Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"Special Containment Procedures Department, that sounds weird." Muirseth also felt that the name of the department was a bit strange, but the temptation of being a colleague with her bestie outweighed her doubts about the name of the department. As both were department heads, wouldn't it be a proper thing for the two departments to interact more often in the future?

"And they appointed a deputy section chief. Does Rhine Life have such a title?" Ferdinand asked doubtfully. "Let me see—the deputy section chief's name is... Saria?!"

"Is there a problem?" At that moment, a tall figure suddenly appeared from behind Ferdinand. It was Saria herself. She had changed into her RhineLife uniform. Returning to RhineLife after such a long absence was not something she was used to. However, Christen had convinced her that if she was to closely monitor Noah's safety, then the roles of Section Chief and Deputy Section Chief would be most appropriate.

And Christen did not completely fail to pay the price he deserved. The so-called Special Containment Measures Department was not actually a newly established department. To be precise, this department had always existed in secret. It was considered a shadow department of the Security Department. It was a special department that was only under the overall management of the general commander. Almost all of them had scientific literacy and combat capabilities. Within Rhine Life, they were called "Ouroboros."

Now it's just a matter of putting this department dedicated to the recovery and supervision of objects in the open. This time, in essence, all the darkness of Rhine's life is handed over to Saria, which can be regarded as compensation for the previous situation.

And the containment object is not just Noah Kyrielight himself.

In Rhine Life's various experiments, any test subjects that went out of control, exhibited unusual phenomena, or even exhibited special supernatural phenomena were contained by Ouroboros. The objects were stored in a vast underground structure beneath the Rhine Life building, accessible only via the internal elevator with special permission. All the objects stored underground were categorized and presented to Saria in the form of a catalog.

There was no way Saria could refuse this job; it was a rare opportunity to glimpse the true darkness of Rhine's life, so she agreed.

In a sense, having the detainee serve as the section chief and the deputy section chief supervising the section chief can be considered a special form of detention.

Although Noah's position as section chief is a nominal one, the rights and benefits he is entitled to are real. Not only is his salary very high, he also receives various special subsidies. If Noah wants to prepare a special department for his own research, he only needs to apply for it, and it will be approved in just a few minutes.

Noah felt it was a pity to have these privileges. How many talented people wanted this position but couldn't get it...but she actually got it in this way.

The emergence of the Special Containment Measures Department also caused quite a stir within Rhine Life, but since there were no problems with the documents provided by the general manager, everyone could only acquiesce to the existence of this department.

Of course, the topic of the new section chief, Noah Kyrielight, has never stopped.

There was even a rumor that Noah Kyrielight bought the title of section chief with a large amount of sponsorship. Some people also said that Noah Kyrielight was actually the mistress of the general manager.

It's true, wherever people are, there's always gossip. Noya was no stranger to these rumors, worthy of being read in the Red Wine News. Now, dressed in her section chief's research uniform and carrying her name tag, she, accompanied by Saria, took a special elevator to the Containment Measures Section, located approximately ten meters below the Rhine Lifeforms. Surrounded by a group of specialized personnel, she conducted her first on-the-job inspection.

These containment department personnel were all well-trained and had almost no emotional fluctuations, which made Noah feel a little uncomfortable.

However, with Saria by her side, she was still very relieved. After entering the containment area of ​​the containment department, Noah suddenly frowned. It was not because the environment here was very bad, but because she sensed many crazy emotional flows. These emotional entities could be transmitted to her so emotionally through the thick isolation door, which was enough to show that the situation here was very bad.

Perhaps sensing Noah's discomfort, Saria placed her hand on Noah's shoulder and said, "I'm here."

"Ah."

Chapter 15: Responsibility

There was a heavy feeling on her shoulders, that was the sense of security that belonged to Saria.

She is such a person who can make people feel at ease with just one word, because the shield in her hand is always raised for the person behind her, like a fist, with the hard side facing the enemy and the soft part given to the person being protected.

This Vaifan took the lead and opened the observation room of one of the containment objects according to the operating procedures of the Ouroboros members. The containment objects were extremely dangerous, so in addition to the containment facilities, there were also many buffer settings. If Ifrit had not been taken away by Hemer and Saria, he would probably appear here and become part of the containment object.

Most of the objects contained here are the products of failed experiments. Some are the people who underwent the experiments, and some are researchers affected by the experiments. In the outside world, these are missing persons, and probably no one would have thought that these people would end up here.

"This is a hospital—" Noah began, "It houses patients who cannot come into contact with the outside world."

Those who can be taken in here basically have destructive power beyond people's imagination, and can even cause the destruction of a city. Their forced shelter has been reviewed by Columbia and is one of the responsibilities of Rhine Life. A large part of them are not caused by Rhine Life.

