Ch.9393. Sound.

# 93. Sound.

The large door was firmly shut, and with the building’s power cut off, there was no visible way to open it.

In this situation, the only way to enter the building was to use the window above.

Fortunately, the open window wasn’t that high up.

About three floors high, perhaps. It would be a bit difficult, but not impossible to climb if I wanted to.

But there was a problem. From where I stood to the open window, there wasn’t a single thing I could grab onto.

Maybe they decided to just put a door at the bottom since snow would pile up anyway, but there wasn’t even a pipe visible, let alone windows.

I’d climbed up building exteriors and entered other people’s homes for various reasons before, but I’m not a frog. There was no way I could climb a bare wall with nothing to hold onto.

My gaze naturally shifted from the window to the ground below. Snow piled high enough to swallow my knees. If I could pile it up to the height of the window, I could step on it and get inside. Simple and certain, but unfortunately not easy.

When faced with a wall that physical strength alone cannot overcome, humans use their brains. Beyond considering what I could do, I started thinking about what I had—and how I could use it. It’s a process of objectively assessing the surrounding situation while reflecting on myself to solve the problem.

“Ah. Come to think of it, I had that.”

Thinking about it, with all humans gone now, there’s no one smarter than me left on Earth.

As the last and greatest human mind trying to find an easy solution to this problem, I remembered something from the mart a few months ago.

That day when I was climbing up and down a rickety ladder looking for useful items among countless shelves.

Now I could use many of the machines I’d left behind, but what I’d taken instead was a fluorescent ball, dog treats that Puppy occasionally gnawed on, and a rope that, when thrown high, would secure itself and pull me up with just the press of a button.

“I think I put it in here somewhere?”

Clapping my hands as I remembered I had that, I immediately began searching through the bag I’d stored in the cargo compartment.

I’d completely forgotten about it since I hadn’t particularly needed a rope until now, but who would have thought I’d end up using it now?

Indeed, no one knows how things will turn out in this world.

I pulled the rope out from among various odds and ends at the bottom of the bag and cheered lightly with a “Hooray—”

“Are you trying to get in there? Hmm, it doesn’t seem like there would be anything useful for you, Mori.”

“I don’t always need to find something useful to go inside. I’ve been feeling a bit bored just driving for the past few days… and how many more buildings like this will we find? I want to try as many things as possible while I still can move around.”

Just as I was about to throw the rope toward the window, the Robot, who had been sleeping to save battery, woke up, apparently detecting my movement.

“While I’m a robot who appreciates new experiences and challenges in my own way… will you really be okay by yourself?”

“Does it look too high? It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve climbed higher places than that with bare hands before. And I have the rope. Even if something goes wrong and I fall, the snow is piled so high that I won’t get hurt.”

For some reason, the Robot’s gaze was filled with worry. I could climb up safely and wouldn’t get hurt, so what was there to worry about?

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“What are you saying? I can climb up alone, but I can’t take you with me. It’s not like you can fly high like a Drone.”

“If you climb up first, you can tie my body to it and pull me up after.”

“What if you hit the wall and damage your parts? And you said your battery is getting dangerously low. I’ll be back soon, so just rest here.”

I firmly stated while rewrapping the Robot, who was already covered in snow like a snowman, with blankets and cloth.

Just as I worried about the Robot, the Robot was worried about sending me alone, insisting on coming along until the end. But that didn’t change my decision to go alone.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“…You must come back.”

I know, I answered with a light smile as I checked the items I’d taken out of my bag.

A large flashlight and simple provisions. A light cloth bag and spray paint to avoid getting lost.

“This should be enough.”

There’s no point in carrying heavy things from the start. It only weighs you down, and if you happen to get injured, that load becomes a shackle.

After packing as lightly as possible, I stood beneath the open window with the rope in hand.

And just like I’d seen in movies and games, I grabbed just below the end of the rope, spun it around—and threw it toward the window.

“Ah.”

I’d imagined the rope would neatly hook onto the window, but reality wasn’t so accommodating.

