Chapter 13: Slave
1234 Words
Luke observed the smoke for a moment before turning to Mily.
"Get the subjects out of the room."
"R-right..."
Mily nodded and started to push the prisoners out of the room albeit slowly.
Luke didn't bother helping her and continued to observe the smoke inside the tempered glass case.
It was now impossible to see Todd as the dark green smoke was simply too thick.
After a while, Mily finally finished pushing the prisoners outside the room except for one.
Just as she was about to grab the last one, Luke grabbed her arm and pulled her outside.
"Hey! Hey! Where are you going!? Don't leave me here! HEYYYYY!!!"
Seeing as Luke was leaving together with Mily, the remaining prisoner started to panic as he struggled.
Mily looked at him and turned to Luke.
"W-wait! There's still one more."
"I know."
"You..."
Luke ignored her and shut the door behind him.
As soon as the door closed, they were no longer able to hear the prisoner's shouts.
"Athena, release the glass case."
"Understood."
At the same time, a part of the wall suddenly became transparent and they were able to see the inside of the room.
The glass case slowly lifted and the smoke began to disperse.
The remaining prisoner saw this and started to struggle even harder. His mouth opened and closed as he continued to plea for help but no sound could be heard by them.
Soon, the smoke reached the prisoner.
The prisoner tried his hardest not to breathe in the smoke but he was only able to last a minute.
As soon as he breathed in the smoke, his body started to tremble violently.
And then...he turned.
"I see. So that smoke is also capable of spreading the virus. How convenient."
"This..."
Mily placed her palm on her mouth.
The sight just now was too frightening!
It was bad enough that they get turned into zombies through being bitten or scratched...but now a zombie like this exists!?
One that can spew out smoke from its mouth...smoke that once inhaled, can instantly turn you into a zombie!
Isn't this too frightening!?
Luke turned to look at the other zombie inside. The woman with the enhanced shouting ability.
Not only did he leave behind one living subject, but he also left behind this other zombie to see how it would react to the smoke.
The result was...nothing.
Right, it wasn't affected by the smoke at all. It showed a total lack of reaction to the smoke.
This meant that the smoke is something that only affects the living. That or people who aren't affected with the virus.
There's a difference of course.
After all, Luke himself is still alive but it can be said that the virus is also present in his veins.
But he can't try this himself. After all, it is just a theory. A conjecture. There aren't any hard evidence that suggests he would be immune to that smoke.
Which means...
Luke turned to the woman who had volunteered earlier as he decided in his mind.
Initially, he was planning to simply turn her into a zombie as well and just feed her with Zombie Organs like Lucy. But now, it seems she can also be useful for another experiment instead.
Of course, there's also Mily but Luke wasn't planning on doing anything on her for the time being as he wanted to observe how a 'normal human' would react to these situations.
"Athena, clear the air inside and bring down the glass case again."
"Understood."
Athena did as she was told and began opening the vents, leading the smoke to the outside without a care as to what sort of effect it will have once it reaches the surface.
Luke also didn't care and simply took a mental note of it.
Mily opened her mouth as if to say something but stopped herself.
Once the air was cleared, Athena scanned the room once more before confirming.
"Sir, the air inside the room is now free of any foreign element."
"Good."
Luke nodded and opened the door as he motioned for Mily to push the prisoners back in.
While Luke waited, he walked to the newly created zombie and observed him for a bit.
However, the zombie was the same as any normal zombie. There wasn't anything special about it other than the lack of wounds.
After taking a few data from it, he walked to the glass case and saw Todd seemingly glaring at him. However, it was no longer releasing any smoke.
"Does it have a limit to how much smoke it can release?"
If that was the case, it was better to continue observing it for a few more days.
Deciding as such, Luke turned to the woman who volunteered.
"You're Nicole, right?"
"Y-yes..."
"Alright. It's your turn now."
"..."
Nicole started to hesitate. But after a few minutes, she shut her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. Ready for whatever comes next.
Luke glanced at her and took a different syringe in his lab coat.
This was the Synthesized Serum that he himself took.
Luke injected it into her heart and waited.
"Ghhh..."
Nicole grunted and bore the pain. However, she soon started to feel relaxed.
Black ooze began to excrete from her body.
"H-huh? I...I'm still alive?"
Nicole opened her eyes and found that she...still has her mind. She hasn't turned into a mindless zombie!
However, Luke's cold voice rang out.
"Don't rejoice just yet. The experiment is not done."
As Luke said so, he picked up the syringe containing the Serum-02 and injected it in Nicole as well!
"Gh-!? Aa....aaa...!!!"
Nicole clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she felt something changing within her body.
Although there wasn't any pain as she had expected, it still felt weird as she could feel unknown changes happening inside her.
Her body started to tremble unconsciously for a few moments before...it stopped.
Nicole started to pant heavily and her body was drenched in her own sweat.
However, she...was still herself.
Luke's eyes gleamed.
"How are you feeling?"
"Uhh...I...I'm not sure...I felt something change but...I don't know..."
"Try screaming loudly like the one before."
"R-right."
Nicole nodded and did as she was told.
"K-kyaaaaaaaaaaa~"
"..."
"S-sorry...that was the best I could do..."
Luke didn't say anything as he continued to ponder silently.
After a while, he did something no one expected.
He...set her free.
"L-Luke!?"
Mily shouted in fright.
Nicole was also confused after being freed so suddenly.
However, before she could say anything, Luke suddenly placed a thin collar on her neck.
"W-what...?"
"Don't remove it. That collar is set to explode if tampered with by any means. I can also detonate it remotely if I want to. From now on, you are my slave. You are forbidden from leaving the base unless I say so. Are we clear?"
Nicole's face paled as she heard that.
And then, the first words she said after hearing that was...
"Y-you...you just have this sort of thing on you at all times!?"
"...It was originally for this girl but since she's behaving so well, that collar is yours now."
"E-eh!? You were planning to put a bomb collar on me, Luke!?"
Mily cried out as she quickly covered her own neck while staring at Luke with teary eyes.
"Do you still want me to?"
"No thank you."
"..."
- Writer
