My impression upon entering this facility is that there is something resembling natural light coming from the ceiling, so it doesn’t feel dark. Rather, there is a strange sense of freshness.
This doesn’t appear to be an ether production facility like the ruins on top. Based on its construction, it seems to be a hospital… No, a research facility or perhaps an internment camp.
There are several rooms with glass windows, and I see skeletons in them.
They are not gruesome due to being so weathered, but there are marks that show they tried to get out, like several scratch marks on the doors.
Also, the doors are all closed, and I’m unable to go in. That said, as far as I can tell, there is nothing inside other than skeletons and weathered clothes, and… It’s hard to imagine there would be anything of value in rooms where people were locked.
Not that I would want to go in anyway, because I fear I might get cursed.
There are no magic beasts, but this is clearly strange. The feeling I get is that this is a place where sanity and ethics were left at the door. To be honest, I really feel like leaving and letting the association handle the rest.
But that won’t happen, because…
“Gah.”
I hear Lucky, and the search drone also reacts to something. That means something other than us is moving here.
And from the back of the passage comes… Is that a doll?
Its thighs are thick and it has thin legs, like a grasshopper. It also has two arms on each side, all holding big knives. On its head, it has a human mask that looks like that of a Greek statue.
But… It clearly seems intended for battle, but it’s not a magic beast. It might be something like a robot meant to guide through the facilities. Despite what it looks like, it might react in a friendly… Ah, it’s running this way with its blades ready. No good.
“Lucky, I’ll stop it, so please handle it.”
“Gah!”
Lucky goes into combat mode.
I activate all my ten Storage Gates around the four armed doll. If I want to be precise, I should keep them within five meters. That should be plenty to stop it before it gets close. Depending on what I’m facing, it might be able to break through the Storage Gates, but thankfully, the four armed doll hits them and bounces back.
“Kyuru, ga!”
Lucky then jumps at it, so I remove the Storage Gates just as it swings its arms down, smacking the four armed doll into the floor. The floor cracks, and the doll stays facing down.
“Well done, Lucky.”
“Fu.”
Oh. Lucky exits its combat mode because we think the doll is down, but it’s trembling. It looks like it can still move, so…
Bam.
I shoot its head with a rock cannon, breaking it. It raises its four arms almost at the same time, so it looks like I just barely stopped it from attacking.
And judging by our positions, Lucky might have gotten hurt. Scary.
“Ah.”
It’s still moving a bit, so Lucky crushes it. Now it’s not judging anymore.
“Thank you.”
“Kyuru.”
Well then, the knives are dangerous, so let’s take those away. They are just big enough to fit my Storage Spaces. The rock cannons have more surface area, which means more destructive power, but these are edged weapons that could give me more piercing power. Well, they would break, so maybe firing them would be a waste.
———————————
The silent guardian greeted the one who broke the seal with blades.
Zenjurou had only one response, the most primordial as a living being. Violence. The only tactic of negotiation that works in every situation.
As he walks deeper, he will see the ending point of bioethics, the result of an atrocity that abandoned sanctity. Or hope.
A pure flower without a name. And her name is…
Thanks for the treat.