Chapter 16: Round and Round, Woof Woof

****

The Humanoid Division’s research lab.

Thick steel doors surrounded it, and guards armed with flamethrowers stood watch over the lab. I entered the research lab carrying a submachine gun.

“Is this really safe?”

“It is not safe.”

Fair enough. We were currently waking up the spawn of a demon, removed via C-section from a child, with the intention of raising it in a lab. It would be more surprising if I didn’t need to use my pistol today.

“Then. Let’s begin the experiment.”

The research team that entered the lab consisted of three scientists from the Research Department, myself, and the Head of Research. The other researchers weren’t saying anything, probably because of me and the Head of Research.

“Why haven’t you started?”

“My apologies.”

The Research Department scientists carefully removed the specimen from the ultra-low-temperature transport equipment. Everyone inside the lab held their breath.

The Head of Research, of course, was the exception.

“The specimen didn’t freeze and burst, did it?”

“The specimen is alive. This teratoma has a pulse, albeit a very slow one. I have no idea how the specimen managed not to freeze solid.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

“Um… How should we connect it to the incubator? I can’t see the specimen’s mouth. I’m not sure we’ll even be able to get an IV line in.”

“No solution?”

“I’m sorry. Give me a moment to think—”

The Head of Research waved her hand dismissively, cutting the scientist off. He immediately fell silent. The Head of Research turned her gaze toward me.

“What about the Chief Researcher?”

I thought about it for a moment as well.

“It’s not my specialty, but if I had to guess. First, slowly thaw the specimen to body temperature, then can we introduce artificial amniotic fluid?”

The research team tilted their heads.

“It would take about five minutes to prepare. Standard neonatal incubators can’t hold artificial amniotic fluid. An artificial womb is a different device from a neonatal incubator. So—”

“If I say do it, do it.”

“The equipment could be damaged.”

“You don’t know what’ll happen, and neither do I. But I’m higher up, aren’t I? If something goes wrong, it’s not you who takes responsibility, is it?”

“My apologies.”

“Good. Hurry up and do it.”

I scratched my head. Is there really a reason she has to act like such a madwoman?

****

The experiment proceeded as I had proposed.

“We’ve thawed the specimen and placed it in the neonatal incubator. Thawing solved the problem. I question whether the incubator was even necessary.”

“Good work.”

The Head of Research nodded.

“For now, we observe. You said the specimen is at five months gestation, so assuming it goes to full term, we’ll need to wait four months before we see results.”

“…”

“Head of Research, medically speaking, there are records of premature infants at four months gestation surviving in neonatal incubators. We can’t be complacent.”

Lee Seah thought for a moment, but this time she seemed to judge it a fair point and nodded.

“Let’s wait and see. If nothing happens—”

BANG!

The neonatal incubator toppled to the floor.

I aimed my gun at it.

“Step back.”

I raised my hands the way I had seen in the Garden.

BANG!

The lab’s steel door swung open, and soldiers carrying flamethrowers aimed their weapons at the incubator. But if a demon had truly been summoned, it wouldn’t end with just this.

There was no way a pistol could kill it.

“Stand by to fire.”

The Head of Research shouted from beside me. I lined up the incubator in my sights. Next to me, the Head of Research drew her pistol as well.

“Something’s moving!”

“Hold your aim and fall back!”

Something crawled up onto the incubator.

“Popo?”

“…”

A lump of soft-looking light brown fur sat on top of the incubator. It was round overall, with an impression not all that different from a puppy.

“Head of Research. Do you know what that is?”

“Do you?”

“It looks safe, though.”

“How do you know whether it’s safe or not?”

The Head of Research, Lee Seah, furrowed her brow.

“Anyone want to go grab it?”

“I’d rather not.”

Well, no help for it. I opened my mouth.

“I’ll secure the anomaly myself. So… what exactly should I do?”

“There’s no special method. Go grab it.”

I couldn’t just open fire when we didn’t even know what that thing was, and I couldn’t think of any equipment that would let us secure it safely.

Should I go fetch a cage?

“Director. Step back. I’ll handle it.”

The soldier who had been guarding the lab spoke up.

“Please do. Thank you.”

