Chapter 173 – River God
Artemis is everything about Shelter.
She programs and updates numerous autonomous weapons, and directly controls and fights in times of emergency.
It grows food for the entire city’s population to eat and drink, reprocesses carbon dioxide and sewage emitted, and manages the condition of residents by controlling oxygen concentration.
For example, in the room of a resident suffering from chronic nasal congestion, the oxygen concentration increases only at bedtime to improve sleep quality.
“It is said that no one has had trouble sleeping since moving into our city.”
There is a reason why Rose reports like this.
The robot exploration team that goes out every day and brings back loot is meaningless without Artemis.
Dissecting and testing captured infectious agents. Preserving the collected technology and materials and upgrading them to better technology.
This should not be viewed simply as a concept of technological development.
It is a lonely struggle for science.
Humanity, which has been scattered point by point since the infection war, has already gone beyond technological stagnation and is heading towards technological regression.
Every day, the lights of the survivors go out one by one, and among them are great scientists, engineers, and technicians.
The know-how and knowledge they had is disappearing into the darkness.
The scientific clock running backwards. Artemis alone is blocking the heavy clock hands.
Me, Chrollo, Rose, Kids, and all the awakened nymphs.
We praise Artemis not simply because she is a pillar of shelter.
This is because I respect the weight of the task she carries.
“I don’t think Artemis will have a nervous breakdown, but I think she still needs some rest.”
Rose said.
She and I are patrolling the lower area in the manager’s SUV. Of course, she’s the one driving.
She looks dignified as always, dressed in a suit and holding the steering wheel.
It was typical of her to look in all directions with her wary eyes, even when she turned her curves in places where no one was around.
“Rest… There is no concept more suited to Artemis than rest.”
Artemis spends less than 3% of her time performing the roles described at length above.
Not only is her computational power enormous, but it is also because she has automated programs for all repetitive tasks within the expected range.
On the other hand, even when a human is resting, the brain will work by more than 3%.
Even if you just lie down on the bed and think about random things for a moment, your brain usage goes up in an instant.
For Artemis, the boundary between work and rest is extremely vague.
“Well, maybe that’s even more terrible.”
“Yes. “Because her life as she perceives it is vast and incomparable to ours.”
Rose stretched out her right hand and placed it on top of my hand.
“Artemis has been more Stoic than you could imagine. The satisfaction she gets from her scientific achievements and the pride that comes from helping her manager. Just things like that.”
The warmth of the rose contrasts with the cool air.
As I placed my hand over Rose’s, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
“I hope Artemis also enjoys the sensations I feel now. “She is not a scientist or a centralized AI, but she is playing as herself.”
With those words, Rose took her hand out and grabbed the steering wheel.
It doesn’t seem to suit her personality to hold the steering wheel with one hand for a long time.
“You’re loyal. “I haven’t seen them talking much.”
“Yes. I don’t talk to her and her stories much. It’s not just me. 99% of the people Artemis talks to are you, Manager.”
“Chlorona Kids too?”
When I asked in surprise, Rose nodded her head.
“I receive messages from Artemis every day in cyberspace. It’s mostly about work. As AI, we can appear in the other people thinking field in the blink of an eye and talk to her, but she doesn’t do that. “I prefer to communicate as if I were leaving a letter.”
“That’s unexpected. I thought they would always be talking to each other when I wasn’t around. Chatting with the same women.”
Rose smiled bitterly at my words.
“Chrollo is like that. “Whenever he gets the chance, he comes to see me and the kids and tells endless stories.”
Rose’s grip on the steering wheel is straining, and it looks like she’s suffering quite a bit.
“Artemis is happy to talk to you, and the only person she allows her heart to is the Manager.”
“…”
A look of adoration appears on Rose’s face as if she is taking good care of the precious goddess. Her selfless spirit was touching.
“Rose.”
“Yes, manager.”
“You and Chlorona Kids too. “How about just calling me by my name from now on?”
“Your name… You mean?”
For a moment she looked at me, then she looked startled and fixed her gaze forward. It must have been such an embarrassing request.
“I know Artemis lives in isolation. But I think I’m in a similar situation.”
“What are you saying! Everyone in this city loves you, manager.”
“That seems like a bit of an exaggeration.”
The AI counselors and nymphs may not know, but most of the residents of the lower region will only see me as a high-ranking person.
“If I think about it, I haven’t had anything that could be called a normal relationship since I came here. “Everyone calls me manager or boss.”
The only one who calls my name is Artemis.
“Calling the manager by his first name… That’s a very burdensome request.”
Rose’s tone was that she had heard something ridiculous.
