The Drifting Pioneer Ship Icarus (2)
The items I farmed from the external activity equipment storage aboard the drifting pioneer ship Icarus were as follows: one axe, one nailer, one tool-mounting harness, one flashlight that could be attached to the harness, and five multi-purpose battery packs. Whether it was the axe or the tools, they all required a power source to operate properly, and these battery packs made it possible. Since they were tools designed for use on a spaceship, the battery standards had been unified. I also discovered several rolls of sturdy industrial tape that looked highly useful and stuffed them into my bag. Everything else had ambiguous applications. They might have been usable back in Seongwon City, but I boldly abandoned them. When farming, you only take what you absolutely need. This was still the early stage. There was no reason to weigh myself down with excessively heavy loads that would kill my mobility.
Next space. This time I did not need to use the breacher on the door. I do not know what had happened, but it was already torn open. It did not look like someone had deliberately ripped it apart; rather, it seemed to have been caught unintentionally in some kind of explosion. A battle must have taken place here as well.
The interior was dark, the lights completely out. Too dangerous.
A wide, dark space was the perfect location for an ambush. Even if you thought you had cleared everything, one or two zombies always lurked in the corners, waiting to lunge for your neck. There were probably no zombies here, but a dark, expansive area remained equally hazardous. You never knew what might be hiding inside.
I first switched on the flashlight mounted on the harness’s chest piece. Wherever the beam landed, it revealed cargo containers stacked like small mountains. A cargo hold?
Corpses and drones that had clearly been caught in the explosion lay scattered everywhere, but the blast had left almost nothing worth salvaging. I managed to collect only a few batteries that still looked intact. Instead, I examined one of the shattered drones in detail.
The drone was shaped like a flat disc with two air-pushing fans mounted on either side. What caught my attention was the battery pack visible within its disassembled interior. As expected. It used exactly the same standard battery pack as the ones I had taken. This was the moment it became clear that every electronic device on this vessel ran on a single unified battery type.
Just as I paused to see what else I could grab, a faint mechanical whine sliced through the air—weeeing—
Yellow dots immediately began appearing on the map. One, two… a total of seven. I had no idea what they were, but seven unknown objects were now roaming this space.
The instant I confirmed their presence, I abandoned any thought of continued farming. A cargo hold like this would surely contain many tempting items, but nothing was more precious than my own life.
I switched off the flashlight at once. Darkness swallowed the room, yet with the map inside my head I no longer needed to rely on my eyes. The faint afterglow of the emergency lights let me discern the general outlines of objects. There was no reason to reveal my position by turning the light back on.
The map showed three possible passages. The space appeared to function as both a cargo hold and a corridor. I immediately ruled out the central route; the layout suggested major facilities lay in that direction, which would naturally mean tighter security.
A single yellow dot sat motionless in front of the left passage—most likely a fixed security device similar to the turret I had seen earlier. That left only the right passage.
Strangely, no drones traveled along the right side of the room. They circled the area as though a massive wall blocked their path. Was there something here the drones were forced to avoid? It seemed unlikely. If such an obstacle existed, the map would have marked it. The same system that had detected everything from giant apes to drones would not miss something so obvious.
Relying on the mental map, I moved forward as silently as possible. The moment I entered the right sector where no drones ventured, the accident occurred.
Clang— I accidentally kicked an object lying on the floor. It was the kind of mistake I would never normally make. My entire focus had been locked on the newly acquired map ability.
Ziiiiing— The air around me changed in an instant. Every dot on the map reversed direction and began converging on my position. They had pinpointed me. The encirclement was tightening.
Under pressure so intense that even drawing breath felt dangerous, I tightened my grip on the nailer’s trigger. I scanned for the best possible position—anywhere I could take cover if combat broke out. Against humans or zombies I would have had several decent spots, but flying drones left me with nowhere to hide.
It was then that a voice emerged from the darkness.
Goosebumps erupted across my skin. The system had stated there were no survivors left aboard. While I faltered in confusion, a nearby container creaked open and cast a sliver of light outward. What I saw inside was grotesque.
A female-type android leaned against the wall, her entire lower body missing.
“Please come this way.”
The broken chassis emitted the words through crackling noise. The android stared at me with empty lenses and continued with obvious effort.
“A concealment field is active inside.”
That single short sentence lit up my mind like a flare. So this was why the drones had been avoiding the area as if an invisible wall existed. Whatever this android was projecting had been scrambling their sensors.
There was no time to deliberate. I threw myself into the container and slammed the iron door shut.
Clack.
The instant the door sealed, an unpleasant high-frequency tone scraped across my eardrums. At the same time, the seven yellow dots on the mental map began to wander in confusion before slowly dispersing.
For now… the immediate crisis is over…
But the situation was far from resolved. I examined the container’s interior, which glowed with a faint light. Fluorescent coolant leaking from the android’s body bathed everything in an eerie blue hue. Only then did I notice the faint green light on the map that had been difficult to see before.
I leveled the nailer at the android’s forehead and spoke.
“Who are you?”
“This unit’s designation is Nia. I am an administrator-grade android.”
“Why did you help me?” I demanded, pressing forward with the barrel. The first survival rule I had learned in Seongwon City was that unearned kindness always exacted a price.
“It is a logical judgment. This unit’s current damage ratio is eighty-two percent. Mission completion is impossible without external physical assistance.”
She displayed no fear despite the gun aimed at her head. Hers was not the gaze of a living being that dreaded death, but the emotionless stare of a machine operating solely toward its objective.
“Survivor. This unit proposes a mutually beneficial transaction.”
The narrow, sealed container was oppressively silent. The only sounds were my ragged breathing and the faint sparking that came from somewhere inside Nia’s ruined body.
Keeping the nailer trained on her, I studied her condition once more. It was horrific. Everything below the waist had been sheared away, and her arms looked incapable of meaningful movement.
“With the crew member’s current equipment status, the probability of survival inside this vessel is less than ten percent.”
She was not wrong. Even though I was hiding inside this container, the yellow dots on the map were still searching for me.
Taking my silence as agreement, Nia laid out her specific terms.
“Proposal details. First, connect one of the multi-purpose battery packs in your possession to this unit’s auxiliary input port. Second, secure this unit to the harness and escort me to the cybernetic maintenance bay. Spare components for me are stored there.”
“You expect me to carry you all the way there?”
“Negative. There is no practical benefit in recovering the entire main frame. It would be inefficient.”
“What? Then?”
“You need only detach this unit’s head from the main body and transport it. Upon reaching the maintenance bay and connecting to a spare chassis, all functions will be restored.”
My mind blanked for a moment. I had never before encountered a sentient being that calmly instructed me to cut off its own head. Still, since it was a robot, the head might continue to function independently.
I forced myself to sound composed. “Then what do I receive in return?”
“This unit can project a concealment field that disrupts the recognition logic of every drone and turret aboard the ship. In addition, this unit is capable of bypassing the vessel’s security lock protocols. I will guide you along your route, unlock every supply sector we pass, and allow you to collect as many survival resources as you desire.”
What? You were the master key all along?
The moment those words registered, I pulled a battery pack from my backpack and held it up.
“Understood. Where do I connect the battery pack?”