LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 9 (A First Encounter) Part 1
The source of the message came from a red dot on the table, which appeared nearly on top of my location. Judging from the map's scale, it was only a few miles away. Thinking back to how fast my robots moved I could probably cover this distance in less than an hour.
At this realization, my mind fell deep into uneasy thought. The idea to leave now to go into a new world circulated like an intrusive thought until I eventually gave up fighting it. I knew nothing was preventing me from leaving; from my memories, there should be an emergency exit somewhere in the room that led to the surface. Besides, I would have to leave at some point anyway; I might as well see if I could find out some information, maybe even recover something from the other base. Making up my mind, I let the bots fan out to search the rest of the room.
It didn’t take long for B2 to notify me of its success. Turning my attention away from the map, I flew over, watching as B2 sunk its hands into a false panel covering the wall, revealing a slightly rusted ladder that led to a bulkhead in the ceiling. Ahh, I let out a breath in my mind as, glancing over the robots arrayed around me, I had a sinking feeling that it was never made for their steel frames.
Deciding to experiment, I confidently ordered one of the NUs to scout out the surface. Its foot gripped deftly on the first rung before scampering up the others, each step sending reverberations around the room. Reaching the top, it gripped the door's wheel; holding my breath, I let out a relieved sigh as the hatch popped open, pushing a layer of snow down the chute that turned into a steady flow from the storm outside. Now my mind turned to whom to send out on the—umm, let’s call it an exploration mission!
I eventually chose B1 and a few NUs. After a moment of deliberation, I eventually gave up on the idea of bringing B2; its importance for repairing the base was simply too great. If anything happened to it, I might be unable to keep basic systems running around the bunker, or could even fall into danger myself. Instead, I’d lead the rest of the NUs in exploring the base. A thought suddenly struck me: with the bots now separated into groups, it wouldn’t be very convenient to just keep calling them “bots.” Hmm. I racked my mind for a moment, ideas spinning through my mind.
“Alpha and Beta team.” The names were easy to remember, but they felt too uninspired for my current state. Hmm, what about “Base Defense and Hunter Killer team”? The first one was okay, but, well, umm, just because they were armed to the teeth doesn’t mean I have to make it my whole personality! Yelling at nothing in particular, I eventually landed on “Base Management and Exploration team,” led by B2 and B1, respectively. It embodied my goals leaving me feeling quite pleased with the choice.
With that decided, I happily watched as two more NUs dashed through the exit. Ah, I’m a little out of place floating like this. I wiped the useless thought from my mind. Slowly passing the white-covered steel partition, I emerged for the first time into the open. Even if it was just through the camera, I felt bubbles of complicated feelings well up inside me, mixing and forming together until it was impossible to tell whether excitement was fear or fear anticipation. I had been aware of it before, but now that I was about to enter the world for the first time, a novel feeling of freedom grew within me. So this is what it feels like to only be able to rely on yourself, huh? I almost felt like laughing.
My sensors dimmed, overwhelmed by the sunlight reflected by the shiny snow. As they adjusted I panned slowly around the endless desolation expanding before me. On top of where I assumed the bunker to be was a pile of concrete, with a few massive beams somehow surviving the test of time, poking through the heap into the sky like spears, it looked as if multiple buildings had been leveled in an instant.
The surrounding area wasn’t much better; piles of snow had already begun to cover remnants of the concrete wall around the base. It seemed buildings had long since fallen into the street, concealing most clear lines of sight. Sighing dispassionately I turned to the side, amidst the devastation, a three-story building stood relatively intact. To either side of it were nearly barren lots, but though its brick facades only held on in a few places and its roof was tile-less, it looked stable enough to use. If I could fix it up, it might not make that bad of a living space—not that I really had any use for something like that at the moment.
My thoughts trailed off as I gave the order for the robots to begin moving. Pulling up the map in my mind, reading over the location entry it looked like we were heading to the storage facility in charge of providing logistics to my current bunker. The last records I had of the place showed it was fully stocked, though an exact record of its supplies was missing form the entry. The only question is if any of it has survived…. Ah, why does time have to be so harsh? Can’t it at least leave the stuff I needed untouched? Crossing by a wall and a row of concrete spikes that denoted the base’s bounty, my small group began to move west along a relatively intact city street.
That is, if there was still most of a street to use. The number of large rubble piles began to lessen, replaced by, well, umm, small piles? In all honesty rather than the future, it felt like I was seeing a time long passed—a time I already knew but no longer was. Ah, this is so depressing.
I wonder if the Base Management Team is having any better success. Setting my drone to autopilot, the majority of my focus shifted to the base. Huh, what is going on over there? Through the cameras of B2 that I tapped into, sparks flew, completely blanking out the sensors. Ah, don’t tell me they managed to start a fire in the time I was gone. Asking for a report, I started to regret my earlier confidence. A moment later, my question was answered:
“Found inactive tank unit; reactivation is possible. Progress estimated at two percent.” Along with the report came a flood of data.