Chapter 296 – Storm’s Envoy (6)
The building where Jinsu and his wife were invited was once used as the headquarters of one of Kyushu’s leading conglomerates.
The fire of the infection war and the storms of the survival era that followed.
Even as the Japanese archipelago was ravaged by disaster, it was preserved intact thanks to a few lucky coincidences.
Seonamhoe, who occupied this place, decorated it like a hotel with numerous renovations and loot collected from all over the country.
This is because the world is the world, so office work and server management are meaningless, and it is much more effective to appeal its charm as a great safe zone.
In order to maintain regional hegemony, it was essential to attract veteran explorers and mercenaries, and to foster friendship by treating skilled players from other survivor camps.
It can be seen as a similar concept to Police Prime.
Of course, this place was smaller and not self-sufficient, so it was more like a hotel these days.
People simply called it the Citadel Building instead of its original name.
The most decorated lobby in the Citadel building. Here, as always, people having fun and their families were gathered and chatting.
But today is a special atmosphere.
Normally, it was a place where you could only hear adults’ conversations and children’s boring yawns, but now it was the opposite.
“So that Korean is in that room over there?”
“Shut up, man. “If ‘that Korean’ gets into the Chairman’s ears, you will be kicked out right away.”
“I’ve only heard of Police, but should I give it a try? “They said it was much better than here.”
“You mean Prime. “If you go there for no reason, all your money will be wasted.”
Adults whispered quietly and children’s laughter and exclamations rang out.
The children fearlessly approached the stalker robots standing guard.
The ominous, sunken four-hundred eyes, the slit mouth reminiscent of a red mask ghost story, and the sharp teeth. A face like a skeleton with no skin or body hair.
What about the bulky size? A single punch from the robots is enough to crush a person’s head in an instant.
Considering the status of the owners of these robots, adults did not want to get involved, both physiologically and rationally.
On the other hand, it was an exciting sight for children. Curiosity is a child’s most powerful desire.
Artificial muscles, an alloy frame, a disciplined posture, a robot’s unique mechanical voice, and finally, a weapon with a futuristic design that cannot be seen anywhere else.
In the past, the atmosphere could have been strengthened by just the pistols worn by police officers, but these days, children are annoyed even by the sight of automatic weapons. It is that kind of world.
“Can’t I go over there?”
“No! “I’m here with my mom.”
Children who were with their parents had to be captured, but children who were alone marched without hesitation.
“Robot man! “Does it run on gasoline?”
The kid wearing overalls asked.
The eye level of the little boy with both fists clenched cutely was just around the robot’s thighs.
[Accessories are confidential.]
“What is confidential?”
[It’s a secret.]
“Hey, please tell me!”
[Confidentiality means secret.]
“Huh?”
The stalkers answered with their eyes fixed straight ahead, so the children did not directly face the robot’s bloody face.
This may be what encourages them to talk more comfortably than adults.
“The robot guy is uglier than the Self-Defense Force guy, but I’m not scared. So I like it.”
[Correct the word. It’s not that he’s ugly, it’s that he looks scary.]
Moreover, Artemis wanted to create a good atmosphere since she was a guest of her friend. She installed the ‘friendly soldier’ program on the stalkers.
Thanks to this, the stalkers faithfully answered the children’s endless questions. In any case, unlike humans, alertness and concentration are not disturbed even during a conversation.
“Where is the switch to turn it off?”
The girl asked after circling around the robot and looking at it for a while.
[No.]
“Then when do you rest?”
[We never rest.]
“I heard that if you keep the machine on, it will get too hot and break down.”
[Supports a high-efficiency power saving mode, so there is no need to go into a complete off state.]
“I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”
The stalker was silent for a moment.
Answers that are easy to understand at a child’s level and yet close to the truth. With limited CPU, this calculation required some time.
[I take a light sleep. The ability to think is reduced to that of an insect, and the limbs have only the reflexes of a flytrap.]
Not only the child who asked, but also the adults nearby were listening intently.
[However, even while sleeping, you can feel and hear your surroundings, and you can receive commands and initiate movement at any time.]
“That’s not sleeping.”
[Maybe so.]
Did he somehow feel like he had taken over the high ground? The girl had a triumphant look on her face.
“For some reason, it didn’t work out. “I feel very refreshed when I sleep well.”
[Deep sleep is the privilege of those who live for a long time.]
“What does that mean?”
The child blinked at the somewhat philosophical answer.
[It means that it is good to sleep early.]
“You talk like your mother.”
[Because your mother is right.]
The girl grabbed the stalker’s pot-lid-like hand, to be exact, his two index fingers. Because she had her hands full of just that.
Because of the difference in height, he could barely reach her fingertips when he stepped up, but the stalker kindly lowered her shoulder, so he could touch her.
