Chapter 3 – Outcomes and Costs
Even a man as strong as Urban needs to rest, especially after miles upon miles of wandering without much food or water. While walking through the ruins of what appears to be a research facility made into a farm with various vegetables growing in the fields and a nearby well. Judging by the tracts of feet and tires on the ground, it appears that people got out of here in a hurry. A lone man steps out of the facility with two extra arms and feet and an extra face. He stumbles to Urban and speaks in a jumbled way that even the man himself can’t understand as he struggles to form proper words. The man starts to cry and kneels before Urban with his hands in a praying form as if begging to be put out of his misery.
Seeing that the man needs help, Urban takes off his cloak and wraps the man in it. He says a blessing and puts his cloak back on. The man is now healed and looks like a normal human being.
“A thousand thanks to you!” the man says while crying tears of joy.
“You’re welcome. What happened around here?”
“I don’t know. I just happened to come across this place while looking for a good place to settle down after my home was destroyed by bandits. Don’t go in there. There are monsters in there that appear to be human but aren’t. They did things to me that changed me into the abomination that you saw me as.”
“That is the purpose I was brought here for then. Go south from here and you will come across a small town of people. Mention my name, Urban, and they will gladly take care of you.”
“Thank you a thousand times more, but what purpose were you brought here for?”
“To bring the wrath of God.”
Upon entering the building, Urban can imagine how advanced humanity was decades ago. Even though they are broken, the large screens, flickering holograms, and inactive robotic workers impress him. He wonders to himself how humanity became so evil after creating such wonderful inventions. While going further into the facility, he catches a glimpse as to why. His reading capability is basic, but he can read the normal words of each department. This place appears to have been a testing facility to evolve humanity to obtain immortality. There are various certificates and observing stations to see the experiments, so this place wasn’t hiding anything when it was operational. People came here knowing that other people were being experimented on for their benefit.
Shadows in the dimly lit building start darting around, which puts Urban on his guard. In one part of the facility, the experiments seem to be still going on. Blood and various body parts liter this area with some bodies being operated on by automatic machinery. Most of the machinery is operating on dead bodies while few of them are operating on people who slowly become mutated or are mutated.
At the end of a large hallway lies the source of the renewed experiments. A man in an old scientist’s coat is working on putting together several living bodies together so they’re put together like a centipede. The man senses Urban and takes off his mask and headwear to reveal eyes all around the top of his head. He then shrieks loud enough to stun Urban. The mad scientist then ram attacks him exposing his centipede body made with over twenty still living bodies. One and even five punches aren’t enough to put this abomination down since it regenerates its body parts back.
Seeing that Urban can barely fight back, the abomination widens its mouth until its jaws block the entire hallway. It then completely swallows him and condenses its body to digest him, but Urban doesn’t give up. It’s been years since he’s been pushed to his limits and this awakens a hidden excitement within him. Urban begins to punch his way out of the abomination as it continuously tries to digest him. He attacks faster with every punch until the point where it can no longer regenerate and explodes into pieces from Urban’s vicious attacks. In just ten seconds, Urban threw a hundred punches. After being challenged for the first time in a while, he calms himself down before heading off to the next part of the facility.
Sounds of strange moaning draw him towards the other of the facility. This particular research wing is covered in flesh covered androids that convulse while leaking out strange liquids. Most of the people here appear to be alive, but they’re in a kind of euphoric pain that drains them of their ability to move or even scream. A spider-like web that drips a sticky liquid binds them to the walls and ceiling. One of the androids come to life and drops down from the ceiling. It’s a large thin naked woman who crawls on her hands and feet. She’s as big as the hallway because of the added length to its legs, arms, and body. Her throat expands like a frog’s and a thick fog comes out.
This fog doesn’t harm Urban physically, but his senses are dulled. He feels a certain hotness as his sight blurs and contorts until the spider-like woman becomes beautiful in his eyes. She seductively walks to him while enticing him to walk to her. He does so as the woman’s arms break apart into multiple arms like some kind of spike trap. Before he can enter into her arms, he forms his hand into a fist and punches one inch in front of him. Nothing happens for a second, but then a huge gust of wind tears through the mutated woman and everything around them. Urban took all of the pent-up energy within him and released it in a single attack.
An android man approaches Urban from behind and says, “I was wondering who was making all of this noise.”
“Who are you?”
“No one you should concern yourself with. I’m glad you got rid of those two. They didn’t know what they were doing and let their motivation to help people blind them. What was that old saying? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions?”
“Something like that.”
“In any case, I must thank you man of God. Now, if you’ll please bless this place so it can be purified. We can use the technology from the past-”
“This isn’t technology from the past. It’s an imitation of it.”
“Even so-”
“This place is evil. It was made for evil and sin flows through every wire and light source. Leave here along with whatever dreams you might have for it. The lives saved by its technology will never outweigh the bloodshed to do so.”
“But it will be different this time!”
“That’s what they all say.”
The android man presses a button and the leftover flesh from the two people from before converge on him to form a monster with three bodies and a long centipede torso with spider legs. Its body is nearly indestructible and the pheromones it secretes hampers Urban’s movements. The abominations attacks are quick and hit hard. With not too many options, Urban decides to do what he originally planned to. He runs for the power source of the facility and destroys it. His fists are covered with a liquid fire that was powering the facility. Despite the intense heat, he doesn’t feel a thing.
“That wasn’t part of the plan, but this’ll work,” Urban says to himself.
He fights the abomination with his fists of fire that dissolve the monster until it can no longer regenerate or move.
“I’ll let you burn to death. It might help you get used to the fires of Hell.”
Urban leaves the facility as it burns down. A large truck with three people in it come to the facility with extraction tools and storage containers.
One of them says, “What happened here?”
“Leave. Everything in there is going back to the fires that made it.”
“We can’t! We-”
“If you want it so badly, I’ll deliver you there.”
Urban throws the three people into the fire. Looking into the truck, he sees that the keys are still in the ignition switch.
“Is it possible for me to drive the truck instead of walking for another dozen members?”
Something in the facility explodes and a piece of flying debris destroys the truck, but some of the food and water in it come out unscathed.
“…At least there’s that. But can I set my fists on fire at will or…Ow! I guess that was only a once in a lifetime thing.”
With a few refreshments, Urban heads back out on the road on foot to keep walking miles on end as he should.
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