Gravity Fluctuation (24)
'The fact that combat is still happening in Titan's orbit...'
I unconsciously looked up at the ceiling. I knew, of course, that doing so wouldn't let me see the sky, and even if I could, the ever-present cloud cover meant I wouldn't see beyond it. Still, I couldn't help the reflex.
- Anyway, as long as it's impossible, that's fine. Look around, see if there's a control console nearby. No matter how hard I look on this end, I can't find one.
Licorice lost interest when she realized there was no way to recover the nuke separately. Her attention immediately shifted to the control console.
"I'm already looking for it."
In order for Licorice to properly control the Beta series and access the ship's systems remotely, it was necessary to cut off the power flowing to the ship's armor.
If that power was shut off, it would free up surplus energy to route elsewhere, potentially allowing us to activate equipment connected to the main system. If even the ship's defensive facilities were activated, moving around would get at least a bit easier.
Now that we'd deactivated the self-destruct nuke, we began a thorough search around the storage bay. With the assurance that the nuke wouldn't explode, the rest of the crew came to help as well. One Beta unit was stationed at the storage bay entrance.
"Licorice, if we find the control console, can you extract the data as well? Even if there aren't any survivors, it'd be useful to get footage from internal or external cameras."
- That's exactly what I'm looking for. Once the main system's restored, extracting some mere footage will be a cinch.
"Then we better hurry."
- That would be best. If the system server itself gets infected by Creep, all the data could get wiped.
Of course, Licorice always had a plan.
- If someone who usually just follows orders is asking questions, something must be bothering you, right?
"You're not just trying to say I usually move without thinking, are you?"
- You got it right. So what? What are you going to do about it?
"... I can't do anything."
All I could do was grumble. At that, Licorice snorted.
- So what's bothering you?
"Well, you know, a lot of things. Now it's been confirmed that this situation happened outside Titan too."
I'd already suspected it, and judging by various evidence, I knew it wasn't just Titan that got caught up in this mess. Still, the first direct evidence I'd seen was the infection that happened on the Reformists' ship.
I switched my communications line with Licorice to a private channel for a moment.
"Even if we make it out of Titan, the thought that there might be nowhere for us to go is already giving me a headache."
- Worrying ahead of time, huh? Weren't you planning to go to Earth anyway?
"That's true."
- Then there's nothing else to consider, right? You know it too, Hyun-woo. The more chaotic things get, the more reason you have to go to Earth. Thanks to the Cradle Project, Earth has transformed into a restored natural wonder for tourism—but it still has considerable military force. It's where all sorts of prototypes are deployed and the nexus of technological progress.
The Cradle Project. Humanity had ventured out into space, leaving the "cradle" of Earth, but I'd heard this project was meant to remind us that this didn't mean abandoning a spoiled home.
Earth, together with its technological advancement, reached a turning point. Earth regaining a beautiful natural environment was, in itself, a symbol of victory. It meant that humanity had shed a layer of foolishness and grown up.
I agreed with Licorice's point.
"Found it!"
Kyle shouted, saying he'd found the control console buried in the debris. He'd been persistently clearing away the Creep, and now we saw the fruit of his efforts.
"Is it infected?"
"If it were, I wouldn't have called you. It's right on the verge of breaking, but it still works."
"One sec. I'll finish clearing the rest."
Nadia, piloting the power loader, cleared away the remaining debris. They weren't explosives, but with the presence of missiles nearby, she moved things with the utmost care.
Soon, the control console was fully exposed. Again, the panel required authentication, and Nadia used her bio-circuit to pass.
"Connecting to the main system now."
- If there are too many problems, just reboot the whole thing. That should solve about half of it.
"I was thinking the same."
Nadia tapped at the panel.
「Initiating ship self-diagnostic.」
Panels began displaying all kinds of holographic windows. It seemed all remaining power was being routed into the diagnostics. Windows displayed green for normal, red for damage—and every single one was blazing red.
