Chapter 405 – Cold Shelter
Always the same morning work report time.
“Hmm.”
As I was signing the payment documents, I paused for a moment.
The agenda is construction to change the use of the lower general residential area.
It’s something I’ve signed hundreds of times since the shelter became mine.
This is because as more resources and technology are secured and the influence to be projected to the outside grows, the number of facilities required also increases.
Our operation of double-digit air power, large ground weapons, multiple outposts, and even warships comes at a price.
But in order to add something in a limited space, you have to take something out.
The upper part is of course an exception.
-This is a paradise that gathers only the most beautiful and excellent things in the world.
Artemis’ attachment to superiors was much stronger than mine.
Me and her A place where she builds her memories. A world full of perfection where her maids and the children she will give birth to will play.
The central region already has various production facilities, so there is nothing to add or subtract.
In the end, what remains is the lower region.
The request for change of use displays various information such as newly added facilities, required energy, materials, and volume space.
Well, this isn’t really important. Artemis probably requested only the necessary optimization.
The thing to look at carefully is the last part.
‘Capacity – 81 people.’
This is a decrease in the number of people who can reside.
This number includes not only residential areas but also leisure activity spaces for physical and mental health.
“-40, -130, -66. “This is what it means to get your clothes wet in a light rain.”
I thought about the payment documents I had signed previously.
The lower part of the shelter, which could accommodate a town-sized population, can now accommodate less than 2,000 people.
In the past, when prisoners from maritime prisons were rescued, the empty space was so overflowing that it was so empty that it became a thing of the past.
Apart from its inability to tolerate incompetence, the reason Artemis laid off many residents was also due to a lack of space.
I put down the pen and manipulated the panel to see the map of the lower area.
Things like artificial lakes and parks where people wanted to “Don’t mess with these” Were preserved, but the rest were filled with cold, inorganic facilities.
In the case of the park, it may be difficult to say that it has been completely preserved as much of it has been converted into an underground meadow for raising horses.
“Now it would be more appropriate to be a fortress of a machine empire rather than the final cradle of human civilization.”
In the outside world, people’s territory is expanding, but here things are going in the opposite direction.
-Does it feel like the distant desert is approaching home? As they gnaw away at the grass around the house.
Nina’s complaints did not come out for nothing.
I picked up the pen I had put down and signed the approval section. As a result, the shelter will become narrower and the warmth will disappear.
However, if it is Artemis’ wish, I do not want to reject it.
Until now, she has never once rejected my wishes, even if she grumbled or got angry.
Originally, this underground city was our own territory, run by just the two of us. Even if one day the capacity reaches zero, I will still sign.
* * *
After signing, I walked around the lower area.
The residents’ living areas still have plenty of space and feel vibrant.
The park is full of walking trails, groves, streams, ponds, flowers and trees.
There are squirrels, parrots, dogs and cats that suddenly show their faces, giving it a feeling of an ecosystem.
Ducks float around in the large artificial lake, and there are residents dipping their feet or fishing at the water’s edge.
The abundance and diversity of nature feels like it has increased compared to three years ago.
However, if you go a little further from here, steel walls immediately appear.
It’s as if you’ve wandered around an American city center for a few minutes and then come to your senses and found yourself in a slum.
This is why it would be more appropriate to call it a human protection zone rather than a residential zone.
No matter where you look on the ceiling, you can see sentry guns.
Artemis must have been so desperate to hand over the shelter to monsters during the infection outbreak that she installed sentry guns everywhere whenever she could.
This is why the already desolate lower part feels more inorganic.
It was when we headed to the sewage treatment plant that the group intervened in my quiet, secret journey.
[I will take you there.]
A hologram of Kids appeared next to him.
“There is no need to assist you? “I’m not really out on patrol, I just walk wherever my feet take me.”
[You look somewhat bitter. I should at least make you laugh while talking next to me.]
“Ha.”
A sewage treatment plant is basically a dirty and despised place, but it is a very important place in any facility.
“Is it because the number of people has drastically decreased? “It has regained its former purity.”
The structure of this place is similar to a salt farm.
Square high-concentration oxygen purifiers surround the 1 m-wide moving passage. There is quite clear water inside.
It doesn’t have a bad smell, but if the sewage plant is this good, it’s a fairy.
[It used to be awesome when the residents were buzzing around. No matter where you look at the purifiers, there are thick lumps of poop floating around! How can they be so powerful when there are only women?]
