2022-06-24 12:05:21The clock has shown a big 08:00 on its screen, but I am just too tired to wake myself up after all the hard work. I try to sleep in for a few more minutes before starting a new day.
- Yuusha, wake up. It's time for your training phase. We will be targeting places that are easy to attack for you to get used to the pace.
- Five more minutes... The customer's order is due tomorrow...
Mirai is intolerant of my weird sleep schedule, and she pulls the warm blanket away from me. The morning wind breeze flows through my back.
- Cold! Cold! Why must you ruin my precious morning, especially after my hectic work schedule yesterday? - I speak in a sleepy voice.
- Well, the only reason that I send this package to 2050 is that the Intruders make their first move sometime this year, and they start setting up bases. We need to uproot the weeds to kill them, so that is why we are also making our moves now. But don't worry, I will choose an easy target for you for today.
- Fine, but please give me some rest in exchange after this mission.
- Yes, I will. So, please get ready with your items. I have made you breakfast, and we will be departing in twenty minutes.
Breakfast? I have not had a proper meal since I left my parents to live an independent life. I have always been eating pre-cooked meals from convenience stores thanks to my laziness, and this food helps when you are facing a deadline. They just do not help with the catastrophes in your stomach, your declining health and in the toilet, thanks to the lack of fibre.
After packing up the essentials (namely, the submachine gun that I used the last time, some tactical items, and the tablet with an obsolete and weird name Codex), I have breakfast. A dish of salad, and a slice of garlic bread, probably healthier than anything I have eaten since I left my parents' house. And to be honest, it also tastes delicious.
- Wow, pretty amazing. Would not even expect this... - I speak to myself while trying to finish up the food in twenty minutes.
- This is just a robot shell, but I have uploaded my memory from human time here, so basically I know basic skills, unlike somebody here who forgoes his health with fast food...
- OK, please shut up. I have finished my meal. The kitchen system will clean them for me when we leave.
We are currently standing in my house's backyard, and Mirai is summoning a small plane from the arsenal.
- I will drive this plane to the destination. The information for our first target has been uploaded to the Codex, so you can read from it while finishing your freelance work. We will take about fifteen minutes to arrive. - Mirai confidently grabs the steering wheel of the plane.
But then, she is the only person who knows how to drive a plane, so I will push the responsibility to her in any case.
- Thanks. - I say.
While the plane takes off smoothly and is flying to the destination, I read the information from the tablet. Our target today is a small island which has been used by the Intruders to build a reconnaissance tower. It is told in the tablet that these towers will transfer information to the mothership somewhere in the galaxy.
- Destroying these towers will slow down the Intruders' progress, although just slightly, and they are also a good target for new people. The Intruders build this reconnaissance tower far away because they think that humans will never travel to this place or their satellites will not detect this place. This makes the defence system of this tower very weak and vulnerable to assaults. However, there are still Intruders patrolling here, so we need to take extra caution. - Mirai seems to know exactly what I am doing and speaks when I am focusing on reading. - And by the way, we are here already.
In my view, there appears a small island, only about one or two kilometres square in area. In the centre, there stands a tower with antennas protruding upwards, and some Intruders scattering around. If everything looks exactly like how I see them now, this will be a piece of cake.
- In case you did not capture anything I said before, our mission is to knock down all Intruders, enter the tower and collect intel if there is any. Fast enough for you to have an afternoon nap after this.
We land on a hidden corner on the island, and Mirai put the plane back into the arsenal. She then summons a sniper rifle, and we approach the tower.
- As you can see, about three to four Intruders are guarding the tower, but there may be more of them hiding inside and only responding when there is an emergency. So I will be aiding you from this cliff, while you clear the Intruders as you approach the tower. After you signal me that infiltration is successful through the Codex, I will immediately come to you. Is that clear?
- Wait, why am I the person attacking, while you sit afar and just observe the battle? Can we change roles?
- Nope. I can assign you to this commander's role later when you have enough experience, and it is good for you to have some exercises out there. What if somehow I pass away, and there is only you left? Do you plan to hide and ambush the Intruders forever?
Well, Mirai is just a robot, but that somewhat makes much sense, hypothetically.
