|Viraliv|[17-21]Ciusir-Bi|Umaek|Sol|Mars|
12,763,892,458cy
Black site “Last Resort”, Medium Mars orbit
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To avoid the scientist knowing what’s going on Theo and the others will pass messages to each other through perishables, things like soap or perhaps food. Theo also tells Glena that this isn’t the only place subjects are stored. It seems that different variations of whatever they’ve been testing are tested in other clear rooms. Getting their help would greatly increase the chances of escape but it would also increase the chances of getting found out as well.
After about a week, it became apparent on who and who wouldn’t join the escape. Most people seem willing to revolt, and even those that don’t still help. After all, some guards would have to stay behind to ensure they don’t have any plans as well. They can’t take into account the number of subjects who, given a chance, will initiate their own escape plans. Though relying on them to make this plan succeed isn’t very smart. As such, Glena and Theo thought of this plan as only saving them. If others escaped with them then that’s fine but, the other subjects are thought of as distractions so less focus is put on them.
Anyway, the scientists haven't caught on yet, or they’re just pretending not to know though Glena doesn't know why they would do that. They aren’t sure when to do this, after all they need to find a way out of this glass cage. It would be the simplest to wait for the next batch of subjects and then rush out, at least one of the airlock doors would be open. The troublesome part would be getting the other one open and also getting through the lab doors themselves. Theo says that when he escaped he was in a different lab and that while it was deeper down it had less security. They could grab a key card from a scientist or guard so maybe if they wait for one to bring down the food. They set them down in the airlock without entering it so someone would have to get the doors to open at the same time.
Unless they have someone who can hack the door or rewire it then they are in trouble. Luckily before they had even contacted anybody Glena had come up with two ideas around this. One, Theo could try and grab a key card from a scientist, giving him access to both the airlock and lab door, but the scientists generally don’t like being around Theo and there are a lot of eyes on him. Two, someone could act like they are dying and trick the scientist to inspect them, the person would then use brute force to grab the card and quickly swipe it on the door; Theo could help him in this. However, they could do a mix of both. Something along the lines of someone acting up and then while the focus is on them Theo can grab the card, with less eyes on him the chances of success would go up and nobody would care that Theo is near them.
Since that seemed to be the best plan it’s the one they elected to do. Getting one of the more healthy and strong looking subjects to do the part of distraction is a must. They are further aided due to the scientist not wanting to get too close to them, even with all of their gear on, a single tear might be all it takes for them to become the next subject. All that’s left to do is make sure everyone is up to date with the plan and then pick a time. Theo suggests we still wait for the next batch of subjects, they would be more lively and eager to take the opportunity to escape, Glena agrees, so they planned to do it then.
About a week passes before the next batch gets here. In that time, Theo had gotten stuck with a needle by a scientist. He explained that’s what they do when they start to test a new generation of whatever the green goop is. He seems to be pretty nonchalant about it. Assuming that it passes through physical contact or through the air, they are all going to get it eventually. Anyway, with the new batch they can finally escape here. To be exact they plan to have someone fake dying to create a distraction while Theo grifts a keycard, the new subjects will serve as a fine distraction too. After Theo grabs the card, he and the guy pretending to die will free all of them and we will rush out of here as quickly as possible. Glena and Theo plan to go through the vents, and the others will probably follow them.
Seeing their opportunity, one of the big guys starts twitching and flailing about. Theo rushes over to him to check and then starts yelling and banging on the cube walls. The scientists look mildly surprised and after a moment of hesitation start to run over to the cube. At this point nobody but Theo, the guy, and those around him are moving; trying to not panic the guards or anything. The new people are freaking out though, that’s for sure.
After Theo sees the scientist start to come over he moves back to the guy and starts dragging him to the airlock. When the scientists open the airlock Theo comes in after them. At first they stop him from following, which makes everyone's eyes bulge, but after some words the scientists let him come with them. Glena thanks Theo in her mind that he was able to convince them. Time seemed to slow to a crawl until everyone in on the plan collectively breathed a sigh of relief when they both made it out of the airlock.
Quickly after getting out of the airlock, the scientist tried to force the man into some device. He stopped twitching around and took on more meaningful movements. Pushing, punching, and kicking his way into forcing attention on himself. Meanwhile, Theo, near one of the scientists who weren’t a part of the “rescue” team, deftly checks the man's pockets for the card. His time spent in the vents and stealing what he needed to survive made this a rather easy task. Successfully grabbing the key, he motions to the guy who stops for a second. Catching the scientist, and now a few guards, off guard he then dashes for the airlock to defend Theo while he tries to get it open. Glena and the others were afraid that this part would be hard since no one really knows the airlock procedure. It must have been very simple though, not even a dozen seconds later from Theo getting to the airlock did it start going through its process.
