Human beings know the unknown even if they have no senses.
A small but neat space with a relatively comfortable bed. But my sleep was not very deep. Your body is not used to being in an unfamiliar place.
“Get up.”
Subtle difference in height of pillows. A slightly different posture due to the softness of the mattress. The temperature is slightly higher than that of the abyss, and there is a lot of dust. In addition to that, the noise coming from outside touches my nerves little by little.
The smell of military soap and dried grass leaves lingered on the tip of his nose. it smells unfamiliar Not unpleasant, but unpleasant, a military odor. A dry refreshing feeling that permeates through the gap.
“Wake up… . 3 attempts to wake up. Any attempt beyond this will be futile.”
He didn’t even hear the noise in his ears. All these sensations are disturbing my sleep. A shallow sleep that seems to be awake by just talking to someone… .
“According to the coping manual, we will activate the forced wake-up protocol.”
for a moment. something feels off.
“Why hey hey hey hey!”
“aah!”
Startled by the sudden noise, I rolled over the bed. As I got up in a hurry, the captain in full uniform was staring at me.
As if he didn’t know what he had done, I shouted at the captain who was looking at me calmly.
“Why are you screaming?!”
“It has been 10 minutes since I woke up. The main building did not wake up even after turning off the alarm and finishing preparations, so the forced wake-up protocol was inevitably implemented.”
“I’d rather touch your body! That’s better!”
The captain shook his head.
“The first priority should be a request, the second priority should be a warning, and the third priority should be exercise. Direct touching of other people’s bodies should be postponed.”
“No, the warning is as strong as the exercise of force! It’s like punching your eardrum, so I’d rather touch you and wake you up gently!”
“I refuse. If you get close enough to touch the body, you run the risk of destroying the golem from the reflex waving of its limbs.”
“It’s your body now, Captain Ab, right?”
The captain, who blinked his eyes twice, exclaimed.
“oh!”
oh shit.
How the hell have you been living as a golem that you still haven’t gotten used to your body?
“And when I shake my hand, it doesn’t hurt. From now on, just pat your shoulder to wake me up.”
“… entered.”
The captain nodded dissatisfied.
After putting on the clothes packet, I went down and ate the breakfast provided. Filling our stomachs with canned bean soup and homemade bread, we took our pass and headed straight to the meta-conveyor belt stop.
The supply officer saw the captain and saluted, then quickly checked the pass.
“Amittengrad stopover. 2 people, the required time is about 3 days. Bring a sleeping bag for the night, a utility lamp, a water bottle and food. Would you like a sleeping bag in a packet? We also have non-packet sleeping bags for those who lack horsepower.”
“Please send the main building in a packet. I… .”
The captain looked at me intently. I said, scratching my head, pretending to be a little confused.
“Give me a non-packet. Unlike Pi, it lacks a bit of magic power.”
‘beep?! Still?!’
It’s only level 1, but perhaps because it’s the captain’s family, the supply officer answered politely.
“All right. For my brother, as a non-packet sleeping bag. There may be performance issues, so use the straps wisely.”
‘denial! Not my brother… !ね! patience! All you have to do is get on the meta conveyor belt anyway!’
Is that true? Do you think I’m going to give up this delightful fake identity just because I’m on the meta-conveyor belt?
hahaha. no-nonsense sound.
So, with all our supplies, I and AB headed to the base station.
Even at night when everyone is asleep, the land flows and the cargo comes. So, what should I do?
Simple. Don’t let the laborers sleep.
Since they also have to pick up cargo that arrives overnight, laborers work in two groups: daytime and nighttime. The night shift workers, with traces of fatigue under their eyes, alternated between the approaching container and the day shift approaching.
Some of them thought we were going to take a shift when we heard about our popularity, and they became very happy, then they were greatly disappointed and turned their heads in case the captain would notice. With only a sigh, they prepared to run for the cargo at any moment and prepare to start the shift.
We passed them and headed for India.
The ‘person’ riding the meta-conveyor belt is a long-distance traveler. In particular, there are many soldiers who have been assigned to other regions or are conducting operations. Unlike cargo, they can ascend and descend at will.
Therefore, each captured guard stood at the stopover where people boarded and disembarked, instead of the tenacious laborer.
“Confirmed, Captain. And the captain’s brother.”