It seemed I lacked strength, as it didn’t even reach the window, and the strong wind made it swerve widely.

In the process, the end that hit the wall remained fixed, confirming that it wouldn’t come loose until I pressed the release button—so I could say I’d verified its stability in my own way.

After that, I retrieved the rope and threw it again several times, but the results were rather unsatisfactory.

Feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, I kept my mind at ease and continued throwing, since failing didn’t make the item unusable.

“Got it!”

Eventually, I succeeded in getting the rope through the window.

Click, a sound confirming it was properly secured, and the taut line. After confirming it was firmly fixed enough to support my full weight, I immediately pressed the button on the handle. Soon the rope began to pull, lifting my body.

Fearing I might unexpectedly hit my head or face against the wall if pulled too quickly, I hugged the rope tightly and remained vigilant, but the pulling speed wasn’t that fast. Well, that was to be expected.

“This is sturdier and safer than I thought. At this rate, I could probably break a window from outside and get in even if it were closed.”

Having safely entered the interior, I retrieved the rope that was firmly secured below the windowsill.

If I’d known earlier, I could have used it in many places—it was somewhat regrettable that I only discovered its usefulness after coming to this place with few buildings.

“Hmm. As expected, there’s nothing here. It’s rare to find a place this empty.”

The first sensation I felt upon entering the building was desolation.

The space was large, but there was nothing filling it.

I don’t know if it was just this room, but all I could see from where I entered were debris commonly found in neglected buildings that hadn’t been maintained.

As the Robot had said, and as I felt myself, there probably weren’t many useful items here, but I didn’t expect it to be this empty. I thought there would at least be computers or office desks.

“If I’d come looking for food or clothes, this would have been a complete waste.”

Still, I didn’t have much to regret even if the entire building was empty. I had enough food and clothes, and I hadn’t come expecting material gain in the first place.

The reason I came here was simply to find the last traces of those who had fled early, as someone who wanted to escape somewhere.

I came out into the corridor and looked at the launch pad that existed beyond the thick windows. The starting and ending point created for humans born on Earth to leave their homeland.

There was no spacecraft on the launch pad, and I hadn’t yet found evidence that a spacecraft had actually been launched from here, but I instinctively knew that quite a few people had departed for space from this place.

“Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I wandered around alone.”

My footsteps, searching for traces of people, echoed through the wide corridor.

Without the sound of Drone’s flight or Robot’s voice, listening to footsteps that echoed and disappeared alone, a sense of loneliness came over me.

Wherever I went, all I could hear was my breathing and footsteps.

I don’t know how often I covered my ears to escape these sounds that took away my sense of reality the more I became conscious of them.

“Ugh.”

As unpleasant memories surfaced, my mood sank, and I kicked a small pebble that happened to be at my feet.

The pebble, which had just been sleeping quietly but was suddenly sent flying by a wanderer’s spite, hit the wall and rolled on the floor, making sounds as if in pain.

But that too was very brief. Like a drop of rain falling on the surface of a calm lake, the sudden sound subsided before long.

The world thus regains its silence. A silence that no one welcomes. If you stand still and hold your breath, it feels suffocating, as if time has stopped—that’s how intense the silence is.

“Hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have come alone.”

How long had it been since I started wandering alone? I already missed Puppy and Robot. To be precise, I missed the sounds they made. In this world that always tries to return to silence if left alone, the only thing that can announce our existence is constant change and the sounds that come from it.

The time spent with friends certainly made me less lonely. But I’d become so accustomed to that time that I’d grown weak to ‘being alone’ again.

Was this why Robot worried more than necessary when I said I’d enter the building?

Or maybe Robot thought I might just go far away on my own.

“I think I need to create some time to be alone, even if I have to force myself.”

It would be nice if we could stay together forever, but this world wasn’t that warm.

The authority received in the city. The ability granted to Robot’s creator went beyond simply operating and stopping machines—it allowed me to see the current state of the machines at a glance. Even the remaining battery level and the lifespan of parts.

A cold winter was approaching.

To survive, I had to get used to it again.