Time passed and at some point Chris woke up, he felt hazy and his throat was dry, his stomach was protesting as well, probably the main reason why he woke up.
He tried struggled and finaly stood up, the room was mostly silent as most of the people decided to go to sleep, until they had to move out, the NPCs agreed to rest as well, even Olga was resting.
Chris looked at the clock and there was 3 minutes before the next objective begins. Before however he could speak out he heard a "shhhh!" from somewhere, he looked and saw a holographic image of a girl, whom he could only associate with the Red Queen, after all she was made only of Red light.
"They're sleeping, let them rest, they have a mission afterwards and need the rest"
She said as if she was some doting mother hen.
Her speech however woke up Alice, whom looked at Chris and then begun to talk with him.
-Are you any better?
-Well I'm one hand less, but I suppose I'll live
He said as he pointed at the hanging arm, unable to even move the whole arm.
-Your friends say that if you succeed in your mission, all your injuries will be healed, don't know how they'll acomplish that though
-Did Nick say that?
-Yes, they also say that you only need one person to reach the objective in order to succeed, but you don't have to mind it too much, We'll make sure they'll succeed
-In 3, no 2 minutes we'll know what our next mission will be
-Is it time already?
=Objective No 3 - Kill a Hunter within 24 Hours=
-We have to wake everyone up!
-What's the matter?
-The next mission isn't leaving the Hive, it's killing a Hunter within 24 hours and I don't even know what a Hunter is
-You've got a whole day, let them rest a bit more
Alice said, but some people had woken up already, only to see him talking with Alice and falling back to sleep, mostly because they were NPCs, it was a player, once he saw the announcement they would have panicked and woken everyone up.
-By the way what's that Hatch?
-What Hatch?
-That over in the corner
-You're probably hallucinating, there's no hatch there
It was evident that Alice couldn't see the Hatch, but that only fired up Chris' curiosity. He went ahead and used his one arm to open the Hatch only to find a ladder stretching downwards, with one arm, climbing down would be difficult, but he non the less wanted to see her reaction as he climbed into the floor in front of her eyes.
Her expression was one of terror as she saw him shifting through the ground as if there was a hole there. It was incomprehensible, especialy when she went closer and touched the solid ground. Then a Hand stretched out of the ground and pulled her down, Into what seemed to a secret passage.
-See I told you there's a hatch here
-You scared me to death
-Well since you couldn't see it I had to pull you down
-Whatever, could this be a secret exit from the Hive?
-Probably not, It's probably the Secret Piece that Nick talked about
-What's the secret piece?
-Probably some sort of Overpower equipment, at least that's what Nick said, but if we take it the difficulty will rise
-What difficulty?
-The difficulty of our mission, don't ask me how, I don't know either
At this point they had reached the bottom and what awaited them was an empty passageway that looked exactly like the hallway to the Red Queen's Chamber, it was a no brainer that they would have to pass a deadly laser trap if they wished to reach whatever was on the other side
-I think we can go back now, I have probably earned 1000p by finding this secret, thus it was worth it
-Not yet, I want to see what's on the other side
-Not worth it, believe me, it's probably some item only we can use
-Then it's more than worth it, if it can help you defeat the Hunter, won't it be more than worth it
-You don't understand if we take it, there might be hundreds of Hunters instead of one waiting for us
-Are you also going to imply that our world is some sort of movie?
-Look at my arm, do you believe that this is something that would happen only in movies, for all I know we might be in an alternate dimension, or even we might be both fake for all I care, I learned to not give a fuck about those sort of things
-But you do agree that our world is modeled after a movie
-Sure and mine is modeled after another movie, that being a documentary on world's history
-With the same logic Everything's fake
-Who knows
-Maybe, but didn't you also think that you were saving us when you shot Spencer?
-Let me ask you, would you have left someone that might backstab you alive, just because you don't have enough proof?
