Chapter.5 Inside Out (8)
***
As expected, the house is nice.
The smell of dust around the house seems the same but is subtly different. A familiar alley that has been dug up so thoroughly that we know what kind of rocks there will be in each alley. And…
wheeeee-slap!
[warning. Unauthorized access. Disarm and approach slowly with your hands above your head.] The
unfamiliar mechanical voice of Corduroy and the unfamiliar sound of the defensive turret operating.
‘This guy. ‘You think I got caught somewhere wrong.’
Normally, the turret would have only turned on the motion detection function and turned off the function, but the reason why it works is obvious. Corduroy moved. It must have rushed out in a hurry to save its owner.
[This is the final warning. The subject trespassed on private property without permission, and this AI has been given the authority to inflict harm if the intruder does not comply with orders-]
“Hey Corduroy! “It’s loud and it’s turret!!”
[. . . Negative. This private property does not allow entry to anyone other than facility users. There is only one owner in front – Bibibig – I will only allow people except the elderly and large people to enter -]
“Okay, get the turret out of the way!” The ones next to me are my friends, and they will be living at my house starting today. “This car also belongs to these friends.”
[…..Live….together? So, do you mean new owners?!!!]
At that moment, Corduro’s voice coming through the old speaker bloomed like a flower field in full bloom.
***
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee @
Crackling-
“Oh my gosh!” Welcome! We sincerely welcome your visit! As for me, I am Corduro, the AI shelter’s general manager. “If you need anything, please let me know anytime!”
As the defensive turret returned to its original position and entered the inside of the hiding place with a familiar noise, Corduro’s drone was already making a fuss to greet me.
“Hepburn. “Is this the guy you were talking about back then?”
“huh. “This is him.”
“So… this little bastard did something like that…”
Corduroy came out to greet his master and new master (to be) with a happy heart, but for some reason, everyone had a shocked expression on their faces.
“Um… master? “Did you say anything about me to my new owners?”
“uh. “These are the friends I met when I went to District 45 because I became a debtor thanks to you.”
“ah.”
It was only then that Corduroy was able to understand the gaze of his new owners. Even without saying anything, I could read something like ‘I shouldn’t get involved with that guy’ on their faces.
“Eh… It was a heartbreaking incident that arose from a minor misunderstanding, right? Right, master?”
“then. My heart was so sore that I thought it was going to burn up. “The guy who was shaking because he didn’t have 200,000 to pay for gas suddenly had a debt of 2.4 million.”
“Hey professor. Just say something at any time. “I’ll make it so that that bastard can only say 0 and 1.”
“Kihihi! “I’ve never tortured something like AI… Is it okay to download malicious code or something like that?”
“Hahahaha….. The new owners have a knack for telling jokes, right?”
“Hey Bex. Did you hear? “It’s a joke.”
“Kihihi! What do you think? “Even the scavengers who got caught in our hands and were bloodied to death all looked like they couldn’t believe it at first, right?”
“Let’s stop talking nonsense and get inside quickly. “I’m so tired I’m going to die.”
“Hehehehe.”
“Kihihihi!”
As Corduroy walked into the shelter, he quietly turned off his learning module as he watched the two people keeping an eye on his drone.
I felt like if I learned something from these masters, something big would happen.
***
“oh! “Is the house nice?”
“Hey! It’s not a city like a dome, but a dust-free shelter exists in the wasteland! Did they completely block the outside air? “Then how do you breathe?”
“Hey Joe! Come in here! “There are grass and trees growing inside the house!”
“Namuu? Are you talking about the tree with real green leaves? “Not something like a plastic model or artificial flower?”
The two of them had been constantly amazed by the decompression chamber they went through when entering the shelter, but when they entered the shelter, they started running around excitedly like five-year-olds visiting Disneyland for the first time.
“You guys… where have you been living so far? Our house has basic specifications! “A lot of unique equipment has been introduced recently, but I’m not really living well anyway, right?”
The professor looked around. The interior is a bit dimly lit, with all the paint peeling off to reveal gray concrete. Corduroy cleaned the table diligently, but after a few hours, the table would become dusty again. The sofa was so old that it sank in the middle. What is so nice about this house that makes me admire it so much?
“Bourgeois guy. “If you don’t have bread, you’ll just eat cookies.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m very full. “How dare you disparage such a wonderful house!”
“You guys have a lot more money than me! you! “I heard you, Ian, even had your own store!”
“It was just a matter of setting up a hiding place and a shield near the entrance to a bowling alley that was a little less damaged and just leaving things there. “I couldn’t even dream of a greenhouse, so whenever the wind blew outside, sand, not dust, came pouring inside like a cart being thrown in.”
“So you’re saying you slept while breathing in all that dust?”
“Well… When I woke up, I didn’t feel anything special other than a scratchy throat. “Isn’t it all stuck to the tar in the lungs and filtered out?”
“Hepburn I was a scavenger until a few days ago. “It was a wasteland of extreme poverty.”
“You bourgeoisie.”
“You are like an enemy of the proletariat.”
“No, that’s really true! “Stupid people who have money but don’t know how to spend it!”
“Hehehe, master, now you understand how I feel then-”
“Shut up, Corduroy!”
[fun! It’s so fun!]
“Ugh*&^%$*_#%$%@&!!!”
It’s a big deal. Still, until now, when I returned home, I had a comfortable feeling of ‘Wow, I’m home~’, but now it’s hard to even look forward to that! Home is no longer a sweet home, but home has become a sweaty home!
‘Let’s calm these guys down for now. I have to decide how to live from now on and there is more to do….’
Sigh!
“wow! Joe! Look at this! “It’s a carrot!”
“Small? “Isn’t it less big?”
“Oh my! “The owners’ precious calories!”
Snap, pop, pop!
“oh! Look at this! “There is a glass facility in the middle of the garden!”
“It looks like a shower room? But it’s a bit narrow for my body, so it’s a good thing-”
It’s a breeze!
“Everyone shut the fuck up!!! “If you don’t sit in front of me within 5 seconds, I will push the greenhouse, everything, everything away with a truck and bury you alive there!!!”
In the end, only when the professor’s patience exploded and the lion’s stove burst out of his mouth did Ian and Bex calmly sit in front of the professor.
***
“Whoa…. Okay. “Then let’s talk about how we will live from now on.”
“Tsk tsk tsk tsk! Why do you really need to decide like this? “I just wanted to build a shelter next to you and live there and see your face occasionally.”
Crash!
“Is that what you’re talking about?…”
The professor gritted his teeth, ignored the thoughtless friend’s opinion, and began to explain slowly so that the idiots could easily understand.
“Let’s solve it slowly, one by one. “Who said you were given the meat you are eating now?”
“Uh…professor?”
“No shit! I told you this a minute ago! Marketplace! market! A company in the dome! “Big merchant!”
“Ah, that’s right, that’s right. “Those friends said they sent it to me to wish me well in the future, right?”
“okay. They thought I was a new group breaking away from another group and setting up an outpost, so they sent me a gift in advance as a greeting. It was a complete mistake, but in the end, it turned out that way. There are three of us and we are thinking of building another new shelter in this location. So why did the marketplace in the dome far away even try to say hello to this insignificant new group? “To people who are on the outskirts of the district and whose faces are hard to see?”
“Uh… well?”
“Let’s be friends?”
The professor placed his hand on his forehead. Wrong. These guys know amazing things about survival and the wasteland, but they don’t know as much as a kindergartener about political and social struggles.
“You will see the correct answer often in the future. Regardless of our will, the Dom will continue to approach us, and depending on the Dom’s judgment, it may become hostile or friendly. I decided that since I had a connection with Dome in some way, I would become a bigger customer in the future. “The market guys.”
“I’m getting tangled up with the money-making guys in the dome… It’s a bit weird. “Isn’t that really annoying?”
“So, I told you so, Mr. Metal Joe. “It may be okay if you just come and stay for a few days, but it’s not normal for you to set up a base here and build a new home.”
The professor scratched his head and then asked Ian a question.
“you. “You said you haven’t bought the shelter building materials yet.”
“hmm? Oh right. “Professor, I don’t know the coordinates of your house yet, so I can’t have it delivered.”
“good. Then give me the money to buy it. Since this has already happened, we have to pretend to be a new group. With the things Corduro bought last time. “If you show them that you even buy shelter building materials, they will 100% think that someone with the ID ‘professor’ has created a new clan or something.”
“Hey Hepburn? There are many types of groups, right? A group of marauders like raptors, an undertaker who specializes in robbing mutants and making a living using the equipment they used during their lifetime, or the scavengers we commonly know. How are we going to introduce ourselves?”
The professor fell into thought at Bex’s question. The easiest thing is to introduce it as a scavenger. It’s harmless and weak, and it doesn’t make any money as a Dom, so it’s like sand in the wasteland that you don’t need to pay attention to.
‘But the Dome’s inspectors who will come in the future are not so shabby. No matter how much you hide it, that amount of gunpowder and weapons will be noticeable. No, it doesn’t make sense that having three cars in the first place is a scavenger.’
“Hey Ian. “If you settle down here, are you going to start business again?”
“hmm? Oh, of course. “I didn’t move here just to suck my fingers.”
“good. “Then it’s decided.”
Taang!
The professor hit the desk with his palm and spoke to the two in front of him.
“From now on, we will become a caravan (traveling merchant) based in this area.”
***
“Caravan?”
“okay. “On the surface, that’s the case.”
The professor continued to slowly explain to the two people who did not know about the physiology of a dome.
Caravan. This group, named after a caravan crossing the desert, is, as its name suggests, a group that travels across the wasteland and conducts business across districts. In fact, most transactions are done using the GG exchange. Because it’s comfortable, safe, and there’s no risk of exposure.
“But as Old Man Woojin said, there are no cases of hijacking GG’s drone. For Scavengers, Psycho Gangs, and other people who live without a connection, there is no penalty for GG’s connection area lock. For really important items, such as weapons and gunpowder that you deal with, Ian, there is a tendency to prefer direct transactions over drone transactions. A caravan is a group that sells valuable items, items that are difficult to obtain in the same area, and other items requested by customers.”
A representative example is the top of the gold walking cane of ranker Goldman SUCKS. A caravan filled with nearly ten armed trucks and led by a huge number of escort troops, crossing five or six regions to trade special products and valuables from each region. I don’t know the exact amount, but I heard that they raise money with a rake every time they go up and come back. That’s why Goldman can pour so much money into GG.
“Caravan is a group that the Dome views very positively. “There won’t be much touch other than the occasional whining from the market to update the catalog.”
“They introduced themselves as business people, so it would be consistent with how I sell spices.”
“yes. There doesn’t seem to be a better alternative other than this. When does everyone agree? If we get a call from the dome, we’ll assume it’s a new caravan that has settled in here?
“okay. Agree. me too.”
“That’s it, Professor, since you know it well, you can take care of it.”
The professor clenched his fist under the desk after seeing everyone ignore it.
‘thank god. ‘I overlooked it!’
The professor wiped away the cold sweat and was about to move on to the next agenda when Bex, who had been listening quietly next to him, opened his mouth.
“name.”
Coo!
And with that one word, the professor’s mood instantly plummeted.
[Caught! That guy is strangely sharp!]
‘Holy shit!’
“huh? what?”
The professor asked desperately, hoping that wasn’t the only answer, but Bex mercilessly broke his wish and said,
“The group name. The person who had been in contact with Dom via message wasn’t going to introduce us by saying we were some kind of caravan when he came to visit us in person. As in we are the Dom and we are the Raptor Society. “What are we going to name?”
“Oh, come to think of it, there was that, right? Hey, I already thought of a great name…”
“Oh please.”
We must absolutely stop it. These guys must have come up with a lot of strange names, like HIV or something.
***
