Ch.108Addiction! (4)

#108

“Damn it, of all places to be inside a reinforced glass wall…”

Early in the morning, Rascal muttered to himself upon discovering the Libertron inside a reinforced glass enclosure in a corner of the Science and Technology Department.

After looking around to confirm no OSA staff were present, he carefully said:

“Hey, tin can. How did you end up trapped inside this reinforced glass wall?”

[I’m, not, sure.]

“What, your robot life ends if you don’t know? Ah, you’re such a blockhead.”

Rascal scratched near his temple as he spoke.

“Did you get orders from higher-ups?”

[……I, know.]

“Oh, you know? That’s good. But to activate your self-destruct switch, someone needs to access the distribution panel on your back, you know?”

The Libertron, designed to look like an old-model robot, had a hinged distribution panel on its back, secured with screws and filled with wires and buttons.

Opening the panel would naturally require assistance from a human, as the Libertron couldn’t reach it alone.

The problem was that there was absolutely no way to access the Libertron trapped inside the reinforced glass wall.

The reinforced glass wall was literally a wall made of reinforced glass on all sides, constructed from a single piece with no seams.

“Wait, there’s not even a trace of where the glass was attached. How did they get you in there?”

[It seems, they used, a method, to generate, reinforced glass, around me.]

“‘Seems’? Can’t you even make your own judgment?”

[I can, only, speculate.]

Rascal grew frustrated with the Libertron’s response.

“So is there no way for me to get in there?”

[There is, one, way.]

“Oh, really? What is it?”

[Break, the reinforced, glass….]

“Hey, you stupid tin can. You think I’m asking because I don’t know that?”

Rascal pounded his chest in frustration.

“I swear, having to deal with a robot getting all cocky just because it has a quantum computer inside. Sheesh.”

[……..]

“So, don’t you have any automatic self-destruct mechanism or something?”

[It requires, direct activation, by another person.]

“Whoever made you really designed this in the most inconvenient way possible. Ah…”

Rascal had received orders from a man who was a direct subordinate of the Chief to “destroy the Libertron.”

Until just a few days ago, the Libertron had simply been sitting quietly in a research lab without even any surveillance personnel—that was its current situation.

“How long have you been here?”

[Since, two days, ago.]

Rascal had also received his orders two days ago.

If the orders had been given just three days earlier, this unfortunate situation wouldn’t have occurred.

“This is ridiculous, seriously.”

It was clear that breaking the reinforced glass to blow up the Libertron would cause major problems, especially with so many people around.

“I need to retreat for now. Hey, don’t you move an inch, got it? I’ll try to find a way.”

[Rascal, sir.]

“What?”

[Am I, destined, to be, destroyed?]

Rascal snickered at the Libertron’s unusual question.

“Of course you’re destined to be destroyed, you tin can. Talking about destiny and all. You’re just a machine, a machine. What’s a machine doing talking about destiny? Machines get disposed of when they’re no longer useful. Got it?”

[Am I, a machine?]

“Of course you’re a machine. What, you think you’re human? This thing thinks it’s human just because some OSA agents treated it like a person.”

Rascal tapped on the glass wall as he spoke.

“If you talk like this to other agents, you won’t get a clean destruction. Understand? What a tin can, now trying to imitate humans.”

[……Yes, I understand.]

When another OSA agent appeared, Rascal quickly glanced around, pretended he had been doing something else, and disappeared in another direction.

[……What is, my purpose, for existing?]

In an empty corner of the office, the Libertron quietly outputted its voice.

* * *

Due to Officer Stoner’s sudden behavior, another officer had to take temporary duty, while Stoner himself was admitted to a psychiatric hospital affiliated with Honeygood Prison for mental evaluation.

Nevada’s sunlight is known as the hottest and most piercing in the entire United States, with temperatures exceeding 86°F (30°C) from May onward.

“Why do I have to deal with this crap because of that bastard Stoner?”

“What can we do? Stoner was in charge of the outdoor vocational training instructor position.”

The correctional officers teaching landscaping-related vocational training in the outdoor area, where shade was nearly impossible to find, were absolutely miserable as they sweated profusely.

“Officer, can’t we finish up and take a break? It’s too hot today.”

“Both we inmates and you officers are suffering in this heat.”

“Honestly, vocational training in this weather is just wrong.”

The inmates, wearing prison uniforms with poor ventilation, had backs soaked with sweat and shared the same sentiment as the officers.

“Ah, maybe we should…”

Just as the two officers were considering giving up, another correctional officer approached them.

Seeing the man with an impressive build who wasn’t sweating a single drop despite the heat, the two officers looked at him curiously.

“Isn’t that Officer Hughes?”

“Yeah. Why would someone from Block 2 come all the way here?”

Dexter approached the two officers with a smile and said:

“I have some information to share with the inmates in vocational training today. How about you two go work in the cool shade of Block 2 instead of me?”

This was music to the ears of the two officers.

“Well, that sounds good to us, but what information do you need to share?”

“You know about what Officer Stoner did, right? Senior Officer Raymond asked me to look into it.”

Of course, no such request had been made—Dexter had volunteered for the duty change to conduct his own investigation.

“Oh, really? So we just need to work in Block 2?”

“You know there’s not much going on in Block 2. I already told Dan about it, so just check with him.”

When Dexter gave them a reassuring smile, the two officers quickly nodded.