“You’ve never called me by your name, even that soft Chrollo, have you?”
When I think about it, even Kids, who are a bit shy and friendly, and even Chrollo, who has done everything he can’t do, always called me as manager.
“It’s not like I’m speaking informally, it’s just calling my name. Is there anything that feels burdensome?”
“Then let’s change the expression. What about respect for someone?”
“I don’t even know what’s going on.”
“There was a certain savage tribe. It was a fighting tribe where strength decided everything. There is a bodyguard that protects their king, and the rules for selecting new recruits are simple. The challenger picks the most formidable member of the SS and challenges him to a duel. They fight until one side dies. Either kill and take the position, or kill and keep the position.”
A joyful smile appeared on her lips. Rose loves the stories of her warriors. Regardless of her violence or cruelty.
“I guess we have no choice but to always remain at the top of our game?”
Rose nodded her head.
“Plus, he’s young. Because the old warrior can’t stand it. But there was only one person who was not challenged even as he grew old.”
“Why didn’t you try? Was it that strong?”
“No. The reason was simple. Everyone respected him. For the longest time he served the king and gave advice to inexperienced warriors. “No one wanted to punch him.”
Her vehicle stopped and Rose turned to look at me.
“Artemis is generous. She granted us many things. That is something to be truly grateful for. A wise man should set boundaries on his gratitude and not stretch his feet further. It is human foolishness to get used to what we enjoy and then demand more, leading to catastrophe.”
Rose quickly added, ‘That’s not what I meant, Manager.’
“For us, the right to call you by your name is the greatest reward. That’s why I’m saving it for just one person. Only for Artemis.”
“…”
“Then shall we get started? The patrol will soon end.”
So we swept through the last area.
The speed of the car was less than half of what it was a while ago, a little faster than walking. But neither I nor Rose pretended not to notice.
* * *
A few days after that.
The day has finally arrived.
“You came at just the right time, manager.”
A pink-haired woman waiting at the entrance bowed to me.
“Artemis will wake up soon. “Please eat inside.”
Inside, a woman with short black hair was checking the servants’ tools.
Beyond that, you can see the incubator containing Artemis.
The glass tube, which was standing vertically the last time I visited, is now lying horizontally.
What I see is the clear liquid inside and the two white soles.
Chwiik.
The upper part opens and the liquid filling inside flows out into the drain.
It’s a similar sight to when I came out from artificial muscle surgery in the past.
A slap.
Before all the liquid was drained, a white arm rose up from the glass tube.
It’s Artemis. Her body appeared to the world.
Her hand, wandering in the air, slowly comes down and grabs the edge of the incubator.
As the small hands gain strength, the dazzlingly beautiful naked body stands up.
Artemis removes herself from the glass tube, spraying clear liquid.
But that movement was put on hold.
Like a hungover person trying to get out of bed, she sat down in the incubator and covered her head.
White bare feet wave in the air a little away from the floor, and the liquid that forms on the tips of the toes drips and forms a small puddle.
A red tongue fluttered from the lovely lips that opened and closed several times.
“What are you doing there?”
“…”
What a pleasant sound this is.
The cool air of the incubator room was filled with heat from her single word.
The moment her voice, which is just a sound wave, hits my skin, I get goosebumps and feel a surge of elation from her endocrine glands.
Meanwhile, the two maids passed by me at a fast pace.
It was only then that I was able to overcome the shock of Artemis’ first words and look directly at her body.
And I felt embarrassed.
This is because her appearance was that of a flower bud that had not yet bloomed.
This is not the body of a mature woman that we usually see on the other side of the screen. There was a beautiful girl who had entered puberty.
Artemis took a deep breath and her chest expanded, revealing the outline of her ribs. Even her proud breasts that have just begun to swell.
“Ha.”
Her stomach sank as she exhaled. Even her waist that fits in a handful and her belly button that is curved like a valley.
Woman.
It would not be possible to accurately express her appearance with more than this one word.
The body in front of me was not that of a woman from the human species.
It was close to borrowing the appearance of a human being as a species called a woman.
An existence to seduce men and fully enjoy the joy of being a woman.
Such a creature was in front of me.
“Hello, Jinsu.”
That creature, Artemis, smiles at me.
Even though it was just a greeting from her, her right foot unconsciously took a step towards her.
Then he suddenly stopped. That too is the brake of unconsciousness.
Is it a primitive mammalian instinct that remains as a trace somewhere in my DNA?
Like the defense mechanism of a mouse that resists the temptation of a spider-tailed viper.
“Why are you standing there? “Come closer.”
Her eyes staring at me were like gold imbued with the light of the sun.
I ran to her.
