Moon Theory (ABO)Ch99 - countdown, time is still

thank you to anon and robot butterflies for the kofis!! ✿

Two minutes into the meeting and everything’s already turned into chaos. The other officials are deathly quiet, frozen in their seats. The officiator is ringing the table bell, but neither side heeds the ceasefire. Yang Rong turns away. RLCir0

A security guard shoots the wall in warning, stopping him from advancing any further. Yang Rong’s eyes are frigid. It is one unarmed, injured man against a dozen specialized guards. Every corner of the room is blocked – no windows, no way to advance except through the single entrance door. Yang Rong certainly weighs what few options, however; his acuity is already pinpointing the route, measuring the number of guards he can take out. His knuckles tighten in reflex.

“Yang Rong.” Shi Luo pulls him back. The doctor’s words are stern. “Do not perpetuate conflict.”

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“Negotiations have fallen, Shi Luo,” Yang Rong says, shrugging him away. “Whatever reasons you had for signing me in here, you may deal with them yourself. I am leaving.”

“And then?” Shi Luo grabs him again but firmer this time. Amber eyes bore into him, carrying every bit of seriousness. “And then what will you do, Yang Rong?” tD1za5

“I will take him away.”

“Take him away,” Shi Luo repeats. “To hide him in the slums yet again?”

“If that is what I must.” Yang Rong makes eye contact. Unyielding. “To take him to a place no one will find.”

The doctor sighs. “…You are aware it may be unfeasible. It is the two of you against the world, Yang Rong.”

“Then, Shi Luo…” Yang Rong’s frame is reflected on fluorescent white. His presence dulls the backdrop behind him, supersedes the turmoil going on. “What do you suggest I do?”

“…” The doctor shakes his head. “…I only inform that there is a hefty price to pay.”

Yang Rong says, “I will pay all of it.”

Just then, the entrance door slides open. In comes a raven-haired man with a startling pair of dark eyes – Xie Liwei, his presence is enough to pale all others before him. The man has aged very handsomely and never has he lost that cold aloofness. The lighting only makes his contours more defined. s7W3oY

No one dares talk, and Xie Liwei pauses at the entrance. His gaze flickers from Yang Rong to Shi Luo, to the guards by the side, and then to the meeting participants.

“A very noisy reception,” the general comments shortly after. “I may have arrived in the wrong conference room.”

Shi Luo ignores the new participant. Likewise, Yang Rong fixes his gaze not at the general but at the entrance door. Only these two dare to forgo all formalities.

“…General Xie,” the officiator dips his head slightly in greeting, “it is a pleasure to have you join us. We apologize for the commotion.” U3o8DI

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.

The words are said much more politely. Partiality is clear toward the general, and all of the meeting officials have stood up to give a bow. The pensive gazes, however, still remain. Paying no mind to the apprehension, Xie Liwei takes an empty seat far away from the crowd. The roundtable is still collapsed over off-center, looking rather comical in a such a sleek room. Chairs are gathered around the diameter, but all of the participants are now scattered in various corners. Simply put, the conference room is a mess.

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“None.”

The answer is curt. It is obvious that the general does not care for small chitchat. The speaker is having a hard time restarting conversation – only five seconds later does he clear his throat again. “…On the fall of Unit 99 three nights prior. General Xie, please recount the events that have transpired.”

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“Three nights prior, Unit 99 has been killed in action southwest of District 38,” Xie Liwei says simply. “There have been reports of red-level threats in the vicinity.”

“At the scene were fourteen soldiers and one unidentified civilian. Eight of the fourteen soldiers were recovered. Forensic specialists have made a statement – the manner of death is homicide. Bullet shells were found in their skulls with no pre-mortem signs of infection. The time was nineteen hundred hours when a distress signal was called, to which you, General Xie, were then sent to the scene.” h6mPzB

The man speaks in a deliberately slow pace, making sure his words carry weight. “The time of death is approximated nineteen-hundred ten. General Xie, in the ten-minute window, what events have transpired and in what relation do they hold with Colonel Yang Rong?”

“There is no relation to the colonel,” Xie Liwei responds. “It is a coincidental crossing.”

“Then in your crossing, we believe there to be a collusion. Colonel Yang and you are—”

“I said there is no relation,” the general cuts him off. “I was the one who killed all eight soldiers.” xQPMA9

The abrupt confession throws the entire room in silence. The officials look amongst themselves, their expressions even more apprehensive than before.

The officiator’s brows are knitted. “Your response has been recorded. However, even for you, General Xie, your actions may be judged a war crime. What is your reasoning?”

Xie Liwei looks at him and says, “There is no reasoning.”