“Then, good luck with the vocational training!”

“We’ll take care of Block 2, so don’t worry!”

Naturally, the two officers who didn’t want to work under the scorching sun quickly disappeared.

After watching them vanish into the distance, Dexter looked at the inmates who were still sweating profusely and said:

“It’s too hot for vocational training. Let’s all move to the shade.”

Even to Dexter, conducting vocational training in this weather seemed insane.

The inmates readily accepted Dexter’s suggestion without complaint and moved to the shade against a nearby building wall to escape the beating sun.

“He’s more reasonable than I expected.”

“Looking at his size, I thought he’d be a total hardass.”

While the inmates were whispering about Dexter’s behavior, he joined them in the shade, clapped his hands once, and said:

“In exchange, I have some questions. Anyone willing to answer?”

“…What about?”

“I just want to ask someone who’s been attending vocational training regularly about Officer Stoner.”

Dexter smiled at one inmate, who wiped the sweat from his forehead before responding:

“Oh, you mean the C.O. who usually does vocational training?”

“Yeah. Hasn’t he been acting strange lately?”

At Dexter’s question, the inmates started whispering again.

“He definitely has been weird lately, that bas— I mean, that C.O.”

“He couldn’t understand what people were saying, and he brought a hammer to landscaping class.”

“He kept calling me by some weird woman’s name.”

“He kept checking his phone and biting his nails during training.”

“I heard from another C.O. that he took personal leave last time because of a game.”

The rumors had already spread widely among the inmates.

“Since when?”

“Probably since the beginning of this month.”

It was already mid-May, so Dexter realized the situation had been neglected for quite some time.

‘Well, it’s hard to know until someone is directly affected.’

It was an awkward situation for inmates to report or inform someone that a correctional officer was acting strangely.

Until there was violence or an emergency situation involving inmates, it would have been difficult to assess Officer Stoner’s condition.

“But why are you asking about Officer Stoner?”

“I heard from guys in other blocks that he skipped work because he didn’t want to work. Is that true?”

“Wow, there’s really someone like that?”

“It’s true, I heard about it yesterday…”

Dexter chuckled at the inmates who had started gossiping, then cleared his throat to calm them down.

“It’s too hot to be chattering away. Let’s all just be quiet and rest. If you keep talking, we might have to go back to landscaping training in the scorching sun.”

The inmates immediately fell silent and started watching Dexter cautiously.

Dexter smiled slightly and made notes on his phone about what the inmates had said.

‘I should talk to Ms. Himena when she arrives.’

While Dexter was avoiding the sun, Himena was standing in front of Agent Thompson’s house.

Standing before a typical low-rise condo common in Las Vegas, Himena fanned her face with her hand and pressed the doorbell on the entrance.

‘As expected, no one’s home.’

“You already know there’s nobody inside, don’t you?” said Agent Kuma, who was sweating beside her.

“I know. I’m just checking to be sure.”

After confirming no one was passing by, Himena gently touched the window next to the front door.

The window was unlocked, and there didn’t seem to be any alarm system.

“Don’t tell me you’re going in through that window?”

“Keep quiet. If you hear anything strange, break down the door and come in right away. Got it?”

“Are we really a secret agency? You’re quite fond of suggesting we break down doors.”

“Isn’t a broken door cheaper than me dying?”

After chiding Agent Kuma, Himena looked around once more, opened the window, and slipped inside.

The bulky Agent Kuma decided not to enter through the window and instead kept watch outside.

The window hadn’t been touched for some time, as dust covered Himena’s hands, which she brushed off while looking around.

‘So this is Agent Thompson’s house?’

Thompson’s house, which she had expected to be dirty due to the dusty window, was actually quite neat, similar to Dexter’s place.

However, unlike Dexter’s home, the bookshelves and shelves were filled with all sorts of gaming merchandise.

‘Half-naked female warrior figurines, strange men in steel armor holding guns… Oh, I’ve seen this one in a movie.’

Himena looked around the house but didn’t find anything particularly special, though she could roughly determine Agent Thompson’s living patterns.

‘He only moves around in certain areas.’

While the house was generally clean, she could see dust accumulated in areas that were relatively less used.

‘The guest room is covered in dust too, so he probably only uses the living room, master bedroom, and bathroom?’

As she looked around the master bedroom, Himena discovered a box in the closet containing a helmet with goggles, gloves with unknown components attached, and a full-body suit with similar attachments to the gloves.

‘This is it.’

Just as she had seen online, it was the VR gaming system called “Polytechnic.”

Himena gathered all the game cases that were outside the box, put them inside, and left through the front door.

“What’s that?”

“Polytechnic.”

“Oh, the gaming system that Agent Thompson was using. Did you come to Thompson’s house just to get that?”

“Did you follow me without even knowing what we were coming to get?”

“You just told me to follow you, Senior Himena.”

Himena had no response to Agent Kuma’s words.

“Well, yes… but you should make an effort to find these things out yourself.”

“You sound exactly like my platoon leader when I was in the military.”

Himena pouted at Kuma’s response.

“You leave me speechless. Let’s hurry and examine this gaming system.”

Agent Kuma smiled slightly, loaded the box into the back seat of the car, and headed toward OSA headquarters.

As he drove, Kuma carefully observed a van with a plumber’s logo following behind them with its headlights off.

‘How long has it been following us?’