「Ship self-diagnostic complete.」
「Facility damage level: 68%. Main system connection unstable. Infection detected within ship. Security system destroyed. No available personnel for response. Panic room activated. Main engine partially melted.」
"Sixty-eight percent damage? It's honestly a miracle this much is still intact..."
Kyle clicked his tongue upon seeing the panel's contents. Immediately afterward, a shipwide broadcast sounded.
「Notice: By highest authority, the ship's systems are being rebooted. All personnel, beware of sudden movement.」
The engines, which powered the ship, must have shut down and restarted, as the whole facility shook for a moment. As the power that had been wasted on the armor was redirected to the internal facilities, lights that had been flickering uncertainly now shone bright.
A holographic sign appeared, letting us know our location. It felt as if the nearly dead ship's systems were awakening, one by one, returning to life.
Of course, this was only a temporary phenomenon. For now, we'd forcibly flushed the accumulated logs to allow data to flow smoothly. But unless the equipment was repaired, the logs would build up again, and the system errors would resurface.
〈Missile Storage Bay〉
「Warning. Check weapon status immediately. Securing mechanisms are unstable due to impact. Administrator, submit a report regarding this issue.」
「Kkyeeeek-!」
The atmosphere in the area became unsettled, probably because the mutants could sense the environmental change. Still, things were definitely better than before.
- Ah, I finally feel like I can see straight. Alright, now we can proceed with the rest of the work.
Licorice grumbled that she finally felt like she could breathe. She said she'd resume Beta series operations as planned.
- That tremor just now let me pinpoint the exact location of the engine room. Mutants have been detected, but our forces should be enough to respond.
"Then let's recover the main engine and head back to the Albatross first. We'll follow after we catch that guy."
Through the rebooted main system, we were able to obtain structural data. When synced with our bracelets, locations were marked on the map.
And not just ours. The other survivor was marked as well. There was no need to check for more. The map showed only that one survivor.
"So only he survived. Left everyone else to die. Should we just leave him? He's farther than I expected."
Unlike our clustered signals, his was located in an area reached by taking the elevator into the right-side sector.
I'd expected to find him near the bridge, but it turned out he was in a completely separate area.
There were signs that a passage had been opened in an emergency. It seemed that the interrupted message from earlier had concerned the panic room. For now, heading to the bridge seemed like the plan.
Nadia absentmindedly agreed, then flinched. Licorice, not Nadia, objected.
- No, we can't do that. It looks like the system's main server's been eaten by Creep. I'm restoring and extracting whatever I can, but the info might not be that useful. Just in case, bring that Reformist survivor here alive.
"Fine, got it."
- One more thing: returning after collecting the main engine isn't hard, but detaching the main engine is not something I can do alone.
"Are you saying we have to go there?"
- No, you don't need to. I'll hand control over to Kyle—just have him detach the main engine. I'll handle the rest.
It was odd that she didn't say this herself, but then I realized: she'd switched to a private channel and never went back to public. I restored the line.
"Kyle, she's passing you Beta series control—just detach the main engine."
"Alright, but there's a slight distortion in the lens, so it'd be better to see it with my own eyes..."
"Do you want to go? But just so you know, the paths to the engine room and to our target diverge."
It honestly wasn't impossible for everyone to go together. It would just take more time and delay our return.
"I never said I didn't want to go. Just give me a moment. I'll detach it fast."
Kyle put on his helmet. He inspected the main engine of the Reformists' ship and determined that, although it was an older model, it was still compatible with the Albatross.
As he focused on detaching the main engine through Beta's eyes, Nadia and I wrestled with the holographic window requesting a comms connection.
There could only be one person with an unregistered ID code: the Reformist member. He had contacted us as soon as he heard the announcement that the main system had been rebooted.
We'd set the system to automatically reject unregistered codes, so the number of rejected communications simply kept rising in the air.
"Should we answer?"
"If we do, it'll just be a headache. He's going to pester us about how we rebooted the ship with his higher authority."
"Then let's not answer. Let him stew a little. It's not like we're real rescue personnel, and he's not exactly polite. Don't you think this is fair?"
