Falling into the Abyss

Chapter 8: Atonement Red Earth (6)

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The distance between the red earth is getting closer and closer, and the atmosphere among the inhumans is gradually becoming tense. Some of the nine people who met with the priest that day had apparently leaked the contents of the video, causing a stir. A female Beta was originally pulled into this mission by force. After listening to the story about "that thing", her whole body was on the verge of collapse, and she huddled in the corner every day and didn't know what to say. The other Betas and a few Alphas, who were too anxious to know what to do, apparently decided to seek religious solace, gathered around Chen Zeng to listen to his sermons.

Ethan saw an old man about seventy years old who was always writing, and he didn't know where he got a pen refill, which kept writing on the toilet paper. Ethan saw that his writing was very laborious. Due to the increase in age and the lack of suitable treatment, his eyes were already old. When writing, he could only stretch his arms and write a few words and read them from a distance. , and then continue to write. Once Ethan saw himself sitting on the ground crying, looking very sad, so he quietly asked Samuel what was going on. Samuel said that it was the letters to his daughter that he had written on the toilet paper. Used it as toilet paper.

Samuel said there was nothing to cry about, the forbidden city did not allow inhumans to communicate with citizens, and those who believed his daughter would never see it.

Ethan suddenly felt sour in his heart. The old man's hair was gray and his figure was a little hunched. He didn't know how many years he had been in the forbidden city. Looking at the tattoos on his arms, he may have been a strong man like Samuel when he was young, but now he is as sad as a child. So he asked the old man what his daughter's name was, and said he could write letters for him. He spent the next day lying on the cardboard box, writing lines of letters on crumpled toilet paper. The letter didn't say anything like farewell, but just rambled about some trivial matters in the old man's own life, and also urged his daughter to live a happy life.

After writing, the old man happily collected the suicide note that would never be sent, and thanked Ethan a lot. When Ethan returned to Samuel's side, he was mocked for a long time by the latter, saying that his empathy was more Omega than Omega. Ethan didn't bother to explain to him that the old man reminded him of his father, and scolded you back as sexist, but at the end he couldn't help but ask, "He's so old, hasn't he been released yet?"

"When he was young, he was in a gang, and he didn't make any big mistakes, but there were a lot of small things that caused troubles. The small things add up, and he is unwilling to give himself extra points by reporting other people's unethical behavior, and finally his moral value is reduced. If he is gone, he will come in. For a person like him who has no great ability, he is generally not used in redemption tasks with high scores, and the score will naturally not go up. Now that he is older, there are more and more physical problems, in order to reduce It is estimated that the expenses of the forbidden city added him to this redemption. To put it bluntly, it is to send him to die."

Ethan felt a chill in his heart. One hundred percent, even a lifetime is not enough...

After the spacecraft entered the orbit of the red earth, the elevator connecting the cargo floor finally opened again. Non-people crowded the elevator in batches like dumplings all the way up, and some people who were extremely frightened kept crying, which made Ethan distraught. Their captain of the guard was waiting for them on the first floor of the spaceship's manned cabin. As expected, as Tanissell said, they would be sent to the Red Earth as an advance force, and the mother ship, the Magic Flute, would give them instructions and guide them. Search for the lost Earth and Eves on the red globe.

The surface temperature of the red earth is slightly higher than that of the earth, and the air pressure is also slightly higher, but the air quality is good, and there is no need to wear a space suit. They provided everyone with basic food, water, and some wild survival supplies. Non-people file into the ring-shaped exploration equipment area to change their clothes. The advanced nano-material suit can prevent being bitten by poisonous insects on the planet, has a certain heat insulation function, and can also turn on the camouflage stealth function, and the clothes can reflect the nearby scene. Stealth". Ethan put on the neat stand-up collar suit and found that it was more elastic than expected, and it looked even more stylish. Since there will be a space flight before landing on the red earth from the mother ship, everyone still put on space suits and helmets outside, and gathered in the launch chamber of the small spacecraft that was so wide and scary, waiting to board the ship.

