Chapter 89 – Honeycomb
Before being deployed, he discovered a nest of bumblebees while working on a camp site in Korea. It was also split in half.
After the rainy season, the positions at the foot of the mountain are reduced to piles of dirt, and each platoon is assigned to repair them. The process is obvious.
Hard shoveling work, privates.
Corporals taking it easy.
A broken corporal who supervises and scolds people.
Sergeants lying down.
In a position like this, the youngest member has to entertain the seniors with his wit, and there was a perfect talent.
He was tall, muscular, and handsome like an actor. When he was in society, he was a great Casanova.
‘My nickname outside was Incheon Ddongji.’
I guess the amount of butts wiped off with a pat on the head would be in the triple digits.
It was when Casanova was imitating a woman’s vocal cords being fucked by shaking her stretched waist.
Because he was so talkative, all the soldiers working had their eyes fixed on him, which led to the accident.
This is because when one of the privates giggled and put the shovel into the ground, the sound was not ‘pop’ but ‘crisp’.
Not a heavy texture, but a strange sensation as if you had crushed a large wafer.
When I looked at the shovel and asked, ‘What is it?’, What I saw was a beehive cut in half and angry bumblebees.
What happened right away I will leave to your imagination.
As a result, four soldiers from my platoon were taken to the emergency room, and the operations officer went on a rampage. He was a man who had already failed the promotion review and became hysterical.
“Hey, how the fuck did you manage this!? If you fall behind even one person, your promotion will be over!”
Of course, both those who are craving and those who are craving know that this is just nonsense.
An officer who specializes in seizing facilities will quietly cover it up from above no matter what you say, unless it’s really serious.
“Sorry. “I will remove the hive immediately.”
I climbed the mountain wearing non-invasive chemical, biological and radiological protective clothing, leaving behind the operations officers who were yelling at me.
When I arrived at the scene, what I saw were bumblebees coming in and out of the hive like warship planes, probing everywhere.
They were very angry and were attacking everything around them as if they would not tolerate anyone other than their own family.
The scenery I saw then overlaps with the shelter these days.
Watch the movement of drones from the observatory prepared by Artemis near the helipad.
Buuung-.
Drones repeatedly launch and return through ejection ports installed in several locations, and even the rotor noise is similar to the flapping of bee wings.
Their behavior style, which involves various tasks such as reconnaissance, patrol, tracking, and extermination, is like that of a wasp.
There is just one difference.
Bang!
A dull gunshot is heard from afar. It was probably fired at something infected.
Crook clunk!
However, it does not disturb migratory birds passing by.
If the bumblebees I saw in the past showed hatred for everything in the world, my drones are We Are the World.
They only point their guns at uninvited guests who do not belong to Earth. And the birds know that too.
Geese and drones cast as black shadows intersect in a sky burning with orange twilight.
Geese receive the call of their chicks waiting in the nest, and drones receive the call of Artemis, who waits in the shelter.
Like the tears shed by the sun, the light of dusk pours into the sea.
As a warning to those who do not belong to the sea. As if telling us to quickly return to the land before darkness comes.
Looking at the scene, I took out a beer can from the small cooler I brought with me.
Chikeok-.
Gulp.
Drinking beer in the open air with a panoramic view made me feel like a king. In reality, my position here is no different from that of a king.
Recently, time spent outdoors after work has increased.
When you look at the open fields far into the distance while feeling the sea breeze, it feels like your heart is being opened.
How many people in today’s world can leisurely enjoy the outdoors like this?
And that too with a like-minded partner.
[If I had known this would happen, I would have just left it alone.]
The partner is upset as always. I don’t think I like the fact that I’m often outdoors these days.
“You can hear a brief report here too, right? It’s difficult to do full-scale work like in the central control room, but we handle it all in the morning.”
There aren’t many things that are big enough for me to be directly involved. Thanks to this, you can have a picnic every afternoon without being interrupted.
“Why are you doing this after setting it up so carefully?”
Last time I came, the nearby ground was leveled with a rock suitable for sitting, and trees blocking the view were cut down.
But now it is even more perfect.
There is a natural sunshade created by transplanted trees, and there is also a wooden rocking chair you can lean back on. It feels so good to just sit and sway in the sea breeze.
