“Team Two, anything unusual?”
“Nothing, sir. How about on your end, Team Leader?”
“We’re right in front of the storage room. If you find anything, radio me immediately.”
So far, nothing out of the ordinary had appeared.
No radio calls had come in from the members outside either, so it had to be in here.
Just then, as only the deathly silence deep inside the facility greeted them—
“Seriously, what a fucking mess. How much did it eat?”
Before long, the sight of headless corpses piled up before them came into view.
Red liquid had pooled across the floor, giving off a sickening stench.
“Huh. I’ve seen things that eat everything but the head, but this is my first time seeing one that only eats the head.”
“Even most beasts would eat cleaner than that.”
“Wait, isn’t that a researcher’s uniform?”
Among the pile of corpses lay someone dressed as a researcher.
It was the only human shape with its head intact.
“Dead?”
“Looks like he just stopped breathing. His whole body is covered in wounds.”
“Tch, he’s done for.”
There was a chance the thing was farther inside.
Their only option was to keep advancing.
“No helping it. We move to the nearest safe room. We can only hope there’s a sane human being in there.”
+++
Inside a research facility, there always had to be more than a certain number of safe rooms.
If even a single entity escaped from the storage room, the damage would be enormous.
The safe rooms had been built as places for researchers with no response capabilities to take shelter.
Though, since they were only small-scale shelters, if the security handling team couldn’t come, they amounted to nothing more than a way to buy time.
As the deputy team leader, all I could do was stop by each safe room and check one by one for survivors.
“This one’s empty too. Isn’t this the last one?”
“Yes. This is the last safe room we can check along our route.”
It was probably time to report in and link up with Team One.
As I scanned the research facility, something suddenly occurred to me.
“Wait. Wasn’t there a control room nearby?”
“Should we stop by?”
“Let’s go.”
When I held the security card to the keypad, the firmly shut door of the control room opened.
There was no human shape to be found here either.
“Deputy Team Leader, almost all the surveillance cameras are operating.”
When one of the team members tapped on the keyboard, the surveillance camera screens that had been off began to appear.
“Can you see Team One too?”
“I’ll look for them.”
After flipping through the camera feeds, the situation of Team One advancing came into view.
“Good. Then look for places where that scrap-iron doll might be.”
“There’s nothing showing up in the areas where the lights are on. As for the dark sections…”
Only a very small portion of the lights had gone out.
Thanks to that, the time needed to search was greatly reduced, but something felt off.
“Did the lights go out while they were subduing it? Something’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“The lab lights are always installed deep inside because of the risk of damage.”
“Come to think of it, I heard they put in an outer primary layer and then a secondary layer inside.”
“No matter how rough the gunfire was, the secondary lights broke too? That’s only possible if someone deliberately smashed them.”
At that moment, an ominous thought came over me.
“Deliberately… smashed them?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Check the areas where the lights are out again. See if there’s really nothing there.”
The team member moved the camera around, but no particular trace could be found.
Until he checked the last remaining section.
“Wait. What’s that?”
“That thing hanging from the ceiling—isn’t that the scrap-iron doll?!”
“There it is. Where is that? We need to tell the Team Leader.”
The team member checked the camera number and couldn’t continue speaking.
“You bastard, I’m asking where it is!”
“If the number is right, then… it’s right in front of the direction the Team Leader is heading.”
We were fucked.
We had to let him know, fast.
One wrong move and Team One might be wiped out.
“Goddamn son of a bitch, seriously!”
+++
“What, did the lights go out?”
When the closed door opened, the interior swallowed in darkness was revealed.
Maybe because of the firefight with the scrap-iron doll, the lights seemed to have been broken.
Thanks to that, they couldn’t see an inch ahead.
“Didn’t we bring glow sticks?”
“Yes, we have them.”
“Scatter them on the floor. We’ll trip and fall at this rate.”
The glow sticks began to shine, illuminating the floor.
The darkness didn’t recede much, but it was far easier to see than before.
Just then, the radio in my chest pocket began vibrating like mad.
It was a call from Team Two.
“Deputy Team Leader, did you find something?”
“Team Leader! The ceiling, the ceiling!!”
“What, the ceiling? What are you talking about?”
“We’re on our way out of the control room, and that thing broke the lights and was clinging to the ceiling! Get out of there now, we’re heading your—”
As the radio cut off, an unpleasant sound reached my ears.
The creak of scrap metal that didn’t fit together.
A creepy sensation that scraped at the nerves.
When I slowly raised my head and shone a glow stick at the ceiling, the thing’s form was revealed.
“Fuck! It’s on the ceiling! Shoot it down!!”
As the team members who had found it too late began firing, it leapt down to the floor.
The thing opened its long, torn mouth and began slowly approaching.
“Take out the shock grenades!”
Three or four shock grenades glowing with blue light fell near the scrap-iron doll.
The thing kept walking without paying them any mind, but it soon realized that was a mistake.
In an instant, visible currents of electricity engulfed the scrap-iron doll.
It must have worked, because its body trembled violently and it began backing away.
“What? Not acting up like before? That’s no fun.”
It must have sustained fairly serious wounds during its first exchange with the security team.
Considering it was already staggering before we had even poured proper ammunition into it.
Thanks to that, the job had gotten easier.
Even if we didn’t kill it, we could just shove it back into the storage room.
Of course, whether we’d keep this thing here after that was another matter.
“Identifier: Scrap-Iron Doll. It appears to have been neutralized.”
