Chapter 154 – City of Nymphs (1)
Artemis is a woman capable and trustworthy enough to be entrusted with all operations of the city.
But life routine is important. She said that if this is broken, people become infinitely lazy and live without purpose.
Coming to work, receiving a briefing, and reviewing and signing approval documents under my authority. This is as sacred an event to me as a military roll call.
After passing through the hallway, the entrance to the central control room appeared.
Since it is still before business hours, most of the lights inside will be off.
I like the darkness before work.
If I immerse myself in silence and shade before going to work, I feel like peace comes to my mind.
In the past, Artemis didn’t know this, so she always greeted people with bright lights.
But it’s different now that I know my taste perfectly.
I keep the dim lighting at 18%, which I like, and play faint ASMR music, and also set up some snacks and drinks.
The huge screen in the front always plays different scenes.
A towering rocky island in the middle of the rough sea.
The night sea reminiscent of an abyss.
A view of the Earth from the space station.
Conversely, the scenery of outer space seen from afar.
A huge grassland covered in dark clouds.
Since she started this service, there has not been a single day when the same scene has appeared.
A hallway of equal rank, a dark central control room, a virtual picnic prepared by Artemis.
This has been the morning routine I have been following all along. Today that changed.
“Hello, manager.”
“…”
The moment the door to the central control room opened, and I entered, I was immediately greeted with greetings.
In the soft darkness, about twenty beautiful women bowed respectfully.
Thanks to improved vision, I could see clearly even in the dark, so it wasn’t scary.
They have different hairstyles, faces, and bodies, but they are all unrealistically beautiful and slim.
Without a doubt, Android. It seems that the reason Artemis woke up wasn’t just for the two of them to take care of her body.
I looked down at my outfit. The more time humans have, and the fewer people there are to notice, the more relaxed they become.
It’s natural to go to work wearing sweats and slippers instead of shoes and attire.
Since I’m alone, I can’t help but worry even if it’s an android. They don’t seem to care at all.
After the prayer, everyone returned to their work. Even though there were only about 20 people, his presence was so great that the usual empty feeling of the central control room disappeared.
“Excuse me.”
As I sat down in the manager’s seat, an android brought coffee and toast on a tray.
I’ve always had cargo drones carry me around, and it’s a new feeling.
I feel like I’m in a café in Korea before the war.
However, they are not dressed as café clerks wearing aprons.
Is this Artemis’s preference? She is wearing a dress with a strong, gorgeous impression.
Colors and detailed shapes are divided.
First, the red color I saw in the incubator room, and the sexy outfit that exposes one shoulder and thighs, catches my eye.
There are also black clothes that cover the body tightly. The android wearing this outfit covers her face with a veil mask, and the material she wears is lace, creating an antique look.
“Is it the first generation?”
Otherwise, there is no reason to wrap it up like that.
And the intermediate stage between those two. There is a silver-grey colored outfit that is neither too tight nor too revealing. The appearance is reminiscent of a secretary at a large company.
If you see people wearing the same clothes gathered together, they may have divided their clothes according to their roles.
For reference, the woman who brought me food was the third category.
The coffee is at just the right temperature, not too hot. The cup itself has a heating function, so the temperature does not fall below a certain level.
The toast consists of buttered bread, scrambled eggs with honey sauce, bacon grilled to the crispiness of a cookie, and very thinly sliced vegetables.
As soon as you take a bite, a pleasant savory and sweet flavor seeps in.
Although everyone was dressed nicely, I was the only one wearing sweatpants and slippers, so it was a bit uncomfortable, but I still felt less burdened by the slippers.
This is because the androids were wearing sandals like those from Greek mythology.
There are many types.
Gold and silver.
The strap reaches up to the ankle.
Reaching below the knees.
Some have heels and some don’t.
There were different combinations of decorations and cross-shaped strings, and even pedicures on toenails.
They are cleaning or repairing equipment throughout the central control room.
For example, tearing up the floor from about 20 meters away and replacing old hardware with new one.
Wow!
Next to them, there is a two-person team working while holding heavy tools and electric drills with their slender wrists.
Support!
Also, the sight of him crouching down and welding with his voluptuous body fully highlighted is also not to be missed. I don’t even wear a welding mask.
This sight of stunning beauties, not sweaty men, being reborn as tool warriors is an emotion that is difficult to express.
Perhaps there was a hardware or software upgrade.
As far as I know, androids can act as secretaries or wives, but they can’t perform such professional tasks.
The ones holding the tools were all first-generation androids dressed in black attire.
Grumble.
I drank coffee, but there was no time to feel bitterness in this unfamiliar atmosphere.
