BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1270: A wicked place (7)

They saw how the bugs had integrated broken walls and collapsed ceilings as foundations for their hive.

Old equipment was buried under the nest material that the bugs were amassing all over the place. Some old warning signs were still visible through holes in the covering or part where the bugs didn't use the nesting material on.

Despite how much the bugs had changed the building, the clones could still see what it used to look like. The old security doors were still there, though they were rusty and stuck open. The bugs had used their nest material to attach these doors to the walls.

These small and big things suggested the facility was designed to sustain wars, or at least deal with high-powered stuff, thaids and ancient animals included. Based on the information they had about Silver Line Corporation, whatever was contained here must have been some form of proto-thaid.

Now those same security measures served the bugs' purposes, turning the facility into a fortress. Their fortress.

The clones spotted movement—several worker thaids scuttling through the corridors, carrying materials for nest maintenance, or so it seemed. Instinctively, the clones pressed themselves against the ceiling.

The bugs went past them, moving their feelers to check for anything unusual. The clones kept still—they knowing that if they moved their wings even a bit, the bugs would sense the movement.

After some time waiting for the bugs that lingered around, the last of the workers disappeared around a corner and moved deeper into the hive.

"Phew…"

"Damn, I thought they were going to camp here!"

"Let's move," one of them said. "Those fuckers made us lose a lot of time already."

The clones went deeper inside the building. Navigating the facility's maze-like corridors and darting through the gaps in the organic covering separating some of the rooms.

Some passages opened into large chambers where worker thaids completed their tasks, some others went into rooms where the warriors rested, and others where the leaders ate.

"This place is weird," one clone said with its tiny fly-modified mouth. "The thaids' modifications to the structure seem too... purposeful."

"Why?"

"I don't know... It's just a feeling. The way they're layering the organic material, how they're placing their reinforcements. It's more calculated than what we typically see in nests of this type."

"I have the same feeling," another said.

The clones didn't like feeling that way, and they liked even less how organized the thaids looked. Besides, the monsters were seemingly reinforcing the nest more and more.

"Do you think it's because of us?"

"It can be," another clone said. However, it was entirely possible these were normal maintenance routines. That, or something bigger and deadly, was threatening the nest.

"They're focusing on load-bearing points," one of the clones said, studying some fresh nesting material being applied to a wall.

"You mean they understand structural engineering?"

"Why not?" the second clone said. "They are very good at sensing weakness in structures. Like how termites know where to build support columns."

"The real question is," another clone said, "Are they preparing because of us? These reinforcements look defensive to me."

"You think they're expecting an attack?"

"I do," the clone said. "But it might not be because of us. Something worse than our group can be in these tunnels. While coming here, I saw they were sealing off the deeper sections."

"So, whatever's down there, they want to keep it safe."

"Maybe it's their eggs. They must be able to reproduce somehow."

The clones paused their discussion as a warrior, or guards, as they called them, marched past. Once it moved on, the first clone spoke again.

The guard's eyes changed color from green to amber as it looked around. The clones stayed still and flat against the ceiling, not moving their wings until the guard left.

"We should follow the reinforcement pattern. It might lead us to what they're trying to protect—or hide."

The others agreed, and they resumed their exploration, watching the workers with more and more interest as the bug-like thaids continued the preparations.

Soon, they found themselves inside a lab. It lay behind a half-collapsed doorway. There was ancient equipment lining the walls, covered in layers of dust and nest material. It looked like there were some huge glass tanks, but most of them were broken, while others had been covered with the nest material.

There were also smaller glass holders containing what the clones assumed were ancient animals being preserved in formaldehyde. Some of them had broken long ago, and their content was long gone.

"There is a security checkpoint ahead," one clone said. They approached a heavy steel door hanging off its hinges.

Weapon racks lined the walls. Most were empty, though a few still held rusted rifles.

One clone landed on a rusted rifle barrel. "RS-115 Pulse Rifles. These were pretty powerful weapons centuries ago."

Another clone moved to inspect a different weapon rack. "The Silver Line Corporation manufactured these." Their logo was on every single piece of equipment.

"Didn't these cost more than a soldier's yearly wages back then? Or am I misremembering?"

"No, you are right. I remember it too."

A third clone examined the ammunition storage units embedded in the walls. "This technology matches the era when thaids first emerged."

The clones pondered in silence, imagining the terror and desperation of the humans who once wielded these weapons had to feel when they learned they didn't work against thaids, at least not all of them.

Despite their advanced technology, they had failed. The thaids proved too strong, too many, and too adaptable.

Besides, humanity learned about the natural mana barrier thaids had much later. At the beginning, they only saw them resisting their most powerful weapons.

"There was basically nothing the soldiers in these caves could have done to save themselves."

"I know Silver Line Corporation was powerful and operated in legal gray areas, but isn't it odd that they had weapons here?" a clone said.

"These weren't standard military issue. Only special response teams carried them."

"Not that weird if you think about it. This is a military-grade base."

"Ok, but even if it was, if they had to deal with humans, the weapons they used could have been less powerful and, for sure, less costly. It looks like they expected to have to deal with something those weapons wouldn't work against."

The clones moved along the racks, noting the distinctive designs of each weapon. One stopped at a large rifle. "This model... it was specifically designed to pierce the tank's armor. They knew what they were fighting, more or less."

"Or what they created," another clone said. "But if this is the case, wouldn't it have been better for them to have something to stun or tranquilize the monster? They would lose millions if they killed the whatever creature they were breeding here."

"Yeah," another said. "Besides, the bugs could have built their nest anywhere. Why here? Something must be here."

A worker thaid shuffled past the doorway. The clones pressed themselves against the darkest corners until it passed.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

"Master Erik needs to know about this," one clone said. "I think we will be able to find out a lot here."

Nest material was tightly woven through what remained of the security gate, forming a solid barrier that glowed with a blue light.

"They use the fungi…"