A snap?
As I hear the weird sound, a submarine appears between us and the boss whose sceptre is on the way to slamming the Force Field. The sudden appearance of the submarine makes the sceptre hit the submarine cover with full force.
Bonk!
The submarine is still materialising, so it does not move, sending all of the slamming momenta back to the boss. The stronger the force of the sceptre, the more the boss is sent backwards. The subsequent vibrations from the metallic clank make its whole body tremble, and it becomes unconscious. It falls onto the ground. The shock waves also render all of the other mobs neutralised.
The water level has risen sufficiently for the submarine to safely land in the water and float. Mirai wakes up and dusts her suit.
- What the hell? I thought you passed out already.
- Even if the Intruder forces completely outperform humans, I still have a fifty-year advantage. At, least, for the next twenty years, they are harmless. But I will need to ramp up our technology level. This sphere will increase the gap for at least another five years...
- No, but why did you intentionally wait until that moment to act?
- I told you, I may not be by your side forever. Times like this push your brain to the limit. But it seems that this time, you fail.
- What am I supposed to do in that situation then?
- Soon, you will learn yourself. Soon.
Mirai gestures with her hands and a rocket launcher appear. She fires the rocket at the dome.
The rocket burns all of its energy to heat the dome to an extremely high temperature. Then, several cryo-technic modules quickly chill the dome to a near-absolute zero temperature. The sudden heat shock technique easily shatters the glass dome into pieces. further contributing to the cracks along the dome with a hole.
Water streams enter the dome at an even faster rate. Mirai slides open the submarine which is already floating at a quarter of the dome height due to the rapidly rising water level.
- Come on, hop in. I have acquired sufficient information. - Mirai enters the submarine and signals for me to enter it.
- Yes.
I jump from the high ground and climb into the submarine via the lid. After the entrance is sealed tightly with multiple valves, Mirai unlocks the control panel and in no time, the submarine sinks into the water and escapes the dome with the hole she made.
- When that boss and its forces wake up, that will be a very surprising gift we left for them. - I make a joke.
- Yes. And now, we will prepare for the repercussion. You know what always happens whenever we cause a ruckus, right?
Right...
The reinforcements. The battle has not ended.
- So, the projected journey would take about fifteen hours or more. Here, there is not much ground for your performance anyway, so yea, just sit back and let me handle the rest. - Mirai reassures me with something that rather makes me feel a bit useless.
I mean, in this battle, Mirai has contributed the most. I can only count a handful of achievements I have made.
Mirai lowers the leaning part of her seat and lies down. She is also tired of whatever we just encountered, even though she is a robot.
At this point, I might as well just take a rest. If Mirai is just chilling at this point, it is unlikely that we will see their reinforcements for a while.
In the dim light within the cabin of the submarine coming from the control panel, I turn myself backwards and reach for the food storage corner behind.
Since we determine that the expedition will not be long, what is left behind is just some snacks. Even if the trip is longer, anything can be stored in the food storage unit of the tablet anyway. I grab a random pack of snacks in the absence of any light. I shake it lightly and guess that it is a pack of potato chips from the crunchy sound.
I use a small flashlight and shine on the potato chip pack.
- Mirai's special potato chips. Zero oil frying, food colouring and preservatives. Enjoy healthy junk food forever. Well, fair enough. - I read off the description on the pack and do not even feel any sense of surprise.
It is not that Mirai's cooking is bad. It has kept me alive, both physically and mentally, since the last time I indulge myself in a sedentary lifestyle. I strip open the pack.
Unlike any commercial snack packs that have more than half of their content being air, this self-produced potato chips pack is filled to the brim with chips. The characteristic fragrance of snacks imbues the submarine cabin.
I pick a chip from the pack and inspect it carefully. Although there are no additives, the potato chip has a bright yellowish colour of a finely processed potato chip.
I know that I am not some kind of "snack connoisseur", and I just make random comments. I cannot even differentiate between bad and good chips. But this one is different.
After the weird and slightly cringy commenting section, I casually throw the chip into my mouth. Now, the crunchiness kicks in like a thunderstorm. As soon as the chip collapses in my mouth, the bursts of flavour start swirling between my jaws. Rapid punches of unrelenting deliciousness leave my mouth unable to respond.
Anyway, a good pack of chips needs to go with a movie on par with its greatness. I plug in my earphones and...
... Well, there is no Internet connection here. What do I expect?
I check the tablet, futilely hoping that there is something to watch, besides the equipment arsenal and the Intruder encyclopedia that I have read through countless times, to the point that I can recite the description and statistics of any single item recorded.
- Eh, this app is not here before, right? - I happen to scroll and see a strange icon.
I tap on it. The application opens up to a list of videos, probably documentaries. The descriptions look as if they are trying to chase any unwanted glares away with all of the technical jargon. However, one of them specifically attracts my interest. The only video that has a normal name and description.
"One, two, three. One, two, three. Ah, there it is."
The voice. Although there are differences, I can resonate with this oddly familiar tone. Without a doubt, this is Mirai's voice when she was still a human. The background is likely her room. And I should not comment, but Mirai is very good at replicating a robot that looks almost identical to her.
"Yea, so hi the future me, or the past me, or whatever term I can refer to you. This is August 2095, and as you know, or do not know, humanity is ramping up to face the greatest threat of all time."
So, five years before the war between humanity and the Intruder empire.
"To provide you with an update, the military technology has produced the very first photon weapons, albeit very inefficient at this time. They provide the first specks of hope against a seemingly immortal enemy which is resistant to normal bullets."
Yea, I know this. I have lost count of how many times this fact is reiterated to me by the very same person, I mean a humanoid robot, which is also the person inside the video. I continue with another piece of potato chip while paying full attention to the video footage.
"So, to respond to this fatal flaw, let me introduce this prototype of my photon weapon series, starting with this photon submachine gun SMG-01. A fairly reliable submachine gun that features the aim-assist function, digital-mechanical zoom scope, helical-feed photon magazine and a built-in accelerator that is an upgrade from the military version. Easy-to-use, lightweight design, coupled with deadly accuracy and high range allows extreme advantage in close-to-middle combat against low and middle-rating Intruders..."
I usually cannot resist dozing off when listening to a lecture, but this time, what keeps me awake is the pure admiring feeling towards the prodigy behind the tablet screen here, far outperforming the current military level.
"Here, I will demonstrate a bit."
The video footage shows Mirai wearing a pair of ear covers, closing all of the doors and windows of her room and constructing a dummy target in a corner of her room, backed with a few layers of metal shields.
After reloading and switching to full-auto mode, Mirai aims at the dummy target and presses the trigger. Her body is pushed back from the recoil of the gun and knocks over her table behind, making some books fall over. Bright rays emerge from the barrel already equipped with a suppressor, making burning marks on the dummy target.
"Mirai, are you okay? Is there anything up there?"
"Nothing, dad. I just trip over."
I realise myself smiling at Mirai's occasional clumsiness.
"Well, this means that I will need to work on the stability and power output of this gun. Accuracy and ease of use, checked. That's all for today. I will update you as soon as possible."
The video footage slowly fades into pitch black, before switching to a new one automatically. I casually eat my chips and watch them for the next few hours.