Only then did Ethan know that there were actually two other people among the non-humans who used to fly spaceships. It seems that the non-humans selected by those people for each mission are not random, but purposeful.

So why did you pick him in the first place? Is it because he has talent

Or... want to kill him as soon as possible

Although he didn't want to admit it, Ethan still felt that the latter possibility was more likely.

When boarding the ship, everyone lined up and slowly entered the hatch of a medium-sized saucer. From the back, everyone was wearing helmets, and it was impossible to tell who was who, but the man in front of him just turned his head and glanced at him when he entered the hatch.

He seemed to see a pair of grey eyes, and a few strands of blond hair emerging from the transparent part of the helmet

No way... Ethan opened his eyes slightly... Although the priest didn't seem to be the same as the clergyman in his impression, his interest in the monster was a little fanatical. But it's not enough to do crazy things like sneaking in and sneaking in among inhumans, right

Must be hallucinating from being too nervous...

The spaceship was fired from the mother ship carrying non-human bullets. In an instant, the empty and cold cosmic galaxy spread out in front of everyone's eyes through the refraction projections on the walls and ceiling of the spaceship. The huge star of Hera is already a red giant star, and it is burning her last heat before her death. The bright and brilliant blood stings people's eyes, and the steaming heat seems to evaporate even the universe. Anger Song. And around it, planets that had not yet been swallowed were still flying around her tirelessly, especially the one that was rapidly magnifying in their field of vision.

From a distance, it was a really beautiful pearl. Large swaths of red and blue blend with each other, and there are white cloud airflow yarns that generally cover the entire planet. There are three moons around this planet, which means that there will be three moons at night, and the reflected light of Hera is also very bright at night.

The atmosphere of the red earth is thicker than that of the earth, and the spacecraft entering the atmosphere trembles violently, and the lights also flicker in the electromagnetic storm. Frightened inhuman cries sounded in the cabin. It was during this tremor that Ethan really realized that they had really arrived, and this planet that was likely to be their burial place... Whatever that thing was, they would meet soon.

After overcoming the terrifying tremor of entering the atmosphere, the spacecraft successfully landed near a human pioneer base with a blue cyclone. A few non-humans vomited out with a wow before they got off the spacecraft, and the others were also paled by the terrifying landing. The hatch was opened in the gentle voice of the mother ship's computer Angela, and a strange, slightly fishy smell was caught in the rushing heat wave.

Outside the spaceship, a large red expanse spreads out in all directions like the endless sea of Manzhushahua. It is a red plant about forty or fifty centimeters high. A small fork, with a small bowl-shaped thing on it, I don't know if it is a flower or a leaf. In this way, there are many blue-purple herbs about one meter high in the middle of the overwhelming red grass. The thick stems are covered with dark red spots, and there are many filament-like things extending from the trunk and fluttering in the air. It needs the wind to dance by itself. At the end of the gently undulating earth, there is a sharp mountain shadow, and above it is the sky that gradually changes from light to dark, with purple, yellow, pink and other colors in the clouds, and some light white satellites. Its shadow is like a crescent moon in the corner. Some strange creatures with long tails and cylindrical bodies were flying in the high sky, making some kind of dry metal rubbing sounds, echoing in the silent wildness.

An extraordinarily beautiful and paradoxical world.

Ethan stepped out of the spaceship with hesitation behind Samuel, bathing his body in the splendid and warm sunlight of Hera. Samuel put his hand under the helmet, took off the helmet with a click, then raised his head slightly, took a deep breath, and the expression on his face was very smooth. Ethan also took off his helmet, and in an instant, the vast air blew through the tips of his hair with a breeze, making the non-human who had been in the cold warehouse floor without light and wind for a full week break free from the iron cage. of pleasure.

The anxiety and fear in the hearts of non-people are temporarily appeased by this vast world. They took off their heavy outer space suits and carried bags full of survival necessities. About a few hundred meters away from their spaceship, a white low-rise building could be seen, which was the base left by the pioneers who disappeared before.