‘wealth… kinda tired. I just want to leave… .’
Seeing that his expression does not change in the meantime, it seems that he has received some education. If not, I may have given up on everything.
“The estimated time of arrival is noon in three days. Get off the flow in time. Otherwise, it will be one more round in the unstoppable flow.”
It is probably the mystery of the meta-conveyor belt that even a simple list of facts becomes a humorous expression. Engineers who have worked for 25 years are not just walking around shrugging their shoulders.
Seriously, if it wasn’t for this, the military would have eaten up the country sooner.
The gate opens with the salute of the guards. The captain saluted as if in response to the guards, and I vaguely bowed my back and raised my hands like a civilian who roughly followed without knowing anything. The guards did not answer my greetings.
‘It would be nice to have a captain as a younger brother. You can ride the meta conveyor belt for free. Chit, who can’t go to the military academy my younger brothers and sisters go to? .’
We got on the flowing ground, leaving the guards with a good posture but a bad heart.
When you first step on your feet, your body leans for a moment. But we quickly settled ourselves.
The speed of the stopover is 1/10 of the original flow. I can’t even stumble at this speed. I looked at the stop slowly moving away. Even the slowest wagon was faster than this, so the world seemed as slow as walking slowly.
But.
The tributaries flowing from different stops are merged into one. The speed of the meta-conveyor belt began to increase gradually.
Containers passing by here pass through the stopover as it is. Immediately after that, the point where the tributaries merge into one. The container, which seemed small from afar, gradually approached and filled the field of vision.
At the same time, speed begins to feel real. At some point, the wind is blowing in my ears.
It was a strange sight. I’m sure I’m on the same floor and the ground is still solid. The scenery passing by outside gradually changed.
It’s as if the world has left us and is running backwards.
A nearby sign disappears leaving us behind. A distant tree slowly walks backwards. Still, the world around us remains the same.
The Wind Blows. It is the wind that has stopped that proves that this land is running. The wind sometimes moves, but macroscopically it is stationary, so whenever the meta-conveyor belt moves forward, it hits a headwind.
The symbol of immobility and the symbol of flow were reversed and they cried out at the mismatch.
“… cold wind. That’s pretty scary. It’s a feeling I’ve never felt… .”
The captain, dressed in an instructor’s uniform, said, holding his hat tightly so that the strong wind did not blow him away. In the meantime, I cried, covering my face with a flapping sleeping bag.
“What are you going to do? Would you like to wrap yourself up in a sleeping bag here, or shall we walk and look for someone else?”
“… I’d rather walk. I don’t agree with the idea of finding someone else, but it looks like a windshield is necessary.”
“like. Let’s go!”
We took a step towards each other.
I go against the ground, the captain in the direction the ground is facing.
We took three steps and saw that the other person was not following us, so we just turned our heads. The captain in front shouted while holding on to his hat.
“Aren’t we supposed to go forward, of course? To walk backwards even though you can get there faster is against the mission!”
“Would you like to move forward with this wind as your face? don’t be funny How do you go forward on a board that won’t be cool even if you take it with your back?”
“You can’t neglect a mission because of something as trivial as the wind!”
“Are you ignoring the wind now? If it bothers you, your body will fly away! Of course you have to walk backwards to find it!”
Each other’s opinions were parallel. Can not help it. There is no choice but to cast the precious promise that mankind has prepared to resolve such trivial conflicts.
I shouted, raising my fists high.
“Choose with rock, paper, scissors!”
The captain shook his head resolutely.
“denial. Impossible. You can’t set your attitude toward your mission with something like rock, paper, scissors.”
“Oh really!”
Should I call this sincere, or should I call it tight?
How the hell did the military come up with this? If all of the people in the military were voluntarily obeying orders like Captain Abbie, this country would have prospered forever.
“Really, I didn’t want to write this way.”
Going forward, though, is crazy. It would be better to withstand the wind-type attack magic only if you walk against that wind to find an unpredictable windshield.
So, this is what you did. Captain.
I turned around.
“… ? Why are you turning back? I didn’t tell you to go ahead.”
“Catch me!”
rushed back The captain, who was looking at me as I ran away, pointed his hand at my back and followed me.
