Chapter 216 – You Were Right
The crazy downpour stopped.
No matter how solidly designed the shelter is, it cannot be unaffected by the weather as it is an underground city covered by a damp mountain.
After the heavy rain passes, a full inspection begins as always.
Increase the intensity of the dehumidification system by zone.
Replacement of some air purification filters that have become less effective due to dampness.
Inspection of overall drainage system.
Check for any abnormalities in the hangar on the top floor and the external ejection port.
In some places, the area is dried using high-temperature heating.
Fighting against moisture and mold in a closed circulation cycle is literally a war.
I think they are worse than infectious agents in terms of contagiousness and persistence.
After completing the rough adjustments with Artemis’ assistance, I sighed.
“I thought things would get better now that factories, power plants, and cars all over the world have stopped, but this damn weather is still the same.”
In the past, light rain fell for a long time in Korea in the summer. A wet monsoon front passes through the entire country for a month.
However, with the climate changing due to warming, what could be called the rainy season has now disappeared.
Suddenly, heavy rain pours down like a bombardment, but then stops in an instant, maintaining humid temperatures, and the sun shines brightly before pouring down again.
Squalls, which only occur in tropical regions, have begun to replace the rainy season.
It became more severe as the years went by, until it finally left the summer and continued to pour down guerrilla showers in the spring and fall.
“It’s too late. This is because the critical point has been passed, and the Earth is now heating up on its own without human intervention. “The fact that civilization has come to a complete halt only affects the quality of the sea and air.”
Artemis said.
The Korean Peninsula, where rain only came at certain times on a granite foundation, was an ideal environment for building an underground shelter. Now that advantage has been damaged.
After completing her dehumidification routine, she stood in front of her electronic desk, examining a mechanical blueprint she had never seen before. It is a strange device that looks like a mixture of a satellite and a hot air balloon.
“What is that?”
She got up from the chair and walked up behind Artemis.
As I gently wrapped my arms around her abdomen, I felt her take a deep breath.
The golden eyes withdraw from the pattern and glance sideways at me.
“A secret weapon that will fix the broken weather you’ve been complaining about and wipe out all the corrupted infections at once.”
“Really?! “There is such a thing?”
Artemis cringed. It was so unexpected that I screamed in her ear without even realizing it.
“… Your ears hurt.”
“Sorry.”
She reflexively released her arms from around her abdomen and tried to fall, but Artemis was already holding her tightly, like a seatbelt.
“It’s a prototype that the Ministry of Environment was developing to present at an international exhibition. The exploration team secured it not long ago.”
Artemis lightly waved her hand, and the design on her electronic desk disappeared and an image of Earth appeared.
Ocean currents and atmospheric convection flows were depicted in real time in 3D. The devices I had just seen were spread out all over the street.
“It is a device that reduces the solar heat received by the Earth by continuously spraying gas that reflects solar light into the atmosphere. Once launched, it will orbit in a certain orbit following the convective flow without any additional fuel injection.”
3D animation worked.
The blue gases emitted from the device coated the atmosphere like a kind of tinted glass. When sunlight penetrates there, it is slightly diluted and the percentage is displayed. Accordingly, the Earth’s temperature graph slowly declines.
“… I think I saw something similar to this in a movie. As a side effect, the entire Earth froze.”
Artemis chuckled at my words.
“It’s not some magical substance you saw. The gas volatilizes, so if you don’t spray it continuously, it will disappear on its own.”
“Wouldn’t it be great if it were real? “I don’t know which exhibition it was, but if I had submitted it, I would have won a prize.”
“No, I guess I didn’t get it? This device is an empty gun. “The device itself is not that difficult of a technology.”
Artemis leaned his upper body back and buried his body in my arms.
A pleasant weight, hair tickling my cheeks, and an indescribably good scent came in.
“What would you do if you had a device? In fact, the gas that will play that role has not even begun to be developed.”
“Still, we can’t ignore the potential, right? “You were planning to distribute the biochemical weapon against infectious agents that you have been developing for a long time by circulating it in the atmosphere like this.”
“It was like that.”
Artemis leaned her cheek on my shoulder with a tired expression.
