Chapter 213 – Artemis (1)
Among inmates serving time in prison, there are some who receive special treatment.
Possessing items that, in principle, cannot be kept in prison, staying only in the patient wing, or being given special positions in labor, the details would be endless.
In underdeveloped countries, this is even worse, and it is possible to stay in a comfortable private room, call a call-girl, have sex, and eat every meal on your own.
You’ve probably heard at least once about the luxurious lifestyles of South American drug lords, which are often featured in news and documentaries.
In today’s broken world, everyone lives like a prisoner, weighed down by survival itself.
Everyone tries their best to receive even a little better ‘special treatment’.
You may ask what is different from the society of the past, but I would like to say that even the bare minimum of justice or pretense has disappeared.
This appearance of the world made me reflect on my relationship with Artemis.
I am the system administrator, and she is the AI assistant.
It has strong authority as a central control, but everything that is really important requires my approval.
In principle, I am the master, and she is a noble servant, but… Well?
Her infinite intelligence, her perceptive ability to see right through my biological reactions, and the power to bring about changes like a god within the city.
We may not be 100% sure whether this current relationship can be maintained in the future.
Sometimes I wonder if I, too, am Artemis’ most special inmate.
You might say it’s ungrateful to doubt someone who takes such good care of her, but let’s think about it.
As the power of Shelter grows stronger and we become the last bastion of civilization, our power over the world grows infinitely greater.
What if I lose control of her here, one in a thousand?
No one will dare stop her.
Such thoughts suddenly began to occur.
* * *
[Kiss-.]
Kwasik.
A recorded video of the team on an external expedition was played.
A walker collapses in a dark office building without even being able to scream, its jaw broken and its spinal cord severed.
The culprit is a stalker robot who is still exploring the ruins today in search of useful technology or materials.
A fellow stalker caught on the edge of the screen was also suffocating the walker he had caught.
I clamped my mouth shut with my large hand, and the blade protruding from the back of my other hand stabbed in a straight line from under my chin all the way to my brain.
They quietly put down the trembling body and move smoothly without using any hand signals.
Kiririk.
With a small sound, the stalkers’ skin rearranged and changed to match the surrounding tone.
In addition to Reaper’s strong musculature, Assembler’s transformation technology was applied, making camouflage like an octopus possible.
This stalker team killed 13 more walkers and 1 resolver and then secured the object from the archive located on the 8th floor.
After accomplishing their mission, they escaped by jumping from the 8th floor instead of going down to the 1st floor.
The walkers on the ground started a riot, but it was like a snail trying to catch a hawk.
Several walkers were crushed as footholds, and the rest watched blankly as the stalkers quickly disappeared onto the rooftop of another building using streetlights and trees.
“It’s so overwhelming.”
At the time when the Marauder series was actually deployed, the robots were struggling to the extent that people could not help but shout ‘Cheer up!’.
There were more than a few aircraft damaged during missions in harsh environments.
However, as tactics and weapons improved and robots continued to be upgraded, the situation turned around.
At some point, the video of the external exploration team’s engagement that was uploaded to me turned into a one-sided slaughter.
The machines have become perfect weapons of slaughter, assassinating everything that stands in their way and stealing what they command.
While that sight makes me proud, it also makes me realize that the side effects of losing control have now grown out of control.
Until now, no matter how many times this thought occurred to me, I brushed it off, saying, ‘It’s just an excessive delusion.’ However, I could no longer turn a blind eye to the city becoming stronger day by day.
Meanwhile, it seems I am not the only one who harbors this impatience.
Artemis was impatient in a different direction.
“Now we will enter the final period of growth.”
She declared.
But I can tell because we have been together for a long time.
Somehow it felt like Artemis was rushing beyond her original plan.
Are you saying that the relationship between a man and a woman is clearly visible to the eyes of three people?
It was an experienced old man who made that vague feeling concrete.
“I guess they want to stop you. If words don’t work, try seducing them with your body.”
Solaver said.
He was eating, and he seemed to really like salted peanuts.
“This tastes perfect. “The grains of what we commonly eat are much larger than this.”
I picked it up whole and poured it into my mouth like drinking a drink.
