HALF: DEAD NOR ALIVE

“It’s evolving?! The parasite is evolving from the radiation?!” Faye asked and it was loud enough that everyone could hear her.

“Yes, the parasite is evolving, and the reason why is because of that dead skin. Anyone can tell when they see a dead skin because it can only mean one thing,” Ruby answered and pointed at the dead skin. “You can say that the parasite is currently experiencing the same thing as I did back then,” she showed Faye her prosthetic arm.

Faye looked at the scientist who was eavesdropping on their conversation. “Let’s wait until they got everything they need and let them do some test if what you said is true,” Faye turned her head to look at Ruby.

“I understand and that’s fine by us because we know that words alone won’t be enough to be used as proof,” Ruby replied as she nodded her head with understanding.

“You guys must be exhausted, why don’t you go and get some rest in the chopper? We have prepared foods and clothes just in case you guys need it,” Aster said and pointed at the chopped in the middle.

“Thank you,” Ruby replied and then they all went to the chopper to treat themselves.

Archie stared at the food that Ruby and Vincent ate, and it made his stomach growl. He was starving but at the same time there was nothing that he could eat and it reminded him of the delicious meat of the parasite that Eve killed in the Antarctic.

“Right, you must be starving because you used your regeneration ability all night,” Vincent said as he chewed bread and beef jerky. “Do you want us to find you one?” He asked.

“No, I still can hold it in, it’s just my body started to feel a bit weak and can’t move much,” Archie answered and looked at Vincent as he shook his head.

“I will bring you there tonight and we can eat as much as you want,” Eve said as she grabbed Archie’s arm.

“Yes, that sounds great,” Archie replied and nodded his head with a smile on his face.

It took the scientist a while to gather all the samples and once they got everything they needed, they all boarded the chopper and left.

Archie looked down and saw the after effect of the explosion, he saw how massive the radius was and he was lucky that he survived that. The parasite went missing and the only way to find it again was to follow the tunnel that it dug but there shouldn’t be a reason to find it since they knew they couldn’t kill it.

They came back to the Central Nation and Archie with the others had to report back to Marshal Gard about their discovery. Faye didn’t follow them because she had a more important matter to do which was to check if what Ruby said was true about the parasite evolving because of the radiation.

Ruby was the one who explained and answered all the questions that Marshal Gard asked. He was a bit skeptical about it but after listening to her experience with the serum after she got exposed to it, he started to understand why she said the parasite was evolving.

“Let’s wait for the report from the observation team, if what you said is true, then we have a bigger problem that we need to handle,” Marshal Gard said as he rubbed his chin.

Not long after Marshal Gard said that someone knocked on his door and it was Faye and a scientist. They both looked concerned and he already knew what kind of result that they got from the samples.

“So, what’s the result?” Marshal Gard asked the scientist.

“We believe that the king-type parasite is currently evolving and it was because of the rapid regeneration ability that the king-type parasite had. From the samples that we brought, the cells were splitting themselves and fixing the skin rapidly while at the same time it created something new,” The scientist answered.

“Can you just use the simple words?” Marshal Gard asked and stared at the scientist.

“To put it simply, the cells that are left inside the dead skin, they’re trying to create a new life with what they have left. They have been creating billions of new cells as we speak and it’s only about time until the dead skin will become a shell for a new living parasite,” The scientist answered.

“And the reason behind it is that it was us who did this? Did we make things worse because of our stupidity?” Marshal Gard asked and looked at Faye and the scientist. “We just made the same mistake that happened hundreds of years ago, now the king-type parasite is evolving into something terrifying, what else can we do?”

Archie and the others looked at Faye since she was the one who made the call since she was the commander of Valor’s special force.

“We aren’t sure because I didn’t get the chance to fight with the parasite itself, it was Archie and those three who fought the parasite,” Faye answered as she stared at Archie. “They’re the only ones who know what to do because they have fought them before,”

Marshal Gard looked at Archie and the others. “What do you guys think?” he asked.

“The parasite could breathe fire, the tentacles were protecting the parasite from whoever tried to get close to it. The pleghm was corrosive as well, so it’s impossible for anyone to get close to the parasite no matter how good they’re in the training,” Archie answered as he looked at Ruby and the others.

“So what you’re trying to say is that it’s impossible to kill the parasite?” Marshal Gard asked and raised his eyebrows.

“It’s not impossible but after the parasite went back to wherever it came from. I believe it would be a lot harder because it could control parasites and knowing how big the islands are, at least thousands of parasites are ready to follow the King-type parasite’s order,” Archie explained.

“If we want to fight that parasite, we have to call another King-type parasite,” Ruby said to herself and everyone looked at her weirdly. “Sorry, I was just mumbling to myself,”

“No, Ruby is right, we need another King-type parasite because they’re territorial beings and will kill whatever that is threatening them. It’s just that we have no idea if there’s another King-type parasite near us or anywhere that we can bring it to Indonesia,” Archie replied and looked at everyone with a serious expression.

Faye looked at Marshal Gard and they both were staring at each other for quite a while until Marshal Gard nodded his head to give Faye the permission.

“There’s a giant cave that we found, it’s top secret information but I think since you’re all directly under my command, I will tell you about it,” Faye said.

“There’s a cave not far from us, it only takes a few hours and it’s hidden in the forest. The cave was big enough to fit a skyscraper inside with its own ecosystem and weather,” Faye explained. “It was just the entrance and we never had the chance to go deeper into the hole because we got chills down our spines when we tried to enter,” she continued.

“Nobody has ever entered that cave ever since and we believe, whatever inside that hole, there’s a King-type parasite living in there,” Faye said and she looked a bit nervous about it.

Archie looked at Eve and she seemed to know what Faye was talking about.

“If you want to try, we can show you the cave but we can’t guarantee your safety the moment you step your foot inside that hole,” Faye warned them as she looked at everyone. “So, if you think you can handle it, we can go there tomorrow,” she said.

Ruby and Vincent looked at each other. “We are fine with that and I don’t think we have another choice but to try it out,” Ruby answered. “What do you think, Archie? Eve? Are you down for another exploration?” She asked.

Eve chuckled mischievously and stared at Ruby. “You know that I’m going to follow Archie so my answer is in his hand,” Eve answered as she looked at Archie.

Everyone looked at Archie and he ended up being the one to decide what to do.

“If that’s the only option we have, I don’t think it’s necessary to ask me because I will go even if you guys didn’t want to,” Archie answered.

Faye stood up and sighed with relief. “I guess it’s decided then,” she said and looked at Marshal Gard. “We are going to that cave tomorrow early in the morning and this time we will follow you all. You’re dismissed,” she continued then Archie and the others left the office.

“Putting out fire with another fire, I never thought we are going to use parasite to fight another parasite,” Marshal Gard said.