Chapter 380 – Patrol (1)
Closed circulation.
This half-forgotten word is the essence of shelter.
Completely cut off from the outside, continuing today like yesterday and tomorrow like today indefinitely.
This is an underground kingdom built just for that purpose.
It somehow became a hub where countless supplies and robot armies flowed in and out and had a huge impact on the world, but its spirit still lives on.
The person who protects it more strongly than anyone else will be the hostess of this family.
“It’s a little hot. Next time, lower it by 3 degrees. Add 4 milligrams of pine needle flavoring.”
“Yes.”
Artemis wore a white researcher’s coat over her preferred gorgeous shirt.
The sight of her drinking tea with her legs crossed sexyly is the symbol of a genius female scientist.
The nymph maid who politely obeys orders is a poor slave. No, it would be better to think of her as a graduate student.
Unlike real graduate students, Camilla seems very happy serving the difficult Artemis.
If you think about it that way, does that make me a libertine who enjoys hanging out with female professors and female students?
Slurp.
Artemis watched me reviewing the documents through the tilting teacup. The narrowed golden eyes blink seductively.
“I think men are most attractive when they hold a pen and sign.”
It was time to sign an order to sell 50 Shelter Mountain warhorses that had completed growth and training.
“You don’t get tired of it even though you only see it for a day or two?”
“That’s the good thing about us as a couple. Since I’m not under the control of the pituitary gland, I don’t have any mannerisms. “I still get excited by your wonderful appearance, whether it was when I first saw you or now.”
“As a human, I am governed by hormones.”
“That’s okay. “Because I am a generous wife.”
Artemis grinned.
“Why are you so friendly today?”
“I’m just happy that the troublesome outside events are over, and I’m back to my peaceful daily life.”
She moved the signed document aside and took out a new document.
She watched that insignificant movement with sparkling eyes.
“Oh, this is…”
A moan came out involuntarily.
This is an order to disassemble the last remaining 12 second-generation guard robots in the shelter, the Marauder series, and convert them into third-generation stalkers.
Unlike the first generation and insomniac models, which are mostly made of metal, the second generation uses many polymer compounds and is light in weight.
Instead, durability is low, and maintenance costs are high.
In terms of cost-efficiency, they are behind the 1st generation Insomniacs, and in terms of performance, they are behind the 3rd generation Stalker, so the number continues to decrease, and now it is the turn of the last remaining member.
Veterans or equipment that faithfully completed their duties disappear into the back of history.
Even though I know it’s necessary, I can’t help but feel confused.
Like the feeling of a tank crew watching an old tank being loaded onto a trailer for the last time, or a captain saluting a retired warship.
In particular, I spent a lot of time with the Marauder series in the initial process of acquiring technological capital, and I have many memories of risking my life together on dangerous journeys.
“This is the end.”
As Artemis said, all external factors worth worrying about were sorted out, so the morning work report ended early.
“Hehe, wouldn’t it be best if our daily lives were this relaxed?”
“A few simple signatures and just lounging around?”
“It’s a city for that kind of life.”
Ayla has been baking apple pies in the kitchen attached to the central control room.
Artemis, who now had no aversion to eating, picked up a piece of pie with her delicate fingers.
Instead of putting it in her mouth right away, she holds it up to her nostrils and breathes in its scent.
“Constant training and self-development. These are nice values to hear, but they are necessary for those who live in an imperfect world. In a paradise where there is nothing more to add, it could actually be poison. Could it be said to be an act of trying to pry open the fence of a garden that God has carefully tended?”
“…”
A lot has changed.
When she first came here, she was always complaining that the city was like a tomb and was trying to get back to America somehow.
A piece of pie disappeared between Artemis’ red lips.
We had a leisurely tea time in the central control room.
The huge screen alternately shows scenes from all over the shelter.
Adult horses grazing in the underground meadow, security guards riding on subadult horses to educate them, and some were feeding the foals with powdered milk in a bottle.
Workers sweating and working topless are a trademark of the central region.
Recently, officer trainees who were rolling to their deaths under robot instructors were added.
The system administrator’s basic job is to monitor the entire facility unless a special incident occurs.
Although, for me, I prefer watching external reconnaissance videos rather than an underground city without any major incidents.
“I guess you don’t like the view that much?”
With the quick-witted words of Artemis, the lights in the central control room turned off all at once.
The screen in front begins to project images of the universe instead of the images that had been shown just a moment ago.
“Do you like this?”
“Huh. “It’s good because it’s fresh.”
To be exact, this is what the world looks like from the moon.
Against the backdrop of pitch-black outer space, the gray, dry land stretches endlessly.
The screen that occupies the entire front is so large that it feels like a pseudo-planetarium.
