BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Major Fischer was walking along New Alexandria's hospital's corridors in search of room 584. He had been sent there to talk to a soldier who was recently attacked by a group of thaids.

The man lost consciousness as soon as he arrived back in the city, so he didn't have the time to report what happened. However, things were severe as his whole team had been killed.

As the man arrived, he found in front of him a man lying on a bed with a missing arm and various severe injuries. The soldier was waiting for a healing treatment. He hoped the army would have been kind enough to hire a healer to make his limb grow back.

The problem was that growing limbs back was arduous, and many healers asked for astronomical amounts of money to perform such a procedure. Besides, there weren't many people with enough power and expertise willing to do this, so getting his arm back wasn't simple. The army didn't want to spend a lot of money to regrow an arm when they could have simply given the man a cheap mechanical arm.

The treatment consisted in generating a second arm from a sample tissue taken from the patient, which was then attached to him. The process itself was very complex, and what the general public knew about it was that the arm was both attached and grown thanks to brain crystal powers.

"Soldier, Report," Major Fischer said once he saw him.

As soon as the man saw his superior, he made a military salute with the arm that he still had. "Ranger Smith reporting, sir…" the soldier replied with a sickly and pained voice.

Fischer raised an eyebrow before looking around carefully to see if anyone could hear them talking.

"Speak, soldier, what exactly happened to your squad?"

The group had been stationed outside the barrier to kill as many thaids as possible. In theory, this should have been easy since the strongest thaids had already been killed around the city. Yet, something was able to kill a group of well-trained soldiers. They weren't talking about the horde's thaids but the ones surrounding the city.

Ranger Smith looked down sadly while answering. "Well… sir, we had been attacked…" he explained.

He paused to take a deep breath before continuing.

"By Leylarhads!"

"Leylarhads?" the major said.

Unfortunately, attacks made by thaids out of their habitats often happened in the last month, and the HQ was trying to figure out why. Major Fischer was in charge of this particular task, and that's why he went so far as to personally interrogate the soldier.

Previously, Leylarhad attacks weren't just infrequent around the city; they were almost non-existent, as they lived far in the east.

"Describe it to me," Major Fischer asked resolutely.

"The pack was huge, sir, and they were taking advantage of other thaids," the soldier replied.

That was a common tactic of this beast. They were highly intelligent creatures and used tactics for hunting different creatures. Such a group of thaids around there was a problem since the city had to employ stronger soldiers around the borders, inevitably reducing the number of available soldiers near the horde.

The officer then discussed the encounter and the mission failure with the soldier and noted down what he said. He had to report to his superiors. After fifteen minutes of talking, the conversation ended, and the major left the man to rest.

"Thanks for your hard work, soldier," Major Fischer said and then quickly left the room after having wished ranger Smith a good rest and a quick recovery.

He had a thoughtful look, which also showed all his worry. It didn't matter that the city sent an extensive group of soldiers to cull the monster population. The number of creatures didn't want to decrease, and the situation was getting worse since many more thaids traveled west as time passed.

A car was waiting for the major to take him elsewhere, to a building situated in the western district. This was a very important place since a lot of the scientists studying thaids worked there.

As soon as he arrived, he jumped out of the car and walked inside a building. He was going toward lab 114. It took only five more minutes until he got there. As soon as he entered the laboratory, he noticed everything was quiet.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" No one answered. That was strange because typically someone was usually there. However, after searching a little bit more, the major found a man standing while examining a blood sample in the microscope. He was the guy that Fischer was searching for.

It was Professor Derr Xilion, an eminence in the thaid field in New Alexandria.

"Derr?" The major said.

"Oh, sorry, James, I didn't hear you!"

The doctor and thaid expert were tasked to understand what was happening around the city. Probably, there was a beast that was pushing the other thaids west, but only an expert could really understand what was going on.

"Sorry for coming to you this late, but I need to talk to you. Have you perhaps found out something?" Major Fischer asked.

"You don't have to worry, James. I understand your state of concern, and I'd rather say I'm starting to be concerned myself." Derr replied.

"What makes you say so?" the military man asked.

"Well, this blood sample you sent me and all the other body samples I examined throughout the month shows what I feared is coming true. There is an Heniate in the east," The doctor said.

"An Heniate?" Major Fischer said.

"Indeed..."

This thaid was a small worm with a brain crystal power that allowed it to birth mind-controlling insects. These insects made eggs and made their host develop a system to inject these eggs into the bloodstream of the victims they bit.

"I found out that all the thaids you brought here to the laboratory were full of parasite eggs, " he concluded with a huge sigh and then turned again to look at the blood sample he was examining.

"This doesn't explain why there has not been a decrease in the number of creatures this month," Major Fischer added.

"Indeed. I do not have an explanation for this. There is something else at work; are you sure these beasts don't come from Etrium?" The doctor asked.

"It could, to be honest, but we haven't found any evidence about it," Major Fischer said.

"In my opinion, the Heniate is what is mainly pushing the thaids out of their habitat. It is known to be a very aggressive and territorial beast, after all. However, it has already infected several thaids inside the horde, and I bet that it won't take long before the whole horde is infected. Besides, the contagion is also starting to affect the city's surroundings," The doctor concluded.

"And then..." He took out the blood sample from the machine, and inside of it were now clearly visible some little yellow-white eggs, almost as little as dust.

"And then what?" Major Fischer asked.

"It will attack the city. The beast's power relies on spreading its worms, so it will attack this place, hoping to infect us humans; we are a lot, after all. Can you imagine how much power it will gain if it manages to do so? However, this is not an if problem, but a when one. Judging by the speed at which the Heniate infects other life forms, it is probably true that most of the horde has already been infected. So it is just a matter of time after all." Professor Derr said.

"So, what do we do now?" Fischer asked.

"Well, we must repel the thaids which had been pushed here by the Heniate. I suggest killing all the surrounding thaids, especially the infected ones. This is to prevent the further spreading of the contagion," Professor Derr said.

The conversation continued until both the men had nothing more to say. They were strangely in tune with each other and enjoyed the company. However, the major's face darkened as he talked to the professor, given what he told him. Since there wasn't anything else to say, Fischer decided it was time to head back to his office.

"Thanks for your hard work, Derr," Major Fischer said.

"You don't have to thank me, James. It's my work, after all," the doctor replied

"We are not done, though…" The doctor said. "There is something else I need to show you…