Chapter 147: Found out some useful stuff
Chapter 147: Found out some useful stuff
Blake hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
"If I may ask..." he began cautiously, "why are Traflens used specifically? I understand what you explained about them, but... why use Traflen DNA at all? Why not something else?"
Miranda looked at him in silence.
’Um, did I cross a line or do I simply sound suspicious? Or maybe both?’
Then she sighed.
"It’s good that you’re curious."
Her voice remained calm, though there was no warmth behind it.
"The information you were given regarding our biological materials is intentionally limited. As a result, you should also know your place."
She looked him directly in the eyes.
"You’ve been here for one day, probably promoted from a subsidiary to here, the real deal. So, that doesn’t entitle you to any answer."
Miranda turned slightly, gesturing toward the upper levels of the facility.
"You were never given any context about your work, because it is only now you are being seen as trustworthy and useful. Still, it will be quite some time before you’re allowed onto the upper floors."
A brief pause followed.
"...To see those. Remember that this is something not many can handle."
Blake scratched the back of his head.
"Right... I apologize."
Miranda gave no response and, as she continued walking, Blake quietly followed behind.
’So there really is something up there, already on the third floor.’
Whatever them referred to, it clearly wasn’t information intended for new recruits.
The woman eventually stopped beside another machine.
Compared to the previous one, this design appeared far sturdier. Thick metal plates surrounded its core, while broad emitters lined its outer frame instead of the compartments that had released the mechanical butterflies.
She rested a hand against its side.
"This," she said, "is a Mulier."
Blake looked up at the machine, then immediately wrote it down.
"It originates from Muliertensias. This one is fundamentally different from the Traf. Anyone looking at the two can tell they weren’t developed from organisms adapted to the same environment."
Blake stayed silent. Of course, everything depended on that, now, with this confirmations, he is sure if it. They didn’t have only one type in captivity, they had many.
"The Muliertensias possess an exceptionally resilient biological defense. Their bodies naturally resist environmental hazards and recover from damage far more effectively than the Traflens."
She lightly tapped the machine beside her.
"So the Mulier wasn’t designed for offense. It specializes in defensive barriers."
She then gestured back toward the machine that had released the mechanical butterflies.
"The Traflens, on the other hand, evolved with far more active defensive behaviors. They respond quickly to threats and excel at interception. So naturally, machines developed from their biological characteristics serve entirely different purposes."
Blake slowly nodded.
That explanation made considerably more sense.
"I take it that now, you understand it, although I’m sure it wasn’t explained too differently by the materials handed to you," Miranda continued, "review every document you were given by tomorrow. I’ll be testing you personally."
Blake straightened instinctively.
"Yes, ma’am."
"AL-TECH doesn’t need people driven by emotions, who can’t remember this kind of standard information because of mere anxiety."
Without waiting for another response, she turned around.
"Go back to work."
Blake simply nodded, watching her disappear into the crowd before finally letting out a long sigh.
His hand found the back of his neck again.
’Am I... actually incredibly lucky?’
He had fully expected her to demand that he remove the cap.
Or worse, to immediately realize he barely knew anything about the place he had supposedly been recruited into.
Instead... nobody questioned him for very long.
The people here seemed to trust the environment around them almost completely.
It was as though spy infiltration simply wasn’t something they ever considered, since nobody had ever managed to infiltrate the facility before, not without explosions.
Blake glanced down at the notebook in his hand.
He had managed to write down quite a few unfamiliar names and terms.
Even then, without additional context, they were little more than isolated pieces of information.
He needed much more.
Quietly looking around to ensure no one paid attention to him, Blake whispered, "I’ll Sneak For My Lover."
The skill activated, and he calmly walked behind one of the massive machines where no one could see him.
His appearance immediately shifted.
His body became taller.
A pair of glasses appeared on his face.
His uniform transformed into one matching the reinforced protective clothing worn by the workers from the third floor.
He glanced down.
’Perfect.’
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Trying to ignore his heartbeat, Blake walked toward the staircase leading upward.
The stairs themselves weren’t guarded, there was not a single person stood watch.
For one hopeful second, Blake thought he might simply walk upstairs but, then, he reached the landing.
