She adjusted the researcher's white lab coat, making sure it covered the cloth doll hanging at her waist.
Maki took the lead, stepping into the [Analysis Workshop], a large research lab located on one side of the base. She quickly noticed a sign posted next to the entrance.
It seemed to list some of the regulations for this laboratory.
[Analysis Workshop Notice]
[1. This laboratory is responsible for analyzing cavern rock samples extracted by remotely-operated machinery. All mechanical equipment may only be used by personnel with sufficient experience and must be operated in accordance with the corresponding usage regulations. In case of improper operation, you will be held responsible.]
[2. Ensure that there are two or more researchers present when working in the Analysis Workshop. No individual may remain in the workshop alone.]
[3. Do not eat or drink in the laboratory. Do not smoke or engage in other personal matters unrelated to experiments. Do not bring irrelevant or unapproved personnel into the Analysis Workshop.]
[4. Keep the laboratory clean and tidy. The laboratory must be cleaned at least once daily. Waste residue from the analysis area must be collected and disposed of in this area's dedicated incinerator. Any strange sounds produced during this process need not be regarded.]
[5. Specific lab attire must be worn when entering the Analysis Workshop. This lab attire must not be taken out of the Analysis Workshop.]
[6. All researchers participating in work in the Analysis Workshop must undergo a scheduled psychological evaluation once daily. Samples extracted from this site contain specific hallucinogenic substances, and the mental health of all researchers must be ensured.]
[7. If traces of blood, clothing fragments, or similar items are discovered during the sample sorting stage, please initiate the Level 2 contingency plan and temporarily leave the Analysis Workshop. No one may remain in the workshop at this time. You may only return after the Level 2 contingency plan has automatically concluded.]
[8. If biological signals are detected from a sample during the analysis stage, the Level 1 contingency plan (also known as the emergency procedure) must be initiated immediately to proceed with the containment protocol for transfer to the cryo-zone. After this plan is initiated, you must leave the Analysis Workshop immediately and must not remain in the workshop.]
[9. If, during your work, you see anything that should not be in the workshop, such as mangled human anatomy, a person begging you for help, or rescue team members in swollen clothes, you are already experiencing deep hallucinatory symptoms. At this point, you must activate the Level 1 contingency plan and remain in the Analysis Workshop.]
[10. Your identity is that of a researcher at the Cavern Base. Do not neglect your identity; do not misjudge your own identity.]
The contents of this notice were quite simple, seemingly a detailed supplement to Rule 3 of the researcher's regulations. Maki read through it carefully, then Kaguya came over and read it just as thoroughly. The two girls exchanged a glance before cautiously proceeding deeper into the lab.
Whirr—whirr—
The room's automatic sensors lit up one after another upon their arrival, fully illuminating the previously dim laboratory.
At this moment, the laboratory was empty, with only machines operating automatically.
After putting on the special uniform for the Analysis Workshop over her researcher's lab coat, Maki entered the lab's interior and saw the stones placed in large containers. The rocks seemed to have been extracted by some automated machinery in the isolated area. They didn't look particularly special, appearing to be just ordinary stones. But considering the strangeness of this place and the contents of the notice she just read, Maki felt it was best not to get too close to them.
"Level 1 contingency plan and Level 2 contingency plan, huh?"
Kaguya, who had also changed and walked in, looked at two buttons next to the console. They were set apart: a light red button and a blood-red one. The former was the activation button for the [Level 2 Contingency Plan], the latter for the [Level 1 Contingency Plan]. The two girls had no information about the specific details of these plans; it seemed the writers of these regulations and notices didn't want the researchers to know too much.
"We can leave once we complete the basic procedure one time. Let's get this over with quickly."
Maki whispered, walking up beside Kaguya, then pressed a button on the control platform in the center of the lab.
Whirr—
Amidst the vibration of the machinery, a platform at the edge of the lab rose, revealing rocks of various sizes placed upon it. Then, a large container descended, loaded these rocks, and began moving them along a conveyor belt, soon feeding them into a large instrument.
Maki then walked to another area on the other side of the lab and pulled down a lever. Two more instruments started up on their own, and a dull, rhythmic thudding began to vibrate throughout the entire laboratory, as steady and powerful as a human heartbeat.
Having already seen the standard procedure document in Maki's hands when they came in, Kaguya didn't linger by the main control panel. She followed to another area of the lab and pressed the start button on a large instrument, after which the sound of something being crushed echoed through the lab.
Pushing buttons, pulling levers—the so-called work of a researcher seemed to be just that.
It was as if this repetitive process was meant to wear down a person's ability to think. Kaguya mused that if the original researchers who joined this base were like this, just pushing buttons day after day, perhaps when the day came that they needed to press the buttons for the so-called Level 1 or 2 contingency plans, they would do so without hesitation.
But that was just a conjecture with no evidence.
Proceeding with caution, the two encountered no anomalies after completing one standard procedure.
It seemed this place, unlike the Shirakawa Apartments, wasn't going to hit them with a deadly opening gambit.
"Let's go."
After receiving an automatically printed report and pressing the button for automatic waste disposal, Maki glanced at it. She breathed a small sigh of relief upon confirming the report contained no mention of 'biological signals detected,' then gestured for Kaguya to leave the lab with her.
The stones that had undergone preliminary analysis were already stored on one side of the workshop. It looked as if hundreds of different samples were already piled up there, all of them various types of rocks placed in transparent glass containers.
For a moment, Kaguya thought she saw the rocks tremble slightly.
As if they were alive.
But as soon as the thought appeared, the girl quickly suppressed it. She tried hard not to think about anything related to it, maintaining her mental composure. She took off the outer coat and silently followed Maki out of the laboratory.
The moment before the heavy door closed behind them, the faint sound of crying could be heard.
However, Kaguya, who had deliberately shifted her attention, only caught a tiny bit of the sound before the door cut it off.
"Next, we have to submit this report to the office. After that, we'll have three hours of free time before we have to return to the dormitory area."
Walking ahead of Kaguya, Maki spoke in a low voice, her expression very solemn.
What they had to do next was make contact with the other people here—to interact with those who were very likely anomalies playing the part of humans.
These beings were clearly dead and gone, yet under the power of the horror story, they acted like living people, able to talk and think. This reminded both Maki and Kaguya of Xusheng, the special existence in the Shirakawa Apartments. The difference, however, was that Xusheng knew his true identity and retained his self-awareness, to the point where he could even help the survivors of the Shirakawa Apartments. The anomalous beings here, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten what happened to them under the influence of some power, repeating the moments before their deaths in a manner akin to a [performance].
From that perspective, perhaps they were more like the parents from Room 304?
Lost in thought, the two had already gone up the stairs, heading toward the 2nd floor of the research area.
Although it was called the 2nd floor, judging by the height, it was actually the 3rd. It seemed there was some kind of connecting passage between the 1st-floor Analysis Workshop and the research area, which occupied the space between the 1st and 2nd floors, inadvertently adding some height to the building.
And just as the two girls reached the second floor via the staircase, a tall man dressed as a researcher, though his attire was clearly more refined, was standing in the hallway as if waiting for their arrival.
"Is the new analysis report ready?"
The man's voice was frigid.
"It is. Please review it, Professor Forneng."
Maki calmly handed the report over, her tone just as level as she read the name from his badge.
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