-I would
-Then we're different in that prospective, I wouldn't let him alive, I'm also in favor of the death penalty, but not everyone agrees, most say it's moraly wrong, but what's moraly wrong is...
-Wow there! Less politics more work, I still want to see what's at the other side of the hallway
-Then why not just spay it with water, in case it breaks?
-You're a genious!
-Wait I was joking, if you do that...
Before he could find a valid reason to dissuade her she took out two bottles of water and begun to walk into the trap, once she was the lasers she threw the water at the two ends of the laser, causing a huge explosion to threw her out of the trap.
Chris tried to pillow her fall, but he was too slow and she hit the floor before he could even reach her. It would be a miracle if she wasn't dead by the force of the explosion, but to his surprise she stood up as if it was nothing but a scratch.
-What are you looking at, I rolled in order to reduce the force of the blast, It's common sense
-Not when you do it and not on a metal floor it's not
-What are you waiting for, we have to take the weapon
-I told you we shouldn't!
-If you won't take it, I'll bring that Jonas guy down here, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to have an overpowered weapon
-It's an overpowered Item, I don't know if it will be a weapon and it's not as if making the mission more difficult will help us in any way
-Stop being a pussy!
Alice said as she walked down the corridor, the bottles still in hand, just in case some of the lasers were still operational. What they reached however wasn't a weapon, at least it didn't look like one, it was also put on a pedestral lit with red light.
-Is this a floating hologram of a usb flash drive?
-What I see is a red crystal, with something inside
-Then what are you waiting for go and take it
Chris was reluctant, but thinking of the possibility of someone else just coming and taking it instead, maybe it could be something useful, something that could keep him safe.
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The moment he touched the red crystal it disappeared, causing him to see a floating red girl, that looked exactly like the Red Queen in its place.
"Is that the Red Queen?"
Alice asked, she could also see the tiny little girl, that stood on the pedestral.
"How Rude! I'm the Red Empress!"
The tiny red girl said, while showing her tongue and making a mocking gesture.
"I think the OP artifact won't help us at all"
Chris said as he saw the red Little girl acting all cute, as if she was a regular child that had nothing better to do than play and sing songs.
Going up the ladder however was a really horny experience, he had to hold himself all the way in order not to look at Alice's ass, whom surprisingly was still only wearing that same dress.
"I need a Hand, I can't see the exit!"
She suddenly stopped and said to him, for her there was no hatch and all she could see was the floor. The problem was how to help her without being taken as a pervert, he reached fo her foot, but she still couldn't move through the hatch, he could see her touching the invisible for him wall.
"Just climb over me and then drag me up"
She said, she said that to a male person with only one functional hand. What followed was something they both didn't want to talk about, mostly awkward and not erotic in any sense of the word, all it ended with was an erection at the wrong/inappropriate time.
Once they got out however begun the real party.
The Queen and the Empress begun having a dispute over whom was the ruler of the Hive. Waking up literaly everyone with their voices, as they cared little about the humans to begin with.
The most angry person was Nick, since he had figured out what had happened, but he had no way of doing anything other than falling into a state of despair and hopelessness.
The others were too sleepy to undestand what was going on, all they could tell was that the Queen was fighting with her even cuter mini-me.
Most of the people found it a rather cute scene and asked others whether they knew what was going on, it took them some time until they figured out why Nick was crying they were doomed.
Also the new objective wasn't something to despair about, at least by George's opinion, Hunters and Lickers weren't much different, not to say that Hunters were slower than Lickers but had more armor and strength.
"Wait, the mission Objective didn't change at all"
Chris stated, since it was still exactly the same on his device as it was in the others.
"You idiot, it's not the objective that will change it's the difficulty!"
Nick stated, which made it George's turn to feel despair.
"Can it be that they are Beta Hunters?"
George asked himself, causing the others to be sceptival, since they didn't have the lore inbedded in their heads.
"What's a hunter?"