I hold my submachine gun tightly as I go nearer to the tower. This makes me nervous. I am sweating like a pig.
- Remember, anytime you approach a technological infrastructure or face an enemy using a machine, activate the EMP device to disable them. But, before that, turn off this communication device to avoid it being damaged. - Mirai instructs me from the cliff.
I take out the EMP device, which resembles a small box, and after I temporarily shut down the communication device, I press the activation button. A short-range electromagnetic pulse pierces through the air, which feel a little bit dizzy if the user is having an electronic device on him, and the next moment I see it, the tower has temporarily stopped working. Then, a few more Intruders go out from the tower to check for damage.
- By the way, the physical shell design for my body includes enhanced magnetic shielding to protect my brain and moving parts from an EMP, so I will be fine even when I have not turned myself off. And I have marked the location of the entrance to the tower already. Your spectacles should be seeing it in yellow light now. - Mirai continues the instruction.
- Wait! Since when did you synchronize your vision with my spectacles?
- It's a secret. Now, kill the Intruders outside, and prepare in case the Intruders call reinforcements. I will provide support from here.
I try to find a corner closer to the Intruders, and when the range is suitable, my gun barrel is locked at the confused Intruders, and I pull the trigger.
The aim-assisted laser beams penetrate through some of the Intruders' cores and they collapse. Some of the surviving Intruders start becoming panicky and try to run back into the tower. But not so fast.
A sniper bullet carrying some explosives hits the entrance door, and it blows the dirt and sands up, covering the area with dust. I embrace the chance and quickly kill the remaining Intruders. The field is temporarily cleared.
- Mirai, I have killed the Intruders around here. Before the reinforcements arrive, we can quickly attack this tower to collect information and leave.
- Yuusha, nice. Place a SAM turret where you stand, and quickly proceed to the entrance.
I take out the SAM turret and place it on the ground as instructed. The SAM turret automatically locks on and destroys enemy aerial units, which buys us some time. Right when I am standing in front of the door, Mirai has already teleported here.
- Now. Three... Two... One... Go! - Mirai slightly opens the door and throws an EMP grenade inside the entrance tunnel. After it detonates, we kick the door like real police forces, enter the tunnel and quickly deal with the Intruders.
Deep inside, I hate to see these creatures from a close angle. Just look how ugly they are. Where in the world would a creature need to evolve six eyes to look in a single direction? And where would they need dark, wrinkly skin with spikes all over their bodies? Yikes!
- Mirai, do you know how to reach the control room?
- Yes. My vision and your spectacles emit ultrasound waves that help to map out this place. After that, the spectacles will guide you to the endpoint, if mapping is successful.
The tunnel is like a maze, with all kinds of corners. After five minutes which feels like five hours, we arrive at a big room with many cutting-edge appliances and electronic equipment. In the middle of the room, there stands a control panel and a big screen.
- I will hack into the system and extract as much information from here as I can. Just wait a while. - Mirai plugs a wire from her hand into a random port on the panel and starts typing something with the keyboard on the panel.
I also take the time to do my freelance work. After some time, five minutes maybe, all the data has been retrieved.
- OK, we are done with today's mission. Let's go. - Mirai says, as she unplugs the wire.
I feel a vibration from the tablet. I assume it means the data has been stored in the archive. We go back to our plane after everything we can steal has been taken. But things start to get hard.
- Yuusha, the Codex is telling that the SAM turret is operating at the moment. Get your equipment ready. We will engage with them as soon as we get outside this tower.
I reload my gun and get ready for the fight. We quickly run towards the exit.
