TWD - Chapter 485: The Walker Disruptor (Patreon)

The underground laboratory at Rock Fortress was the most restricted area in the entire base. Without direct authorization from Calista or Leah, not even a fly could get inside.

At that moment, three people stood outside the isolation observation chamber in the center of the laboratory.

Professor Martin Sorensen had his face practically pressed against the reinforced glass, while Dr. Jenner stood slightly behind him with his arms folded.

Milton was crouched on the floor, struggling with an open toolbox and a pile of scattered circuit boards, muttering to himself as though completely unconcerned with the major experiment taking place behind him.

Inside the observation chamber, a walker was firmly restrained and struggling in vain.

Its limbs, torso, and even its head were secured by thick leather straps, leaving only limited movement above the neck. Its skin was badly decayed, and its eyes were cloudy.

About three meters away, a white mouse sat inside a small hamster cage.

"How many times does this make?" Sorensen asked without looking back.

"Forty-seven officially," Jenner replied. "If we include the earlier attempts that were... less rigorous, probably more than seventy."

"Frequency and dosage parameters confirmed?"

"Confirmed. The volatile carrier is a modified propylene glycol solution. Pheromone concentrate at 0.037 percent, released in pulses at fifteen-second intervals."

Jenner glanced at the data on his tablet.

"Ambient temperature, twenty-two degrees Celsius. Humidity, sixty-five percent. Airflow below 0.1 meters per second. Ideal conditions."

Milton finally looked up from his circuits and pushed his glasses back up from the tip of his nose.

"I'm telling you, the pulse generator is overheating again. This heat dissipation is terrible. Next time, can I please requisition some decent thermal material?"

"Quiet, Milton."

Sorensen waved him off, his attention completely fixed on the observation chamber.

"Jenner, begin."

Jenner tapped several commands into the tablet.

Inside the chamber, the red LED on top of a crude, can-shaped metal device positioned directly in front of the walker began flashing rhythmically before turning a steady green.

There was no sound.

No visible smoke.

No noticeable smell.

The device simply began working in complete silence.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three...

The walker's struggles didn't slow at all.

Its cloudy eyes remained fixed on the white mouse nearby. Its decayed lips pulled back to reveal blackened yellow teeth as it strained forward.

The mouse seemed to sense the danger and huddled nervously in one corner of the cage.

Ten seconds.

Twenty...

Sorensen pressed his forehead against the glass. Jenner and Milton leaned closer as well, squinting into the chamber.

Thirty seconds.

Then something changed.

Not suddenly.

The change was subtle, almost imperceptible.

The walker's gaze, which had been locked firmly on the mouse, began to lose focus.

Its head stopped straining forward with such desperation. Its movements slowed, losing their clear sense of direction.

More importantly, its attention began to wander.

Before, even while restrained, every tiny movement it made had been unmistakably directed toward the mouse.

Now its gaze drifted across the empty walls, the ceiling, and the metal floor beneath its feet.

At one point, the walker's eyes even passed directly over the white mouse barely three meters away without stopping, as though it were nothing more than an irrelevant rock or piece of wood.

It could still "see" the mouse.

But whatever remained of the neural reflex system in its brain no longer recognized it as food.

As prey.

"The olfactory masking is taking effect," Jenner murmured, his eyes fixed on the sensor data streaming across the screen. "We're seeing abnormalities in visual recognition too."

"It... it can't see anymore?" Milton asked quietly.

"No. The walker can still see," Sorensen corrected excitedly. "But the signal is being filtered.

"We've simulated and enhanced a certain substance that we can, for lack of a better term, call a 'walker pheromone.'

"In nature, some animals release chemical signals that tell members of their own species, 'There's no danger here,' or, 'Ignore this.'

"We extracted and synthesized something similar, except this one targets the walkers' severely degraded sensory systems.

"It deceives their sense of smell and partially interferes with visual recognition, causing them to interpret anything within the covered area as part of the environment. A rock, a tree, or... another walker that isn't moving very much."

"So it can't smell the blood, and it doesn't bother looking closely enough at the mouse?" Milton summarized.

"That's one way of putting it," Sorensen replied with a nod. "At least within an effective radius of three meters, as long as you don't make any obvious noise, you're essentially invisible to walkers."

They continued observing for another ten minutes.

Throughout that time, the white mouse completely lost its appeal to the walker.

The creature would occasionally turn its head vaguely in that direction, but the frantic aggression from the beginning never returned.

It became quiet.

Almost vacant.

After exactly fifteen minutes, Jenner tapped the tablet again.

The green LED went dark.

