Moon Theory (ABO)Ch101 - sinner, prices to pay

[minutes prior, at the other side]

The conference room goes silent. 5WnpTL

The roundtable is still collapsed under, and the twenty plus participants are still gathered around it. All of the officials wear pensive expressions. General Xie, however, still holds civility even when he’s currently isolated toward the side.

The officiator clears his throat for attention. “You… General Xie… A person with your prestige… surely there must be a reason for your actions?”

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“There is no reason,” Xie Liwei repeats.

“With all due respect, General Xie…” The officiator does a sweep over the rest of the participants, then looks at the general again and continues, “All of us here hold you in high regards. We haven’t forgotten the border breach twelve years ago. Under your command, the city has prevented a major catastrophe. Not only that, your contributions in the East Peninsula, the Western Headquarters, the Southern Base… all of them were recovered by you.” EfrJnp

The man continues, “You’ve made sacrifices of your own, we’re aware. Your wife and son are recorded to have passed in the city breach. General Xie, in your honor, we have refrained from heavy questioning. However, some speculations must be made in the light of this incident and so we must ask… what is the relation between you, Colonel Yang, and the hybrid he is intent on hiding?”

Everybody turns to look at Xie Liwei, who is still poised in his seat, calm in the face of interrogation.

“The records are inaccurate,” the man says after some time. “I was not married.”

“…?” Confusion runs rampant. No one is sure what the general is trying to say.

“There was no official signing nor were we able to hold a ceremony.” Xie Liwei is expressionless when he speaks, as if recounting an old, detached tale. “It is correct that we had a child. He has grown surprisingly healthy.”

To the side, Shi Luo turns toward him coldly. “Xie Liwei.”

“But there is no need to confirm nor deny his death,” the general says. He raises his wrist and takes a perfunctory glance at the watch. “Nor is there a reason to look for him. His existence will no longer be special.”

Before his words can be deciphered, a blaring announcement is made through the intercom. The sound is staticky, the frequency wavering, and the speaker is eerily, uncomfortably calm. oXMlgK

“We have multiple reports coming in. Sourced – the Genetic Repository, block C, unit 90-15. Abnormal radioactive signals are measured in all wards. The biopsy department is unable to be contacted. Command is dispatching all forces to the scene. I repeat: Command is dispatching all military forces to the scene. Proceed with utmost caution. Code warning 40-10-0.”

The person’s voice is projected from control center, traveling through the entire building. There comes a loud beep before the speaker comes through again.

“Surveillance data has been retrieved. All sections, please allow internal system access.”

In the conference room, all the officials have stood up and are hastily turning on a projector. The overhead device dangles on the ceiling, emitting an enlarged image on the blank wall. The projection is of several dozens of security cameras, all recording a different ward in Facility C. The scenes are chaotic and blurred with countless anomalies running amok. KSURHZ

In the conference room, orders are shouted one after another.

“Seal off the repository! Cut off all routes and prepare scans immediately!”

“Evacuate all civilians in the vicinity!”

“Deploy the city guards immediately!” paKn3H

“What is the status of the embryotic cache—”

“The cache has been compromised. The facility will be quarantined. Call the firing squad.”

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We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“Xie Liwei.” Shi Luo’s grip tightens. “You are insane.” IDs9zZ

“Vtl Oeb,” atf wjc gfrqbcvr ecoilcmtlcuis.

Ktf vbmabg lr qgfafgcjaegjiis ilnlv. “Qtja jgf sbe vblcu?”

“The shipment this time is special,” the man says. Still unflinching. “There may be scientific results.”

“You set those creatures loose inside an embryotic cache. Do you understand the consequences for mankind?” klMRSx

Xie Liwei looks at him and answers, “Is this not the evolution you wish to see?”

The doctor then leans forward and says coldly, “Your son is inside there, Xie Liwei.”

At that, the general’s expression subtly dithers. “…I was not made aware.”

“…” Shi Luo loosens his grip and turns away. “General Xie, you are insane indeed. I do not have time to speak of consequences. Yang Rong, we need to—” P4ojtH

Gone.

