Chapter 140 – When We First Met (4)
Is it nicknamed “Humanity’s greatest masterpiece” Thanks to its reputation for solving problems throughout the shelter?
There were people who approached Artemis with great interest and expectations, even though they had never met her in person.
It’s not just a simple greeting, but it’s a desire for a rich conversation or something more.
They say celebrities also have similar experiences, but Artemis at Shelter already feels like an idol.
Rather than being an idol in the entertainment industry, it feels closer to the original meaning of an idol.
A female employee once asked her for counseling about her concerns. She may have been complaining.
[I had no doubt that one day it would soar through the sky and take root in the sea of the moon. But now it is buried forever inside a metal box, further under thick concrete, and further under dirt and rocks.]
However, it seems like he brought up a story that touched on Artemis’ disgust.
It was unusual for her to react poorly.
[Now this is my home. You can leave here at any time and return home to your loved ones. I don’t have that luxury. You have a family, you have friends, you can get off work, you can go on vacation, but I’m stuck here forever.]
The female employee looked embarrassed.
[Please have pity on me. All I have to look forward to is the endless gray sea, the isolated years of walking alone there.]
Why?
When Artemis said that, her size within me swelled rapidly. She wasn’t small to begin with.
The more I got to know Artemis, the more I realized she was a woman with endless charm.
At some point, rather than having a relationship between her manager and the central control AI, he was treating her as just a friend.
Although it was unclear whether she also considered me a friend.
‘Are we friends now?’
I wanted to ask several times, but couldn’t because I was afraid I wouldn’t get the answer I expected.
Maybe I was the only one who mistakenly thought we had become close friends.
If it is a relationship with a human, even if you are rejected, you can try again and become a friend, but what will the relationship be like with her, her machine…
This is because some computer files, once set, cannot be modified again.
‘You have family, you have friends’
What Artemis said to the female employee was so nerve-wracking that the back part was soggy.
Perhaps from that moment on, the desire to give her something arose. It is not a material gift, but a metaphysical gift.
Joy, interest, wonder, feelings, friends, a place to be, and many more.
It was around that time that I started taking her to various places within the shelter, not just to her construction site.
* * *
Clink.
A chunk of ice was thrown into a glass filled with light brown liquid.
A dark tavern with quiet music. In that corner, I drank alone.
[Why do you drink at a place like this when there are much better facilities?]
Artemis said.
The place we are in is a tavern used by workers in the lower region.
We haven’t accepted any residents yet, but there are so many workers involved in the construction that a huge amount of money comes and goes just by dealing with them. Thanks to this, some service facilities are doing business successfully.
“Because a moderately noisy place is better than an empty place. Would you say that alcohol tastes better when it smells like a person?”
If you take a quick look behind you, you can see the bartender and customer having a conversation across the table.
The cabinet with various liquor bottles on display reflected light of various colors.
“Would you like a drink too?”
[I have neither a tongue to taste nor a nasal passage to enjoy the scent. Are you making fun of me knowingly?]
Instead of answering, I sipped and laughed.
[You need to spread your tongue a little wider and spread the alcohol evenly. Narrow the space between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. Just before crossing the tonsils, flick the root of your tongue to absorb as much scent as possible into the nasal mucosa.]
I followed her advice.
[Yes, that’s right. I am not very interested in human physical senses, but…]
“No?”
I tilted the glass between my fingers in front of me. The fingers that slipped through the glass are shaking.
[That’s it. Appendages separate from the body, including the tongue. Fingers, toes, what does it feel like to move them freely? That’s all I’m curious about.]
“Like this?”
[Oh, my God.]
Instead of drinking, I lightly stuck out my tongue and waved it as if dancing, and she got scared.
[Disgusting!]
“It’s too much.”
Is the reason Artemis is interested in moving her appendages because she is a large machine without freedom of movement?
Because her evaluation was unfair, she pulled out her secret trick.
The ice in the glass was placed on the tip of her long, outstretched tongue. Swing it around and juggle it, or dribble it as if you were doing a skill with a soccer ball.
[Oh!]
Artemis also observed with interest.
[Can it be done with a smaller one?]
“Of course.”
I put the peas that were served as a snack on the tip of my tongue and performed a more difficult trick.
Roll the beans this way, roll them that way.
[Ahaha, what is that?]
Give it a spin.
[Was there such a technology?!]
Bouncing around.
[Ha… Ha… Something… It’s amazing.]
Just when she felt like her mood was changing ambiguously, she swallowed the beans. If you keep showing off amazing tricks, you’ll get tired of them.
[It was amazing. I’m sorry for speaking negatively earlier.]
It was her first apology.
* * *
The time with Artemis feels like it passes in a compressed manner. Even though we haven’t been together for a long time, a lot of things happen.
She dug up and dealt with numerous problems buried in the shelter.
It was about correcting corruption, inefficiency, and faulty construction, and sometimes it was also a disease sleeping inside a person’s body.
“Thank you!”
Painter Kyungsik Kim held both of my hands and repeatedly expressed his gratitude. His eyes are very red.
Through Artemis’ recommendation, he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with early-stage cancer.
Artemis provided complete guidance on the route to receiving cost support at an affordable price.
“Thank you! Thanks to you, I survived!”
I am embarrassed to hold my hand, and thank you for doing nothing.
“Thanks is not to me, but to Ar…”
[Consider his hands as mine. My gratitude to him will be fully conveyed to me. I’m glad I was able to detect it early.]
“…”
I was speechless.
Kim Gyeong-sik, who was grateful for a long time, was ready to even listen to the phone call of his young son, whom he was raising alone.