Almost the instant the light disappeared, the walker's entire body jerked violently.

Its unfocused eyes snapped back onto the mouse.

The growl in its throat immediately rose in volume, filled with agitation and desperate hunger.

It began struggling even harder than before.

The straps dug deep into its rotting flesh, and the restraint frame creaked under the force.

"Effect duration, exactly fifteen minutes," Jenner recorded calmly. "After the signal is removed, sensory recovery produces a brief rebound effect. Aggression appears temporarily heightened.

"Consistent with Experiment Thirty-Nine."

"It worked..."

Sorensen released a long breath.

His body almost slid down the glass before he managed to steady himself.

His eyes had turned slightly red.

"We... we actually did it."

Milton clapped his hands.

As expected of a professional CDC doctor and a UTK professor. Their research had finally produced real results.

"Fantastic! So how much disruptor can we make?"

Sorensen and Jenner exchanged a look.

Both expressions carried the same mixture of seriousness and helplessness.

"That's the problem, Milton," Jenner said, shutting off his tablet and turning toward the other two. "We've proven the concept works.

"Mass production is another matter entirely."

He walked toward a nearby workbench covered with papers and whiteboards and began explaining.

"First, the source of the pheromone.

"The 'masking pheromone' we can now synthesize consistently is based on a core template derived from glandular extracts taken from the first-generation walkers brought back from Pioneer Pharmaceuticals.

"Those walkers apparently developed some sort of inert characteristic during the transformation process.

"Biosynthesizing that template compound is extremely complicated. It requires a very specific culture environment and several rare catalyst precursors.

"We've almost exhausted every suitable biochemical material in our inventory, and even then, we only have enough to produce fewer than one hundred standard doses of concentrated solution."

He pointed toward the can-shaped device inside the observation room.

"One disruptor like that requires one full standard dose per refill. It operates for fifteen minutes, then the dose is exhausted."

"Can we dilute it?" Milton asked. "Or increase the interval between pulses?"

"Diluting it sharply reduces both the effective radius and reliability," Sorensen replied, rubbing his brow wearily. "And if the pulse interval exceeds twenty seconds, the masking effect becomes unstable.

"The walkers may start noticing the target again. We've already tested it."

"Second, the delivery system itself."

Jenner pointed toward the circuit boards Milton had been working on.

"Stable pulsed vaporization requires a precision micro air pump and a control system.

"With the electronic components we currently have, it's already a minor miracle that we can assemble roughly twenty reliable working modules.

"That also means we can't turn it into a convenient handheld device. At least, not yet."

The three had just fallen into a gloomy silence when Calista arrived.

"I heard you've made a major breakthrough, but there are serious limitations. I came to see for myself."

Jenner took a deep breath.

As the nominal head of the team, he explained the principle behind the experiment, the successful demonstration, and the production problems they'd just discussed.

Calista listened carefully.

When Jenner finished, she actually seemed quite optimistic about the disruptor.

"Fifteen minutes. Three-meter radius. Can't be mass-produced."

Then her tone shifted.

"But in plenty of situations, those fifteen minutes could decide whether an entire squad lives or dies."

She walked to the observation glass and looked at the walker inside, now staring hungrily at the mouse again.

Through it, she seemed to be looking at the endless hordes of walkers beyond the walls.

"We don't need to issue these to every soldier."

Calista turned back, her eyes sharp with interest.

"What we need is a 'key' that can complete critical tasks at critical moments.

"Dr. Jenner, Professor Sorensen, Milton. I want you to concentrate every available resource on producing at least thirty standard doses of disruptor concentrate and fifteen reliable delivery units within the next week."

Sorensen opened his mouth, clearly intending to raise concerns about materials and risk.

Calista raised a hand and stopped him.

"I'll have Rickson coordinate the materials. Every relevant supply in Rock Fortress and the prison will be made available to you.

"I'll also have Defense Force squads prioritize searches for the specific chemical materials and precision electronic components on your list."

Calista's gaze grew more serious.

"Every new tool we acquire gives us another chance to survive."

Her objective was clear.

This wasn't something intended for widespread deployment.

It was a specialized tool for critical operations.

"One last thing."

Calista looked around at all three of them.

"The core details of this technology are not to be disclosed to anyone. And any actual use of it must be personally authorized by me."

"Yes, Calista," all three answered together.

Calista nodded, some of the sternness leaving her expression.

"You've accomplished something remarkable. This could save a lot of lives."

The door closed behind her, sealing the laboratory off from the outside world once again.

Milton stared miserably at his pile of circuits and muttered under his breath.

"Thermal materials, micro air pumps... This is going to kill me."