Origin (34)
It was contaminated.
Even if it hadn't been for that message on the hologram panel, the inside of the power control room was such a mess that it was impossible to imagine how it had looked before.
It wasn't just dirty. I had expected the inside to be in rough shape after seeing the creep spreading from the entrance, but it was in even worse condition than I'd imagined.
The pureblood supremacists had completely destroyed all the internal equipment, to an extent I couldn't fathom. Instead of carelessly charging in, I paused and switched on my flashlight.
Pureblood supremacists had been reluctant to enter the access route. I doubted any of them would be in a place like this.
And if there was something here, I hoped it would be drawn out by the light I was now shining around. That would make dealing with it much easier.
Thick power cables hung from the ceiling where tiles had peeled away, tangled like veins, and the creep, blood-red and as complex as neural circuits, stretched everywhere.
Blended with the lights that didn't even flicker, it created a sinister gloom.
As I swept the area with my flashlight, I revealed how the creep had worked itself between all the devices as though determined to tear out every last circuit board.
It looked just like parasites burrowing into a rotting body, making it impossible not to feel sick.
'They seemed suspicious even when they were here.'
Now I was almost certain that the communication from the refinery had been a trap. If there were supremacists at the robot production facility, surely there would be some at the refinery as well.
Even if it was a little farther away, in terms of facility order, it was right next door.
If the refinery was a trap, what we had to do now became even more important. We needed to counter the trap.
"Celestia, can you revive it?"
"I'll take a look. The console seems a bit damaged, but maybe if we remove the creep, there's a chance."
I walked across the sticky floor to the console at the center of the power control room. As I grabbed the thick mass of creep and tore it off, Celestia hurried over and removed even the tiny bits clinging like twigs.
Celestia tapped the panel a few times, then her face brightened.
"Oh, thank goodness. The console system's still alive. If we can get down to the deep sector, we might be able to trigger the security protocol itself. But the input device is broken—we'll need to repair that."
She explained that in order to open the access route to the deep sector, we'd need to control the console in the power control room.
"... I'll do it."
Nadia, who'd been standing behind me in a daze, stepped forward. She pulled out the protruding circuit board, dragging out the wires connected to it.
Nadia took a repair tool out of her utility belt and began repairing the input device. While she did that, I stood a little distance away to guard her. Standing too close could get in the way of her repair work.
I scanned the area again, focusing especially on the floor—because the access route we needed was hidden beneath our feet.
The creep covering the floor was so thick that it was impossible to see with the naked eye. Power control room—the nerve center of the robot production facility. It was clearly a vital spot, yet we'd entered more smoothly than expected.
But what bothered me was that we'd gotten in 'too smoothly'.
The pureblood supremacists were patrolling in squads, but their vigilance wasn't high.
Even though they must have noticed our presence, they gave only a cursory sweep, not a thorough search.
I'd been keeping an eye on the old communication devices I'd picked up from the dead supremacists, but they hadn't gone off once. It had taken quite some time to get here while avoiding their gaze. Did they not sense the gap, or did they just not care?
If they were communicating about anything, it would've been relayed to those devices, but nothing had come up. It was almost as if they were just doing a routine check before leaving.
'Is it related to whatever they did in the control room?'
I examined the evidence scattered around, trying to guess what had happened here, and what the supremacists were aiming for. Before it got to this state, various technicians must have been working throughout, managing the facility.
Carrying personal terminals, analyzing logs displayed on panels, reporting abnormalities to higher-ups, or dispatching repair teams on the spot—they must've worked hard.
Then all that was probably ruined in an instant by the invading pureblood supremacists. They might have forced the panicked technicians to their knees or raked them with gunfire so no one could do anything.
I glanced at a bullet casing wedged in the creep. There was an unusually thick mass of creep in that spot.
A supremacist had talked about 'grace extending', and since they'd been reluctant to enter here, perhaps this "grace" referred to the creep itself.
Creep. Just what function did it serve? It was easy to guess that, seeing how it had taken over the entire control room, it couldn't be anything good.
Could it be connected to Nadia's odd reaction? She'd warned that creep caused hallucinations. Since it was Nadia who spoke, I didn't take her words lightly.
I stepped on the creep a few times. Nothing happened. Just the sticky sound that left me feeling gross.
'Were they on guard against hallucinations?'
