Beneath the Ordinary Facade
The journey to the research lab with the elderly Deckard was inevitably slower than traveling alone with Ruya. “If I’d known it would take this long, I should’ve just carried Deckard myself and flown there.”
“Do we really need to advertise our presence like that? And what if we get shot at mid-flight?”
“I could fly fast enough that there wouldn’t even be time to react.”
“Heh heh, that kind of flight would be too much for an old man like me. Show a little consideration, won’t you?”
We had ducked into a nearby store building to eat. Thanks to moving through the alleys between buildings, we had reached the one-third mark without encountering a single enemy.
“More importantly, doesn’t it feel like the number of plant monsters has increased?”
“Hmm… you’re right, it definitely has.”
According to the records we had noted while passing through, their numbers had clearly risen compared to before the rain.
“And did you see those plant stems spreading across the building walls? There were strange fruits growing between the leaves.”
The fruit Ruya pulled from her small pouch was fingernail-sized and emitted an eerie green fluorescent glow.
“The color looks suspicious.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it either.”
“Touch it. It’s soft, but surprisingly firm.”
“Mmm.”
I took the fruit and pressed it gently with my fingers. Just as Ruya said, it was incredibly soft, yet it didn’t burst even when I squeezed harder—it stayed springy. Yet I could faintly sense an energy similar to essence.
“I’m not sure if I’m imagining it, but I can feel a faint energy from the fruit that resembles essence.”
“Energy similar to essence? I don’t sense any spirit power, though… hmm.”
“Should we try eating one?”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“I don’t get any ominous feeling. My intuition has been pretty accurate lately.”
Reassuring the worried Ruya, I placed the fruit in my mouth and bit down with my molars. After resisting for a moment, it finally burst, releasing a familiar-tasting slime that spread across my tongue.
“Huh? This tastes like mint.”
“Eh? Mint?”
“Yes. And it’s surprisingly sweet… and refreshing.”
“…Is it good?”
“Yes.”
Surprisingly, despite its appearance, it tasted delicious. The small but thick, elastic skin had a pleasant chew, and the slime inside, though sticky, was sweet and refreshing. The analysis program confirmed it contained no harmful components for the human body.
“It would make a nice snack. More than anything, it seems to contain life energy similar to essence, so it should be good for the body too.”
“Life energy? Oho~ So it’s both a snack and a nutritional supplement……”
“You’re saying that weird-looking fruit is good for you? Give me one too.”
“Here you go.”
“Let’s see……”
Deckard popped the fruit into his mouth and chewed enthusiastically.
“I’ll try one too. Nom.”
Ruya, who had been watching, quickly popped one into her mouth as well and chewed. Both of them widened their eyes in surprise and let out exclamations.
“Whoa… it’s chewy and really delicious.”
“Wow, it really is good. We should pick as many as we can.”
“There were some around the central area too, right?”
“Yeah, they were mostly around things tall enough to climb.”
“They’re easy to obtain, rich in nutrients, and even contain a bit of life energy. They’d make excellent healthy snacks.”
It was ironic that a new type of plant appearing alongside the plant monsters could be useful as food, unlike the monsters themselves.
“Look at this. Bleh~ My tongue turned fluorescent.”
“Heh heh. Looks like some kind of cheap kids’ candy.”
We spent some time eating the fruits Ruya had picked, relieving the stress that had unknowingly built up. After enjoying the snacks for a while, we tidied up and spoke.
“We should get moving again soon.”
“It’ll be dark soon, so let’s move as far as we can and find a place to rest.”
“Yes.”
With me in front, Deckard in the middle, and Ruya at the back, we continued moving between buildings toward the research lab. We carefully avoided stimulating any plant monsters we encountered and paused briefly whenever we heard signs of people. Since some areas were still flooded, we had to move very slowly and cautiously to minimize noise. By the time we reached the halfway point, the sun had set.
“Elisha, let’s spend the night over there.”
“It’s a furniture store.”
“Deckard looks exhausted. At least there’ll be a bed in a furniture store.”
As she said, Deckard had been trying to hide it, but exhaustion was clearly showing on his face. While Ruya and Deckard went inside to check the interior, I circled the area to observe enemy movements. Confirming nothing nearby, I entered the store and blocked the entrance with heavy furniture. The curtains were drawn, so there was little risk of light leaking out, but we kept the lighting minimal just in case and gathered around the beds.
After Ruya removed the dusty covers from the bed and checked the mattress herself, she spoke. “It’s an old bed and the mattress is a mess, but it’s soft enough to sleep on.”
“But there’s only one bed?”
“It’s lucky there’s even one bed in a small store like this. Besides, it’s a king-size, so three people can fit.”
“Ahem. Three people? What do you mean by that?”
“We should all sleep comfortably in the bed. Deckard’s safety comes first, so he’ll sleep in the middle while we lie on either side.”
“That… ahem. Understood.”
He looked like he wanted to say something, but remembering the situation wasn’t ideal, he held his tongue and accepted it. After removing our thick gear that was too cumbersome to sleep in and changing into lighter clothes, we were about to lie down when Deckard spoke.
“Hmm, I’ll just go relieve myself first.”
“Ah, I need to go too. Elisha, come with me.”
“Yes.”
Each carrying a light, we headed to the store’s restroom. Deckard entered the men’s room while Ruya and I went into the women’s room next door. As expected, the restroom was in terrible condition. The floor and even the toilet were a mess, likely from sewage backup caused by the heavy rain, making it impossible to sit.
“Ugh, it’s a complete disaster. We’ll have to stand.”
