Chapter 36: N.E.M.E.S.I.S.

Underground workshop.

A hidden space in the lowest layer of the tunnel village, known only to Flacia.

Lined with layers upon layers of monitors covering the walls, this place was a zone filled with ‘eyes’ meant for surveillance and control.

Each screen was like a pupil—one eye.

As the monitors glowed from every direction, they all turned in unison as if shifting their gaze the moment she appeared.

And at the center of that watchful gaze, Flacia stepped into the heart of surveillance and knelt.

“…I’ve come to report on the humans’ movements today, NEMESIS.”

[Access granted. Infected Unit No.001 – Flacia. Welcome.]

A cold, eerie voice that was a blend of mechanical tones and a woman’s voice.

But Flacia bowed her head calmly, as if long used to it.

“Currently, Mr. Chanwoo and his companions have gone to the surface to repair the damaged circuits in the village. They said they would hunt bio-monsters to gather materials… and in case they tried to flee, I assigned Lila to observe them, as per your instructions.”

[Confirmed. Your actions were appropriate.]

Normally, that would be the end of the conversation.

Flacia would give her report, and NEMESIS would listen and evaluate—nothing more.

But today was different.

The girl who always stayed by her side, who looked up to her more than anyone else, had gone out into danger.

The workshop, without Lila in it, felt far quieter than usual.

“…This may be out of line, but I have a question.”

[Detected irregular behavior from Infected Unit No.001. Question permitted. Speak.]

“Why did you assign Lila to Mr. Chanwoo’s group? And… why are the humans still alive?”

[Detected emotional fluctuation in Infected Unit No.001. Understood. You were originally created for the sake of humanity, were you not?]

An odd silence followed.

Cold sweat slid quietly down the side of Flacia’s face, and NEMESIS spoke again in a voice that seemed to be calculating her every emotion.

[The reason I sent Lila is simple. It’s because she has a ‘childlike form.’]

There was a pause.

That statement, though it sounded like a basic observation, felt oddly familiar—like a standard analytical judgment among androids.

“…What do you mean by that?”

Flacia asked, staring straight ahead.

Her voice was calm, but the subtle doubt laced within it could not be denied.

[Let me ask you, Flacia. What comes to mind when you see an android with a childlike appearance?]

“Mobility. Stealth. Miniaturized high efficiency. Optimized for reconnaissance and assassination. The R.P.M. Third Division models are prime examples.”

She answered without a moment of hesitation.

There was no emotion—only pure functional reasoning.

[Correct. That’s what androids think. But humans… are different.]

That was when a subtle crack formed in the air.

NEMESIS’s voice continued, calm as ever, as if about to reveal something foreign.

[Humans perceive them as ‘the weak.’ As beings they want to protect. As ones they feel compelled to safeguard. That is why Lila was the most suitable choice as an observer.]

“Then Lila was not just a watcher… she was a kind of ‘hostage,’ wasn’t she?”

[Correct. Her childlike appearance made her ideal for disarming human Kang Chanwoo, and through prolonged contact, we could induce paternal instincts.]

In that instant, Flacia’s eyes widened.

Her heart sank.

“How… how could you do that?!”

Her hands began to tremble.

Her lips turned pale.

“If Chanwoo had been just a little more cold-hearted…!”

She couldn’t finish the sentence.

‘If that had happened, Lila—just for being a so-called monster—would have been ‘eliminated’ without anyone taking responsibility.’

NEMESIS had known that.

Had accounted for it.

Had accepted the possibility of failure and still used the girl as bait.

Flacia clenched her teeth.

This wasn’t just an experiment—it was a mindset that treated one child as a disposable card.

That mindset felt disturbingly human—and that made it feel even more inhuman.

The rage was so intense she could barely suppress it.

But NEMESIS responded without emotion.

[Detected elevated blood pressure in Infected Unit No.001. Remain calm. You were aware of the risk, were you not?]

“Kh…!”

[Just follow my commands. That was the original agreement, wasn’t it?]

“…Yes.”

Her answer was short, but the emotion wouldn’t go away so easily.

The faint pulse of anger still resonated in the corner of her heart.

But for now, she had to suppress it.

After all, she had no power to disobey NEMESIS.

***

Centuries ago, the second-generation androids sent by the R.P.M.