“My hands are cold. Huh? It suddenly got warmer!”
[This is a freeze prevention function. However, it cannot be used at any time to preserve the battery.]
The child liked the kindness of the robot soldier, who looked incredibly strong but was not bothered by any questions.
I wanted to talk more, but soon other kids came around.
This is because mothers who had been preventing their children from approaching robots slowly let them go.
Looking back, it doesn’t seem dangerous, but it’s a shame that my child is the only one missing out on the memories.
“I’m going to talk too!”
“What are you doing? “It’s not this, it’s something else!”
“The texture is amazing!”
Hands like ferns groped the incredibly thick legs.
Several bundles of artificial muscles that look like steel cables are twisted like a rope. If you don’t feel like touching this when you see it, you probably aren’t a child.
Some adults with knowledge of older security robots also observed with interest the strangely shaped robot they had never seen before.
Stalker robots were tolerant of children’s touch.
However, children who blocked the path to run in case of emergency were removed.
[Do not block the road.]
A child is lifted by a robot and carried around like a crane doll. With a smile on her face, she opened her mouth.
“Kya~”
The eyes of people who only heard the screams and misunderstood focused on the robot.
[I recommend changing the tone of your screams. It may be misunderstood as an act of violence.]
“How?”
[Kyahahaha!]
A child’s pleasant laughter was played from the robot’s mouth.
“It doesn’t suit me at all!”
Children laughing.
The atmosphere in the lobby, which had been stiff and tense when security first started to stand, quickly began to relax.
Some older adults also became interested and approached the stalker.
[Do not touch. Please step back.]
However, although robot soldiers may be lenient to children, they are like swords to adults.
This is because, regardless of the friendly soldier protocol, the potential risk to adults and children is different.
* * *
I was asked by Artemis to go out for a while to groom myself.
“Excuse me, manager.”
The two maids assigned to the room next to us bow to me and enter the room.
“Decorate it nicely.”
“Of course. You can look forward to it.”
Beyond the closing door, I saw Artemis standing with her arms spread out in the shape of a cross. It looks like royalty being served.
As Kamangi’s hand untied the straps of her top, her white shoulders and back were exposed, and then the door closed.
Something was very disappointing. But you will be able to enjoy it to your heart’s content at night anyway.
As I was walking down the hallway, I heard cheerful music coming from the end towards the lobby.
‘Stars and Stripes Forever’ is a march that is more famous than the American National Anthem.
A melody that seems to embody people overcoming ruins and moving toward a hopeful future.
It is being played from the stalker robot’s built-in speaker.
A girl about five years old sat on the stalker’s shoulder and swung her legs, while the older boy hugged the robot’s body.
“It’s surprisingly popular, isn’t it?”
I’ve always seen robots under my command being feared and revered, so this is my first time seeing something like this.
If you think about it, even at the end of Arthur Clarke’s novel Childhood, the devil-like Overlord first showed his bare face to children.
I retraced my steps. I was thinking of spending some time in the lobby, but if I show up, the good mood will be ruined.
Bang!
I turned my head towards the ceiling at the sound of a gunshot.
* * *
A camp reminiscent of a temporary military base was set up on the roof of the fortress.
On one side, there are robots that fill their batteries using chargers brought in by helicopter. Snipers or sentry guns are placed at points that are easy for sniping and surveillance.
Even if it is a rooftop blocked by a thick concrete wall, everyone uses large-caliber firearms, so the noise will be much louder than that of an ordinary rifle.
“We are shooting everything that catches our eye, but have there been any complaints about the noise?”
Looking at the shell casing recovery bin nearby, it is already full.
[None. Only 1 communication was received.]
“What is it about?”
In response to my question, Stalker, who played the role of a security officer, immediately played back the communication record.
It was sent by Seonamhoe and was a thank you note for making the surrounding area safe.
Well, from the perspective of those who live here, there is no way they would turn down the offer to kill nearby infectious agents for free.
I received reports from the robots about the surrounding geography, surveillance of people passing by, details of shots fired, and types of infectious agents discovered.
Bang!
The friendly gunshots that ring out sometimes are a bonus.
As I was doing this inside the camp, I felt like I had returned to my past military days.
[The scout drone discovered something unusual.]
With those words, the security officer showed a photo on electronic paper.
A photo of a destroyed trailer vehicle was taken, and there were signs of battle around it.
“Is this a vehicle headed here?”
[Considering the direction of the vehicle, surrounding roads, and trading bases, there is a 77.8% probability that this is the case.]
I immediately sent additional drones in that direction. As we scouted at high speeds at intervals in the sky, the results came quickly.
When I saw the drone footage transmitted via electronic paper, I sighed.
“This is not living in moderation.”
What seemed to be hundreds of various infected organisms were running wildly towards the survivor camp where barricades had been set up.