Theo and the guy had to hold back everyone in the lab while the airlock was opening its inner door. By this time, one of the lab personnel hit the big red button near the lab door. Sirens came to life and started singing, making everyone's ears hurt and making their eyes see everything in the color red. The airlock seemed like it was moving a lot slower than ever before, though that was likely the adrenaline at work. Everyone was clumped up near the door already, Glena quickly joined them. Glena thought not a minute, or should she say second, too late and the door started to squeal open. Just enough room for everyone to squeeze in, save a few who haven’t moved at all during all of this excitement; odd that, Glena thought. Not a moment sooner and Glena felt herself getting pushed, the other door had opened and everyone was rushing out to incapacitate the lab personnel. A struggle ensued and though they all feel like they’ve been poisoned by whatever was given to them, almost all of them are enhanced humans. Being able to take down a few of the guards, the rest were pushed into the airlock, doomed to be trapped in the same place they trapped them; at least until help arrives for them.
A few people start scavenging whatever gear they can find off of the guards. Glena, Theo, and many others simply head for the door. Many simply try to open the door with force, excitement getting to them or just desperation. Some recognize that only Theo can get them out and push him towards the door, forcing those who were simply blocking the door out of the way. As soon as he got the door open, Glena and Theo get separated, the flood of people erupting from the door couldn’t be forded through. Regardless, Glena and Theo already know where they planned to meet up; Theo had even shown her a map of what he remembered of the facility in food. Getting there was the hard part but, with the help of the others distracting the lab, they could make it. Once there they could escape using the various tunnels Theo had navigated in the past, hoping that the lab never sealed them of course.
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Running throughout the lab, Glena was seeing things that she had never seen before. Indeed these labs were the unknown cutting age that only the super-giant nations of humanity could afford to support. Most people have, and never will, see anything close to what Glena was seeing. Both horrible and marvelous at the same time, Glena had seemed to lose concentration staring at all the strange stuff; the curiosity of a child poking through even in this situation. When Glena got her attention back she noticed that she was out of breath, others around her seemed to be in the same position. Still, they run. Run, run, and run some more. The map looked much smaller when on the food, or maybe that was just because Glena’s body is feeling like she’d been submerged in a vat of hot slime.
Eventually, Glena and three others made it to the vent. Theo was already there, sweat and snot dripping off of him much like the others. He tells Glena and the group that they can rest in the vents, after a bit it would open up into a maintenance room. They seem to have made it, the last leg of the journey would be going through the vents. Glena can only laugh at the faces the scientists must be making right now, it seems infectious and everyone else starts laughing too. Laughing and crying. After resting a few minutes, not enough to recover, they start to slowly crawl through the vents only led by Theo’s memories. Speaking of Theo, his condition seems to have worsened after the small rest. Glena wonders if he’s having an allergic reaction to the shot he got, oh well, once they escape she can get her parents to bring him to a hospital. Of course, she’ll have to go too, she’s not feeling too well herself; Of course, neither are the others.
What feels like half an hour to Glena passes, though it’s hard to tell in the vents. Finally, Theo says that we are almost outside, his voice strained and panting. The vents have felt extremely hot and moist during their travels. They turn a corner and the flash of light blinds Glena, bringing back painful memories of Theo’s betrayal. After Glena’s eyes finish adjusting she finds herself looking at the place that Theo and her would often meet. Another thing she looks at is Theo, who isn't looking too well. Honestly, that’s an understatement, the white of his eyes are slightly red, he’s got rashes in some areas, and various liquids including snot and tears are running down his face. Now that everyones in the light, we all seem to have the same symptoms, myself included.
Alarm bells go off in Glena’s head, she knows it’s been a while but her parents are very likely to still be on station. She grabs Theo and starts running to where her room was, grabbing some long shirts and the like to cover themselves with along the way. The others seem to be content with doing their own things now that they are free from the facility. Running through the streets draws a lot of attention, Glena is already sweating and breathing hard again. At least, here in the central part of the station the temperature is kept very comfortable. Theo is sweating too, hard, Glena can feel it through the sensations in her hands, though barely. Which is weird, when Glena thinks about it a lot of her sensations seem to have weakened. Even while running ragged like this, she doesn't feel any pain, just her lungs tightening and the feeling of hot sweat dripping down her forehead.
