Chapter 168 Knowledge about parasite.
HA\LF: Dead nor Alive
âPlease follow me, Professor Dale,â Jenny said as she walked further into the room.
They both walked past the rooms with black glass that they both couldnât see through on their right. Even though they couldnât see anything, they could hear the screams of a human and a parasite combined together.
Archie glanced at the black glass and it was enough for him to see what was going on behind it. He stared at Jenny who walked in front of him and she was younger than Daniel who seemed to be in his mid twenties. She was somehow more mature and brave than any other people he knew for someone who wasnât an Axis Human.
Although Jenny looked brave, the people in all the nations had already gotten used to being surrounded with parasites and looked at them up close since they were their source of energy. So it didnât faze Archie at all as he kept following her from behind to the other side of the room, or more like a hall.
âI apologise if the surroundings make you nervous or scared, but as I said earlier that everything is safe down here,â Jenny said without looking back. She was curious about what kind of expression Archie was making, but when she turned around, it didnât meet her expectations at all.
âLooks like I was worried for nothing,â Jenny said as she stared Archie in the eye.
âHmm? Oh, sorry, I was occupied with something else,â Archie replied as he looked at Jenny.
âI never thought you would be so carefree, Professor Dale. Not carefree, I mean so calm and collected,â Jenny said as she kept staring at him.
âI have been playing with parasites, and theyâre the most beautiful living organism that always find its way to survive. Everything that we are doing here, itâs a prove that we are all interested in the same thing, but you wanted a result you want while I donât mind with all the results,â Archie answered as he smiled at Jenny.
âThen looks like youâre the right person for this project, Professor Dale,â Jenny said as she pulled her ID card for the scanning to open the giant steel door. âYou will be observing this subject, Professor Dale,â Jenny said as she pointed at the giant monstrosity that looked like Iohann when he became an Ex-Axis Human.
Archie walked toward the giant glass walls to look at the subject from up close. The subject was chained on every part of its body. Even though it was chained, it could still resist, and one of the chains looked like it was about to snap.
Archie noticed the body structure of the subject had whole turned into a parasite, but it appeared that the subject was still conscious. One thing that he was interested in was that the back of the subject looked like a fin.
âSuch a shame,â Archie said as he sighed and stared at the subject.
All of them turned their heads to look at Archie with curious expressions.
âSuch a shame? Why is that?â Jenny asked.
âThatâs a rare Gen-0 parasite that you guys put in the subject, right?â Archie asked as he looked at Jenny.
âYes, how did you know that? I havenât told you anything about this project,â Jenny asked back and she looked at him with a shocked expression.
âThe way itâs progressing and the way it modified the body of the subject. Itâs obvious how long it took for the parasite to take over the subjectâs body, but not the mind. Itâs one of the biggest characteristic of Gen-0 parasite, and for some reason, they didnât attack the hostâs consciousness, only the body,â Archie answered as he walked around the glass walls to look at the parasite from different angle.
âNot to mention the progression of the parasitification is still not done yet. And thatâs why I said itâs such a shame because the subject will die in less than a week,â Archie continued as he looked at the subjectâs back.
Jenny was amazed and dumbfounded by Archieâs knowledge of the parasite. It wasnât only because of Daleâs memories, but also because he had been through it and saw many things every since he became a Drautnir.
âSo? What do you want me to do here?â Archie asked as he looked at Jenny with a smile.
âTo be honest, you already answered all of our questions about the subject here. So, I donât think there will be anything that you have to do,â Jenny answered as she looked at the others. âBut, if youâre interested, I guess you can go and check another subject,â
âThereâs another subject? Sure,â Archie answered.
âBefore we go there, I just want to inform you that this subject isnât like what you would expect,â Jenny said. âWe found her like that, and we didnât do anything to her,â Jenny continued as she looked at Archie.
âAlright, lead the way,â Archie replied.
Jenny hesitated at first, but then she led Archie back to where they came from. Archie didnât say anything and just followed her because he was curious what kind of subject that made her act like that.
Jenny looked at the woman standing in front of a small steel door and nodded her head at the woman. The woman nodded back and walked away as she opened the steel door using the code next to the door.
They both entered the room, and it looked like a normal bedroom with a lot of stuff inside. The moment Archie looked to his left, he was surprised because the subject was just a kid. She looked like she was six years old, and she looked scared and looked like a normal kid, but he could tell there was a parasite living inside her body.
âThis is Elena, and sheâs a unique one, but the problem is that sheâs too shy and she hasnât showed her ability ever since we brought her here,â Jenny said.
âDonât you think itâs because sheâs scared? Bringing a small kid into this kind of place, even if itâs me, I donât have other things in my mind but being afraid of being in here,â Archie replied as he looked at Elena who was staring at him with fear.
âWell, you know this already. We are not the ones to make the call and decide,â Jenny replied as she looked at Archie.
âRight,â Archie said as he sighed. âWell, let me have a moment with her. I need to observe her and I think itâs better to listen to everything from her rather than you telling me the details,â Archie continued as he looked at Elena and smiled at her.
âAlright, I will give you time, but please donât force your way in because we donât want to scare her. Itâs already bad enough to brought her down here as you said,â Jenny replied as she looked worried about the Elena as well.
Archie nodded his head as he watched Jenny leave the room.
The steel door closed and it was just Archie and Elena in the room. The first thing he checked were the cameras on the corners, so he couldnât do anything but keep pretending to be Dale even though he wanted to introduce her to his real self.
âHi, Elena,â Archie said as he sat on the chair on the other side of the room so he didnât scare Elena.
âHi,â Elena answered and she sounded so scared.
âDonât be scared, Iâm not here to do anything to hurt you or make you uncomfortable. Iâm just here to have talk if thatâs okay with you?â Archie asked as he kept smiling at her.
Elena nodded her head.
âDo you think this place is scary?â Archie asked.
âYes, because theyâre in pain,â Elena answered.
âYes, they are, but these people are sick, and we are here to treat them,â Archie answered as he looked at the window.
âIâm not talking about them, Iâm talking about the parasites. Theyâre in pain because theyâre being forced to be living in a body that they didnât want to be,â Elena said as she shook her head.
Archie was surprised when Elena said that.
âYou can communicate with parasite?â Archie asked with curiosity.
âNot really, itâs just I can feel it,â Elena answered as she stared at Archie.
Elena looked at Archie and noticed the parasites inside his body, and Archie knew that she was staring at them. He put his index finger in front of his lips as he smiled at her and shook his head to tell her to not say it.
âSo, can you tell me what happened to you, Elena?â Archie asked as he slowly closed the distance between him and Elena.
âI donât actually remember, but I was living with my mother outside the wall, and I was sleeping at night after my mom told me a bedtime story. Then, when I woke up the next morning, my mom was already dead, and then I was brought her after Jenny and her friends came,â Elena answered.
âI see, but you will be okay, I can promise you that,â Archie said.
âOkay,â Elena said as she stared at Archie in the eye.