NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: Cure.
Chapter 8: Cure.
*Alice’s POV*
Victoria… I’ve always worried about that child. Originally, she was a human. She went from human to Demon Queen, to Demon Goddess in such a short period of time.
Creators, we tend to be very lonely. It’s hard for us to be able to build relationships with the beings in the worlds we created and oversee. I see them as my children. We can't really bring ourselves to romantically love our own creations. It’s hard to even be able to be their friends…
Victoria has been the only one able to worm her way into my heart. Friends… That’s how our relationship will always stay. Victoria has tried many times to make me one of her lovers but I wasn’t having it. Speaking of her lovers, before she started building relationships like that, I was worried that she would end up lonely like me.
Instead, she was crazy. What kind of person has over 100 different lovers? Did I really create a being capable of doing that? Keeping that many people around as sex objects, it would be impossible to do but, Victoria wasn’t like that. She loves all of her lovers almost equally. She has five wives whom she pampers more than the others but even so, she never mistreated any of them.
She told Erika that she had forced a few of her lovers but, honestly, that was a lie on her part. A lie that she herself also believed. All of her lovers live in peak comfort and enjoy each and every day of their lives happily.
What did she mean by saying she forced some of them into being her lovers? She meant that she showed them what kind of life that they could lead if they became her lover.
To her, not having them fall in love with her first before taking them in, she saw that as forcing them. Do they truly love her? Or do they love what she’s given them? Victoria always worries about such things. I’ve talked to every single one of her lovers. All of them love her greatly.
And why wouldn’t they? She let them eat luxurious food every day. Highly trained maids wait on their every word and whim. They have a constant stream of entertainment.
Victoria had spent so many of her Demon Goddess Points on just transporting entertainment from other dimensions just for her and her lovers to enjoy. All of their desires are satisfied here. That includes their sexual desires as well.
Victoria wasn’t an idiot. She didn’t mind if her lover’s date and do sexual things with each other. If anything it made her love them more. It’s funny since she even let a few of them marry each other. The weddings she threw for them were always grand.
She wasn’t some weirdo that was constantly picking up girls either. Like me, Victoria is thousands of years old. She would only ever get a new lover once every few years. You would think that with so much experience, she would realize how much the girls whom she thinks that she had forced into this life actually loves her.
Victoria: “Alice? What’s wrong? You’ve been staring off into space for a while now.” She said with a smile.
Alice: “Hm? Oh, nothing special.” I say with a laugh.
Sofiel: “That’s funny, I remember asking the same thing to Victoria a few days ago. She gave me almost the same answer.” Sofiel said with a cheeky tone.
Alice: “That so? Anyway, Sofiel, bet against your wife with me.” I say with a slightly evil smile.
Victoria: “And what kind of bet would you two be trying to rope me into?” Victoria said with a questioning tone.
Alice: “We’ll bet that Erika will complete all of her tasks before she comes back.” I say with a smile.
Sofiel: “That sounds pretty interesting. What would we get if we win? And what do we lose if she wins?” Sofiel said with a questioning tone.
Alice: “Hm… Let’s see… Ah, if we win, Victoria will take you out on a date and she will let me pursue Erika. If she wins, I’ll take her out on a date.” I say with a thinking pose.
Victoria: “You’ll go on a date with me?” Victoria said with sparkly eyes.
Alice: “Only if you win.” I say with a laugh.
Sofiel: “I agree to this bet.” Sofiel said with a smile.
Victoria: “Hold on, Alice, you’re interested in Erika?” Victoria said with a concerned tone.
Alice: “That’s right. Many years of longing for a relationship I’ve endured from seeing you get all close and personal with your lovers. Erika isn’t from this world. She is interesting and there should be nothing wrong with me trying to make her mine.” I say with a bright smile.
Victoria: “She’d be pissed off knowing that we bet on her life like this, you know. But, as long as she never figures it out, then fine. I also agree with this bet.” She said with a sigh.
Alice: “It’s a deal then. I wonder how much longer Erika will make us wait?” I say with a laugh.
