
Elara wanted to say something else, but Ashley gripped her shoulder tightly to stop her. There was the slightest hint of a tremor in her voice as she said, "We have to stay alive, Elle. Don't stick your nose into things that you shouldn't."
Elara silently looked into her eyes and swallowed her words. She shouldn't bother about things that she couldn't.
…
Elara returned to her apartment that night and was changing into clean clothes when something fell to the floor with a clatter. She picked it up to see it was a scale as thin as an ice sheet. It gleamed iridescently and looked like the stuff of dreams.
Ultimately, Zone S was a mysterious place that she would never step foot in.
Aether Spire was sealed off for two days due to the incident. Elara returned to work on the third day and had just started bustling around when Ashley came to her with coffee. She also informed Elara that No.17 would be undergoing his second splitting experiment at 1:00 pm that day.
As Elara took the coffee, Ashley said, "Many people were punished for what happened. Rumor has it that the special-grade creature in Zone S rebelled, almost causing the whole zone to fall prey to it."
"That bad?" Elara couldn't help asking, "What's locked in there?"
"I don't know. I heard Professor Shore is looking for someone, though. He's also asking whether anyone entered the special-grade creatures zone yesterday."
Elara was taken aback. "Has something gone wrong?"
"No idea. Mr. Gray was fired after he said he'd been in there… Why are you suddenly so concerned about this?" Ashley asked.
Elara didn't answer.
At 1:00 pm, No.17 was transported to the experimentation zone by armed personnel. He looked at Elara, his moss-green eyes entirely focused on her. He wanted her to soothe him.
She touched his hair and said softly, "Don't be scared. It'll be over soon."
The transportation staff watched them with curiosity, intrigued by this rare dynamic.
The people at Aether Spire firmly believed that these mysterious creatures held the key to human evolution—this had become an obsession that drove their research to the brink of madness.
Splitting experiments required vast amounts of military-grade weaponry; they were horrific and cruel. Even those outside the experimentation zone had to wear heavy protective gear—they would be affected by the powerful radiation without it.
Ashley stayed with Elara outside the experimentation zone and started talking to her about genetic programming. "The first batch of genetically programmed humans have been tested. After fixing their genes, those born with hereditary illnesses no longer have them. They're perfect humans now."
Elara asked, "Can they use their secondary respiratory systems?"
"Yeah. They were tested in the water yesterday. It's been confirmed that these genetically programmed humans can breathe underwater. The experiment was a success," Ashley said.
Elara fell into a daze upon hearing that. Perfect humans?
Aether Spire had created humans with two respiratory systems. The bioengineers in charge of the experiments had, in a way, become mankind's creators. They'd gone from being intelligent people to gods. They wanted to control everything and forever remain at the top of the pyramid—they wanted to conquer this planet, which was slowly spiraling out of control.
"They did notice something odd, though. The people started losing control about 30 minutes after entering the water. They started swimming toward the deepest parts of the oceans. When they were taken out of the water, they claimed to have heard odd noises down there," Ashley said.
"Noises?"
"The weird part is that none of our receptors picked up on abnormal soundwaves. The people said they heard singing, though."
"Singing?"
"Yeah. Apparently, it sounded glorious and seemed to be summoning them…" Ashley trailed off.
As they chatted, they didn't realize their topic of conversation would one day transform the whole of mankind. They merely touched on the subject and moved on, oblivious to the change it would bring in the future.
About four hours later, the splitting experiment ended. The thick doors opened, and No.17 was wheeled out. His once striking, bluish-hued face now seemed almost translucent. His lashes clumped with moisture as they covered his eyes.
"You've been through a lot." Elara approached and rubbed his head. "Does it hurt?"
The armed security personnel exchanged looks when they saw this. They found it novel to see her boldly touching the experimental subject without any protection.
No.17 lowered his gaze compliantly, avoiding her eyes. He didn't want to make her heart ache for him, but he was too tired to put on an energetic act. He fell deeply asleep just like that.
A researcher exclaimed, "This is amazing! Other experimental subjects would have passed out in the middle of the experiment—it's rare to find one who can make it through the whole experiment, let alone one who still has the consciousness to defend itself."
Elara looked at him coldly. "No one told me this experiment would put his life at risk."
The researcher was taken aback. Then, his gaze turned contemptuous. "The danger levels of experiments have always been confidential information because the presence of some soft-hearted keepers will affect things. I hope you understand that."
He seemed to be mocking Elara for being too soft. In the next second, he froze. He saw No.17 watch him with a dark, threatening look in his eyes. Even a single glance was enough to make his blood run cold.
No.17 had already been wheeled away when he returned to his senses. The person beside him nudged him. "What's on your mind?"
An odd look crossed the researcher's face as he mumbled, "Do you think… these cold-blooded creatures have emotions?"