When I joked like that, Nadia's gloomy mood seemed to lift a little. She chuckled. I smiled back, but the feeling didn't last long.
A Reformist who survived alone among such a huge ship—he was probably not just a regular crew member. Nadia said that once a bio-circuit was implanted, you couldn't disobey orders from above.
If that was truly immutable, then his surviving alone implied he was the one with top authority.
'He must know a lot. That's how he's been able to survive, at least a little longer.'
I remembered every reaction Nadia had shown so far. It couldn't be just an encounter with anything related to the Reformist group that had put her into this state.
From the moment she learned about this ship or its lone survivor, Nadia had been despondent. She had been by my side so far as a partner, so now it was my turn to support her.
Whoever this guy was, if he rubbed Nadia the wrong way, I wouldn't let it slide. For now, I just kept watch on Kyle.
A few minutes passed, and I asked,
"How much longer?"
"Please wait."
"How much longer?"
"I just told you to wait."
"How long?"
"... If you keep this up, I'll just get slower. I'm almost done, so please, just be patient."
"Fine."
I clamped my mouth shut and stopped pestering. Odd. The one who should be feeling anxious was the Reformist survivor, not me.
'Why am I suddenly uneasy?'
Until just a while ago I'd felt fine, but now I could feel my heart being squeezed, like it was a warning. So finally, I shifted focus.
"Griffin, you're still watching the perimeter, right?"
- Yes. Is something wrong?
"It's nothing, but I'm feeling uneasy. Step up the surveillance. Just in case."
- Is that an order?
"Yes."
- .....
Brief silence. Then the answer came back. He must have recognized I wasn't being careless about safety.
My anxiety hadn't vanished, but I forced it aside. There was nothing more I could do for the moment.
Who knows how much time passed. Kyle removed his helmet.
"Whew... Detachment's done. The Beta series is moving the main engine now, so let's go grab that guy. I really don't want to spend another minute in a place like this."
"Let's move. Nothing else to pack up."
Kanna, who'd been eyeing the missiles mounted in the pod with lingering regret, turned away. Eric, always reliably consistent, followed behind her.
We left the storage bay and headed for the ever-shifting marker. With comms set to reject, we didn't get any calls, but since it kept flashing, the survivor was probably still requesting a connection.
I'd expected the mutants to start raising a ruckus as soon as we resumed moving, but none showed themselves. Thinking back to the chaos when we rebooted the main system, this felt downright bizarre.
I'd expected a major fight, like the first time we breached the bulkhead, but not a single mutant showed. It was only natural that suspicion crept up—what were they planning?
Mutants specialized in grating on your nerves. They might appear incapable of thought, but their killing instinct was highly developed. When it came to killing, their intelligence seemed to rise.
No readings showed up on the detector, and even the occasional screeches had stopped. As if someone was controlling them. Usually when that happened, it meant a high-tier entity above the ghouls was present. No, I was sure of it.
Most of the mutated clones had burned up during reentry, but plenty still remained. With explosives limited, if it came down to brute force, we'd be outmatched.
"We might have a big fight in the bridge."
"Should we request support?"
Kanna pointed out that with Beta series units remaining on the Albatross and Griffin, we could call for reinforcements if needed.
"It'd be tough to get more Beta series here, but as long as Roxy is on standby up above, that should be enough."
"I'll have the Albatross take off ahead of schedule, then."
I knew that since the Albatross's main engine had limited operating time, launching it early could create trouble for us later.
Still, it was fine for now. As long as we secured the lone Reformist survivor, there was nothing left for us on this ship. Launching early would make escaping easier.
- Oh, buddy. Is it finally my time to shine?
Having left his comms open, Roxy responded instantly to being needed. No one was more reliable.
"You heard it, right? Just stay on standby up above. Be ready for us to board at any time."
- Okie-dokie. You can count on me.
Nothing had happened yet, but Roxy was already showing how pumped he was. It was practically like he was praying for something to go wrong.
