Infinite Space

Chapter Two: Awakening

The train car gradually decelerated until it came to a stop. About ten foreign mercenaries cautiously stepped out, gripping their guns tightly. The black-haired youth strode out confidently, followed by the girl with glasses. As they watched the black man named Matthew Edison walk away, Wang Ye and the others followed suit.

Outside the train car was a station platform. Wang Ye recalled scenes from the movie "Biohazard 1"; this was where the characters were supposed to enter the "hive," the entrance to the underground laboratory.

The group walked up the platform, and soon, at the station platform near the entrance to the laboratory, a closed steel door blocked their path. Special symbols on the door indicated the company that owned the laboratory and the danger within.

Wang Ye and the others followed closely behind the mercenaries. When they reached the door, a beautiful woman in a fiery red dress with a high slit on her leg suddenly asked Matthew Edison, "I want to know who you are? And what exactly is happening here?"

Matthew Edison turned to look at her and waved to the other mercenaries. They quickly took out some machinery from their packs and began to decrypt the door. He continued to speak to the woman, "We are employed by the UMBRELLA Corporation, which includes you... This door leads to the 'hive,' and you are the security personnel registered with the company for this entrance."

Wang Ye remembered this scene. It was when the protagonist Alice asked about the beginning of the incident. Although he had seen the movie and knew the truth behind the whole thing, seeing it firsthand still left him feeling confused and dizzy.

Alice looked puzzled. She touched the wedding ring on her finger and murmured, "Then what is this?"

Matthew Edison nodded, "You are not married; it's just a cover-up, also a symbol of your protection of the hive."

"What is the hive then?"

Suddenly, another non-mercenary man asked. Wang Ye knew him; he was Ryan, the industrial spy who attempted to steal the T-virus, also the male protagonist of "Biohazard 1."

Matthew Edison said to another mercenary, "Show them."

The man nodded and began typing on his laptop. After a while, some images appeared on his screen.

"This is the passage to the hive... The hive is deep underground in Raccoon City. This is the building where we found you. Here, we boarded a train to the underground, which brought us to the entrance of the hive, where we are now."

The images on the screen kept changing until a building resembling a beehive appeared.

"This is the hive, a top-secret research facility hidden underground, owned and supervised by UMBRELLA. Inside the hive, there are five hundred scientists and other staff who research certain confidential matters for the company. These secrets are crucial to the company, and even we are not aware of them. This is our current location, as shown by the heat sensor."

Matthew Edison continued to explain, and indeed, the screen showed where they were, standing on the platform at the top of the hive. Wang Ye knew that this place was now absolutely safe. However, in a few moments, it would become a death zone.

"What about them?" Alice suddenly pointed to Wang Ye and the others.

Wang Ye and the others were shocked. They had always thought of themselves as people wandering outside of reality. In other words, in a horror movie, the characters' lives should not intersect with theirs. They only needed to avoid the terrifying monsters. But unexpectedly, the female protagonist of "Biohazard 1" pointed at them and spoke.

Matthew Edison said, "They are also security personnel here. The company has their registration information... But I doubt whether the instructions from the company's upper echelons were correct. Except for the Asian man who is a qualified warrior, these people are just ordinary civilians."

This should be the identities arranged for them by the "main god." Wang Ye and the others realized suddenly.

Ryan asked again, "Why did I lose my memory? I can't remember anything now."

Matthew Edison said, "The hive has its own defense system, controlled by the central computer, the Flame Queen. When the hive is deemed under attack, the central computer releases a neurotoxic gas that causes unconsciousness for about four hours. After waking up, a series of side effects occur, one of which is memory loss."

Ryan asked, "Memory loss? How long will this state last?"

Matthew Edison shook his head, "It depends on the individual's constitution. It could be an hour, a day, or even a week."

Another non-mercenary young man suddenly asked, "Do you mean the hive has already been attacked? Are there terrorists inside?"

Matthew Edison looked at him and said, "... Perhaps worse than that."

This young man, Wang Ye knew, was Matt, a non-company employee who came to find his sister. His sister was a senior researcher inside the hive. After learning that the company was researching the T-virus, she attempted to inform the government of the company's situation. However, before she could steal the virus, it was stolen and leaked by Ryan. Later, his sister also turned into a zombie after inhaling the virus.

Wang Ye was truly grateful. His previous days were boring, so he watched a lot of movies, especially sci-fi and horror. Knowing the plot direction, who the protagonist is, can increase the hope of survival several times. The survival of the protagonist is a common sense in novels and movies.

At this time, there was a sound from the door above the platform, and a long-haired female mercenary said, "Captain, the door has been opened. We can enter now."

Matthew Edison nodded at several people and then sighed as he looked at Wang Ye and the others, then led the mercenaries towards the door.

The door gradually opened under computer control. Looking inside, it was pitch black. Apart from darkness, they couldn't see anything. Matthew Edison said to a mercenary beside him, "J.D.!"

The man nodded and put on night vision goggles. Matthew Edison hesitated for a moment, then turned to another mercenary and said, "Zhang Jie!"