“oh! Stand up! No departures from the main building are permitted!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha! If you stand up, why are there police officers and laws in the world? catch me! Only then will it stop!”
“warning… ! If you do not stand, I will use force!”
“With no force whatsoever! horn!”
So I hung the captain behind me and ran upside down on the biggest belt in the world.
Perhaps it was awkward to run directly instead of a golem, the captain fell twice while chasing me. I thought I was going to go back because it was a pity to grab my red nose, but running on two legs in this harsh world is a basic skill I need to learn.
Thinking it was training, I ran decisively with tears in my eyes.
‘This real pain… . Feeling the wind… . It was something that a golem whose nociception was controlled could not feel it. Seriously, the main building is running on its own… !’
what should we do. I can’t run any more because I’m sad. At this point, isn’t it the military that raised puppeteers into puppets?
It was just that the windshield was visible in the distance. I quietly stopped so that the captain could catch me. The captain ran towards me with a proud expression on his face.
“I got it!”
Uh, but why isn’t it slowing down?
“Aww!”
A heavy shock felt on my back. It’s because the captain didn’t slow down and attacked me. No matter how hard I was, the back tackle with the weight of my whole body was difficult to bear, so I rolled over the ground as it was.
The captain, who sat on top of me who had fallen, grabbed my arm and said triumphantly.
“I will warn you firmly. After this point, if you voluntarily leave the main building, we will arrest you and escort you no matter what method you use… .”
clap clap.
Applause was heard from somewhere.
The captain shook his head at the sound he heard in his ear.
On the belt, a few dozen meters away. There was a structure that looked like it had popped out of the ground. It was a windshield.
Someone cleverly stood on top of the windshield made convex as if blowing the wind away. A middle-aged man with a lively and agile impression with his arms crossed, looking at him with a face full of interest, clapped his hands. His body was not shaken at all in this strong wind.
He had a mischievous smile that didn’t fit his age.
“What a loud appearance!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the faces of people hiding from the wind appeared on both sides of the windshield. They were looking at the new traveler with half anticipation and half concern.
read at noblemtl.com
Meanwhile, the captain’s gaze turned to the middle-aged man riding on the windshield.
and astonished. Pure astonishment filled my mind.
‘… ?! Why is he here?’
When the captain was speechless for a moment at the sudden appearance, I got up and pointed at the windshield while shaking my hands and feet.
“beep! It’s a windshield! It’s cold, so let’s go inside!”
‘So, beep is negative! The main building doesn’t remember giving you a nickname! I’ve never even had a nickname for Pi! and!’
Now that I’m here, I have to play the captain’s brother. I continued acting calmly and shouted at the person sitting on the windshield.
“There are people right now! hello! Can we come in too?”
‘You one stop! To get there, you have to think a little more deeply… !’
The middle-aged man who had climbed on top of the windshield nodded loudly and shouted.
“Sure! Because that’s what the windshield was made for! Come in!”
A firm yet sharp impression. A confident attitude, as if putting everything in the world under one’s feet. upright posture.
And above all else, even as she faced this raging wind head-on, her unshakable body seemed to assert that she was not an ordinary person.
‘warning… ! You are now walking into limbs!’
eh, what You don’t feel any hostility at all? Although unusual, I am a survival specialist who survived the abyss where the regressors, the founders, and the kings of dogs were beating. Don’t be nervous about people who don’t have enemies.
Unless your opponent is some sort of killer chariot monster… .
‘danger! The main building can’t even tell you that! A factor that has a security rating on its existence itself! Even though there are no strangers in the military, he has a position and power… !’
As I walked towards the windshield, waving my hand, I stopped. When I turned my head, the captain, who seemed to be in tears at any moment, was looking at me pitifully.
‘If he asks the main building about his mission, the main building must be completely honest! Because there is no such thing as unauthorized confidentiality! Even the fact that you are a laborer who came back alive from the abyss!’
With so much urgency, I read my thoughts again, and noticed what the captain was worried about. At the same time, there was a sense of crisis that everything could be ruined in the worst case.
hey, maybe so by chance… .
‘He’s General Patraxion, one of the army generals!’
You must have run into one of the military’s most powerful forces. I turned my head again. General Pataxion was just jumping under the windshield.
… If you run away in the opposite direction now, really try to catch me, right?
Meeting with general at bus stop. Lmao