The mutant creatures we'd been so wary of weren't around. Only piles of broken security robots. The creep had infiltrated the robots as well.
'This is disgusting.'
I couldn't say I was relieved not to have run into monsters. It was better to fight than not know the cause.
There was no chemical smell. Not a trace of anything hiding.
All I could sense was the stench of blood, and the creep so disgusting it made me doubt my eyes. I didn't believe the creep had spread for no reason.
If it was the same type I'd seen in the residential area, these would be roots growing from pools of blood that dissolved organic matter, but there were no blood pools in sight. At least, not in this space.
Watching the creep show no reaction no matter how I ripped it up, I wondered if it would respond even if I tried burning it all with a flamethrower, and as I frowned, a thought popped into my head and I asked Celestia:
"Celestia, if the access route won't open, is there another way in? Even if the system's alive, from the look of things, the facility might be too damaged."
"If the official route is blocked, usually you'd look for a side path, but there aren't any here. This place is basically a panic room, so if the way doesn't open, the only choice is to break through."
"Let's hope it opens, then."
The bulkhead wouldn't be thin. It would take forever to cut with a plasma cutter. The noise from that process could complicate matters.
While I shook my head, Nadia called out that the repair was finished. Sliding the circuit board back into the console, she spoke up.
"Hyun-woo, it's fixed, but I don't know how long it'll hold. The circuits were covered in slime."
"What matters is it works now—we need it immediately, right?"
"Of course. Leave the rest to me after this."
Celestia stepped forward. After announcing that the keys were finally working, she tapped away at the panel in a blur. She really meant it when she said she'd do it as quickly as possible; before long, she opened the access route down to the deep sector.
We had arrived at the last barrier to our operation's success. As the floor began to tremble and the creep was cut through, the ground we'd been standing on split apart.
Grgrgrk—
A metallic groan tore through the control room. We shined our flashlights downward.
"... Even here? Didn't you say the deep sector was like a panic room?"
Surprised, I looked up, and Celestia looked just as shaken. Maintaining what composure she could, she answered:
"That's how it was supposed to be. I'm sure it was, but..."
"Let's go down anyway."
Hesitating here wouldn't get us any answers. Better to hurry down, accept the risk, and grasp the situation. We had no choice anyway.
We began to descend the narrow shaft. Creep was spread down here as well, but there was nothing else.
It was quiet. I absently touched the communication jammer. I hoped I wouldn't have to use it, but actually not needing it now gave me a strange feeling. It felt like something unseen was tapping on my nerves.
"... Is it possible the pureblood supremacists know about the security protocol?"
"I think that's possible. The way they ransacked the power control room implies they know something."
Well, they were the very ones responsible for this disaster. It wouldn't be strange if they knew about the security protocol.
What bothered me was how they knew, what actions they'd taken, and how effective those would be. Celestia had said there should be no problem activating the protocol. If so, then had the things they had done here all been meaningless?
Or were they still several steps ahead, working toward some grander plan?
The passage wasn't long. It felt like less than a minute had passed before we reached the end. The deep sector looked much like the control room above.
That was largely because the creep covered every surface, making it hard to tell what was different. Creep was everywhere.
Carry looked annoyed and held up the flamethrower, but Nadia calmed Carry, telling him to hold on a little longer. It was only briefly. As she looked around, Nadia suddenly gasped and called for me in a hurry.
"Hyun-woo, over there!"
A corpse, its lower half missing, was slumped in front of the console used to activate the security protocol. It was clearly a technician from here, as the suit bore the logo of the robot production facility.
A few security robots lay nearby, their frames completely twisted, as if they'd guarded their master to the end.
I picked up the bracelet from the corpse's wrist. A familiar message popped up.
【One most recent stored audio-visual record. Would you like to view it?】
The records could only be viewed without restriction from satellites under SSTC's control. I'd collected quite a bit of information in this way. Without hesitation, I pressed 'yes'.
At last, the recording began.
【- RECORD PLAYBACK -
"Cough, cough..."
An elderly man was leaning against the console, clutching his abdomen. The path he'd walked was marked by bright red footprints, stained with his own blood.
Blood, pouring out as if from a puncture wound, was soaking the floor even more, and drops rang out like rain on the glossy surface, spreading in all directions like webs.