Ethan wandered among the inhumans who were taking off their helmets, with a trace of hesitation. When almost all the non-humans have taken off their helmets, only one person has only taken off the space suit and has not taken off the helmet.

Ethan stared at him closely, and Samuel saw his abnormality and followed his line of sight to the man.

"What are you looking at?"

Ethan pursed his lips tightly and didn't speak, and after a moment he walked straight towards the man whose back was to him. Just when he was still a few steps away from the man, the man finally took off his helmet and turned around. A pure blond hair gleamed in the red sunlight, and when he saw his delicate face like a puppet, he smiled slightly.

Ethan widened his eyes and pointed at him with a finger, "You... it's really you!"

His voice caught the attention of the others, followed by an uproar. No one expected that an Eve would appear in their team.

Samuel rushed over, frowning, "Why are you here? Are you crazy?!"

Taniser threw the helmet on the ground, bent down and continued to pack his luggage, "I changed my mind, I decided to come and see the God of Entropy in person."

At this moment, there was a sharp current sound in everyone's ears. All communication between the mother ship and them is through microwave transmitters that they tuck in their ears, and everything they see is recorded through camera holes in their neck collars and transmitted back to the mother ship. At this moment, the scene of Taniser being among the inhumans must have been transmitted back to the mother ship. After a while, there was an exasperated person who said something loudly in Eve, who was probably the commander of Eve's army in this operation. . Those Eve soldiers discovered that their accompanying priest had gone to the red earth to explore privately, and there must be tens of thousands of grass and mud horses rushing past in their hearts. At this moment, it is estimated that wah la wah la is not a good thing to say.

I saw Tanisel took the headset out of his ear as if it was too noisy, and replied Eve's words lightly to the microphone attached to the headset, and then put the headset in his pocket. Ethan and the others heard Commander Eve roaring on the other end of the headset, but apparently it was no longer able to reach the mad priest's ears. After a while, the shouting finally stopped, replaced by the voice of a rather majestic earthling, seemingly their chief guard.

"The incident happened suddenly. This time, the content of this task is to add one more content to protect the priests of Taniser. After the task is successful, the reward points will be increased to 12 points. Now everyone is ready to enter the No. 18 pioneer base to search for any suspicious clue."

No. 18 pioneer base is about a kilometer away from them. Through the lush red grassland and a small patch of woodland made up of that weird blue-purple plant, the temporary structures of the base are clearly discernible. If you get closer, you can see that those nano-plastic buildings have been abandoned for a while. The white ones seen in the distance have been covered with a layer of rust-colored dust, and some buildings have climbed some twisted red capillaries. A blood vessel-like alien plant.

The semicircular main building door was locked, and after brushing off the dust on the surface of the cipher disk, the pupil-recognition camera could still be seen. At this time, the mother ship issued an order to let Otto go to unlock the lock, saying that it was in his backpack. Otto rummaged and found a folding computer about the size of a palm and a pair of glasses with a strange color. Otto whistled, put on his glasses, unfolded the computer and floated it in the air, then stood in front of the cipher disk and flipped. Probably because the base is stationed on an alien planet, there is no danger of being invaded, so the human body identification code lock is not as difficult to open as imagined. Ten minutes later, I suddenly heard some kind of rumbling sound of a machine starting from the ground.

Apparently some systems in the base had detected that the door had been unlocked and started to operate, and the tightly sealed door rose up quickly, and a gentle and gentle female voice said, "Welcome back."

Ethan followed behind the crowd into the bright and clean corridor. There is not much dust in the sealed environment even after a few years, and the soft light color behind the smooth frosted board gives people an extremely clean, even a bit inhumane texture. Samuel was at the front, Tanissell followed, and the rest, including Ethan, all followed behind. The short corridor ended in front of a cabin door, and the light female voice sounded again, "I am Gina, the main computer of the pioneer team, please verify your identity."

Samuel said, "We are sent by the Earth Alliance, you will know by contacting the Earth Alliance."

