Weak White Sheep in a Fence

Chapter 5:Latest News Before the Dose

"Ian, don't forget to inject this every 3 months. Your watch is set to notify you on the exact day. If you ever forget to take this even once, something bad will permanently happen to your body, so please never forget this. This is entirely for your safety..."

Ian can still clearly see the severe destruction of an area of buildings from the previous incident while he remembers his mother's constant reminders. As a good child, he simply followed what was told to him even though he had no idea what his mother was giving him.

Now that he's an adult, he still doesn't know what his mother gave him or what bad thing would happen to his body. It's just that Ian was afraid that his mother would be worried. He also doesn't want to break his promise.

But this time, it wasn't his decision to break the promise. He just fell asleep for three days.

"Uuuuurgh!!!" He couldn't stop himself from banging his head against the window of the Skycab he was riding which made the wound on his head to start aching.

He thought to himself that he's such a troublesome, weak, useless Beta who couldn't even follow a simple reminder from his mother.

He really doesn't know how to keep a promise. He felt so frustrated thinking that it was all his fault.

From the very beginning, Ian didn't know what happened to him back then during the previous incident. He just felt a strong unease with anxiety rushing in him thinking that the people's lives would be similar to his mother's life.

"Are you okay, son?" the driver asked while they were flying.

"S-sorry, sir." He decided to sit back properly.

There was a slight conflict at the hospital where he was admitted. They didn't want him to leave since he was still in isolation, but he insisted for a reason that maybe people like him were needed for work.

Ian found out that his family, particularly his eldest brother, told the doctor that it would be best for him to stay in the hospital until he recovered.

He couldn't do anything but get annoyed. His family was telling him that they just wanted him to not show up in front of everyone because he was just a problem.

"I know the situation here in the south is shocking right now, but it's probably not too late for you to stop destroying yourself, son."

The driver spoke to him like an uncle consoling his nephew.

"No, it's not like that, sir," Ian responded as his eyes gazed at the severe destruction of the buildings in the distance. There was even a barrier surrounding them. That isolated region is District C.

"We might as well listen to the news," the driver made a suggestion as he pressed the screen at front of the vehicle.

"Sure." Ian agreed just to make the driver happy.

Some graphics appeared on the screen. The driver simply pointed to one of them and pressed another area on the screen to enhance the volume.

A hologram slowly descended from the ceiling of his vehicle which allowed Ian to see the news while they were flying.

"Breaking news! Protesters across the metropolis have now exceeded three hundred! They're still asking whether Novu Babel, the center of research and discovery, should be trusted..."

The news displayed people rallying while holding up cardboard signs.

'GIVE US BACK THE LIFE OF OUR FAMILY!' was one of the signs Ian read that was held up.

"Because of an unpleasant and unexpected attack from an object identified as an egg from outside the city, the citizens seem to be losing trust in whether the surrounding walls can truly protect them..."—

Ian first saw some men carrying some dead bodies while wearing quarantine suits. It was noticeable from the video's background that the men in quarantine quits were inside the said barrier surrounding the entire District C which Ian could still see from a distance.

The bodies were shown wrapped in cloth while lying on a spacious platform.

Ian couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, as if it was being squeezed the moment he saw the corpses.

The video even showed families and children crying over the corpses in front of them. Somehow, it reminded him of his childhood when he was crying in front of his smiling, dying mother.

He can't stand this news.

"Sir, can you please change the channel?"

After Ian asked, the driver changed the channel, but this channel was still connected to the first news.

"In a stunning admission, Novu Babel officials have opened up that the Skyplate is not sufficient to withstand powerful aerial attacks. They admitted that the barrier was designed to prevent outside air from entering the city for a cleaner atmosphere, and that this type of assault was completely beyond their prediction. Despite how the structure was breached, scientists assure the public that there is no need to worry about toxic gas, as the human-made atmospheric shield is said to recover on its own within a matter of minutes.

The news also showed that there were no more cracks in the sky caused by the Skyplate's damage.

