Mutagen

Day 131 - 11:16 PM - Glassgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America

It was a night under a waning gibbous moon. The abandoned quarry that now had its bottom filled with water and floating corpses along with trapped infected was now visited by three people.

The three people, with one facing the other two, stood without minding the surroundings.

Mark stared at the two with vexation. He barely had time to rest after the encounter with the Infected King in Logan Square. And now, he was facing even stronger entities.

Even so, he did not forget to observe and estimate the two in front of him.

The first was the [King Type], who seemed to be a man in his early thirties. He had a high nose, sharp eyes, thin eyebrows, and prominent jaws. With the addition of his unkempt hair, he looked like some sort of mercenary commonly seen in war movies. Not to mention that he had a slightly muscular body. Just give him a gun, and he would surely fill the part.

On the other hand, the [Queen Type] was an alluring lady. She seemed to be the inviting type that would make one think that she was a prostitute. That was if she was a human. And the strangest thing, however, was that she was also dressed that way. It was in a manner that she would easily be mistaken as a human. She even moved and behaved like one.

"So, what do you two want?"

Mark asked.

It was clear that these two were not just here to blindly attack or anything. If that was the case, there was no need for these two to lurk around while hiding. Like how the [King Type] that attacked Bay City or the one they encountered today, they would appear with their army of infected and attack. These two, however, had no one else with them.

As Mark asked that question, for some reason, he faced the [Queen Type] instead of the [King Type].

"Why are you asking me instead of my King?" The [Queen Type] seemed to be surprised at Mark's behavior. "Normally, you humans will ask the male first, thinking that they are supposed to be the leader or superior."

"So, you're telling me that he's not the leader between you two?" Mark replied. "Besides, gender doesn't really determine the leadership between the infected. It's more on who had the strength. Am I right? Still, I know that your King is the leader, but I'm talking to you because you have more brains than him."

That reply from Mark made the [Queen Type] show a very amused expression. On the other hand, the [King Type] showed the opposite as his intelligence was compared to his Queen.

"So, I'll repeat. What do you two want?"

Mark repeated the question while staring at the [Queen Type].

Finally, with a smile, the [Queen Type] replied.

"Well, one of our kin is tragically defeated, and his territory is left devastated. We are just interested in who did that."

That reply made Mark frown.

"You two plan on revenge?"

Mark asked, getting ready to fight.

And surprisingly...

"No?" The [Queen Type] replied with a tilt of her head. "I already said it. We're just interested. And to say, we are quite surprised to see you."

There, the [Queen Type] took a step forward.

"By the way. Shouldn't fateful meetings like this start with introductions? Let me introduce myself. I'm called Christia. My King here is Heron. We are the highest class among our kin, the ones you humans call the infected." She then stared at Mark. "Now, who are you? Or rather... What are you?"

Mark, even with his traits as a Mutator and his pretty limited emotions, could not help but feel genuinely shocked. The question "who" was standard and acceptable. However, if someone was to ask him "what," it just meant that they somehow saw through the chaotic state of his race.

And it seemed that this [Queen Type] managed to see through the thing that only Deities and Gods were able to before.

The most interesting thing, however, was that it was actually the [Queen Type], Christia, who proposed the introduction. It was also strange since the infected were not the type to be concerned about such formalities. Even the [King Type] this afternoon did not bother at all.

However, Mark was not the type to ignore this in this situation. He would feel more concerned about introducing himself to other humans, but not with non-humans.

"Just call me Mark," Mark replied. "About what I am, what do I look like to you?"

Hearing that, Christia frowned.

"You definitely look human but also not either. You also felt like those demons, but you feel different too. You seemed to be an undefined existence inside a physical body."

That reply made Mark shrug. Of course, he somehow expected this answer. Even he could not judge what he was now, after all.

"Christia, are we really just going to stand here and talk?"

The [King Type], Heron, seemed to be more agitated than the [Queen Type].

"Heron, you should wait a bit since we are talking."

Christia scolded her King, which was quite unexpected for Mark.

"Tch." Heron clicked his tongue. "Just be faster."

Mark watched the antics of the two. Sure enough, no one would be able to differentiate these two compared to actual humans. If no one knew that they were actually high leveled infected, it would be easy to mistake as they show and behave like a regular person.

It was a bad thing. If things reached this point, the time that the infected would enter settlements while pretending to be humans would not be far off.

"Now, where are we?" Christia turned back to Mark. "Right, about what you are. It seems like you also have no idea yourself."

