Chapter 11: Office Hidden Rules

"Number B347, Ying Su. Mmm, you will follow me as a research assistant from now on."

Doctor Anna said this.

"Though it's an internship."

"Understood, Doctor Anna."

Ying Su replied obediently.

Finally. Finally, she had left that cell full of cameras. She was even wearing a D-Class personnel ID badge now.

Then, Doctor Anna fastened a collar around Ying Su's neck.

"Huh? Doctor Anna... what is this?"

"Security measure. It requires my daily authentication. Otherwise..." Doctor Anna leaned close to Ying Su, spreading her hands. "Boom—!!"

"Eek! I... I'll be good, Doctor Anna..."

Ying Su said pitifully, seeming very frightened.

"That's good. Don't worry, as long as you're good, nothing will happen."

Doctor Anna said this while patting Ying Su's head.

"Now, put this on as well."

Doctor Anna placed a sensory-deprivation helmet over Ying Su's head. It was the authenticated remote-control type. Although nominally an assistant, in Doctor Anna's perception,

Ying Su was just a living sedative in the form of a hugging pillow.

Some things were not for her to know.

Therefore, while working, Ying Su's five senses were to be sealed off to prevent her from learning things only a B-Grade personnel like Anna was supposed to know.

And the so-called work was just sitting in Doctor Anna's lap, letting her inhale deeply.

"Ah, coming directly to the source to sniff is definitely more effective."

Doctor Anna, feeling refreshed and clear-headed, said this. The effect was much stronger than coffee or anything else.

Of course, Ying Su couldn't hear it.

And Ying Su had her own little schemes. Although her senses were completely sealed when she came down, Olivia had already explained the situation to her.

After passing through the valve on the upper level, one takes an elevator down to the deep layers. The elevator shaft has multiple layers of defenses and doors, along with various scans. If Olivia hadn't been hiding inside Ying Su's body, getting down would definitely not have been easy.

They had finally endured long enough to get into the deep layers. Now, they needed to figure out how to get out.

Ying Su's working hours depended on Doctor Anna's schedule. If necessary, she would follow Doctor Anna and sleep in her private office, where a simple bed and washroom were available.

After normal work hours, Doctor Anna would restore the visual and auditory functions of her helmet, but Ying Su had to return to her own room to remove it. Meals also had to be taken back to her room.

Ying Su felt her treatment had degraded.

As a research subject, she had lived comfortably in a large room, could play with whatever she wanted, her days were just sleeping and eating, eating and sleeping, occasionally playing with some fun things.

But now, officially a D-Class employee of the containment facility, her room had become very small, and the cameras in the room were still there.

Olivia told her she had seen the feed from this angle in Doctor Anna's office. These cameras were probably installed by Doctor Anna to monitor her.

"And the bed is so hard."

Ying Su said this while lying on the bed. Although she had taken a step forward, she still had no real leads.

However, the current situation had given Olivia considerably more room to maneuver, mainly because Ying Su now had more free time.

Although the collar on her neck had a tracking function, and the helmet recorded her time spent outside, forcing her to stick to a strict three-point routine to avoid suspicion,

whenever she had time to go to the cafeteria, Ying Su would deliberately wait a while. To others, she might just be waiting for the line to get shorter. But in reality, in a place no one could see, blood slowly seeped from under her skirt and hid beneath the chair.

Not long after Ying Su left,

a newly promoted D-Class employee took her meal and sat at the other end of the same chair.

This former E-Class employee, after participating in the B347 research, displayed inhuman physical qualities during a random experiment. After consideration and evaluation, she was officially promoted to D-Class.

She could finally have her ID badge number replaced with her own name.

So, she named herself Olivia.

This was her clone. At regular intervals, the two would appear in the cafeteria separated by a short time. Through this, the main body and the clone exchanged information, allowing them to learn more about this containment facility.

"I've inquired. A C-Class employee said only B-Grade personnel at the supervisor level have the authority to leave the containment facility."

Olivia relayed the information she had obtained to Ying Su.

"Huh? They can't possibly stay here their whole lives, right?"

"......"

"So it really is for a lifetime..."

Ying Su had a massive headache. What was she supposed to do? The only B-Grade personnel she had contact with was Doctor Anna, but directly taking her hostage or something like that was too risky.

And the various facilities in this entire underground base were extremely comprehensive, comparable to a town of a hundred people.

Of course, that's only counting the formal employees. If you added the disposable clones and the dehumanized E-Class consumables, the number would be much higher.

