Expansion 11
We took another look around the newly upgraded Shelter.
Aside from the increased number of dorm rooms and the Defense System being upgraded one more tier, however, there were no eye-catching new facilities the way there had been at Level 2.
Perhaps the greatest change at Level 4 was the unlocking of these very Security Robots.
The next morning at dawn.
It was still early—the darkness outside the windows had not yet fully retreated—yet all five of us had gathered in front of the Mechanic Light Room as if by prior arrangement.
“...Hey, there’s still ten minutes left. Why is everyone out so early…?”
I said it while yawning, glancing at the others, but no one paid me the slightest attention.
Their gazes were locked solely on the red countdown numbers floating on the fabrication machine’s screen.
Infected by their excitement before I even realized it, I too held my breath and waited with them for that number to hit zero.
Clang—!
At last the countdown ended. With a dull, heavy sound, the Security Robot emerged from inside the machine.
A humanoid robot standing roughly 175 centimeters tall overall.
It resembled a Walker Suit so closely that I thought if you put one on and slimmed the musculature just a little, it would look exactly like this. Even the color scheme—silver and black—was similar.
“Whoa…! It looks pretty cool, but… if it’s a Security Robot, why did it come out empty-handed without a single gun or weapon?”
Yang Jin-ju asked me.
“Right. It seems closer to a labor-type robot like the Walker Suit than an actual Security Robot…?”
Nam Jin-ju appeared to share the same thought.
I ignored their comments for the moment, stepped up to the robot, and spoke.
“You… can you talk, by any chance?”
To our surprise, a clear voice—each syllable cleanly articulated, though mixed with a faint mechanical tone—issued from the robot’s head, roughly where a human mouth would be.
“Answering First Command Authority Seo Yeong-chan. Conversation is possible.”
Hearing that reply, we all stared at one another in astonishment and immediately began speaking to the robot over one another.
Nam Jin-ju dashed forward first.
“Wow! It really talks! How much can you answer? What’s your name?”
“The range of possible answers depends on the artificial intelligence installed within me. My name is SP-1.”
“If you’re a Security Robot, do you have means of attack? How powerful are they?”
Yang Jin-ju fired off a sharp question.
“I possess means of attack. My inherent close-combat capability is calculated at approximately half that of a Walker Suit. As an additional means of attack, an energy bolt launcher is built into my left arm. Its power is identical to the energy bolts of the Security Drones.”
Yang Jin-ju smiled in satisfaction at the robot’s prompt, thorough answers.
Finally Yeong-ju asked her question.
“Earlier you said ‘First Command Authority’…. Then who is the ‘Second Command Authority’?”
“In the absence of separate instructions from First Command Authority Seo Yeong-chan, all individuals registered as Shelter residents are Second Command Authorities by default.”
The instant that answer finished, I found myself murmuring without thinking, “…Damn. That’s incredible.”
This thing was far more remarkable than any of us had imagined.
From that afternoon onward we began earnestly testing the performance of our new companion, SP-1.
I moved to a spot a short distance from the Shelter where zombies had gathered in relatively large numbers. Hiding behind nearby safe cover, I assigned SP-1 its first mission.
“Those ones over there—take them all out.”
The robot answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Understood. Eliminating all hostile entities in the vicinity.”
Then it walked toward the zombies with movements far more fluid and human-like than any robot we had ever pictured.
The moment the creatures spotted it and charged, the robot’s left arm hissed. The artificial muscle plating vanished, leaving only a skeletal framework that began to glow with blue energy.
Pew—! Pew—! Pew—!
That familiar sound we knew so well. Wherever the robot aimed, zombie heads burst open with precise, merciless accuracy.
I watched that overwhelming combat power from the field itself while the others observed on the support-room screens, all of us filled with admiration.
Having confirmed its capabilities thoroughly, I returned to the Shelter and headed straight for the Mechanic Light Room without a second thought. There I pressed the fabrication button for the additional Security Robot we could still produce—another SP-1.
The first mission for the two Security Robots—SP-1 Unit 1 and Unit 2—was to safely escort the injured from Sim Geum-a’s Territory to our Shelter.
One of us had originally planned to go along, but we were also curious about the robots’ autonomous AI performance. As a precaution we had input the command If the other party refuses, return immediately, so we decided to send the robots alone for now.
And they performed their mission with perfect precision.
Following the “safe routes” the drones had secured through daily patrols, they traveled exactly to Sim Geum-a’s Territory, then escorted the truck carrying the wounded back to our Shelter without a single deviation.
Sim Geum-a climbed down from the truck with a bandage wrapped around her head. Looking at the two robots that had escorted them, she asked with open curiosity.
“Seobang, what’s this? Totally badass. You’re giving me one too, right?”
Meanwhile the Security Robots, following Kang Po-gyeong’s directions, kept her subordinates—who were approaching in wide-eyed amazement at their first sight of our Shelter—under control and guided the injured one by one into the medical bay.
Together with Sim Geum-a I began discussing our future plans once more. I explained our intended direction: further resource scouting, and a new plan that would make use of the two Security Robots we had just produced.
“...So you’re saying you’ll send those two robots over to us?”
“Not hand them over. Have them work with a few of your people to search for any small groups of survivors who might still be in the area. Absorb them into your side, raise the overall population, and secure more labor.”
“...Ah.”
Only then did Sim Geum-a seem to grasp my real intent.
“First problem—food will run short. We’re already stretched thin feeding the people we have now.”
When I nodded and told her we would supply that from our side, she continued.
“And once we take them in, those people will be under our control, right? However we choose to manage them, you won’t interfere?”
I nodded again at her sharp question.
“Before long the resources we gather will let us use Security Robots for labor as well. When that happens, I plan to build a separate, massive production base—one that can house a population far larger than what we have now, feed every one of them through the coming winter, and begin full-scale food production starting next spring.”
At those final words Sim Geum-a’s eyes lit up more intensely than I had ever seen.
“...So in the end you’re not content with just this Shelter. You’re building a real faction.”
She looked at me as if she could see straight through me.
“And while you grow that faction, you’ll be putting power behind our side too?”
She glanced back at the two Security Robots still calmly directing the wounded into the medical bay in perfect order.
“The immediate goal is to wipe out every potential threat still left on this Daegu ground. But if that’s realistically impossible….”
I pictured drawing a vast circle on the map with our Shelter at its center.
“...Centered on this Shelter, I’ll create a massive, perfect safe zone that no one will dare challenge.”
Her eyes sparkled with a brilliance that outshone anything before.
“...That’s completely badass.”
After a moment she added,
“To pull that off there’ll be a lot that needs cleaning up. Can you handle it?”
“The moment we’ve finished absorbing the small survivor groups, I’ll sweep every sizable raider outfit still left in this zone.”
I spoke as if gazing into the distance.
“This whole incident made one thing crystal clear. Rather than living in constant dread that an attack will come someday, it’s far better for us to strike first and cut off every sprout of threat.”
For the first time Sim Geum-a spoke carefully, as if reading my face.
“...You’re different from before. Something about you….”
“More aggressive?”
When she nodded, I gave a bitter smile.
“Yeah. After watching the people around me get hurt and put in danger… seeing that changed the way I think.”
I turned my back on Sim Geum-a, who was watching me slowly, and looked out at our Shelter.
“Winter will be here soon.”
I spoke while staring at the Shelter, as if making a declaration.
“And once this winter has passed….”
I will raise a new society, a new order, once more upon this ruined world.