His species, Exos, prefers a vegetarian diet. It is said that they do not eat processed grains like we humans do, but rather eat them by themselves like nuts.
“Not persuasion through knowledge or logic, but body lobbying? That is the most un-Artemis-like method. “They will criticize me for such a primitive trick.”
“It is rather primitive to go back a long way without using the most effective method. The key is whether her pride will allow it, but doesn’t that mean she’s that desperate?”
After eating all the peanuts in a can-sized container in a few bites, he picked up the next container.
“You are about to embark on a dangerous journey from which you may not return. Even if I were her, I would have done everything I could to stop her. To put it bluntly, for the sake of the universe and all, sticking to Earth is a wise choice.”
“Is it true that you want me to go retrieve the vaccine? “What if I become weak and give up?”
“At this stage, sugarcoating or hiding information is of no help. The decision is entirely up to you, so I just hope it’s a choice you won’t regret.”
Whoosh.
Another pile of salt peanuts went into his mouth.
“Besides, I will leave when the airship returns, whether you go or not.”
“Yes?”
“What’s the point of me remaining on this planet anyway? If you are going to risk your life, I should go with you, and if you are not going, then I should go and risk my glimmer of hope.”
“It’s not a glimmer of hope, it’s just an act of suicide. If you go, you will die.”
“It’s no different from a life that’s already dead.”
Solaver swept his body. More than half of his body has been replaced by machines.
A body that was sick, ugly, and betrayed his faith.
“I have a heavy responsibility remaining. As the editor’s eldest child, a senior in civilization, a representative diplomat of the Alliance, and the last survivor. “I can’t help but think that my body is dead, but I don’t want my soul to die either.”
He put down the empty container. There were a few peanuts left inside.
When you pick it up and put it in your mouth, the salty yet savory taste spreads out.
“Isn’t it really delicious? Being given the opportunity to try this great food one more time. For that alone, I am infinitely grateful to God and to you all.”
“Should I ask you to bring more?”
“No, this is enough. There is no room for more now. The rest of the space is taken up by machines.”
Solaver’s smile was warm.
* * *
That evening, Artemis’ final growth occurred.
A childhood that grows from the embryonic stage and takes place in an incubator.
A boy growing up like a pervert inside a huge six-bud.
Unlike the two impressive awakening periods, the final adulthood was conducted neatly and reverently.
“Jinsu, let’s go to your house.”
Artemis took his hand and led him to the garden of the inn where I was staying.
The back of the slender girl walking half a step in front of me had an air of intimidation.
Until yesterday, I only felt the need for protection and love, but it felt like I had become a different being overnight.
Grumbling.
Artemis arrived at her desired location and took off all of her clothes.
When she grabs the bottom hem of her top with both hands and takes it off, her breasts, which had been swept up by her clothes, come down.
When taking off her underwear, slightly lift her legs and pull them out by the ankles.
She neatly picked up the two sandals she was wearing and handed them over to me.
The weak lighting between the garden trees creates the atmosphere of a secret ceremony just between the two of us in a dark forest.
Naked, she sat cross-legged on the grass.
Her long, beautiful eyelids slowly lower and her eyes are half-closed.
What happened afterward was such a bizarre sight that one wonders if it can be categorized as science.
In an instant, the scent of maturity began to seep from her hair, skin, fingers, toes, everywhere, as if the blood flowing through her veins had turned into wine.
Her breasts and buttocks became bigger and more seductively swollen.
Then he stopped, as if lifting the bottle just before the glass overflowed.
It was the perfect size for my taste, which even I wasn’t sure about. As if this body was made just for me.
A soft glow, like moonlight, began to appear on the jade-white skin.
It was revealed that the female body in front of me was not just a beautiful woman, but a truly sacred vessel.
It was closer to a scene from mythology than to extremely advanced science.
I was so intoxicated by that sight that I unconsciously knelt down on both knees in front of her and stared endlessly in front of her.
As an adult, the true body of Artemis that has been with us until now.
The enchanting flesh and skin of her perfected woman were calling to me, imbued with her exquisite fragrance.
Flashing.
When her eyes opened, it felt like the cold sun was right in front of her.
A body made up of just blood and flesh. There was more pleasure ahead of me.
Intense golden eyes stared at me. There was infinite confidence in it.
