Facing the indestructible meme bomb, Luo Shu wasn't panicked—he still had one last anti-meme seal in reserve.
The only regret was that using it now meant he'd have to tread carefully with the remaining anomalies. No room for mistakes.
Anomalous Item-5237 had reshaped his understanding of memetic hazards.
Memes weren't monolithic.
Earlier, Anomalous Item-1446 (Metaphysical Graffiti) had already hinted at this—it didn't imprint on his mind but fed on his consciousness to propagate. At the time, he'd noted the diversity in meme behavior, but the next three targets had been conventional, lulling him into complacency.
Now, Anomalous Item-5237's unyielding nature hammered the lesson home.
Of the two remaining Euclid-class memes in Site-33, Anomalous Item-701 ("The Hanged King's Dirge") stood out as particularly lethal. Foundation records showed it had claimed over 10,000 lives in the past three centuries.
If it consumed minds like Anomalous Item-2737 (Dead Lamprey), its psychic residue might rival or surpass Luo Shu's own strength.
Facing it without an anti-meme seal?
As suicidal as playing tag with Anomalous Item-5237.
Ideally, he'd save the seal for Anomalous Item-701—but the bomb's timer left no room for debate.
5… 4… 3…
He activated the seal.
A transparent barrier encased the bomb, freezing the countdown.
Crisis averted.
Now—remove it?
After a moment's deliberation, Luo Shu decided to leave it embedded.
The agony of psychic surgery was unbearable—worse than physical torture.
A permanent reminder to never underestimate memes again.
Luck was on my side today. But what if I'd run out of seals?
The thought chilled him.
He opened the Anomaly Archive, reviewing the entry:
[Page 169]
Item #: Anomalous Item-5237
Name: "In My Mind"
Class: Euclid
Image: […]
Description: […]
Containment Procedures: […]
Abilities: Meme Bomb. "I'm clingy. Unforgettable. Unignorable. Dismiss me, and boom—you're confetti."
Status: Suppressed
Interaction Log: [Click to Play]
[X] (Ability disabled due to suppression.)
Despite the close call, the outcome was acceptable. With this, his Anomaly Buster Milestone now stood at 28/30—two targets shy of Level 2.
As he turned to leave, disaster struck.
A muffled "pop" echoed behind him.
Then—agony.
Shrapnel of bone and flesh shredded his back, punching through him like shotgun pellets.
D-10572 had exploded.
Luo Shu collapsed, blood pooling beneath him. Gritting his teeth, he injected himself with Anomalous Item-500 (Panacea)—Foundation-grade healing sealing his wounds in seconds.
He whirled to assess the damage.
The room was a charred abattoir.
I killed him.
His stomach dropped.
Before he could react, crimson alarms blared across the unit, and a robotic voice boomed:
"ALERT LEVEL 5! ALERT LEVEL 5! BEARER-013 DECEASED! O5 COUNCIL NOTIFIED!"
"IMMEDIATE SELECTION OF BEARER-014 REQUIRED!"
"SITE-33 NIGHT SUPERVISOR: PROCEED TO D-CLASS QUARTERS!"
"PRIORITY: ABSOLUTE. COMPLY UNCONDITIONALLY."
Luo Shu exhaled sharply.
He'd underestimated how critical this meme was to the Foundation.
Thanks to Anomalous Item-005 (Skeleton Key), he'd waltzed through security unchecked. Normally, even Level-4 personnel needed biometric scans and voice codes to enter.
This unit's alarms bypassed Site-33's mainframe, reporting directly to O5 channels. His earlier sabotage of the local alert system hadn't touched it.
Now, the entire facility was locked down.
O5 eyes were here.
MTF teams would follow.
Time to leave.
Activating Unobservable Anti-Meme, he slipped back to Sublevel-1—where chaos reigned.
Night-shift staff swarmed like ants, herding an orange-jumpsuited D-class toward Anomalous Item-5237's chamber.
*Bearer-014.*
But their efforts were futile.
With the meme sealed inside Luo Shu, no new bomb would manifest.
The Foundation would soon realize their fail-safe had failed.
By dawn, Site-33 would drown in reinforcements:
MTF-Eta-10 ("See No Evil") – Memetic specialists.
MTF-Rho-9 ("Technical Support") – Anomalous tech containment.
MTF-Upsilon-4 ("Sugar Pills") – Cognitive hazard neutralization.
MTF-Nu-7 ("Hammer Down") – Heavy containment breach response.
The once-deserted sublevels would become a militarized zone.
No more games.
Luo Shu wasn't fool enough to think he could outmaneuver the entty Foundation on high alert.
Underestimating enemies is the fastest way to a coffin.
Site-33 was lost.