All we can say is that despite Colombia's seemingly bright appearance, there is still unfathomable darkness.

And now, Noah is touching the darkest corner of this country.

Object No. SA-05-21 Haisi

Introduction: Director Mariam discovered a special creature during his expedition in Iberia. It has strong regenerative and adaptable abilities. It is said to be a mysterious sea creature that the mysterious Ocean Kingdom of Agor is fighting against. It is directly related to the mysterious catastrophe "The Great Silence" that occurred in Iberia decades ago.

Containment advice: Haisi becomes more active after coming into contact with moisture. It is recommended to use a 10x10x10 transparent cube of specialized glass filled with kerosene to isolate all moisture as much as possible and keep it dry. Personnel entering the containment facility must wear special uniforms and are not allowed to bring any containers filled with water.

Current assessed risk level: safe

Containment Breach Probability: Low

As a newly appointed section chief, the first thing he inspected was certainly not a high-risk containment object, but something floating in high-purity kerosene—a fish? Wasn't this already a specimen?

When Noah observed carefully through the Eye of God, he realized belatedly that even in the kerosene, the creature was still trembling slightly, a sign that it was not dead yet. It was just dormant.

According to the containment records, this thing has been stored in high-purity kerosene for nearly ten years. How can it still be active?

Although this thing seems harmless now, Noah has indeed heard of the [Great Silence] mentioned in the introduction. It was because of this catastrophe that Iberia fell from the top power of Terra, and its golden age was gone forever. To this day, there are even large-scale out-of-control routes caused by the Great Silence.

The instigator of all this is the strange creature in front of him that looks like a salted fish.

"Director Mariam, I think he's the director of the Science and Technology Department, right? How did he get his hands on something like this?" Noah couldn't help but ask curiously, "Could it be that Director Mariam is as powerful as Director Saria?"

"No... From what I understand, he probably just cast once," Saria replied. "He's used to casting wherever there's water. But he always catches something that isn't a fish. We've tried to persuade him to give up this dangerous activity many times, but he still hasn't gotten rid of this habit."

"...Generally speaking, fishing shouldn't be considered a dangerous activity." Noah complained softly.

"But anything Mariam picked up could be radioactive," Saria lamented. "It's a miracle he's still alive."

So the director of the Science and Technology Department is actually an epic unlucky guy? And the kind of unlucky but hard to kill unlucky guy. Noah couldn't help but respect this owner of the Science and Technology Department, whom he had never met. "So where does Director Mariam work now?"

"According to records, he went to the Sami Glacier a long time ago, saying he planned to capture a demon there and bring it back for a look." Saria held her forehead. "He hasn't returned yet, so he might be dead."

"...As a colleague, Director Saria, do you have any opinion about him?" Noah couldn't help but wonder what kind of person could make Saria think that he deserved to die.

"Guess how many troubles he's caused with those bizarre things he brought back? And guess who's responsible for settling them all?" Saria's tone was tinged with fatigue. "But the truly dangerous things should have been contained here, right?"

"Isn't this Hai Si dangerous enough to be safe?" Noah asked, "Then why is it placed here?"

"Hazard safety only applies to containment," Saria explained. "Hai Si's ability to evolve and adapt usually only occurs when attacked, so this method of preservation doesn't trigger that mechanism, making it safe. However, we also have to consider how to continue controlling it if the kerosene can no longer restrain it. In short, water is not an option."

"Oh—" Noah nodded, "So it's hibernating in a sense?"

"You could understand it that way," Saria nodded, finding the analogy quite reasonable. "This will also make it easier for us to observe the experiment. Haisi is not just an enemy of Iberia and Agor, but of all of humanity. Perhaps our research will one day help Terra."

If all the objects in this containment facility were like this, Saria wouldn't have to worry about anything. But the problem was that there weren't just these troublesome things Director Mariam had brought back, but also some that Rhine Life had produced itself.

These things that were once human and were already dead in the legal sense were what Saria could not accept.

Although he could convince himself that they were no longer the same people as before, these people must be the sins that Rhine's life bore, the products of inhumane experiments, and their inherent dangers made it necessary for them to be contained in such an inhumane way.

Even though the commander-in-chief assured her that most of them had lost their human consciousness, Saria still couldn't accept it easily.

No, no one with a bottom line can accept it.

Although he had not seen all the collections in person, Noah shuddered just by the brief introduction in the catalog.

Among them are researchers who have been infected with unknown viruses, causing their bodies to mutate; researchers whose brains have turned into fungi due to being parasitized by a special fungus; and even a talking skull.

