Chapter 6 — Midnight Snake Knocks On The Door

PART 14 Armed police arrived earlier than expected. Perhaps they ran faster on the mountain road than usual. In less than twenty minutes, I heard a car horn coming from afar. The security captain spoke over the radio, his voice very low.

"Lin Vi, the armed police have arrived at the foot of the mountain. In five minutes they will enter the research institute. You quickly leave that thing."

I stood up. The snake's head slid off my knee. It also sensed my tension, its body began to curl tightly, its head raised high.

"Captain Truong, you tell the armed police that it is in the cold storage behind the canteen. Don't shoot directly. Let me talk to them first."

“Lam Vi…”

“Please.”

The other end of the radio was silent again.

“I will try.”

I attached the radio to my waist and lowered my head to look at the snake.

"You stay here, don't move. I'll go out and talk to them."

"They have guns in their hands, the kind that can kill you. You can't go out, you can't let them see you. Got it?"

It tilted its head.

“Guns.”

It repeats that word.

“Do you know what a gun is?”

It didn't answer, but its body was clearly tense. It knows. Surely it had seen a gun in the memories of a certain experimenter, or had experienced something related to guns before being captured.

“Yes, it's a gun. So don't go out.”

I turned around and left the cold storage, walked through the cafeteria hall, then pushed open the glass door and walked out. Outside are all cars and people. Four police cars parked in the open space in front of the cafeteria. More than ten armed police spread out in a fan shape, all guns pointed at the main door. A middle-aged man wearing a bulletproof vest with shoulder stripes stood in the front row, holding a loudspeaker in his hand.

"People inside heard clearly! Immediately leave the building, exit through the main door. Repeat, immediately..."

I raised my hands and walked out the door. All guns were pointed at me.

"There is no weapon on me. The snake is not on me either. It is in cold storage. I told it to stay inside."

That middle-aged man, judging by his military rank, was probably a captain, lowered the speaker and looked at me from top to bottom.

“Are you Lam Vi?”

“Yes.”

“You said just now, did you tell him to stay inside?”

When he repeated this sentence, his voice was filled with disbelief.

“Does it listen to you?”

“Not completely obedient. But it won't actively attack me.”

The captain and several armed policemen next to him exchanged glances. A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking like a technician, approached and whispered something. The captain frowned and looked at me again.

“Do you know how many people that thing killed?”

“Seven people. I know.”

“You know, but you still…”

“It kills people which is true, but it has an independent consciousness which is also true.”

“In its genome there are thirty-seven percent human genes. It can speak simple sentences, can distinguish between who has hurt it and who has helped it.”

I took a deep breath.

"I don't justify him. His murder is unforgivable."

“But I want everyone to understand that it is not a wild animal that has lost its mind. If it had the ability to communicate, perhaps people would not need to open fire.”

The captain looked at me for a long time.

"You said it can talk. Can you prove it?"

I turned his head to look at the main door of the cafeteria.

“I can call it out. But you can't open fire as soon as you see it.”

“Raise the muzzle a little higher, give it a chance.”

There was another period of silence. Then, the captain nodded.

“All attention! Raise your guns, wait for my orders.”

PART 15 I turned towards the cafeteria door, raised my voice and called out:

“Come out here.”

There was no response. A few seconds later, the glass door was slowly pushed open by something from inside. The snake's head protrudes first, followed by its large, rough body. It crawled out of the cafeteria and stopped on the steps outside the door. Even though more than ten guns behind them were raised, everyone's finger was on the trigger. The atmosphere was tense like a string about to break. The snake saw the guns. It did not launch an attack, nor did it run away. He just turned his head to look at me, a soft moan emitting from his throat. Like feeling sorry for yourself. As if to say: Didn't you tell me to stay inside? Why did you call me out in front of these people with guns?

“It's okay. I'm here.”

I don't know if it really understood or just felt something from my voice. But it calmed down. It rolled its body into a circle, placed its head on top, and used its human eyes to look at more than ten people in front. The captain gently took a cold breath.

“My God, those are really human eyes.”

The man wearing glasses, probably a biology expert, took a step forward. He stared into the snake's eyes for a long time, then turned around and said something to the captain that made my heart stop.

"The product of a gene fusion experiment. According to legal regulations, this must be destroyed on the spot."

“In the experimental records, it is clearly stated that once test subject No. 7 escapes from the confinement area, the priority plan is to destroy it.”

“It had no intention of attacking!”

I stood in front of the snake.

“Everyone saw it. It was just quiet here, doing absolutely nothing.”

“It killed seven people.”

The person who said that was not the captain, nor the man wearing glasses, but a person who had just stepped down from another car. He was dressed in plain clothes, wore black-rimmed glasses, was over fifty years old, and his hair was neatly combed. Walking posture is very leisurely. On his face was an expression that I had seen countless times. The expression of someone who treats everything like laboratory data. I recognized him. He is the deputy director of this research institute, his last name is Tran. Experimental object project No. 7 is in charge of himself.

“Deputy Principal Tran.”