Thankfully, Yuri brought some fun things with her… and with a chessboard strapped to the back of the Kettenkrad, we ended up playing chess. I wasn't great at it, but not terrible either. A 1522 ELO is actually decent...
"Checkmate," Yuri said, grinning as she laughed cruelly.
No matter how much I tried to plan ahead, this damn robot never seemed to make a mistake. Meanwhile, just the slightest distraction from me turned into a blunder.
"You have to be cheating!"
"No I'm not. I'm just naturally the best at this."
Naturally… what does that even mean?
Yoku kept driving, scanning for safe routes. The final stratum of the city wasn't what I expected—still no humans. We'd ascended a long staircase to reach this place. Thousands of steps. The air was colder now. Strange… it was hotter down below. But this world is unpredictable. Still desolate. Still empty.
[This Robot: Yuri]
Oh, you're awake again… Adam sighs—the system parasite.
[Hey, don't call me that. But it is weird how this android didn't follow my instruction, it escape the island. No matter. My creation was doomed to fall.]
A teasing voice from the system follows:
[If you want, I can help you win.]
…Silence.
The ruins here feel different—flat concrete structures, lights still wired between them, towering buildings like broken skyscrapers. The hum of machinery never stops.
The Kettenkrad rumbled beneath us, its tracks grinding against cracked pavement as we circled around aimlessly.
Yuri leaned lazily against the side. "Hahh… this is so boring. There's nothing new here…"
Actually, there is. Non-human robots—automatons—are scattered throughout the city, shattered or rusting in pieces. Some half-buried in the crevices. Adam wondered where they came from. This isnt the type of what Doctor had built.
[Yep. I'm a genius.]
Sigh. Can a replica of artificial intelligence really be you? If I were in my own world and someone reconstructed a dead family member as an AI… I wouldn't accept it. I'd hate them. I'd hate it. It's not the same.
The ground beneath them shakes periodically, why does it do that…
Suddenly, Berto stretched and stood up from his curled position.
"Looks like the lazy cat's awake," Yoku said.
Without warning, Berto jumped off the Kettenkrad and bolted toward a large hole filled with broken iron bars.
"Ehh?!" I stood up, startled. "Berto!"
Yuri facepalmed. "Oh man… sigh. What do we do?"
Yoku hesitated. "I mean… sigh…" Yuri and I looked at him pitifully. "Fine, I guess we go after him. I just hope we don't die down there… Adam, you do know we could get lost, right?"
I hesitated, then shook my head. I wasn't the only one on this journey anymore. I couldn't risk losing them.
"I—"
Yoku grinned. "Good thing I can memorize paths! Let's go."
He drove the Kettenkrad into the hole. It turned out to be a passageway, lined with massive rotating fans the size of buildings. The ground below us clanged with every roll of the treads. Jagged steel bars jutted from the sides—falling here meant certain death.
I pulled out the gadget Yoku had given me—a sort of camera-phone hybrid—and tried to locate Berto.
[Initiating virtual mode...]
Suddenly, the dormant drone from adam scattered around the ruins began to stir, like they were seeking something, and not needing any controls.
Whoa… this thing is useful. But how?
We continued on.
Yuri glanced at Yoku. "We're not lost, right?"
"Totally not. I memorized the path," he replied confidently.
I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or worried.
[Adam, look at this.]
What?
[Two lifeforms detected. 100 meters away. Running. Type: Human. They're kids.]
Wait… what? "Adam, stop!" I leapt off the Kettenkrad.
"Hey, that's dangerous!" Yoku yelled, clearly annoyed.
"Follow me!"
Why were they running from us? Were they scared? And why were kids this high up in the city?
I sprinted through the crevices—medium build and short enough to slide through tight pipes. Yoku, being even shorter, followed close behind. I vaulted over beams and pillars until—
I grabbed one of the kids. A black-haired boy in a tattered military uniform. He was thin. Malnourished. "Got you!"
[Duck!]
Duck from wha—?
A pipe swung at my head. I ducked just in time. A girl had tried to bash me! And on the head!
"What the duck!" I gasped. These kids were insane.
Yoku caught up, grabbed both kids before they could escape.
Holding the girl, who flailed like a wild cat, he growled, "Adam… can I discipline this one?"
I sighed, heart still racing. That pipe swing could've ended me.
"Let's just take them back to the Kettenkrad."
"Hahh… more mouths to feed," Yoku muttered.
As we returned, Yuri lit up. "Oh, more humans!" she laughed with genuine delight.
We sat down. Yuri gently patted the kids' heads as they sat silently, staring. Did they even understand language?
"What are your names?" I asked, sitting beside them.
Yoku glanced back, steering the Kettenkrad. "They're called Ration Eater 1 and 2."
Yuri and I stared at him. Was… that a joke? He can make jokes?
"Seriously, I stocked enough food for a month. Now it'll last a week and a half," he grumbled.
The boy slowly relaxed. The girl did too, realizing we weren't threats. They simply watched us quietly.
Adam thought about it. There are more humans on the top floors… Why? Did something happen? Did they all… die?
Yuri handed them some canned fish. They ate ravenously. Soon, she was playing cards with them—of course, she won every round.
Then the cat camed back… unharmed, yoku was annoyed how they did all that danger just for this cat.
I just sat in the corner, watching.
At least I did something good today. At least… I'm not… never mind.
The boy finally spoke.
"I'm Kiseki. And she's Mino." He held her hand. She looked at adam "I'm sorry."
She looked ashamed.
"You just came running at us and we didn't know what to do. I thought you were—"
I don't even know if I would feel angry or just a forgiver, I see… I don't really know anything about this world, Is this even normal?
Thoom.
A heavy step, that shakes the entire part of the city
An automaton. Massive. Four-legged. Rusted joints groaning. On its back, enormous cameras like a flashlight.
It was searching.
It was bigger than a skyscraper.
And it was walking on us…