“You’re right. We should’ve gone to the upstairs restroom instead.”
“Since it’s just the two of us, who’s going to complain if we stand?”
Ruya removed her pants and underwear, then positioned herself over the toilet and spoke. “Elisha, open my urethral plug for me.”
“Why ask me when you can do it yourself?”
“It’s no fun if I do it myself. Since my master is here, shouldn’t we enjoy it?”
“Sigh. Fine.”
Standing behind Ruya, I reached between her legs to find the urethral plug. While searching through her soft folds, I mischievously pinched her swollen clit, which was trapped by the ring.
“Aah!”
“Be honest. You ask other people to open your urethral plug too, don’t you?”
“Aaah! Yes, I often ask Madam and Master to do it.”
“Hee~ Not just Madam, but your brother too? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“It feels even better that way. Hnn~”
Despite the pain of having her clit pinched like a proper masochistic slave, Ruya quickly grew wet, her folds glistening. I slapped her pussy and spoke. “Right now, relieving yourself comes first, so hold it in.”
“Nngh! Yes, Master.”
Biting her lips and suppressing her aroused body, Ruya had her urethral plug opened. After she finished, I wiped her clean with tissue paper, and we returned to the bed. Deckard was already lying awkwardly in the center, and Ruya and I took our places on either side.
In the dim light that barely allowed us to perceive our surroundings, an uncomfortable silence lingered until Deckard, clearly exhausted, quickly fell asleep, his breathing becoming steady. Ruya, still restless from her heated body, eventually drifted off as well, and only then did I shut down my functions and rest.
The next morning, we woke early, ate a quick meal, and set out again. Having slept well on the soft bed, Deckard’s fatigue had eased considerably, allowing him to keep up with our pace. We arrived safely at the research lab before sunset.
“This is really a military research facility?”
“That’s right. It doesn’t look like it from the outside, does it? Heh heh.”
“This is just an ordinary factory.”
The building was completely different from the image one would associate with a research lab—it looked identical to the common factory buildings around it. If we hadn’t been told, we never would have imagined this was a research facility.
As we approached the building, Deckard passed the main gate and entered the narrow alley between two structures.
“Huh? Isn’t the entrance over there?”
“The building above ground is just a disguise. The real entrance is here… right here.”
When he pressed a specific spot on the wall, it slowly parted, revealing a staircase leading downward.
“Oh~ A secret staircase! How exciting.”
“Heh heh heh~ The new researchers all reacted the same way. Come on in.”
With Deckard leading, we all entered the staircase, and the wall closed behind us. As we descended under the automatically activated lights, I asked, “There’s still electricity here?”
“As with any important research facility, it has its own power generation system. When no one’s here and it’s not in operation, it stays in power-saving mode, so the generator is still running.”
“That’s fortunate.”
After descending quite deep, we finally arrived at a space that truly felt like a research lab. Deckard opened a security door with a card key from his pocket and spoke. “There are only three assembled military strategic defense robots—temporarily named Zeka-5. But three should be more than enough.”
“Zeka-5? I get that Zeka is the name, but why the 5?”
“Because it’s the fifth prototype.”
“Hee~ The fifth one? Sounds like there were quite a few failures.”
“Heh heh, embarrassing but true. There were quite a lot of failures.”
Following behind Deckard, I glanced through the windows lining the corridor into what appeared to be laboratories. There was something oddly familiar about them. They resembled Elisa and Elsa’s labs—though the equipment here was bulkier and more rugged, the workbenches, the various tools lining the walls, and the computer-like setups gave off a similar atmosphere.
Ruya, who had been looking around like me, pointed at something and asked, “What’s that over there? It looks kind of like a dog… not as an insult, it really does look like a dog.”
“Ah, that’s the Zeka-6 we were developing for experimental purposes.”
The robot Ruya pointed to was much larger than the others but genuinely dog-like in shape, suspended in midair with its internal components exposed through its skeletal frame.
“Number 6? Was the 5th one also a failure?”
“Hmm… rather than a failure, its purpose was different. The 5th was designed for battlefield use, while the 6th was being developed for urban deployment.”
“…If something that size is for urban use, how big is the 5th?”
“You’ll see for yourself.”
After opening another door with the card key, the lights turned on, revealing several massive figures standing side by side in the wide space.
“…No way.”
“Heh heh heh~ The pride of Deckard Research Lab, the Zeka-5 units.”
“Isn’t this way too big?”
Just as Ruya said in her slightly trembling voice, the Zeka-5 was absurdly large. If the 6th unit—1.5 times the size of a large dog—was meant for urban use, then the 5th unit was truly enormous, boasting an imposing presence.
“Length: 4.9 rud, width: 2.1 rud, height: 1.4 rud. Slightly smaller than a tank.”
“Imagining a dog that size running around on four legs is terrifying.”
“More importantly, what’s its power source? Can it even be operated?”
“It uses electricity generated by running a generator on regular gasoline. Being unmanned and much lighter than a tank makes it possible.”
He explained about the Zeka-5 with a proud expression, clearly taking great pride in it.
“It also has a newly developed high-performance battery installed, so it can be operated via external charging. A single charge allows for a month of non-combat operation.”
“That would make it convenient for regular use. But didn’t you say the AI was incomplete? How are we supposed to take these?”
“It’s incomplete, but that doesn’t mean there’s no software. It didn’t pass the military’s requirements, but it’s usable.”
“Then let’s activate them. The faster, the better, since enemies are everywhere.”
“Understood. I’ll hurry.”
He sat down at a nearby computer and began working quickly.