Chapter 137

Episode 137. The Horror of Dunwich (1)

****

It’s been a while since I’ve seen chicken. The chicken place closest to the Foundation. It’s the same chicken I had when I was locked in the containment room.

What would it feel like to work there? Orders would probably come in from unknown places.

Would it feel like the Neapolitan Urban Legend? Calls coming in with restricted caller IDs. Never accept orders from that number……

I glanced at Administrator Lee.

“Chicken?”

“I thought you were working late last night.”

Actually, I wasn’t working late yesterday. I was just playing with Popo at my desk and dozed off a bit.

On the other side of the desk, Nanami was sitting. She looked perfectly fine. A few days ago, she was tested for botulinum exposure, and it seems she’s fully recovered.

“What are you up to?”

“Just… A few days ago, we went on a search mission, and they found submarine wreckage on the beach. I checked it out, but it wasn’t a supernatural phenomenon.”

“What was it?”

Nanami shrugged.

“I don’t know. They said it was a Chinese gasoline submarine, but who was on it… Well, it was so rusted that it must have been there for a long time.”

If it was important, it would have been sent to the Seoul Branch. I pushed the chicken box toward Nanami.

“Ah, thanks.”

Nanami seemed to ponder for a moment.

“What do you plan to do with Dr. Chloe?”

“I want to dissect her, but……”

Right now, we need Dr. Chloe for various reasons. We need her for experiments, and she might have some information to share.

****

Meanwhile, Dr. Chloe was hard at work. To be specific, a terrified researcher was jotting down Dr. Chloe’s words.

I’d be scared too.

Dr. Chloe might suddenly draw a cognitive disaster on the containment room’s glass window, or break out of the containment room, or cause some other problem.

Though there’s no sign of that yet.

Dr. Chloe was excitedly explaining something. Honestly, I don’t know what to think. She’s the person who tried to kill me.

But seeing her act so shamelessly, I can’t help but think maybe it wasn’t such a big deal…… Of course, that’s probably just me being delusional.

It’s not like we had any personal grudges, right? Back when we fought on Jeju Island.

Let’s focus on figuring out Dr. Chloe’s true nature. If the scientists can’t find the answer, we’ll have no choice but to ask the mages.

There are several mages at Facility 82.

But there’s only one who we can trust enough to allow contact with Dr. Chloe and who has the skills to help in this situation.

After going around in circles, it’s Dr. Chae.

Dr. Chae flipped through Chloe’s file.

“This. It’s definitely that.”

“What is it?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. Trying to find common sense or logic in a supernatural phenomenon is the problem itself. I doubt the Foundation even had a reason to create something like this. It’s just… one of those nameless humanoid supernatural phenomena.”

Not wrong.

“Is there any related symbolism?”

In supernatural phenomena related to the King of Darkness, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were a common medium. Dr. Chloe was far more refined than that. It’s hard to explain.

Much more subtly.

“The information is limited. Seeing the tentacles filling her body cavity in the imaging scan reminds me of something. This isn’t some kind of parasite, is it? It’s part of Dr. Chloe, right?”

“Yes.”

“Usually, magical entities tend to mimic the structure of specific organisms. That’s how it manifests in human perception. Like how Satan isn’t just a shapeless mass of tentacle-eyed monsters but has goat horns, hooves, fur, and bat wings. It’s a similar principle.”

“So, you’re saying that since Dr. Chloe’s components are closer to the formless, such classification is impossible?”

“Yes. It seems more likely that she originated from another dimension or a higher plane rather than being born from symbols.”

“But she’s half-human, right?”

Dr. Chae looked visibly troubled.

“Then she’s a demigod. I think she’s connected to ancient gods and… well, it’s hard to put it delicately.”

Thinking about it, something comes to mind. Dr. Chloe, a formless monster, a demigod, the child of an ancient god.

A child blessed by the supernatural.

Something seems to click.

Iseah and Chloe worked on Project Blue Rose, right? With me before my body changed. I let out a sigh.