"For now, Novu Babel just said that they are continuing to improve the Skyplate"—

Well, this is another bullsh*t.

"Sir, can you change it again?" Ian asked again, noticing that the driver was getting a bit annoyed.

"This is the last time, son, okay?"

"Live from the Southern Region. Novu Babel has announced a new discovery regarding the 'egg' that caused significant damage in South, District C. Scientists have confirmed that despite its highly toxic shell, the object carried no contagious diseases. No victims of the incident have been reported sick, leading the government to greenlight the release of all residents in District C who are currently isolated in quarantine facilities."

Ian arrived at his family's mansion after a few minutes of flying. This place is like a graveyard for him. Whenever he crosses paths with his siblings, he can expect them to throw some usual, unnecessary blame at him for anything they could possibly think of just to for fun.

Whatever.

Now that he's here, once he takes that thing that should be taken, he will go back to the HQ to report for duty. He believed he could be of help as a Hunter if he could go back to the South.

Other than that, Ian needed to find a way to go outside this prison-like city because he's starting to hear the voices in his head again.

After he entered his room, he immediately locked the door and went to the bed. He went to the upper area where the pillows are placed. He took the pillows away and lifted the mattress.

He cut the lower side of this area of the bed when he first slept here to make it foldable. Under the part he had cut, he had made a space to put the one thing he was carefully keeping.

His mother told him to hide the thing in a place hard to be discovered whenever they enter human cities and get to rent a room or a house.

A plain drawer that needed to be pulled upwards instead of sideways appeared. He just pulled the drawer until a case appeared, enough for five clothes to fit in it.

He simply opened the lock on the case with his fingerprint. The case slowly opened, revealing large transparent medicine bottles with dropper caps. Four of these bottles are already empty while the last, fifth bottle has a mint-colored liquid that is also almost empty.

There were unused needles at the bottom of the case, some syringe tubes, and a handheld tube used to connect the one needle and one syringe tube together.

Ian took the remaining bottle and siphoned out the exact amount of liquid using the dropper. He knew the precise amount, but as he saw the amount in the bottle getting smaller, a realization came to mind of what would happen in the future when this runs out. He had been taking this since he was young, but it never occurred to him that it would eventually be depleted.

But then, he didn't follow the exact schedule for taking it.

He took one syringe tube and put the liquid into it. Then he placed the plastic tube in the space provided for it in the handheld tube.

He took one needle that was wrapped in its sachet. He opened it and inserted into the designated hole in the handheld tube.

When everything was ready, Ian first exposed his neck from his jacket. He slowly pointed the needle of the handheld tube at his neck until he was able to pierce his skin.

It was not painful since he's used to it.

He simply pressed the switch from the handheld device.

The liquid began to seep into his nape until its contents were depleted. Ian could still feel the liquid entering his skin. Other than the weird sensation on his nape, he felt nothing else in his entire body.

After it was used up, he immediately removed the needle and the plastic container from the handheld tube. He wrapped them in paper, hid them in his jacket, and closed the case and drawer, and returned the bed to its original appearance.

It was like nothing had happened. All he wished was that nothing would change in his body just because he forgot to do it on the exact day.

He left the mansion, went out the gate until he was a few blocks away from their residence. This is where he threw what he wrapped in a trash can, specifically in the red-colored trash can.

Now that he's done with his dose, he planned to find a cab to get to the HQ. He did not know what happened to his Hoverbike. It seemed he remembered how it malfunctioned while he was forcing such a high speed on the way south.

Ian was about to get a cab when he noticed a news from a public hologram behind him.

We have breaking news! Despite the recent incident, Apex will continue to monitor the outside areas where they have planted Terra Nodes for the inductees of the Apex Clearance Test. According to Commander Axel's Executive Officer."

"Breaking news! Despite the recent incident, Apex will continue to monitor the outside in the areas where they have planted Terra Nodes for the inductees of the Apex Clearance Test. According to Commander Axel's Executive Officer, they are scheduled to fly out tonight, and preparations are currently underway."

The news displayed Commander Axel who seemed to be talking to some officials with him at a deployment site.