Zhang Jie didn't say much, he picked up a Desert Eagle and walked boldly inside. Wang Ye thought that this black-haired young man should also be someone familiar with the plot. In "Biohazard 1," as long as the main computer wasn't shut down, they would be safe here. At least, for more than three hours, they would be safe. But once the main computer was shut down, this place would become the world of zombies and Lickers.

Soon, Zhang Jie turned on the light switch inside, and gradually, the room brightened up. Especially the windows on the walls revealed the scenery between the tall buildings of the city. Outside, the sunlight was abundant, and the sky was blue, it was clearly the scenery that Wang Ye had become numb to seeing.

The mercenaries and the others entered the room. A female mercenary held a detector and looked around, saying, "The gas has been dispersed, it's safe here now."

Wang Ye knew the whole plot. This underground laboratory was researching a biochemical weapon called the T-virus. It could infect human flesh and activate it, turning the body into a zombie. The person would lose any consciousness and thought, leaving only one instinct: to eat!

When the character Ryan stole the T-virus, he accidentally destroyed a vial of it in the laboratory. As a result, the gas circulation system filled the entire hive with the virus, infecting all the researchers and staff inside. Unaware of this, when the central computer of the hive detected the situation, it cut off all communication with the outside world and released the gas inside the hive. Until the mercenaries and the female protagonist arrived, the entire lab, except for them, was overrun with zombies... and lickers.

It seems that "Resident Evil" is indeed a hot-selling movie. Wang Ye and a few people around him have seen it, including Wang Ye and the girl with glasses. The rest of them are also leaning against the window, looking outside. The sunshine is bright, making it seem surprisingly real. They are not worried about being attacked at this moment because they all know that this place is very safe.

The young man Matt, who came to find his sister, suddenly said, "This device is used to improve the working environment underground. No one wants to see the dead steel walls all day long. If they can see the sunlight, they might think they are living on the surface, right?"

Wang Ye hesitated for a moment, then reached out and said, "Wang Ye... um, probably the security guard here."

Because Matt didn't have any company records, he was locked up by the mercenaries as soon as he appeared. He smiled bitterly and turned around, saying, "Locked up like this, I can't shake hands with you... and I forgot my name too."

Wang Ye smiled kindly. Matt is a good person in the movie. He is actually the most innocent one, just here to find his sister. Even at the end of the story, he has been protecting the female protagonist, and he is also one of the survivors. He even fought for the female protagonist in "Resident Evil 2."

On the other side, Matthew Addison and several mercenaries opened the elevator door, but it was pitch black inside. Helplessly, one of the mercenaries twisted open a flashbang grenade and threw it down below the elevator. As the light gradually faded away, everyone finally saw where the elevator was... It had broken off the steel wire and crashed to the deepest part of the elevator shaft. There's no need to think about it; the people inside are definitely dead.

The mercenary turned back and said, "Captain, it looks like we have to take the stairs."

Matthew Addison's face turned slightly pale. He turned back to the others and said, "Take the stairs. We must reach the bottom floor within ten minutes. Everyone, follow me!"

There's no need to mention the quality of the mercenaries. The female protagonist has evolved T-virus inside her, so her physical fitness naturally surpasses others. The other two male protagonists, Ryan and Matt, are also not bad. Zhang Jie has already experienced three horror movies. Even if he only uses a small portion of the rewards to strengthen himself, his physical fitness far exceeds that of ordinary people.

As for the remaining six people, Wang Ye, although a white-collar worker in the office, has always liked to exercise. He spends at least a whole day in the gym every week. According to him, this is the only way to deal with the coquettishness of those white-collar women. So his physical strength is slightly stronger than that of ordinary people.

The girl with glasses looks delicate and weak, not particularly strong in terms of physical fitness. Being a girl, her physical strength is naturally weaker than that of men, but she is very clever. At the beginning of running up the stairs, she grabbed Zhang Jie's sleeve, allowing Zhang Jie to bear some of the force, while Zhang Jie, with just a glance, silently led her to run ahead.

There's a chubby guy, probably in his late twenties, with a body full of fat, trembling all over. After running for a while, he started panting heavily, and his speed gradually slowed down.

Then there are three other people. One is a middle-aged man who seems to do physical work. Although he doesn't run fast, he has been following behind the main group without falling behind.

There's also a middle-aged woman, whose speed is even slower than the chubby guy's. By the end, she could only move down step by step.

The last person is a young teenager, looking very ordinary, with seemingly average physical strength. In short, he's the type that would easily disappear in a crowd. His speed is the same as the middle-aged man's, neither fast nor slow, just closely following behind the main group.

Not long after they started running, the chubby guy and the middle-aged woman disappeared from sight. Wang Ye has been running alongside Zhang Jie. Suddenly, he heard Zhang Jie say, "Two are out..."

Wang Ye asked strangely, "What do you mean, two are out?"

Zhang Jie sneered and said, "Them! Don't just ignore my words. This is the real world. We will die here. Maybe you haven't realized it yet, just thinking this is a movie? If you leave his side, you will explode within a hundred meters. This is one of the rules. They... are doomed!"

""Exploded"!"

As Zhang Jie's words fell, two loud explosions came from above the stairs. Wang Ye and the others looked up dumbfoundedly, but they couldn't see anything except the stairs above their heads. "Two people have been eliminated!"