Mutagen

Day 359 - 11:47 PM - Meeting Room, 38th Settlement, Muria Sacred Fortress, Mount Muria, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

THUMP! THUMP!

The playful banter between Mark and Thirteenth ended when two knocks on the door echoed. It was not like the two did not expect other people to come, but it was just that the mood to argue had already vanished.

Bajing went to the door and let the people outside enter. Two women entered, curiously looking at Mark's group, especially the sleeping Amihan slumped on his shoulder.

It was not surprising. No matter who it was, people would be curious about magical beings. This curiosity was even stronger toward fairy-like beings due to stories circulating among humans, specifically legends and fairytales.

Seeing that Thirteenth did not react at the entry of the two women, Mark understood they were among the few who knew of Luna's circumstances.

Instead, the two women were the ones surprised to see Mark interacting with Thirteenth.

"Let me introduce these two," Luna spoke as the two strangers stood beside her. "These are Nelia and Livia."

Neila was a rather tall woman with platinum-colored, lavender-tinted hair. Like Luna, her hair color was the result of her mutation. Her body proportions made her look like a professional model. She seemed to be a serious-looking person, but Mark could tell she was just keeping a facade. Neila had the heart of a soft persimmon. Nonetheless, she had to show a strong front to protect her friends.

"I'm Nelia. Please address me as such," Nelia introduced herself. "I heard about the circumstances from Luna and our members who set out with her. We owe you our gratitude for bringing them home safely."

Right, Nelia sure was a serious person. Mark was mistaken as this was not a simple facade. She really did take the safety of everyone seriously.

On the other hand, Livia was the complete opposite of Nelia. She could not look at the guests straight at all, with her hands fidgeting in nervousness. Livia was a shy girl with no facade, and her slightly below-average height made her look like a small animal needing protection. Her hair had a reddish tint, making her hair look a little similar to Mark's.

"L-Livia. Nice to meet everywan-"

Livia bit her tongue due to overwhelming nervousness. She could not help but redden as she squatted down and hid herself from the eyes of guests using the table.

"Hah..." Luna sighed. "Sorry about that. Livia is, as you see, extremely shy."

Mark and Mei did not mind Livia's behavior. Rather, Mark was looking at her through the table for a different reason.

"That's not all to her, is it?"

Mark asked, surprising the members of the other four women with Livia.

And as if Livia perceived that as the cue, she suddenly stood up.

However, she looked different. Her hair had the complete opposite color. It became crimson-colored with black tints. Furthermore, her nervous expression was now gone, replaced with a rather chaotically lively one.

"WOO! You realized? I'm ELLIE! Nice to meet'cha~!"

That was right. Livia did not introduce herself as Livia but as Ellie.

Ellie was about to begin babbling when Nelia grabbed her and covered her mouth closed. Ellie tried to struggle free, but Nelia's grasp was not something she could free herself from.

"UGH! HELP!" Ellie managed to slip her mouth free. "THIS PEACOCK IS STRANGLING ME~!"

"PEAHEN! I'M A PEAHEN!"

"BUT PEAHENS ARE BROWN! YOU'RE TOO GAUDY-LOOKING!"

"SHUT UP!"

Nelia argued as she pulled Ellie away to the back.

"Sorry about that." Luna held her head, troubled about the scene Livia, no, Ellie created. "As you can see, Livia has a split personality. When Livia's emotions become too much for her to handle, the annoying Ellie pops out to replace her."

"Who's annoyi-!"

"Shut up."

Ellie and Nelia were still fighting in the back.

"Did she turn that way after getting bitten?"

Mark asked, surprising the women even more.

"How did you know?"

Luna asked.

"Just like how I can find the impostors, I have my methods."

Mark answered.

"I see," Luna understood that Mark did not want to show his cards too early. "All of us here and Edge were attending a Christmas Anime Expo when the apocalypse began. All of us, except Limabela and Edge, got bitten. Surprisingly, all of us four did not turn into one of them but ended up becoming mutants."

"Simply mutants, huh. Where we came from, we call people with the same circumstances as [Mutators]."

Mark said after realizing that the people in this country simply called [Mutators] as mutants.

"[Mutators?]" Limabela reacted. "That has a better ring on it. It sounds cooler, and calling them mutants just gives the impression of having four arms and more than necessary body parts."

Limabela's opinion made the other four nod in agreement. Getting called mutants by people gave a negative vibe to the ears of those who heard it.

"Why don't you share your story with them?" 

Thirteenth suddenly suggested to Luna.

"But..."

Luna was hesitant.

"It's better if you do," Thirteenth insisted as she pointed at Mark. "It's this man's idea to come here and help you. It would be easier if he knew the details."

"I see."

Luna was thinking.

Behind Luna, Nelia talked to Bajing while keeping Ellie in her grasp.

"Is he like Luna? That candidate thing?"

Nelia asked Bajing.

"Seems like it," Bajing nodded. "Thirteenth don't really pay attention to us, unlike Luna. But Sir Mark seems to be getting a better treatment from her. There's nothing to doubt about this."

