Several months since the inauguration of the cyborg project, this news was spread across all television stations so that the city’s residents could learn that people would undergo drastic changes. Of course, this sparked both support and opposition. Despite demonstrating all the advantages and benefits that humans would gain, there were still many who disagreed with the project.So, before riots and protests could erupt, Volkov and several dignitaries held a press conference to explain and clarify everything. They managed to answer every question posed to them.At a residence, Velia, who was with Xander, watched this news program on TV, featuring Volkov speaking in front of the camera. Actually, only Xander was watching, as Velia sat on the floor, busy with something.“This is utter nonsense. This guy intends to butcher people with his project.” Xander reached out his right hand toward the TV, commenting with an annoyed tone on what was being broadcast.Velia seemed not to respond at
April 4, 2080For several years, humans have been developing bunker agriculture. During that time, everything seemed fine, but scientists began to notice something when fertilizers and nutrients for each plant no longer yielded the expected results. That’s when they realized something was amiss and started conducting further research on the matter.Eventually, they discovered that the quality of plant seeds was declining with each harvest, as predicted by Dimitri and Makarov earlier. Plants were indeed experiencing a continuous decline in their quality, and it was only a matter of time before they could no longer be cultivated, rendering them unable to grow.Inside the plant research lab, several scientists dealing with this issue were puzzled.“This is strange, the fruits and vegetables we’re getting are not as good as they used to be,” the first scientist said, puzzled by the research results.“What does this mean?” asked the second scientist.“It means our food supply is declining
Mei Ling Cheng continued speaking, providing more information. “Ladies and gentlemen, all of this has been happening over time, with a gradual decrease in quality from month to month. It’s likely that next month’s harvest will be even worse than the current one.”“What’s causing all of this? Has it been identified?” asked one man, a scientist present there.Dr. Mei Ling Cheng then provided an explanation, as previously relayed to her by other scientists.Several individuals immediately conducted further examinations to verify this, trying to find loopholes to prove it wrong. However, the data they obtained only confirmed what had been disclosed.Various arguments were then immediately thrown out, panic spreading throughout the entire room.“This is bad, we need to find a solution to this as soon as possible.”“Yes, otherwise, we’ll lose our food source, and this will become a disaster.”“Can’t we create fertilizers or plant stimulants to address this?” asked an investor who appeared d
A crisis was unfolding in the city of Lycaelus, where residents were seen protesting, attacking public facilities, and confronting security forces attempting to restore order. Hundreds of people took to the streets in what was not the first instance of such unrest. Due to the ongoing food and drink crisis, the city’s inhabitants had begun resorting to such extreme actions.After months of declining food production and the rising prices of all types of food, the city’s residents, having lost patience, took to the streets in protest, resorting to extreme measures. Of course, for the downtown residents and the upper-middle class, they could still enjoy delicious and plentiful food, a far cry from the lower-class citizens who were struggling, with some even dying of starvation.A teenager found himself trapped in the midst of the protesting crowd as he tried to secure a piece of bread. He was cornered and had already sustained numerous injuries from people who were unaware of his presence
The shelter, it’s a place where children and teenagers from the slums reside. The city’s caste-based and wealth-oriented outlook has led to a large population of impoverished residents in the slum areas, coupled with the high birth rate, resulting in many children abandoned on the streets.Some people with more resources built this place to accommodate the homeless children or teenagers on the streets. This place also has several adults from various backgrounds who will handle and take care not only of the place but also of the children in need of care.This shelter also has a special clinic so that the residents of this slum area can use this facility for free. Yes, this place provides many facilities for free, including providing free food, with many people contributing to support this place.And this also becomes the main location where the scene unfolds. Inside the clinic, Nouel is panting, holding a half-empty bottle of cold drink, while the teenager he helped has received treatm
Nouel asked, still not friendly, “Why are you doing all this? From what I see, this rundown clinic doesn’t charge anyone. I think, let alone paying the staff, they can’t even handle the equipment and supplies here.”Casually, while doing his job, Dvliericht explained everything, “We have regular donors, so we don’t worry about finances even if the patients don’t pay. Unfortunately, for now, we can only handle minor injuries, not able to perform surgeries. Besides the lack of medical staff, we don’t have adequate equipment.” Dvliericht explained the condition of the clinic, so no one collects fees from every patient in need of help, plus the condition of the clinic like this has been well explained.Nouel then responded sarcastically, “Pathetic, actually serious injuries are the ones that require high costs for treatment. If it’s just scratches or a fever, it’s not important at all, even someone can handle things like that at home.”“You are right, but on the bright side, we’ve helped
