A few hours earlier, before the alarms and the chaos, i had been sitting quietly near the entrance of the shelter, playing with Desmond...
It was the na she had given to the golden retriever. At this ti, Desmond wagged his tail happily, rolling onto his back as she rubbed his belly.
Ever since she had found him inside the shelter, she had taken care of him, fed him, and kept him close.
Naming him had felt natural. Desmond was hers, and she had every right to give him an official na.
"I wonder why you’re here?" i murmured softly, scratching behind his ears.
"This was an A.I. soldiers’ base ant for cultivating those four crops. There shouldn’t be a dog here at all."
This was indeed a mystery that no one could answer. Even the previous slaves had never noticed this dog. Probably because they were busy and staying at the eastern building... or perhaps, the dog was a mystical creature that had suddenly appeared.
In any case, Desmond just barked at her, as if answering her. Anyway, though his presence was strange that it was almost unsettling, she didn’t mind it at all.
"Whatever..."
Even if it was questionable to have a loyal, living creature here, Desmond was already hers.
She then looked at the horizon and sighed.
"Still... I wonder why the enemies aren’t attacking yet."
It was a thought that had been gnawing at her.
Since Kai and the others had cut off the supplies and halted production of the four crops from the A.I. bases, retaliation was expected.
Kai had warned everyone to stay alert. Yet, for now, there were no signs of enemies at all.
To distract herself, i opened the World Chat, a feature only available to survivors who had reached Level 20 and above.
She rembered when only three people had been in the chat. Now, the screen was filled with nas, ssages, and argunts.
The world was finally getting much stronger Survivors.
Then, the chat scrolled quickly despite having a limit of 3 chats per day...
[ Liza: Anyone else from Haven‑2? I keep seeing nas but no one’s answering . ]
[ Tomas: Haven‑22 here. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. ]
[ Riko: Wait... why is everyone Haven? Isn’t this supposed to be WORLD chat? ]
[ System: Darius has entered the chat. ]
[ Darius: Uh... hi. First ti here. I just reached Level 20. I’m from Grid‑07. Anyone else? ]
i smiled. She couldn’t help but feel happy about these new Level 20 people. It was impressive that they were surviving well enough to reach this point.
[ Hana: Haven‑8 here. Welco! ]
[ Victor: New Haven-45 here. You’ll get used to this place. ]
[ Darius: Thanks... but why do I only see Haven shelters talking? Is this normal? ]
[ Owen: Yeah, I was wondering the sa thing. ]
[ Eliza: No... I’m from Grid‑12, but it feels like 90% of people here are Haven. Weird. Is it easy mode in that region? You guys are lucky. ]
[ Joseph: Maybe the others don’t bother talking. ]
[ Claire: Or maybe the system’s broken. JK. ]
i chuckled softly. It reminded her of the early days... confusion, complaints, and jokes. Survivors were the sa everywhere.
Then a new line appeared. No system chi this ti. Just a na everyone recognized.
[ Kai: It’s not broken. I think this chat isn’t global. It only covers the Republic of Mavis. ]
The tone shifted instantly.
[ Renji: Oh... Kai’s here. ]
[ Hana: Kai? Amazing... So can you explain this ss. Why does WORLD chat feel like Haven chat? Is your region that noob? And what is this Mavis? ]
Kai’s reply ca.
[ Kai: Not sure about the dominance of Haven Region. But for Mavis... That’s where we are. It’s part of the Versailles Continent. Everything we see here... shelters, rankings, even this chat. I think it is limited to this republic. ]
Confusion erupted again.
[ Owen: Republic of... what? ]
[ Connie: Don’t ss with us. This is WORLD chat. ]
[ Claire: LoL. ]
Kai didn’t hesitate and shared his thoughts.
[ Kai: I believe that we can think of it as a world within a world. The system calls it World Chat, but it’s restricted. It only connects survivors inside Mavis. This is what I believe... Also, this is my last chat of the day... See you tom. ]
[ Joseph: That makes no sense. Why restrict us? ]
[ i: Maybe to keep order. If communication were global, chaos would spread faster than survival strategies. Restriction is intentional. ]
i stroked Desmond’s fur, smiling faintly as she finished replying. Kai already ntioned this to them during a eting.
[ Tomas: So how many regions are in Mavis? ]
[ i: According to Sir Kai, we have six. Storm, Grid, Frontier, Origin, Novel, and Haven. ]
[ Eliza: And the Leaderboard? ]
[ i: Most likely restricted too. Kai told that even if he’s ranked number one, he believed that that’s only within Mavis. If there are other nations, then might have their own leaderboards. ]
The chat shifted after Kai’s silence.
[ Owen: Did anyone else see that flying fortress heading west? Looked massive, like a moving city in the sky. ]
[ Hana: Yeah, I caught a glimpse. Thought it was a storm cloud until the drones started circling it. ]
[ Vera: If it’s heading west... that ans Frontier, or is it Origin Region. Do you think it’s going to hunt humans? ]
i’s hand froze on Desmond’s fur. A flying fortress? She hadn’t seen it herself but heard about it from Kai... She seed to be hiding when that thing passed over.
She couldn’t help but feel curious about it.
’Do they know where it is by now?’
[ Eliza: Hunt humans? What else would it do? The A.I. doesn’t waste resources unless it’s targeting sothing. ]
[ Joseph: Maybe it’s after Augnted Humans’ shelters. Strong humans attract danger. The machines always go for the biggest threats first. ]
[ Claire: So you’re saying being strong makes us a target? Great. ]
The chat buzzed with unease.
[ Renji: I read from a previous chat that the Origin Region has shelters full of Augnted Humans. If that fortress is heading west, maybe it’s going for them. ]
[ Connie: Augnted shelters aren’t safe. The stronger you are, the faster the A.I. notices you. ]
[ Tomas: But without Augnted Humans, how do we fight back? Weak shelters get wiped out anyway. ]
i also enjoyed these simple conversations.
Still, she decided to enter the shelter again as she noticed that the sky was already turning dark. There might be a storm coming...
Unfortunately, as soon as she heard the alarm, she knew that what was coming was even worse.
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