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A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 9 - Arctic Tactic (part 2)
- Anyway, fire grenades and flamethrowers are must-haves. I will escort you to a safe sniping spot, then we split up. In case things turn bad, call in air support to distract them. - I suggest the idea as a last attempt. - Sure, let's make do with this first. In the snowy weather, we flee across the forest. Soon, we see a hill, which is again covered in layers of snow and complex terrain. At the top of the hill, we can see the military camp. I help Mirai to set up a camouflage, which simply consists of a white suit to fit the snow and a disruptor to conceal their electromagnetic radar. Then, I leave the hill, across the forest, towards the military camp again. Things do not go as easily. As soon as I reach the forest, a few Intruders have been deployed to search for us in the forest, and if not thanks to my sharp instinct, I could have exposed myself. I hide behind a boulder and update the field through my tablet. About twenty Intruders with light arms are p
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Author's Notes
Hi. This is Masunori_M_D, and welcome to A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex, a science fiction novel. Other elements are included, but it will revolve around science fiction as its main theme. Before I talk about anything, thanks for reading my novel, although it is just one or two chapters. As an amateur author, I sincerely value your reads, as the reception would help me improve my novel. For now, the first few chapters may be a bit boring. However, the story would (hopefully) be more interesting after about ten chapters. Let me guide you through our content until now. 'A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex' has a total of four arcs, named Training, Escape, You and I, To Where it All Begins, and Showdown. As of now, we are in our first arc of the novel. In this Training arc, we would have sub-arcs, which include the following sub-arcs. The content of the future arcs will be reviewed in the future. I) Training (100 + 7 chapters) 1) Introduction (11 chapters)
Latest Chapter
Chapter 109 - Project Tomorrow (part 8)
- Have you received their money?- Yes, but ultimately, they agreed on half the maximum prize. It was a huge compromise on our side, but better than nothing. The money was wire-transferred into my decoy bank account this morning. A few days have passed since the filming of the game show. I was told to do nothing, as Mirai would handle the negotiation. Details of how they met up are intentionally omitted when I ask her, but she agrees to disclose how the negotiation progresses. Nobody knew the exact location of the room, but it represented the interrogation room, except nobody was having the edge. As per Mirai's request, they only brought three people. In the middle of the room, there was only a poorly maintained wooden table, with two chairs on opposite sides: Mirai on one side, and the main negotiator on the other side with two standing guards. The room was small, and the only source of light was a loosely hanging lamp. Their negotiator initiated the conversat
Chapter 108 - Project Tomorrow (part 7)
With an abrupt gunshot, the screen that streams everything happening in the studio loses signal. Ali's face distorts and darkens: given how the strict protocols have kept the upper hand for him and the production crew, the incident is a surprise. He tries to contact the surrounding staff for help, but the electromagnetic interference system imposed on this room renders all his attempts futile. - I knew it! You have been the mastermind behind this scheme all along. Now we can legally arrest you for fraud...- I am pretty sure this is one of your operation blunders that resulted in a technical failure. On top of that, you have no grounds to frame me, and given how you said that everything I have to go through here is backed by the government, I wonder how this narrative would develop in case we see each other again in court.- Nonsense! As if somebody will trust the word of an ordinary person.- But how would you, the perpetrator, prove that whatev
Chapter 107 - Project Tomorrow (part 6)
So the production team does not stop at heightened security.- You don't seem surprised at all.- I know the production team will go all out to protect the hefty sum of a billion pounds. It is just a matter of time before you rely on drastic measures, but to go this far... So, regarding the fifteenth question...- We have plenty of time. And the moment you incorrectly answer the last question, it is all over.- What makes you think that I will get the final question wrong?- Of course not you, but him.- Him? The screen in front of me shows the footage of the studio. Everything is there: the dramatic lighting and sound, the audience holding their breath, the host reading the question, and the contestant furrowing while listening carefully to every word. Except the people sitting at the podium are not Ali and I.- The moment I first saw your assistant pushing you into the office for registration, I have already felt s
Chapter 106 - Project Tomorrow (part 5)