— bRoMKi

His knees are huddled together, his body curled up in the confines of darkness. The only peeks of light are the small, unnoticeable holes drilled into the crate. Noah’s breaths are visible in the cold, and internally, he’s at his wit’s end.

The place he’s in… he doesn’t know. He is only aware that he had been transported from one location to the next, from facility to facility. And now he’s still trapped in the same dusty crate, due to be x-rayed, screened and sorted elsewhere.

Noah is, quite frankly, in a bit of a predicament. The place he’s in has air ventilation systems on at full blast, colder than a hypothermic storage and the temperature is continuously dipping. He’s being cryopreserved – almost – and in ten minutes, he reckons he would pass out. In another hour, he would most definitely die from cardiac arrest.

Noah wasn’t informed of this – he was coerced to being shipped off to a strange place, but he certainly wasn’t expecting to suffer from hypothermia in the process. Sue him for being melodramatic, but he is certain Shi Luo had left that part out purposefully. He curses the doctor in his brain whilst counting time in seconds –  912, 913, 914, 915 – and then curses Shi Luo some more. He also curses Yang Rong by association. 3qk2Jo

‘Be good and take a nap,’ the colonel had said. ‘Rong-ge will come for you in an hour.’

Except, going to sleep for an hour is not an amazing idea – especially not when he’s in this subzero, unknown environment. Noah’s face is paling, and his hands are shivering. He cannot speak either, on the off chance that the place is being monitored or audio recorded.

Facility C – Noah doesn’t know the workings of the area, but he’s heard these repositories are close to the breeding facilities as well. Perhaps a few rooms down (or perhaps on the floors above or below), there may be embryotic preserves.

He exhales softly, trying to calm himself down. The area he’s in is filled with strange noises, likely coming from the other crates near him. Moans and groans, low howls, unhuman screeches – even in subzero, the anomalies remain alive. 80TMnu

The environment is unsettling. Noah opts to focus more on the white noise, the ventilation hums, the inaudible buzzes…

He hugs his knees and closes his eyes.

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“…1001… 1002…” he mouths the seconds to himself, not daring to go louder than ten decibels. He curls into a ball and sighs softly. “…When will you come… Yang Rong… I really don’t like this…”

There isn’t anything to do except pathetically sit in wait. “…I’ll break out,” Noah whispers petulantly, just to keep sane. “Yang Rong, if you don’t come… I’ll really break out… then I’ll… strangle you…” 40SgbH

He nods to himself rather childishly. “Mn. I’ll really strangle you. Then I’ll eat you half-dead.”

He mutters some more nonsensical things, empty threats, conjures up various images of Colonel Yang’s ill-treated body underneath his – and well, the idea is quite appealing, Noah finds. Seventeen minutes in, and Noah is already losing his mind. He’s getting drowsier now, eyes half-lidded in semi-consciousness. He may have dozed several times before blinking himself awake. It is another five or so minutes (or so he thinks) that he hears footsteps outside.

Startled, Noah immediately lifts up his head. The footsteps are weighty, a bit laggard, not recognizable. He can only hear it muted out of one ear. A feeling of dread wells up inside him, brimming infinitely close to fear when the facility door is slid open after a series of beeps. There are several individuals who step in afterward. Five or six, maybe seven.

“Take these into the east wing and the other ones into the south,” a man says. He places something onto the floor with a loud thump – probably another crate. “Clear room for another batch of fifty. Handle with care – the specimens are alive.” ibgfOU

“Yes sir,” replies his companion, another unidentifiable man. More crates are being stacked on top of each other. He pauses in the midst of stacking and then says, “The shipments have been inspected? The condition of these crates is worn.”

“No matter,” the first person replies. “The storage is temporary. There are security measures in place.”

“This shipment… are these the platoon’s retrieves?” The man grunts as he lifts another box and starts heading in the direction of Noah. “Why are we taking them in separate floors? They’re usually all kept in the same inspection center.”

His footsteps get closer, his boots shuffling on the floor. There are metal clangs as he pulls over a ladder. When the man begins to stack the container overhead, Noah can only lament at the dreaded turn of events. BCVtzG

“Do not ask needless questions,” his superior berates him. “The biopsy specialists will see to the rest. Let’s go.”

Thankfully, the workers leave one by one, and the door slides shut. Noah sighs in relief. He resumes back to resting – but only for a few minutes before he hears the same crate sliding downward and crashing onto the floor in front of him. Following it is another one toppling over, and then several more all in succession. Noah flinches from the loud impact, instinctively covering his ears.

