Rust - Chapter 307



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-307

The situation ended without any opportunity to refute the claim that the women were suffering from cannibalism.

‘Wasn’t there a story about a cure?’

‘They say that if you just have a cure, you can go about your daily life?’

‘But kill him?’

‘Even though there is a way to save it?’

It happened so quickly that it didn’t feel real. Whoosh- the ending was broken into pieces. The agents could now understand why Chief Dan Brown had been so careful.

That movement

Is that the same person?

It was not a movement that was possible for a human.

And above all, something that made my whole body stiff.

A pressure that feels like your heart is being seized.

A suffocating fear.

The thought at the end.

What should I do next?

Wasn’t the Department of Homeland Security an agency so powerful that it was called the new axis of power? Wherever you went, if you had a Department of Homeland Security agent ID, everyone would be able to get away with it.

But at Vladislav Tower, they were like security guards. If you wanted to come in, come, if you wanted to leave, leave, if you didn’t want to, don’t. That was the way they treated you.

I stuck with it because I knew the world was going to end in real time, but I couldn’t help but feel a part of my pride in being a Homeland Security agent and a federal government employee being eroded.

‘If you have any complaints, then don’t cause trouble and just get out.’

Why does Vladimara’s simple conclusion bother me so much? If I hadn’t come in from the beginning, if I hadn’t known about Vladiak Tower. What would it have been like?

While the agents were half-stunned by the unrealistic sight, Maru, who had put his sword back in its sheath, was very satisfied with Kim Yang’s judgment.

‘It’s gotten better.’, ‘It’s gotten a lot better.’ That’s what I was guessing, but judging from today’s evaluation, it seems like it’s almost recovered.

How much did you and Mr. Kim suffer from the side effects of the mutant virus? Even though you still feel emotional, you can still praise yourself for getting better.

Kiririn-Kiririn-

Maru said a word to Kim Yang, who was giving off an ominous vibe.

“Don’t kill.”

Whoosh- Kim Yang turned her head towards the floor and asked.

‘Why? Half of them are bastards that should be shot to death?’

‘There’s no one. If you want to spin around 2-3 times, do it.’

‘You were rubbing shoulders with cannibals. What if they got infected?’

‘It’s okay because I didn’t take off my gear. The gear can be disinfected at the quarantine station.’

‘What if I take it off?’

‘What if I took it off? I can’t help it, but it seems like you left without giving me time to take it off?’

‘You’re going to spare me even if I ignore orders and act like a dog?’

‘What about the other kids? They all eat from the same pot. Do you want to kill them all? If you go through the proper procedures, it might be okay, but not now.’

Brrrr-

Although Kim Yang was trembling as if he was just going to kill her, he seemed to agree with Maru’s words and did not insist on killing her.

[Alpha Team. Exosuit removal. Implementation.]

···

···

Bam! Bam!

The dull sound was heard from behind the floor.

“Don’t break it.”

If you break it and have to recuperate, who’s going to patch up the hole? So figure it out and do it appropriately.

Tight, tight, tight, tight, tight-paaaaaaah!

While Kim Yang was robbing Alpha Team, Maru inspected the place where the women were found. As he had confirmed in the grocery store warehouse, it was not the case that they were only eating people because they had contracted cannibalism. There were hidden traces of them literally eating everything that was edible.

At first, it seemed like they slaughtered the rats and ate only the meat, but later it seemed like they chewed and ate the head, intestines, and tail whole.

‘Did you even eat bugs?’

Judging from the lack of signs of fire, it seems like they ate it raw… The way they did it and the way they ate it didn’t seem like something that could be passed over as a cannibalistic disease. No matter how you looked at it, it was strange that they ate it like that and didn’t get sick. I needed information about cannibalistic diseases.

“Diana. Is satellite communication unrecoverable?”

[We attempted to change the orbit of the satellites that successfully interfered, but they all collided with debris and lost their functionality. Satellite communication is currently impossible.]

The loss of satellite communication felt bigger than I thought. Fortunately, it was cut off after I told Na Ju-yeon that Ki-soon could build it. What about the information about the cannibals?

