Anya was terrified. When Mikhail tried to input the password again, she quickly stopped him and went to find Grigoryev.
Grigoryev rushed into the elevator and chewed Mikhail out. Anya explained to Roy that the elevator's password system allowed only three incorrect attempts within 24 hours. If they got it wrong again, the cables would snap, sending the elevator into free fall.
Good grief—if Mikhail messed up two more times, Roy and the others would be riding a death drop.
It was clear Mikhail hadn't paid attention to the base's protocols, not even knowing about this critical safety system.
Grigoryev gave the password to Anya in Russian to prevent Mikhail from screwing it up again. Anya entered it, and the elevator finally started moving.
A Russian female voice announced instructions, and everyone sat down, buckling their seatbelts. The elevator would descend at 10 meters per second, reaching the 3,000-meter level in five minutes.
Five minutes later, they arrived. The doors opened to pitch blackness.
"It's so dark! Did the power go out? Mikhail, where's the electrical room?" Roy asked, only to realize Mikhail didn't speak English. He had Anya translate.
After she did, Mikhail still looked clueless—he had no idea where the electrical room was.
Roy rolled his eyes. Mikhail was basically a human key, utterly useless otherwise.
Luckily, a soldier's flashlight revealed a map on the wall, allowing them to navigate to the electrical room to restore power.
Despite there being dozens of people on this level, it was eerily silent, giving Roy and the group a bad feeling.
Sure enough, as they passed through a corridor into a large hall, they saw several dark, human-shaped pillars covered in fungal growths, barely recognizable as human. The sight was horrifying.
The fungal masses were interconnected, occasionally emitting a dim red glow.
"My God!" Anya, a microbiology expert, had never seen anything so terrifying.
The people inside the fungal growths weren't entirely dead and seemed to retain some awareness. Hearing Anya's voice, they let out agonized moans, begging in Russian, "Kill me! Please, kill me!"
Though Roy didn't understand Russian, he could guess the gist. Anya, overwhelmed, clung to him.
Mikhail ordered the Russian soldiers to shoot the infected, perhaps the kindest way to end their suffering.
But the loud gunfire attracted something. Heavy, dense footsteps echoed toward them.
"Survivors?" Anya asked hopefully.
Roy shielded her and drew his beloved ivory-handled Smith & Wesson M629. "Don't be naive, Anya. Normal people don't have footsteps that heavy."
Based on Roy's experience, only someone weighing over 300 pounds could make such sounds. Surely no one would hire staff that heavy for a base like this—unless they were recruiting for the NBA.
Everyone aimed their weapons toward the sound. The answer soon appeared: a towering figure over two meters tall, wrapped in fungal filaments, resembling a giant mushroom.
The mushroom giant spotted them and sprayed a faint red mist—spores, according to Anya. Without their protective suits, they might've been infected.
(Another jab at the original film: who wouldn't wear protective gear in a place like this?)
The giant charged, spewing more spores like exhaust. The seven Russian soldiers opened fire, but their rifle bullets only kicked up more spores, doing no real damage—no blood, even.
"Something's off!" Roy said, realizing this mushroom giant was no ordinary infected.
Normal people overtaken by fungus would be immobilized, turned into fungal colonies. But this thing hadn't just resisted—it seemed to have evolved into a new species.
Roy rushed forward, delivering a flying kick that sent the mushroom giant crashing down. He tore through its fungal exterior, revealing a demon underneath.
Apparently, a demon had entered the underground through a hell portal and been infected by the fungus, resulting in this monstrosity. Only a demon's robust physique could withstand the fungus without losing control.
But the demon's expression looked like it was tripping—like it had eaten shrooms and was seeing "little people." So, this fungus could induce hallucinations in demons?
First the fungus, then the little people—what a combo!
This fungus might be worth studying.
"Roy, what is that thing? It looks like…" Anya trailed off.
"Like a demon? You're right. It's a demon, just one with bad luck. It came to Earth and got infected by this weird underground fungus, losing its mind."
It was a tragic tale, enough to make Anya feel a pang of sympathy.
The demon tried to get up, but Roy punched its head into the floor, knocking it out cold.
Though the demon was unconscious, the fungus wasn't. Its filaments began siphoning the demon's life force to grow faster. Roy's attack had inadvertently helped the fungus.
Perhaps the fungus's hallucinogenic effect was meant to subdue the demon, but the demon's resilience kept it conscious—until Roy stepped in.
"Got any incendiary grenades?" Roy asked.
A Russian soldier nodded and handed one over.
Roy's own stock of incendiaries had been depleted during the Thing incident and the Xenomorph-Predator battle, so he was conserving what he had. His previous grenades were looted from dead mercenaries, not exactly easy to come by.
