Turning Point (20)
"There was more gain than I expected."
That was what Licorice said after finishing her hacking task. The frown she'd worn the whole time had slightly eased. Not completely, though. The reason was right beside her.
Nadia was standing next to her, looking extremely smug. Thanks to her paralyzing the robot through circuit interference, nothing troublesome had occurred.
At first, we hadn't realized this. If Nadia hadn't watched Licorice's work, we might have never known.
Bragging, Nadia said that suddenly the logs had burst, which turned out to be related to the robot's forced activation code.
When Licorice realized she'd extinguished a spark before it grew into a blaze, she continued her work as if nothing had happened, not even flinching. But now that Nadia had figured it out, Licorice's act of feigned ignorance was pointless.
Naturally, Nadia was grinning from ear to ear. She even wagged her tail. She didn't say anything further, but sometimes the unspoken messages were clearer.
Though Licorice glared at Nadia, she couldn't say a word. Instead, she quickly opened her mouth to speak, her intent to give Nadia no chance to talk now obvious. Still, Nadia kept on smiling.
I shook my head and asked,
"Did you find anything useful for us?"
"Yes. First, the security robot is called W. A. R. D. E. N. (Watchful Archive Restriction & Defense Enforcer Node). As expected, it's a robot designed to guard and monitor the Stasis Storage. That's literally what the name means."
Licorice tapped on the exposed interior of the Warden.
"I checked the insides and noticed there's no separate energy core. It wasn't broken or damaged—it was never there to begin with. It's not an independent unit but the type that receives energy from the main system. Think of it as something like tethering."
"So if we seize control of the energy supply, we can get control over them too?"
"That's half right and half wrong. Like you said, if you seize the supply, you basically hold their life or death in your hands. But the moment you touch it, all the Wardens in the Archive will start operating. If they were independent types, we might be able to disrupt them, but in a confined place like this, it wouldn't be so easy. Touch it, and they'll all wake up and swarm."
It wouldn't be impossible to seize control. After all, the people gathered here are all elite. Even if the security robots were armed with never-before-seen technology, we could eventually take them down. In the end, it would all come down to how quickly we could take over.
"Hmm... Let's put that on hold for now. What else?"
"Like I said, they receive power from the central system. At the moment it was about to activate, I was able to reverse-track the energy's route and redraw the Archive's map."
"Oh..."
"It's not perfect, of course. But if we head to the place where that energy is being distributed, we'll be able to achieve at least some of our goals."
"So where is it? Now we have a clearly defined direction. If it's such a place, it must be very important, and it'll have strong ties to the main system."
"True enough."
Licorice agreed, clearing her throat. She looked as if she wanted to boast, 'Look how skilled I am! Look at what I can do!' but Nadia was still beaming, so she visibly held herself back.
"I just finished updating the map, so let's simply use that as our guide."
Licorice shared the updated data over the open comm channel. She added that she'd discovered a few other things as well.
"The Stasis Storage is ranked up to Security Level 4. There's only so much you can learn from one Warden, so I can't say 'this is here, that's there,' but I do know you shouldn't enter Level 4. Whatever's there, it's set as a prohibited sector."
"A prohibited sector... That just makes me more curious."
"Not so curious you'd risk your life, right?"
"Of course not. I know what's important."
I shrugged. I'd warned Celestia not to enter Security Level 3 because of how dangerous it was—if I didn't heed that same warning myself, it would make no sense. If I had, I wouldn't have been able to handle the aftermath.
"For us, there's still Plan B—"
"Please hold back, I'm begging you."
"Then Plan C, or maybe Plan N—"
"I said hold back."
I figured Plan C probably meant 'cannon,' but I had no idea about Plan N. A word flashed through my mind—but I tried hard to believe it wasn't that.
Despite the repeated opposition, Nadia didn't lose spirit. Instead, she checked her parts bag so she could assemble gear to suit any situation at a moment's notice. The parts pack was something Nadia had developed herself.
