Chapter 79 – Mankind’s Best Friend
Dogs, mankind’s old friends.
A person who is poor or has an ugly appearance.
A person who stutters and dresses unsophisticatedly.
A person who is too fat or too thin.
Even the owner with any disqualifications is looked upon with unwavering affection.
A fool who cannot completely hate even those who abuse him.
Mankind’s best friend, dog.
But now, in the face of a catastrophe, humanity has a more loyal and more capable friend.
There is no need to take a poop bag with you when taking them for a walk, and they even fly around.
It is a drone.
Video of a reconnaissance drone undergoing external operations was transmitted to the central control room.
The new drone improved by Artemis uses a tilt rotor method using two rotors rather than a multicopter.
In this case, there was a problem of poor flight stability, but it was easily solved by having Artemis become the pilot herself.
By reducing the number of rotors, fuel efficiency improved, making long-distance flights possible, and the increased output also increased payload.
The sight of advancing at breakneck speed with the fuselage tilted at an angle is bravery itself!
Moreover, there were elements that made this drone special.
[Entering target radius.]
Artemis said.
A message appeared in red letters in the center of the screen.
〈Mission〉
5 minute standby truck exploration
〈Command〉
Extermination, search
This is an armed drone.
A masterpiece made with repeated improvements based on the drone in the shelter.
It is named Scout, and several other types of drones are under development.
“The view is nice.”
Just looking at the screen flying over the forest at high speed seems to relieve stress.
As we passed numerous trees, the distance to the target point was rapidly decreasing.
300 meters.
200 meters.
100 meters.
And finally the destination.
A warning message appeared again in red letters in the center of the screen.
〈Attack Target〉
Walker x3
A walker is a humanoid infectious agent with no special characteristics.
It is a name that was finalized during a recent infectious agent classification project, and was taken from a famous American zombie drama.
A road stretched out at the end of the forest.
There was an overturned military truck lying on its side on the shoulder of the road, and a walker was seen nearby.
[Start shooting.]
Yellow flames twinkled at the bottom of the screen.
This is because the muzzle flame when firing was captured in the camera field of view.
A walker in plain clothes who was wandering around the truck collapsed with blood spraying from his upper body.
The screen moved to the truck driver’s seat.
The drone hovered in front of the truck and showed two walkers.
They turned into monsters wearing military uniforms and were tied to the driver and passenger seats with seat belts.
[Lieutenant Park Jin-woo. Corporal Kim Won-il.]
Artemis checked their uniform name tags.
Thin as a mummy, they look at the drone with empty eyes.
A yellow flash appeared at the bottom of the screen and holes appeared in the windshield of the truck.
Like plastic glass, it was crushed and had many cracks, and beyond that, the driver could be seen with his nose and mouth shattered and his head bent.
A short time later, Walker, who was sitting in the passenger seat, also ended his life.
〈Target〉
Removed.
The bent heads of the two walkers hanging on the driver and passenger seats.
After cross-checking with three types of cameras, a removal completion message appeared on the screen.
Once the annihilation was complete, the drone began executing the next command.
〈Command〉
Search
Fly around the truck and check the condition of the supplies.
This truck is a 5-minute combat standby vehicle that was dispatched to the Metacraft Cybernetics Research Center when war broke out in the past.
I don’t know why we ended up here, but what’s important to us right now is the back room.
Since these were clearly active duty units, they would have been equipped with standard equipment for active duty. In the first place, the drone was sent here for that purpose.
However, nothing could be saved.
There is no trace of the active-duty soldiers who would have been loaded into the back compartment like a lump of luggage. The same goes for their equipment.
Did everyone survive and move on?
Could it be that a group of survivors collected the equipment of the annihilated soldiers? The soldiers in the driver’s seat and passenger seat were also unarmed.
Either way, there is no way to know at the moment.
[Should we retreat?]
“Okay.”
