178. Confirming a Corrupted

The Facility never sleeps.

So long as the Corrupted existed then the Workers, the Employees, the Navigator, and the omnipotent Overseer could not afford to take pleasure in leisurely comforts. They had strict curfews and two separate shifts, although, depending on the risks, all Workers needed to be prepared throughout each and every day.

Today was one of the days where every Worker needed to remain vigilant. The Navigator and the Overseer seldom saw rest, if ever. While the Navigator was allowed much freedom around the Sites, the Overseer lived within their operational quarters. While the Site Core was the heart of the Site, the Operational Deck was the eye, and the Navigator was its brain.

The Workers were an extension of them. The muscles, in a way. As for the Employees, they represented neurons, endlessly transmitting information to the Navigator who possessed the sole purpose of existing as a living, breathing encyclopedic database.

Together, the Site could thrive as a singular entity, rather than a well-oiled machine. However, just like the living body, these ‘Workers’ were prone to death when dealing with foreign bodies.

It was Frost’s and her group’s role to minimize as many deaths as possible during these 5 days, whilst sharing her knowledge of the Corrupted. Their Origins and Affinities provided insight and caused several Corrupted to have their classifications changed. On the eve of the 1st day, Frost worked closely with the 2nd floor’s Unit Manager.

Unit Manager
< Level 2 >
Soul Rank: Yellow | Atelier: ImpulseWorks
LEVEL : 18     ORIGIN : Half-breed (Orc)      HP : 200      ATT : 40      MAG ATT : 0
ATT DEF : 350      MAG DEF : 100      MP : 100      RESIST : 30      AGI : 15

A thin, tall, bald man dressed in a similar laboratory coat to the Overseer and the Navigator walked Frost through their floor and approached one of the K-Classed Corrupted. Nothing about him screamed that he was one of the green-skinned Orcs. Although, the green pigmentation of the Orcs was one of several colors.

Green was the most common, and how they were usually identified since their ancestors shared the same color. However, due to their migrations that led them away from the magical Region of Spiritas, they began to slowly change over the span of a few centuries.

Frost had several questions for Nav, such as “What makes a half-breed a half-breed, even though they look like normal humans?”, and “Do they have defining traits?”

Nav promptly answered as they approached the doors to a containment unit of a lax Corrupted.

“Nothing. They have zero redeeming qualities. Objectively speaking, and forgive me for saying this, but they are inferior to humans and the other racial half. While an Orc in this case can create more Orcs through a human womb, an Orc’s womb will not produce an Orc when inseminated by human life.”

How the hell does that work?

“I’m afraid I do not know. But don’t be wary by the Orcs. As we’ve discussed beforehand, the Orcs here are not the same ones depicted in your world’s literature. They are rather civil, and eager for combat when they’re matched with strong opponents.”

Frost had a closer look at the man. He didn’t dare to return her gaze, intensely gulping as they came to a complete stop.

Yeah. I’m not picking up any violent tendencies.

“Oh please, Frost. Bears are more violent than Orcs, and you’re already aware of how they react in your presence.” Nav reminded.

It was not that the half-breed man did not carry their violent traits, it was that he fully understood how insurmountably small he was compared to Frost in every conceivable way, aside from size.

Not that he was afraid of course, but after hearing of how she strongarmed the Overseer, he approached Frost with caution.

“Dear Color.” He began, wiping away a bead of sweat. “We’re here. The Shameaway flower Corrupted resides here. I believe this is one of the misidentified Corrupted?” He spoke in a professional, succinct manner as Frost pulled up the Stats of the creature within.

Shameaway
< K-O-084-05 >
< Touch me not >
ORIGIN : Trauma     AFFINITY : Ego

“This is the one. You have it listed as an Obsession Attribute, when it should be Trepidation.” Frost claimed, piquing the interest of the man as he approached the steel doors.

“Trepidation for a flower, and not Obsession? As – As you are, Black Dove, is it fine for me to question you?” He suddenly asked in a rather strange, nearly roundabout way.

“Go ahead. What, do you think I’m lying? As a healer?” Frost reminded, joining him by the doors as she heard subtle murmurs emerge from within. “It’s alright. Ask away. I don’t have anything to hide. All Unit Managers can hear them too, correct?”

< “I wish to be left alone.” >

< “Enclosed in my safest spot, away from touch.” >

He nodded, and even soundlessly repeated them with his lips, right before he answered with:

“That’s what makes us Unit Managers. We do the interpretations and deep dives into the Corrupted using their accumulated liquid Nex.” He flashed a vial filled with a certain blue liquid, reminiscent of Serum H.

Rather, Frost suspected that Serum H was in fact a form of liquid Nex, or at least was made from it. After all, Inflow Direct was ImpulseWorks’ biggest consumer of the liquid Nex.

“You only need to drink it, I presume?” Frost inquired, but the man did not seem to understand it himself.

He explained that it wasn’t so simple, and that his ability to interpret the liquid Nex appeared one day. It was a known phenomenon that occurred to Workers the longer they were exposed to the Corrupted. As if the exposed Nex sept into their souls, forever tainting them as they became able to hear the voices of the Corrupted.

This was how they determined the Attributes. Depending on what they heard, observed, and experienced, they categorized them accordingly. The deep dive, which occurred when they sipped from the liquid Nex of a certain, targeted Corrupted, allowed them to dabble into the emotionally charged backstory of the Corrupted.

Liquid Nex was in a way a Corrupted’s emotional story, packaged and ready for consumption. As a result, those exposed to these were usually driven mad. The higher the Corrupted Threat Level, the more severe the symptoms were.

She asked if people ‘transformed’ or changed right before the Unit Manager banged on the door, to which he replied with:

“They become shells of their former selves, consumed by what we consume to keep things running. You begin to understand the things that made them. It’s an experience, if that makes any sense. This one? It’s new, has unremarkable materials, and a weird story.”

“What do you mean by story?” Frost was interested, as was Nav.

She remembered the bright-blue liquid she swallowed from the Greed Counter, but never recalled experiencing anything like the man described. In all likeliness, that was probably not even liquid Nex.

“I want to say story of their creation, but… We really don’t know how they’re made. If it was that simple, then hell, our world would be overrun by them. Instead, we think there’s a catalyst out there. Either that, or it really depends on so many different factors, because not all Corrupted have the same intense background.” He explained, hanging the door wide open for Frost to join him. “This is a two-man job.”

< “Let me blossom and shine down here away from everything else.” >

< “Please don’t make me curl up and shy away.” >