First Thing First I just fixed everything it turns out problem was with chapter 20 itself and I fix so you should re read it from the scene change sorry about that!
So what power should his X-Gene, Quirk Factor, or Compound V give? They should be related to strength but just shouldn't be basic shit like super strength, it could be something like Colossus' metal skin or Sebastian Shaw's kinetic energy absorption. What are your ideas?
Author's note: Come on guys write some reviews.
If you want me to continue this work, I would appreciate encouragement. Let this novel become famous! I would like you to bring power stones. If you have any advice for me, please comment so I can improve.
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"The T-Virus is a protean breakthrough," the Red Queen lectured, sounding like a university professor addressing a room of slow children.
She raised her small hand, and the holographic display around her shifted. Images of double helixes and ancient, jagged plants materialized in the air.
"Its origins are not recent," the Red Queen explained. "They come from a rare West African retrovirus known as the Progenitor. The Progenitor is ancient—suspected to be hundreds of millions, if not billions, of years old. It is an evolutionary catalyst.
Throughout history, it is theorized to have both aided and hindered the evolution of Earth's ecology through extreme, forced mutation."
Alice watched the floating DNA strands twist and break.
"When Umbrella's founders—Oswell E. Spencer, Edward Ashford, and James Marcus—discovered the Progenitor's ability to repair dead cells in the late 1960s, plans were quickly made."
"Plans for what?" Rain asked, clutching her bleeding arm.
"To create a new race," the Red Queen said simply. "Superhuman beings. Immortals. Gods."
Kaplan scoffed nervously. "You're talking about eugenics."
"I am talking about the future," the Red Queen corrected. "However, the Progenitor was too lethal. It killed its hosts. So, after decades of gene-splicing experiments, utilizing many different DNA's and Ebola strains, the T-Virus was born."
The hologram shifted again, showing a soldier—a massive, grey-skinned behemoth—tearing through a tank.
"It was developed by our scientists as a military weapon," the AI continued. "This virus was created by Umbrella with the goal of eliminating the need for a large-scale conventional army. Why spend billions on training and equipment when you can create a soldier that feels no pain? A soldier that is harder to kill? The T-Virus was the key to the Bio-Organic Weapon (B.O.W.) program."
"But currently," she added, her tone dropping, "its primary function is cellular regeneration and mutation."
"Regeneration and mutation?" Spence asked, wiping sweat from his forehead. "But those things outside... they're rotting. They're falling apart."
"Even after clinical death," the Red Queen continued, her voice taking on a clinical, chilling rhythm, "the human body does not immediately become inert. Cellular activity persists. Enzymes continue to function. Residual electrical signals remain, and certain cells can survive for extended periods under specific conditions."
Around her, the holographic images zoomed in on a microscopic level—cells dividing aggressively, nerves firing with jagged, unnatural electricity, decay being halted by viral intervention.
She walked through the air, pacing around Alice like a ghost.
"The T-Virus exploits this residual activity. It targets the mitochondria—the powerhouse of the cell. Instead of reviving true life, it forcibly reactivates cellular processes, overriding natural decay. By stimulating dormant neural pathways and sustaining cellular metabolism through viral mutation, the virus drives the body into a crude, artificial state of 'life'."
She stopped, looking directly at Rain, who was sweating profusely, her skin pale and clammy.
"This reanimation is not true resurrection," the AI stated, her eyes boring into the wounded commando. "It is a forced continuation of biological function. It ignores higher brain activity. It destroys the personality, the memory, the 'Self'. It operates purely on the most primitive evolutionary instinct."
Alice's eyes widened slightly as the horror of the explanation sank in.
"Dormant neural pathways are stimulated," the Red Queen continued, relentless. "Cellular metabolism is sustained through viral mutation. Higher brain functions deteriorate rapidly, leaving only the Lizard Brain. The urge to survive."
"Which is?" Alice asked softly.
The Red Queen smiled—a small, cruel expression that looked too human on a face made of light.
"To feed."
The word hung in the air, heavy and absolute.
Inside the sterile blue glow of the Central Core, the tension was palpable. The air scrubbers were humming again, but they couldn't cycle out the smell of fear that clung to the survivors.
Alice stood in the center of the walkway, staring down the holographic avatar of the Red Queen.
"To replenish the energy required for this unnatural movement," the Red Queen explained, "the subject must consume fresh DNA. Fresh carbon. Fresh meat."
"So..." Kaplan swallowed hard, looking at the door. "They're dead?"
"They are dead," the Red Queen confirmed. "But they are driven by a hunger that can never be sated."
Rain groaned, leaning heavily against the console. "Great. So we're trapped in a can with a bunch of cannibals."
"It is worse than that," the Red Queen added, turning back to the main console. "The longer the virus remains in the host, the more it mutates. The zombies you see now are merely the beginning. Given enough time and energy, the virus will rewrite the host's genetic code entirely, creating new forms of beasts. Lickers. Hunters. Tyrants."
"How do we kill them?" Matt asked, gripping his wrench. "We shot them. They kept coming."
"Sever the brain stem," the Red Queen repeated, her voice echoing in the sterile chamber. "Or destroy the head. It is the only way to break the neural connection holding the body together. Or target the Spinal Cortex."
Rain stared at the hologram, her face glistening with sweat. She whispered, horrified, "So they're not alive?"
"They are not," the Red Queen replied coldly. "They are merely maintained."
The chamber fell silent. The banging on the blast doors outside grew louder—a rhythmic, heavy thudding of fists that felt no pain.
"Technically," the AI amended, looking at Alice, "they possess zero intelligence and little to no memory. But the basic need remains. They must feed."