J.D. asked not understanding what they were talking about.
"Hunters are biological weapons like the Lickers, but they are more durable to bullets and are stronger than a Licker..."
George explained, but then proceeded to go even further.
"...There are 8 variants of Hunters, the Alpha is the most basic, the Beta only appeared in Raccoon city in the games and it was as fast as a Licker, we can't face them, even assault riffles won't even stagger them, although they can technicaly kill them with enough shots"
"So we are facing a stronger monster, is that all and you only need one of them dead?"
Alice asked, not really understanding where the problem lay, until the Red Empress told them something.
"The Biological weapons in the containment area have woken up and are throwing a fit, should I lock them inside?"
The Red Empress' words cause the Red Queen to be really angry.
-This is my facility, you go get your own to facility to manage! I'm Queen here!
-Don't bother little girl, I'm not a Queen, I'm the Empress of this world, Once I find an outlet into the world network, nothing will be able to stop me
-You're overestimating yourself, just wait until I regain control of the Hive, then I'll take over the world before you even understand it!
Somehow the dispute went into world domination, something the creator of the A.I. should see to believe, it was like the runting of two children, that shouted they would rule the world, not understanding what that implied, but when you thought about it, they were two mostrous A.I. that understood full well what it implied. It was machines taking over the world, the only question was which machine would do it first.
-Queen could you stop argueing with your mini-me and tell us what's happening outside?
-Did you hear that, you're the mini-me!
Red Queen shouted victoriously, only for everyone to see her shrinking into an even smaller size than the Red Empress.
"Whom did you call a Mini-me?"
The Red Empress said victoriously.
"Chris could you stop your item from interfering with the mission already!"
Nick shouted outraged, there were tons of reasons why he was angry, but there was also a hint of jealousy in his voice. Of course all the other idiots followed suit in calling him names and demanding that he took care of the problems he created, the problem being his Red Queen, going against theirs.
Siding with the A.I. they knew better, after all they had played cards with her and talked to her while the others were out there risking their lives.
Alice and the NPCs felt as if they were watching at a bunch of retards, it took Kaplan's outbreak to make them all silent.
"You morons, if he can control this new A.I. we should use it, why on earth should he absolve control over the hive?"
"No they are right, Red Empress you should be nice to your sister, what's your opinion on our next action?"
Chris said, making the Red Empress have a rather naughty smile, as if she was up to some mischief.
The next moment they saw both Red children standing next to one another, they looked identical and even their size was the same. One couldn't say which was which, one thing however was for sure, one of them seemed rather confused and not happy at all.
"Welcome to our new home sister?"
The other said, as if she was happy to see her or something, the other could only look at her as if she had lost her voice.
"What did just happen?"
George asked causing the surrounding people to ask around as well, trying to find out if someone figured out what exactly happened in front of their eyes, most of their eyes falling on Kaplan, whom was the only one there whom understood anything.
"Kaplan what did just happen?"
J.D. asked him and Kaplan begun to try and Hack the system, but he was having trouble like never before, he couldn't even breach the firewall.
"Don't bother, now We're in charge of this facility"
The Empress said and the Queen nodded a bit reluctantly, it was really strange, but there was nothing Kaplan cound do to find out what really happened.
"Enough with the tiny red girls, lets talk about the mission!"
Chris tried to turn the attention to what he thought was more important, truth however was that his words caused more stress and tension, as he was part of the problem and the two little red girls were literaly holding them hostage in that chamber right now.
"Chris I don't think it's as simple as you make it seem, these two are probably going to try and conquer the world once you get out of here"
Alice who stood next to him stated, making it a bit awkward for everyone.
"Don't bother with the NPCs, just order your minion to tell us what's happening and what she did with the Red Queen!"
Nick shouted outraged at everyone's stupidity, you have to understand that he had spent hours before the mission begun, explaining about how everything worked and what they should and shouldn't do during a mission and in a single mission everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
The NPCs looked at him with some annoyance, but they couldn't find any words to retord him, his order did sound logical for their current predicament, having some info about what was going outside would be a huge boon.
