Many Bochicas

“Nothing is more hostile to a firm grasp on knowledge than self-deception”

― Zeno of Citium

We have been walking for a while now, our destination is the farthest away of the three groups so we expect to hear from the others before we arrive. If we are lucky they will be able to share beforehand some useful information on how to communicate with the GMs, or even get all the information that we need to return to normality.

It's been around 45 minutes since we started walking when we hear Marcellus talk to us via the intercom. With an excited voice he tells us “Hi team! I’ve arrived at the door of the GM Valentinus computer room. It looks like there was a fire around here because of the scorched marks on the walls and ceiling. The door looks alright, just with some small dentures in it but for the most part it seems to be standing strong”. Makes sense, those doors hold some of the most important objects in human society. Probably they are at least one meter thick and made of the most resilient materials there are. Then, Marcellus interrupts my line of thought when he says “Also, I met with an old friend of mine that works as a priest, he was trying to open the door. He told me that after the main temple doors were destroyed he worried about the GM and came to look for it. After telling him what our plan is he told me that wants to help me communicate with the GM. Wish me luck!”. This is way too suspicious, the priests never come down here. Also, he should have known that nobody can enter without a proper key. I want to stop Marcellus from involving this person but I don’t want to undermine him, he is an adult after all. After a few seconds I respond “Be careful, I trust you and I understand he is a friend but pay attention to any suspicious behaviour, since the ones that caused all this to begin with were people working from the inside”. For a couple of seconds we receive no response then he replies “I understand boss, don’t worry, I won’t disappoint you”.

It’s been 5 minutes since Marcellus talked with us but he still hasn’t given us any update. Even if the most likely explanation is that he is too excited setting up the connection to the GM to pay attention to the intercom, I can’t help but think of the worst outcome. If we weren’t so far away I would go and check on him. For now our best course of action is getting to the GM Ignatius and asking for guidance. Worrying about what I can’t do will only tire me more.

Around 12 minutes later Captain Liu tells us with the efficiency you would expect from a trained guard “Hello everyone, we are close to the God’s Machine Amaterasu. There is a large group of drones ahead of us, just in front of the God’s Machine computer room. They have also seen us and now 6 of them are advancing slowly towards us. For the moment they aren’t outwardly aggressive. Also, as it would be difficult to outrun them or to attack them without guns we’ll try to speak with them. Let’s hope that having come unarmed to not seem like a threat was the right decision…. Wait for an update soon”. To this Marina comments to me “I don’t like that. The drones should be moving around, doing their rounds or trying to help people. Just staying immobile in large groups sounds like trouble to me…”. I reply trying to not fall down the well of anxiety “The Captain is being careful, besides we are no longer carrying guns. The drones have no reason to attack them”.

It's been 20 minutes since we last heard from Captain Liu, and a feeling of dread is feeling the air between us two. We have been trying to contact him and Marcellus multiple times but neither has replied. I’m fearing I guided us towards our end and now it is too late to stop. Despite knowing that we are too far away to reach them now, I am having a very hard time abandoning the idea of attempting it anyways. I’m giving it my all to focus on our current situation and trusting they can handle themselves. For now, I have to believe that each of us will pull through and stay moving forward.

To add salt to the injury, my leg starts hurting again. After all, the effects of the painkiller couldn’t last that long, once it becomes unbearable I’ll take the next pill. We don’t know for how long we’ll be here and I need to make those things last for as long as possible. We don’t know for how long we’ll stay trapped here. Along the way we pass by a drone carrying debris on its head while moving in the direction opposite to us. Despite not wanting to interact with these things for a long while I ask it “hey, how far are we from the GM Ignatius computer room”. It replied “At the speed you are moving it should take you around 8 minutes”. Nice, we are almost there. I try leaving the drone behind us as fast as I can.

Lately we’ve been walking through large corridors decorated with stone walls low on details but with a nice simple rustic aesthetic. We make a turn and see in the distance a metallic door with some stone debris around it alongside drones clearing the entrance. As they notice us the drones divide in two groups standing to the sides of the door, making a sort of tunnel guiding to the door. After not receiving news from Captain Liu or Marcellus this puts me on edge and I tell Marina “Hey, let's be careful when we reach them. If they are under the GM Ignatius control they should help us based on what the drone told us but we can’t be sure of anything anymore”. While looking at them with a dead serious face Marina replies “I was thinking the same thing”.

When we are a meter away from them, all the drones at the same time do a motion that looks like they are bowing to us. Then, all of them at the same time tell us with a monotonous female voice as the point towards the door “We were expecting you, please enter as there is much to talk about”. I feel a chill down my spine, this somehow gives me the creeps even more than if they would have attacked us. But I guess we should take this as good news, at least for now. I tell Marina “Let’s enter. You keep an eye on these while I pay attention to what may come from the door”. Then, the two doors slowly begin to open.

Nothing… well, not “nothing” per-se but nothing special is at the other side of the doors. There are a couple of portable computers next to the main computer as if they placed them there for us. Truth be told, working on computers with standard operating systems does make our work easier. This way we can connect to the main computer without having to touch the hardware that much. Whether this is a trap or not, there is no way to know and we need to progress regardless. We set up according to plan, I’ll connect myself to the GM while Marina takes care of my body in case anything weird happens. I lift the hair on the back of my head to reveal the chip direct connection. Taking a deep breath I take a small cable and connect it to the back of my head.