After everyone inside had died, Kaplan—sweating profusely—finally shut down the defense system. His legs trembled slightly as he stood, and after a long pause he said:
"…Now, it's up to us to do it."
"What… did you say?"
Four people had just died before his eyes, leaving Nathan stunned, his heart pounding as he looked at Kaplan in shock and confusion.
"We… must continue the mission."
"No—you don't mean to send us into that corridor, do you? I'd rather die than go in there! I'm sure everyone feels the same way, not just me!"
"…I've already shut down all the defense systems. All of them! I can guarantee that!"
Kaplan insisted, though he didn't force them. Still tense and trembling, he headed toward the corridor entrance.
Nathan glanced at Kaplan's fearful expression, then at Rachel clutching his sleeve, and at the weapons lying on the mercenaries' corpses. Finally, he turned his gaze to Alice, who clearly intended to go inside, and suddenly spoke:
"Miss Alice, could I ask you to look after Rachel for me?"
"Eh?" Rachel instinctively looked up at him, while Alice also showed surprise:
"I can, but why?"
"There's something I need to do. And it's more fitting for a man to handle. So please, watch Rachel for me."
After speaking with Alice, Nathan—who had already taken it upon himself to care for Rachel—crouched down, patted her head, and forced a smile to reassure her to wait a little while.
He then quickly approached Kaplan, whose trembling hands struggled to lift the heavy device from the floor. Nathan patted his shoulder, startling Kaplan into spinning around in fright.
Kaplan's terrified state was even worse than Nathan's, though it was likely the mental shock of his carelessness having killed his comrades.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'll help carry this heavy thing inside."
Nathan pointed at the bulky device, then forced himself not to gag as he glanced at the severed limbs on the floor.
"But in exchange, I want permission to use your comrades' weapons. You know this place could become dangerous at any moment. I need a weapon in hand."
"This place only has electronic problems… ordinary firearms won't solve them."
"I understand. But you brought weapons anyway, didn't you? Because there might still be situations where they're needed."
"…Fine. If you insist. But hurry—I don't want to stay here long."
Kaplan hesitated, then agreed.
Nathan felt a small surge of relief. His intuition had always been sharp, and it told him firearms would be useful—especially if monsters like zombies appeared. And as a man, he naturally liked guns.
Though taking items from corpses was a huge challenge for him, he couldn't afford to be picky now. Between survival and disgust, the choice was obvious.
Suppressing his unease, he half‑closed his eyes and stripped gear from a man whose upper body was intact: a black tactical vest, an assault rifle, a pistol, magazines, and a knife. He took anything of value.
He also collected pistols from two other corpses, planning to keep two for himself and give one to Rachel for self‑defense. He didn't know if she could use it, but in such a dangerous place, only firearms gave him a sense of security.
Slinging the rifle across his back, he helped Kaplan lift the heavy device and carried it into the Red Queen's chamber.
As soon as they entered, the metal door behind them shut automatically. Startled, Nathan nearly dropped the device to raise his rifle.
"Hey, hey! It's fine! Don't panic! This is just a normal security measure, to prevent intruders from tailing us into the mainframe room."
Kaplan quickly reassured him, worried he might fire recklessly.
"Alright… let's keep going."
Forcing himself to calm down, Nathan nodded and continued carrying the device forward.
At the core, Kaplan opened his wrist computer, tapped a few keys, and triggered the central floor panel to open. A cylindrical metal column about a meter in diameter rose from below.
"Help me with this."
Kaplan bent down, unzipped the bag around the device, and had Nathan help lift it out. Together they set it upright, connected it to the column's interface, and twisted it firmly into place.
Now all that remained was Kaplan's operation. Nathan busied himself with the rifle, trying to familiarize himself with its structure, and with the pistol's safety. Safeties came in many types—forgetting to disengage one in panic could cost him his life.
But just as he fiddled with the gun, a childish voice suddenly rang out:
"——Get out! Get out! You can't stay here!"
"Huh?! Wh‑what is that?!"
Instinctively, Nathan aimed his weapon. But what appeared was a red child, seemingly a holographic phantom.
"Ignore her. That's the Red Queen's holographic projection, modeled after the chief programmer's daughter. She'll try to deceive us, to stop us from shutting her down."
Kaplan dismissed it, continuing his work.
The red holographic child spoke again, her voice softer now:
"I don't recommend this. Shutting me down will cut the main power. Please… I beg you."
"What happens if we lose the main power?"
Though Kaplan told him not to listen, Nathan couldn't resist asking.
"Monsters will be released."
"Monsters?"
"Creatures that rise from the dead. If you don't listen to me, you'll all die here."
The Red Queen spoke seriously. Nathan's heart jolted, and he wanted to ask more about these monsters. But Kaplan, unconcerned, said:
"I told you not to listen. She's just spouting nonsense."
Without waiting for Nathan to stop him, Kaplan pressed the controller button.
Immediately, the entire world went dark.
More precisely, the entire Hive went dark—because the underground base had lost power.