Apocalypse Survival Guide

Chapter 5. Destruction of Daily Life (5)

A small bird sat on a branch, chirping. The long-tailed tit, with its snow-white feathers, let out a series of "beep-beep" chirps while tilting its head inquisitively.

Quickly, it soared into the expansive blue sky, whose height was beyond easy estimation. This was a sky visible only from Earth.

"... It's cute."

Nadia absentmindedly muttered. She unconsciously stretched her hand to touch the bird but then realized something and dropped her hand.

If she reached out now, she wouldn't grasp the bird's soft feathers but rather the cold surface of a metal wall.

Simply put, the scene before her was fake. It was only a depiction of Earth's scenery, realized through holograms and virtual reality.

After returning to the room with Nadia, I revealed my hobby to her. Using a VR device I had splurged on, experiencing the blue sky was my one and only hobby.

The sky imbued with nobility, the white clouds drifting leisurely, the lush bushes and leaves swaying in the cool breeze...

It felt as though we were standing in the middle of a meadow, but we were fully aware that we weren't really there. Even though it felt realistic, the current scenery was missing something crucial.

That was sensation.

"Nadia, you asked why I want to go to Earth, right? This scenery we're seeing now is the only past I possess."

The blue sky of Earth. It was the only remaining memory of my past. Even then, it lingered very faintly.

Memories are composed of the five senses. During that fleeting moment, just enough to be called an instant, we recall sensations as information.

The colors seen then, the scent of grass smelled then, the sound of the wind heard then, the warmth felt then, and the sweetness of the juice tasted then. Only when all those are gathered can they truly be called memories.

In that sense, the sky I see now is fake. It satisfies only the visual sense; none of the tastes, textures, or smells can be felt.

"I've never been to Earth either. I want to see it together. The real sky."

"Just hang on a little longer. In a few days, you'll be able to see it directly."

Memories are composed of the five senses. Only when fully composed of these five senses are they true memories. The memory of Earth that I possess was too faint to feel other sensations.

Does that mean my memory is fake? I couldn't come to a conclusion. I wanted to go to Earth so I wouldn't have to conclude that my memory was fake. I also thought that by doing so, I might find out who I really am.

I looked at Carry, who projected a contemplative expression on the monitor like us. I hadn't bought that damaged language-capability robot secondhand for its utility.

I couldn't just leave it, perhaps moved by some sentiment for this thing treated as scrap metal.

It's a malfunctioning transport robot with a simple AI module installed, but I gave it the name Carry.

I hoped it, true to its name, would transport me to Earth. I gave it a little nudge.

"Take me to Earth, Carry. You're my hope."

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Carry gave a reassuring thumbs-up, as if telling me to trust it.

"Nadia is the one who's taking Hyun-woo to Earth, right? I'm the one lending you money."

"Then you're my hope, too, Nadia."

"Wow!"

The barren room echoed with our giggling laughter.

***

Buying shuttle tickets to Earth didn't change mine and Nadia's daily life. We still had to work a bit more to reach our savings goal of fifty million credits, and taking a break after achieving it didn't seem like the best idea.

Going to Earth didn't magically make me a noble. I'd still need to work for a living there, and credits were necessary for settling down.

I thought it was better to earn as much as I could while I could.

Amid these unchanged daily routines, there was a growing sense of unease at the base.

Initially, I regarded it as mere happening. It was undeniably tragic that Fury, a beastian, died while being subdued by security robots, but his death didn't change anything significantly.

Every morning, people boarded shuttles to mining zones, completed their quotas, received their wages, and returned to the residential area.

The residential area withstood the icy gales with its special material barriers, and people spent their days relying on the temperature control embedded in their old work suits.

However, day by day, strange occurrences began happening in the residential area. Or perhaps they had been happening before, and we simply hadn't noticed.

We were currently in a shuttle heading towards the mining zone. Through the transparent windows, one could see the blizzard raging outside. I initiated a call with the broker.

- Can the shuttle be called a bit sooner?

- It's possible. There will be extra costs, though. An additional fee of five million credits. Want to reschedule it?

- Yes. To tomorrow, please.

According to the original plan, we still had to remain here for four more days until the shuttle's scheduled arrival. However, I decided to pay the extra fee to leave even a day earlier.

- This isn't like you. Didn't you plan to continue working in the meantime?

- Do you not know the vibe around the base is getting tense? It feels like war could break out. Even if not, something definitely will.

I glanced at the people aboard the shuttle. Whether it was just a hunch or not, more people seemed to be coughing. More people scratched their skin, as if infested with lice.

Fearful of a spreading disease, the medical area was consistently visited, though whether it was fortunate or the doctors were just incompetent, they claimed it wasn't an outbreak.

