“What the hell.”
It was an isolation room I’d made with a fair amount of reinforced strength.
To think it would break this easily.
Should I have made it even stronger?
I may have underestimated that thing’s power too much.
“What should we do, Director? It’ll take quite some time to build a new isolation room.”
“What do you mean, what should we do? No matter how long it takes, we have to make it properly.”
What a headache.
Now that it knows it can break the wall, escape is only a matter of time.
A wall it can break whenever it wants can no longer serve as a barrier.
For now, we need a way to keep it contained.
“Bind the entire isolation room with restraint chains. Increase patrol personnel for the time being.”
“Understood.”
No, to be honest, even that doesn’t put me at ease.
If that thing escapes, the damage will be devastating.
“No, until we move it to the new isolation room, I’ll handle the patrol myself.”
“Will you be all right, sir? It could take quite a while.”
“And what if I’m not all right? Do you have a better idea?”
“No, sir. I apologize.”
This is actually easier on my nerves.
Looks like I’m in for a miserable stretch.
+++
“What is it? Why is it so noisy?”
I glanced over and saw them wrapping chains around the isolation room.
Could it be because of the crack in the wall yesterday?
Well, I suppose it would be stranger if they didn’t notice that.
“Phew, it’s going to be noisy for a while.”
What should I do to pass the time today?
Having my actions restricted is seriously inconvenient.
But if I just go out on my own, it’s obvious there’ll be an uproar.
Should I try to reach some kind of agreement with the Director after all?
No, even so, throwing away the card that I’m mute is too risky.
As for how to kill time, well, I’ll have to figure that out from now on.
+++
“So, you’re saying you heard a strange sound?”
“I’m telling you, it was definitely the sound of something being cut.”
“It doesn’t look like anything’s wrong from the outside.”
The thick wall confining the Iron Insect did not appear particularly abnormal.
If there had been a problem, it would have shown itself by now.
“Wouldn’t it be better to check the magnetic field control device?”
“Okay. If we check that too, you’ll stop worrying for nothing, right?”
In the end, they checked the magnetic field control device that was restricting the Iron Insect’s movements.
It was a device that emitted a powerful magnetic field reacting to the metallic substances in the Iron Insect’s body.
Normally, because of this device, it would remain somewhat safe even if the outer wall of the isolation room collapsed.
Surely, if the device had broken down, it would have escaped already.
“Now, look! See the red light here? This is—”
It did not take long to realize that something was wrong.
Normally, the blue light should have been on, but it was red.
That was definitely the color that came on when it malfunctioned.
“Uh.”
“Damn it.”
A moment later, the sound of an explosion came from inside the facility.
What they had feared had happened.
+++
“How could the Iron Insect possibly—”
The personnel inside the facility saw a horrifying sight.
The Iron Insect was breaking through the outer wall of the isolation room and emerging outside.
“It’s out of the isolation room! Fire!”
Before it could even savor the fact that it was free, flies came buzzing in.
The Iron Insect’s gaze began to turn toward the personnel who had shot at it.
“Our current weapons won’t do anything! Hurry and request support!”
The agent hurrying to request support felt a tremendous pain.
He realized what had happened to his body.
The sensation of something having pierced into his abdomen.
Soon, an enormous amount of liquid spilled onto the floor.
“Fuck, that hurts like hell.”
The agent collapsed powerlessly to the floor.
The Iron Insect had never given permission.
Permission to show hostility or to flee.
The Iron Insect extended its steel tentacles, slashing and stabbing at the personnel who showed any movement.
The number of agents collapsing to the floor increased one by one.
“It kills us if we try to shoot, and it’s killing even the ones trying to run. Son of a bitch.”
“Hey, can’t we get its eyes focused in one direction?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That bastard’s eyes. If we draw its gaze hard to one side, won’t it be unable to react right away?”
“I’ll draw its attention, so do whatever it takes to notify the inside about the situation.”
“You want me to use you as a meat shield? How does that make any sense?”
“Then should we do it after everyone’s dead? Hurry.”
They had no choice but to stake their comrade’s life.
If they only dragged things out, they would all be wiped out.
“Die, you bug bastard!”
The agent charged at it with a loud shout.
Perhaps sensing a threat, the Iron Insect fixed its gaze on the agent and shot out a tentacle.
The attack pierced straight through his abdomen.
But the agent chuckled and slowly lifted his head.
Perhaps the Iron Insect also found it strange, because it raised him up with the tentacle still lodged in his abdomen.
“Remember this?”
What he held in his hand was a bundle of shock rounds.
“When you were first brought here, you got hit with these and couldn’t get your head straight. Here’s a present!”
The Iron Insect tried to respond, but it was already too late.
When he slammed the bundle of shock rounds against the tentacle, a tremendous impact was transmitted through it.