- Quick! Secure all exits of the television studio. Initiate first-level protocol. Focus security around studio 4-A. Hurried footsteps echo through the corridors and halls, as fully-armed police and military personnel impose a lockdown on the studio and check every nook and cranny for any intruders. The studio that hosts the game show is located in a fairly remote region near Cairo. As a national studio that produces most of the programmes in the country, its level of security is on par with a military base. The specific information of measures implemented is obfuscated to the public. Still, with some observation, one would realise that making any move within the studio needs meticulous planning from the most intelligent of humanity. As soon as every staff in the studio is mobilised, the girl starts to move. The trip sensors she installed throughout the studio have simultaneously triggered, capturing a huge movement.__________- The twelfth question is another
Chapter 105 - Project Tomorrow (part 4)
- ... and despite being the country with the largest area in the world, boasting up to eleven different time zones, Russia is surprisingly not the country with the most time zones in the world. In fact, it is France that claims the crown as the country with the most time zones in the world, with twelve different time zones ranging from UTC-10:00 to UTC+12:00! This is attributed to the fact that France has many territories worldwide, which also highlights their significant presence worldwide.- Wow, that is a very detailed description, although it may be difficult for the audience to grasp what you are trying to say. But yes, the correct answer to the country with the most time zones is B, France! Let us give another round of applause for the amount of wisdom this fortitudinous man possesses! With Mirai's assistance from somewhere outside the studio, we breeze through the first ten questions ranging in all sorts of topics and requiring countless hours every day look
Chapter 104 - Project Tomorrow (part 3)
- Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the thousandth show of the series "Who Wants to Be the Zillionaire?", a weekly trivia game show every Tuesday only available on Al-Hayat TV. I am your host, Ali, and today, to commemorate the thousandth show, the stakes have been raised. There are still fifteen questions, but each question is exponentially harder. In return, once the player clears all fifteen questions, he will win up to... A billion Egyptian pounds, approximately three billion yen or twenty million US dollars. That is ten years' worth of my previous salary or more. For thirty-three years of my life, I have never thought about this, because the odds of reaching the final question are as high as winning a lottery. However, with Mirai's help, getting the winning prize will be a breeze.- Let's welcome our player for today! Due to special circumstances, we will refer to him as T. Mr. T, please come in. The door to the game show arena opens., and I am immediately
Chapter 103 - Project Tomorrow (part 2)
- It has been so long since we last talked in person. So, how have you been? - Let's say, my past few years have been a mess. You? - Same on my side. You cannot imagine how difficult it is to live around that woman. - From what I see, she is a very intelligent and awesome person, no? I envy you for having such a partner. - It is because of that so-called intelligence you praise her for, that I do not even understand what is going on in her head. I have a better chance of winning a lottery than guessing her mood. We quarrel almost every day. - However, if you think of it, it is those days that you argue that make you appreciate the days that you two live harmoniously together. Of course, I cannot speak for you, because my marriage is very peaceful back then... - I think I have mentioned this before, but please do not compare our dynamic with a married couple. - You are overthinking, brother. Albert and I
Chapter 102 - Project Tomorrow (part 1)
2060, Sahara desert... Project Ashita... After the brief exchange with the Colonel-ranked Intruder named Lamabula, Mirai and I spent countless hours after the construction observation duty hours to devise a plan. After careful consideration, the seeds of Project Ashita are sown. Before introducing the project to the CEA survivors, Mirai initially hesitated, but she ultimately discussed it with Lamabula. Without a doubt, he burst into his signature, explosive laughter and rejoiced the moment Mirai mentioned the scale of the project, and willingly lent a portion of the base's space for the construction of the colossal battleship. So long as he deemed us subpar compared to the Intruders, he would continue lending assistance. However, the dangerous part of this rigged contract is that we do not know until when he would deem us sufficiently dangerous and suddenly cut all support. However, that has never been Mirai's concern, who can fight head-on with Lamabula, and whose distrust a
Chapter 101 - The Future that Bet Life to Believe
Counter-Extraterrestrial Association, Egypt branch, 2060, From the outside, it looks like a small stand-up comedy house within the bustling tourist area of Cairo. However, in the basement, its true form is revealed. More than half of the basement area is for equipment and vehicle storage, and in the corner, a hydraulic lift is responsible for carrying them to the first floor. Deeper into the basement is the meeting room. Around the table, Mirai and Wilhelm sit next to each other, on the largest seat designated for high-ranking officials of the CEA or important people. Then, Ernst, Gottlob, Arthur, Maric, and I sit on the remaining seats. At the centre of the table, a hologram depicts the images of the current situation. Under the table, each seat will have a mouse which resembles a ball, so anyone can freely rotate or zoom in on the hologram projection for better observation. - Thank you everyone for being here. Before we start the impromptu meeting, two more people wo