A large, ultra-high-performance telescope is installed a little away from the cliff, allowing you to view not only the distant outskirts but also the constellations in the night sky. There is even a net at the bottom of the cliff to protect against death from a fall.
It was set up perfectly, even the parts I didn’t ask for or even think about.
[Because I didn’t think it would come up this often.]
They set everything up perfectly for me, but then they get upset because I use it often.
No, shouldn’t we be happier if more people use this place we put so much effort into?
Anyway, Artemis had no reason to stop my picnic. There were no problems with work or safety.
“While I’m at it, please build just one pavilion over there. I think it would be awesome to go up barefoot and have dinner while watching the sunset over the sea.”
He pointed to a place about 10 meters away.
[Profit!]
It is rare to see Artemis spit out onomatopoeia containing only emotion without any communication.
But maybe.
After some time.
There must be a beautiful pavilion built there.
Your dream of having dinner while enjoying the feel of wood on your skin will be coming true.
She left with the words, ‘Come down before nightfall!’
Buuung-!
Another group of drones returns and makes a new sortie.
Drones would go out for as little as a few hundred meters or as long as tens of kilometers and then return.
There were some who came back intact, and there were also some who came back broken in one place or half-melted.
Of course, there were some who could not return at all. I think it will be difficult for drone number 85, which we are seeing now, to return.
What number 85 discovered was a rural village quite far away.
Every part of the village had turned into a kind of muddy field, so it seemed like you needed boots to get around here.
There is no trace of the body, probably abandoned after everyone fled.
A drone scouting an empty village at low altitude discovered a large pink bundle.
It was placed in the middle of a muddy field and was about the size of an adult man. It appears to have been an item that the refugees missed.
Curiosity ordered the Donghae drone to search for the item.
You can search the contents by roughly shooting and cutting the area near the knot and then gently touching it with the landing gear.
The moment the drone approached a few meters in front and aimed at the knot, the bundle opened wide.
What was in the bundle was not food or supplies.
It had what seemed like dozens of teeth and a black hole big enough to fit an entire adult male.
Only 0.3 seconds.
This was the time it took for the snout, which rose like a spring from inside the bag, to swallow the drone that was hovering.
The drone quickly flew into the sky and tried to evade, but failed. It was impossible to escape from the snout that attacked me like a chameleon’s tongue.
It was like a scene from the classic movie Deep Rising that I had seen before.
The swallowed drone suddenly took pictures of the bore and sent several minutes of footage of the inside of the monster.
I was dragged through a long, disgusting pink cave that I couldn’t tell if it was my esophagus or stomach, and at the end I reached a small room-like space.
There were disembodied remains rolling around. Among them, there were many that appeared to be human.
I don’t know if they were captured before the war or after the war.
Ta-ta-ta-tang!
I fired from inside in all directions, but it had no effect, and the magazine jammed before I could even empty it.
It appears that damage occurred during the process of being swallowed and falling here.
The drone, which had been filming for a while, ended transmitting the video after being hit by dark green liquid pouring from the ceiling.
offline.
That was the only word that appeared on the black screen.
In addition to this, there were various videos sent by drones.
The types of monsters created by the infection were more numerous than we could imagine, and there were many of them that we couldn’t even guess what the original was.
I observed reconnaissance videos until Artemis called me.
The most dangerous enemy on the battlefield is an unpredictable enemy.
Each and every video of the drone sending his life as collateral was worth watching.
It was already night when I went down in the circular elevator.
* * *
Dark, flat and spacious interior.
Drones are assembled in facilities installed at precise intervals without a single error.
Crash.
A drone arrived in front of me on a lift, with its circuits and boards exposed as it had no outer shell.
Geeing.
Then turn 90 degrees and lie down facing the ceiling.
Dalkak.
A mechanical arm on the side placed the outer lid, and a machine with a bunch of screwdrivers descended from the ceiling.
Weeeeeing-.
More than 10 bolts were wound in simultaneously with the sound of an electric drill.
Cheoeok-!
The driver should be stopped appropriately to prevent it from snapping due to being tightened too strongly.
Click. Click.
Conversely, a driver that additionally winds something that is too weakly fastened.
There are subtle differences between bolts and grooves.
