Changed: Outbreak

Chapter 19: Outbreak

[Lui's pov]

The hallway darkened, and the lights turned red. The sounds of explosion echoes through the hall as the corrosion shook the facility. I just stepped out of the elevator when the floor quaked, and I lost my footing and fell on the floor. Footsteps echo through the halls, followed by gunshots and screams of terror. Something broke in, or possibly broke out. There's nothing left for me to do but investigate and potentially carry out the plan of leaving this planet. I have to reunite with Scott first. I slowly got up and stood on my two footpaws, then I realized that something is missing.

My walkie-talkie radio is missing ever since they took me here. I've lost my key to contact Doctor K and Scott into carrying out the plan. I have to find Scott. I walked through the dark hallways, occasionally stumbling upon corpses of Protogen with their visors cracked and broken. Eventually I found the double doors I found on my way to the Lieutenant's office, and I stood in front of the doors. The failsafe then spoke to my ear. "Use your arms and claws. Spread them wide open for entry. We need to reach what's inside." Spread them what?

I stood close to the doors and tried to pull both doors open in between. Despite my horrible physique, I felt my strength doubled to the point that I managed to pry the double doors open with my claws. Behind the double doors is a small room with a pedestal on the middle. A glass casing is sitting on top of the pedestal. I slowly approached the pedestal to examine it closer, and inside the glass casing is a small black shard. The failsafe once again spoke to my ear. "Take the glass casing off the pedestal, and retrieve the small black shard. It will be useful on our way out of the facility."

[Scott's pov]

"Stay sharp, we have triggered the defenses of the facility. They will be sending security over to our direction. Should we find Lui first, or set up the radio transmission on the radio tower?" Ghost asked as I look at the damage we have done on the wall of the facility. We blew up the wall using the explosives we found outside. Security would be swarming at us by now, but they are delayed, or more focused on other matters.

"We should find Lui first, and then we set up the radio tower for our escape. That way we are prepared to leave." I stated and Ghost gave me a nod in response. We walked through the halls with weapons on our paws, and we stumbled upon a tall black figure standing before us. The figure is melting with black substance, and it is dripping and leaving a mess on the floor. This is Latex, but it doesn't seem to be Lui's. Did they do something to Lui for this amalgamation to exist once again? Prima has exterminated the feral ones back at Earth before he passed, and now this? 

The amalgamation slowly approached us with arms reaching forward to reach for us, and we took a step back away from the malformed Black Latex creature. I held my red blade close before charging forward and stabbing the amalgam through its head. The blade went straight through, and the amalgam fell on the floor as it began melting quickly into a puddle of Black Latex. "That was reckless, Scott, but it got the job done. Do you have knowledge as to what that is?" Ghost asked and I nodded my head as I pull my red blade out of the head of the amalgam.

"It's a Black Latex, one of the experiments that was developed years back then for a cure of the virus that plagued my planet, but hell broke loose and these creatures became a part of our already dead ecosystem. Although contained within our laboratory, these creatures can multiply fast without supervision of their habitat. The Black Latex here must've came from Lui, and are now roaming the facility formed as a melting Protogen. They are immortal, but knocking their head with a hot weapon will melt them into a puddle, but they unfortunately multiply to expand through the floors and corners of an empty room until entirely covered, turning it into their habitat."

"These things will conquer the insides of the facility and turn it to a melting and leaking mess?" Ghost asked and I nodded my head in response. All of a sudden, another Black Latex appeared around the corner and is approaching us in walking speed. Then another appeared, and another. "Ghost ready your shots. The hall is going to get messy."

[Lui's pov]

Standing inside the elevator, I took notice of the insides of the elevator being covered in Black Latex, the same substance my body has and the portion of the laboratory back home has. Without much thinking, I scooped up a ball of Black Latex on the floor with my right paw as the elevator doors open. I stepped out of the elevator and slowly approached the doors that leads to the Lieutenant's office. I stood close to the door, and I can hear the Lieutenant speaking. "What do you mean? How can two wild dogs blow a hole wide on one of the facility's walls? Who ceased supervision on the super soldiers that resulted to a containment breach? The super soldiers are painting the hallways black? What is this nonsense?"

The failsafe then spoke to my ear. "Open the doors now and throw the ball of Black Latex at him." I immediately opened the doors, and the Lieutenant looks at me with a phone on his paw. With such precision and accuracy, I threw the ball of Black Latex hard enough to hit the Lieutenant on their visor. The impact resulted to the Lieutenant flinching back and hitting the glass window behind him hard, shattering the window and falling off the ledge. The Lieutenant fell off the shattered window. Did I do it for good? Is it worth it? I just... Killed someone.

"No need to be worried, Lui. You'll see more of it as we go through this broken planet. Now for the artifact. I will show you something on your visor, and you have to read it out aloud while holding the artifact with both of your paws. Don't worry, this will give us a powerful weapon we can wield against the Black Latex."