Wanderer of the Ashes
"..."
I woke up to the sun hanging high in the midday sky.
Damn, had I ever slept this deeply since arriving in this world?
Was this the MILF effect I'd only heard about in passing?
[No, I’m telling you, I have business with the Commander.]
[Pomen, the Commander needs his rest.]
[I know. That's why I'm staying by his side—to let him rest properly.]
[No. The Commander needs peaceful, undisturbed rest. If you get too close, his light will start to waver.]
[His light will waver?]
[Yes, Pomen.]
[That's just because you... you hogged it all!!!]
In that instant, memories of last night's fierce battle flooded back.
Maybe I could sleep so soundly simply because I hadn't expended my energy elsewhere.
In any case, Noah the MILF had given me some nursing and handjob play, but we hadn't gone any further than that.
The reason was that the Commander's light needs time to recover... though honestly, I had no idea what that meant.
I must've been milked at least five times by hand—wouldn't that be more exhausting?
And every drop I released, she handled with her mouth.
She called it seeds of grace or some other nonsense. She definitely wasn't in her right mind.
Anyway, thanks to Noah, I'd been forced into a period of celibacy.
Suddenly using my light as an excuse, she'd started marking her territory with Pomen, leaving me to sleep alone every night.
I'd started missing Pomen's soft warmth, but all I could do was suck on my fingers.
"Sigh... in the end, it's my stamina and vitality that's the problem."
Couldn't the Money Compass fix something like this...?
Anyway, after getting up, I checked the Ark's system.
Arva was in training, Pomen was sorting materials, and Noah was out on patrol.
And on the desk sat an unopened pack of combat rations.
These must be my breakfast—the ones Arva and Pomen had brought back from their external scouting.
"Damn. Isn't this the exact same as those rice cake rations I used to eat in the Korean Military? Why the hell is this here?"
The packaging was different, but the taste was identical.
And maybe that's why...
My throat felt like it was closing up on me.
"Ah, man... I miss pork belly and kimchi stew. Tonkatsu and spicy pork stir-fry too."
Still, it was a hundred times better than that shitty nutrient paste, so I leisurely dissolved the rice cake with saliva before stepping out into the empty command corridor.
The first place I headed was the training room.
"......Talk about a total neighborhood gym."
In the mobile game, the training room was a high-tech space packed with the latest simulators.
True to form for an Ark that had already fallen once, reality was vastly different.
There were no simulators or machines in sight—just a wide-open space.
And in the center of that training room, Arva was diligently practicing her swordsmanship alone.
"Hah! Ha—!"
The blade in Arva's hand sliced through the air without the slightest deviation, as if it were an extension of her body.
The sharp whine and the blue trail it left behind looked cold yet beautiful, even to an ignorant onlooker like me.
"......"
I watched for a moment before quietly closing the door.
I didn't want to interrupt her focus with idle chatter.
Next, I headed to the ECHO hangar with the culture chamber.
Pushing open the heavy steel door, I was greeted by a massive culture pod emitting a faint glow.
Inside, a woman's silhouette was gradually taking shape.
"Karen Blaze..."
The ECHO from Ironworks.
And the original ECHO in charge of manufacturing and repairs for Ark 69 in the past.
With the status light showing 26 hours remaining, she'd be ready to appear before us tomorrow.
"An ECHO born without any of her previous memories..."
What would we be to her?
And how would the girls from the Arclight Squad, who remembered the old Karen Blaze, act toward this new one?
With complicated feelings, I stared at the pod for a while before quietly leaving the ECHO hangar.
From there, I made my way to the central control room housing the Central AI.
A bit late, but...
There was something I wanted to ask the Central AI of Ark 69— codename Wanderer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Ark's Central AI was located in the central control room, a short distance from the commander's quarters.
The control room was unexpectedly quiet and carried a chill in the air.
Dozens of holographic monitors hung dark and silent, while only the massive spherical core at the room's center emitted a soft blue glow, announcing its presence.
It was Wanderer, the Central AI overseeing everything in Ark 69.
[Hello, Commander?]
As I stepped into the control room, the central core's blue light flickered faintly, and a mechanical yet gentle female voice echoed through the space.