Amidst the food crisis, Makarov and Dimitri had already established a more efficient farming and livestock system, so they weren’t lacking in food and drinks. They could focus on the mission of creating the Terraforming Machine.Different from the bunker farmers, they used natural fertilizers and avoided super plant stimulants, only using stimulants from compost materials and the like. Additionally, the water and air in both the farming and livestock areas were filtered to become very pure.As a result, there was no decrease in quality, all harvests had the best quality, motivating everyone contributing to the Terraforming Machine project to do whatever it took. This was also the reason people were willing to donate, because of the abundance and high quality of food supplies.The number of people participating in the Terraforming project increased significantly, now exceeding a hundred people. Due to this, the prototype of the Terraforming Machine was successfully completed.Despite t
Hudson Hospital.A five-floor hospital, it was one of the major hospitals in Lycaelus City, admitting more than one new patient daily with various conditions. The hospital was always bustling with patients, and the number of nurses and medical staff working there was substantial.At this hospital, Ferdinand Volkov worked on his project. Whenever someone underwent amputation, they would be offered artificial limbs. Those who wanted to live normally would readily accept the offer. Similarly, those in need of organs would be offered either donor organ transplants or artificial organs. Since waiting for a donor or purchasing existing organs was costly, patients tended to opt for Volkov’s artificial organs. Besides being more affordable, easier to care for, these artificial organs and limbs had several advantages over those of regular humans. Gradually, over the years, Volkov’s cyborg project began to take shape.Unbeknownst to anyone, many of the surgeries to implant organs and artificial
Nouel was in the garbage area, in a slum district where there was a massive landfill site originating from various areas, especially the city center, resulting in the landfill site being mountainous. The landfill site was located outside the city walls, and Nouel had already made a hole to enter and exit the city through a secret passage.“What are you doing here?” Dvliericht asked, having managed to catch up. He looked uncomfortable walking on the pile of trash, his gas mask protecting his entire face and head looked worn out and unfit for use.“Looking for the trash I need.” Nouel answered without looking, digging through the garbage. Since Nouel had been forced to stay in the shelter by Dvliericht, the two young men had developed a close friendship, despite having very different and somewhat contradictory personalities.Dvliericht placed his hands on his hips and scanned the surroundings. “We shouldn’t be here, if the city patrol catches us, it could be dangerous.”“In that case, k
Armed with his newly acquired weapon, Xander began attacking the pursuing robot troops. Thanks to his long experience, Xander could shoot accurately, causing the robots to fall one by one. He took precise aim, picking off the robots one by one.“Wow, you’re really good, so accurate with your shots.” Velia praised and appreciated Xander’s actions through the earpiece.“It’s not enough yet, there are still some robots evading my attacks!” Xander exclaimed, then explosions were heard, destroying the walls of the long corridor.“Keep it up, Xander, we’re approaching the exit!” Velia cheered, seeing that their exit route was close ahead.“Of course, I’ll keep attacking until all the ammo is gone!”When the rover vehicles finally reached the end of the escape route, they immediately halted. Xander and several others hurriedly got out of the rover and attempted to close off the escape route. They collectively tried to seal off the passage.Some others disembarked and headed towards the aircr
Inside the underground headquarters, after Xander delivered this information, everyone immediately started packing, which naturally took a very long time as everyone was unprepared for evacuation.“The aircraft is completed, but it hasn’t been tested yet. Should we still go?” Dimitri asked, concerned about the aircraft’s condition, which hadn’t undergone testing yet.“Yes, we don’t have time anymore. Regardless of the aircraft’s condition, we’ll use it. It’s risky, but we have no other choice.” Makarov replied.“Let’s hope we make it.”Elsewhere, inside a large cargo aircraft, Volkov and his forces of robots and cyborgs, who were aware of the underground building being used as a headquarters, were preparing for their attack.“See, I told you this would work.” Clerick smirked evilly at Darina. “Instead of capturing and torturing one of them, it’s much better if we follow them discreetly and install a tracker on the target.”That’s how Volkov found out about the secret project being wor