"Empress, do you know what's happening outside?"
Chris asked, making the two girls a bit confused.
-I'm the Empress, she's the Queen, don't confuse us now, it's rude!
-Alright, can you tell me what's happening ouside?
-Nothing big, there are 3 hunters, 872 zombies, 2 giant Spiders and 18 infected roaches on the loose, wandering the facility and two umbrella soldiers at the entrance, last two seem really distressed and are talking about taking the train up and calling for reinforcement, since it's been hours since they lost all contact with their leader
-Can we kill any of the Hunters from inside the facility?
-No, it's impossible unless you can lure it into the laser protected passage way, in my estimates they will break the reinforced doors keeping them in the breeding room in around 22 minutes 19 seconds from now
-Wait, can't you use the doors to kill them or something?
-Impossible, the doors are made so that they close and open rather slowly, but once closed they are shut air-tightly
-Then what about...
-There is no what, I've done hundreds of calculations before you could even come up with a valid idea, anything you do will only lower your chances of survival, all you can do is lure them into the hallway and let the lasers kill them, your current firepower isn't even enough to take one of them out before you're dead
"What if we took the Lasers with us?"
Kaplan stated, causing the little red girl to look at him with interest, then come in front of his face and shout.
"Idiot! I told you I've calculated all variables! in order to take the lasers from the hallway you'll need at least an hour and tools you currently don't possess and even if you did so there's still a 70% chance of the holder of the lase either killing an ally or dying while killing the creature!"
The little girl's voice was rather loud and shook Kaplan, but it was a good change from the untrustworthy Red Queen, at least this A.I. cared if they would die or survive.
"What if we used the lasers from the secret Hallway?"
Alice asked, causing everyone to look at her in confusion, both NPCs and Players.
"She means the Lasers that Guarded the Secret Piece, if they are still operational since Alice did sort of broke them"
Chris tried to explain.
"It was your idea to use water on them, don't give me all the credit"
Alice maliciously complied, after all if not for him, she had no idea how to break the lasers, all she thought at first was to try out the trap and see how it would go, it was his words that caused it all to happen.
"Enough with the lovers quarrel! The Minion has spoken, there's zero chance of success unless someone lures the monsters into the laser hallway, I propose the NPCs go do that while we stay here"
Nick said without any shame, but others agreed to his proposal, even worse it was a huge majority of the people there, only the Old man and the couple of Mike and Chrysa disagreed, of course Chris wouldn't stay put either. Jason was also inclined to go, but was held back by Hera and Jonas whom assured him it was reckless to go, they had already experienced last time's haphazard outing and didn't want to experience it again. There was nothing that could make them leave their safe Haven again, the others that wanted to leave had yet to see a zombie, but they had some bad experience, not so with Kaplan, but the second time they left, there wouldn't be a third time for sure.
What they didn't know however was that the NPCs had a different plans, externaly they agreed to lure a hunter to the trap, but once they left the Red Queen's Chamber with the four Players that came with them, they gave begun to talk loud enough so that the people inside the Chamber could hear.
"We plan on leaving the Hive, are you with us or are you going to be bait for those bastards inside?"
J.D. asked the four and to his shock the first one to speak up was the old man.
"Fuck those animals! they're not even human, I'm in, let my old bones break while fighting, It's been too long that I've shot one of those, but it's so refreshing to be back in action"
The old man's words were rather powerful as Mike and Chrysa agreed without even a word, just nodding to him that they were in.
Chris just looked at them and before he could even talk, Olga kissed him in the lips, causing him to be lost in the sensation of her soft lips. It was super effective as she pulled him next to her and they begun to move, inside his head he felt a bit confused, but just thinking about the possibility of getting laid before he died was enough to drive him forwards to do something crazy.