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A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Interlude 2 - Decision
It had been days since Albert's social withdrawal. He wanted, but he could not overcome the series of trauma that befell him. He was lost. Lost in his memories. Lost in his sense of ethics and morality. His mind was wandering among the vast pool of thoughts, which overlapped and interfered with each other into a complexity that he did not even want to comprehend. Next to him, there were empty bottles of wine, rolling on the floor. He did not bother going out to restock his groceries. He trapped himself inside his house, the only comfort zone that he probably had. Like his mind, his body wandered around the house, aimlessly. The food in the refrigerator depleted, slowly but steadily. The dust had accumulated around the house due to no cleaning. If only something would save him from this misery. "Knock. Knock." Speak of the devil. Somebody is knocking on the door. Albert remembered that he installed a doorbell but did not even care enough to question it. He made his bod
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 53 - Desert Artefact (part 1)
2055, As far as it is concerned, we have detected no spike in the activity of the Intruders despite us posing great threats to them. Sometimes, we would raid their yellow-level facilities to slow their progress down. Thanks to the stolen technology of gravitational charge, our raids go more smoothly. Ordinary bullets are charged up to the energy equivalent to a railgun projectile, making a powerful addition to the arsenal. Additionally, the sphere can generate a gravitational field within a limited radius, opening up to a variety of tactics. But let us neglect that story. We have other things to discuss. - Mirai. Guess what. - Yes? - I land a job. We are sitting on the couch in our living room. Mirai is still busy upgrading our technology level, but we have been stagnant since then. The gravitational charge technology can be utilised, but cannot be replicated. Also, one person cannot have an infinite pool of creativity and brainpower to create new
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 54 - Desert Artefact (part 2)
Monday, 5 July 2055, - Good morning! Let's see, Yuusha Takahashi, right? Welcome to Anderu Corporation, Tokyo branch. I will be your supervisor, you can refer to me as Yoichiro. - Thanks, Mr Yoichiro. Nice to work with you. - No problem! Let me bring you to our office. Today is the first day that I go to work. I am standing in front of the big company building, and a person in a very formal vest and tie already stands there, greeting me. Knowing that he is my supervisor through the company mail, I approach him and we exchange firm handshakes. After the talks, he brings me deep into the building. We take the lift and it brings us to the tenth floor. The lift door opens directly to a large room with a comparable table in the centre. There are many doors on the wall, neatly lined up. - This is our department. We are currently standing in the conference room, also the main room for department meetings or receiving customers, although it is t
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 55 - Desert Artefact (part 3)
The first month of work passes through like a breeze. I receive my first monthly payment. There is a fixed component and an additional 'work efficiency' payment. I do not pay much attention to it. The fixed component of an IT occupation can help me sustain until the next payment, both in terms of basic needs and the costly technological rampage by Mirai. It feels good to receive my salary, but there is another thing. - Hi, this is Yoichiro. Can you go to the conference room for five minutes? I want to talk to you. Yoichiro is speaking using the microphone near the doorbell. My nerves and muscles suddenly stiffen. - Yes, sir. Please give me a few seconds. Have I done something wrong? I am pretty sure that I have been an obedient subordinate. I finish all of the tasks assigned to me before the end of each working day. I do not provoke any quarrels or tensions with my colleagues. I am used to being put in trouble, but not this kind of thing. After g
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 56 - Desert Artefact (part 4)
- Clothes, checked. Personal hygiene items, checked. Laptop and charger, checked. All good. I am packing up to get ready for the temporary relocation. I need to make sure that whatever necessary luggage is put neatly in the tablet's archive. Even though Mirai's technology allows travelling back and forth in merely fifteen to twenty minutes, it is still a pain in the ass to do so. - Are you ready to go, Yuusha? - All good. I wear my tie, then polish my shoes. I need to keep a bare minimum appearance in front of the higher-ups there. Mirai is also busy gearing up. - Wait... Mirai, are you also going now? - Yea. I need to scout them to see where they would accommodate you, then rent a nearby hotel or house to make easy contact with you. - I thought you can simply intercept their emails or something. - I did, but I could not find any. So I would just fly there in advance and peek at them. Mirai goes to our backy
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 57 - Desert Artefact (part 5)
- You can alight now, Yuusha. - Thanks. The IT department guy steps out of the car and opens the door for me. I thank him and bring my suitcase out of the car. It is a small hotel next to a building with a huge logo of the Anderu Corporation. It looks like the check-in process was cleared before I arrive. The hotel receptionist hands me the key card to my room and asks the staff to lead me to my room, as soon as I enter the hotel. My room is on the highest floor. After we reach the room, I scan my key card to enter my room, and after making sure that the customer has occupied the room, the staff leaves. I wait until no footsteps can be heard and contact Mirai. - I have arrived at the accommodation venue. Have you found yourself somewhere to stay? After a few seconds, there is a signal from the other telecommunication device. I hear a response. - Yes, but actually no. There is a lot of free space around your hotel, so I planned to t
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 58 - Desert Artefact (part 6)
After clearing the payment, the ticket person calls another staff to bring us to the preparation room. There, we are handed a pair of augmented-reality goggles that looks like a head-sized ring and a controller in the form of an assault rifle. - Please wear this and hold the power button for a few seconds. I find a red button on the back of the ring and hold. After half a minute, the game graphics are loaded. Whatever background I see in my vision is the same, but the controller has been coated with a game-like design. It looks familiar. - Mirai, is this game some kind of collaboration with the virtual reality battle royale tournament? They just recycle the photon series design. - I tap on Mirai's back. - Most likely. This is also the first time I know that there are other modes around the world, although I know that the franchise is absurdly huge. A loading screen flashes through my vision, which shows a lengthy essay about the background story.
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 59 - Desert Artefact (part 7)
After a short discussion, I know that the boss has a few skills. The first one is an interruption skill. When we are some distance from each other, we can use our communication devices, but when the skill is active, long-distance communication is disabled. There are mechanisms around the museum that allows faster signal restoration. If the archaeologists are near the ghost, their vision will be slightly interfered with, as a warning feature. The second one is environmental manipulation. It can haunt (imaginary) artefacts, making them move around and disrupting the archaeologists. They can be shot down by the provided assault rifle. It can also randomly cause the rooms to move, either shaking the floor or causing fragments to fall on the archaeologists (of course virtual fragments are used to ensure safety). The third skill allows the phantom to temporarily switch between the phantom form, in which it can pass through structures but cannot interact directly with the archaeol
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