323 – EP.12 Daily life with NB-1
***
It’s been a week since NB showed me CLBS-1283.
As always, I had to adapt to this new dimension I had entered, and I decided to help NB with his work as a way to adapt.
There wasn’t much I could do to help since I was so small.
Most of the repair work was done by robots attached to the base (NB that’s what the dimensional navigation ship was called).
The robots at the base were kept offline, perhaps because humans had the foresight to anticipate that the Ark would take over Aaru.
Because it was offline, simultaneous work could not be done, so the work speed was slow, but for NB, which had infinite time, the slow work speed was not a big problem.
He said that with my joining, there was a small positive news in that there were now two robots that could be operated at once, which boosted my self-esteem.
– When I send a signal, you just have to press the button.
NB spoke to me in a businesslike tone, and I had no desire to feel any warmth from him.
– Like this?
– Excellent.
Where did you see and learn? NB gave a thumbs up.
It was a little funny to see him with a dull face and just a thumb up.
Repair work at the base was usually carried out at night. After dinner, we spent about 2 hours at the base, and I asked if it would be better to set up a base here if this was going to be the case.
NB then said that if the weather got colder, he would consider sleeping on base.
After repair work, when I go to bed and the sun rises at the end of dawn, NB quietly comes near me and wakes me up.
After rubbing my sleepy eyes and eating a simple breakfast prepared by NB, I enter Aaru with the bright sunlight on my back.
As if playing a stealth game, you enter the city by evading drones with perfect timing.
At first, my heart was pounding like it was going to explode, but after following NB for about 2 days, I got used to it.
It was a secret that only I knew that the secret practice I learned while attending the teacher helped me adapt.
Walking through alleys and alleys, side streets and side streets, I pack the necessary things in my backpack.
I also packed my daily necessities with fern-like hands.
After spending time like that, when the sun rises high, we have lunch at one of the few remaining bases in Aaruna.
I cleaned up after eating a chocolate-coated energy bar and throwing the waste into the bushes near the base.
The schedule after lunch changed fluidly depending on the farming status that day.
If the farming status was not good, I would take a walk around the garbage dump and return to base A-11. If the farming status was good, I would go to the library and look for books on dimensional theory.
If nothing else, we talked on the spot until the surveillance drone was switched.
– Why is Kang In-ho helping me?
– There is a place I want to go back to.
– Contrary to appearances, you seem to know a lot about dimensions.
NB looked my small body up and down, and I thought that it looked really human.
– It is very unlikely that the dimensional sailing ship will go to the dimension that Kang In-ho wants to return to. CLBS-1283 only has the ability to open dimensional passages and explore them.
– There is a probability.
I pretended to be a positive person.
It was not optimism without measures.
However, it was clear that the curse of the damn goddess on my soul would work in some way, and I was trying to break that curse by making an exception.
How will this curse work if you travel through dimensions with a human body, not a soul?
I was very curious about that.
– Challenging odds that are close to impossible. Can we define this as ‘humane’ behavior?
– That’s not necessarily true.
As he smiled and waved his hand, the aperture in NB’s eyes moved.
– For a moment.
Then he came closer to me.
I took a step back when I saw NB rushing in, but I wasn’t able to gain much distance.
– It appears to have been scratched.
NB folded his hands over my right hand.
As NB said, there was a red line drawn on his right hand as if it had been scratched somewhere.
There wasn’t any particular bleeding, but when NB pointed it out, a stinging sensation suddenly came.
– There is disinfectant at base A-11, so we will disinfect it when we return. Since there is no medical module, treatment will be somewhat limited.
– It’s just a little scratched, so all you need to do is disinfect it.
The body is different, but it is a body that has been stabbed with a knife and had its head cut off.
A scratch of this magnitude cannot even be considered a cause of injury.
The wind that was moving around Aaru also reached the base where we were hiding.
The cool wind blew across my forehead, and NB’s neat hair was also tousled.
I closed my eyes and felt the wind.
It didn’t feel that bad to be in the last city of the ruined world.
***
The most perfect and safe place in the world, blocking all unnecessary contact with the outside world.
The deepest part of Aaru. Cradle.
Contrary to the name of the place, there was a huge rectangular device placed in the center of the cradle.
On its body, which was as tall as a three-story apartment building, loud lights were turning on and off repeatedly.
It has many names.
ID Integrated System of Identification Saving, Ark.
[Check special information. Analyzing]
An orange light came on on the body of the ark that managed everything in Aaru.
Ark began calculating while looking at the screen captured by the reconnaissance drone.
[The last time waste was thrown into the garbage dump was 15 minutes ago.]
[Confirmed that some of the trash was settling abnormally.]
[97% Probability based on simple weight]
[3% Chance of being caused by unmanaged wild animals]
[All populations of Aaru must be maintained at a specified number]
[Start tracking wild animals]
[Start deploying 132 drones nearby]