"So why did you imprison us?" Matt asked, stepping forward aggressively. "If you knew the virus escaped, why lock the healthy people in with the sick ones?"
"Because you are a variable," the Red Queen stated. "All infected personnel must remain within the Hive. No one leaves."
"But we're not infected!" Spence shouted, pointing at his chest.
The Red Queen turned her pixelated gaze toward Rain. "A simple scratch. A bite. Direct fluid contact. Infection can occur in seconds. Transformation takes one to three hours, depending on the subject's metabolism."
Everyone turned to look at Rain. She was leaning against the console, clutching her arm. The bandage was already soaked through with dark blood. She saw their eyes and her expression hardened into a snarl.
"What are you looking at?" she snapped. "I'm fine."
Alice stepped between them. "Okay. We get it. But we're leaving. Can you get us out of here?"
The Red Queen paused. "Yes. I can. But I cannot open the blast doors myself. My primary systems are... compromised. A significant portion of my processing power is being suppressed by the device in the technician's hand."
She pointed to the remote trigger Kaplan was holding.
"This?" Kaplan held up the detonator. "Yeah, and it stays right here."
"It is for you," Alice said, her voice serious. "If you betray us, if you lead us into a trap... we will shut you down again. Permanently. Understood?"
The hologram flickered. "Understood."
"And I believe," she whispered, "that one of those evolutions is currently hunting you."
Alice gripped her gun. "Get us out of here. Now."
Clank. Hiss.
A section of the floor grating in the corner of the room unlocked and slid open, revealing a dark, rusted ladder leading down into the bowels of the facility.
"The utility tunnels," the Red Queen explained. "They run beneath the labs. They connect directly to the mansion's basement. It is the only route not currently monitored by the containment grid."
"Great," Spence muttered, peering into the hole. "It smells like a sewer."
"The way is open," the AI declared. "Try not to get eaten."
"Better a sewer than a tomb," Alice said. She grabbed the ladder and slid down.
---
[The Tunnels]
The utility tunnels were a nightmare of claustrophobia.
They were narrow, cylindrical tubes filled with tangled wires, steaming pipes, and the overwhelming stench of stagnant water and ozone. The only light came from the flickering bulbs of their tactical flashlights, cutting erratic beams through the steam.
They moved in a single file: Alice on point, followed by Matt, Spence, Kaplan, and Rain bringing up the rear to guard their backs.
"Let's speed up the pace," Rain hissed, her voice tight with pain. Every step sent a throb of agony up her arm.
"What the hell is this place?" Spence complained, tripping over a conduit. "It's endless."
"It's the power grid," Kaplan called out from the middle. "These lines run the electricity for the whole Hive."
"I don't care what it runs," Spence snapped. "I just want out."
He stopped walking, turning to look back at Rain. "And why are we speeding up? Maybe we should be careful. We don't know what's down here."
"Move!" Rain shoved him forward.
"Don't touch me!" Spence yelled, turning on her. "You're slowing us down with that arm! Maybe you should stay back!"
Rain's eyes flared. She didn't argue. She grabbed Spence by his collar and slammed him against the wall of the tunnel.
Clang!
"Listen here, you idiot," Rain growled, her face inches from his. "We don't have time! They are right behind us! Do you want to become lunch? Because I can leave you here right now!"
Spence opened his mouth to retort, but the words died in his throat.
From the wall beside his head—a section of rusted grating—fingers emerged.
Grey, rotting fingers.
"Gah!" Spence screamed as a hand grabbed his hair, pulling his head toward the grate. A face appeared in the shadows behind the mesh—skinless, moaning, teeth snapping at the wire.
"Get off!" Spence thrashed, ripping himself free. He lost a clump of hair but stumbled back into the center of the tunnel.
But they weren't just there.
Bang. Bang. Scrape.
All around them, the tunnel walls began to shake. Hands punched through corroded metal.
Grates popped open. The horde had found the tunnels. They were crawling in through the maintenance hatches.
"Run!" Alice shouted. "Go! Go!"
They broke into a sprint. The tunnel was filling up behind them. Shadows detached from the darkness—shambling horrors dropping from overhead pipes.
"There! The gas pipes!" Alice pointed upward.
Above the walkway, a set of thick, industrial pipes ran along the ceiling. It was tight, but it was out of reach of the zombies on the ground.
"Climb! Get on the pipes now! Hurry!"
Matt boosted Alice up. She scrambled onto the suspended pipe, then reached down to pull Matt up. Spence scrambled up next, frantic like a rat.
Rain pushed Kaplan ahead. "Go!"
Kaplan hauled himself up.
Rain was last. As she reached for the pipe, a zombie lunged from the water below, grabbing her boot.
"Get off!" Rain kicked it in the face, shattering its nose. She pulled herself up just as three more swarmed the spot where she had been standing.
But the danger wasn't over.
As they crawled along the suspended pipes, zombies began to climb the walls, reaching out with desperate, grasping hands.
"Keep moving!" Alice ordered.
They crawled on hands and knees, balancing precariously twenty feet above the gathering horde.
Rain gasped. A hand shot out from a side vent, grabbing her injured arm. She screamed, not in fear, but in pure fury, and smashed the zombie's hand with the butt of her gun until it let go.
"I'm bitten!" she yelled, checking her neck where another one had grazed her. "Just scratches! Keep going!"
*****
I hope now you know the world is more than you or Atlas thought.
So what power should his X-Gene, Quirk Factor, or Compound V give? They should be related to strength but just shouldn't be basic shit like super strength, it could be something like Colossus' metal skin or Sebastian Shaw's kinetic energy absorption. What are your ideas?