The Underclass - Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The moment the lab doors opened, Galaxy felt as though she had stepped into another world.
Unlike the gloomy horrors outside, this place felt like a utopian enclosure for breeding humans.
Everything inside was a pristine white. The ceiling was a massive glass dome that offered a view of the sky framed by the snowy peaks. Occasional flurries of snow drifted above, making it seem as if even the freezing wind had taken physical form.
Sunlight filtered through the glass and kissed her face, bringing a trace of warmth.
Galaxy felt somewhat disoriented. She scanned the seemingly endless laboratory. She saw swings, hanging basket chairs, and plush beds. A robot lingered near her feet, gently bumping against her shin and asking in a low voice, "Hello, is there anything you'd like? Would you care for some juice?"
"No need," Galaxy replied instinctively.
She immediately jolted, shocked by her own wavering resolve.
The small robot didn't leave. It followed her slowly as she stepped onto the soft carpet. "Are you looking for something?"
Galaxy stopped after a few steps, finally noticing there were people on the swings, in the hanging chairs, and in the soft beds. She walked over. They lay motionless, staring wide-eyed at the sky.
She felt the side of their necks. No pulse, yet their bodies were still warm.
"These are Scientists 065, 0733, and 0212. They chose to remain in Heaven forever," the little robot trailing her explained.
"Heaven?" Galaxy murmured the name.
"Yes, this test sector is called Heaven." The robot puffed up its non-existent chest proudly. "It is a new world pioneered by Federation scientists. In the beautiful future, it might become a new option for humanity to live in."
"The living space for the poor in our world is constantly shrinking. This is a new world created by great scientists for the underclass. All they need to do is stay here, live, reproduce, and shoulder the future of the Federation. In exchange, they get to enjoy a quality of life surpassing that of the elites. Pretty great, right?"
Galaxy fell silent.
She finally pinpointed the source of her unease.
Herding the lower class into a cage named Heaven seemed to only cost them their freedom on the surface, but in reality, they were reduced to objects stripped of their human rights.
Who guaranteed their survival here? What happened when they could no longer fulfill their reproductive duties?
This facade of 'doing it for your own good' while secretly hiding countless traps felt incredibly familiar to her. She looked at the little robot and said a name: "An Hua."
The robot blinked its pixelated eyes on its screen. "Do you know my master?"
Just as she thought.
Galaxy let out a cold laugh. She pointed at the dead scientists. "Then what about them?"
"They voluntarily dedicated their lives to science," the robot explained. "Heaven still has a major unresolved issue: people get lazy and stop moving after staying here too long. To preserve their bodily functions and ensure they maintain robust bodies even on the day they pass away, we implemented the second phase: the Human Enhancement Project."
"They volunteered to have their bodies metalized. Unfortunately, none of them could handle the side effects of metalization, and they all died here."
"What side effects?"
"I don't know," the robot shook its head. "The side effects vary for everyone. We need more experimental samples, but unfortunately, the Federation ordered a halt to the experiments here."
Where would they get so many samples?
The Federation wouldn't be willing to sacrifice so many scientists, so the only logical source was the poor people lured in by the promise of a beautiful life.
Galaxy couldn't believe An Hua had participated in this experiment.
She looked down at the syringe still in her hand, leaned down, and read a string of data to the robot. "Find this for me. I know you'll help me look."
The robot nodded. "Of course, I will absolutely help you find it."
Galaxy didn't linger in this sinful laboratory. Every second she spent there made her feel sick.
Carrying a full box of syringes that the little robot helped her locate, she walked out of Heaven. She stepped over the corpse of the unnamed attacker at the entrance.
Without any hindrance, she exited the lab and heavily slammed the doors shut behind her.
By the time she drove her snow-bike out of the area and looked back, the overlapping peaks had hidden everything, making it look as though the place had always been perfectly peaceful.
Expressionlessly, Galaxy pulled a slim cigarette from her pocket.
In this era, it was tacitly understood that only the lower class smoked. They couldn't afford psychiatric treatments and needed cheap ways to unwind.
But lately, Galaxy found herself growing addicted to the momentary peace it brought.
Only when the cigarette burned down to the filter did she pull out something else from her pocket: a detonator.
It was the trigger for micro-explosives.
Before leaving Rat King, she had grabbed exactly five of them. They were even more powerful than the bomb she used on the ship. She had planted all five inside the laboratory.
Without a shred of hesitation, she pressed the button.
As if the gods in the depths of the snowy mountain were roaring, the ground trembled. A deafening boom ripped outward the moment she hit the switch. An avalanche of snow rushed toward her, slamming into the snow-bike and throwing it forward. The snow above crashed down, burying her completely.
It took an unknown amount of time for the mountain to quiet down. A fiery glow erupted from the center of the peak, only to be quickly smothered by the snow, burying the area just as it had been before.
Galaxy had no idea how long she lay unconscious beneath the snow before her auto-repairing snow-bike dug her back up to the surface.
She felt like she had suffered a mild concussion. Her blonde hair was matted with ice crystals, and she lay on the snow devoid of strength, panting like a dying dog.
About half an hour later, the sound of bells approached. She saw the chanting wanderer who had guided her, still wearing that tattered hood. But this time, the person wasn't chanting; they were unusually silent.
Galaxy squinted at her. Reaching into the heavily guarded lockbox she carried, she pulled out a single syringe and tossed it to the wanderer. "I want to know what's in this within two days. Find me a decent inn to rest for a couple days, and get me a mug of butterbeer."
"Done," the wanderer nodded.
"Tell your organization to send a team into the mountains. Maybe they'll find something," Galaxy said, then laughed as if she'd found something amusing. "But then again, maybe they'll find absolutely nothing, because I already blew everything in there to kingdom come."
"We will search. We will search," the wanderer repeated.
"Don't you have a song for me today?"
The wanderer shook her head. "No, Miss Galaxy. Yesterday, I was in a state of dissociation. Don't pay any mind to whatever I said."
"Is that so?" Galaxy gave her a meaningful look, then expended a bit of effort to push herself up from the snow.
Seeing this, the wanderer hurriedly handed her a bottle of nutrient fluid.
Galaxy didn't decline. She threw her head back and downed it, then jerked her chin at the wanderer. "Get on. Tell me where I'm going to sleep."
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