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location

The Pen

Pen · Milking herd facility

Laconia's armored biosecurity prison turns infected people and animals into a renewable supply of active protomolecule.

Story so far

The Pen is an unofficial name for Laconia's second-most-secure building, a dark metal cube twenty-five meters on a side made from single armor plates welded airtight. Armed guards, identity assays, explosive scans, and decontamination systems protect twenty-four holding bays. Seventeen are occupied when Paolo Cortazár visits.

Inside, deliberately infected humans and animals live until the Protomolecule exhausts them. Early-stage “Pukers” shamble, vomit, and develop alien growths while staff harvest fluids and filter out useful particles. Dr. Ochida runs the facility and prepares protomolecule-modified stem-cell injections for Winston Duarte. One accidental infection has occurred in the Pen's history; Cortazár intends there will never be another.

Appearance

A sealed, dark metallic cube with armored walls, a security airlock, elevated catwalks, cramped metal holding bays, incineration-ready surfaces, and the constant moans of infected prisoners below.

Role

The Pen industrializes human infection, providing the biological material required for Laconia's alien-technology program and Duarte's treatment.

Relationships

Paolo Cortazár — Paolo Cortazár owns the Pen scientifically and treats its prisoners as his “milking herd.”
Dr. Ochida — Dr. Ochida manages the facility and acts as Cortazár's second-in-command.
Protomolecule — The Protomolecule is cultivated, harvested, and contained within the Pen's armored bays.
Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 1
  • Laconia's armored biosecurity prison turns infected people and animals into a renewable supply of active protomolecule.
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