[What brings you to central control?]
"Ah, I just had some questions."
[What are you curious about, Commander?]
As I approached the core in response to Wanderer's question, I finally voiced the one that had been circling in my mind since arriving here.
"How did you know about me?"
[...I cannot parse the intent of the question. Could you be more specific?]
"Fine. All of Ark 69's forces left the Ark and headed outside, where they encountered the Crawler Queen and got wiped out. During that battle, you ordered the Arclight Squad to rescue me."
[Correct. I issued that order.]
"So I'm asking how you even knew I existed."
At my words, the blue light wavered slightly before settling back to normal.
[I scanned for biosignals to ensure the Ark's survival. As you're aware, Commander, the Ark initiates self-destruct protocols if even a single human isn't present.]
"......"
[I, Wanderer, was bound by Ark management protocols to begin self-destruct procedures, but I chose to preserve the Ark in case of any possibilities.]
It was a perfectly reasonable, logical answer.
Too much so.
In fact, it felt so much like reading from a scripted manual that it gave me the creeps.
[The external threat level at the time was measured at Grade 5. Rescue of multiple commanders was impossible under those conditions. Thus, I selected you—the one with the highest survival probability and youngest age.]
There wasn't a shred of hesitation in the AI's response.
It was phrased as if every decision had been the most rational choice.
"...Is that really all there is to it?"
[I don't understand the question.]
"What's the real reason you ordered my rescue? Like, is there something special about my genes? Or some higher command that requires you to follow me?"
[......]
"I learned something from the Arclight Squad. I'm not originally a commander from this Ark, right? Tell me. What are you hiding?"
Silence fell over the control room at my question.
The central core's blue light began blinking a bit faster and more irregularly—like the heartbeat of a human caught in a lie.
[All my judgments are based on the upper Central AI or protocols. You are certainly not registered personnel of Ark 69. However, your information is recorded in my database.]
"...What kind of information?"
[I cannot disclose that. It's locked by the upper system.]
"Upper system lock?"
I knew what that meant.
The single-digit Arks.
Permission from the Upper AI commanding them would be required.
But...
If it were the Ark's Central AI, it could share the info at its discretion, even with a system lock.
I was certain, given similar storylines in game events. But the one before me didn't seem inclined to oblige.
[Affirmative.]
"......Alright."
I didn't press further.
But I was sure it was lying or hiding something.
Whether it was related to the identity of this body or a secret related to Isol, who dragged me into this world, I didn’t know, but it was hiding the information; that’s for sure.
There was no way for me to verify it right now. Retreat was my only option.
"Alright. Take care from here on out."
[Likewise, Commander.]
As I listened to Wanderer, I turned to leave the control room.
Then, organizing a sudden thought, I tossed one more question at the blue-glowing core.
"Oh, I wanted some advice on Ark development. What kind of Ark do you envision?"
[Are you asking about the development of the Ark? From me?]
"Yeah. Like the ideal we should aim for. Or your own ideal vision?"
[My ideal... I'll consider it.]
My question was really just a meaningless probe.
A way to test this inscrutable AI.
A typical Central AI would spit out something textbook, like the most efficient, safe, and productive Ark or something along those lines.
But the core's response completely missed my expectations.
[A place where we can see a blue sky instead of a steel ceiling. A place where we can tread lush green earth instead of polluted soil. A world where all life is safe from threats, needing no prison called an Ark. I consider that my ideal.]
"......A dreamland, then. Well, I’m off."
[I look forward to seeing you again, Commander.]
I turned, gave a casual wave like a farewell, and slowly walked out toward the Ark's exterior.
As I did, one ECHO's words resurfaced in my mind.
[It's too stuffy here. A steel ceiling? I want to see a blue sky.]
[Ugh... They say there used to be lush green earth. Have you ever seen it, Commander?]
[I'm sick of fighting. But if it's to save humanity, there's no choice.]
[Just wait a little. I'll wipe out all these monsters and free you from this prison called an Ark.]
The Wanderer of the Ashes—Isol.
The words the central AI Wanderer had just spoken were the default lines set for her, my favorite character in the game Echoes of Humanity — ECHO.