- More pureblood supremacists have been entering here, but there won't be war. No weapons were allowed entry.

- How could you know things like that?

- What do you think I do?

- ....

- Answer me.

At the persistent questioning, I hesitated a moment before tapping the communicator.

- A competent woman.

- Oh, you see me as a woman?

- You're not a man.

- Diverting attention, huh. Anyway, are you alright with the five million credits? It's not a small amount.

- I can manage. Just make sure the shuttle is properly arranged.

By pooling every credit reserved for use on Earth and working just today, I could narrowly cover the additional cost.

The plan was somewhat thrown off, but I had no choice. The number of unexpected incidents was only increasing each day.

While the basic tools used by workers had safety devices to prevent riots, violent events were still occurring.

Just a few days ago, a team that used to get along was now brawling with each other,
Others attacked security robots out of the blue, perhaps they were on drugs, and were subdued, there were those who wandered for days unable to sleep and eventually collapsed, even the terraforming devices unexpectedly stopped, causing sudden earthquakes.

Such unexpected happenings continued in succession. After verifying the broker's acknowledgment, I let out a small sigh.

"Nadia, let's hang in there just until today. The shuttle will come by tomorrow."

"Really? That's a relief...."

With a visible sign of relief, Nadia, who had been waiting anxiously for my words, finally let out a breath of relief.

"Sorry."

"Huh? Why are you apologizing, Hyun-woo?"

"I misjudged the situation. Had I decided sooner, we'd be on that shuttle rather than this one now."

"Oh come on, we didn't know it would turn out like this. Besides, nothing has happened yet. We might just be overreacting. I heard that bad thoughts tend to spiral."

Nadia said, playfully wagging her tail. Her soft, fluffy tail tickled the back of my hand.

"Stop it before I really bite your tail. It's ticklish."

Her tail paused momentarily, only to continue tickling my hand again. As if begging to be caught, I lifted my head and naturally caught sight of the scenery outside the window.

"... Huh?"

It was by sheer coincidence that I caught a flicker of something at the edge of my vision. Moreover, seeing that flicker pointing at this place was also a mere coincidence.

Driven by overlapping coincidences, my instincts directed my gaze to the location where a cockpit would typically be. However, the space, originally intended for the cockpit, had been replaced with passenger seats for maximum efficiency.

The shuttle was unmanned. Without a human pilot, the cockpit was removed and replaced with passenger seats. Which meant, nothing could be avoided.

'What the h-'

Before I could finish the thought, something struck the shuttle's side directly.

**Bang!**

The shuttle was hit by a blast that enveloped everything in pitch-blackness. Only then did the unmanned shuttle maneuver according to the pre-set commands, attempting evasive maneuvers. However, the side was already punctured, letting in the satellite's icy wind.

Subsequently, warnings blared as a computer announcement sounded.

【Warning. Severe damage to the hull. Unable to maintain output.】

Nadia, abruptly stunned by the sudden occurrence, looked at me blankly, unable even to scream, as the computer voice continued.

【Warning. Inertia mitigation threshold reached. Commencing emergency landing procedures.】

"Aaaaah-"

Her belated scream scattered into the air as the shuttle began to spin.

"Hold on tight!"

Barely able to yell that, I encased Nadia within my arms, curling my posture as much as possible. The relentless alarms pounded my eardrums, and shortly after, an impact shook the hull violently.

**Crash! Crash-**

The overwhelming impact flipped my insides, as my sight could only capture the overturning blizzard.
The only thing I could hear was the gigantic explosion triggering an avalanche.

It was around then that the consciousness I clung to finally snapped.

***

"Gasp...!"

Like a system rebooting from the peripherals inward, I regained my senses, taking a deep breath as I hurried to sit up.

"Nadia...!"

I prioritized finding Nadia over assessing my condition, noticing her protruding tail indicating she was buried under the snow pile. Enduring the throbbing pain, I frantically dug through the snow to retrieve the unconscious Nadia.

Thankfully, she wasn't severely injured. Although the snow was close to an icy substance, it seemed to have served as a cushion. Next, I pulled Carry, who also got buried, and only then did I turn my attention to myself.

Some sharp edge had torn part of my work suit, exposing its internal materials, and a headache from the explosion's impact rendered my head splitting.

Yet, I had no room to properly attend to it.

And justifiably so,

'The base....'

The mid-sized mining base, Heaven, stretching across the horizon, was engulfed in flames.

Accompanied by a terrifying shriek echoing throughout my being,

【Skreeeee!】

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Unfortunately, trouble came. And it seems to be a space alien.