Although living here for a lifetime meant freedom was almost impossible, as long as one moved out of the E-Class category, the treatment was actually quite good.

"Maybe we should try to become B-Grade?"

Ying Su suggested.

"Do you think it's that easy? B-Grade is divided into combat personnel and research personnel. Research personnel often also handle administrative work.

Research positions are by recommendation only. For combat personnel, you have to go to various dangerous situations, face various anomalies. And you can only go on external assignments after reaching B-Grade. The containment facility has an external unit, but it's separate from here. Only the facility's Supreme Council can command them."

The Supreme Council—that was a place one could only be nominated to enter after passing rigorous assessments and being recognized as an S-Class employee.

They could decide all major matters for the entire organization.

And their No. 3 Containment Facility was just a part of it, something that could be completely abandoned if necessary.

What Olivia said made Ying Su feel despair. How was this place so ironclad? Those outside couldn't get in, those inside couldn't get out. Not even the dead could leave.

"Wait, what about the day we first met?"

"That was an organization called 'Remake.' They're basically the archenemy here, dedicated to releasing anomalies and coexisting peacefully with them."

"'Anomaly lives matter,' huh?"

Ying Su sighed.

Doctor Anna was very careful with her, planning her life like a wind-up doll. Any action outside the plan would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Everything about her was controlled by Doctor Anna. Every step had to be taken with extreme caution.

Things were extremely troublesome for Olivia as well. Her clone had indeed obtained a lot of information, but the more she knew, the more she felt completely trapped.

The only B-Grade combat personnel in this base was called the Shapeshifter, Roland.

Brought up by Doctor Anna years ago. If Olivia wanted to try the combat personnel route, she would inevitably run into her. And her clone had no way to hide.

Ying Su's body emitted a scent that could mask her from Roland's sense of smell, but her clone had no such ability.

That damn woman would definitely recognize her with one sniff.

"Maybe you should just spend your life with me like this?"

Ying Su said.

"Don't even think about it."

"It wouldn't be so bad."

Ying Su lay on the bed. She was thinking about ending it all and starting over. After all, the chaos caused by Remake seemed like the most likely chance to escape, and they seemed to have some way to teleport out.

But after thinking it over, Ying Su decided to try a bit longer. At worst, she'd just be gathering information.

---

"Ugh... Morning, Doctor Anna."

Sylvia said this while yawning as she entered the office. "I finished compiling the data. Mmm, 347 is here too. Doctor, lend her to me."

"Fine."

Anna spun her chair and placed Ying Su, who was in her lap, down on the floor. With her senses sealed, Ying Su didn't dare move.

She could only stand obediently with her hands clasped. For convenient inhalation, she was dressed very thinly and breathably—just a plain white off-the-shoulder dress.

Then Sylvia picked her up and tossed her onto the sofa, immediately burying her face in Ying Su's chest and inhaling deeply.

"Haaah..."

Sylvia took a deep breath, instantly feeling refreshed and full of energy.

Ying Su was startled for a moment, then slowly reached out her hands, hugged Sylvia's head, and began smoothing her hair. Of course, Ying Su had no idea who it was.

And with Sylvia pressed against her, wearing such thin clothing, the feeling of someone so close, their breath warming her stomach, felt strangely ticklish.

"Mmm..."

Anna glanced over. It seemed this wasn't bad either. Maybe she should try it next time.

"By the way, you haven't... you know, with her, right?"

Sylvia said this, then lay back using Ying Su's lap as a pillow, letting her massage her head.

Sylvia knew about Anna's preferences. Plus, 347 was fair, soft, cute, and adorable. It would be understandable to have certain thoughts.

"What do you take me for? I'm not that desperate. Besides, isn't there you?"

"So when do I get to be your research assistant again?"

"Not in a hurry. Depends on your performance~"

Anna said this. Recently, whenever Sylvia got anxious, her fingers applied more pressure. If she became a research assistant again, she'd probably go back to being all soft and limp like before.

But as time passed, Sylvia was feeling more and more insecure.

She was C-Class, but she was halfway to B-Grade. At this critical juncture, if Anna had any ulterior motives, she could be stuck at C-Class for life.

There was no choice. The hierarchy within the base was strict. Anna's authority was great enough to decide most matters in her jurisdiction, A Zone.

Sylvia could only let herself be manipulated. Although they seemed to get along well, Sylvia knew Anna wasn't as gentle as she appeared. She was no pushover either.

Who knows, she might already be evaluating her value in her mind.

*After all, not everything she says is a lie.*