Chapter 39
Control
"There are only three areas left to visit: the central command center, the biological protection laboratory, and the power generation area."
"The power generation area is just a normal diesel generator, nothing special, and there's no need to visit it."
When Jenner introduced the area, he casually skipped over the power generation area and led the group directly to the central command room.
"Wei, turn on all the lights."
As sections of white light tubes illuminated, the complete view of the central command room was revealed.
The central command room has a very high ceiling, with a raised circular platform underneath, on which several computers are arranged in a staggered manner.
The computer is somewhat like the multimedia equipment used in schools, but its internal components are many times more powerful.
Jenner extended his palm, allowing the group to freely tour the command center.
"Wow, this looks like a sci-fi movie."
Young Karl exclaimed in surprise and paced around the command room, looking at this computer and that computer.
There are some mechanical buttons next to the computer; I don't know what they do.
Tite, who had been chewing on a sandwich, perked up and walked over to Jenner's computer.
The computer was on, displaying various papers, experimental parameters, and so on. Tite couldn't understand the contents and stared blankly at the mechanical buttons next to him.
However, even after staring at it for a long time, I still can't see any results.
Rick also took a curious look around twice before stopping.
"Jenna, didn't you say you were alone here?" Rick suddenly asked. "What about the one you just called out to?"
"Oh." Jenner seemed to suddenly remember, and introduced with a smile, "Do you know about artificial intelligence?"
"Dimensional intelligence is artificial intelligence."
"Wei, come out and say hello!"
A cold, emotionless female voice came from the sound system in the command room.
"Hello everyone, I am Wei, the artificial intelligence of the CDC."
After explaining the details, Jenner continued to issue instructions.
"Wei, open the brain functional activity imaging map of the infected person."
Then, a dynamic image similar to a magnetic resonance imaging was displayed on the large screen in the center of the command room.
You can see the white brainstem and other parts.
The group looked at the screen curiously, not quite understanding why Jenner was showing it to them.
Jenner pointed to the screen: "This is the normal state of a person's brain."
Then, suddenly, the area of my brain went black at an extremely fast speed, and Jenner's narration echoed in my ears.
"After a person dies, the brain stops functioning."
Like a silent, black ocean, without the slightest ripple, only a suffocating stillness.
The group simply watched, their minds more or less conjuring up images of previous scenes—friends, family…
"The virus infects the human body in as little as a few minutes or as long as a few hours." A scarlet red patch appeared in the brainstem, spreading forward along the brainstem.
You can see the bound experimental subject struggling.
In an instant, the bullet pierced the brain of the experimental subject, destroying the brainstem, and the subject stopped moving.
Lori covered her mouth in alarm and went to Rick for comfort. Rick hugged her and looked at the lifeless test subject on the screen.
"When the infected person completely transforms into a zombie, only areas like the brainstem regenerate..."
Jenner gave a brief explanation of why walkers, even though they are dead, still think about eating and attack any living thing.
"These are the results of our research."
Jenner sighed. So many experts, so much time, and all they've come up with is this much.
How could I possibly have figured it out on my own?
Candice, you really have a lot of faith in me!
After Jenner finished speaking, he slowly walked out of the command room, leaving the others standing there dumbfounded.
……
Nighttime, in Jenner's room.
He held a bottle of wine, drunk, looking at his wife in a photo, his eyes occasionally clearing, filled with longing for her.
"Candice, I didn't tell them that the CDC was going to explode."
"I know the apocalypse is too cruel. They definitely won't make it. If I take them with me to leave this world, am I harming them?"
"I think I did the right thing, I didn't do anything wrong. Think about it, if a zombie caught you and started biting you bit by bit, there wouldn't be any good flesh left on your body."
"Dying like this would be too painful. The explosion at the CDC would be different; the temperature was high and the speed was fast. When I come to see you, I certainly won't feel any pain."
"What? You don't want me to come see you? Why?"
"Candice, don't you miss me?"
"But I did as you asked. I promised to keep doing experiments, and I did. The experimental samples are gone, so it's not my fault."
Jenner kept muttering to herself. Her voice was soft and fragmented, but she didn't try to lower her volume.
Perhaps, deep down, he also secretly hoped that Rick and the others would hear him and make their own choice.
He wouldn't have to bear all the moral pressure.
Tite stood outside the door, listening to Jenner's rambling with boredom, until the voice gradually faded and finally turned into sleep talking.
"Finally going to sleep, I've been waiting forever."
Tite muttered a complaint under his breath, looked around, and saw that no one was passing by.
He turned around, took out a few small tools, and started operating on the door.
The rooms in the CDC's living quarters all use these mechanical locks, not computer-controlled electronic locks.
After fiddling with it for a few minutes, Tite's lips curled into a smile as a crisp sound rang out: "Done!"
Gently push open the door, and you'll find the room completely dark. With the help of the light from the hallway, you can see the outline of a human figure on the bed.
Tite walked into the house, looked at Jenner who was fast asleep, and frowned: "He's such a big guy, how am I going to take him back?"
"Besides, she's sleeping way too soundly."
Tite kicked Jenner with his foot, and Jenner's foot moved but did not react.
"Damn, this is completely different from what I imagined a kidnapping to be!"
Tite angrily turned her back to Jenner. Jenner was 1.9 meters tall, while Tite was only 1.7 meters tall. It looked like a small mountain was pressing down on Tite, completely covering her.
In the dead of night, no one was out and about in the residential area; everyone was asleep.
Therefore, Tite's blatant kidnapping went undetected.
As for Wei? Artificial intelligence in 2010, those who know, know; at most, it's just a mobile phone assistant.
After some effort, Tite finally managed to carry Jenner back to his room.
Jenner lay on the carpet, holding a photo of the couple, fast asleep.
After thinking for a moment, Tite picked up the rope.
However, instead of separating Jenner from his photo, Tite tied them together and stuffed something into Jenner's mouth to prevent him from making a sound.