Christia was right on point, and Mark could not refute it either.

"I want to ask." Christia intently stared at Mark. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

Mark was confused.

"Why do you have the scent of three Queens with you? There was even another strange scent, but I can tell that its another King. The King is out of the question, but how did you make those Queens willingly follow you? Don't you know that Kings and Queens can't coexist with each other in a single territory? Only one King and one Queen should exist in one place. Any excess that will appear, and we will start killing each other for superiority. How come that two of the scents you have seemed to coexist with each other?"

That question made Mark stumped. He suddenly remembered the shock on the King Type he had at the base after he saw Trixie and Janette. However, as Christia had said, the two lived peacefully together.

And of course, Mark knew that he was one of the reasons here. To be exact, his ability to calm creatures with his touch as long as they had enough consciousness to accept it. But he could not tell whether he was the sole reason or if there were other factors in play here.

There was also Snow, now. A [Queen Type] that was trying to live like a human.

In short, any [Monarch Type] infected that was closely involved with him would change strangely, far from what they should as an infected.

Anyways, Mark would not tell that to just anyone even he was to be asked about it.

"I don't really know about it though?"

Mark replied.

"I don't believe you." Unexpectedly, Christia doubted his answer. "Besides, which human would not kill our kin on sight? So far that I've seen, only you had the bravery to actually keep one of our kin beside you freely. That one that is with you right now, even if she's restrained, I don't think that other humans will let her sleep in the same room as them."

"But you already asked, right?" Mark smiled. "Am I really human?"

Christia fell silent and stared at Mark with a frown. She could feel that Mark seemed to be trying to mess with her thoughts.

"I also have a question," Mark spoke once more. "You say that only one King and one Queen in one territory. But it seems like you two have some relation with that guy we met earlier. Aren't you two also coexisting with him?"

"That's different." Christia shook her head. "We belong to different territories, different horde, different birthplaces. As long as he didn't try to extend his territory to ours and try to wrestle control, he will be fine. Queens like me are different, though. As long as we don't have a King to lead us, we will try to kill each other no matter where we are. We can control our horde, but we can't claim a territory. We are nomads that continue to kill each other until we find a partner of ours. That is why the circumstances of the Queens around you is strange in every way."

Mark ingrained that information in his head. It was an opportunity to learn things about the Monarchs of the infected. It was not every day that a person could encounter an infected that had a level of intelligence similar to a human.

Christia was not only able to converse properly, but she was also capable of thinking properly, not being driven by her instincts as an infected.

That in itself was a strange thing.

Mark could tell that the [Monarch Types] he encountered so far was immature, driven by instincts, and spoke with fumbled or broken words. It was because their consciousness was just born not too long ago. Four months were not enough for the Infected to develop enough intelligence that could make them capable of thinking at a human level.

After all, after they turned, they all lost humanity along with all their memories. It was not wrong to say that they became infants once more.

With those thoughts in mind, Mark froze. He stared at Christia and finally, realized a feeling that was quite familiar to him.

"I don't really know what you are talking about," Mark spoke, denying his part in the changes of Trixie, Janette, and Snow. "By the way, I have another question for you."

"What question do you have?" Christia sighed. It seemed that she would not get the answer she wanted from Mark.

"Do you remember your memories as a human?"

That question suddenly entered his mind. He realized that Christia's consciousness had a bit of similarity to Aimee.

"Oh, how did you know?" Christia replied with surprise. "I did remember things but not everything. It's really convenient since I was able to gather information from humans before killing them."

Sure enough, it was the case. Though the last part was quite threatening. Since Christia had memories as a human, it was easier for her to mingle with humans and gather information like what she was doing right now.

"You have memories being human, did you never think of living as one?"

Mark asked. It was because of Aimee's case.

"Why should I?" Christia retorted. "These memories are not mine but the previous owner of this body. I'm a new existence living in this body, me and my kins... All of us knew that. To us, humans are food. The living are nutrients. We are creatures driven by instincts. It's impossible for us to live like humans. And as I said, the Queens with you are the ones that are strange in this regard."

"Are you two not done yet?"

Finally, Heron interjected once more. He was getting impatient.

"Alright..." Christia shrugged and turned to Mark. "Sorry, but my King is an impatient one. I want to ask about other things, but we don't really have too much time."

"Are you two leaving now?"

Mark asked. It was a good thing if they just left like this. He also wanted to rest.

Unfortunately...

"Well, no." Christia smiled. "My King here would want to challenge you in a fight."