【Supervisor Paul, the external wall of Production Sector 2 is under attack. Estimated time until internal lockdown is breached: 7 minutes 23 seconds. If no further action is taken, this estimate may be shortened.】
One of two badly damaged security robots rotated its mono-eye, running simulations. Its mechanical tone agitated the man.
"I know that! Run the production line at maximum—stop them, somehow, until I activate the security protocol...!"
【Impossible. The facility is not receiving adequate power. All production lines are halted. In addition, security protocol activation cannot be performed by the facility supervisor alone. Please acquire access through supplementary authorization.】
"I'll take care of that! Just stop that monster from getting in here and—no, stop it before I die!"
【The deep sector console room is sealed. There are no external factors influencing its status.】
"They've already! Taken over! The inside of the facility, you piece of—kehh, cough...!"
The old man coughed violently, completely losing control. Every time he gasped, tremors rocked the console room, shaking the entire facility. It was the pureblood supremacists attacking.
He stared blankly at the thin blood trailing from his palm. His pupils shook uncontrollably.
As if sensing something, he exhaled and gazed at the console. The panel displayed "Security protocol activation impossible."
Even though he'd gathered all the bracelets from his subordinates, the console refused to recognize their authority, as if death erased legitimacy.
"... Damn SSTC. This is why I insisted the protocol needed revision."
Slowly, he let go of the panel, and a long bloody handprint remained. The word "impossible" was struck through, and then, a moment later, smothered by more blood.
"There's no way. No way out."
Severely wounded, he'd dragged himself here to activate the security protocol. But that didn't mean he could save the day.
After all, he lacked sufficient authority to activate the protocol, and even if he could, there was no guarantee the robots would follow his commands.
And then—it happened. The security robot standing vigil suddenly started twisting its frame.
【Core error. External program intrusion. Built-in OS response not p-possible. Relationship status: hostile.】
The robot's mono-eye flashed red and returned to normal, back and forth, making a grinding noise like a person with a splitting headache.
The remaining security robot began to aim at the one that'd gone mad. Shockwave guns were pointed at each other, almost at the same instant.
"Damn it all..."
Seeing that, the man sensed his fate. Then, as if to convey something to the empty air—or to those watching this log—he moved his lips.
"... It would have been nice if it had ended with me, but, as you see, this is the state of things."
Tried to stop it, but now there was trouble with the security robot production line.
The pureblood supremacists' attack came from inside, not outside.
There was a traitor among us. They'd planted strange code in the security robots.
Action was taken and contaminated robots eliminated on discovery, but we don't know how many are left.
With the state of the facility as it is, there's no way to stop the pureblood supremacists. The comms lockdown also failed. All that's left is death.
"... If you know about the security protocol, think carefully before activating it. The robots you trust could end up tightening the noose around your neck."
With that, he bowed his head. He never moved again.
Immediately after, the security robots began fighting, and the video cut to black from the blast of shockwaves.
- END OF RECORD -】
"... Well, damn."
I quietly stared at the old man's corpse, broken down by the creep. He hadn't been able to close his eyes even in death.
'There was a traitor, huh...'
It became clear to me how the military facilities had fallen. If the robot production facility, so tightly managed by the SSTC, had a betrayer sharpening their knife—then the military facilities would have had one as well.
They probably tried to seize the base, even using themselves as a literal bomb. Or went all-out for mutual destruction.
Just as Celestia was about to comment, the security robot near the body suddenly moved its hand, as if targeting Nadia. As the sensor beeped and sensed the movement, I jumped forward at once.
My plasma cutter pierced the robot's core. With a crack, the robot's moving hand clattered to the floor.
We had just seen the record indicating contaminated robots could be mixed in. It was good that I'd kept watch—I was able to respond quickly because of it.
"...!"
Realizing the situation a beat late, the two behind me gasped. I had confirmation that the robot really had moved.
"You saw that, right? Even if we make more robots, we're going to have problems with this."
Was it a coincidence? Surely not. Whether it was or wasn't, if things kept going this way, it wouldn't do.
"Celestia, do you know anything about programming? Robot algorithms and such."
"Unfortunately, I don't have those skills. Especially not for viruses and things like that."
"Nadia, you too, right?"
"Yeah, I'm a hardware specialist."
"Then I know just the person to call in cases like this. Just wait a moment—I'll call our troubleshooter."
I called Licoemon—no, Licorice.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
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