Masunori_M_DNext sub-arc: Deep into the Abyss. This sub-arc will conclude the first arc, Training. Thanks for reading A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex.
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A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 73 - Deep into the Abyss (part 1)
The incident quickly makes it to the mass media. Countless credible newspaper headlines and television broadcasts garner massive attention towards Africa. Many countries send research teams to fight over the corpse of the fallen Intruder. Samples are retrieved and experiments are conducted. The internet community comes up with various conspiracies to explain the phenomenon, not realising that some of them are exactly what is happening. People all over the globe engage in heated debates and discussions. The sudden attention forces the Intruder to be less aggressive, giving time for us to build up our arsenal again. For a while, Intruder activity across the entire continent has been low enough for us to have sufficient freedom, but we cannot drop our caution. For the past five years, Mirai has been sending more small satellites into the low Earth orbit to observe the Intruder activity globally. Every once in a while, we launch attacks on their facilities outside Africa for distract
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 74 - Deep into the Abyss (part 2)
I have already settled the payment for the damaged door. There should be no other reason he sends me something. However, I still have to check it. I click on the highlighted mail. "Sorry. It seems that I cannot hold any secrets longer. Please, run away while you two still can. You do not know what dark abyss you are heading into. They are coming." Very brief, but also too abstract. What does he mean when he says the secret? Is it related to the incident before? I immediately send a reply, hoping that things would come to the light. Other work email notifications quickly pop up. I am distracted by Albert's email. I should start doing my work before Mirai comes back. Half an hour later, the door opens and Mirai returns with a pack of goods from the nearby market. She takes out the kitchen utensils from the tablet archive and starts cooking. Nowadays, to adapt to the small environment we have to live in, Mirai specifically spends a portion of the archive storing those basi
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 75 - Deep into the Abyss (part 3)
After saying so, Mirai leans back. She is aware of her action and keeps the same face. Mirai is scared. Which breaks her character. But that makes me feel relieved. After all, she still has a human side that lurks between the rotating gears and running motors inside her. Artificial intelligence is constructed based on data. They use the past to project into the future. With many uncertainties that ordinary humans cannot factor in, there is a limit to what the mighty machines can do. Including this future. Timelines are born from the various uncertainties of the universe. With each choice, they branch and convolute. Thus, making it this far is purely due to luck. If anything, I should be surprised that nothing has gone off the track for ten years. Not only me, but I also think that Mirai would be the gladdest, knowing that her calculations based on her timeline are correct. They give her the motivation to continue fighting for the goodness of the world. The sense
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 76 - Deep into the Abyss (part 4)
- Too risky! As expected. We are in a heated discussion with the department directors, who keep rejecting my plan because they are risk-averse. - Listen. You have to remember that you are just an ordinary employee in the IT department, and if not for your boss who convinced the executives to keep you, you would have been dismissed the moment you stepped out of Egypt. And do you understand the word 'budget'? Look. we do not want things to escalate, and just try to help you realise what your job is. - Because I am in the IT department, I can access all sorts of data in the company if they are not restricted. That is why I say that it is possible. - Well, show us. With Mirai backing up, I cannot wait to see the eyes of the men, who condescendingly talk to me, shining up as if they see an entire gold mine. But no, after this, they will see a literal one. After walking towards the large screen, I place my tablet on the table to establish a
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 77 - Deep into the Abyss (part 5)
On the outskirts of the Sahara desert, a line of jeeps is roaming. Inside the leading jeep, there are four seats. Mirai and I sit in the back, while the driver and the one next to him, unexpectedly, are the people we know. - Cannot believe that we happen to meet you two again. - Mirai talks to the driver. - So do we. You should know how chaotic the branch is after you leave. But we managed to sort things out after the hospitalised employees recovered miraculously. - He lets out a boisterous laugh and slaps the steering wheel. Seems like I am completely forgotten. I do not want to be the centre of attention, so it is good anyway. That does not stop me from feeling uneasy, though. I spent almost double the time there compared to her. Speaking of which, after Mirai and the other director of the department proposed the idea to the board of executives, they showed scepticism, and as a result, a field trip is conducted. With Mirai tampering with the government's
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 78 - Deep into the Abyss (part 6)
Plunging across the sea of sand like speedboats, making waves of sand bursting behind their backs, after exactly one minute, the jeeps (or some kind of vehicle not even a jeep anymore) stop at the research site. The temperature starts dropping, forerunning the incoming night in the desert. Another reason mining activities are limited in deserts is the wild fluctuation in daily temperature. Screw all the scorching heat workers endure during the daytime, the sub-zero nighttime temperature is sufficient to deter anyone from setting up facilities here. On top of that, without vehicles as fast as pods, deserts are the most remote areas one would ever imagine working at. Except for the Internet connection, there is nothing to entertain themselves during off-work hours. While I am regaining my sense of direction, the research team has completed dismantling equipment from the jeep storage. The destination is a small oasis a few tens of kilometres away from the Intruders' base. The oas
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 79 - Deep into the Abyss (part 7)
- So nostalgic. We have been laying low; this is the first time we can roam using the plane again! - Mirai exclaims as she holds on to the steering wheel.- Say, why is it safe to travel by plane here? It is even more apparent to the Intruders, that there is a plane in a no man's land, during nighttime...- Then you have not seen the camouflage of this plane. Mirai opens a screen. The camera corresponding to the screen shows the air moving backwards at a high speed.- I know that it makes me sound like the emperor in the story 'The Emperor's New Clothes', but is the camera showing the plane?- Yes. I upgrade the light refraction system and this is the test phase. But so far, we are still safe.- Sometimes you reprimand me for screwing up, but I cannot understand what your purpose is, trying to bet our life on a prototype.- Spit out another sentence and you will walk in this freezing desert. The plane flies for less th
A Backpack, a Gun and a Codex Chapter 80 - Deep into the Abyss (part 8)
We return to the shelter the following day after placing bugs at five blue crosses. We bring the sleepy people back to their rooms and clean up the banquet. There are around three hours left before the anaesthesia wears off. On the next morning, the army of jeeps goes to an area nearby, where we have earlier confirmed that the ore density is high enough to conduct mining activities. While Mirai goes to help the research team assemble their equipment, I, along with the other men from the escorting team, sit on the back of one of the jeeps, observing the surrounding. I withdraw a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, take one out, ignite the end and smoke. Since Mirai advocates for health and imposes her ideology on me, it has been a long time since I get to smoke, and the feeling of pleasure and familiarity spread through my entire body. I give one to the man next to me. - Here, have one. - Sure. But, I thought you are the team leader. Why are you sitting here?
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