The military base from which that truck departed had already been scouted by another drone. It was completely empty, even without decoration materials.
〈Command〉
Return
The screen moves further away from the ground.
A drone soaring into the sky showed a barren land, roads, and a line of abandoned vehicles. There was no human figure anywhere.
This reconnaissance is being carried out simultaneously in several places.
The screen changes and a video of another drone that has reached the target point is broadcast.
〈Attack Target〉
Walker x2
With a yellow flash at the bottom, two walkers fell to the ground, creating a puddle of blood.
This is a gas station.
〈Scanning〉
.
.
.
No stored fuel detected.
“That’s crazy?”
It seems that the military unit or the survivors have already shaken off every last drop.
[…
Although she didn’t say anything, Artemis was clearly disappointed.
I don’t know why, but she really liked stealing her oil.
It is true that oil has great value in today’s world, but isn’t shelter an exception?
Since we are operating a nuclear fusion power plant, there is no need to worry about energy sources.
Some vehicles require oil to operate, but there is plenty left in the tank for a long time without having to search for it externally.
In a situation like now where the residents, especially VIPs who enjoy luxury, have been wiped out, there are more left.
However, when Artemis sees oil, her eyes light up, and she tries to take it.
She once asked me if I wasn’t interested in WD-40, only to be scolded for not making boring jokes.
When I told her I couldn’t understand her desire to collect oil, she looked sullen.
[You’re also crazy about collecting useless amounts of money, right? Who do you think is taking care of them by sterilizing them one by one?]
To be honest, I have nothing to say.
The pre-war currency is now nothing more than a piece of tissue paper, but what can I do with something I still want? It feels good just to pile it up and look at it.
The reconnaissance continued even while I was having a trivial conversation with Artemis.
〈Attack Target〉
Slave Dog x3
This time, it’s a camping site on the side of the mountain.
At best, there were slightly less than 20 tents pitched.
Half of them were torn or collapsed, but many were still in good shape.
[Kaaaaang!]
Infected dogs wandering around barked at the drone.
The beast infection was prefixed with the name Slave. The term ‘slave dog’ refers to a dog infection.
The screeching sound had changed into a sharp, long, mournful sound.
[Keeeeek-!]
As if in response to the dog’s warning, walkers pour out of the tent.
I don’t know if it’s for the purpose of regulating body temperature, or if it’s reliving the last memory of my life.
In zombie movies, the latter was often the case.
The drone flew in a circle for a while and collected the infected organisms. It’s like hunting in an RPG game before using area-of-effect skills.
When enough people gathered, they started firing.
The first thing I targeted was a dog.
If they scatter, they become annoying, so it is easier to remove them when they are barking in place like now.
Two small dogs were reduced to rags after just a few shots, and one large dog fell silent after being shot three times in the upper body and twice in the head.
Subsequently, bullets rained down on Walker as well.
Slam!
He ran out of ammo, leaving behind 7 walkers.
After the magazine was exchanged using the automatic ammunition supply device, fire was fired again to eliminate all the rest.
There were no supplies worth capturing. There are food, water, and some daily necessities, but these are the only items that are already in sufficient stock and can be produced in-house.
Even though it wasn’t necessarily a capture, it was quite close to the shelter, so it was necessary to sweep it up to ensure safety.
Then, a question suddenly occurred to me.
“It’s a bit strange.”
[What?]
“If you look at the ratio of animal-type infectious agents, I have seen countless instances of individuals that mutated from dogs, but I have rarely seen cats.”
Is it because cats have a particularly strong resistance to infection? Or is it because they have preserved wild nature and are agile compared to dogs and are able to escape easily?
It seemed that Artemis had already thought about my question.
[I have one hypothesis.]
“What is it?”
I accepted the lemon tea brought by the serving robot.
It’s surprising how I realized that I was craving something sour rather than coffee.
[According to what we have confirmed so far, the only area where infection is active is on the ground. Only a few large infectious agents move around in the sea, and they do not affect the vast majority of the marine ecosystem.]