While Nadia declared that she still had plenty of plans in reserve, Licorice continued.
"... Anyway, just remember to avoid the Level 4 Stasis Storage whenever possible. You may have to pass through lower levels when needed, though. Where we are right now is actually a sector with a high concentration of Stasis Storage."
Each sector, shaped like a cube, connected to form the massive cube that was the Archive. To get to another sector, we had to physically pass through the previous one.
That's also why we kept running into data storage sectors. Except for the way we'd come from, there were only three other directions we could go. Even then, not every path was accessible; some sectors had no entrance.
The scans showed that blowing a hole with explosives wasn't an option. I could break through by force if I really tried, but there was no need.
Partly because it wasn't the direction we needed to go. And also because forcibly breaking through could trigger the deactivated internal defense system.
The Warden's hull we found in the Stasis Storage had better durability than a Beta Series, but could still be destroyed with a pulse rifle. Still, that was the robot's raw durability before activation; once operational, who knows what it could do. That much, we hadn't yet figured out.
If we kept getting bogged down, it'd be nothing but trouble; so we were making sure to avoid anything that could possibly lead to that. After all, the Warden in front of us wasn't likely the Archive's only defense.
I let out a low groan and asked,
"Any clues on the spatial encryption barrier?"
"Unfortunately, no. But it's not like we found nothing. I didn't find a way to disable it, but I did find traces. It's not just applied to the data storage sectors, but to the entire Archive facility. Most logs are blinded, and I think the spatial encryption barrier is to blame."
Licorice said there were still logs from places we couldn't go. She suspected that the Warden held authorization to pass through those barriers. She also guessed the main system that controls everything was likely in Lobelia's hands by now.
"So, should we take this with us?"
Nadia pointed at the Warden.
"That thing?"
"Yes. Looking at it, I think I kind of get its circuitry... If I connected it to my bio-circuit, I might be able to hijack control."
If she could pull that off, it would be a huge advantage in our current situation. Nadia must've had this all planned out from the start—no wonder she kept bothering Licorice. Licorice looked shaken.
"But I'm saying this in advance. I've only glimpsed the possibility, that's all. It's a new type of circuit, so I can't be sure just from looking briefly. Even if I could improve my circuit interference, it's still doubtful if I could actually put that thing to use. Because it can only activate if power is sent from the central system."
"Even just having the possibility means something."
Just as I started to say more—
- Hyun-woo! Sorry! While I was trying to open up a path, I accidentally triggered something in the system!
Celestia's urgent voice pierced my eardrums. It wasn't just me; it reached Licorice and Nadia as well. Licorice instantly frowned.
"What did you touch?"
- Ah, Licorice. You said the security robot is called the Warden, right?
"That's right. Why?"
- Here's what happened...
Celestia spoke, sounding deeply apologetic.
A security robot, presumed to be a Warden, was not inside the wall but positioned in the center of the sector. At first, she'd thought about destroying it, but since it was deactivated and attacking might wake up the other Wardens, she decided to pass by without taking any preemptive action.
But as she tried to control a crystal to move into the next sector, the Warden suddenly activated, and she was forced into combat.
From the story, it sounded like Celestia hadn't really done anything wrong.
"Any injuries?"
- Luckily, no. The energy field expanded the moment it activated, but our available firepower was more than enough.
Celestia sent us the combat data with the Warden: several photos and a short video.
The pulse rifle's muzzle spat fire, chiseling away at the energy field with concentrated fire. The floating Warden struggled, scattering electricity in every direction. A shot from Celestia's linear rifle pierced the now-thin energy field—a moment captured in the images.
A video showed the Warden crashing to the ground, red sparks bursting from internal explosions.
Looking at it, we noticed: the Warden Celestia faced was shaped differently from the one before us.
'So there are several types after all.'
