Chapter 35: The Constructed Being Biological Laboratory

Deep within the mine, darkness reigned, impenetrable and profound. The narrow rock passageways no longer allowed for the passage of large transport vehicles; the brilliant beams of the mining lamps could do nothing to dispel the heavy gloom.

Li Nanke walked ahead, carrying a mining lamp. Alba followed closely, a mining lamp affixed to his helmet and an electric drill in hand for protection.

Before venturing into the depths of the working mine, they had stopped by the miners’ equipment room, where a vast array of tools and gear were stored: electric shovels, hammers, dust masks, protective suits, and the like.

“This is the right direction, isn’t it?”

“It should be. Though this isn’t our B13 sector, I’ve heard people from B46 talk about it. But they say that thing is cursed—those who unearthed the stele all claimed to have fallen into terrifying hallucinations, plagued by nightmares even in their sleep… Maelke, are you sure you really want to find that stele?”

Li Nanke replied, “We’ve come all the way here from the main monitoring sector. Did you see a single guard or member of prison management?”

Alba shook his head, recalling the mutated figures they’d encountered, all dressed in black-and-white striped prison uniforms.

Li Nanke went on, “The explosion in the main control center and the sudden disappearance of the guards both suggest that the prison administration received some sort of warning and evacuated in advance. But none of the death row inmates were included in the evacuation.”

“This also indirectly proves that whoever issued the order—or those in charge—knew precisely how dangerous the underground stele was, and what it could do. But they wanted all one hundred thousand inmates to die here, or even to be transformed into aberrations.”

“I don’t know what their goal is, but if we don’t get to the bottom of this, maybe we’ll escape, but we’ll end up in even greater peril later.”

They pressed on through the narrow tunnel, a growing sense of dread prickling their skin, the static in the air intensifying with every step.

The shaft gradually widened, giving way to permanent artificial lighting. Ahead lay a broad, man-made metal corridor.

“Maelke, I think we’ve taken a wrong turn…”

Li Nanke looked up at the ceiling, noting the array of surveillance cameras. “No, on the contrary, we’re right where we need to be.”

At the end of the metal corridor stood a thick, reinforced blast door, boldly marked: “Gliese 798c—Deep Pit Prison Biological Laboratory.”

The lab’s biometric security exceeded that of the rest of the prison by several levels, forcing Alba to spend nearly an hour hacking the firewall before they gained entry.

At the center of the hall stood an enormous stone construct, encircled by intricate electronic apparatus: sensors, energy transmission coils, data recorders, and more.

The massive laboratory could contain only a small portion of the stone structure, its upper part piercing the laboratory ceiling, its lower half buried deep underground. The exposed section alone would require dozens of people, arms outstretched, to encircle it. Its whole form twisted in a double helix, reminiscent of DNA, and its surface shimmered with dense, blood-red glyphs.

Judging from what they saw and from the prisoners’ accounts, it seemed what had been unearthed in the mines was only a fragment of this colossal artifact.

Along the hall’s edges were rows of sealed experimental pods, each filled with nutrient fluid and connected to life-support systems. Within floated the corpses of former death row inmates, now transformed into all manner of grotesque, horrifying aberrations.

Cutting-edge scientific instruments packed the laboratory: electron microscopes, DNA sequencers, flow cytometers, gene-editing platforms, protein analyzers…

Yet now the entire lab was empty and eerily silent, the hush broken only by the occasional drip of water. The air bristled with the sharp tang of disinfectant, underlain by a faint scent of putrefaction.

Surveying the scene, Alba swallowed hard. “No wonder the prison population keeps dwindling—either people die of strange illnesses, or rockfalls in the mine claim more lives… so this is where they all end up.”

In a prison housing a hundred thousand inmates—one that relied on dangerous mining labor—deaths were commonplace. And every time the ranks thinned, new death row convicts were shipped in from across the Union’s planets, keeping the facility at capacity.

[Nightmare, you have triggered a hidden node!]

[Hidden Node: Obtain the key experiment logs from this biological laboratory, and touch the ‘First Construct’!]

