HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

“Are you sure this thing is safe? Newman?” Ruby asked as she watched Newman was about to pour the chemical from the top of the meteorite.

“It should be, just be careful not to get the splash from the chemical because it will melt your skin, flesh, and bone immediately!” Newman answered.

Everyone immediately took a few steps back while Newman used the plastic bucket to pour the chemical from the top. The sizzling sounds were terrifying to hear and they immediately could see bubbles from the meteorite that got exposed to the acid. Everyone wore a mask because the gas was enough to harm their skin so they covered everything from the exposure.

Since it was dangerous inside, they decided to leave Newman on his own because he knew what he was doing. Marie looked at the dark hallway and stared at the doors on the sides, she started to wander around on her own. Archie looked at her and decided to leave her alone because the whole laboratory was safe from parasites since Archie cleared the whole area beforehand.

After waiting for an hour, Newman came out of the room and he immediately removed the gloves, the mask, and the boots. He was covered with sweat and immediately gasped for fresh air, he stretched his body and looked around. “Where’s Marie?” he asked.

“She’s wandering around the laboratory, maybe she wants to check something,” Ruby answered.

Newman hummed. “Well, our job here is done, we can come back tomorrow morning and check the progress,” he said.

“You said that the chemical could dissolve the outer layers of the meteorite, but what makes you think that the inner layer of it won’t get dissolve as well?” Vincent asked.

“It’s simple because the inner layer of the meteorite should be crystallized or something similar and there’s nothing that can melt that kind of sturdy iron,” Newman answered. “I mean, if it dissolved by the chemical, at least it will make a fine powder as well so I can still process them,” he continued.

“So you can harvest the fine powders from the outer layers tomorrow?” Ruby asked.

“Yes, there should be plenty of them tomorrow and I can make a weapon from them while waiting for the outer layers to dissolve completely,” Newman answered.

Ruby and Vincent looked so excited about it.

“How long do you think the chemical will take to get to the inner layer?” Archie asked.

Newman turned around and looked at the meteorite. “A few days, maybe two or three days depend on the materials of the outer layers since not everything can be dissolved easily,” he answered.

“Oh, it’s done, Newman?” Marie asked as she walked toward them.

“Yes, all we can do now is wait until tomorrow to check on the progress,” Newman answered.

Ruby got up and stretch her arm. “Alright, we should go back now because we still have to chop off the trees to make a ship,” she said.

“Okay, I also have to prepare all the equipment and the forges in my house for tomorrow,” Newman said.

They left and went their separate ways.

The morning came and Ruby came to Archie’s house with Vincent, they couldn’t wait to check on the meteorite so the three of them decided to go to Newman’s house.

“Newman, are you home?” Ruby asked as she looked at the window. “He’s not here?” she continued.

Vincent walked back and pointed at the chimney with white smoke coming out from it. “I think he’s home, the chimney is emitting smokes so that means he’s in his basement maybe?” he said.

Ruby tried to open the door and it wasn’t locked. “Let’s check the basement,” she said as she entered Newman’s house, Vincent was surprised to see her walking in like it was her house.

They decided to enter the house and went down the stairs, they heard Newman’s voice and Marie’s voice from down there. Ruby took a peek and saw them both were having a conversation and planning on the weapons they were going to make. “Ah, you guys are down here, no wonder why you didn’t hear us calling from upstairs,” she said as she walked toward them. “What are you guys talking about?” she asked.

Marie raised her eyebrows and looked at them. “Oh, you guys are ready to leave? We are just talking about the materials that are needed to make the perfect match for the iron from the meteorite,” she answered.

Newman stood up as he groaned. “Alright, let’s check the meteorite because I can see it from your face that you have been waiting for this moment since yesterday,”

Ruby smiled and nodded in agreement.

They went straight to the abandoned laboratory but when Newman wanted to open the steel door, Archie stopped him from doing so. “Hold on a second,” he said. “Let me get in first,” he continued as he looked at Newman.

Newman looked confused but Ruby immediately understand and pulled Newman back gently. “Let him check the inside first,” she said.

Archie faintly sensed a parasite coming from behind the steel door, and he knew that the parasite was hiding its presence because it knew that they were coming toward the room. Archie then opened the steel door and looked around, and when he looked up, a tiny parasite that looked like a liquid pounced at Archie’s face but he immediately blocked it with his hand and grabbed the parasite.

“What is that?!” Newman asked as he took a step back.

Archie looked at the behavior of the parasite and it was unidentifiable because it was the first time he saw this parasite. The parasite tried to free itself from Archie’s grip, then he realized that the parasite seemed to be spreading wider and wider that his whole glove was covered by the parasite. His hand couldn’t move and the glove seemed to become stiff then the parasite became one with the glove which was really surprising to see.

“Is that parasite just blending in with your glove?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” Archie answered as he lifted his hand and looked at his glove that had some kind of a weird pattern on it. “I believe this is an ExTP-0 that came out from the meteorite over there,” he said. “I have to go, you guys can go on without me,” he said that as he ran past the others while they were looking at him with confusion.

“Are you sure that you’re going to let him with that parasite on him?” Marie asked Ruby and Vincent.

“He will be fine, he had been handling things like that and we both believe he’s the only one who can handle that kind of stuff,” Ruby said as she looked at Archie who ran to the end of the hallway.

Archie left the laboratory and went to the forest to ask the witches about the new discovery about the parasite on his hand. He needed their advice on what to do with the parasite, either he had to eat it or kill it because he knew nothing about that parasite.

Archie entered the forest and immediately the green-haired witch came out from the tree. “It’s been a while, Archie,” she said.

“Yes, it has,” Archie answered.

“Hmm?” The witch hummed as she tilted her head and looked at Archie’s glove. “What is that thing that you brought with you?” she asked.

“That’s why I came here, I need you to check on this parasite that I found inside the meteorite,” Archie answered.

The wind blew and suddenly a woman appeared from the wind. “That thing that you have on you is the same parasite that became the king of parasites that lives underneath the earth,” she said.

Archie was surprised to see her all the way here since the last time he saw her was far north of the continent. “This is the same parasite that I fought back then?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s the same but this one is powerless and the reason why it blends itself with your glove is that it’s too scared of the world and that’s its only way to protect itself from threat,” The wind witch answered.

“So what I should do about this? If I eat this parasite, will I gain its power?” Archie asked.

“It depends, but I think you should be fine to eat it,” The earth witch answered as she looked at the parasite on his glove.

Archie tried to remove the parasite from his glove but it was impossible to do that because it had become one with his glove. He tried to pluck it out but it won’t budge, the witches just watched him struggle, and then the wind witch sat down next to Archie and pointed at the parasite. “You can’t force it like that, you have to touch it with your bare skin,” she explained.

“Bare skin?” Archie asked as he looked at her. Archie removed his other glove and slowly touched the parasite with his bare skin as the wind witch explained. The parasite slowly but surely moved toward his skin and it changed its shape to its original form which was a liquid. Archie grabbed the parasite and lifted his hand up above his mouth.

“Here goes nothing,” Archie said then he swallowed the parasite whole.