In addition to the "living" collections, there are also some "object-type" collections, such as a gun that shoots teeth, or a golf club inside a huge piece of source stone.

Some were classified as prehistoric artifacts, while others were simply contained anomalies. Noah even saw a music box similar to the one he held, also seized from the remnants of the Witch King. However, the [False Earthly Sound] inside this music box had not yet been rewritten by him, so anyone who heard it would only go mad.

Counting all the catalogs, there are actually more than 500 objects contained in this underground storage facility.

Among them, Hai Si was truly the least threatening containment, as most were assessed to be at least capable of destroying a city. These anomalous beings were contained, protected, and treated by Rhine Life. The one infected with the unknown virus even greeted someone enthusiastically upon seeing them, even introducing himself as Alex Mercer, a former Rhine Life researcher.

She said she was staying here voluntarily to be sheltered, hoping that the virus in her body could be cured one day.

But Noah could not tell him the truth, because the Alex in front of him was no longer Alex himself. According to the experimental records, the current "Alex" was just a virus prototype that was revived by the virus on the original Alex's body, and by chance it had Alex's own memories.

The detailed records of the experiment were written very clearly. In order not to upset her, everyone cooperated with her and pretended that she was still the original Alex.

Noah felt truly sorry for her, but there was nothing she could do.

After all, experiments have proven that the virus in Alex is enough to destroy a city.

After examining just a few of the objects in storage, Noah was already beginning to feel overwhelmed. What she had seen today had completely overturned her understanding. Not only her, but also her companion, Saria, clenched her fists tighter and tighter. Several times, she couldn't help but want to confront Christen.

Beneath the cold words of these experimental records, how many people have suffered tragedy? How many families have lost husbands, how many children have lost their mothers?

These were once living people!

Sensing Saria's emotional turmoil, Noah reached out, but worried about overstepping his bounds, he simply tugged at her sleeve. He shook his head. "At least now we can prevent something worse from happening, Director Saria."

Looking at Noah, Saria's anger subsided miraculously. Those eyes seemed to have magic, swallowing up all her anger. She regained her sanity and knew that under the current circumstances, sheltering these people was the best destination.

Their release from the facility before their problems are resolved will only cause more misfortune.

But she also had to think that if Noah had not saved herself, she would probably have become one of the people on this list. The one who should have felt scared and uneasy was Noah, but she forced herself to comfort herself.

As the head of the Special Containment Measures Department, Noah's position was something she fought for herself, and her containment measures were herself - even Saria had to be ready to control Noah at any time, and in extremely special circumstances, she even had to consider killing Noah.

This was certainly not something Saria was willing to do, but she had to admit that if it really came to that - she would take action.

Conservatives must protect the lives of more people; this is her creed.

She would turn against Ifrit and Christen for the sake of Ifrit, and naturally she would also take action against Noah for the safety of more people.

The gray matter within Noya's body was a legitimate apocalyptic-level danger, even ranking highly on these lists. Perhaps for this reason, Noya was allowed into this facility. Her gray matter could withstand most of the creatures there, and if the mother body was in danger, it would automatically protect her.

Christen was indeed a smart person. She even thought of using the shelter to look after the shelter—

From this perspective, Noah is truly the most suitable person to head the Special Containment Procedures Department. What could be more reassuring than having the containment itself take care of the containment? And the containment Noah carries is more dangerous than most.

With the gray matter, most abnormalities pose no threat to Noah.

Even if something poses a threat, Noah can usually escape unscathed.

She really wasn't afraid of most of the sheltered creatures. Even the extremely dangerous ones, she could more or less handle them... Noah and Saria figured this out almost at the same time. Noah couldn't help but wonder if she was born with a Palu physique. Why was she always assigned new responsibilities wherever she went? Shouldn't she occasionally refuse the workload that came her way?

Besides, this job is very dangerous. Although the salary is high...but her own small treasury has long made her worry-free about food and drink. She only needs to go to the bank and find that the honorary saint allowance given to her by Kjerag is enough for her to live a life of idleness and wait for death.

But thinking of the complex emotions she had felt before, she could only sigh in the end.

"I remember there's a saying that goes 'Those who are capable should do more work—'" Noah raised his head. "Director Saria, can we change Rhine's life?"

"I tried."

"And it failed?"

"No, I'm disappointed."

"..." Noah was silent for a moment, then raised his head, "Well, now that we are both section chiefs, perhaps we can try again?"

Try again? Why?

Noah, you were almost swallowed up by the darkness of Rhine Life, why did you still try to change Rhine Life?

Saria didn't understand.

But Noah quickly gave the answer.

