Ellia pressed the motorcycle's brakes and lifted the vehicle's kickstand as she came to a complete stop.
Standing on a soft patch of snow, Ellia took the briefcase from the back seat and lifted it open.
Inside was the VS210 Ragnarok sniper rifle and a pistol for close-range fights.
Ellia attracted the two separated pieces of the Ragnarok and attached a sling to the rifle. Then with the pistol, she placed it under her double-breasted suit.
"We should hurry…." Ellia murmured as she quickly moved towards the gigantic structure before her.
"The middle reactor is nearing meltdown, so you would have to hurry," Ruth said as she sent a wave of data to Ellis's head.
The moment she did, Ellia stopped herself for a moment to process the data raging through her head.
A second later, Ellia started to move without a problem towards the main entrance of the middle power plant.
Truing on the thermal sensors on the Ragnarok, Ellia confirmed that no one was on the first-floor level.
Ellia cautiously walked inside with her handgun in her left hand and Ragnarok in the right.
Then grabbing a radioactive gas mask, she made her way deeper into the chamber.
Slowly declining on the stairs, Ellia noticed a man standing with his back against the stairs.
Ellia was sure this person was from the resistance Army just from his raggedy coat and pants. After decades it seemed they still hadn't changed into a pair of clean clothes.
Ellia quietly sneaked up on the soldier, and with a glint in her eyes, she snapped the man's neck.
The resistance soldier lifelessly fell to the ground with a thud.
[Enemy slain!]
[Level-up!]
[Level: 1 --> 2]
[EXP: 12/250]
[Unassigned stats: 0 --> 5]
Seeing multiple panels pop up in a frenzied manner, Ellia flinched.
"Leveled-up...?" Ellia mumbled in confusion.
"It looks like you gain experience points when you kill..." Ruth spoke, causing Ellia to frown a bit. A slight bit of irritation rose when the thought of killing would award EXP just like a game. But there wasn't much Ellia could do other than accept the facts.
After taking a deep breath, Ellia started to advance further.
Then arriving before a metal door, she readied herself. "This should be the main control room for the reactors..."
She raised her right foot and sent it towards the door as hard as possible. The moment her foot came into contact, the metal door was blown away at high speeds.
"The hell?!" A shout came from inside. As Ellia entered the room, she fired her handgun at the screams and yells. When everything settled down, four dead bodies were scatted across the floor with blood dripping down their heads.
[Enemy slain x4!]
[Level-up!]
[Level: 2 --> 3]
[EXP: 244/500]
[Unassigned stats: 5 --> 10]
Completely ignoring the system messages, Ellia turned her head toward the glass wall to her left. Then walking towards the glass wall, Ellia looked down and widened her eyes.
'That should be the third floor.' Ellia thought with uncertainness in her eyes. 'But why are these two fightings there...'
On the rafters above the lowering water levels, an Imperial soldier and resistance soldier in a match of close quarter combat.
Both had masks on, so Ellia couldn't see their faces, but she knew that the Imperial soldier she was looking at was skilled. Soon the Imperial soldier overpowered his opponent a moment later by knocking him out with a clean punch to the chin. Then he laid the unconscious soldier on the rafter.
"I thought the Imperial army wouldn't be arriving anytime soon, Ruth." Ellia mocking said.
"N-no, my calculations should be correct! They shouldn't have any task forces available to respond this fast!" Ruth spoke in disarray.
As Ellia tried to calm Ruth, a feminine voice came outside the door.
"An Imperial soldier?" A young lady asked as she walked inside the room. "What are you doing here?"
Although a bit short, she had a curvy figure. Her hair was a dark shade of purple that went down to her hips. Her playful crimson red eyes looked at Ellia with a cheer.
"..." Ellia didn't answer and stared at the young lady.
"I don't think you are a resistance soldier..." The young lady spoke as she moved her index finger to her chin. "Were you here to stop the nuclear meltdown?"
Listening to the young lady's words, Ellia nodded.
"Ah...!" The young lady exclaimed. "So I was right! If that's the case, you can go."
Ellia gave her a thankful look before moving to exit the room.
Just as Ellia passed the young lady, she left a whisper in her ear.
"Just so you know, we were ordered to leave no witnesses." The young lady spoke as she moved her palm towards Ellia's face.
Sensing danger Ellia covered her face with her arms and tried to move out the way, but by then, it was already too late.
She watched as blue flames magically erupted from the young lady's palms.
[HP: 150 --> 38]
"Ian...!" Direness filled Ruth's voice as she yelled.
Ellia was compelled towards the window, instantly shattering it, falling into the water below.
[A large amount of radiation has been detected!]
[Magic sickness has been inflicted!]
[-13% all stats.]
'S-shit... I can't...' Ellia thought as her slowly consciousness faded.
"Ian! Ian! Hold on! I'll do something, so don't worry!" Ruth frantically yelled as Ellia finally lost consciousness.
...
At an unknown location, the only thing present was darkness and nothing else. In such darkness laid a young girl, unconscious on the ground.
The young girl's long red hair lay flat on the floor as some strands clung to her pale white skin, which seemed like they had never touched sunlight. With her youthful appearance, it seemed she would be at the age where she would be playing with dolls.
Her small soft lips started to tremble as her big black eyes shot open. "Ian...!" She scram as she began to pant relentlessly.
Noticing the lack of presence, Ruth looked around and shivered at such sight of darkness.
She quickly got up, and she started to shout. "Ian...! Ian...! Where are you...!" Ruth screamed as loud as she could while fear began to knot around her shoulders.
She had felt nothing like this before. When professor Veronica, her creator, had brought her to life, she had constantly been improving herself to become the perfect being.
So back then, when her calculations were utterly wrong, she started to lose it completely.
"Ian... Ian come back... you didn't die like that, right?" Ellia mumbled as she knelt on the ground. "You somehow survived that attack, right?"
Ruth slammed her fist onto the ground as tears flowed down her cheeks, making her vision go blurry." Maybe being this advanced was my weakness." Ruth gave a dry laugh with a pained face.
"It's all my fault! If I had known this would happen, then Ian wouldn't have...! Maybe this wouldn't have happened if I had paid more attention! I was the one who dragged him here to die..."
It was then a light came from within the darkness. A blurry vision of Ellia's perspective flashed onto the darkness. Seeing the light, Ellia immediately got up and ran towards the light.
Ruth reached her fingers, trying to touch the light. The moment she did, she felt a shock coming from her fingers, causing her to pull them back in pain.
Warning! You are breaking the third law of robotics! Cannot proceed any further!
A red barrier formed as it trumpeted at Ruth
Seeing this, Ruth frowned as she glared at the red barrier.
"Fuck off, you piece of shit!" Ruth screamed as she banged on the barrier with her tightened fists. Despite her pain, she continued to do it with gritted teeth.
"Let me through! Ian needs me!" Ruth yelled as she started to punch, kick and slam against the barrier.
Breaking the third law of robotics! Yo-
"Aghhh! Shut the fuck up and open up!" Ruth now had a frenzied look on her face. Her eyebrows dipped down as wrinkles formed on her face.
"I'm not breaking any laws! The third law only applies when it doesn't conflict with the first law! By obeying the third law, I'm also breaking the first law!"
Little by little, the unremitting attacks by Ruth slowly cracked the red barrier, then altogether, the barrier came down.
Unbeknownst to Ruth, blinded by her anger, she was now swinging at air.
Then suddenly losing balance, she tripped over her own feet, crashing into the light.