*Erika’s POV*
Originally, I planned to not even bother trying to convince Isaac to tell me the location of his research. He told me it was in a hospital, surely there weren’t that many hospitals in this city, right?…
I told Kora about this and she told me that it’s good that he told us the exact hospital. I asked her why and she said it’s because there are 86 different hospitals in this city… It looks like I had made the right choice after all.
Iron Heart Hospital was the name of the place that Isaac had given me. Just like he said, it only took us a few hours to make it there. Lut and Isaac, I do hope that they are resting in peace now. Without their help, I don't think that I could have gotten this far.
Kora: “This… This hospital is huge… Can we really look around the entire thing?” Kora said with a concerned tone.
Erika: “He didn’t tell me about where exactly in the hospital his research was. It seems like we have no choice.” I say with a sigh.
Kora: “If we split up, we could probably search the whole place within a day.” Kora said with a thinking pose.
Erika: “Vetoed. You don’t have a badge like me. It would be best if we stuck together.” I say with a serious tone.
Kora: “Ah, you’re right.” Kora said with an embarrassed tone.
She must have forgotten about us cheating with that badge of mine. Without it, the likelihood of one of us getting bitten was too high. I’m not willing to risk that just so we could search this place faster.
And search we did. Surprisingly, it only took us seven hours to search the whole place. Unfortunately, we did not find any research, or more importantly, we didn’t find the cure… Did Isaac lie? Or did he not realize that someone took his research out? I don’t think that either of those answers were correct.
We had gone back to the first floor. I had an idea and hoped it was correct. With my current strength, opening up the doors on an elevator was childs play. My luck hasn’t run out yet since, I was right. There was another floor below us.
Luckily, the elevator was still above this floor. There is no more power left anywhere in this dimension. Maybe at the Savior camps, but not here in this abandoned hospital. Moving it would have been impossible. The elevator shaft had ladders on the side that we could climb down with. So we did.
Once at the bottom, I opened another set of elevator doors. Before doing so, I asked Kora to move to the side out of the way of the door. Once again, I was right to do so. The moment I opened the door, gunshots rained down on us. I managed to dodge in time and didn’t get hit. Because of my warning, Kora was also fine.
Isaac… He could have warned us. Despite there being no power, there were automatic turrets still powered on. From what I could tell, this place must have some kind of backup power in place. After every 15 seconds of fire, the turrets would pause to reload before shooting once more.
I used that gap to my advantage and shot at the turrets with my handgun. I managed to destroy them but by the time I was done, my ammo was basically gone. I had about three mags worth of it left. Better than dying I guess. Though it hurts that my firearm smuggling plan is being slowly ruined...
Kora was still a little freaked out. She told me that she hasn’t ever been deployed in a dimension with firearms before so, this was her first time getting shot at with them. I comforted her and asked her to wait while I made sure the way forward was clear. She was reluctant to let me go but I managed to convince her that I would be fine.
This place was far more advance than the tech in this world should have been… I looked around further and found no other traps or turrets at all. All of the rooms were clear. Sparkly clean at that... Isaac said that they were all killed by zombies, why is it so clean? My question was answered by a robot that came out of a wall and cleaned up the pieces that fell off the turrets that I destroyed.
I’m guessing that the turrets killed all of the zombies in this place. But how did Isaac escape? Maybe he really didn’t tell me the full story.
Like I said, I checked every room. Once I was sure that it was all clear, I asked Kora to follow me to a “fun” room. To which she agreed but looked confused by what I said.
Kora was confused until she realized what I had meant. The room was an armory. There were hundreds of firearms in this place as well as thousands of rounds of ammo. I let Kora pick out a handgun for herself and helped her put her leg holster on. Though she has never been shot at before, she said that she had experience using firearms and she didn’t need me to teach her on how to use them.
I pocketed all of the ammo and guns in that place. I am now a walking armory. My plan to use firearms in a fantasy world will be extremely fun to carry out now as well. Just one handgun? It would be funny. An entire armory of firearms to play and kill with as I please, while the beings of that world are completely confused? Now that sounds fun!
