"I don't even know how to react to this," I said, standing beside the city sewer system and staring at the entrance to it—or rather, at what was left of the entrance.
"In any case, it just means the monster is already in the city. But it's actually better for us now that only standard samples remain there… the laboratory… well, somehow that's not comforting," Four Eyes said calmly, slightly mumbling the end of the sentence as she walked around the huge steel door lying on the ground, its surface gaping with deep dents.
Yep, the door held—but the fastenings didn't. And I'm not talking about myself; otherwise, it would be lying inside, not outside, and I seriously doubt my body could knock out this "flimsy protection." More precisely, I'm certain I couldn't do it even now. No, let's assume I have enough raw strength, but my overall dimensions are clearly not on my side. And I seriously doubt I actually have enough strength for such a feat anyway.
After all, If I understand correctly, the mutated Birkin himself who broke down this door, and even in his first stage, he can rival a Tyrant in size. As for strength, the former scientist surpasses even Nemesis. And even then, the door was blown out, not torn apart, which says a lot. At best, my efforts against this same door—while it was still closed—might leave a few dents, nothing more. Pushing it inward would be completely unrealistic too.
"Okay, enough meditating over a piece of the laboratory complex (and they wouldn't spend this much on a simple sewer, so we're already on the verge of the lab). Let's go down," Four Eyes snorted.
"That's comforting, damn it. You know, your 'standard laboratory samples'… you and I fit that description!" I said, with a hint of sarcasm.
"Are you really worried?" It seemed that today Yamata had fulfilled her monthly quota of sarcasm. At least, Vector's memories indicated that she was usually taciturn and reserved. However, referring to the same memory, only that of Four Eyes herself, she never really got along with her partners and always kept her distance from others—so it was entirely possible that this snarky little menace might actually be the real Yamata.
"Very much so. My previous memories of places like this have brought me nothing but what stands before you," I said, returning to my softer manner of speech. Yamata even flinched at the sudden change. Yes, presenting certain things under the "sauce" of this voice tends to unsettle people—even my companion. Heh. It's very effective. You slip something into the and may receive an answer to a question that the other person did not even intend to answer.
"Okay, we'll take our past actions into account and try not to repeat them. And how good it is that I can't smell anything," I said, jumping down into the sewer pipe.
Yeah, ankle-deep in all kinds of filth—it really is a blessing that I don't feel much disgust. (I'm lying. There's something vague, but no direct revulsion, perhaps.) And I don't smell anything either.
"Well, did we splash around?" I laughed, imitating Vector's voice.
Yamata, who had just started moving, nearly fell face-first into the filth beneath our feet. Yes, she will definitely never get used to this.
"Damn ventriloquist!" Four Eyes snapped, grabbing the edge of the doorway at the last moment and glaring at me.
"You'd better watch your step," I said, turning around and heading deeper into the fairly wide collector tunnel.
It was wide enough that five people could walk in single file and there would still be room for a sixth.
"That's better," I said with satisfaction when, at the next turn—or rather, bend, since the semicircular tunnel had no corners—a dry area appeared along the left side of the passage. More precisely, it was something like a narrow path, raised slightly above the rest of the tunnel.
Apparently, it was meant for sewer workers. After all, someone has to inspect the place, and few people would want to slog around ankle-deep in shit. Come on, even I find it disgusting!
"That's not even the word for it," Yamata sighed with relief, as walking through the waste products had clearly been even harder for her. Apparently, the place evoked unpleasant associations, after all we couldn't smell anything. For the first time, I was grateful to fate for my current existence. Still, the girl grimaced almost constantly.
But we didn't get the chance to tease each other. From a ventilation opening to our left—that is, from the side of the raised path we had just started walking along—we heard a scraping sound and saw… what?
Ahem… some kind of strange mass of insects, reminiscent of headcrabs, only with much longer legs. And their bodies were encased in chitin. Oh, I really don't like this.
But before Four Eyes or I could even fire a shot, the swarm of creatures quickly crawled out of the ventilation shaft—or whatever this recess was; I'm not exactly well-versed in sewer architecture—and just as quickly… scurried off in the opposite direction.
Huh?
"Strange," I said, still staring after them in surprise. "I thought all infected creatures—even insects and plants—became aggressive after mutation, not cowardly."
(End of Chapter)
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