The soldier slowly slung his weapon, then reached out and carefully lifted the lump of fur. The lump just smiled without any resistance.

“Good work. It doesn’t look dangerous. Please move it to the Macrobiology Division lab.”

“Ah, understood.”

“Does your hand hurt or anything?”

“No.”

The anomaly born from the experiment just now didn’t look dangerous at all. If anything, it looked like nothing more than a cute puppy.

The horrifying monster we’d seen earlier was nowhere to be found.

“We don’t know what problems might arise, so I’ll call in a task force here for escort for now.”

Lee Seah nodded.

***

We burst through the door of the Macrobiology Division lab alongside the task force. The Macrobiology Division staff nearly jumped out of their skins the moment they saw us.

“Containment cell! Prepare the containment cell!”

“Chief Researcher! What’s going on—”

“Prepare the containment cell, please!”

I gestured to the soldier standing beside me. He showed off the problematic lump of fur to the Macrobiology Division scientists.

“We’ll prepare the containment cell right away. Head of Research — I can see it’s an anomalous organism, but do you happen to know any known characteristics?”

“Not a clue.”

“Ah.”

“It seems safe, for now.”

“The containment cell is this way!”

This was the Macrobiology containment containment cell. The soldier set the lump of fur down inside the containment cell, then walked out with a look of unease on his face.

The containment cell door closed.

“Chief Researcher. Now that the anomalous organism is contained, would you care to explain what’s going on?”

I nodded.

“This is the complete state of Anomaly P-3030. We took the fetus out of the patient’s body, froze it, and cultured it — and this is what came out.”

The research staff frowned.

“…”

“That’s horrifying. Why on earth did you thaw it?”

There wasn’t any particular reason.

“It was just an experiment.”

“Well, thank you anyway. We’ll run a thorough examination on that anomalous organism and confirm whether it has any dangerous properties.”

I nodded.

“Are invasive tests prohibited?”

“They are.”

That thing might turn out to be a friendly anomaly. I couldn’t just kill it in the name of examination.

***

[Anomaly P-3030]

[Antichrist]

[Risk Class: Unknown]

[Classification: phenomenon-type anomaly]

[This document has been significantly revised. The revision history of this document is attached in a separate file. Restoration may be requested.]

[Anomaly P-3030 is an anomalous organism sharing similarities with mammals such as dogs and cats. Its exact nature has not been determined.]

[Anomaly P-3030 possesses an unusual effect that makes nearby people happy. The reason is not precisely known. It is believed to be non-dangerous, but it will undergo further examination by the Medical Division and the Cognitohazard Research Section.]

[Contrary to concerns, this anomaly appears to be completely safe to humans. It does not seem to be the kind of anomaly that harms people.]

[Of course, further testing is required. No tests have been conducted yet, and research on this anomaly is still ongoing.]

[Radiography results confirm that the internal structure of this anomaly’s adult form is similar to that of a dog. No traces of the grotesque, teratoma-like appearance it had before reaching adulthood could be found.]

[The brain structure of this anomaly resembles that of a human, and half of the anomaly’s chromosomes are identical to those of its host mother. Setting aside its appearance, it would not be strange to call it the host’s child.]

[Theological, symbolic, and thaumatological analysis attached separately.]

[Postscript. There is no particular reason to attempt this, but it may be possible to teach this anomaly human language. Furthermore, considering the characteristics of high-intelligence anomalous organisms discovered in the past, it may already be capable of speech.]

[Postscript. Spoke several basic words.]

[Postscript. The first discovered instance of Anomaly P-3030 was named Popo at the request of the field research team.]

****

[Regarding Popo]

[Filed by: Dr. Geum]

[To the Macrobiology Division of the Research Department. Thank you for your hard work in preparing the report.]

[The anomaly report you resubmitted shows clear signs of having been written rather hastily. I apologize for saying so, but since this is a document that must be sent to Foundation Headquarters, might I suggest rewriting it?]

[I have heard that this anomaly is not dangerous, and that the scientists of the Research Department have named it Popo. That seems amusing.]

[It does look cute, but I believe we should avoid becoming overly emotionally invested in it. Updates on this matter are required.]

[If any additional information regarding this anomaly comes to light, please report it to me as soon as possible. Thank you.]