Chapter 6: CVA-A-1099—"Seed of the Apocalypse"

Ten minutes passed, and finally, the tab at the top of the browser began to blink.

Robin had replied.

Shi Rang hurriedly switched from the facility introduction page back to the chat channel, clicking into the window he had labeled "Robin."

[What is that what is that thing what is that horrible thing]
[Someone died! He’s dead! Dead!]

Shi Rang speculated on the "plot" Robin might be experiencing and arrived at a likely answer. But his guessing didn't matter; the "ram truck" persona he was roleplaying had to extract the situation from her.

"No matter what has happened, I need you to regain your composure, Robin. Can you do that?"
"As I said, an emergency is occurring at Facility 031 where you are. I can help you, provided you trust me and remain calm."
"It’s cruel to say, but I’m not sure how much time you have left to escape, so please take a deep breath and calm down, okay?"

Two minutes passed before Robin replied, her wording much calmer this time.

[I will try, I will do my best]
[I have calmed down, I think]
[I am truly sorry, I should have trusted you]
[I don't want to die]
[Are the others dead? My classmates, the instructors, and everyone who brought us here?]

"There are many shelters in the facility. They should have hidden inside to wait for rescue."

[Will I die?]

"I will do my best to ensure that doesn't happen," Shi Rang promised. "You are currently in Facility 031. It is clear that some containment breach has triggered a serious accident. Did you see it just now? Does it have any distinct features?"

[Like a plant, it grows very fast, strong enough to crush the ceiling, and it eats people]
[No, not eats—it might be draining the moisture from human bodies]
[After all, it’s a plant, it needs water...]

The complete ellipses indicated that Robin had indeed calmed down.

Shi Rang jotted down these clues and flipped through the containment information for Facility 031 provided by the event page. He found the culprit at a glance—it was ranked first among all the facility's contained items.

[CVA-A-1099 - "Seed of Doomsday"]
[Containment Procedures: A-1099 must be kept in constant stasis, sealed within... blocks of dry ice. If the primary containment system experiences a sudden failure, the secondary... tertiary... should be activated immediately. If all containment measures fail, the facility should initiate... as a final resort to suppress A-1099.]
[Description: A-1099 is a mass of plant matter that grows rapidly in the presence of light, moisture, or biological tissue. Its root system can move at a rate of 0.22 m/s, extending up to 1 km to seek water and nutrients from the environment or biological organisms.]

Shi Rang finished reading the brief project description, his brow furrowing deeper. Just looking at the danger level and the codename was enough to grasp the ferocity of this thing.

He returned to the chat page and typed a question.

"Did you hear any strange noises or notice any other anomalies after the alarm went off?"

[The server room is already noisy, but there were several intense tremors—they didn't feel like earthquakes.]

"Have you experienced any nosebleeds, headaches, or physical discomfort?"

[Nothing, other than the fact that I was scared enough to wet my pants.]
[Please don't tell anyone about that...]

"I won't."

She was already in the mood to joke; Robin’s psychological resilience was quite strong. In tabletop gaming terms, perhaps her character's "Will" or "Sanity" attribute was quite high? Or perhaps it was just difficult to convey clear emotions through first-person text, making her seem calmer than she was.

Shi Rang asked about several other physical symptoms, receiving "no" for all of them. He closed his eyes and began to deduce the possible course of the accident.

According to the setting, there were many emergency defensive measures in place to prevent a "Seed of Doomsday" breach. This bizarre, rapidly growing plant had likely overcome the interference of the dry ice and dehumidifiers, resisted explosions and neutron radiation, and pushed through the containment despite high concentrations of growth hormones and acute herbicides. That was why the entire facility had sounded the alarm, preparing for full-scale automated sterilization.

However, considering that it was 1099 that had breached containment, lethal sterilization for humans was merely a tickle to it—perhaps someone in the facility realized this and halted the program, as it was doing more harm than good.

The tremors Robin described likely came from 1099's third containment measure: explosives made from various compounds. Since Robin had no physical symptoms, it meant the "High-Energy Radiation" that should have automatically activated as the final line of defense had not been triggered. According to the files, this could suppress 1099 for a long time until a mobile task force specialized in plant-based containment arrived, but it would also kill all humans inside the facility—the emergency shelters were not shielded enough to withstand high-energy radiation.

Because the final defense failed, 1099 was growing wantonly and would gradually occupy the entire facility.

Shi Rang straightened out his thoughts and opened his eyes, feeling the satisfaction of solving a puzzle. The situation was now very clear.

Robin was currently facing three dangers:
The "Seed of Doomsday," which could enter its next growth stage at any moment and easily swallow the entire facility—including that small server room;
The "High-Energy Radiation," which might restart whenever the system error was cleared;
And the mobile task force, which was expected to arrive soon to conduct a thorough sweep with incendiary and high-explosive ordnance until every part of 1099's proliferative structure was reduced to ash—if that happened, Robin would likely be buried in the ruins of the facility.

The star of death is shining bright on you, Robin.

Shi Rang copied the information about "Seed of Doomsday" to Robin and, while she digested the intelligence, began his guidance.

"As you can see, the situation is not optimistic. You have less than one hour to escape."
"The fact that you were able to sever the roots with the door means it hasn't reached its next stage yet. Before it develops defensive tissues, it is afraid of fire and is highly flammable."
"If you can burn a path through it, you can escape the server room—but you must be quick. It will adapt to fire soon, and then this trick won't work anymore."

[Damn it, how did I get dragged into something like this...]
[I don't smoke, and the security checks here are so strict, I probably couldn't have brought a lighter in.]
[Oh, wait, hold on a second!]

Robin left the screen—her only means of communicating with the outside world—and dragged a toolbox out from the corner of the server room. It had been issued for her work.

The moment she saw the box, the scene of the guard handing it to her flashed before her eyes, and that face she hadn't yet become familiar with was immediately replaced by a withered, twisted corpse. Robin’s fingers twitched; she covered her mouth and waited for a moment to recover before she had the courage to open the box.

When she passed through security wearing a hood, even her watch had been confiscated. For some reason, the box provided to the staff actually contained a hacksaw, an electric drill, and a welding torch—things thousands of times more dangerous than a watch. Robin grabbed the integrated welding torch and pressed the switch against the open space; the thin, steady beam of flame proved it was windproof.

When the flame touched the root on the floor, the terrifying growth was ignited in the blink of an eye. The fire swiftly engulfed the roots, quickly burning them to ash. The server room's ventilation system was still running, and the smoke was quickly carried away by the fans.

Now, there was no fear of oxygen deprivation either.

Robin turned off the welding torch and hurried back to the server cabinet, tapping the virtual keyboard on the screen. She was so agitated that she made a few typos and had to backspace to correct them.

No matter who was helping her on the other end of the line, after the terrifying moments she had experienced, she chose to trust him.

Compared to the guard, Robin was undoubtedly lucky.
At least she was still alive.
At least there was someone talking to her, willing to help her escape this hell...

[It works! I can open the door, set it on fire, close the door to hide, and wait until it's mostly burned before rushing out! Burn this monster to death!]
[But where should I run once I get out?]

"Where are you in the facility?"

[I don't know!]

"You don't even know which underground level you're on?"

[The instructor said there were credits for this project, so I just came!]

Thinking of her instructor and classmates, whose fates were unknown, Robin felt like crying. Credits were not easy to earn!

[Am I finished?]

After waiting nervously for a while, the mysterious person sent new instructions.

"It's a good thing you met me, Robin. Now, remember every word I say..."