Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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Getting past the infected wasn\'t difficult.

There was a close call when an infected person almost collapsed onto a bed that manifested part of their dream, but a nearby guard\'s quick tackle prevented disaster.

They finally reached the factory rooftop.

Opening the rusty iron door, they were met by a cool gust of wind and a swarm of buzzing drones.

Whirrr-

The drones deposited boxes on one side of the roof before flying off. Ice boxes, crates of drinks, and various other containers lined up in a row.

"Are those all ingredients?"

Lee Yeonwoo asked, shivering and hugging himself against the cold wind.

The guard set down an oak barrel in front of the boxes and tilted his head. "There\'s also a sprayer for disinfection. I\'ve only seen the quarantine team use these before."

While the guard rummaged through the boxes, Yeonwoo and the agent crouched in front of the oak barrel. Yeonwoo tapped it.

"Do you remember the recipe? I only remember ice cream."

"Don\'t worry. It\'s all recorded."

The enhanced reality UI in the helmet flickered, displaying the recipe. The agent quickly read it and pulled out the loosely inserted cork from the barrel\'s bung hole.

After shaking and even inverting the barrel a few times to confirm it was empty, the agent laid it on its side with the bung hole facing upward.

"Now we just need to add ingredients according to the recipe."

"Here\'s a funnel," said the guard, pulling a large funnel from a box and inserting it into the bung hole. All that remained was to pour in the ingredients as per the recipe.

"..."

"..."

Yeonwoo and the agent hesitated. Should they really make this? Was it truly a cure? Could they bring themselves to create something so wrong...

The guard looked at them quizzically. "Aren\'t you going to do it? There are lots of infected people below."

"Agent Lee, I\'ll read out the recipe. You make it."

"Mr. Lee, I\'m infected. Wouldn\'t it be better if you did it?"

They tried passing the task to each other for a moment. Just as the agent was about to say he\'d do it, having remembered something, the guard stepped forward. He pushed the agent aside and sat down in front of the oak barrel.

"I\'ll do it. It feels wrong to just stand by and give orders."

"Alright."

The agent and Yeonwoo quickly stood up and went to the boxes. The agent opened the ice box first. It was full of blue and green ice cream cones.

"Mr. Lee, please hand me the green tea ice cream."

"Okay."

The guard tilted his head curiously as he accepted the mint chocolate ice cream cone first.

"Is ice cream really an ingredient for the cure? It\'ll be sweet and tasty."

"Uh, um. Put the cone in too. Since the ice cream cone is an ingredient, I guess it all has to go in."

Even though Yeonwoo averted his eyes as he spoke, the guard didn\'t notice anything strange and obediently applied pressure.

Crunch-

The cone and ice cream were crushed, pushed down by his fingers and falling through the funnel.

"Mint chocolate, green tea. Is it okay to mix them? Do we need to add more ingredients? Give them to me."

Rrrip-

A pickled radish from chicken takeout landed in his palm.

The guard\'s helmet shook as he mindlessly extended his hand. His hand, voice, and the radish\'s brine all trembled.

"Wait, why pickled radish? Are you sure I\'m supposed to put this in here?"

"Pour in all the brine too."

"What kind of cure is this..."

The guard poured in the pickled radishes with shaking hands. One, two, three. The large radishes slid down the funnel, and the brine melted the greenish ice cream, causing it to flow down.

"Are there more ingredients? ...Pickles? Don\'t tell me I have to add the brine for these too?"

"Yes."

After pouring in the pickles, the trembling guard looked at Yeonwoo and the agent\'s backs. Judging by how they were rummaging through the boxes, there were still more ingredients left.

\'Are we making a cure or food waste? Have they lost their minds? Hallucinations? Delusions?\'

His mild suspicion turned to certainty when he saw the blue sports drink and something unidentifiable that looked like food waste.

Click-

Even when presented with the opened sports drink, the guard didn\'t take it.

"Hey. Is this really a cure? Doesn\'t it seem weird no matter how you look at it?"

"I don\'t want to believe it either, but the Association President said so."