The scrap-iron doll, which had been enduring the hail of bullets while covering its head, struck the wall and fell to the floor.
Just in case, we used an extra shock grenade, but there was no response.
“This is Team One. Confirming neutralization of the scrap-iron doll. We’ll return it to the storage room.”
We began approaching the scrap-iron doll to fit it with restraints.
The scrap-iron doll still showed no reaction, but countless muzzles remained pointed at it.
“Hm?”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Team Leader, it looks like something’s stuck inside the scrap-iron doll.”
When one of the team members pulled aside the stained rags, a cocoon emitting red light was revealed.
The moment I saw it, I shouted at him.
“Get away, now!”
“Uh—”
By the time he realized it, it was already too late.
The team member whose stomach was pierced by a black tentacle died instantly.
Immediately after, the scrap-iron doll began to stand, using the tentacles like limbs.
“What… what the hell is that?”
“Shit. Change of plans. As of now, the scrap-iron doll is designated for extermination.”
“Team Leader, don’t tell me that’s…”
“It’s exactly what you’re thinking. Identifier: Tentacle Cocoon. It clings to a host’s body and parasitizes it, then starts moving when the host loses consciousness.”
“Wait, then the scrap-iron doll wasn’t dead earlier?”
“The activation condition is when the host loses consciousness, so earlier, it was probably just knocked out. Look.”
The scrap-iron doll, having raised its body, slowly began to lift its head.
Anyone could have felt it.
It was moving of its own will.
“When we passed the storage room earlier, the empty slot must have been that thing’s doing. The Tentacle Cocoon can’t escape on its own.”
“You mean it uses other entities? Nothing like that has ever been reported—”
“Just because it hasn’t been reported doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
The cocoon began extending tentacles and binding the damaged parts of the scrap-iron doll.
It watched the tentacles sprouting from its own back and the recovery process.
Soon after, the thing smacked its lips once more and began slowly approaching.
“The cocoon! Aim for the cocoon and shoot! If the cocoon dies, that thing loses its strength!”
As the team members began taking aimed shots, the thing soon realized the cocoon was the target and began wrapping the cocoon area thickly with tentacles.
“Don’t let it get close! We have no confirmed data on how far its tentacles can extend!”
The team members backed away to create distance, but the tentacles extended even faster.
Those who were dragged away lost their heads and met their end rolling across the floor.
“Team Three, we are engaged in combat and requesting support. Team Two, how far out are you?”
Just then, at the sound of a door opening, I turned around and Team Two came into view.
“Wow, it got even more disgusting. Fire!”
With the deputy team leader’s Team Two joining in, the firepower grew even heavier.
Judging that its body could no longer hold out, the thing began retreating while shielding itself with corpses.
“Take out every weapon we have. If we give it time, it’ll recover in no time.”
Once it was hit by shock grenades, the movements of both the thing and the tentacles clearly slowed.
There were no more corpses left to use as shields.
If we just kept pushing like this, we could definitely kill it.
But the scrap-iron doll had no intention of meekly accepting death.
It kicked off the floor, leapt up, clung to the ceiling, and began fleeing like mad.
“It’s running. Chase it!”
At this rate, we might lose it.
We had to end it here.
But that chase soon came to an end.
As the scrap-iron doll tore off a door and tried to move forward, a shock grenade dropped in front of it.
The shock that would paralyze its body soon swept over it, and it collapsed to the floor.
“Sorry I’m late. I got held up.”
“You sure took your sweet time, you bastard. Hurry up and—”
Had we let our guard down too much?
Or had it developed resistance?
One writhing tentacle snatched a team member.
“Fuck!”
“Wait!”
When the team members turned their muzzles toward the scrap-iron doll, I stopped them.
The captured team member was choking, suffering as his neck was constricted.
“T-Team Leader.”
“Don’t move. Try anything funny and you die.”
Was it because the team members’ reactions had changed?
The thing began retreating, using the team member as a shield.
“What do we do, Team Leader? If we use a shock grenade, his life will be hanging by a thread too.”
“This is why I hate quick-witted bastards.”
No good idea came to mind.
Among the weapons we had, there was nothing with strong killing power that could target only a single subject.
But if we simply stayed in a standoff like this, our casualties could only grow.
We needed a plan, but if we gave it time, it was obvious it would run away.
“Team Leader, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
“Tell my wife… I’m sorry.”
“Wait, stop! You bastard!!”
In the hand of the team member taken hostage were an activated shock grenade and a grenade, and a tremendous explosion swallowed the thing.
“Get a hold of yourselves. The scrap-iron doll has been neutralized. Shoot!”
Whether because of the flames caught from the explosion or the remaining shock, the thing collapsed to the floor without putting up any real resistance.
“Seriously, how damn tenacious can it be? It still isn’t dead?”
The scrap-iron doll’s body was trembling, slightly but unmistakably.
It was repulsive.
Because if a little more time passed like this, it would recover and get back up again.
“Team Leader, it looks like the retrieval team has arrived. Let’s withdraw now.”
“Wait.”
“Team Leader, what are you trying to do?”
The faces of the dead team members flickered before my eyes, making it impossible to let that thing off cleanly.
Hoping I would never have to meet it again, I drew my handgun.
“This is the price for what you did. You’ll recover soon anyway, won’t you?”
I filled that damned scrap-iron doll with plenty of holes.
The middle finger was a bonus.
I hope it liked my present.