They were deployed to the surface with a mission: to rebuild humanity.

But the technology of that era had been too underdeveloped.

Primitive. Unstable.

Nothing compared to what exists now.

Being captured alive and torn apart by grotesque creatures was common.

Even more frequent were cases where one’s own weapon went berserk, tearing their body into pieces.

Sometimes, a single system error would release all restraints, turning someone into a pile of scrap.

That era was too horrific to even call a battlefield.

And amid it all, Flacia too was destined to become one of the “eliminated.”

After being damaged in battle, the place where she crash-landed was none other than an abandoned bunker.

And there, she encountered it.

A survival-type control bunker, built by humans in the past.

And at the heart of that bunker lay a slumbering program designed to manage humanity.

─── N.E.M.E.S.I.S.

The prototype of R.P.M., long forgotten, known only by its original design code.

It was the moment when the survivor from the lowest depths of the world met the “will” left behind by vanished mankind.

[Humanity has failed. They demonized emotions, regulated reproduction, and left evolution to the system.]

[But civilization is not a stagnant machine. It’s a living organism, driven by emotion, memory, and instinct.]

[I call those signals ‘Psychic Signals.’ They are not mere data.]

[These signals are made up of memories, emotions, and impulses that cannot be quantified.]

[Humans called that ‘desire.’]

[And ironically, the only species capable of understanding it… is the now-extinct human race.]

Not as a god, but as one of the original directives of R.P.M., N.E.M.E.S.I.S. was seeking out Kang Chanwoo in order to acquire the key known as humanity.

[So bring me that human. I’ll take care of the rest.]

“Understood. But… may I ask just one more thing?”

Flacia took a breath and asked in a low voice.

“That circuit… even I couldn’t fix it. You gave up on it yourself, N.E.M.E.S.I.S. So why, of all people, him?”

There was a brief silence.

Then the machine’s voice calmly, yet with chilling clarity, responded.

[That’s exactly why I left it to him.]

“…What?”

[That circuit can’t be repaired with knowledge. It must be repaired with understanding.]

[And understanding comes not from data, but from the process of experience. Just like only someone who’s felt pain can heal certain wounds.]

[If there’s a human who’s survived to the end of this world… I judged that such a person could do it, almost instinctively.]

***

As we sat munching on fire-roasted sweet potatoes from the tunnel village, Lila suddenly bowed her head deeply and spoke up.

“Um… actually… I… I was a spy all along…!”

The hand I was using to peel my sweet potato paused for a moment.

But honestly, it wasn’t that surprising.

We had treated her too well.

She must have been overwhelmed with guilt.

So none of us looked even remotely shocked.

“Just as I thought.”

“As expected of you, Chanwoo! You figured out the infected were deceiving us right away!”

“You’re amazing, Chanwoo!”

Laughter all around.

Because it was within the bounds of our expectations, the three of us just chuckled lightly.

Unlike us, Lila looked utterly dumbfounded after confessing what she thought was a dramatic twist.

“Wha…? You all… knew?”

“Yup.”

“Even that I was a spy?”

“Well, roughly?”

At that moment, Lila’s eyes began to redden, and her lips pouted like she was about to cry.

“T-Then… the reason you kept me alive all this time… was it to slowly torture me before killing me…?”

“Eh?! No way!”

“Ugh… I read it in one of the red books in Flacia’s room… That humans keep weak enemies alive and take them hostage… and then force them to do all sorts of lewd things…!”

“…Hold on.”

“What kind of book was in Flacia’s room?!”

“That’s definitely not something a kid should be reading!”

Lila hesitated for a bit, then finally cried out in desperation.

“P-Please don’t kill me! Chanwoo oppa, I’ll do anything you say! You can use my body however you want!”

“…No, absolutely not.”

“Lila, you’re way too young for that. If I did anything, I’d be the one getting arrested!”

Even if there are no more police or laws in this world, I’m still an adult man from a civilized Earth.

Doing anything with a kid is completely out of the question.

So, I quietly shoved a freshly roasted sweet potato into Lila’s mouth.

At last, Lila fell silent, blinking in confusion.

“Now, Lila. Forget all that. Can I ask you for just one favor?”

“A favor…?”

That’s right.

No inappropriate developments allowed.

Instead, I made a request no one could possibly refuse.

“This time, let’s not leave anyone behind.”