A Painful Social Life (4)
A Painful Social Life (4)
I slowly scanned the area.
"The elevator's stopped too. Power's out."
I turned my head and looked back at Eve.
"...It's really not you?"
"It really isn't me."
Hmm.
No matter how much Eve was the world's most advanced AI—one that had developed a certain level of emotion, unlike typical AIs—
she rarely lied to me.
It must really have been a sudden accident.
Come to think of it, there was a far more likely culprit than Eve.
"It's probably the work of that Luddite group."
"That is highly likely."
.......
Still, damn, the timing was incredibly suspicious.
Maybe she was too embarrassed to cling to my arm in public. Andrea, who had quickly let go of my arm, muttered beside me.
"So, hacking?"
Eve shook her head at that.
"Based on my current assessment, a physical failure has occurred in the power lines. The auxiliary generators are in the same state, so the probability of normal restoration is extremely low."
Well, in massive facilities like this, having an emergency power system is standard.
Given that the power still hadn't been restored...
terrorism seemed the most likely scenario.
First things first...
I casually checked my visual interface.
Fortunately, the signal hadn't been cut off.
I asked Eve a question while simultaneously navigating my visual interface.
"Catherine's up there too, right?"
"That is correct."
Yesterday, Andrea had said she'd leave the audience seats to Catherine and Eve.
Since Eve was here...
Catherine must have come with her.
A reasonable deduction.
I placed a call to Catherine.
"Hello?"
[Oh, Si-un? Where are you? It's total chaos up here because all the lights went out.]
The situation upstairs sounded just as bad as here.
I calmly continued the call.
"We just got to the underground parking. Same story down here—pitch black, not a single light. Anyway, let's meet up first and talk. We'll come to you."
[Got it.]
I ended the short call.
.......
Anyway.
The elevator was out, too.
How long was it going to take to climb all those stairs...
"*Sigh*."
I let out a light sigh.
27. Agonizing Social Life (4)
A dark space where all light had vanished.
A man continued communicating via radio.
"How is it over there?"
[Our line's dead too.]
Another voice came through the radio on the other end.
The man nodded grimly at the answer, pressed the button on his radio, and replied.
"Confirmed. We've finished up here too. The dome's power is now completely blacked out. Restoration?"
[Absolutely impossible.]
"Good. All this—not for the machine's dream..."
[...but for the human dream.]
After exchanging the brief slogan, the man—a member of the Neo-Luddite collective—reflected on their progress.
'The message should have been delivered by now.'
Hiding his identity and secretly infiltrating the venue as a staff member, working hard to earn their trust—all of it had been for this very moment.
'...Now I just need to get out.'
His escape plan was airtight.
A space void of light.
People's confusion was bound to be maximized.
Without power, the concert was impossible.
For him and his comrades to slip away during the audience's chaos was not a difficult task at all.
[Wait, someone's tracing through the line—.]
- Sssssssss.
Beyond the radio, his comrade's words cut off with a burst of deafening static.
At the abruptly severed transmission, the man shouted as he pressed the radio button.
"Three, Three! What's going on!"
No answer came from Comrade Three.
On the contrary.
[...This is Two! Everyone disconnect immediately—.]
[This is Four! Two, Three, Five, and Six—all communications have been terminated—.]
[Wh-What the hell!!]
All that followed were the screams of his comrades.
The man felt cold sweat trickling down his forehead. Even at this very moment, screams were being transmitted through the radios his comrades held.
Soon, every single indicator on the radio lit up red. It meant all connections had been severed.
'We used a closed network, so there should have been absolutely no risk of being tracked...?'
But that was the reality right now.
It was clear that, given a little more time, he would be tracked down too.
Realizing that, the man dropped his radio to the floor. Immediately, he stomped on it to kill the signal. An instinctive reaction.
But.
[Confirmed. You are the last one.]
"...What did you say?"
The man's memory ended there.
It didn't take long for the entire Neo-Luddite group that had infiltrated the dome to be neutralized.
* * *
"Successfully tracked the Neo-Luddite group. All members have been neutralized."
"...It's only been 30 seconds since I mentioned it."
"To be precise, 26.7 seconds."
"......."
Apparently, nothing in this cyberpunk world could hide from the 'Deus Ex Machina' that was Eve.
Setting aside how flustered I was at how much faster that was than I expected, at least one worry had certainly lifted.
But that didn't mean...
Eve could solve every problem.
The physically severed power was the biggest issue.
The famous singers were all left twiddling their thumbs, the audience had started shouting for credit refunds, and according to what I'd heard from Andrea, the company was expressing intentions to simply ignore it all.
In short, it was a total shitshow.
I asked Eve a question first.
"...Power restoration is going to be impossible, I assume?"
"Physical problems cannot be resolved through this AI's capabilities."
Well, I figured as much.
