"What the f—"
Hudson saw something clearly not naturally formed, shaking his head in disbelief. "This anomaly… is it alien-made?"
"Alien-made or not, we need to contain it." As for Gina, she displayed the ferocity expected of a fighting nation, completely unconcerned about the anomaly's origin.
And as the person with the highest current authority on FC336, Hicks remained calm and asked Jones, who stood by his side, "When did you discover it?"
Jones, who had gradually regained his composure, explained to the three Marines, "It was three days ago, and in just three days, it caused the current situation on FC336."
Saying that, Jones played a video.
The content showed a group of Weyland-Yutani Corporation miners in protective gear, originally performing excavation tasks, who unintentionally entered a hollow within the asteroid.
Due to the difference in air pressure, several miners suffered injuries of varying degrees.
Afterward, the double-helix-shaped 'Beacon' appeared on the video screen.
One of the miners, who was swept into the hollow by the air pressure, happened to drift next to the 'Beacon,' allowing the Marines watching the video to estimate the 'Beacon's' size in their minds.
It was roughly twenty meters high and five meters wide.
After the video finished playing, Jones continued, "Our research team found that this object seems to be continuously emitting some kind of carrier wave, so we call it the 'Beacon.'
And the large-scale mass suicide in the colony should be influenced by this carrier wave…"
At this point, cold sweat seeped from Jones's forehead, and his eyes were somewhat dazed.
He paused before saying, "As for the decision to shut down communications… it was the supervisor's order. He knew you would discover the 'Beacon's' existence sooner or later."
"So he was preparing to negotiate with you in person today, hoping to buy you off, or…"
"Or deal with us, right?" Hicks's face darkened as he interjected.
"Yes…" Jones was a bit embarrassed but didn't deny it. "If we followed the agreement signed with Umbrella, the 'Beacon' would definitely have to be handed over to you."
"But… the supervisor didn't want to do that. After all, you know the value of the 'Beacon' without me having to tell you. Of course, he was unwilling to give away something he had obtained."
"Pah!"
Hudson spat on the floor and quickly walked up to Jones, directly lifting him up with his mechanical arm, extremely enraged. "Buy us off? This is the biggest insult to me, damn it!
And! Because of your selfish desires, so many people died, damn it! I really want to blow your brains out right now!"
"Cough… Corporal… we agreed…" Jones was choked by his collar and couldn't breathe.
"Hudson." Hicks raised his hand to stop Hudson's actions and gestured with his eyes to the latter that now was not the time to fall out.
"Tch!" Hudson had no choice but to loosen his grip.
"Thud!"
"Hoo! Ha!" Jones, who fell to the ground, gasped for air, his flushed face gradually returning to normal.
And he quickly said, "That was the supervisor's idea, I… I and many others were against it. Now I just want to live… just live…"
Hicks reached out and helped Jones up, saying coldly, "Don't worry, since I promised to ensure your safety, I will definitely let you live."
"We're not like you." Gina, who was guarding the door, chimed in.
Hicks didn't want to insult them with words but pointed at the central control console and asked, "Mr. Jones, how's the communication?"
"Communication? Oh, right… communication!"
Jones snapped out of his daze, walked to the central control console with slightly unsteady steps, checked it, and frowned. "This… besides the password, it also requires the supervisor's identity card, and all the escape pods have been destroyed! This…"
Hicks frowned slightly and continued to ask, "What about your supervisor?"
"I guess he's probably near that 'Beacon,' don't you think?" Hudson shrugged.
However, just as Hudson's complaint fell, Jones, who was operating the central control console, said to Hicks, "Sergeant, the tracking chip implanted in the supervisor shows… he's in the mine where the Beacon is located."
"Nice!" Hudson slapped his helmet, looking embarrassed. "My mouth is really f*cking prophetic today, damn it."
"Shut your jinxing mouth." Gina gave Hudson an annoyed glance.
"Sergeant!" At this moment, Jones looked panicked, pointing at the giant screen on the central control console, speaking fearfully and stammering, "Next to the Beacon… there are… there are…"
"What else?" Hicks was a bit impatient and walked forward to personally check the content on the screen.
Next to the Beacon's location, hundreds of red light dots flickered, and on the right side of the screen were a series of names and employee ID numbers.
It seems…
Those red light dots were indeed the miners and employees with implanted tracking chips.
"Sergeant, Mary is there too. I saw her kill herself." Jones said, mentally disturbed.
Then, this Weyland-Yutani employee kept backing away, clutching his head with both hands, and squatted in the corner, also starting to go crazy, muttering to himself, "They… they got Mary's body. Now they want ours too…"
"Sir, this guy's gone crazy too." Gina aimed her M56 at Jones.
"Hicks, what do we do?" Hudson asked.
Hicks looked at the gradually maddening Jones and said calmly, "It seems only we in the entire colony haven't been affected by the Beacon."
"We can't be sure if the Beacon's influence is permanent, but we certainly can't just let him commit suicide."
(Looking at Hudson) "Tie his hands and feet, and stuff something in his mouth."
"Alright."
Hudson hung his M41A on his chest, took out two plastic zip ties from his waist pocket, and bound the completely incoherent Jones.
As for the item stuffed in his mouth…
Hudson took off Jones's shoe, grabbed the edge of the sock, pulled it off, crumpled it into a ball, and forcefully shoved it into Jones's mouth.
And he laughed, "Hmph, enjoy it, you bastard."
"Marines." Hicks walked to the door of the control room, looked at his only two subordinates, and commanded, "Mission objective updated: proceed to the Beacon's location, retrieve the identity card, and contact the Mars base, understood?!"
"Hoo-rah!" (x2)
"Move out!"
Then the three Marines left the control room, returned the way they came, preparing to change into sealed suits to enter the mine.
But as they passed through the living quarters, the bodies of those who had committed suicide were already gone, replaced by bloody footprints.
"No way, are there monsters now?" Hudson's face fell.
"Monsters?" Gina, next to him, adjusted her M56 and said indifferently, "Marines specialize in killing monsters."
"Heh heh, exactly." Hicks also laughed.
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