Yang Rong, at an unknown time, has already left the room.

—

“Entry prohibited.” mbjVXg

The group of four are cornered in between two corridors. A wave of flies swarms around them and all they have for defense are a few rifles nearly out of rounds, several pistols, a pathetic steel beam and no fire grenades. Li Jiayun has chosen to rip off a fire extinguisher, and she is singlehandedly spraying at the mob, hoping to buy time.

The automatic door in front of them sounds out when they get closer.

“Entry prohibited.”

It goes off incessantly, and even the unlock panel is turned off. Yoo Seok carries a half-conscious Jae on the shoulder as he limps forward. Noah drags his battered body across the floor, stabilizing himself with one hand on the wall. He reaches in his pocket and takes out a sleek, black card. Noah swipes it on the panel. ED7YJ

Two laboring seconds later, the device is lit up in green.

Noah places his palm on the screen. “…Xie Xing. Requesting permission to enter.”

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“SP-010909 Xie Xing,” the mechanical voice sounds out. “Data confirmed. Specialized entry permitted.”

The steel door slides open, and the group immediately rushes out. They spend no time talking. They’d discussed the plan briefly some minutes ago, studied the floorplan, tacitly agreed on an escape route through sixteen floors of chaos. l7Ywds

“Can you close it?” Yoo Seok asks as he turns the corner.

“No,” Noah replies with a shake of his head. “The procedure is different. Closure should be automatic, but the systems are down.”

“Then when we leave, the outbreak will hit the inner city.”

“…” Noah only says, “There will be a purge.” JXNBdu

“This is a selfish choice,” Yoo Seok says as they all head down a flight of stairs. “Sacrificing an immeasurable amount of people to save our own lives. Noah, you may pin the blame on me, narrate that I’ve threatened you.”

“…” They reach another door, and the authorization process is repeated once more. Noah’s palm lingers on the panel screen. “I am also quite selfish, Yoo Seok.”

They head down.

The commotion isn’t quieter. The facility lacks windows where they are, and all they can see is pure darkness. Occasional green glows come from the exit signs ahead. The creatures run wildly in all corners of the facility, smash through glass vials and containers in the emptied labs – the personnel, devoured and their remaining parts slewed onto all corners. dhoxwz

The unspoken consensus is to ignore.

The scent of gore is almost too much to take, but the soldiers and one involved civilian break through wind and lurch their bodies forward.

They’ve nearly reached the exit. The route is too many convolutions and no safe turns.

Five meters from the outside, Yoo Seok’s frame is subtly highlighted by the glowing green sign. He turns toward the silver-haired companion. J9w2je

“You are Xie Liwei’s son?”

Noah only nods once. “Yes.”

“Interesting.” The soldier looks at him for a while. “There may be a resemblance.”

— p79W0k

[fifteen minutes later]

The inner city is shaken with screams. In an off corner of the street, a young woman is shot dead. As she drops onto the ground, a swarm of insects come out of her parted mouth. In post-mortem, her joints twitch and flail about. A raging fire is started in the city center, and the victims who lie near it are fuel. They are thrown like firewood one after another.

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Ashes are carried off with the solar wind. The city sees its brightest night – reds and oranges consume the sky, and the smoke that rises is akin to colorful trails.

There is an encirclement of patrol police and military guards. It hardly matters, for the entire area is ravaged and the entire city… about to be purged. Tq9EYr

A raven-haired man breaks through the encirclement, knocks away three guards and turns a deaf ear to the yells around him. Yang Rong’s forehead is covered in sweat, his shoulder slashed, his torso seeping red. He’s covered in heavy gauze that is no longer white, but the man seems to feel no bit of pain as he wades through the battlefield.

“Step back!” a guard shouts out to him. “The area beyond is quarantined! No entry permitted through blocks A to F!”

A few guards try to take him away, but Yang Rong only flashes them a harrowing glare in warning. “Do not stop me.”

