"Mr. Honeywell," Calista said again, "besides this, what else did the files mention? Anything about the characteristics of these mutants? Weaknesses?"
Honeywell shook his head. "I... I don't know any more. I only had time to skim the beginning of that summary. The rest of the file fragments...
"Most of them are scattered logs and surveillance data indexes. You need specialized software and passwords to interpret them in depth... I didn't have the clearance, or the time."
He raised his head and looked at Calista, pleading. "I've told you everything I know... I gave you everything I brought...
"You'll deal with that place, right? Those things can't be left in this world. Black Fire... has to be extinguished."
Calista did not answer right away.
She closed the file on the computer, pulled out the USB drive, and carefully placed it, along with the notebook and work badge, into a prepared lead-sealed isolation bag.
Then Calista stood.
"The information you provided is vital. You need rest, and you also need further medical observation and psychological evaluation.
"Before you stabilize, and before we verify part of this information, you'll remain here under protective supervision."
Honeywell seemed to have expected this. He nodded wearily and said nothing more.
Calista looked at Carver. "Make the arrangements. Highest security level. Without my direct order, no one is allowed to contact him or ask anything about him."
"Yes, Calista," Carver answered in a low voice.
The two of them left the sealed interview room, one after the other.
Carver followed half a step behind Calista, his eyes constantly watching their surroundings, until they entered another secure office.
Only after the door closed did Calista seem to allow herself to show a trace of exhaustion.
She walked to the window, her back to Carver, and did not turn around.
"What do you think, Carver?"
Carver walked to a spot slightly behind and beside her, also looking out the window.
"He doesn't seem to be making it up. The fear is real, and the details are too many, too specific.
"Project Black Fire... If something like that really exists, then the trouble in Block D is much harder than we expected. It won't be something we can solve easily."
"Yeah," Calista said quietly, her fingers rubbing against the window frame. "Nerve agents, mutants... Oak Ridge, the military... We thought we were fighting a natural disaster. Turns out there was a man-made pit buried under our feet all along."
She turned to look at Carver. In the dim light, her gray-blue eyes were startlingly bright.
"We need to deal with Block D as soon as possible. If we drag this out, those things might change in even more uncontrollable ways."
Carver understood what she meant at once, and gave a bitter smile. "Yeah. I thought we'd be able to clean it up slowly."
...
Inside Rock Fortress's command post, the atmosphere was heavy.
Calista sat at the head of the table, her back to the window. Her face was outside the light, making it look faintly blurred.
Leah had both hands flat on the table beside an open notebook and a floor plan of Block D they had found. Rickson leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.
These three were the true power triangle of Rock Fortress.
"We've gotten everything we can out of Honeywell," Calista said, cutting straight to the point. "We can now confirm several things."
She held out her left hand and curled her fingers one by one.
"First, the chemical plant at the heart of Block D, Singularity Polymers D-7, was conducting a top-secret military bioweapons project before the end of the world, codenamed Black Fire. Its purpose was to use the walker virus to create controllable walker bioweapons.
"Second, when the virus fully broke out, a serious leak occurred in that area.
"The prototype nerve agent mutated and had an uncontrollable cross-reaction with the walkers being used as 'experimental material' on-site. The result was some kind of unplanned mutant.
"Third, when the accident happened, there were at least a dozen living employees in the core leak zone.
"Their fate is unknown, but they likely made the mutation even more unpredictable.
"And after the end of the world, Lorenzo also locked a group of gang members who opposed him in there. Remember?"
"Fourth, Oak Ridge National Laboratory was one of the main parties behind Project Black Fire.
"That means the potential threat we're facing may not be limited to the 'things' inside Block D. It could also include the 'creators' who may still be active somewhere.
"Of course, they might already be long gone. There's no way to know for sure."
After speaking, Calista withdrew her hand and leaned forward slightly, the light illuminating the lower half of her face.
Rickson rubbed his chin and raised the first question. "Would Lorenzo really have the guts to mess with mutated walkers?"
Calista thought for a moment. "They may not have gone in. They might have simply sealed that group of people inside the plant. At that point, those mutated walkers were probably still locked down inside the laboratory and control room."
Leah said slowly, "But the people Lorenzo locked inside may have explored the plant after running out of food, and released those things. Correct?"
Calista nodded. "Correct. And we don't know what happened to the employees in the leak zone. Did they die, or did they mutate into something else? The question now is, how do we handle Block D?"
Leah barely paused. She had already formed an idea after reading the notebook.
"Highest-level quarantine. The threat in Block D has already gone beyond the scope of ordinary walker clearing."
She tapped the red circle on the map with her fingertip.
"Before we settle on a plan, move the existing perimeter around Block D outward by three hundred meters and establish an absolute isolation zone.
"Anyone who tries to cross the isolation zone without orders from the three of us, for any reason, can be fired upon directly by the Defense Force.
"All information about Black Fire and the mutants is to be limited to the few of us.
"Internally and externally, we use one explanation: Block D contains unexploded chemicals and severe radioactive contamination. It is extremely dangerous, and any approach or investigation is strictly forbidden."
Leah raised her head and looked at Calista with burning intensity.
"Calista, we don't know how many of those things are inside. We don't know what they can do.
"We don't know if the chemical plant's structure is stable either, and we definitely don't know whether this so-called 'mutation' can spread."
Rickson listened quietly, his face showing no expression.
Only after Leah finished did he speak.
"I don't agree with your plan, Leah.
"Quarantine only delays the risk.
"We would be turning a high-risk unknown into a powder keg that requires long-term resources to monitor.
"As long as that thing is still there, it will always be a weak point in our defense system, one more thing we have to worry about.
"And in a base with a population of over a thousand and new people constantly joining, it's impossible to lock down information.
"Right now, maybe it's only a rumor that 'there are monsters in Block D.' Later, it'll become 'the base is using monsters for experiments,' or 'the commander is hiding treasure in Block D.'"
...
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