Chloe might know something special. The promise to find the Blue Rose is probably a lie, but there’s still a lot of information we can extract from that bizarre entity.

****

I vaguely remembered some records.

The master of the labyrinth of doors. The one who sees all. The door, the gatekeeper, and the key. Dr. Chloe’s name, her real name, is Chloe Watley.

I found this in the Foundation’s very old database. The entity’s name is Chloe Watley. A child born as a result of offering a human woman as a sacrifice to an outer god.

The literature didn’t specify.

Was Watley’s child a gift received from the outer god in exchange for the sacrifice, or a curse obtained as a result of the ritual?

“Does that sound right? Chloe Watley. The Child of the Gatekeeper. A being loved by the supernatural.”

Dr. Chae nodded.

“That’s right. How did you find this?”

The databases accessible to a Director and those accessible to other Foundation staff are a bit different. It’s not necessarily a good thing. It just means I have that much more work to do myself.

“It’s a relief that we’ve identified Dr. Chloe’s true nature. Is there any record of how to subdue her or her weaknesses?”

I shook my head.

I haven’t found anything like that yet.

“But the scope has narrowed. If her origin is divine, then maybe Misteltein, or mistletoe, could kill her, or we could bind her with silk.”

That’s true, but…

What if Dr. Chloe tries to escape the containment room? Does she have the power to escape? If she can escape… what do we do? Move her to a place with more thorough containment?

Is that being overly paranoid?

Sometimes I think about it. Every supernatural phenomenon I’ve researched has been bound by the Foundation’s power. Hidden, suppressed.

I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we let them run wild.

Like the Mimic that occupied the police station and acquired a pistol, or the Crocodile that faced a tank, or Niguras-1, which merely bowed its head to a nuclear bomb.

This time, it’s Dr. Chloe.

What can Dr. Chloe do? Can she spread the wings hidden in her back? Can she break the containment room’s glass window?

Of course, seeing anything comes at a cost. A few people dying would be the least of it.

****

[Opinion on Dr. Chloe]

[Author: Nanami]

[Shall we kill her?]

[No, it wouldn’t help at all. Ahn Yuri and Hasti had no reason to be killed, but Chloe has plenty of reasons to die.]

[It’s obvious she’s trying to contact the Blue Roses for some purpose, right? Let’s just kill her now. Move her to the Large-Scale Containment Room and feed her to the monsters.]

[Or, I’ll cut her down with my sword.]

****

[Opinion on Dr. Chloe. Reply.]

[Author: Dr. An]

[Rejected. Dr. Chloe is well-contained. There’s no need to kill her or take extreme measures.]

[We have no intention of letting Dr. Chloe contact the Blue Roses. We still haven’t even figured out Dr. Chloe’s true nature.]

[She’s like the other monsters.]

[We’ll learn everything we can from Dr. Chloe and keep her contained until there’s a reason we can’t.]

[However.]

[We will make a plan for dealing with Dr. Chloe. As Nanami said, we should have a plan to dispose of Dr. Chloe in case of an emergency.]

[We don’t even know what can kill her or if she can be killed. Let’s research it.]

[If you want, you can make a plan.]

****

[Opinion on Dr. Chloe. Reply. Reply.]

[Author: Director Kim]

[We won’t be killing Dr. Chloe for the time being. The tissue analysis results are in.]

[They’re similar to what we’ve seen before.]

[The unusual thing is that most of Dr. Chloe’s tissue components aren’t cellular structures but something else.]

[Dr. Chloe is made up of keratin and other human-derived polymer materials.]

[Also, the blood test showed a significant amount of trace elements not found in humans. Protactinium, lithium, titanium, chromium, and osmium were detected.]

[It’s a bit peculiar. It’s similar to the components found in the relics of monks.]

[More importantly, we have no plans to kill Dr. Chloe anytime soon. This is a goldmine, isn’t it? No matter how much we dig, we only find urban legends. We need to figure out what this really is.]