Struck by a massive shock all at once, the Iron Insect staggered, unable to collect itself.
Now.
If not now, there would be no chance.
“Reporting in, the Iron Insect has escaped. Immediate response is required! I repeat—”
But had it backfired?
The Iron Insect, still not recovered from the shock, began swinging its tentacles in every direction.
The outer walls of the facility filled with more and more blade marks and traces of being hacked apart.
“We’re fucked. How are we supposed to stop that?”
Only a few agents who had hidden near a thick wall managed to survive.
But that safety would not last long.
Soon, the Iron Insect would recover from the effects of the shock rounds.
And now, if it encountered them, it would undoubtedly slaughter them without mercy.
They heard the sound of it slowly approaching.
Before their eyes stood the Iron Insect, seized by rage.
Ah, was this how it ended?
Just as the Iron Insect raised a tentacle high to strike down—
A thunderous noise rang out as something fell to the floor.
“Wh-what?”
They had thought they were certain to die.
When they opened their eyes, the Iron Insect’s gaze was directed elsewhere.
It was toward the direction where the loud noise had come from.
As if that were not enough, the Iron Insect was walking toward the source of the sound.
What on earth was over there?
Suddenly, one being flashed through his memory.
“Fuck, don’t tell me the scrap-metal doll—?!”
Had that thunderous noise been the sound of chains snapping and falling?
He checked the direction the Iron Insect had passed through.
Through the dust, he saw the scrap-metal doll walking out.
Now even the scrap-metal doll had gotten loose.
It was an unprecedented incident.
There had never been an escape this large before.
When are our allies getting here?
+++
“What’s making so much noise?”
I couldn’t think of any particular way to pass the time.
I’ll just lie on the floor, I guess.
That was how I had been spending my boring day.
“What is this, some kind of riot?”
The entrance side was transparent, so I couldn’t see the outside situation in full.
All I could see from here was an agent looking shocked by something.
And backing away as if frightened.
“Huh.”
Then what came into view was something piercing through the agent’s stomach.
Was that the source of the collapsing sound I heard earlier?
It seemed to have escaped the isolation room.
“What is that? Should I help them?”
But no matter how I thought about it, going out felt a bit much.
It wasn’t like I was exactly on the humans’ side right now.
And even so, openly fighting an unidentified entity was also…
Unless it was an extraordinary specimen, I probably had a chance, but I didn’t want to pick a fight first for no reason.
I decided to watch a little longer.
“Wow, if they move, it stabs and cuts them to death. Nasty bastard, isn’t it?”
I decided to keep pretending I didn’t know.
Frankly speaking, it wasn’t as if my isolation room had been broken.
I had no intention of going out and fighting without a pretext.
That was what I thought.
“No, why is that thing coming down?”
Something unbelievable happened.
As if telling me to rush out and fight right now, the outer wall of the isolation room collapsed.
Thanks to that, I ended up meeting the Iron Insect whether I wanted to or not.
“Phew, talk about rotten luck.”
Just in case, I checked the Iron Insect’s side of the situation.
As expected, it seemed that side had judged me to be an enemy too.
I had no choice but to fight.
+++
“Director, the Iron Insect has escaped the isolation room.”
“What?”
“It appears that multiple agents have been killed.”
“The magnetic field control device broke down? That can’t be.”
“We are still determining the exact cause, but first, the issue of subduing the Iron Insect—”
“Haa. Arm every available person heavily and bring them here.”
“And there is one more problem.”
“What else is there?”
“Earlier, while the Iron Insect was rampaging, the scrap-metal doll’s isolation area was damaged, and—”
“Goddamn it. Fuck, seriously.”
They had to stop them.
Even if only one got out, it could cause tremendous damage.
If both of them had escaped, subduing them with only the personnel here would be difficult.
Should he request additional support?
No, even if he requested it now, they would arrive three or four hours later.
By then, those things would have more than enough time to destroy the facility and get out.
They had to stop them here.
“Have the helicopters and tanks on standby. We’ll use them if necessary.”
“Understood.”
“Not a single thing is going our way.”
Chester armed himself and began heading to the scene.
+++
“I guess talking this out is off the table.”
The Iron Insect bent the ends of its tentacles like sickles and swung them at me.
But they were slow enough for me to see, so I could dodge them easily.
“Whoa, that side can even put weapons on its tentacles. Don’t I have anything like that?”
Somehow, it felt like someone was glaring at me, but it was probably just my imagination.
“If those had been human eyes, I’m sure I would’ve been done for.”
Maybe this wasn’t an enemy I needed to be that afraid of.
The fact that I could see its seemingly fast attacks was enough.
Well, even if it had the upper hand in terms of weapon danger.
“Then, shall we have a go? Let’s see just how strong this body is.”