A badge scanner.
Beside it... a key-operated lock.
’Right.’
He sighed.
’I really should’ve expected that.’
No amount of confidence would get him through both of those. He remained standing there for several seconds before quietly turning around.
There was no point lingering.
He descended the stairs.
[ Remaining time for "I’ll Sneak For My Lover": 10 minutes ]
Blake frowned.
’Fuck, only ten minutes...’
He didn’t have time to waste.
Returning behind one of the larger machines, he once again hid himself from view.
His appearance shifted back.
The glasses disappeared.
The reinforced uniform returned to the standard recruit clothing.
"Landon" stood there once again.
Blake deactivated his skill.
For the moment, forcing his way upstairs simply wasn’t possible.
Instead, he headed toward one of the many hallways branching away from the central work area.
He had only explored the enormous central chamber so far, the vast open workspace packed with computers, machinery, and technicians.
If that truly served as the heart of the second floor, then there had to be much more surrounding it.
Besides, the two people from earlier, he was pretty sure they didn’t walk down to the first floor while he was watching them parting ways.
As he entered one of the hallways, Blake opened the first room he came across.
Inside, several workers stood around a partially assembled machine.
Some welded metal components together.
Others calibrated moving parts.
Entire sections lay scattered across worktables waiting to be installed.
Blake quietly stepped away.
The next room looked similar.
Another team, but with different machines and components.
Every room housed workers assembling something different.
Sometimes the machines barely resembled one another at all.
Other times, they appeared to be constructing entirely separate parts intended for the same larger project.
Either way, Blake couldn’t blend into these groups, since he had absolutely no idea how any of this machinery functioned.
If someone asked him to help, his cover would blow almost instantly.
From what he had seen so far, the enormous central chamber functioned primarily as the facility’s information and systems center.
Workers there monitored data, operated computers, and managed processing systems connected to the machines throughout the floor.
In these surrounding rooms, however, the mechanical side was handled.
Finally, Blake spotted exactly what he needed.
One of the workers wore the reinforced uniform reserved for the third floor.
His eyes immediately followed the man.
’If I am not mistaken, the bathroom should be roughly ten meters farther down the hallway. Ah, this is just perfect.
Blake approached the man.
"Excuse me. Ms Miranda has been looking for you."
The man frowned.
"Isn’t she at the center?"
"I don’t know where she is specifically, I was just told to find you by some other people, and that she is waiting in one of the rooms near the bathroom."
The worker sighed, as if this was not the first time happening.
"Fine, lead the way."
He began following Blake down the hallway.
As they passed the bathroom entrance, Blake briefly looked inside.
Lucky for him, it was pretty damn empty.
The very next second, Blake stumbled, collapsing onto the floor.
"Cough—!"
The worker immediately reacted, hurrying over.
"Hey! What is it?"
Blake lowered his voice to barely a whisper.
"Activate strength buff."
With the imposed limitation, he had to trigger it manually.
Power immediately surged through his body and, without warning, Blake threw a punch.
The man’s eyes widened.
The impact launched him sideways.
His body crashed straight through the bathroom doorway before slamming violently against the tiled floor.
A scream of pain escaped him.
He immediately rushed inside, slamming the bathroom door shut behind him.
The worker barely managed to lift himself.
But Blake struck again, the man’s head snapping sideway, as his body went limp.
"Deactivate."
The strength enhancement faded.
He grabbed the unconscious man beneath the arms and dragged him toward the nearest stall.
Opening the door, Blake carefully sat him down on the toilet.
Then he lifted both of the man’s legs onto the seat itself before closing the stall door.
From outside, no one would notice shoes beneath the partition.
Satisfied, Blake reached for the man’s identification badge.
Then he searched through every pocket one by one. There was a wallet, a pen... surprisingly normal stuff.
And then, metal jingled. Those were the keys.
"There we go..."
Blake quietly pocketed both the badge and the keys.
Finally, he activated his skill once more, his appearance shifting.
Within seconds, the unconscious worker stared back at him from inside the stall.
Blake adjusted the reinforced uniform one final time before calmly opening the bathroom door and walking back into the hallway.