In the center, the Earth as seen from the moon was visible.
Although there was countless destruction and hideous monsters lurking beneath the atmosphere, the Earth seen from the moon was as beautiful as ever.
“Artemis.”
“Huh?”
She looked at the moon world with her joyful face and turned her head to me.
“Do you still want to go to the moon?”
“Of course. Where do you think my name comes from?”
“Are you serious?”
Artemis stared at me quietly. The look in your eyes asks why you are asking that.
“There was no preparation for a full-scale climb to the moon in any of the documents reviewed so far. It is true that we had to squeeze resources to deal with various external events. But even now that I have more money, I don’t see any budget allocated for this.”
Building and operating a base on the moon.
It was an extremely difficult task even if the power of the country was invested in an era when the world was operating normally.
Moreover, no matter how powerful we are, if we are to do it independently, we will have to make small, diligent efforts.
But she did almost nothing to prepare.
The only space-related budget was devoted to astronomical observation and maintenance of low-orbit satellites.
“I still haven’t given up on my dream. “I love the moon as much as my nest.”
She lifted her crossed legs and flicked her feet wrapped in her black stockings.
“Now that I have my own feet, I want to walk on the surface of the moon myself.”
“I would have to wear a thick and heavy spacesuit, though.”
Hehe.”
With a small smile, she drank the remaining tea and looked down at her empty cup.
“Things just changed a little.”
“Things have changed?”
“Now, unlike in the past, I am no longer just a giant computer or a lump of inorganic matter.”
She smiled strangely as she looked at me saying I had no idea what she was talking about.
“I have become complicated in many ways.”
With a strange smile, she put another apple pie into her mouth.
* * *
In the afternoon, we went on a shelter patrol.
Artemis didn’t follow me until the patrol, thinking it was just a walk.
“I refuse to follow you around, looking through every nook and cranny for an hour or two. “My feet hurt.”
Physical strength and weak soles. Those were her two weaknesses.
After all, everything in this city is her eyes and ears, so there would be no need for that.
“Hello! Administrator!”
“Administrator, thank you for your hard work today!”
As I walked through the various districts, the residents I encountered greeted me politely and with a sense of respect.
There are no more fearful looks like when I was first accepted here.
Everyone left and only those who were competent and faithful in their respective fields and who had been verified by Artemis remained.
The pride of being recognized, the thirst for the outside world that was quenched by permitted outings, the quality of life they enjoyed that became more highlighted in the process, and the achievements I had made.
It seems that these things have refined the relationship between me and them to something closer to a military-lord relationship.
Frown.
Nina, who was wearing a stylish uniform and working as a security guard on her warhorse, winked at me.
The second-in-command who was riding a horse next to him hastily saluted.
They still have not been issued live firearms, but can use Tasers and Taser batons instead.
If you add long training and the power of a single-minded warhorse, you can suppress any commotion at once.
“Administrator, we have achieved another great achievement in Siberia. Are there any specials this time?”
“Ugh…”
The deputy commander’s face turned white as he saw Nina boldly asking.
As a security guard, she also had a well-trained body that could not be hidden by clothes.
However, the gunner’s fearless remarks seem to make his heart tremble.
“Is there anything you want to eat? “Just say it.”
“I’m not saying I’m going to eat alone, right? “I’m not some kind of pig.”
“You eat well like a wild boar, right?”
“Hehe, that’s right. No, no, that’s not important right now…”
Nina, with her cheeks puffed out, finally got me to promise her an impromptu special meal.
“Loyalty! Then I will return to guard duty!”
Unlike her playful face, Nina saluted with her stern movements.
A look of admiration appeared on the face of the assistant gunner who was fidgeting.
“Sister, you are truly amazing. “My heart is still pounding.”
A voice full of admiration can be heard faintly from behind.
The deputy commander would find it unusual to see Nina talking comfortably with me.
I also became weak in front of Nina.
With her pretty face and friendly nature, her ability as a police officer, and the fact that she was somewhat like her younger sister, it was hard for her to refuse a request.
Well, it could just be a piece of cake.
“Wait a minute!”
Nina, who had passed by, came riding up on her horse, and she dismounted in front of me and handed me the reins of her horse.
“Let’s take a ride. It’s too wide for her feet to move around, isn’t it?”
“How do I return it?”
“He’s a smart guy, so you can just leave him anywhere. “When I hear the music from the evening curfew broadcast, I automatically come back to the police station stable.”
“That’s amazing.”
“He is not an ordinary horse, both physically and mentally.”
Nina stroked her horse’s neck.
At the same time she got on the two-seater behind the co-gunner, I also got on top of her horse.
The place where I headed towards the horse’s head was the central factory area where Chrollo was located.