That the underground stele housed a hidden node was no surprise. Receiving the synchronized prompt, Li Nanke probed his own senses for danger, but felt nothing overtly threatening.

He looked at the experiment pods: all the aberrations within had shriveled into desiccated husks, no longer alive, no threat remaining. The scene he’d feared—rampaging aberrants bursting from their pods—did not materialize.

“Strange… aren’t hidden nodes supposed to be extremely difficult? Maybe this one is about exploration, or perhaps learning the experiment logs and touching the so-called ‘First Construct’ is challenge enough in itself.”

Li Nanke entered the control center, gesturing for Alba to help retrieve the experiment logs. Lines of text soon filled the massive display screens…

Experiment Log #001

Today marks the official launch of research into the properties of the ‘First Construct.’

Initial observations indicate the Construct emits a powerful electromagnetic signal, which acts on deceased organisms at the cellular level, reanimating them—though it also induces severe aberrations. This study aims to discover how to preserve the experimental subjects’ consciousness upon resurrection, while avoiding bodily mutation.

Experiment Design: A large number of subjects will forgo all forms of electromagnetic shielding, making direct physical contact with the Construct. In this way, we hope to better understand the precise effects of the Construct’s electromagnetic signals on human cells. Test subjects will be divided into groups for comparative analysis under varying conditions and timelines.

Early focus: physiological monitoring, gene expression analysis, neurological assessment…

Initial findings show all subjects experience intense hallucinations after contact with the Construct, along with dramatic physiological irregularities—arrhythmia, elevated body temperature, heightened immune activity.

These signs suggest the Construct’s electromagnetic emissions act at the cellular level. Future research will aim to elucidate the process in detail and seek possible interventions, with the goal of achieving safe, controllable resurrection.

…

Experiment Log #069

Subject P0073, after one month of sustained contact with the Construct, developed acute fever, with body temperature persistently above normal. Blood tests revealed a marked increase in white blood cell count, indicating a severe immune response to the Construct.

On day 30 of contact, cardiac arrest was induced in P0073. Shortly after death, the subject’s body began to mutate, ultimately transforming into an aggressive aberrant… Normal resurrection failed; subject destroyed.

…

Experiment Log #179

Subject P0478, after three months of continuous exposure to the Construct, exhibited further physical deterioration, including skeletal abnormalities and excessive proliferation of muscle fibers. Pathological analysis found abnormally active cell metabolism and the insertion of numerous non-human DNA sequences. These encoded unknown proteins, possibly linked to cellular regeneration. P0478, following induced cardiac arrest, rapidly mutated into a terrifying aberrant… Normal resurrection failed; subject destroyed.

…

Experiment Log #863

Although the Construct does indeed exhibit a degree of “resurrective” ability, the side effect of mutation far exceeds expectations, and cannot be eliminated. Further study reveals that the Construct’s electromagnetic signals not only influence cellular regeneration, but also disrupt normal gene expression and metabolic pathways. After a year of contact with the Construct, P1563 immediately transformed into a massive, incredibly strong aberrant upon cardiac arrest… Normal resurrection failed; subject destroyed.

…

Experiment Log #1972

Further research indicates that the primary function of the Construct’s powerful electromagnetic signals is not simply resurrection, but to trigger widespread aberrant fusion when the population of aberrants reaches a critical threshold.

The resulting fused aberrant appears to have no obvious upper size limit; if left unchecked, it could ultimately evolve into a gigantic organism composed entirely of flesh—on the scale of a planetary body. During such mass fusion, the Construct’s electromagnetic output would peak, potentially attracting other planetary aberrants from deep space, or even summoning unknown extraterrestrial civilizations!

The terrifying implications of this discovery far exceed the initial scope of the experiment…

Experiment terminated! All personnel ordered to evacuate!

…

The experimental cycle had spanned more than a decade; Li Nanke selected only a few of the critical logs to read.

But after finishing them, a bone-deep chill surged from the soles of his feet straight to his skull!