He sprints off, leaving the guards in stupefy. aU8Ibe

Block C is a warzone. The sight is no different than a battleground in the slums – the Nexus’ tall buildings remain standing, but on the streets are litters of animal corpses and limbs. Disease-ridden and red-bathed. The area is also entirely empty – not a soul left in sight, either hidden or killed. Yang Rong’s boots step through puddles of unidentifiable liquids, pass lines of blood trails, and… promptly stop in front of radio tower.

Behind a steel rail, in the junction of a circular dome and a large rebar tower, are the figures of two young men. Yoo Seok, is kneeled down, staring distantly at the young soldier on the floor. The latter, Jae, is placed on his back. He has a gushing wound on his shoulder, a black rash on his chest, more rashes up to his neck. A sure sign of mutation, though Yoo Seok does not seem to care about the infectiousness of it, opting to softly knead the younger man’s hair.

Jae is unconscious – not yet dead, for his chest is visibly heaving up and down. Yang Rong is frozen in place. Yoo Seok, upon noticing an additional presence, pauses only briefly before continuing his strokes.

“He has gone northwest,” Yoo Seok says. “The person you are looking for.” POqd72

“…Thank you.” Yang Rong breathes out. “For your service.”

“I wonder, Colonel…” Yoo Seok ponders and then corrects his wording. “I wonder, Yang Rong, if it were you, what choice would you have made?”

“…What sort of choice?”

Yoo Seok asks, “If between his life and the lives of hundreds of thousands, which would you sacrifice?” BrnRNA

Yang Rong responds, “Perhaps my choice would have been different several months ago.”

“I see,” Yoo Seok says, his dark eyes gazing upward. “When I think about it some more, we are all quite selfish. Xie Liwei, Xie Xing, you and me.”

Above them, the skies are set ablaze. There are orange clouds, wispy streaks of yellow, brown billows of smoke. The colors peek out from tall buildings and metal towers that all look the same. Beyond the city walls is a sight much clearer, unobscured by smoke.

“You should go,” Yoo Seok tells him. “Do not lose him again.” mKwJyc

—

Block A is empty.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

The infrastructure here used to be of wealthy homes, apartments, residential places well-protected in the inner city. Now, the residents dwell in government-constructed domes, hard metal blocks, shelters that fit hundreds each. The outskirts of block A are still among the wealthiest now – tall-rise buildings, towers, lighthouses stand in eminence.

Only, the streets seem so much emptier than before. The destruction has yet to reach here, but not a single person remains outside. 3nUFwK

Noah sits on a steel railing, his feet dangling thirty meters in the air. The rooftop he’s on is part of a vacant building – some arbitrary facility he had climbed. Right now, he can see the cityscape in full view. Compared to the dilapidated slums, the Nexus is truly immense. The infrastructure is decades of human advancement, an interlink of civilization.

From afar, the fiery blaze rages on.

Wind catches the silver locks of his hair, flaps the lapels of his jacket, stings the cuts on his cheek. His pale eyes are colored in soft hues of orange, reflecting off the sky above where he sits. When his eyes close, he loses track of the commotion down below. Tentatively, he raises a hand to touch at his right ear. Not yet healed – all the sounds are dulled.

Except for the one that calls out his name. vr iYg

A pair of firm arms takes him in by the waist, pulls him away from the railing and into a secure place. Noah breathes in sandalwood, a low note of vetiver, a strong coppery scent. He wraps his arms around the person’s torso and doesn’t speak.

While the colonel is hidden in shadows, Noah is dipped in skyglow. The same hues that illuminate Noah’s back only hide Yang Rong’s eyes. Pale eyes versus a foresty green, dainty silver versus jet-black – they are two contrasting characters, two personalities that do not match in the slightest.

“My little fox,” the man murmurs into his ears, “where would you like to go?”

“Yang Rong,” he replies. “Take me home.” Aw5kCf

In a city of ashes, Yang Rong lifts him up and carries his weight easily.

author: please yell at me gently (；′⌒`)