Because the research was almost paralyzed. Despite investing considerable resources, no progress was made.
As she strokes her hair, her eyes become increasingly sad and close.
“It would be perfect if we had the vaccine that old Solaver talked about.”
“…”
Her eyes, which had been closed, opened again. His eyebrows furrowed as if he didn’t like her.
“Let’s go out.”
She said.
“I want to get some air.”
* * *
Shoot aaaaa.
Compared to yesterday, the waves were much calmer.
“The air is sticky.”
Artemis said.
“Because it’s summer now, and it’s raining.”
She was not wearing the gorgeous suit she wore in the city, but the one-piece dress she liked to wear when she was a girl.
If you wear a suit in this weather, you will be covered in sweat.
We are taking a walk on the sandy beach in front of the shelter. It has been a long time since purification work was carried out in the area, so it is safe enough to go out alone with the two of you.
“It’s a strange feeling.”
An even finer foot dug into the fine sand. Every time, Artemis showed an expression of both fun and curiosity.
In her backhand, she is holding a pair of sandals that she has taken off. When the wind blows, the white skirt flutters.
With each step, my thin Achilles tendon and the soles of my feet were exposed with a lot of sand sticking to them.
“It feels like I’m renting out a lease. “I’ve been around the sea quite a bit, but this is the first time I’ve seen a sandy beach this clean.”
In front is an endless yellow, winding sandy beach. On the left is the blue sea. On the right is a yellow-brown field.
Three areas divided by only three colors stretch all the way to the end. Meanwhile, no foreign matter is visible. It is a sight that blows your mind just by looking at it.
“What was it like originally?”
Artemis asked with a smile.
She is usually a quiet person, but in an environment like this where various senses of her body are stimulated, her smile becomes brighter.
“There were often people like you who walked around barefoot and ended up in the emergency room. “You can see at least 10 pieces of trash wherever you look.”
“You guys are crazy for desecrating such a beautiful place.”
Deep!
Artemis planted her toes like a hoe in the sand.
As she played with her big toe and index toe, glossy black toenails appeared like black pearls through the sand.
“Are you not interested in swimming in the sea?”
Artemis raised her head at my question.
“Not so much now. Just walking like this is fun. But…”
“Just?”
“I want to experience this.”
She walked diagonally to her left, toward the sea.
Shoot aaaaa.
Instead of dry sand, wet sand the color of brown sugar greeted her, and the edge of the shallow waves finally approached and swallowed her feet.
Shoot aaaaa.
Hehe.”
She jumped to the right as if to avoid the approaching wave again. She then approached the receding waves again.
Unlike her usual dignified appearance, she was playing cutely.
“Jinsu.”
“I’m listening.”
“I want to take back what I said before.”
“If before, when?”
“When we first met.”
The third wave that approached swallowed us up to our ankles.
“You were right. Human senses are amazing. “It is not just an electrical signal, nor is it overrated.”
Artemis looked down and smiled as seawater and grains of sand slipped between her toes.
“Tumbling in the waves, the feeling of being pampered when walking on a wet sand beach, sand grains and water droplets repeatedly sticking and falling, the coolness of the wind hitting your body. All those sensations feel ecstatically good. “I also feel the joy you explained to me.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“The body, being alive, is perfect.”
Buuuuung-.
In the sky, drones that had been isolated due to bad weather were returning one by one. Some of them are shaking precariously as if they have been damaged. Beyond that, nameless birds fly in flocks.
“Please come quickly.”
Artemis’ voice was full of generosity.
Shoot aaaaa.
The West Sea was extremely peaceful after the heavy rain. We walked and walked there.
“I want to hold hands.”
Artemis held out her hand.
“Then I think it would be perfect.”
“As much as you want.”
One pair of large footprints and one pair of small, delicate footprints.
Only our footprints were engraved side by side on the empty sandy beach.
A few days after that, I received a call from an external research institute. The sender is Solaver.
[It was confirmed to be operating normally in a pilot test.]
The signal transmitter has been completed.
His voice seemed a little tired, but it was filled with pride that he had achieved what he wanted.
The time has come to reach out to the spacecraft in Mars’ orbit, which was the starting point of all these events.