Since there was power here, I was able to close the elevator again. One of the rooms was clearly the room where they had tried to make a cure. I didn’t find anything resembling a cure at all. Isaac must have taken the only sample and used it on himself. The lab was completely operational. Do I really have to make the cure by myself?...
I handed Kora her backpack out of my inventory and she went to the living quarters. There were about 15 self contained rooms for sleeping. There was also a kitchen. Rather than a lab for making a cure, this must have been some kind of secret lab for some unknown experiments. And it just so happened to be used to make a cure instead.
I didn’t know how long that it will take me to make a cure so, I asked Kora to set up so that we can live here for a while. There was also a laundry room. I’ve already used all of the sets of clothes that I took from that clothing store so they were all dirty. Kora said that she would wash our clothes for us.
Since it’s just her and me, I just took my clothes off leaving only my lingerie on. Kora had a blush on her face again. Does she have feelings for me or something? Either way, Kora and I are the only ones here in this place so us going around in lingerie wouldn’t pose a problem. At least, that was what I told Kora to convince her to strip along with me.
Look, if I was the only one wearing my lingerie then I would feel embarrassed. This way, I won’t be. Kora went along with my whims and stripped down to her lingerie as well. I then handed her all of my clothes.
Kora: “What about your bra and panties? I have a few extra clean sets but, I don’t think that they would fit you.” Kora said after looking at my breasts for a few seconds with slight pity.
Look… I know that you have bigger breasts than me. I could at least borrow your panties, right? It's not like she has bigger butt than me... Ah, I’m getting too self concerned.
Erika: “These are special, they can clean and repair themselves.” I say with a smile trying to hide my annoyance at her mentioning my breast size.
Kora: “That’s surely convenient…” Kora said with a slightly jealous tone.
Erika: “I plan to ask the one who made them to make us more sets, as well as some clothes when we get back.” I say with a laugh.
Kora: “Oh? Who made them exactly?” Kora said with a curious tone.
Erika: “The one who made me a Dark Savior, the Demon Goddess, Victoria.” I say with a smile.
Kora: “You… You work for a Demon Goddess?” Kora said with a shocked tone.
Erika: “You also work for her now as well.” I say while giving her a pat on the head.
Once again she went beet red. Oh my God or… oh my Demon Goddess, does she really have feelings for me? It’s not like I’ve even tried to seduce her or anything… Ah, while I was lost in thought Kora ran away with all of the clothes to the laundry room. I guess I’ll get to work now…
*One week later.*
It didn’t take as long as I thought that it would take for me to figure out a cure. Frankly, it only took me a few hours to make the cure but, reading all of their research was what took the longest. I still didn’t get a notification that I completed the find a cure task, though. I guess that I have to actually use it.
I’m sure that it works. I just don’t want to use it on myself and Kora yet until I am 100% sure that it’s safe. During the week here, it got tiresome to open and close as well as climb up the elevator shaft so, I rerouted the power from unused parts of the lab to the elevator.
I had a lot of the cure already made and ready for use. I had about 2000 ready. My first test subject was obvious. When I tested it on some zombies, they all died. I wasn't sure if it was because I made a cure or just poison...
Still no notification… I told Kora that I would be going out for a bit. I didn’t hide from her what my destination was. I was going back to Sanctuary. It took some time to convince her that I would be all right and she eventually let me go. She would be safe here. I even made sure to leave her some more firearms that she could use if the need ever came.
Once again, it did not take me long to reach Sanctuary. After snooping around for a while, I counted a populace of 258 people. Injecting them all with the cure would take forever and I don’t think that I could pull it off safely. I decided to just dump the cure into their water supply.
I needed a live test subject. And what better than to use one of the Saviors? Kidnapping one of them was easy. He must have been a low ranking Savior since he didn’t put up much of a fight. I did this during the night so zombies were out. I gagged, tied and dragged him out to a horde of zombies. Then I injected him with the cure.