"Perhaps. I don't think such painful stories should happen again to science, which was supposed to be humanity's hope," Noah muttered to himself. "If we do nothing, then those who stand by and do nothing are also accomplices of the persecutors, right?"

Chapter 16: Teacher Dafei's defense is broken

"Scientific progress is of course important, but if we take too big a step, problems will always arise." Noah and Saria spent five or six days inspecting all the containment facilities. Except for those safe containment facilities with names starting with SA, the rest of the containment facilities were basically things that could destroy a small plot of land, and most of them were the products of Rhine Life's experiments.

Rhine Life's experiments transcend the current era, so there are almost no steps to refer to. It can be said that every step Rhine Life takes now is like that of a blind man, and can only move forward tentatively.

Although there are many achievements, there will definitely be more failures. These are unknown areas of scientific research, just like moving forward in a dark forest. Any wrong step may cause a disaster beyond cognition.

These technologies will be collected and preserved as sealed singularity technologies. The technologies released by Rhine Life to the outside world have all gone through layers of scrutiny and will not affect the current technological progress in the world.

In this regard, the sealing agreement of Singularity Technology is indeed the best move made by Christen. While ensuring that technological exploration will not stop, it will minimize the impact on external cognition.

Rhine Life is still the most outstanding scientific research institution in all of Terra, and the people here are warriors who explore the dark areas.

After inspecting all the objects in containment, Noah also made an improvement plan for Rhine's life containment measures. For those objects in containment that could still communicate normally, Noah gave them the best treatment possible, and the containment areas also began to undergo a certain degree of upgrades. Of course, the funds for these upgrades were all paid for by the general manager. Anyway, her scientific research funds were almost unlimited, and it was reasonable for Noah to ask for money.

As for those inmates who were no longer able to communicate or were even going crazy, they became surprisingly docile in front of Noah. These crazy emotions were soothed by Noah's abilities and achieved excellent results.

Noah is like the director of a hospital, caring for all the patients one by one. Previously, although the containment measures were quite complete, those containment objects that were beyond common sense would often try to break out of containment. This situation would often happen every few days, and each time it would cause huge economic and personnel losses. However, after Noah took office, let alone breaking out of containment, these containment objects were so docile that it was a bit unreasonable.

The Ouroboros troops were a little uncomfortable with this, but this was enough to prove that the new director had her own way of doing things, and being able to properly manage these objects was her specialty.

Not only did Noah manage the creatures, he also re-investigated all the creatures in custody and established contact regulations. Some of the creatures that were friendly and communicative even had a great time chatting with Noah, especially the talking skull. After getting to know him carefully, Noah discovered that the other party was actually a very friendly creature and had the ability to suppress the other violent creatures. Taking this into consideration, Noah even considered hiring some of the creatures to participate in the containment work.

After all this information was summarized, it was written into a report and placed on Christen's desk.

Honestly, Christen had never considered that anyone could actually suppress these dangerous creatures. Previously, Rhine Life had to resort to violence to suppress these creatures' rebellions, which was both costly in both manpower and financial resources. However, since Noah became director, there hadn't been a single breach in the past few weeks. These creatures were as docile as pets in Noah's care.

Is it the effect of gray matter?

Kristen thought about it, but she quickly dismissed the idea. She knew neurotransmitters well enough to know that gray matter couldn't suppress those monsters just yet.

Then there is only one possibility, Noah Kyrielight himself has more powerful abilities, enough to suppress these containment objects.

Since they had saved a lot of money, the funds Noah had applied for could be paid from that savings. Christen didn't mind generously giving them money. She also had her own plans to execute, so she left the rest of the work to Noah.

Anyway, as long as Noah applied, she only needed to stamp her approval. This kind of easy and pleasant work made the chief happy to relax.

She didn't even bother to look at what Noah had reported. Anyway, compared to the money that would be spent if the containment got out of control, what Noah reported was just a drop in the bucket. Noah didn't even realize how much money she had saved Rhine Life. She even wondered if she had reported too frequently.

Sometimes it's like this: some people feel they've given too little, while others feel they've asked for too much. But in the end, the answer is always a compromise—give money! If you want it, give it!

With this funding, Noah renovated most of the underground containment facilities, increasing the activity space for those containments that can communicate without conflict with each other, and letting the containments manage the containments, just like Christen let Noah manage the containments. Among them, Alex was very active. She still regarded herself as a member of Rhine Life, so she not only did not refuse the job of helping to manage the containments, but even showed a considerable degree of work passion.

As the prototype of the virus, Alex possesses extremely strong combat capabilities. With the help of this extra-curricular thug, many of the contained creatures that were originally uncooperative finally became docile after several physical exchanges.