It’s dark but bright. The central control room, which was always filled with silence, is now crowded.
However, there is no conversation.
There is no small talk during work or even the spirit of ‘zero!’ When exerting one’s strength.
All you can hear is the sound of your sandals hitting the ground, the occasional clicking sound, and the sound of clothes rubbing against each other.
[Why is your face so goofy?]
It’s Artemis.
“Wouldn’t you be embarrassed if dozens of new employees suddenly appeared in your workplace, which was empty every day?”
And that’s because of the beautiful women that make you fall in love no matter where you look.
[I think he just returned from a long vacation. It’s not a particularly wrong expression.]
“Should standing in a warehouse gathering dust for hundreds of days be considered a vacation?”
I drank all the remaining coffee and called the android that was far away.
“One more drink.”
She accepted it politely. In that position, she took two steps back, then turned 180 degrees in a soldier-like manner and disappeared.
“It’s quick.”
[The identity installed in these children is that of a soldier. It was reborn through my touch.]
Artemis’ voice was full of pride.
[Just being pretty is not enough. I like things that are strong and beautiful.]
“So if I give you a weapon, you can fight?”
[In case of emergency. In situations such as when the shelter defense is breached or a riot occurs.]
A strange sensation that I had not yet gotten used to came to me. I feel a letter reaching my brain.
It is a message from Artemis. She is asking permission for her thoughts to enter my mind.
Since completing the brain implant procedure, I no longer carry a PDA.
Artemis’s resignation was accepted.
“Ah…”
The feeling of her thoughts seeping into my brain. She felt like her thoughts and mine were momentarily overlapping.
That strange feeling made me shiver involuntarily, like right after urinating in winter.
[Cook…]
Artemis laughed as if she couldn’t bear it.
[Why are you doing that? Is it because the taste is so amazing? Huh?]
“It’s because I’m not used to it yet.”
[Can I send it back to you if you want? They even added fragrance. How does the black tea smell?]
I pretended not to hear and played the video in my head. What Artemis sent was a combat program to respond to urban warfare.
Training videos are being played to respond to all kinds of situations that can occur in the city.
“You fight pretty well?”
[A soldier can act as an engineer, a chef, or a secretary. However, only soldiers can play the role of a soldier.]
The woman in tight black clothes hammering and welding, the woman in silver-gray clothes operating a machine, and the alluring woman in red clothes all turned into female warriors as soon as the situation unfolded and fought bravely.
[Then wouldn’t it be effective to set the basic thinking base as a soldier? Even in normal times, those disciplined movements are wonderful.]
In one video, an android wearing black short hair and red clothes fought a battle with a virtual walker.
Considering that the place is an incubator room, he is one of the two people currently attending to Artemis’ embryos.
Even though her clothes were torn during the battle and her breasts were clearly exposed, she did not care at all. He fought bravely, wielding the wrench and pipe used for maintenance.
“This is absolutely Spartan.”
[It’s more than that. The Spartans were useless except for fighting. But these children are as brave as Spartans, and they are good at anything.]
“Well, we won’t have to fight with them either.”
He said while mumbling his toast.
She doesn’t like it when I talk while she’s chewing something, but she didn’t say anything today because she was in a good mood.
The android took the cup from me and brought me a fresh cup of coffee.
“What is your name?”
She asked as she took the coffee.
“This is EV 771745, manager.”
She answered.
“That’s the lot number.”
[Huh. These kids don’t have names yet. For me, the lot of number was enough.]
“Let’s put it this way… Won’t it be inconvenient in the future if there is no name?”
For a moment, I was about to say, ‘If I let it go,’ but I barely stopped.
Isn’t it a rude expression and not some kind of animal?
The android in front of you may not have any unpleasant feelings about such things.
This is not a high-level AI that can have the value of a soul like Artemis, Chrollo, Rose, or Kiz.
[For me, not at all. In the world where we communicate, everything is made up of signals. Real name or lot number, that’s it.]
EV 771745, who gave me coffee, was sitting near me, unlike before when he returned straight away.
“Oh, you can go.”
“… Yes.”
“…?”
That’s what I saw for a moment on the android’s face as it bowed its head.
If it were my old self, I would have missed it, but now that my senses have become more sensitive to the limit, I was able to catch it.
What appeared on her face. It was ‘regrettable’.
It’s morning work time.
Dalkak.
At the same time as the light comes on in the dark central control room, all but a few androids leave the room.
[Then the briefing will begin.]
The same routine always started, but things from before kept coming back to me.
Why did that android wait by my side even though I didn’t ask it to?
Why did I leave with regret?
No matter how much I thought about it, there was only one reason.
I waited with the expectation that I might receive a name.