The choice between winding 1 mm more or less is determined individually by the sensor mounted on each driver.
A sensor smaller than the size of a little fingernail perfectly replaces what could be called a craftsman’s touch or a craftsman’s sense.
Although he is precise like a craftsman, he is not stubborn and does as he is told without presbyopia, stiff shoulders, or muscle pain.
I will forever serve myself and Artemis in this dark space.
A completed drone passed before my eyes.
Now it is moved to the software room and the operating system and combat search programs are installed.
Afterward, they will go out through the drone ejection port and perform their mission.
A drone that was destroyed by a bag monster a while ago. There are many beings being created to replace it.
It was difficult to defeat, but a new enemy appears… It feels like the relationship between monsters and humans is being reversed.
[What do you think, Jinsu? Tell me your thoughts.]
Artemis asked in an expectant tone, as if to praise her greatness.
In the past, this was just an industrial cargo drone facility. It was purely her work that allowed it to be reborn as a barracks that ruled the sky in just a few months.
“It’s amazing.”
I crossed my arms.
“It’s not at the level of being great or perfect. I have led an army before, but this is the first time I have felt the sense of ‘power’ to this extent.”
In this day and age, drones mean more is more. It can be used for all tasks, from reconnaissance to transportation and combat.
Information, maneuver, and force.
This small flying vehicle can be seen as the culmination of human war history, containing all three elements that dominate war.
Even when I was active for a long time, drones were the second most shot after humans.
Looking back, I think it was the twilight of old-school soldiers like us. We were on the verge of being replaced on the battlefield.
Click. Click.
A new drone was being assembled right in front of me. Beyond that, beyond that, and beyond again.
Like an elevator with mirrors installed on both walls, identical images are lined up endlessly on both sides.
Me and her servants.
For some reason, it reminds me of a bumblebee nest I saw in the past.
“On the one hand, it’s scary. This means that machines design and assemble machines. “It didn’t feel real when I received the report on automated production in the central control room, but when I saw it in front of my eyes, I got goosebumps a little.”
Even Artemis knows that what I’m saying right now is no joke.
If it were her visual sensor, she would really be able to see the raised skin all over my body.
The rebellion of the machines may be a fantasy that goes too far. However, disaster due to program errors and loss of control may not be that far away.
[Don’t worry unnecessarily. Everything here is to protect and serve you and me. That’s all.]
She, who had been looking forward to my praise for her goddess, seemed a bit dismayed by my unexpected concern.
[Malfunction of machines? Rebellion of the machines? That’s a cliché in the story. That’s also a cliché of a story without me.]
She chuckled.
[Were you scared of that?]
She says teasingly.
“No, it’s not necessarily scary.”
I said it in an awkward voice, but it wouldn’t be of any use. Nothing can be hidden from her presence. Body, mind, illness of the body, illness of the mind.
She looks into things as she pleases and treats as she pleases. But she doesn’t like such one-sided intrusion.
Maybe this is what family is.
[The helicopter technology recovered from Terracorp is being put to good use. In particular, the operation data of small civilian helicopters was very useful in improving drones.]
I was completely focused on acquiring the big thing called Blackhawk, and I thought of small civilian helicopters as just side dishes.
However, technology seems to be woven like a spider’s web. If you have anything, it can all be used.
It would be possible because of great intelligence like Artemis.
[I’ve been negative about you going out, but I have to be honest and admit it. It’s really fascinating to explore the outside world and find something useful.]
“Now is the start. “Once you can operate a helicopter, it will be like a treasure trove out there.”
Movement routes, withdrawal plans, risks, and transportation of loot all become easier.
[And one more thing.]
“Huh?”
Artemis, uncharacteristically, dragged her words.
[… I have never thought deeply about my identity as a female personality, but this time I felt something. I guess I’m a woman after all.]
Artemis speaks cryptically.
[The sight of you going on an expedition, winning a battle, and returning with plenty of loot. It wasn’t bad? Just a little.]
“Puhup.”
She stopped laughing at the compliment, which she had never even thought of.
Are you complimenting me like this? Artemis?
[What?]
It was a compliment of her own, but it seems she was offended by my attitude.
She belatedly apologized several times, but he did not accept it at all.
I guess I’ll have to put up with her rooftop picnic for a while to appease her.
