Miss Rose moved through the halls, her mind still racing. The image of the man's broken body was vivid, but it had all been a dream, She returned to the farming area.
Everything appeared normal, but she couldn't shake the unease. She had to investigate further, though not immediately. She couldn’t use the cameras for personal purposes, so she had to sneak into the camera room. She was suspicious of Maria, but she approached her and thanked her for bringing her to the infirmary.
After Miss Rose thanked her, Maria went back to her work. The sound of whispering could be heard as the researchers made comments on various points while taking notes. Maria was taking notes on a small number of brain eaters, taking one from each researcher.
It was close to the end of the day when the bad news arrived. Miss Rose kept an eye on the progress as the announcer called for her in the higher-ups' office. She entered and returned an hour later with mixed feelings but put on a smile. She gathered everyone and announced, “From next month, the C-2 units are going to arrive.”
He knew it was bad news. She continued, “C-2 is a robot faster than older models. They have near-human intelligence and can greatly assist with our security. Although they aren’t perfect like the R.T.D. modules, they can help.”
His feelings were correct; it was not good. Who knew what they were capable of? Seeing that they didn’t receive the best module, he made two guesses: either they didn’t have the funds, meaning they hadn’t consulted their higher-ups about this project, or they didn’t care enough about the researchers to spend. Either way, it seemed to offer a glimmer of hope amidst bad news.
He had to finish his job before tomorrow. She had to meet Gabriel and make him the host. If he missed this chance, he wouldn’t be able to deny access to the cameras. Without that, she couldn’t consume the other brain eaters’ tribe, and the camera room in the research facility was also accessible through Gabriel, who was that important.
After Miss Rose’s talk ended, the shift was over. Everyone went to their rooms, but he couldn’t. She had to hurry. Before the robots arrived, he had to act. But what?
He chose to go through the hallway toward the camera room. Sneaking through the hallways was easier thanks to the numerous plants on both sides; they were short enough for humans to go under, but it was easy for him.
After passing the dorms and parting with Dave, he entered Maria’s room. He had upgraded the host to level 3, so he activated the long-range ability.
After a short pause, he asked, “Lumina, how does this work?”
“You just have to send commands through me for now. If you upgrade Hosting to level 4, you will grow the body parts needed to control it yourself.”
“Okay, for now, get her to sleep.”
Maria’s mind was too broken to understand, but if she could, she would go crazy from the new voices in her head. Her body began to move to bed. Her impulses no longer formed; now there was only command. She was neither dead nor alive, but if she could, she would wish to die.
He exited her body, and the brain eaters left her head too. He saw they were following him.
“Do you want something?” he asked.
“Oh, great one, we only wish to help you in your job.”
“I need you guys to stay here. I will make a new host, and then we will be able to feast—at least, I hope.”
“Oh, great one, with this much generosity, we will remember your great name forever. Can I ask for your great name?”
“Name? I don’t remember. You can give me a name.”
“Oh, great one, I will bestow the name 'TITUS MALACHI.'”
“Titus, huh? I like it.”
Titus cautiously exited the room. Using the plants to his advantage, he moved through the farming area. Just when he thought he had reached the easy part, he heard a noise. He went under one of the tables and saw Miss Rose sneaking through; he guessed what she was doing.
Following her and moving slowly to avoid attention, he made his way through the tables toward the camera room. Low and behold, Miss Rose was going there too.
He had to get into the room, but there was no way to enter from outside other than bringing them out to the farm.
“Gabriel, I have to watch the cameras,” she said.
“Hello, Miss Rose. Why so late? Do you even have permission?” he asked.
“I believe I found who killed the girl. I just need to check the cameras to be sure. In this situation, I have authority to check the cameras,” she replied.
“You seem confident in your findings, Miss Rose. Which camera do you want to check?”
“The camera closer to the toilet in the storage area.”
“The toilet?! Alright, you’re the boss.”
After finding the camera, a sound like something breaking outside the camera room drew their attention. He took his gun and asked Miss Rose to continue while he went outside to check the sound.
Miss Rose started to watch. Maria entered, and Miss Rose followed. They didn’t come out for more than an hour. Miss Rose fast-forwarded until they emerged. Maria was taking her out of the toilet and placing her behind a box. Getting close, she put something on her shoulder. She zoomed in to see a brain eater entering her ear.
She stood up and tried to leave the room when Gabriel returned. Miss Rose hurried toward him and began speaking, stumbling over her words.
“I… I THINK I FOUND OUT WHO DID IT. IT WAS MARIA. SHE PUT A WORM IN MY HEAD.”
Gabriel remained unresponsive. Suddenly, a 1-meter worm began to emerge from his body. She stepped back and tried to run, but she couldn’t. Her body was not listening. She looked in horror as the worm crawled toward her, up her body, and bit her neck. She was just too late.
note from writer: the name titus Malachi comes from 2 different name
titus: Roman and biblical history gives Titus associations with nobility, honor, leadership, and strength.
malachi: Hebrew origin means “my messenger”, but the biblical Malachi is a prophet delivering warnings.
it was a word play on light vs dark both in terms of meaning and origin, as roman and jews where not on good terms most of the time, and the meaning is the one who have strength but deliver warning.(both meaning are from chatgpt)