I waited for a total of ten minutes to make sure the cure made it through his body. Then I grabbed a zombie and made it bite the man. According to Kora, once bitten, a normal person would turn in seconds. Saviors seem to be immune to the virus. As for my test subject, he did not turn at all, no matter how long I waited. Then I heard my assistant’s voice.
Lilith: “Erika, you have completed the task, Find a cure for the Undead virus.” Lilith said with a happy tone.
Erika: “That’s good. Could you please remind me what the reward was?” I say with a smile.
Lilith: “Sure thing! The reward was one A Grade Monster Core.” Lilith said with a peppy tone.
Erika: “I see. Thanks!” I say happily.
I’ll use the Monster Core when I get back to Kora. Now then, this Savior had outlived my uses for him. If he was just a normal person, I wouldn’t have to kill him. But if I left him alive, I would just have to kill him later.
Though, since he did help me out a bit, I decided to use my handgun to give him a quick and painless death. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, Lilith’s voice rang in my head.
Lilith: “Erica, why not make him a Dark Savior?” Lilith said with a questioning tone.
Erika: “I won’t ever make a man a Dark Savior, only other women.” I say with a shrug.
Lilith: “Why not have him give up being a Savior? If he does, he’d just be returned to his dimension.” Lilith said with a serious tone.
Erika: “Huh? I can do that?” I say with a shocked tone.
Lilith: “Make him renounce his faith. It’s a new feature coming in the next update of the System. You have access to it. Keep in mind, it will only work on those who have little faith in their beliefs. This man would easily give up being a Savior to not die.” Lilith explained calmly.
Erika: “How would I make him give it up?” I say with a questioning tone.
Lilith: “It’s simple! Just like there is an oath one has to take to become a Savior or Dark Savior, there is also one to renounce said oath. Just make him say, “I renounce my Saviorhood!” and then it’ll work.” Lilith continued to explain calmly.
Erika: “That’s great! Please inform me of when there is a Savior who has weak faith. That way I won’t have to kill every single one of them.” I say with a happy tone.
Lilith: “Understood!”
The man kept staring at me, probably wondering why I haven’t pulled the trigger yet. To him, I’ve just been holding a gun to his head for a few minutes while my facial expressions most likely changed various times. In all likelihood, he probably thinks that I am insane...
Erika: “Do you want to live? If so, then say, “I renounce my Saviorhood!” and I’ll let you live.” I say after I took out the cloth that I used to gag his mouth.
???: “A-Are you insane?! Why would you let me live just because I said that?” The man said with a confused tone before I shoved my gun in his face one again. He understood that I wasn’t going to answer his question.
???: “I… I renounce my Saviorhood!” The man shouted in a pleading tone before disappearing from my sight.
Huh… He did just return to his dimension, right? I mean he went *poof!* and everything… There is no trace of him left at all. Assuming that he actually did return, the idea that a man wearing armor and swords appearing in the middle of modern dimension, also assuming he was from one is, really funny to me…
I’ll have Kora help me take over Sanctuary later. For now, my purpose here was complete so, I started walking back to our base. While I was walking, Lilith spoke to me again.
Lilith: “Congratulations Erika! You’ve drawn first blood in the war against gods and Creators by destroying the faith of one of their own.” Lilith said with a bright tone.
Erika: “I did what now?” I say with a shocked tone and stopped dead on my feet.
Lilith: “Do not worry that era isn’t here yet so, no one will know of this but, Victoria and Alice will receive benefits so they will know.” Lilith explained in a calm tone since she could tell that I was upset slightly.
Erika: “Do I get any benefits? Please tell me that I at least get something.” I say with a serious tone.
Lilith: “Tasks will give you Dark Savior points so, even though you weren’t given this has a task, you’ve gotten points from doing it.” Lilith explained.
Erika: “Dark Savior points?” I say with a head tilt.
Lilith: “Yes. Similar to Creators and Gods, they also receive points when they do something of note for example, Victoria has Demon Goddess points.” Lilith said.
Erika: “And what do I do with these points?” I say with a curious tone.