It’s just as she said.
After she discovered the stingray-like monster, she sent underwater drones several times to resume her exploration.
In conclusion, the marine ecosystem was more prosperous than before the infection war.
Only traces of humans had disappeared, and it was filled with countless corals and fish.
[It is the same for the sky ecosystem.]
The sky has become brighter. There are no large infectious agents moving around like in the ocean. It’s just clean.
Thanks to this, we can now freely use drones.
[If you combine these, you can come up with a hypothesis.]
“What is it?”
[The guess is that this infectious agent was created as a kind of weapon.]
I was vaguely thinking about that part too.
There were many differences from the zombies and alien infectious agents in popular media that I have enjoyed.
Contradictory characteristics that seem to have tremendous destructive power, but at the same time limit its own power.
The contradiction makes sense if you think of it as a weapon with a specific purpose in the first place.
“Is it some kind of neutron bomb?”
It can be said to be a type of eco-friendly tactical weapon that reduces destruction caused by heat and storms and intensively eliminates humans.
[Similar. Since ancient times, killing the enemy in war was only a means, and securing land and wealth was the primary goal. Depending on the war, slaughter itself may have been the goal.]
Wars are sometimes started for revenge or religious purposes.
[If we follow the weapon hypothesis, we can also explain the difference in infectiousness between land, sea, and sky. The ground is the core place where civilization functions, so it must be completely wiped out.]
It is a reasonable reason.
In movies and novels, underwater civilizations living in the sea often appear, but in reality, it is impossible for a higher civilization to develop under the sea.
[The same goes for the sea. If you use an aircraft carrier or nuclear submarine as a base, you can last for quite a long time. If necessary, you can create a survival base there. There will be many difficulties.]
“So are there giant infectious agents running around?”
[That’s right. In addition, since weight restrictions are reduced in the sea, it is possible to operate large objects that are powerful and have excellent detection capabilities. Think about it. When fighting a great power’s navy, if you had to choose between 30,000 boats and 100 destroyers, which would you choose?]
It’s a question not even worth worrying about.
“So there was no infection in the air? Planes have to land on the ground anyway. Once the ground falls, pilots will have only two options.”
Either land crying on a ground overrun with infected organisms and be slaughtered, or get stomped on at full speed and die painlessly.
“To take over the planet by destroying the land and preserving the sky and marine resources… That’s vicious.”
[What the infection agent should focus on is the dominant species on the target planet, which is humans on Earth. To humans, cooperative livestock are a community of destiny bound within the boundaries of human civilization.]
“You mean that’s a dog?”
Instead of answering, Artemis printed video data.
It is believed to have once been a livestock farm.
Cows believed to be infected appeared in the video.
At a glance, it looks like he stopped being a vegetarian and became a meat eater.
The beautiful and kind eyes that are unique to cows are nowhere to be seen.
[If you look at the frequency of animal infectious agents discovered through reconnaissance, the probability of infection increases as livestock contribute significantly to human civilization. Although it is unknown what mechanism is used to distinguish it from a small pathogen.]
In terms of judging the source of infection, dogs and cows are human beings, but cats seem to be mere eaters.
[I don’t know if this guess is correct. More research is needed. If we obtain relevant data from the research institutes in the outside world that we will visit in the future, we will get closer to the truth.]
Artemis’ voice contained strong confidence.
“There are more reasons to go out.”
[… I hope you don’t use this as an excuse for your taste for reverse magic.]
Artemis said in a tone that she didn’t know whether to be happy or angry.
In this case, it’s easy to change the subject and lighten her mood.
“This is delicious. “Give me another drink.”
As if he had been waiting, the serving robot placed a new lemon tea in front of me.
[It’s a healthy food with added complex vitamins. Drink as much as you want.]
The sour taste cleared my mind. Although there was still not a single grain of sugar in it.
