Animal abuse.
Theft and robbery.
Pedophilia.
Dissatisfaction.
Discrimination.
And so on.
The ugliest side of the human heart, the side that one is most unwilling to let others know, was thoroughly laid bare by Elizabeth Green in less than half a minute.
Extremely negative emotions flooded the memories, and William, feeling them as if they were his own, also appeared incredibly despondent.
Then.
The people devoured by Elizabeth Green wailed and cried in her mind, making the overwhelming flood of information unbearable for her.
She let out a roar toward the sky inside the Plaza Hotel, and from her body burst forth the 'culprit' that caused the lockdown of Manhattan: a red mist of blood mixed with a large amount of blacklight virus, which scattered in all directions.
Memories continued to emerge.
Two World Wars, nuclear bombs, biological weapons, deforestation, oil spills—they flashed by like a video on ten-times speed.
Finally, what appeared before Elizabeth Green and William was an image of the Earth shrouded in a gray-yellow atmosphere, titled 'The Earth is Sick,' and Elizabeth Green's confession resonated through the memories:
"Humanity is the species that should be eliminated most, isn't it..."
From this point on, every strain of the blacklight virus conveyed her extremist ideology to every infected individual, beginning to faithfully execute their mother's orders.
"Mother?"
Elizabeth Green seemed to discover that she possessed absolute control over every infected individual, and their thoughts, personalities, and memories from before they were infected had also merged with hers.
Gradually, she also discovered that she could gestate children (Hunters) who possessed independent thoughts but obeyed orders absolutely.
In this way, there could be a World without any smoke or war!
However...
After Elizabeth Green saw those brave Soldiers fighting through the vision of the infected, she became confused again.
She began to doubt whether it was right to easily take the lives of others, or in other words, whether the ideal World she envisioned aligned with everyone's perspective.
At this moment, she sensed a new, special 'child' who seemed to have voluntarily injected her grace (virus).
"Could it be... that someone supports my ideology?"
And William, who was watching, was also full of surprise, because the special 'child' Elizabeth Green spoke of was none other than himself.
But as the bombs that filled Elizabeth Green with fear fell, and she personally felt the death and disappearance of her children, she was plunged into endless self-reproach and pain.
Yet when William, who could not establish a connection with her but was filled with hostility, approached, Elizabeth Green vaguely guessed the origin of those bombs.
This is why Elizabeth Green felt sadness, fear, anger, and confusion when she saw William.
Shared memories ended.
William's eyes were like they had just woken up, covered in a thin mist; he could only vaguely see the outline of Elizabeth Green in front of him, and he also understood what had just happened.
It seems Elizabeth Green's hive effect can influence every strain of the virus, but the virus perished shortly after entering his body.
As his vision gradually cleared, William saw Elizabeth Green, whose face remained expressionless, but whose eyes were filled with confusion and a desire for answers, and he immediately said coldly:
"I am not the 'child' you speak of, nor do I agree with your ideology. I intentionally injected the virus into my own body to save the city that has fallen into despair and pain because of you.
Furthermore, even if humanity is the species that should be eliminated most, it is not something for you, as an 'individual', to decide.
Therefore, you must accept the corresponding punitive measures and be contained and controlled by us."
As he spoke, William flashed to Elizabeth Green's side at a speed the naked eye could not track.
He gestured with his left hand toward the containment box, silently signaling to Elizabeth Green that she could either go inside herself or be'sent' in.
Regarding the strength William displayed, Elizabeth Green knew well that in her current state, she could not compete with him at all, so she chose the correct answer...
She voluntarily walked into the containment box, lay down, and said indifferently: "I have infinite time to wait and witness whether you humans have any meaning in existing—"
Behind his helmet, William did not respond to Elizabeth Green's words and directly closed the fifteen-centimeter-thick titanium alloy lid.
With a "Qi—!" sound, it signified that Elizabeth Green was completely secured inside the containment box.
"Hoo!"
Seeing this, William let out a long sigh of relief.
Because the anomalous phenomenon that had been ravaging Manhattan, New York for so long had finally been successfully contained by Umbrella.
Immediately after, William continued to order:
"Cortana, notify the troops to completely incinerate the corpses here and execute a comprehensive disinfection procedure.
Dr. Halsey has already uploaded the specific containment measures to Umbrella's internal network; notify Captain Lance to be prepared in advance.
Form three UBCS companies to replace the recovery troops, and have them personally transport the containment object codenamed Elizabeth Green to Containment Center No. 1."
Cortana's avatar appeared in the top left corner of the helmet's screen, and she replied to William calmly: "Yes, boss.
I have selected Captain Andrew Mack of the Omega company to be responsible for the recovery of the containment object codenamed Elizabeth Green.
Troy has also dispatched a corresponding number of pelicans to undertake this transport mission."
"Hmm, you did well."
While praising the diligent artificial intelligence, William had already shouldered the containment box and easily jumped out of the pit back to the surface.
He then placed the containment box steadily on the ground of the ruins and commanded the Spartan and Alpha units that were gathering toward him:
"Everyone, secure the perimeter. Do not let your guard down until this place is completely disinfected."
"Yes!"
Regarding Elizabeth Green, regardless of whether she is severely injured, she cannot compete with the protagonist's 'Rapid Movement'.
If this were a standard "grinding for levels" scenario, William could toy with her, but that does not fit the philosophy of containment and control, so it was discarded.
In fact, in the game, Elizabeth Green was subjected to numerous inhumane experiments by Blackwatch, resulting in extreme hatred toward humanity.
However, the Elizabeth Green in this book is more like a blank slate; she doesn't know how to use her abilities and has absorbed a massive amount of negative information from humanity, making her an out-of-control containment object.
The writers of "Prototype" also heavily implied or explicitly showed mockery of the dark side of humanity.
For instance, a memory fragment from a Marine Corps soldier: "They (referring to Blackwatch) set the house on fire, a woman ran out screaming from the Fire, and they laughed while shooting. I'm telling you, these people are just f***ing a**holes."
And a memory fragment from a Blackwatch Commander: Blackwatch soldier: "Why do we have to work with these losers (referring to the Marine Corps)?" Blackwatch Commander: "We need them to face the public. In case New York becomes scorched Earth, they are just right to take the blame."
And the protagonist Mercer, this virus, is even more humane than humans, knowing how to sacrifice himself to save Manhattan.
The theme of "Prototype 1" is irony; the virus knows how to protect its loved ones and everything it is familiar with, while humans think about destroying everything.
As for the corruption in the second game... There are comics that fill the gap between the first and second, generally meaning Alex Mercer traveled the World, then completely lost hope in humanity and turned dark.
However, those are all games or movies; our real World still has many beautiful and warm highlights.
Even with the chaos in various places caused by a certain "scenery line" country, stable and harmonious societies still exist, along with family, buddies, frenemies, etc.
Humans, or any species for that matter, all have their reasons for existing.
As for the poignant picture from the previous chapter, it can now be viewed~
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