Chapter 98: How to Kill a God (３)

****

I squinted.

The temperature in the containment wing dropped five degrees in ten seconds. If it kept falling at this rate, everyone would freeze to death within minutes.

I pulled my lab coat tighter, but the containment wing had already turned as cold as a midwinter blizzard in an instant. Frost was starting to form everywhere.

“Dr. Chae! What’s going on?”

“Reality distortion field readings are rising!”

“Evacuate!”

I didn’t know what was happening, but it seemed like something serious.

“Everyone evacuate except essential personnel!”

It’s common for the temperature around a chant to drop, but… I’d never seen it get cold enough to frost over like this. Dr. Chae was leaning against her staff. Probably the onset of hypothermia.

“Dr. Chae! Fall back!”

Dr. Chae collapsed.

She’d die at this rate. I ran as fast as I could toward the Supermassive Division’s control room. Among the equipment, the containment cell gear—there should be a flamethrower—

Fortunately, it was right there in plain sight.

But how do I use this thing…?

There should be a manual somewhere. Judging by the weight of the flamethrower, the fuel tank seemed full. I slung the flamethrower onto my back.

The nozzle gripped like a gun. Everything seemed connected. I shouldered the flamethrower and checked the firing mechanism. Press the fuel lever at the back, pull the trigger at the front, and it ignites—

FWOOSH.

Ow, shit.

The flamethrower belched fire, and the control room desk caught flame. The control room wasn’t really the priority right now, though. I pulled the fire alarm button in the control room and headed back to the containment wing.

The fire… someone would put it out, right?

Dr. Chae was still lying in front of the control room. Was she even alive? I fired the flamethrower over the prone Dr. Chae.

“Dr. Chae! Get up!”

“Shit, why are you shooting that at me?!”

“If you’re awake, get up!”

Dr. Chae crawled to the side with effort. The flames must have snapped her out of her daze.

I aimed the flamethrower at the monster again. It wouldn’t die from this, of course, but maybe it could stop the temperature drop?

“That thing, it’s still in the process of being sealed—”

“Oh, come on. Just run.”

Whether the flamethrower actually raised the temperature, or someone turned on the heating, I couldn’t tell. The temperature stabilized around seven degrees. I wasn’t cold anyway, thanks to the flamethrower.

I was a bit worried about toxic gas, though. I had a mask on, but still. Were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons flammable? What about carbon tetrachloride?

The monster that hadn’t budged against gunfire reacted to the flames. It didn’t die, but it did hesitate. Black tentacles reached toward me but couldn’t penetrate the fire.

“Dr. Chae.”

Dr. Chae began chanting again.

A fierce wind whipped around Nigurath-1, as if a small tornado had taken root inside the containment wing. The guards fired silver bullets at the monster from a distance beyond the frost’s reach.

“Return to hell!”

BOOM!

The explosion turned the containment wing upside down. Snowflakes and glittering dust covered everything in every direction. I blinked. What on earth just happened…

Ugh.

I looked around again. I’d been thrown back quite a distance. My whole body ached. Something like a desk had shattered behind me…

What happened to the monster? Through the haze, I could only faintly make out a single sphere emitting a dim red glow. The massive monster that had been rampaging moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

I set down the crumpled flamethrower. Was there a flare or a megaphone around? There had to be some way to restore order.

“Dr. Chae!”

Dr. Chae was down. I pulled the earpiece from her ear. She flinched, so she was probably still alive.

Dr. Chae’s earpiece was still connected to the speaker system. Ah, ah. I cleared my throat, and my voice echoed through the entire containment wing.

“Ah, ah. Mic test.”

[Ah, ah. Mic test!]

Still working properly.

[Stop the evacuation!]

[Hold your positions! Anomaly Nigurath-1 has been successfully contained. Hold your positions while we proceed with the recovery of Nigurath-1!]

Ugh, feels like my ribs are broken.

****

All things considered, it seems like a success.

The colossal Nigurath-1 had shrunk down to an egg about a meter in size. No movement. A faint red glow emanated from it, likely due to Dr. Chae’s sealing.

I nudged the egg with my foot. No particular reaction. It just rattled from the kick.

“Dr. Chae. Come take a look.”

“Yes.”