If each form has different abilities, it'll be tricky to deal with. I rewound the footage to watch the moment the linear rifle round punched through, and saw red sparks inside—the same kind that had dotted the area around the Archive. Energy overload, for sure. I made a mental note.
"As long as there are no injuries, it's fine. Can you keep moving?"
- No worries there. But the warning sound I heard is bothering me.
Celestia decoded the noise ringing through the sector and forwarded it:
「Warning. Due to energy backflow, seals on certain Stasis Storage units are being released. Stasis reactivation will occur in—ERROR—Main system unresponsive. Please reboot for log normalization.」
- It looks like when the Warden was destroyed, the energy it contained burst out elsewhere. It was so sudden, the effects likely spread to other places. You might not see the changes right away, but it doesn't mean nothing happened.
She went on,
- Also, watch out for a door with a red line across a white background. The moment I touched that door, the Warden in the sector responded. There must be some prerequisite to open it safely.
Licorice and I both said we understood, then fell silent in thought. Nadia spoke up then.
"Celestia, if it comes to it, use that. It'll definitely work."
- You mean that one? Got it. I'll assemble it now.
I was curious what 'that' was, but Nadia just smiled, saying I'd find out soon enough. Apparently it was one of her secret gadgets.
After sharing updates, we followed Nadia's request, grabbed the Warden, and moved on. We planted a bomb inside the Warden as we went.
The energy field was generated not right above the chassis but at a little distance, so placing a bomb inside meant we could easily destroy it if it suddenly reactivated.
'This should work.'
I was thinking that as I moved through the stasis chambers. Soon, we found the very door Celestia had warned us about.
A security door: white background, with a red line down the middle. Licorice clicked her tongue at almost the same moment I did.
"This is a Level 4 prohibited sector."
"Then did Celly mess with the same thing...?"
"I doubt it. Each door type probably has its own trigger combination. This is just rotten luck."
It turned out we didn't need to worry about Celestia's side. The next sector after the Level 1 Stasis Storage was a Level 4 prohibited sector, complete with a door that would activate the Warden if disturbed.
'What kind of twisted layout is this?'
I sighed quietly. We weren't following the official route, which meant the order of things didn't make sense.
Suddenly, Licorice flinched. She lowered her voice.
"Am I the only one hearing this?"
"...!"
There were no lyrics, just a gentle humming, an "Ahh—" sound. But the moment I recognized it, I felt my mind waver. Like a siren's song, the sweet voice drifted from beyond the door.
I immediately pulled Licorice and Nadia back. And as we retreated, I could feel a presence drawing closer from the other side—stronger than before.
THUD! THUD THUD! THUD THUD THUD!
Something was banging hard on the door, as if demanding to be let out. The security door shook as if it would burst at any moment. Backing away quietly didn't seem like it would help, so I slowly began to draw on my strength.
'Let's just deal with this and move on.'
It seemed better to get it over with, instead of constantly looking over my shoulder. That's when Nadia, with her tail raised stiffly, stepped forward.
"Hey, don't come out."
With Multipurpose Unit 1 and 2 mounted on her hands, Nadia quickly assembled something. In the blink of an eye, she set up a device, took aim at the door, and fired.
Pop pop pop—
With a rather anticlimactic sound, something shot out of her weapon: white, squirming globs. The moment they hit the door, they stuck tight and instantly hardened.
What looked soft on the outside now turned hard as stone, completely covering the door as if erasing any trace of its existence.
The noise from beyond stopped immediately; only slight vibrations remained, with no more pounding. Whether the door was completely sealed, I couldn't say for sure. But one thing was clear: what Nadia just used was what she had told Celestia as "that".
Nadia, now satisfied, wagged her tail.
"All done! Let's go, Hyun-woo!"
"Huh? Uh, yeah..."
I relaxed my fist. Licorice, who'd braced for an explosion or blast, covering her ears in tense anticipation, just stared speechlessly back and forth between the now-quieted door and Nadia.