Chapter 8: Projectaegisdocumentation.doc

In the safety of the underground lab, Renee managed to gather her thoughts and fix up the broken puzzles in her little head.

Humans becoming monsters was not a random occurrence. The BRC logo on her system proved that the destroyed site had something to do with the radical changes occurring presently.

She didn't want to think like this, she hated the idea of it, but a part of her told her that the explosion at the site held a connection with what was happening now. The experiments her parents worked on – the one the government agencies had secretly assigned the BRC organizations with, was it possible to say that the experiment played a toll in what was happening right now?

Sitting at the far end of the lab, Renee glanced briefly at her brother who was still struggling to unravel the mysteries behind the supernatural transformation. His concentrated green orbs were fixed on the monitor's screen, his fingers dancing skillfully on the keyboard.

With her senses coming back together, Renee decided to study her stats one more time. She flinched a little when the holographic system materialized a few inches away from her face, but she took a deep, calm breath and used the opportunity she had now to go through them.

[User profile]

. Name: Renee Blackwell

. Age: 22

. Class: Survivor/ Apothecary

. Level: 1

. Experience points (XP): (0/100)

. Alchemy: (0/100)

. Strength: 100

. Agility: 100

. Intelligence: (50/100)

. Vitality: 100

. Skills: Locked

From her rough knowledge, experience points are gained when one defeats monsters. They contribute to one's progression, leading to level-ups and the potential for increased attributes, new skills, and other advancement.

She wasn't sure if her theory would contradict the system, but she wouldn't mind giving it a chance.

In order to improve her strength, agility, intelligence and surpassing level 1, she'll have to gain more experience points, and that is only possible if she defeats the mutated monsters out there. Her skills on the other hand were detailed locked, maybe it might unlock once she surpasses level 1?

She swears if she survives this death trap at the end of the day, she isn't going to spare whoever signed her up for this.

Suppressing her frustration, her gaze landed on Alchemy, and that made her brows furrow. Clicking on the section since she has no knowledge on that attribute, the hologram display transformed, presenting an overview on that attribute.

[Alchemy attributes requires transforming substances, creating potion, and unlocking hidden properties in a material]

[The attribute can impact the user's success in exacting essence, healing potions, or developing poison, depending on the numeral value of the user.]

"Hmmm…" Renee hummed as she read the information displayed on her stats, and she understood that the alchemy attribute could come as a result of her knowledge on Apothecary. She was more specified in making healing properties and detecting poison, but she's never made poison before.

Beside the (SA) icon, another icon the shape of a blue cube could be seen, and when she clicked on it, the hologram did the same transformation, revealing a section named;

"Essential Vaults." Renee's soft voice read out, and she stopped talking when the mechanical voice of her system resonated in her head.

[Welcome to the essential vaults. Here, you can securely store crucial items for missions or emergencies.]

The holographic display showcased an organized vault, with sections for tools, weapons, clothes, and other necessities. Renee was able to grasp the significance of the vault, and she learnt that it provided an instant access to stored items, where she can keep whatever she lay her hands on, ensuring she is well-prepared for any challenges ahead.

"Well, there goes my peaceful life." She sighed out loud, her voice laced with pained sarcasm. She neither had the strength to mourn or recover from her loss, her eyes were unsurprisingly dry, as if they ran out of tears, but no, she wasn't going to let herself break down like this, not for the second time, and certainly not in this lifetime either.

A way will come, she'll survive this. Her brother will survive this.

Rising from the stool and pushing aside her emotions, she returned to Cyrus's side.

"Aren't you going to look over your stats?"

She took her seat on the vacant chair beside him, peering into the computer to see what he was so concentrated on.

"Find anything?" She asked, staring blankly at the lines of codes across the screen. She always wondered how her brother was able to do this, but when it came to hacking, he was practically a pro in that aspect.

With green eyes still focused on the data, he sighed, "the answers are like a puzzle, but I'm not backing out just yet. If our parents did some of their project work here, then there has to be some sort of clue left behind. We need to know if this clue has anything to do with the monstrosity plaguing the city."

Renee blinked at her brother's determined words. She wasn't the only one suspicious in the end.

Watching her brother comb through personal information, a peculiar file caught both their attention. The file name was cryptic, a sequence of letters and numbers that seemed random at first glance.

Renee couldn't predict much from it, but judging on the intensity of her brother's gaze on that file, she knew it held a deeper significance.

Clicking the file, it revealed a document filled with scientific jargon and coded messages. Among the complex texts, one phrase stood out, as if it was deliberately left as a breadcrumb.

"projectaegisdocumentation.doc." Cyrus carefully read out, and his handsome face frowned, "what does that even mean? Sounds long and boring. Urgh! the files are empty too."

"Wait, hold on." holding her brother's arm to stop him from exiting the file, Renee brought her face closer to the screen, studying the title of the file, and a spark of realization lit her ruby eyes.

"Project aegis… the name symbolizes protection." She recalled, returning to her earlier position. "It's quite similar to when a file is named with something mundane, for example, like the Annual report of our city, or the budget project analysis. Names like this are often used to conceal the sensitive nature of files, it even discourages casual inspection, and I think for our parents, this is their label."

Cyrus blinked with his eyebrows furrowed, conveying how lost he was from understanding what his sister was trying to say, and Renee frowned at his cluelessness.

Yet he calls her the dummy.

"What I'm trying to say is," she elaborated, "what if the BRC was involved in some kind of ride or die project? I'm not making assertions or anything but what if they were out to create some cure, a protection, and the experiment went awry. Last week, the news spoke about an unknown disease spreading through the city, and how many civilians got sick from the air-borne maladies and were rushed to the hospital because of it."

Renee could still remember the news. That day, she had showed up at the living room to check what the government was saying about the explosion, only to be met with a different news, but she never paid much attention to it, cause she was so overwhelmed by her parent's death that she refused to think of anything else.

Maybe if she paid proper attention and not switched off the TV in anger, she would have gotten a clue to what was going on.

"I remember. A lot of people started falling into a coma after the explosion." Cyrus added, contemplating his sister's theory with a serious look on his face, "but if this holds some kind of connection to a failed experiment, how come uncle James turned into one, our friends, neighbors, they were never sick, were they?"

The siblings exchanged glances, and the weight of Cyrus's question hung heavily in the air.

"This won't do." Renee shook her head and rose to her feet, having had enough of waiting and thinking.

"We have to go out there." She turned to face Cyrus, looking more determined than ever. "We are going out there."

"Excuse me?" Cyrus lifted a disbelievable eyebrow, "you really want us to walk directly into hell's door?"

"Well we can't stay here eternally, it doesn't matter if we want to." She reasoned with him, "we need food, we need other important supplies and according to our stats, we need to gain exp points if we're ever going to make it past level one. Right now, our choices don't matter at this point, it's either this or we starve and die here. There's no avoiding this fate."

"I can't change your mind on this one, can I?"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that." Letting him know that her mind was already made up, she picked his plasma gun and began heading towards the exit.

"Hey, wait for me."

Cyrus rose from the chair and picked up a metal stick in the shape of a bat underneath the table.

Well, If they can't hide away from this, he might as well join his sister and get back to heaven quickly.

comment 3 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY