Ch.269Technopolis: Entrance ~ Exhibition Space

[The installation of the Integrated Management System Structure is complete. Now accepting external personnel.]

Following the emotionless announcement, a large circular elevator rose from beneath the wide-open hatch.

Though called an elevator, it was essentially a large circular metal plate surrounded by fence-like railings, but it was spacious enough to accommodate all 16 of us with room to spare.

The elevator’s operation was nearly identical to those in Nidavellir, the Blackforge Mine, and Grandorn Zwei, so we could board and descend without any difficulty. Carrying all 16 of us, the elevator began descending at a relatively fast pace, and after going down about 10 meters, the hatch far above closed again. Fortunately, magical lighting devices were installed inside the elevator shaft, so maintaining visibility wasn’t an issue.

“We’re going quite deep.”

“The cliff alone was 30 meters high. If this place is called an underground city, it must be built even deeper than that.”

“I wonder if there are dwarves living here?”

“Most likely. The elevator might be fine, but magical lighting devices would easily break down if left unmaintained for decades.”

“The fact that they’re functioning without a single malfunction means someone must be maintaining them.”

As we chatted, the elevator came to a stop, revealing a passage leading downward via stairs. It seemed we needed to disembark and continue on foot.

“I don’t think we’ll encounter any monsters, but just in case, Seti and I will take the lead.”

“Then I’ll take the rear. Unless something rips open the hatch and jumps down, we shouldn’t worry about being pursued.”

The passage stairs bent in a U-shape, similar to those commonly found in apartments or office buildings.

In order—myself and Seti, Jessica and Mina, the dwarf expedition team, Iris, and Phyllis—we descended into a spacious octagonal room on the second floor equipped with automatic doors. We entered through one door on the second floor and descended to the lower level, where four more automatic doors were positioned in the front, back, left, and right.

And in the center of that room…

“A dwarf?”

“No, that’s an automaton.”

Standing at what looked like an information desk in the center was an automaton in the form of a male dwarf. It had a stocky build, wore loose clothing, and boasted a luxuriant beard, but the exposed skin parts were metallic like a mannequin with visible seams. It exuded the quintessential “automaton” vibe—a classic steampunk robot aesthetic.

[Welcome. We are pleased to welcome you to Technopolis.]

“Ah, hello. We are—”

[This unit is a D-type automaton named Goldman, created to guide visitors within the facility. I can only respond to questions or engage in conversation on a limited range of topics, so please understand this limitation.]

The automaton Goldman interrupted our introduction to continue with its own speech. Apparently, it wasn’t capable of normal communication but was merely an information robot with limited voice input support.

[First, allow me to explain the basic structure of Technopolis.]

We all settled down and began listening attentively to the guide robot Goldman’s explanation.

According to Goldman, Technopolis consisted of six areas.

First, the “Control Tower” that vertically pierced through the center of Technopolis like the stem of a grape cluster. The elevator shaft—the only passage for bringing in personnel and supplies—and this Grand Hall located directly below it. Although we couldn’t access them directly from here, below were tower-shaped infrastructure facilities necessary for operating the city, such as the power room, water supply facilities, underground farms, and sewage treatment plants.

The doors on the first floor of the Grand Hall in the four cardinal directions each led to underground buildings with different themes.

To the north was the Mining Area, responsible for traditional dwarven production activities such as mining, smelting, and crafting.

To the east was the Engineering Area, consisting of various mechanical devices, production facilities, and automaton maintenance shops.

To the south was the Residential Area, equipped with row houses that could accommodate 60 households and essential neighborhood facilities like hospitals.

And to the west was the Exhibition Area, which fulfilled Technopolis’s founding purpose—storing outstanding inventions and research materials.

Passages connecting each area existed on every floor, but passages leading to the Grand Hall were only available on the top floor of each area. In other words, this Grand Hall served as both an intermediate base connecting Technopolis to the surface and an “inspection room” controlling the entry and exit of personnel and supplies.

“Question. Are there no other dwarves living here?”

[Answer possible. When Technopolis was completed, 73 dwarves began residing here, and the maximum population increased to 104, but currently all have died, leaving no survivors.]

“All dead? Was there a monster attack or some major accident?”

[Answer possible. Most deaths were due to natural causes from aging. The percentage of deaths from accidents, injuries, or diseases totals only 7%, and there were no deaths from murder, suicide, or starvation.]

“Huh. So the self-sufficient environment was working properly? But why did they all die out?”

[Answer possible. The critical cause was gender imbalance. Due to increasing monster populations, plans to accommodate additional female immigrants were thwarted, resulting in operations beginning with a male-to-female ratio of 4.5:1. Ultimately, the last female survivor died after childbirth in a situation where all children under 10 were male.]

“Oh…”

No matter how advanced your technology, without both men and women, children cannot be born. The final generation of Technopolis must have met a tragic end while painfully aware of this fact. Perhaps the dwarves who helped build this city left hints for their descendants out of a sense of duty to relocate women before this happened.

[Based on the Integrated Management System Structure’s judgment, unlimited access rights have been granted to all 16 of you who brought the structure. No hostile organisms have been detected inside Technopolis, so you may freely inspect each area.]

“Even us non-dwarves?”

[Answer possible. Technopolis welcomes peaceful visits from all races with intelligence and culture.]

With those words, Goldman bowed, and simultaneously the four automatic doors in the cardinal directions opened wide.

“Now that we have the administrator’s permission, shall we begin our proper Technopolis tour?”

“Where should we go first?”

“The Exhibition Area, of course!”

“We’re thinking of checking the core facilities of the Control Tower first.”

Our party and the expedition team had different opinions, but if there were no danger inside, there was no need for everyone to stay together. We decided to explore separately according to our interests and meet up at the Grand Hall for dinner. Following Mina’s strong request, we headed toward the Exhibition Area to the west.

The Exhibition Area was a three-story building structured like a department store, designed for visitors to view inventions while going up and down the central staircase. The plan was to expand downward as the number of inventions increased over time… but sadly, with the extinction of the residents, not even half of the completed three-floor space was filled.

The inventions stored in this exhibition hall were basically divided into three categories: A, B, and C. These grades were based not on technological superiority but on completion level.

Category A referred to inventions that had completed everything from theory to sample production and operational testing, ready for mass production with just an investment of resources and time. The steam engines and basic automaton models actually operating in Technopolis belonged here, along with many items similar to those found outside, like multi-tools or magical coffee pots.

Category B included inventions that had completed theory and sample production but hadn’t undergone operational testing due to Technopolis’s internal circumstances. Typical examples included overly powerful bombs or electric fishing rods that caught fish through localized electrical discharge.

Category C contained technical design documents that hadn’t completed the theory establishment or sample production stages. Of course, not just anything unfinished was recognized—the concept itself needed to have value and some degree of plausibility. The issue was that compared to A and B, these were, charitably speaking, more imaginative or, less charitably, showed the darker side of science. Devices for making alcohol from excrement, or mounting human brains in automatons to achieve immortality. Research on methods to make men pregnant… perhaps a desperate attempt to grasp at straws as they faced extinction due to gender imbalance.

In the farthest corner of the lowest floor of the Exhibition Area, which housed these three types of inventions, there was a special exhibition room resembling a massive vault.

< Category X >

It was said to be a place where the crystallization of unethical or extremely dangerous technologies that should never be disclosed to the outside world were sealed.

“Are we going in?”

“It would feel wrong to come all this way and not see this.”

“True. But still…”

If research on making men pregnant was Category C, what could be even more unethical to warrant Category X?

With the feeling of opening a door to the abyss, we slowly opened the door to the Category X exhibition room.