TriPlex: Hello World!

Chapter 0.2: Labortary

Shortly after the earlier incident, the same man emerged in the hallway outside the storage room. Facility alarms blared, sending employees scrambling for safety. Reinforcements rushed to the storage room, but they arrived too late. All they found were the lifeless bodies of Fred and Coralles, the guards assigned to protect the crates.

"Admin, this is the squad leader from Unit 2, and the Unit 3 personnel assigned to secure the area have been compromised."

The guard reported

Tsk, Captain, please do ask your unit to thoroughly search the hallways and the rooms now! "

The administrator replied, slightly losing his composure.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the halls was the same man who had infiltrated the storage room. Now knowing that troops are tailing his position, he quickly makes his way towards the stairs, acting with maximum efficiency, knowing one wrong move could cost him the entire mission.

On his way to the stairwell, he'd encounter a swarm of running employees, ranging from utility staff to scientists, all rushing in the opposite direction of which he was headed. Seemingly a response to the evacuation order given out earlier. They didn't pay him any mind, and so he didn't bother with them either.

Navigating through the panicked crowd, the man crossed paths with guards ensuring the employees' safety. However, amidst the chaos, the guards paid no attention to the peculiar figure walking in the opposite direction. Their focus remained on swiftly evacuating the employees, considering it a higher priority than questioning the stranger amidst the alarms and sirens blaring around them.

With no more obstacles standing in his way, he proceeds with the task at hand, going down the staircase to continue his search. He places one of his hands on his headpiece, tapping a certain part of it multiple times before it flashes repeatedly, indicating that it has been turned on.

"How may I assist you, Sir Yashindo Hamatagi?"

The virtual assistant asks

"Please contact Zherik."

The man replies.

The virtual assistant acted accordingly, popping Zherik's contact on his screen.

Attempting to connect

..

..

..

Connection Established!

Yash, there you are! Have you found where they stored the goods yet? "

I already found it earlier using the drone, and I'm on my way there right now.

How about you? How's everything up there going? "

"Yeah, about that, everything's going haywire; the sirens are going off, people are running outside, and the heavily armed infantry are now going in. You better move quick and confirm the location of the stash, Yash; I don't think you have much time on you."

"Alright, alright, get the AMVs ready to move in; the night's about to start."

"Roger sir"

Connection Terminated

The call couldn't have ended more conviniently, as he stumbles upon the lab just as his headpiece goes off.

Everything was silent, implying that everyone inside had already fled the scene. The lights were still on, the area's air conditioning system was left open, some machines were still actively operating.

Not far from where he stood was a metallic door, a bit rusty, but it still appeared clean overall. Some blueish light reflected off it's surface. It immediately caught his attention, prompting him to walk towards the newly found object of interest. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the door was already slightly opened. Yashindo gave the door a small push, causing it to creak a little as it motioned backwards. Blue light was the very first thing to meet his face, it illuminated so bright that it caused him to cover up his eyes for a few seconds.

"Ah-..!"

He muttered, frustrated by the blinding lights.

He slightly rubs both his eyes before opening it, squinting a bit before getting used to it eventually. After overcoming his first obstacle, he now proceeds to continue his investigation by searching the room.

It was strange, the room's layout was more similar to that of a hospital's than that of a lab. Posters on the wall with surgical procedures were also prominent, along with some tables filled with all sorts of surgical tools and bins filled with single-use hospital equipment.

"This isn't a drug lab... this is-"

Yash monologued, but before he could even finish,

Something caught the edge of his eye, causing him to turn his head to the left. What he saw next caused him to twitch out of shock. It was a bloody hospital bed with some fleshy matter scattered around the surface. The flesh was so disfigured that he was unsure whether or not it belonged to a person or an animal.

"Guess i'll have these in my mind for a while... Oh well, work's work"

He thought to himself,

Yash walks closer to the bed, observing the pasty mesh from different angles.

Clicking sounds similar to that of a camera's could be heard from his headpiece as he takes photos of the bloody sight in front of him.

"Photos successfully sent to cloud drive"

The virtual assistant notified.

Having nothing more to do, Yash continues with his investigation. Similar beds with the same fleshy material was seen throughout, though Yash paid these no mind, having already sufficient evidence for that matter. He comes across some electric freezers. Just like most of the equipment inside the underground lab, it was still running. Inside it was nothing more than preserved chemicals and substances.

"I guess this is where they took the crates..."

He thought to himself, taking a few photos of the scene before going on with his search.

At the very edge of the room was a specialized hospital bed. It looked more equipped in comparison to the others. Unlike the ones Yash encountered earlier, this particular bed had some wiring and machinery surrounding it, additionally some boxes filled with bloody surgical equipment and empty substance containers were also found on the scene.

All those things, even when combined, wasn't really what stood out the most. What baffled Yashindo was the fact that unlike the others, this bed wasn't stained at all. It was clean, not a single particle of the fleshy material could be found.

"Strange..."

Yash thought.

He moved his area of vision towards a table just standing a few meters away from him. On top of the table were scattered papers, some tucked within folders while others were stapled unto one another.

"Nothing useful huh...It's all just lists and older studies used for reference, guess they took all the important papers and left the area"

Yash monologued, rummaging through the unkempt pile of paper.

He kept on digging with his fingers, eventually coming accross a red folder which stood out among the others.

"Hello World...?"

Yash read out loud, reading the text on it's cover.

This immediately caught his interest. Amidst all the documents and papers scattered across the table, this red folder, in particular, was the only one that wasn't labeled with a specific code.

Curious of what could be found within, Yashindo attempts to open the folder hoping to scan useful informstion, but before he could even do so, a strong WIZZZZZZ sound flew by, just an inch away from his face.

The projectile ricocheted on the wall behind Yash, bouncing repeatedly from surface to surface before eventually stopping near the area where he stood

"So it was you, the rat who dared to infiltrate the storage room"

Said a voice from the distance.

Draped in a pristine white coat, matching gloves, and black leather boots, a mysterious woman stood adorned with high-tech glasses similar to that of Yash's headpiece. Half of her face concealed by a metallic mask. By her side, a squadron of five guards, armed with submachine guns capable of unleashing eight hundred rounds per minute, showcased superior armor that - not a single vulnerability in sight, It was a different level in contrast to the encounters Yashindo had faced earlier.

"So you're the one in charge of this whole operation.

I don't know your motvies nor what you're planning to achieve with all this but you've already gave us enough headaches locating this place

Our dance ends here madame."

Yash replies, aiming his pistol towards the woman in white

The woman chuckles at his statement, slightly laughing as a response to his threat.

"Well, well, how naive of you. Do you genuinely believe you hold any authority in this situation? I had high hopes for your intellect, managing to stumble this far.

Nevertheless, recognizing your futile endeavor, I'll be generous. You have the opportunity to depart unscathed. In return, I merely request your precious PMC to abandon this fruitless mission. A rather kind proposition, wouldn't you agree?"

She asks, awaiting Yash's response to her offer.

The atmosphere's tension grew even stronger as they stared prolong their gazes towards one another, both parties unwilling to break first from what might be considered a standoff