Lilith: “Currently in the old System, only Creators and some gods have access to a store in the System. The store is extremely limited. With the newest update, everyone that can use the System will be able to access a store specific to their occupation that has a wide range of things to purchase. As a tester, you will be given points for all tasks you’ve completed and will complete in the future.” Lilith said with an excited tone.
Erika: “How can I access the store?” I say with a sinister smile on my face.
A store? Surely they will be things that I could buy on there that would help me greatly! Ah, just thinking about such a thing is enough to bring tears to my eyes… Unfortunately, my partner had dashed my hopes…
Lilith: “Erika, I’m sorry for getting you so excited about it but, it’s not ready for you to use yet.” Lilith said with a remorseful tone.
Erika: “That… that so? Any ETA on when it will be ready?” I say with a slightly sad tone.
Lilith: “According to the Administrators, it’s a nightmare to balance. They estimate that it would be done in 50 years from now. They also asked me to tell you that they’re grateful for your help. With you testing the System, they’ve been able to cut out hundreds of years off of the expected time for the update to be finished.” Lilith said with a praising tone.
Erika: “Not to sound greedy, but I could test the store for them as well.” I say with a nervous tone.
Lilith: “They always planned for you to test it but, not until it’s in a more complete state. They did say that they could give you access to a very early version sometime from now. They only ask that you test it thoroughly. They’ll give you points to spend. Once you’ve tested it, you will be rewarded and the number of Dark Savior points that you had at the time will be refunded. On the negative side, all of the items and things that you bought from the store will be lost and any effect they had on you will be reverted.” Lilith explained slowly.
Erika: “I see… Well, I’m up for testing it when they’re ready for me to do so.” I say with a sigh.
Lilith said, “Okay!” and then I went back to walking towards my and Kora’s base. It did not take me long to make it back and when I did, Kora gave me a warm and tight hug. It was nice so, I didn’t make her stop until she was satisfied. I told her about how the cure worked and about how I could make a Savior turn from their group without making them a Dark Savior.
Kora: “Does that mean that we can finally leave now?” Kora said with a thinking pose.
Erika: “Unfortunately not. I still have to give everyone the cure and deal with all of the Saviors.” I say with another sigh.
Kora: “That last part shouldn’t be hard. This dimension has been declared a lost cause for a long time. Because of that, there aren’t many Saviors stationed here. At most, there are a little over 600 of them left. Not counting me, Daniel, or Hurst.” Kora said with a sigh of her own.
Erika: “How many people are left in this dimension?” I ask Kora.
Kora: “No need to worry Erika, I’ll make us a map of where all of their camps are. The Saviors have full control of every one of them. With a map of their camps, we just have to pick off the Saviors one by one and give everyone the cure.” Kora said with a determined tone.
Erika: “Please do.” I say with a smile.
Kora: “I’ll have to make different maps for each country. We’ll go country by country until we are done. It’ll take a while for me to make them, though.” Kora said with a remorseful tone.
Erika: “That’s fine, take your time. I have to make more of the cure anyway. Speaking of which, do you know how much that I would have to make?” I say with one of my hands on my chin.
Kora: “If we count all of the people living in Savior camps and towns, we should need about 5 million doses of the cure. Counting those that are on their own, making about 15 million should be a good enough buffer. Giving them instructions on how to make the cure themselves would help as well.” Kora said with a thinking pose.
Erika: “I guess we have an idea about what we’ll be doing for the next few days.” I say with a laugh.
Seeing how we knew what needed to be done, we both went to work right away. Or we would, but, me and Kora were already running out of food. Raiding a local bulk buy store, I find a lot of food that we can eat from now on. We wouldn’t have to worry about food for years.
Before I left, I had taken the cure and given it to Kora as well. Now it wouldn't matter if we got bitten. I now understand why no store was looted. Once bitten or scratched someone would turn in seconds. This world fell so fast, no one had the time to loot.
Smaller areas were looted but cities like this weren’t due to how fast the infection spread… Anyway, now that our food situation was solved, we started our work once again. I don’t know how long it’ll take this time, though…