Before Glena can make it much farther she feels Theo’s hands start to slip away, looking back she sees Theo stumble and then fall hard on his face, making a loud ‘thump’ noise. Many of the people around them were already staring but now they go over to help the boy up, including some guards. Glena gets scared at the thought of guards, they might be working with the lab afterall, and starts making stammering excuses and telling them not to help. The people around continue to get closer to Theo and when Glena reaches him first she lifts up his head before moving the cowl out of the way, just enough for her to see him. What she sees makes her let out a strange quiet cry, blood is slowly flowing out of Theos mouth, a pool of it already apparent where he landed. The guards see the blood and really start coming over, moving people out of the way, they grab Theo from Glena and fully move all of the clothing out of the way.
Once uncovered, the guards pulled back, and the crowd erupted in yelling while running away. Theo’s condition has worsened in such a quick time, his skin looked like it had burnt or melted in some places. He was in obvious pain and his breathing was incredibly labored, his chest moving so quickly it looked like he was trying to breathe all the air in the station. His eyes were completely blood red now, and he was holding his hand and out forward pleading Glena to hold his hand. She saw what she thought was a sweat covered hand was actually blood, she grabbed it anyway. Tears falling down her face, and as they splat on the floor she saw that they were blood and not water. Glena understands what is happening, even though she denies it in her mind, Theo too she doesn't want either of them to die. But seeing Theo now she understands that he will die soon, whatever the scientist gave him in the lab was akin to his death, and Glena’s too.
She felt like she might still have a chance, wanting to live with her parents and go back to their planet and just live, her only option at that point was to find a medbed. The medbeds are everywhere in the station, just in case something goes wrong. Self contained units that once containing a human, flood the pod with microbes, it has saved many lives and is considered a must have in any hospital, including those on spaceships and stations. If Glena could find one of these she could at least extend her life and find an actual hospital. Leaving Theo behind she runs to the nearest info-map and finds the nearest pod. Driven by the pure will to live, she starts running towards it, her coverings getting blown off of her. Others move out of the way after seeing her, blood marked footprints showing her tracks. After a few minutes of running she can feel her body is falling apart, tears continue running down her face as she realizes she will probably never live to see another day nor any of the people or exciting aspects in it either. She makes it to the pod and her blood soaked hands slap at the panel, trying to usher it quicker.
The capsule finally opens, she quickly climbs inside, now ushering it to close quicker. The microbial bath is flooded with her blood. The microbes quickly get to work on repairing her body, for a while that is. The panel starts flagging them as idle, which is weird given the state Glena is in. At the very least her wounds aren’t getting worse, she uses the panel to call a medivac to an actual hospital. The minutes pass by and the panel states that the microbes are back to action, Glena thinks that’s great. When medivac comes for her she can tell them about Theo, Glena is sure that he is still savable. Minutes pass, and the panel states that her condition is worsening, strange seeing as how the microbes went back to work. Just like that her mental state shifts, she was under the impression that she had at least stabilized but now her health is just degrading faster.
Looking at the panel, Glena notices that the medivac still isn’t anywhere close. She’s freaking out and hyperventilating, once when she blows out she coughs up some blood too. In fact, the entire microbial soup is now red in color. She tries to get out of the pod, to at least go back to Theo but she can’t find the strength to even touch the panel to unlock it. Once again she breaks down and cries, her life running through her mind, as well as, the dissatisfaction at not being able to do everything she wanted to do in life. The dreams she’s leaving behind, her parents, and lastly a strong hate for the lab and the workers there are the last things to flash through her mind.
Twenty minutes later and the medivac gets there, its occupants hop out of the vehicle and go to the pod. Bloody footprints are all over the floor leading up to it, and hand marks cover the surface. The panel is hard to read but eventually they get it to open. Upon its opening they find no-one inside, however the pod had definitely read it having an occupant inside. All that's inside is a red colored microbial soup, furthermore no footprints are heading away from the pod, how weird. That is until one of the emt notices darker colors at the bottom of the soup, grimacing before reaching a hand in which they fish out some hospital gowns. With nothing left to do and being quite busy, many mysterious cases have been called on this day, the workers simply reset and flush the microbes in the pod.
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Many called this outbreak the Red Fountain event, known for its high infection rate, blood pooled everywhere, and the lack of any bodies. It terrorized the people and was, unknowingly at the time, the beginning of the end. All it took was for some traders to catch it on the station then transfer it to Mars. That ship crashed into the planet, prompting others to investigate, when they did they found nothing but bloody clothes. Many cited some fearsome aliens coming to extract their cruel plans but, the truth was much worse. The very microbes that the humans have become reliant on were weaponized, and even the lab that worked on them had no way to stop them.
It took three Earth years to undo thousands of years of survival, discovery, and advancement. Some pockets of humans remain, but who knows how long they will last. But, in the ashes of one species, maybe a new species will be born?
# END