"The higher-ups told us to make it anyway. Besides, it\'s an anomaly. Of course it\'s strange."

When Yeonwoo and the agent responded in unison, the guard moved his hand again and poured the blue sports drink into the funnel.

The cone crumbs, ice cream, and remnants of brine were washed down cleanly by the blue drink.

"This is the last ingredient."

Yeonwoo handed over a red plastic container large enough to hold a cabbage. The guard didn\'t take it. He lowered his head to look at the contents.

"..."

Something unidentifiable. The guard raised his head. Yeonwoo\'s face was reflected on the surface of his helmet.

Yeonwoo said, "It\'s pineapple pizza."

The finely ground cheese was kneaded like rice cake, tinged red from tomato sauce, with chunks of pineapple and bread embedded throughout.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Put it in."

"This isn\'t something humans should do."

The guard muttered in a dazed voice, squeezing his eyes shut. He poured what used to be pizza into the funnel. Little by little, so it wouldn\'t overflow. Pressing it down firmly.

Finally, tapping the funnel to get the last bits out.

With that, all the ingredients were in the oak barrel.

The agent carefully corked the bung hole and stood the barrel upright.

"Now, for three minutes-"

Gurgle- Bubble bubble-

Strange noises came from the oak barrel. It sounded like soup boiling, or a monster\'s stomach growling. They could even feel vibrations.

The agent who had placed his hand on the barrel quickly withdrew it and stepped back. The dazed guard, Yeonwoo, and the agent all retreated to the iron door.

Huddled together and shivering, whether from the cold wind or fear, they stared at the oak barrel. The vibrating barrel looked just like some kind of monster.

"Th-that, that. Are we really making a cure? Wouldn\'t it be better if I rolled the dice instead?"

When Yeonwoo asked that, the agent replied:

"The dice has risks, right? Besides."

His finger pointed at the writhing oak barrel.

"This is the cure you\'ll be drinking. Since you\'re infected."

"Ah. Ah!"

He couldn\'t bear to look at the oak barrel anymore. Yeonwoo looked up at the blue sky, formulating a plan.

\'I should use the dice to lose my sense of taste... No. It might accidentally enhance my taste instead, which would be even worse.\'

He couldn\'t delay any longer. Yeonwoo quietly opened his mouth, and a handful of that substance entered.

Splat-

\'Ugh.\'

In a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, the taste of that substance slowly spread.

A thick, soup-like texture. Heavy chunks.

The first taste to hit was sweetness. The bland sweetness of the sports drink and the intense sweetness of the ice cream played a discordant duet across his tongue.

Following that, a slightly sour taste shot through. A bizarre flavor of chicken radish and pickles added to the preceding sweetness.

Then, he chewed the chunks. Lumps of pizza cheese. Toppings like pineapple burst, releasing the taste of watery pizza sauce.

All the flavors and tastes mixed together. An indescribable, terrible stimulus swept through his mind. Yeonwoo\'s eyes flew open. His mouth gaped involuntarily.

"Keuuugh!"

"Swallow it! It\'s the cure!"

"Ugh! I- ugh!"

Yeonwoo collapsed to the ground, writhing and expressing incoherent groans. He couldn\'t think of anything else. There was only suffering.

After what felt like an eternity, Yeonwoo looked up at the sky with hollow eyes. It was as blue as that substance, making him hate the sight. Closing his eyes, Yeonwoo thought:

\'This isn\'t right. This shouldn\'t enter a human mouth. It\'s a crime against human dignity.\'

He felt as if he, his mouth, and his stomach had become a garbage can. But then, Yeonwoo opened his eyes.

\'But I can\'t be the only one to taste this.\'

Yeonwoo sprang to his feet. His clear eyes, now free of the red tinge, looked at the cure.

"It\'s definitely the cure. Let\'s quickly feed it to the others. No, I mean, let\'s cure them."

The guard, the agent, and even the researcher nodded hastily. The guard shouldered the disinfection sprayer, while the researcher prepared to scoop and feed at any moment.

"Let\'s go!"

Yeonwoo and the agent escorted them from the front and back as they entered the factory beyond the iron door.