Story Reader / Main Story / 16 Evernight Beat / Story
Encountering the Hetero-Sapiens in real life is much more intense than seeing them in videos.
Their bones are fractured by Egret's firepower, their fragments hitting your exoskeletons with a dull thud.
Their bodies turn cold as they lie on the ground among their remains, motionless.
Check your wounds. We'll continue moving in two minutes.
You all begin to carry out inspections and repairs as you receive your order.
Your head is slowly recovering from the spike of adrenaline, but you can still hear the voices of Hetero-Sapiens from all corners of the Forest Park Ruins, warning you not to let your guard down.
The cyclic comms interference happens to stop now, and you all receive a transmission at the same time.
Attention, all ground forces. Important message from Babylonia.
I repeat: attention, all ground forces. Important message from Babylonia.
To avoid the comms interference cutting this message short, we are sending the recorded message to your terminals repeatedly offline.
Please download the attachment once you are in safe position.
Hans opens the attachment after hearing the message, and the video attached displays the ever-familiar Red Tide.
Above the Red Tide are static Corrupted frozen in place, scarlet liquid spilling out from the gaps of their bodies.
This liquid flows to the ground along their bodies, forming multiple small pools of Red Tides.
Afterward, the Red Tides devour those Corrupted before Hetero-Sapiens crawl out from the crimson liquid.
The Hetero-Sapiens, originally thought to only appear in Pulai Forest Park Ruins, are rising from the Red Tides in the video.
They step away from the tide and attack everything on their way, and the reaction from the ones attacked is all but unfamiliar.
This is... the Red Tide...
In the footage, the victims' bodies break up after being attacked by the Hetero-Sapiens, falling to the ground, before dissolving and reforming by the Hetero-Sapiens' strikes, regardless if they are mechanoids or humans.
You have seen that in City 075 multiple times through the Spear of F.O.S., the manifestation of being devoured by the Red Tide.
Hassen shows up at the end of the projection, his expression solemn, and explains what is happening everywhere on Earth.
As you can see, the new Hetero-Sapiens are showing up everywhere around the globe.
Hetero-Creatures, as a product of the Punishing Virus, are rising from mechanoids that have been infected.
They form small-scale Red Tides everywhere with Corrupted activities, breaking down machines and attacking humans, rapidly raising the virus concentration in the area, and turning more and more areas into Dead Zones.
Based on our observation, the global Punishing Virus concentration is rising exponentially.
How did that happen? Didn't we clear out all the Red Tide in a previous mission?
Technically, some areas were cleared of the Red Tide.
We never understood how the Red Tide appeared. We only knew that it'd show up near a powerful Hetero-Creature, which was why Babylonia could tackle the Red Tide problem by taking down the Polyphage and Siren.
The Red Tides now are different from the one in City 075. They appear within the Corrupted and spread with the help of Hetero-Sapiens. They move faster, hit harder, and mobilize more freely. It's a new threat to humanity.
Babylonia is actively preparing a response for it. All Task Force members, remember your duties as a soldier. Hold your position, protect the civilians, and wait for our notice.
May humanity endure.
Unlike the Red Tide projections in the past, the Red Tides now come with more threatening physical forms, taking over lands where humans live relentlessly.
This is a warning to humanity, telling us not to let our guard down because of momentary victories.
Humanity has been reclaiming lands, rescuing people, and reestablishing bases.
Meanwhile, the Punishing Virus has also been growing, testing humanity with fiercer forms every time.
The enemy won't stop. To exist is to evolve.
That's why we can't stop as well. Like the President said, our duties come first. What we should do now is hold our positions and complete our missions.
Have we finished analyzing the data we got from actual combat?
Several Constructs, including Liv, step forward and present their analysis to the group after hearing Hans' orders.
It's done. We have synced the data to everyone's terminal.
The Construct named Eleanor speaks first. Her soft tone slightly calms the tension around you while pulling everyone's focus on them.
Some of our discoveries... might help with the situation out there.