Shaking my head didn't last long. We boarded the elevator, crossed a Creep-covered common area, and set foot at the bridge accessway.
We soon passed the entry as well. Number of engagements: zero. Once we safely reached the bridge, we used debris we'd brought along to build a barricade.
If the hidden mutants started swarming us, it'd be a trusty shield; if not, it'd just be a waste of effort. But most of the work would be done by the Beta series anyway, so there was no reason not to.
While the Beta series was setting up the barricade, I scanned the bridge.
Creep covered every visible inch. It squirmed as though alive, giving the feeling we'd been swallowed and entered the belly of some huge creature.
The auxiliary armor covering the bridge's main windows was completely shattered. The bridge was the area in closest contact with the outside. If something went wrong, it was our planned escape route.
The auxiliary armor was sturdy enough to withstand a crash, but with our tools, we could get through. Still, we couldn't begin dismantling it yet.
The Creep had to be cleared first to get through the auxiliary armor, but breaking through it would surely trigger a strong alarm, summoning ghouls in waves.
The best would be to simply retrace our steps the way we came, without major fights or agitating the ghouls.
'Not a single thing looks intact.'
There were traces of destruction not just from the crash, but from the unique brute strength of the mutants.
"Hyun-woo, the panic room is ready to be linked to the passage. Should we start?"
"Let's do it."
"Okay."
Nadia activated the bridge systems using her bio-circuit's unique code. Though the system seemed on the verge of shutting down, it accepted her top-level authorization and began calling the now-independent panic room to the bridge.
The panic room was located near the center of the hull, lower down. But we didn't need to go there; we could just call it up like this.
Kugugung. The locking pins released and the rails started to turn. The deeply embedded, isolated compartment began to ascend.
With a shudder, a rectangular box surrounded by special bulkheads appeared. Countless scratches, probably from mutant claws, covered its surface, but it was too thick for them to have broken through. Problem was, we probably couldn't break through, either.
The signal told us the sole survivor was inside that box. I kicked the box lightly and spoke in a low tone.
"Come out."
- H-how did you get here?!
What nonsense was this? Instead of coming out, he was shouting at us, asking how we'd found him—and how we were still alive. My brows knit in annoyance.
"What are you talking about?"
- That monster! There should be a monster on the bridge!
"Monster?"
- I tried to warn you, calling over and over! But you didn't answer! Damn it, you fell right into its trap!
The Reformist yelled that we were all dead now. I couldn't fathom why he'd lump us together as "we" after just meeting us.
Right then—THUD. Something slammed, and the bridge ceiling collapsed. A sticky Creep mass dropped down, and beneath it, a massive mutant emerged.
It looked like several mutants fused together. Its especially developed upper body was striking. Sure, it seemed threatening.
But it wasn't a 'Bud'.
It looked further mutated than the ghouls, branching onto a new evolutionary line, but that was all. If it were a Bud, it would have a name engraved on it.
This was probably the one that had wrecked the bridge and prevented the Reformist from coming outside.
"Is that all? Shut up and sit tight."
I rolled my shoulders, checking my body. I was used to the pulse rifle, which meant I hadn't done much melee fighting so far. But looking at its exoskeleton, rifle rounds probably wouldn't do much. Only melee would work.
「Kyaaaah!」
The mutant locked eyes with me and let out a massive scream. The shockwave pulsed through the air, making it tremble.
And just like that, ghouls began to reveal themselves in the distance. The previously quiet detectors sprang to life, picking up every single presence.
Over a hundred signatures. We'd anticipated this and quickly took our positions. We braced our guns against the barricade, plugging the gaps with our shields.
"Nadia and I will handle the big one. The rest of you take the Beta series and hold off the swarming mutants."
"Understood!"
"Nadia, Carry. Let's go."
「٩(๑`^´๑)۶」
Carry put on a determined expression. Nadia didn't speak, but sent me a signal of agreement.
I leapt forward. The power loader lumbered after me, nearly at the same instant.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Hyun-woo getting used to fighting stronger enemies.
「٩(๑`^´๑)۶」