A mandatory tour of the sewage treatment plant is required. It was quite painful when there were over 2,000 residents.
There were smells and visuals everywhere that were incomparable to now.
[It was more than just pooping, it was more accurate to say it was giving birth. Oh, sorry. Was it painful to listen to?]
Her face frowned as a memory she had slowly forgotten came to mind due to the expression being so explicit.
“What kind of person likes to talk about poop?”
Fondant.
While we were chatting nonsense, small water bubbles popped up from all over the square purifier.
[What I wanted to say was that our purified shrimp are hungry. It’s pitiful, isn’t it?]
Kids pointed to where the bubbles were rising.
Originally, it was a place with only high concentrations of oxygen and microorganisms, but a year ago, I started to feel comfortable with it.
There are thumb-sized shrimp swimming eagerly in the square purifier.
Strictly speaking, it is a separate species that has the shape of a shrimp, but it is just called a shrimp.
Shrimp has the ability to purify water by eating suspended matter in the water, and as its name suggests, this purifying shrimp is an improved species with greatly enhanced abilities.
To a certain extent, it is possible to directly eat the excrement that comes down the sewer pipe from the toilet without any special treatment.
The vitality to withstand high concentrations of oxygen, ammonia in urine, and toxins in feces is a bonus.
It is a species that uses genetic information obtained through research on infectious agents, and when looking at its genes alone, it is said to be closer to an alien species than to life on Earth.
[It is fortunate that most of the security forces remained after the mass layoffs.]
“Why is that?”
Kids’ hologram has changed.
Muscular 2D women who work hard on squats, bench presses, etc. Have appeared.
[Because I’m exercising, I eat other people’s stomachs and empty their stomachs. If they hadn’t given us a hard carry, all of our Jeonghwa shrimp would have starved to death. In particular, Nina is the best employee!]
“Should I laugh at this or not?”
When I heard it, I was just dumbfounded.
“But the numbers have definitely decreased significantly.”
The number of purified shrimp swimming in the square seemed to be less than half compared to the time when the number of residents exceeded 2,000.
That number will likely decrease in the future, not increase.
* * *
“You wandered around quite a bit today. “It doesn’t seem like it was an inspection, but he looked in detail at places he wouldn’t normally go to.”
Artemis, whom I met in the evening, asked carefully.
“I wondered at what point the shelter, which felt spacious, became so narrow. Suddenly, I wanted to look back on everything from beginning to end.”
“Is it because of the change of use construction?”
No matter how efficient it may be, it is true that the human odor in the lower part has been reduced too much.
Although Artemis takes pride in having everything in place, she was unable to refute his notion that ‘humans should live side by side with humans.’
Maybe that’s why he feels burdened by the excessively reduced human area in the lower area.
To be exact, it’s about the emotions I’m feeling.
“Honestly, that’s the cause, but I’m not particularly disturbed or anything. “If it’s necessary, of course you should do it.”
“We will not add any additional use change construction for the time being.”
“That’s because it’s really okay.”
I patted my wife’s buttocks with a dark expression.
“Don’t worry about me, just get ready to go in.”
This is where the incubator that maintains Artemis’ body is located.
As it is a special body, it requires special care, so it is necessary to soak it in the incubator here from time to time.
In the past, Artemis went there on her own, but after I brought her to her once, I have been taking care of her ever since.
She was so upset after her husband had a fight for a trivial reason that she tried to lock herself in her incubator.
I carried her in my princess cuddles to her incubator and soaked her myself in an attempt to free her Artemis heart.
I kissed his cheek, which was soaked in preservative liquid, and whispered that he was sorry and told me to relax.
Then her anger calmed down immediately.
He seemed to like it so much that he has been doing the same thing every time he maintains his body since then.
“Then shall we begin?”
I approached Artemis with a grin.
She is wearing nothing but a white bathrobe and slippers.
“Camilla, Ayla. Now you can stay out.”
“I understand.”
The two maids greeted me politely and went outside.
My hands untied the gown she was wearing.
Sarah. With a sound, the gown falls to the ground, revealing her dazzling naked body.
Then she bent her knees and assumed the princess hug.
“Now, come into her husband’s arms.”
“…”
Artemis, who normally would have jumped up and jumped into my arms, didn’t move.
“Did you forget something?”
“Rather than forgetting something, something new came to mind. After all, it doesn’t make sense to just go in and leave you alone.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
Artemis shook her head at my words.
“Let’s go in together today.”
“Where?”
She silently pointed to her incubator.