June 9, 2094Time passed quickly, years went by, and humans had grown accustomed to synthetic food. Numerous factories were established in all four cities, and cyborg projects began to be implemented. Initially, it was limited to body parts like hands and legs, then expanded to organs like eyes. After the success of the project applied to Vera, cyborgs started to appear all over the city.Due to the special requirements for humans to endure the surgical process, the limited number of cyborgs created across the city meant they weren’t dominant yet. Only a few hundred existed, mostly composed of city security forces, not commercially available to ordinary residents. Therefore, despite the success, Volkov continued experiments and developments to make the cyborgs he created more perfect and applicable to all humans.While working on advancing cyborg technology, Volkov accidentally discovered several individuals recruited by Dimitri and Makarov. He was surprised by this development becaus
For several days, Vera refused to eat, she continued to rage. Although she couldn’t get up and walk, her hands were still healthy, and she tried every way to end her life. She was depressed and desperate with her life.Some time later, Volkov came and comforted her. However, Vera didn’t respond, despite being continuously ignored like that, Volkov kept trying to console and strengthen her resolve.“I know you’re very desperate with your body condition. But you can’t torture yourself like this continuously.” Volkov spoke gently and softly, truly reflecting like a man who could be relied upon by Vera, who really needed it.After ignoring Volkov for a while, Vera finally spoke up, asking him a question. “Professor, what would you do if you were in my position?”For a moment, Volkov didn’t respond, he glanced briefly out the window, then turned his attention back to Vera, calmly and softly speaking to the teenage girl. “I think I would also feel desperate, and I would also want to die. Bu
Thanks to advanced medical technology, Vera, who suffered serious injuries due to Darina’s actions, was able to regain consciousness quickly. Severe injuries that should have put the teenage girl in a coma turned out to heal much faster. Unfortunately, there were still limitations in the equipment and technology applied at the hospital, as they couldn’t yet cure serious injuries resulting in physical disabilities. And that’s what happened to Vera, the injuries she sustained left her whole body permanently disabled.For a few seconds, Vera glanced around, her eyes feeling very sore as she looked at the ceiling of the room. The light in the room wasn’t dazzling, yet Vera’s eyes still felt sore and irritated.Vera closed her eyes, trying to move to pull the blanket, but she had no access to her body, she couldn’t move any part of her body.“What’s this? I can’t move my body.”Vera tried to turn her head sideways, but she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t move her head even slightly. Failing i
Finnick, Darina, and Clerick were already in position, monitoring the movement of the electric car driven by the small family from a distance. Volkov himself was opening a transparent tab as if he were working on something.“Okay, I think the subject has taken the bait. I don’t see any other humans within a 1-mile radius, we can execute the mission now.” Darina murmured while observing the small family through the scope of the sniper rifle she was aiming at the car. She herself was lying prone on the rocks, positioning herself strategically for the attack.“Moreover, this area is highly prone to accidents,” Clerick replied, standing next to Volkov. They were amidst the trees of the forest, monitoring using long-range binoculars.“Yeah.”On the other side, atop a tree, Finnick was adjusting the control of the machine device he had created. “My puppet’s status is stable now, we can act anytime.” He informed.“Good work, wait for the signal.” Volkov replied.They spent a few more seconds
While Clerick was working, experiments were postponed. Darina and Volkov focused on being doctors at Hudson Hospital, they appeared very kind and friendly to the staff, nurses, and the patients they treated. This made no one suspicious or even think that they were evil people who had conducted various experiments that violated ethics and humanity.In addition to their friendly nature, their work was also very good and fast. Their surgical skills were very reliable and made them among the most trusted doctors. They also interacted quite a lot with every patient they treated, so almost all patients could get to know them well.Unbeknownst to them, two days had passed. This was the day when Clerick would present the results of his work.“Huh, it’s also enjoyable to train in acting by playing as a good and holy doctor.” Darina stretched her body. This time she was in the elevator going down to the lab, a man named Finnick who also worked there immediately shook his head.“I thought you’d
Hudson Hospital.A five-floor hospital, it was one of the major hospitals in Lycaelus City, admitting more than one new patient daily with various conditions. The hospital was always bustling with patients, and the number of nurses and medical staff working there was substantial.At this hospital, Ferdinand Volkov worked on his project. Whenever someone underwent amputation, they would be offered artificial limbs. Those who wanted to live normally would readily accept the offer. Similarly, those in need of organs would be offered either donor organ transplants or artificial organs. Since waiting for a donor or purchasing existing organs was costly, patients tended to opt for Volkov’s artificial organs. Besides being more affordable, easier to care for, these artificial organs and limbs had several advantages over those of regular humans. Gradually, over the years, Volkov’s cyborg project began to take shape.Unbeknownst to anyone, many of the surgeries to implant organs and artificial