Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 61 - Desert Artefact (part 9)
August 2055, in a small hotel in Cairo, Egypt,... In a small room on the hotel's highest floor, someone is sleeping very soundly. The sun has already risen. The soft sunlight illuminates the room through the small aperture created by the alternating curtains. The birds start chirping, welcoming a new day. This is the typical scenery of the morning, but contrary to people's beliefs, this does not mean the early morning. - Oh crap... It is already seven? I jump from the bed to the ground and quickly go to the bathroom. Yes, the person who just slept very soundly merely a few seconds ago was me. I was so deep in my dreams, that I ignored the first few alarms half an hour ago. Now, I am racing against time. Being late on the first day will make a very negative first impression. On the other bed, Mirai is still sleeping or recharging, or whatever way to describe the action. I better let her have some rest. After properly dressing up, I take the last look in the
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 62 - Desert Artefact (part 10)
My hotel room is empty. There are no signs of intrusion, meaning that Mirai had a premonition and decided to take action before something happened. Yea, what do I expect? Mirai has told me to arrive at the pinned location. I hide a photon pistol in my sleeves. Heading out of the hotel at a weird time again, I look like a thief, sneakily manoeuvring between the corners and the obstacles on the sparsely populated streets, trying to avoid attention from unknown and unwanted entities. As I approach a poorly lit alley the location, I see things that should not be seen. Malfunctioned drones are scattered in the shadow, mostly some unknown units. What has happened? I attach my pistol barrier with a silencer and turn off the safe mode. Raising the iron sight to my eye level, I straighten my arms, ready to fire at any suspicious units. I slowly walk through the alley, carefully checking any potential corners.
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 63 - Desert Artefact (part 11)
Well, that is uncalled for. - Stop right there, you filthy loiterer. - Mirai provokes the Intruder while pointing the rifle's barrel at him. The red laser pins its forehead like a menacing beast. - With all this disguise, you can still see through my identity. So I can conclude that you have wreaked all sorts of trouble on us lately, can't I? The Intruder seems not to look down on this individual among all the humans it deems lowly. It averts its eyes from the drone towards the figure that is pointing a gun at it. However, despite showing wariness, it keeps its composure, shown by its tone when responding to Mirai's provocation. - So what? Any sane person on Earth will try to stop you should they know what you are planning. Mirai has already switched to combat mod
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 64 - Desert Artefact (part 12)
You do not need to be a professional engineer to know that what we see down here is not a drainage system. According to my hypothesis, the Intruders build an entire structure under Cairo to react to anomalies, with entrances in the guise of manhole covers. But it should not be the case, as if they did so, they would have been discovered. - Yuusha, you have to check this. Mirai looks very surprised as she sees what unveils in front of us, but it is not because of the unexpected view. She projects her vision onto the ground. The map is of the North African region. And the blue arrow that marks our coordinate is in... - Wait, we are directly inside their underground base? - I am also surprised by the revelation. - Yes. The manhole cover is used as a temporary portal that links the
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 65 - Desert Artefact (part 13)
As soon as the connection to the outside is recovered, Mirai immediately redirects satellite weapons towards the various locations in the Sahara desert. Even if they fail, this is one of their last bet. Then, a subspace of the arsenal is formed, directly linked with the main arsenal. She will transfer weaponry for as long as the link lasts. Meanwhile, the continuous and reverberating pulses immobilise the Intruder units, buying a barely sufficient time frame for us to break through their formation once more. To maximise speed, I switch to a photon submachine gun. - Yuusha, we will try to escape this base first. I have transferred the teleportation port into the subspace, as well as more items for you to use against their numbers. Please help me hold them off for another five minutes. - I will try. But please be fast. Mirai turns
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 66 - Desert Artefact (part 14)
Once again, the entire city of Cairo is under the intense scrutiny of the Intruder forces, in a rather desperate attempt to find us. While to the naked eye, nothing can be seen in the sky, with Mirai's real-time information from the satellites, the drone density is higher than any numbers we have ever recorded. Thus, Mirai is effectively stuck in the hotel. And that is not our only concern. - According to the arsenal data, we have lost fifty per cent of our aerial units. Fifteen per cent of them suffer minor to major damage, and ten per cent needs recharging. For the throwables and ammunition, half of our supply has been depleted over the past few weeks. On top of that, the teleportation station is still there. The next batch of supplies will come after more than a week. At least, I manage to sneak a few kilogrammes of gravitational charge material... Murmuring to herself, Mirai looks at th
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 67 - Desert Artefact (part 15)
For the rest of the week, Mirai has been busy working, whether in my room or the working lounge of the hotel. She has been restricting her movements outside as much as possible to avoid the frequently patrolling drones. I do not know what she has been working on, but I hope that it is to address our 'pathetic budget'. I am watching the news on the television. There are recently all sorts of news reports referring to 'A Mysterious Disease spreading in Cairo' and 'Irregular Activities' that deluge all of the headlines. There has been a record-high Intruder presence in the area, showing how determined they are in trying to kill us. At this point, I believe the information about us has spread to the entire Intruder forces occupied on Earth. It is the weekend, so I might as well do something rejuvenating. The hotel offers some spectacular massaging services, and I find no reason not to indulge myself in a free treat using the premium key card. I head
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 68 - Desert Artefact (part 16)
- What the hell do you think, barging into the men's massage area? If you want a massage, at least wait first. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Mirai stands in front of me with the tablet, while I am effectively half-naked. After getting startled, I quickly jump from the bed and wear the linen suit. Mirai presses the screen of the tablet to my face as if I am extremely myopic. - See these numbers? Something is already going on. We need to hurry! - At least wait until I get out of this massage room first, can you? I have to cut short my session. After paying an apology to the massage worker, I head to the changing room where I put back on my normal clothes and go out of the lobby, where Mirai is already impatiently waiting. - What do you think w
Latest Chapter
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 106 - Project Tomorrow (part 5)
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 105 - Project Tomorrow (part 4)
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 104 - Project Tomorrow (part 3)
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 103 - Project Tomorrow (part 2)
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 102 - Project Tomorrow (part 1)
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 101 - The Future that Bet Life to Believe
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Interlude 7 - Rendezvous
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Interlude 6 - Pursuit
- A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Interlude 5 - Mileva