Weapon System in Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 150: Deep Research on the Possible New Threat Part 1

The corridor leading to the MOA Complex's subterranean laboratory was brightly lit, sterile, and cold in contrast to the infected world above. Phillip stepped through the final checkpoint, his boots echoing against the reinforced floor tiles as two internal security guards opened the blast doors without a word. Beyond them, the lab was already alive with motion.

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Inside, technicians moved in silent urgency—biosuit-clad figures shifting between containment hoods, cryogenic freezers, and digital analysis banks. The air buzzed faintly from the oscillating hum of filtration systems. On the left wall, a half-dozen high-resolution displays played thermal footage of the Bloom Nest. On another, a constant feed of bio-data scrolled vertically in rapid green script.

Thomas was already there.

He stood near the observation window, arms crossed, visor helmet clipped to his belt. Dr. Delgado, Overwatch's lead biochemist, was finishing a briefing with his assistants when he noticed Phillip enter.

"You're just in time," hhe said, voice muffled slightly through his respirator. "We've started primary analysis."

Thomas turned, nodding once. "What did you bring us?"

Phillip stepped forward and placed a hard-sealed canister on the central table. "Biomass, atmospheric samples, a cross-section from the pod's external membrane. All secured from the upper root cluster. Shadow-6's knife corroded on contact. We suspect the acidity is active, not inert."

Delgado motioned to a nearby bench. "Let's see what this thing is made of."

He keyed in a command, and one of the robotic arms within a sealed class-IV isolation chamber began to manipulate the interior tools. The canister hissed open inside, exposing the opaque sample jar nested within. The robotic arm retrieved it delicately, placing it on a dissection tray.

Thomas stepped closer to the glass.

The sample itself looked inert—reddish-orange with a fibrous jelly consistency. But even through the protective chamber, they could see it twitch faintly.

"It's still alive," Phillip noted.

"More accurately," Delgado said, tapping on his tablet, "it's metabolically active. We ran a bioelectricity pass earlier—this thing's producing voltage, which means it's powering something internally. Possibly a pseudo-organ network. Similar to a fungal mycelium, but far more complex."

"Is it a parasite?" Thomas asked.

"Not in the traditional sense," Delgado said. "It doesn't hijack host biology. It seems to recreate its own systems independently. That puts it somewhere between a fungal growth and an engineered biomass colony."

He activated the spectrometer next, feeding a sliver of tissue into the chamber. The machine hissed and clicked before a readout displayed a cocktail of unknown protein chains, hybrid DNA sequences, and volatile enzyme markers.

Phillip leaned in. "Any of that human?"

Delgado frowned. "Fragments. Yes. But... distorted. Almost spliced with viral RNA. It's like someone reverse-engineered cellular evolution and hard-coded mutation pathways into the genes."

"You're saying it's artificial," Thomas said.

"I'm saying it didn't come from nature," he clarified. "Someone—or something—designed this. And not just for infection. Look here."

He flicked a data overlay onto the screen. A heatmap of internal reactions glowed red around the periphery of the biomass.

"This section here? It's photosensitive. The pod is absorbing ambient UV and converting it into energy. It's not just feeding off corpses or decay. It's solar-reactive."

Phillip straightened. "That explains the rooftop growth."

Thomas narrowed his gaze. "How dangerous is it?"

"Extremely," Delgado replied. "The spore particles we extracted are highly mutagenic. When we exposed a rodent sample to it, the cellular structure began breaking down and reforming within minutes. We couldn't even identify the resulting tissue."

"Is it contagious?" Phillip asked.

"Not through brief exposure," Delgado said. "But prolonged inhalation or fluid contact? Definitely. It doesn't just infect. It rewrites."

Thomas turned to the second containment hood where a bloodied sample of the pod's surface fluid was now being tested under magnetic resonance imaging. The 3D model displayed twisting, fractal-like vein patterns that seemed to adapt even as the software tried to lock in a morphology.

"It's responding to our instruments," Delgado murmured. "That shouldn't be possible."

"Intelligent?" Thomas asked flatly.

"More like reactive," he said. "But it learns. Or mimics."

Phillip crossed his arms. "The EM pulses?"

Delgado tapped another screen, displaying a wave graph. "They're cyclical. A pulsed frequency every thirty-eight seconds. Low band, below most wireless detection. But strong enough to interfere with drone signals."

"Could it be communicating?" Thomas asked.

"Possibly," he replied. "Or syncing across multiple nests."

That made the room quiet.

Phillip finally stepped away from the monitors, dragging a hand across his jaw. "This is more than a bloom site. It's an evolving network."

"And it's learning," Delgado added.

Thomas exhaled through his nose. "We need to act before this thing spreads further. Let's run some tests. See if we can destroy it through conventional means."

Delgado looked up from the console, his expression tense but focused. "You want to destroy part of it? We can simulate a micro-response with the tissue we have. But if it behaves like a hive mind, even isolated reactions might trigger broader responses."

"That's exactly what I want to know," Thomas said. "How it reacts under stress. Fire, acid, directed EMP, even cryogenic shock. If we can find a weakness, we use it before this thing goes city-wide."

"I'll need clearance for controlled tests," Delgado warned. "We're talking volatile biologicals, and we have limited containment redundancy in the lab's lower wing."

Thomas turned to Marcus over comms. "Redirect power to Lab Subsection C. Authorize test chamber isolation. I want priority shielded containment online within ten."

"On it," Marcus replied.

Delgado gestured toward the robotic arms still suspended over the pod sample. "We'll start with incendiary. If that fails, we step up to enzymatic acid. If that doesn't do it, we bring out the cryo." he turned to a pair of technicians. "Prep the injection array and prime the flame rig."

Phillip stood back, watching as the team sealed the test chamber and locked in the first sequence. The bloom sample twitched slightly, unaware of what was coming.

Or maybe not.

Because just before the flame arm ignited… the biomass pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

As if it knew.

Thomas's jaw tightened.

"Begin," he ordered.

The tests were about to start.