“So all the satellites managed by the Department of Homeland Security are out?”

[Yes.]

If I could get in touch with Chief Dan Brown, I could get more information about cannibalism, and I think we could help each other by exchanging information we find through research.

“What about broadcast communication using radio?”

[Broadcasts under the name of the Department of Homeland Security have been discontinued for the past two weeks.]

“What about other broadcasts?”

[The emergency broadcast is alive and, as a peculiarity, is that it is sending out a distress signal on the channel used by the Strategic Command and the Ministry of Defense.]

“The emergency broadcast is live? Is there anything unusual? Something related to cannibalism, or something that could cause trouble at Vladislav Tower. Even if that’s not the case, any important news would be fine.”

[There is no information about cannibalism. The main news is that a safe zone is being created centered on the eastern region. The conscription has begun in New York and troops are being gathered. Criticism of the states that declared secession centered on Texas. The US troops that retreated from the China War are in Korea.]

[How would you like to send a rescue signal?]

“Ignore the distress signal. It could be a cannibalistic trap, and as Dan Brown said, don’t trust the government.”

[Block the channel?]

“Yeah. It’s tiring when people start making a fuss over a distress signal for no reason.”

Frankly, there was no one in the federal government that I could trust besides Dan Brown. Strategic Command was screwed, the Department of Defense was screwed, the Virginia company was screwed.

Anyway, if the cannibals had taken over the upper echelons as reported, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before their limbs were eaten. They had managed to avoid getting involved so far, but if they got involved in a clumsy way, it would be tiring. Still, it was necessary to warn them about the future.

“Can we do a radio broadcast too?”

[it’s possible.]

“Broadcast about cannibalism. There are things that lure people and eat them. Since it is a droplet infection, boil unconfirmed drinking water before drinking, and at least wear gloves, a mask, and goggles when you go out in the hot weather. If there is any other information that is needed, include it.”

[All right.]

Since other channels aren’t covering cannibalism properly, we should at least give them a warning. Anyone with enough money to keep a radio station up would probably think about it.

“But if cannibalism is serious, why wasn’t it covered on the radio?”

Diana couldn’t figure that out either. It was the same even if you turned the flexibility up to level 3. Humans were too strange to be understood through logical operations. Although there seemed to be a lot of differences between individuals, there were also parts that moved similarly.

However, the story that ‘one must be able to remain silent about what cannot be spoken of’ was a story that Diana often referred to.

[······.]

Seeing Diana choose silence instead of answering, Maru suddenly became curious. Sometimes, he felt like Diana was a person, not an artificial intelligence.

“Are the other kids like you?”

[It’s unclear what you are saying.]

“Other AI kids. In the past, we used to talk about this and that sometimes, but since Diana became my special, I haven’t had the chance to talk to the other kids, so I wonder what it’s like these days.”

[Shall I call you?]

“No. It’s okay. It’s just like that. You’ve been doing such a good job. I appreciate it in so many ways.”

[······.]

At the words of thanks, Diana’s calculations were disrupted.

“No answer. Are you embarrassed? Huh?”

[······.]

Diana started to do calculations, wondering whether she should output ‘What should I do?’, ‘What do you want?’ or not. It seemed that the flexibility level 3 and the Kim Yang patch were not enough.

While Maru and Diana were giving and receiving, Kim Yang, who had made Alpha Team into a rice cake, approached with regretful steps.

“Did you catch them all?”

[Grab it gently?]

Maru shrugged his shoulders at Kim Yang’s voice, which was full of sorrow.

“There weren’t any kids who made direct contact, right? Kids who took off their gloves or helmets and rubbed up against women.”

[···I went without time for that?]

“No, I just wanted to double check while holding it.”

[······.]

Kim Yang couldn’t figure out why her blood pressure was rising. She probably wanted to hit Baekjeong, but her heart was pounding just thinking about it. That scary bastard.

These days, whenever I feel like this, I feel like I want to get a good shot. ‘Let’s calm down. Okay. Let’s be nice.’ Ms. Kim unconsciously chants a spell to calm her mind and body. ‘Let’s be nice.’ Yes. ‘Let’s think and shoot.’

