Chapter 405: The Second Scarlet Experiment |
Night, March 6.
The Human Consortium’s second “Unknown Exploration” experiment was launched at Beixing Space Agency’s observation platform.
Leading the experiment was Zhang Minglu from the Countermeasures Research Office, and experts from other Consortium nations were present.
Zhang Minglu was speaking to the personnel participating in the experiment.
“I previously asked each of you to prepare a safety word. Is everyone ready?”
The test subjects all said they were ready and recited their words one by one.
Zhang Minglu instructed the technicians to record them and set up the trigger logic.
“Soon you will put on specially made safety goggles that have built-in partitions capable of fully blocking vision. If during the test you cannot bear it and shout your safety word, the electronics will trigger and the partition will drop, cutting off visual contact with Scarlet Terra.
“At the same time, our technicians will continuously monitor your brainwave activity for safety. If a technician judges that you are already in extreme danger, I will stop the experiment even if you haven’t shouted the safety word.”
After all, signing up for such a test for the large reward did not mean participants were fearless.
Watching Zhang Minglu’s measures, Finch—the Suroman expert who had led the initial experiment—wore a faint, obvious look of contempt.
He said to a fellow Suroman expert nearby, “Is that the level of Beixing’s experts? Handing the stop switch to the test subject is like giving a mouse the on-off switch for an electronic mousetrap.”
“Indeed… how can the tester hold the power to stop the experiment?” the other expert asked.
Finch snorted and seemed to have forgotten the instructions the Suroman king had given him before arriving. He stepped forward to question Zhang Minglu. “Dr. Zhang, forgive my bluntness, but this only gives the test subjects an opportunity to cheat! If they shout the safety word right at the start, isn’t the experiment over before it begins?”
At that remark, the test subjects glared at him.
Zhang Minglu did not argue with Finch. He adjusted his glasses and calmly said, “Dr. Finch, these test subjects volunteered and have not signed any experiment contracts.”
Finch sneered, “No contract? So what? Aren’t they getting a large reward?”
“Of course there will be a reward. But I trust the responsibility of our test subjects. The fact that they had the courage to sign up shows they trust our official department. We must let them decide for their own safety; they have the right to stop the experiment.”
Finch had no more to say. He still wanted to argue, but this was Beixing, and Zhang Minglu was running the experiment. No amount of clamor would change the arrangement.
“Hmph, then I’ll see what your way yields!”
Finch stepped aside, arms folded, his face showing no confidence.
Compared to him, most experts from other Consortium nations agreed with Zhang Minglu’s setup.
Those who opposed it did not do so as vehemently as Finch.
At that moment, another person was brought in.
Unlike the other test subjects, this woman wore shackles—she was the parasitized individual Guan Tong had captured earlier at the Countermeasures Research Office base.
“You don’t need to set a safety word for it, nor give it the safety goggles,” Zhang Minglu told the technicians. “When it stares at Scarlet Terra, its brainwave activity will certainly differ from normal people. Record carefully.”
The parasitized woman spat curses: “Damn humans, using me for your experiment—you’re all damned! Prophet will avenge me!”
Her outburst startled the other foreign experts who did not know the background.
A Xisiya expert asked, “Dr. Zhang, this woman is a parasitized individual?!”
If she weren’t parasitized, she wouldn’t be insulting all humanity and respectfully call the Prophet ‘Your Excellency.’
“Yes,” Zhang Minglu said. “She’s a parasitized individual we found hiding among us. We plan to include her in this experiment.”
“Include a parasitized person in the experiment? What’s the purpose?” an expert asked.
Finch offered an idea: “To use a brain whose neurons are abnormal due to spores’ influence?” He frowned after saying it. “But even if she sees something special, how could she tell us?”
“There’s no need for her to tell us. We just need to record her brainwave observation data. That will not only give us more insight into Scarlet Fear, it will also teach us more about the parasitized brain.”
“I see… Hmph, a plan that kills two birds with one stone.” Finch snorted.
Though he wouldn’t admit it, he knew the approach had some merit.
Experts from other countries nodded in agreement. The Luruiguo expert, representing one of the smaller Consortium nations, said, “Using people with abnormal neural activity as test subjects is an idea from Luruiguo. Frankly, for our next experiment to be held in our country, we’ve already prepared related test subjects.”
Everyone looked over curiously.
“What kind of people?” Finch asked.
