15. Lab Head Sandra

On the ship. Ran thought hard. They did carry communication devices. But he could only contact them if he was on the bridge. There was no way he would leave Cindy alone in the room. In addition to her conditions that were not yet clear, also because the attacks could come at any time.

What were they doing now? The sun seemed to have started to slip toward the West. They should be back. Exploration could only be done during the day. It was too da ngerous to investigate on an unknown island at dark.

"Srrtt…srrttt."

A suspicious voice was heard softly in the room next to the clinic. In fact, Ran saw a closed room near the ship's engine control panel. He thought it was another panel room. Besides, he and Ben didn't have time to investigate further. The room was locked.

Ran tiptoed slowly. He put his ear to the door. There was the sound of footsteps!

Ran stepped back. Trying to observe the situation while thinking. His eyes accidentally noticed a small object installed in the upper corner of the room. It was barely visible. Wow! It was a CCTV camera!

Ran hastily turned his attention elsewhere. Hmm, that means the person in the room can see me. I must be careful. Ran turned around and walked to the engine room. As if he needed to check something there.

After making sure that he was out of the CCTV's frame, Ran decided to hide. This was a survival game. Whoever moved first, that person would been revealed him or herself.

And Ran won the game! The door to the small room slowly opened. A short-barreled weapon appeared first before a figure emerged from the door alert but hesitant. Ran's eyes were widened! Just as the figure stood in the dim light a few centimeters from the door.

It was a tall, striking woman with messy ponytail hair. Her thin body was clad in a knee-high white jacket.

Ran kept watching. She was looking right and left with the gun ready to shoot.

Ran didn't want to startle her, She could have blown his head off out of surprise or fear. Ran wait for the right moment. He suspected that the woman had been inside the room for a while. It was all obvious from her face and tousled hair. She hadn't bathed lately.

While waiting, Ran thought maybe the woman was one of ship's crew. Judging by the white jacket she was wearing, she must have been a doctor or a researcher.

The woman stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Contemplating whether to go up or not. And she didn't. The woman instead turned toward the clinic room where Cindy laid unconscious. Ran's heart was beating fast. He didn't know if she was dangerous or not. From the way she held the weapon, she looked completely untrained.

Ran moved closer slowly taking advantage of the dim atmosphere and the woman's inattentiveness. Just as she gaped at the sight of Cindy lying weakly after opening the clinic door, Ran moved quickly.

With well-trained movements, Ran overpowered her and managed to seize her weapon. The woman screamed softly as Ran grabbed her neck.

"Just kill me! I don't want to comply with your wish to change the generation code," the woman said very weakly. Ran loosened the clasp of his stocky arm around the neck of the woman who seemed like she hadn't eaten for days.

"Calm down.I won't hurt you, okay?" Ran tried to comfort her. He felt her body was getting weaker. Totally helpless. Apparently, the woman had reached her limit. She started sobbing uncontrollably. Ran led her to sit down next to Cindy.

Ran looked at the lovely woman whose face was extremely pale. She looked at Ran with a blank stare. Ran picked up a bottle of water on the table. Told her to drink to calm her down.

"What's your name? Why were you in that room and how long were you there?"

The woman drank the water quickly. She looked very thirsty.

"I am…my name is Sandra. I'm the head of the laboratory on this ship. Are you…are you one of the Fallen Genetic's people?"

Ran frowned. Fallen Genetic? What is that?

"I don't think so. You aren't wearing their uniforms and you don't act like them either," Sandra retorted quickly after seeing Ran's astonishment.

Ran nodded. Interesting.

"Them. Fallen Genetic. Attacked this ship. Bio Research Alpha. Many of us died. The only one who escaped was the captain of this ship, Dev. I was also captured along with several other people. But I got lucky. I managed to outwit my guard by drugging him and then I ran and hid here."

Hmm, so this woman was an important Bio Research person? And what was that? Generation code?

"I'm Ran. I am here with my team of five people. We are not Fallen Genetic or whomever attacked you. We just got lost and ended up getting involved in your strange and dreadful world."

Sandra nodded weakly. She understood what Ran meant.

"Is this girl one of your crew? Is she sick?" Sandra pointed at Cindy who was still lying unconscious on the narrow bed.

Before responding, Ran approached Cindy and held her hand. Checked her pulse. Good grief! Cindy's pulse was so fast! And her body was so cold. Icy cold!

Sandra approached after seeing the changes in Ran's face. The lab head also checked Cindy's pulse on her neck. Ran let her. He didn't know what to do with Cindy.

"Wow! Is she one of you or one of the creatures in the laboratory that has awakened?" Sandra asked quickly while continuing to examine several parts of Cindy's body. She opened Cindy's eyelids which were still tightly closed. Sandra almost jumped backwards seeing Cindy's eyelids were red as blood.

"She...she looks a lot like the Angel of Death!" Sandra suddenly became hysterical.

Ran was shocked.

"What do you mean?"

"Your friend. Her vital signs are very similar to the Angel of Death. One of our research objects in hybrid and genetic engineering," Sandra seemed to try to calm herself down. She failed. Her face grew pale.

Ran was dispirited again.

"Her name is Cindy. She went through a strange and unexpected transformation process after being stung by a thorn from shrub," Ran explained.

Sandra was taken back.

"You mean the shrubs on the Bone Island which are plenty in the hills of the Giant River?"

"It's called the Cicuta plants. The thorns are very poisonous. Deadly actually. But not for certain individuals. But they will trigger a genetic change. A mutation! One of our projects was developing Cicuta." Sandra explained. She seemed very worried.

Ran believed her. Sandra was the head of the laboratory of this state-of-the-art research vessel. Who else knew more about this than her?

"Then what can I do to cure Cindy?"

Sandra shook her head firmly, "Nothing! But I can prevent the poison's effects from taking over her mind. We have to take her to the lab. Quick! She is transforming into a very dangerous killer!"

Ran was stunned to hear Sandra's explanation. Killer? Losing control of her mind? No wonder Cindy looked like she was going to hurt Ben and Tet during that incident with the Death Squad. Good grief!

Ran moved quickly to carry Cindy to the laboratory, when suddenly her body convulsed. Sandra watched as Cindy was about to wake up, and then ran out quickly. Ran didn't try to prevent her. His focus was on Cindy who kept on convulsing. Ran touched Cindy's body. Scorching hot!

Extraordinary. Extreme change. She was very cold before and now she was burning.

Ran was about to put a damp cloth on her forehead when Cindy suddenly jumped up. The girl was awake. And now she was standing and staring at Ran with her pale face with threatening red eyes. Ran backed away. Cindy's hands turned to eagle claws again and were ready to attack Ran who was looking at her in horror.

Suddenly, Cindy's body stiffened moments before she stuck her fingernails into Ran's neck. She went limp and fell back unconscious.

Ran wiped the cold sweat on his neck. It was very close! He turned and saw Sandra shaking while holding a stun gun in her hand.

"Hurry, Ran! we have no time! The tranquilizer wouldn't last long. Take her to the laboratory. Let's put her in the Cryonic tube for temporary. I'll be checking on her," Sandra said. She was shaking. Her mind was racing.

Cindy is the original unengineered mutation. This was way more than an amazing finding!

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