“Was this the goal?”

“No. I didn’t know.”

Dr. Chae pondered for a moment.

“Well… there is a saying, isn’t there. An egg symbolizes an unrealized world. It might be the egg of Abraxas.”

“The egg is the world of the bird. Whoever wishes to be born must first destroy a world—”

Ah, that Abraxas.

“…”

“Someone get this egg moved to safety!”

The facility’s security team in protective suits came running. A forklift and a stretcher moved toward it.

****

The containment cell was prepared far faster than I expected. I thought it would take days.

There is, in fact, a standard method for securing high-risk artifacts like this. The Standard Containment Procedure Manual for High-Grade Object-Type Artifacts.

Suspend it from the ceiling with chains in a containment cell, keep it below freezing like a refrigerator, and carve runic letters into the walls. The containment officer in charge might add something extra depending on their taste.

Depending on the anomaly’s properties, a reality anchor might be installed.

If it emits radiation, the walls might need lead lining. If it needs something ritualistic, there might be salt or gold-thread sealing.

I crossed my arms and stared at the containment cell. Lee Seah was waiting beside me.

“That was prepared awfully fast.”

“It’s a containment cell we already had in use.”

“For what?”

“A dragon egg.”

Wait, what?

“Where did the dragon egg go?”

“We made an omelet and ate it.”

When it sounds like a joke, it’s not a joke.

A thought I have every time I meet Lee Seah. I really ought to check whether anyone has actually seen a giant omelet…

“We’re planning to install an information-blocking barrier in this containment cell. That’s the plan.”

“Is there no way to kill it?”

The Head of Research shook her head.

“We destroyed three chainsaws trying to crack that egg open. Physical destruction seems impossible, so we’re considering submerging it in amnestics to kill it.”

“Understood. Have you tried X-ray, CT, or MRI? It’d be nice to see what’s inside.”

Lee Seah showed me a tablet.

“Right, I should have shown you this first. This is what was inside the egg. The imaging results came out like this.”

I squinted.

“What is that?”

“It’s an egg, so of course there’s a bird inside.”

In the images from all three scans, a crumpled chick-like form appeared. In the MRI, the outline of a bird’s eye seemed to be staring back at me.

“Can you tell what it is?”

“Hard to say. Is there any way to crack it open?”

I thought for a moment.

“Should we bring Nanami’s sword? I think that could definitely cut through the shell.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

Hard to say.

That depends on whether opening that egg is a good idea. I don’t think it is. Though I have to admit, I do feel a bit of a urge to pry it open.

****

[Nigurath-1 Standard Containment Procedure]

[Filed by: Lee Seah]

[Nigurath-1 is currently in the form of an egg roughly the size of a beach ball. Containment procedures are being implemented to prevent it from returning to its original form.]

[Contain using the same method as a dragon egg.]

[Step 1. Nigurath-1 is kept in a transparent acrylic box. This box is secured to the ceiling of the containment cell with multiple chains.]

[Step 2. The temperature of the containment cell is maintained below freezing. Since Nigurath-1 is an anomaly with life-like properties, lowering the temperature may reduce its biological activity.]

[Step 3. Sealing formulas are inscribed around and inside the containment cell. These security formulas are written in runic script by the Foundation’s security specialists.]

[Considerations.]

[The original dragon egg must also be contained using a similar method. For reference, the dragon egg has been transported out in a cryogenic tank at the request of Foundation Headquarters.]

[Weak ionizing radiation originating from the egg has been detected. The levels are not dangerous, but personnel in frequent contact should exercise caution.]

****

[Request for Disciplinary Action Against Lee Seah]

[Filed by: Dr. Kim]

[Submitted to the Human Resources Department.]

[This is not a joke. The Head of Research genuinely made an omelet out of a dragon egg and ate it. The dragon fetus—whatever you’d call it—was sent to the specimen lab.]

[Check the refrigerator in the Head of Research’s office. I’m certain there’s about four kilograms of omelet in there.]

****

[Re: Request for Disciplinary Action Against Lee Seah]

[Filed by: Lee Seah]

[Dr. Kim is under the influence of a cognitohazard. No matter how you look at it, I would never steal an anomaly and make an omelet out of it.]

[Surely no person would do such a thing, would they?]