Gina said, "Sorry, my communication system has been severely damaged and there is no way to get in touch with the Earth Alliance. Please state your PIN or the deportation process will start in five minutes."

There was an uproar in the crowd, and Derek said abruptly, "It won't be something like a death ray..."

Samuel asked irritably into the headset, "Do you have any verification codes?"

A sentence came from the other end of the headset, "All verification codes are encrypted by individuals, and we have no way to obtain them. Derek in your team is good at dealing with artificial intelligence, so let him negotiate with Gina."

Derek said directly, "Protecting the base and not allowing unauthorized people to enter is the central task of Gina, and she is already a mature artificial intelligence, I can't convince her unless I can directly enter her The network interface modifies the way she receives information, but I guess this interface should be in the safest place in the base."

Although everyone didn't understand what he was talking about, they basically understood that he couldn't handle the computer. There was a long sigh from the end of the headset, "Okay, you come out first. Give us a few minutes, we will destroy the protection system of Base 18."

"Wait." Ethan said suddenly, then raised his head and said, "KA35T792."

After a while, the closed safety door suddenly opened silently, and Gina responded, "Identification, welcome, Mr. Eldridge."

Everyone stared at him in amazement, Ethan smiled a little embarrassedly, "Seven years ago, the ID verification codes of all the key personnel of the Energy Bureau were entered into this project, and the information contact has been cut off in recent years. It is estimated that Gina has not updated the information. my information."

Samuel laughed, "Looks like your secretary was a big man before?"

Behind the door is a large irregular circular lobby with several comfortable sofas in the center, surrounding a 3D projection table. At every corner, there are comfortable and various leisure chairs and similar projection computer desks. When you look closely at the white walls, they are actually screens that can display naked-eye 3D images. On the wall directly in front of the gate is a portrait of President Abiya, with black velvet-like short hair and a pair of frosty eyes on his white face, giving a stern beauty that is rarely seen among women.

At first glance, except for the lights on one wall, the whole hall is surprisingly clean and tidy, and it seems that it has not been damaged, but the plants are all withered, and some of the dining tables in the restaurant are rotten and deteriorated so much that they cannot be seen at all. It turned out to be some kind of food. The black lump in the bowl exuded a rancid smell and was covered with thick fluff.

Samuel and several others led a dozen or so people to search the entire main base separately. Ethan naturally followed Samuel step by step, and the priest also followed their team, looking around curiously.

They searched the entire east wing area and found a greenhouse for growing grains, vegetables and fruits and some animal feeding silos, but the plants had all withered, and the animals were nowhere to be found. The strange thing is that there are no signs of damage to the feeding bins. There is even a lot of feed in the food bowls inside, but the animals are gone. Even the breeding bunker marked "cockroach" was empty, with only rotting food scraps left. There are also many data disks in some other archives. Ethan pulled out a few pieces of the database and put them in his pants pocket. When he turned his head, he saw that Priest Eve was sitting in front of the computer desk with great interest, looking at the images of several documents suspended on the desk.

Ethan leaned over, "What are you looking at?"

"It seems that they were diligently entering data before they disappeared." Tanissell pointed to a document above, "Look, it is said that they began to observe mammals brought from Earth a week before they disappeared. They all became very agitated, and the docile sheepdog became frantic, tried to escape several times, and bit two breeders. The corn they were growing began to wilt for no apparent reason.”

Ethan looked at the document carefully, and the language recorded was very brief, and it was indeed what Tanissell said. But the strange thing is that it seems that the sentence at the end has not been entered yet, and the last word seems to be "observation", but it stopped abruptly after only half of it was written.

The table is very clean, no trace of blood. It's as if the clerk wrote "obse" and suddenly needed to leave due to a certain situation, and was so anxious that he ran away before he could even finish typing that word, and then never came back.

Tanisel turned his head to look at Ethan, but his bright pupils flashed with excitement, "Look, everything organic in this base has either rotted or disappeared. And it seems to be very It happened in a short period of time, and they didn't even have time to pack up."

The author has something to say:

I have a hunch that this article will reach a new height... _(:з"∠)_