Honestly, if she could have solved even this, I would've founded something like 'The Church of Eve' and started praying to it.
Catherine scratched her head and spoke.
"I've been listening to what people around here are saying, and it sounds like today's just a total wash."
"Even from what I can see, it's a wash."
"No, it's more than that."
Catherine gave a brief explanation.
The hallway had been lit up with makeshift emergency lights scavenged from somewhere, but apparently many people were still trapped in the parking lot.
Finally, Catherine pointed toward the ceiling and the direction of the stage.
"Even if everything else gets restored, the stage lighting and equipment consume way too much power, so they said it's absolutely impossible."
"Who said that?"
"The lighting director."
An expert's opinion, so it carried even more weight.
At this rate, it might just be better not to hold the concert at all.
Even if they somehow restored it and started the show, the problem was that the audio and lights could cut out mid-performance.
...Isn't there any way?
I thought for a short moment.
Andrea smiled softly in my direction.
"No, it's okay. This kind of thing happens more often than you'd think."
"......."
"Really. And I can just sing at the next concert anyway."
"......."
"...Would you say something?"
"Ah, just thinking for a second."
Seeing Andrea looking so downcast made me even more determined to find another way.
How could we keep the concert going?
I wasn't even hoping for a full recovery.
If the audience could just enjoy it, and Andrea could sing comfortably, I'd be satisfied.
...Stage, lighting, equipment.
Hmm.
"Hey, Andrea."
"...Hmm?"
"What about this method?"
I whispered my idea into Andrea's elf ear with a quiet voice.
Soon, Andrea looked at me and spoke.
"...I'm fine with it, but are you okay with it?"
"Well, I've got to try. If it really seems impossible, I'll just act as a human battery or something."
But that was the absolute last resort.
After asking Catherine and Eve for their understanding, I moved with Andrea to find the staff in charge.
* * *
[Lmao hahahaha, serves you right lol. Concert's a bust, right?]
Got pushed all the way back to a million in the waiting queue lmao
Good thing I failed at ticketing lmaooooo kek
ㅡ I respectfully curse your mother.
└ lolol you mad bro? (OP)
[Neo-Luddites, you sons of bitches]
(Pitch-dark venue photo)
I came to see Andrea's concert!!!!
Why take it out on the performance itself instead of just dealing with those bastards with implant vocal cords!!!!!!!
ㅡ Raise the brightness a bit; I can't see the photo.
ㅡ Title: Dancing Black People
└ Your racism is on par with an Orc's.
└ Stop the Orc hate.
ㅡ Lmao, they said the power went out. Looks like it's for real.
└ Seriously can't see a thing (OP)
[Breaking News) They're saying the concert's going to start anyway?]
What?
ㅡ Probably just going to sing without anything else lol.
ㅡ Hahaha credit-crazed bastards lmao, looks like they don't want to give refunds lololol.
ㅡ Anyway, they said the concert's on, so I'm going to watch (OP)
* * *
Above the stage, shrouded in shadow.
One by one, small lights began to appear.
The flames that emerged in midair gradually grew in size, instantly illuminating the surrounding stage.
It didn't take long for the eyes of the rowdy audience to focus intently on the stage.
When the growing flames stopped,
the figure of an 'MC' flying through 'the air' appeared above the stage at the same moment.
Their movements were far too natural to be suspended by wires.
The MC traversed every corner of the stage as if genuinely flying, and the MC themself wore a broad smile of pure enjoyment.
After flying a few laps through the air, the MC slowly descended onto the stage.
《First of all, I must apologize for the issues that occurred! Thank you for your patience! Everyone! At this very moment! In this place! We will now announce the beginning of the 'Iron Heart Festival'!》
"Waaaaaah!!!"
The audience's cheers echoed noisily throughout the dome.
As if responding to the sound, the flames decorating the stage grew larger and larger.
More than a typical spotlight,
the intense impact captivated the audience's gaze.
.......
And I was behind the stage.
"Lights here! Front, to the front!! I said move it forward! No, a bit slower!"
"Raise the MC's position higher! No, if you raise them from there, their head will hit the lights! Does anyone here want to deal with a corpse?!"
"Would it be possible for you to float our singer in the air as well? We'll compensate you generously!"
I was using magic while being grabbed by the collar by the lighting director, the stage manager, and other singers' managers. I felt like Dobby being put to work.
I'm losing focus here, you humans.
No, don't block me.
"Ah, move aside a little! I can't see!"
"Now! Red light! Quickly!!"
But these people were completely devoted to their own duties.
Listening to the lighting director's scream, which sounded like a dying cry, I slowly changed the color of the light to red.
I did say I'd do it.
But I should've just stayed still.
"......."
Well, still.
Suffering alone so that all these audience members and staff could enjoy the show... it didn't feel all that bad either.
"Brighter!!"
I wiped the director's spit off my face and thought quietly.