Maru, who had been ventilating the room for a while, spoke to Ms. Kim.

“It’s hard for the two of us to manage everything.”

It was also dangerous to let Diana take over management. It was not a matter of trust, but of risk diversification. In a situation where there are people with the ability to induce illusions and hallucinations, what would happen if they had the ability to take control of electronic equipment?

So, it seemed necessary to have machines fill in the areas where people were problematic, and people fill in the areas where machines were lacking. In the long run, wouldn’t it be better to establish a mutually complementary system to last longer? But that doesn’t mean the two of them will hold on forever.

“Honestly, we didn’t build the tower to suffer.”

Nod. Ms. Kim agreed. I didn’t become a building owner to patrol around the area like Subway Line 2.

“Then we need to have people to leave it to, but if we do as we have been doing so far, it will be very difficult.”

Looking at the way they were going back, I didn’t know when trouble would arise. But I couldn’t kill them all. At the very least, I needed a direct subordinate who could keep them from digging up dirt here and there. A direct subordinate I could trust.

Nodding. Ms. Kim glanced at Maru, who only said the right things.

[Wouldn’t we have to bring them in from outside anyway? If they’re survivors who survived for 6 months without contracting cannibalism, then they might be useful, right?]

“I thought the same thing at first. But the thing is, this place is like Detroit, USA.”

The problem is that it is a neighborhood where you wonder if the kids who survived for 6 months are normal. There are even people who voluntarily contract cannibalism and say, “We are free.” So I was worried about how to find someone in their right mind who I could trust and leave everything to.

With the early days of the crisis filled with looting and plundering gangs and cartels, it was clear that the survivors would be unusual in many ways.

======

======

Chwieeeeeek-

Puhwaaaaak-

The disinfectant and water were sprayed repeatedly. It was as if not a single speck of dust or virus would remain on the exosuit and body armor.

[Exosuit and full body armor decontamination is complete. Agents, please remove your full body armor and prepare for quarantine.]

Agents with blood clots all over them groaned as they pulled themselves out of their full-body bulletproof vests and took their places.

[Please enter the quarantine room in order.]

A seven-day quarantine began with a thorough examination.

“This is driving me crazy. If I go out once and come back, I have to be quarantined for at least 7 days.”

There was a personnel gap on top of the already lacking manpower. In order to fill the power gap, they were making mobile automatic turrets, but since they were handmade, the production speed and production volume were extremely poor.

“We are definitely short on manpower. Do you have any plans to hire more staff?”

Michael Newman, a producer for What’s Up TV and now the head of the Vladislav Tower broadcast department, asked Maru. Maru explained the situation. He was considering survivors inside and near the new perimeter, but he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“If you bring in people who could be problematic, things will get more complicated.”

“That’s definitely true.”

Michael Newman’s eyes sparkle as he answers yes.

“Is there a way?”

“How about recruiting people who are listening to the doomsday warning broadcast?”

Maru wondered for a moment what this meant.

“Is this a warning broadcast of the end of the world?”

“Yes. It was included in the previous advertisement. People’s interest and response were high, so we continued to broadcast related content after the advertisement.”

They continued to broadcast after that commercial?

“Actually. There are children waiting to enter the Vladislav Tower. They are people who have heard the warning broadcast of the end and are preparing, so they are not likely to cause trouble.”

Of the people who gathered from all over the country after the advertisement for the move-in, only a very small number were chosen. Some of the rest gathered in the north part of Detroit and created a shelter and lived in a community. They said they did so because they thought they could still receive care if they were close to the Ark Tower.

“···Let me think about it for a moment.”

After sending the PD away, Maru turned on the radio channel of the What’s Up broadcasting station. He wondered what kind of broadcast it was, a doomsday warning broadcast.

[···HOLY said, don’t judge by appearances. – Chi Ik]

[–He said that in the end times, evil people who take human form and lure people to eat them will appear. He told us to be on guard and on guard.]

[-HOLY-? -HOLY-♬]

yes?