Nelia observed Mark. It was the first meeting for the two. Putting her trust in him immediately was unlikely. Nelia's gratitude was different from putting her guard down.

In front of the table, Luna accepted Thirteenth's suggestion.

Mark also paid attention. He was curious about the details of another candidate chosen by Thirteenth.

***

As Luna had said before, the apocalypse began during a local Christmas Anime Expo. It was a small convention held in Semarang for the first time. 

Apparently, the leading people of the Moon Chasers were all Otakus and Weebs from the same Indonesian Online group that always gathered together during Anime conventions.

There was the same gathering during the Expo. But it quickly turned into a nightmare before the mall could even open.

It was quite a common sight to see attendees of an Anima Convention coming hours before the event. It was the same that time with Luna and many members of their group gathering and waiting outside the mall several hours before it opened.

At the time, they already felt weird. The atmosphere was odd that morning, and many of their usual members were late, which was unusual. The constant sounds of firefighters and ambulances made the feeling even worse.

Then, the first wave of [Infected] came. The worst thing was the mall being closed and their group waiting in the open.

There was no place to immediately hide.

As the wave of panicking people arrived, the whole group got dragged into the wave. At first, they were confused. It took them the death of a person in front of them to realize it was not a prank.

The panic made the situation worse. People pushed each other, blocked each other, and worse, some resorted to violence to get rid of those blocking their way.

With the chaos unfolding, the [Infected] reached them with barely any resistance.

It was near Christmas when everything started. The number of people in the central areas of Semarang was higher than usual. It also caused the number of [Infected] to drastically increase in the first few minutes.

Luna's group got separated from the chaos. A lot of them barely managed to stick together.

And within that chaos, Luna's leadership shined. She commanded those who managed to stick together to safety, not losing her calm in the dangerous situation. She even managed to save Livia, who was about to become a victim of a stampede after she tripped.

However, getting everyone to safety did not mean everyone was safe exactly.

During the chaos, many members of them got injured. Some got bitten.

Luna, who protected Livia, got bitten on her arm while Livia was bitten on her foot. While running, Bajing fought the incoming [Infected] with her kicks. However, one managed to catch her foot and bit her on the thigh. The worst one at that time was Nelia, who got bitten just under her right shoulder.

Many of their members got bitten and turned into monsters in a few seconds.

Otakus and Weebs should already be wary of bites. It was the main way of transmission in many forms of media. Unfortunately, even with the fact that some people turned into [Infected] before their eyes, some of their members hid their bites and pretended nothing would happen.

After all, they did not turn in a few seconds like the others.

The worst happened after they finally got into a safe place to hide.

Two people who hid their bites turned and immediately attacked the others.

It became a wake-up call. Those who were bitten would turn even if those people did not become [Infected] immediately.

At that moment, Luna, Bajing, Nelia, and Livia were chased out of the place Luna found first. Because they were bitten, everyone looked at them like monsters.

The only different ones were Limabela and Edge, who accompanied the four out, away from the ungrateful bastards. Luna understood Edge. He had been courting Luna for some time, after all. What made Luna and the others confused was Limabela. They were bitten. It would not be a surprise for Limabela to prioritize her safety.

Luna asked Limabela why she also went out at that time. Luna clearly remembered her answer.

"Because you four will not die here. Trust me."

It was a mysterious answer. But the reason for that came clear the night after.

After finding another safe place to hide, the four bitten women decided to isolate themselves from the other two. Limabela did not mind at that time, although Edge initially rejected it. However, it was not just for the safety of the two but also for the peace of mind of the four.

The next day came. The four went through a painful night. The thoughts of killing themselves before turning into a monster even entered their minds. Fortunately, the pain they were feeling at that time disabled them from doing anything harmful to themselves. They only wallowed in despair as they thought they would become one of the monsters.

Yet, the four did not turn. The four gained inhuman abilities instead. Their appearances even changed a little.

Limabela's words were right. They did not die.

After Luna and the others recovered the strength they spent enduring the painful night, they set off to find rescue and supplies to survive.

The streets were filled with the [Infected]. Even a day after everything collapsed, people could still be seen fleeing the place, only to be devoured by the [Infected].

It was the same for their group. The moment the [Infected] caught sight of them, they would attack. However, the powered-up girls gave the [Infected] a good fight.

While searching for supplies, they accidentally passed by the place where Luna and the others were chased away like monsters by people they treated as friends.

The place was filled with nothing but [Infected]. Those [Infected] were the same people who chased them away the day before.

Karma was a b*tch, as they said.

Fighting the [Infected] within the city was hard. The population was high, after all. They had to flee the city and carefully managed to do it while gathering food and water for the dangerous journey.

The group decided to find their way home. They wanted to see their families.

Fortunately, although Semarang was a large city, it was not too far from the countryside. The home of Luna's married brother should be nearby. That was their first location to go.

Unfortunately, after a few days of arduous fights for survival, Luna and the group arrived there to find the corpses of her brother and his family members.

It was not done by the [Infected]. It was humans.