The Luruiguo expert replied, “A group considered patients by ordinary standards: those with amygdala calcification, frontal lobe damage, dissociative disorders, and so on.”
One expert quickly realized: “Are these…”
“Yes,” the Luruiguo expert said. “People who cannot physiologically or psychologically sense the emotion of fear. We think having them test might work better than highly-capable Ascendants.”
“This…”
“It is indeed an interesting idea.”
As the group discussed, Finch sneered again: “You are too naive. The fear in these rules is ‘irrational fear.’ I don’t think rounding up a few mentally impaired people will get you through it.”
The Luruiguo expert retorted, “Whether it’s useful will only be known after the experiment.”
“Everyone, quiet.” Zhang Minglu said. “The experiment is about to begin. Please save the discussion until afterward.”
They fell silent and watched as the test subjects were escorted to the observation platform outside the observation room.
Zhang Minglu said, “Thanks to the last experiment, we obtained an important piece of intelligence: the Unknown may be related to a ‘red halo’ hidden within the fearful imagery.”
“Test subjects, once the experiment begins, you must do your best to ignore the horrifying scenes Scarlet Terra produces and try to search for the hidden ‘red halo.’ If you find it, attempt to make contact with it, whether through the body in the hallucination or by will alone.”
“The experiment will begin in five minutes. Use this time to regulate your breathing and prepare.”
The test subjects began deep breathing, adjusting themselves to optimal condition.
Some even took out items in advance. Finch glanced and recognized their purpose immediately. “Psych stabilization meds? They can actually afford those?”
When the rules were first announced, official and unofficial buyers from various countries rushed into the terminal market, clearing out the psych stabilization drugs and items, then relisting them at high prices to profit.
Because this rule allowed staying indoors to likely avoid harm through self-isolation from the net, not many people purchased them. But many important personnel still bought some as a precaution.
That drove those items to astronomical prices, unaffordable for most Ascendants.
“The test subjects’ psych stabilization items are provided by the officials,” Zhang Minglu said. “They don’t need to buy them themselves.”
Finch asked in surprise, “You give them items — aren’t you afraid someone will resell them on the market?”
Zhang Minglu’s expression was odd. “There shouldn’t be anyone like that among our test subjects. Even if someone does, they’ll be held responsible afterward.”
“…”
Finch was silent.
He still projected Suroman experience onto the situation.
In Suroma, many soldiers bought equipment with their own money. It wasn’t that the government was stingy; it was that many soldiers had a history of secretly selling issued equipment on the black market and then filing loss reports.
A lot of foreign black market arms originally came from Suroman soldiers’ sales.
Over time, Suroman authorities adjusted, letting some soldiers buy their own gear so selling would be at their own expense. That damaged mutual trust between high command and the ranks. High command naturally hesitated to entrust extremely valuable tradable items to lower ranks.
The differences between nations lead to different practices. That explained Finch’s incomprehension of Zhang Minglu’s approach; Zhang Minglu had been baffled by Finch’s contract-heavy procedures during the last experiment as well.
“Thirty seconds until the experiment starts. Begin countdown.”
“...26, 25, 24…15, 14…10…3…2…1.”
When the countdown hit zero, following the protocol, all test subjects stared directly at the Scarlet Terra in the sky.
Three seconds later, the brainwave monitors in front of the technicians showed large fluctuations; the subjects had begun to feel the effects of Scarlet Fear, with violent oscillations in their brainwaves.
Only seven or eight seconds in, one test subject shouted, “Mom!”
The safety goggles dropped and blocked vision; “Mom” was that subject’s safety word. Once shouted, the goggles activated.
A staff member immediately escorted that subject out. Finch glanced at Zhang Minglu, thinking someone calling the safety word so quickly would anger him.
But Zhang Minglu did not look angry. Instead, he watched the escorted subject with concern, which surprised Finch.
Ten seconds later, another subject shouted their safety word and was escorted out.
At that point, five test subjects remained on the observation platform: four humans and one parasitized individual.
The four humans were Ascendants with high Mind Power upper limits, so their resistance was greater and they lasted longer.
The parasitized individual, who had been cursing earlier, had become quiet once the experiment began.
Zhang Minglu asked the technician, “How do that parasitized individual’s brainwave readings look?”
“Smoother than the other human test subjects. It seems less affected by Scarlet Fear.”
“Less affected?” Zhang Minglu was shocked. “Could it be that the parasitized individual doesn’t feel fear?”