Suddenly, Mikhail muttered something in Russian, and the soldier hesitated.
"What'd he say?" Roy asked Anya.
She frowned. "He says the demon has huge research value as a national asset and shouldn't be burned."
Roy was speechless. Research value was great, but they had to be able to transport it first! Without Roy, Mikhail and his seven soldiers would've been wiped out by this mushroom demon.
"Anya, translate this: if we don't deal with this thing now, and it gets back up, I'm not cleaning up the mess."
After Anya translated, Mikhail panicked, rattling off a long string of Russian.
"He says since you're here, you should finish the job," Anya relayed.
Clearly, Mikhail was used to coasting on authority, expecting others to do his dirty work.
Too bad Roy wasn't playing along. He smirked and had Anya translate again. "I'm not Russian. I've got no obligation to protect their 'national assets.' If he's got a problem, he can sue me in America."
Mikhail couldn't exactly take Roy to court. He glared as Roy snatched the incendiary grenade and set the mushroom demon ablaze.
The fungal filaments writhed but didn't burn easily, which surprised Roy. Carbon-based lifeforms were typically flammable, though high water content could delay ignition until the moisture burned off. This fungus, however, didn't seem water-heavy, making its resistance odd.
Was it because it was fused with a demon? Demons often had high fire resistance, given hell's fiery environments.
Still, science prevailed. After several minutes, the fungus burned away, proving it was fire-resistant but not immune. As for the unconscious demon, Roy ripped its head off.
The body didn't twitch, so Roy planned to stash it in his inventory later. A demon's corpse was a treasure trove, especially one that had physically entered Earth—a rare find, typically only near open hell portals.
Mikhail was furious but didn't dare speak up. The Russian soldiers, having seen Roy casually decapitate a demon, were visibly intimidated.
Only Anya looked at Roy with starry-eyed admiration, ever the devoted fangirl.
"Let's move. To the electrical room."
The group encountered no more mushroom demons, only more fungal-covered bodies. Some rooms had entire walls overtaken by fungus, a revolting sight.
Finally, they reached the electrical room and restored power, lighting up the level.
"Spread out and search. If you run into danger, fire a warning shot or shout for help," Roy instructed.
Anya translated, and the ten split into five pairs to look for survivors. Naturally, Roy paired with Anya.
She suggested checking the research labs first, as they had security locks where people might have barricaded themselves.
Following her advice, they reached the lab area and found three people in an observation room, banging on the glass for help.
The room's soundproofing was strong, so Roy and Anya couldn't hear them. Fortunately, Anya had been in similar Russian labs and quickly found a button to activate the microphone.
"Can you hear us?" she asked.
(What follows is Anya's real-time translation of the conversation.)
"Yes, of course! Are you from upstairs, here to rescue us? We don't know you!" one replied.
Anya and Roy had only arrived yesterday, so it made sense they weren't recognized.
"We'll get you out now!" Anya said.
"No, don't!" a scientist in a lab coat interrupted. "This fungus thrives in warm environments. At room temperature, it's sluggish and grows slowly. Below zero, it dies. We've created a low-temperature environment in here, so we're safe. But outside, the air's full of spores. Without protective suits, it's too dangerous."
The scientist was calm and logical.
Roy noted the fungus's traits sounded similar to The Thing.
"Alright, we'll find protective suits and get you out," Roy said.
"What's it like out there?" the scientist asked.
"We saw people consumed by fungus and a giant mushroom-like monster," Anya replied.
"We saw that monster too. It came up from the 6,000-meter level via the elevator. The low temperature in here kept it out."
"Someone came up from 6,000 meters?" Anya asked, shocked. She recalled Grigoryev saying that level was remotely sealed off, with the elevator blocked.
"Yes! I suspect it climbed up through a maintenance shaft."
That explained it—no one would expect someone to climb 3,000 meters vertically.
"Hold on, we'll figure out a way to save you," Roy said, ending the conversation.
These three survivors were incredibly lucky and provided key information: the fungus feared cold.
Anya had suspected this on the surface, but needed evidence. The survivors' account confirmed it.
"Since the fungus hates cold, maybe we can use liquid nitrogen to disinfect this level," Anya suggested.
Nitrogen wasn't just for boosting racecars—liquid nitrogen's -196°C temperature and heat-absorbing evaporation could rapidly freeze the area.
"Is there liquid nitrogen in the base?" Roy asked.
Anya hesitated. "I'm… not sure."
This base wasn't exactly well-funded, so liquid nitrogen might not be available. Producing it was complex, and disinfecting an entire level would require a lot.
Still, once news of this underground discovery reached Russia, Grigoryev would likely get more support.
As they headed to the equipment room to check, gunfire erupted in the distance.
"Sounds like a fight. Let's go!"
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