A second later, the air is engulfed in a rancid smell. The unmistakable smell of corpses and rotten flesh penetrates even in the numbingly cold room, and Noah resists the urge to hurl. He breathes slowly out of his mouth, his mind entirely distraught. Various sounds overtake the quietude – rough thwacks, low growls, strange shuffling, animalistic rumbles.

Noah’s brows are knitted tightly. “…Fuck…!” oI70KU

Profanity is rare out of his mouth, but his situation is utterly distressing. He’s trapped in a box, stuck inside a storage facility with every door assumed closed. Around him, though he cannot see, is likely an outbreak. Noah’s crate is slammed by a large creature, sliding several feet on the ground. He grits his teeth and holds on for balance. The container he’s in is being juggled like a plaything, and Noah can only scrunch his eyes to shake out of vertigo.

There are over ten creatures – perhaps twenty or thirty by the time they wreak havoc onto the rest of the crates here. The scene will descend into total chaos. Noah hears small buzzes now – not ventilation noises, but insect noises. Humming bees or wasps or… some other mutant fly that Noah has no interest in knowing. His face considerably pales.

“…What security measures?!” he hisses out angrily, rubbing his head in irritation.

The insects aside, Noah’s own crate is being wrecked apart. A harsh bang against a corner of it startles him into action. He really has only two options – stay to be devoured in due time, or climb out the crate himself, make a mad dash to the exit and then be devoured. Neither are appealing and yet, Noah would rather the second. IxF6qv

He takes a few seconds to steel his nerves before unlatching the inside bolt (thankfully, he can at the very least open the crate in cases of emergency). He takes another second before sliding the lid a centimeter. White lights reflect on the blue-slate walls, blinding him for a brief moment before he recovers. Through the small opening, he scours the surroundings – a very enclosed space, likely only a ward among many others, packed to the brim with crates.

It is strange, however, that the aluminum-reinforced crates would break apart so quickly.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

The escaped creatures are medium-sized, and many are already half-dead. There has to be a catalyst, some other large creature that Noah cannot find among the conglomerated mass. No time to dawdle, however. Noah shakes his head, discards the thought and focuses on the task at hand. He slides the lid a little further, trying to catch sight of the entranceway.

There are two routes – one leading to an open corridor and one sealed by a metal door. Creatures have already started escaping toward the corridor, leaving behind ugly, slimy tracks. Noah runs quickly, trying to leave the place before all hell breaks loose (even more). ZLGRE7

However, in that moment, his vision goes black. A sudden strike topples his crate sideways, the force of it so powerful that Noah’s head slams against the frame. He lets out a pained gasp, and braces for another hit.

“…!” His head once again crashes against the other side, and the crate spins several rotations before remaining upright. Noah, with his vision heavily compromised, is at least conscious enough to defend from the onslaught. He decisively pops the side lid open and rushes out to hide behind…

Nothing. There isn’t a spot to hide behind. Now that he’s in standing position, Noah sees that the room is only filled with metal racks. The flimsy steel is hardly able to withstand the countless anomalies running amok – and the amount of those creatures has doubled since he’d last peeked. They’re attacking everything in the vicinity, feeding on the bodies of their own kind, barreling through the shelves and breaking through boxes in renewed vigor.

Noah isn’t able to think at all before he hears a loud growl behind him. With trained instinct, Noah ducks (hears the wind break right before his ears), hops over a tiered rack, and pulls out the pistol by his belt. WJcCIO

He turns around, aims, but then his body freezes entirely.

“…” Noah’s hand trembles and he does not shoot.

In front of him is brown-furred grizzly bear with a slit on its left eye. The scar extends all the way down its cheek. The creature, a ravenous thing, holds absolutely zero human form. But eerily, disturbingly, Noah thinks it is recognizable. Behind it, several other disjointed creatures are crawling on the grime-covered ground – and those, too, may be recognizable.

Noah stares and does not make a single sound. He doesn’t move either when the brown bear strikes him with its claws, tearing through clothes and flesh, ripping apart the bandages on his chest. Noah collides backward against the rack. He continues to stare straight ahead, seems to be lost in thought. nNmA3W

And when Noah’s thoughts stray further, he sees these other strange nonhumans with disjointed limbs, all of them taking various forms and one of them taking the form of a familiar brunette. He blinks slowly and the brunette is no longer there – only replaced by a strange mammal on all fours. They may be a figment of his imagination, some sickening trigger of his memories because there is in no logical way these bloodthirsty things should be this familiar.

Still, Noah is rooted in place as he is struck down once more.

author: no wait, noah isn’t going to be badly hurt again or anything, i promise, i can explain–