Then Artemis stepped forward and returned it appropriately. Her voice was unusually urgent.
“Don’t you like children?”
[It’s crying, it’s illogical, and the output compared to the input is a mess. But the worst is different.]
“What is that?”
She said as if to relieve her anger.
[It’s graffiti!]
Something that caught my eye came to mind.
“Is there a scratch on the bottom left of the body?”
Although she had a neat silver body, she had noticeable scratches.
[Pocket Creature.]
A photo was sent to my PDA, and it was a sticker given when I bought a certain bread.
The one depicted is Piyakchu, the representative mascot character. It is a rodent with an impressive tail that makes it easy to hold and swing in the hand.
[It didn’t go down horribly. The crayon scribbles next to it could be easily erased.]
Ink can be wiped off with chemicals, but if it doesn’t come off with a spray, you have no choice but to scrape it off.
[I hate kids.]
Suddenly I became curious.
“Then what about the baby? “You can’t doodle, right?”
[This is an equivalent exchange between the worst and the worst. Children know how to go to the bathroom on their own.]
“Ah!”
Her logic was always flawless, but she was even more thorough when it came to things she disliked.
* * *
There was a time when the police came in.
This is because among the workers sent by the subcontractor, there was a wanted criminal. Of course, the one captured was Artemis.
[A wanted man with tattoos is coming into my lair without fear. Shouldn’t the level of sincerity in removing a tattoo be shown?]
He seemed to have grown a beard and disguised himself, but the moment the tattoo was captured on camera, it was linked to his height, skin color, and location of the mole.
She snorted and called the police, and there was trouble.
“Everyone gets out! I’ll kill you!”
The wanted person noticed.
He held a knife and threatened everyone. Holding in his arms is a young woman who runs a food truck in a shelter. This is a woman we both know.
[You’re an arms dealer.]
Artemis said coldly.
“Can you stop talking like that?”
The food truck lady has been selling hot dogs on the trail in the lower area for the past three months. I like spicy and spicy sauces, so I often buy them.
The taste of the food is delicious, but the secret to its popularity may be the warm welcome it gives to visitors.
This is because it was not just a simple service smile, but a warmth that seemed to comfort the hard-working worker by saying, ‘You worked hard today too!’
When she went to eat with Artemis in the past, she was scared.
[It is a feast of all kinds of synthetic additives. It could be said to be the lowest point of biochemical weapons. Do you plan to continue taking this?]
“That means it tastes better.”
When you take a bite, it feels like your tongue is being burned by the spicy sauce! You can’t give up.
[Joy! Well, it’s your life.]
From then on, Artemis always called the food truck girl a weapons dealer.
That precious young lady is now being held hostage.
“Don’t move!”
A police officer confronting a wanted man aimed a pistol.
“You guys, don’t even think about moving! Because I’m going to throw a puncture all over this bitch! Got it?”
Artemis arranged for the arrest to be carried out carefully and secretly, but the police were the problem.
This is because the police officers who arrived in police cars wandered around inside the shelter, and it was like advertising in all directions, saying, ‘We are here to catch the criminal!’
Wanted criminals are always sensitive. When she sees the police, she tends to think they’re out to get her, but this time she was right.
“Free the woman!”
His philtrum is scarred from shaving, his face is young, and the hand holding the revolver is trembling, and without even being able to negotiate properly, he just shouts like a parrot to be released.
“A bunch of newbies came here.”
That was my assessment.
If the opponent is a wanted criminal, it usually consists of one veteran and one newcomer, and even then, it is true that multiple teams are dispatched.
However, because there was a large-scale foreign worker riot recently, everyone was drafted there.
“If I get caught again, I’ll be in prison for life anyway, you damn bastards!”
A wanted criminal with no trace and no hesitation.
“Ugh…”
A girl who was on the verge of fainting with blood dripping from her neck due to the cutting edge of the blade.
“If you move, I’ll shoot!”
New police officers who fell so hard that the muzzle angle fluctuated at 40 degrees.
It’s truly a mesmerizing harmony. In the end, it was Artemis who solved the problem.
Dalkak.
Similar to the last time I stopped the fighter, all the lights in the area were turned off.
“…!”
“…!”
“Uh huh.”
In an instant, darkness came, and the wanted criminal and the police looked around each other in a blind state.
After about 10 seconds, the wanted criminal couldn’t resist and took out his cell phone with the hand that wasn’t holding his knife.
It looks like he was trying to turn on the flashlight app, which inevitably distracts the hostage.
Artemis caught the gap where the blade was loose from the girl’s neck and her arm was loose from her shoulder.
Humming! The cargo drone makes a sound and rushes like a kamikaze!
Poop!
“Ugh!”
Dalkak.
The wanted criminal collapsed, bleeding from his forehead, and at the same time the light was restored. In the meantime, the young lady quickly ran away.
Bang! Bang!
One blank bullet and another live bullet fired right after.
The situation ended with the wanted criminal bleeding from his thigh and falling to his death.
“Following reporting on the criminal, we even provide support for the arrest! Thank you for your cooperation!”
The police officer held my hand and said with an emotional expression.
“Thanks is not to me, but to Ar…”
[Aren’t there any brave citizen awards? Thanks to Manager Seo Jin-su’s immediate actions, the hostage’s life was saved. Looking at the 13 recent cases, it is a reasonable contribution.]
Artemis cut me off.
She started negotiating with the police officers who looked dumbfounded.
To be precise, it was to create guidelines for reports that would be delivered to their superiors.
Deering.
‘I will buy a certificate of merit to decorate the central control room. ‘Be quiet.’
Her message that arrived at the PDA was strict.
