Into the Storm – 1

What awakened Kang In-ho’s consciousness, which was floundering in the deep swamp of the Sleep Demon, was the urge to urinate.

He glanced beside him with hazy eyes and saw an android with closed eyes, as if asleep.

He gently slipped out of bed, placing his bare feet on the floor.

He looked at the clock, 4 a.m. Even if he had kicked the blanket and woken up, Isis, who was lying next to him, probably wouldn’t have stirred.

And Kang In-ho now knew that fact.

There was a gap in Isis. It wasn’t important whether it had always been there or had recently appeared.

The important fact for him was one thing: this gap was gradually increasing, albeit little by little.

When he first learned of this fact, he was going to wait until a gap appeared in Isis.

However, Isis distinguished like a ghost whether he was asleep or awake. Also, it was difficult to lie down with his eyes closed and not fall asleep.

So, he chose to drink a lot of water.

It was difficult to adjust the time, but he calculated that if he drank enough water to wake up once in the middle, it would roughly fall around that time.

After several trials and errors, his body adapted to this time and he was able to wake up.

“First, the bathroom.”

He entered the bathroom and relieved his bladder, which felt like it was about to burst.

As the excess water drained away, his hazy mind gradually cleared.

He stared at the vent on the ceiling, opening and closing his eyes.

His free time without Isis’s interference was about 30 minutes. It was gradually increasing, but it was tight since he had to go back to his place and fall asleep.

“There’s nothing I can do. Not that I’m going to do anything.”

As he said, he didn’t particularly intend to do anything.

He was gradually adapting to life here,

His arguments with Isis were gradually decreasing,

And he had decided not to hold Isis responsible for NB,

So, he had no choice but to escape from this place.

Therefore, this time was like a chocolate bar secretly hidden in the cupboard for him.

It was like a very small happiness that only he knew.

He looked in the bathroom mirror.

His reflection in the spotless mirror was that of someone who had just woken up, but his skin was clear and flawless.

He thought it was thanks to Isis’s care.

He found this face unfamiliar. He saw it every day, but he never got used to it.

In fact, it was the same no matter which dimension he went to.

Whether he was possessing the body of a fat middle-aged man,

Or the body of an old man,

Or the body of a person with strong features or delicate features,

He always felt awkward and never got used to it.

He splashed water on his face and roughly rubbed it.

Like erasing a paper messed up with scribbles with an eraser.

Yet, this awkwardness did not disappear.

Others laughed, cried, frowned, and got angry with him.

He returned to the room. He looked at the time. 4:11 a.m. Isis was still in a frozen state.

He approached the window.

-Whoosh

The window vibrated in the strong wind.

“It’s amazing it’s not breaking.”

He clicked his tongue at the force that seemed like it would have broken and sent shards flying long ago.

The destructive power of nature ravaged the artificial city.

A tree with exposed roots gradually tilted and fell, and the tiles in the park were broken and scattered.

Occasionally, small animals could be seen scurrying away, and birds chirped in the gaps of buildings, braving the fierce storm.

Chaos had come to Aaru.

“They said there wouldn’t be any safety issues, so there probably won’t be.”

It was a bold statement from the AI. He couldn’t help but believe it.

The Cradle was safe, and the damaged city facilities would be repaired after the storm passed.

The window was shaking loudly, but the building was fine.

According to Isis’s prediction, the storm would leave Aaru within two days.

Everything was proceeding as calculated, stably, and smoothly.

Yet, he scratched his head.

“But why am I so uneasy?”

The feeling that something big was going to go wrong wouldn’t go away.

He felt like something big was about to happen.

And so far, this kind of anxiety had usually led to a bad ending.

-Whoooooosh

The wind grew stronger and stronger.

As if it would uproot the building.

He looked at the time. 4:20 a.m.

It was time to go back to bed.

He glanced out the window one more time and crawled back into bed.

The warm touch of the blanket embraced him.

‘I need to fall asleep quickly.’

One hour and forty minutes later, Isis opened her eyes.

“6 a.m.”

Isis’s eyes sharpened as she checked the time after memory optimization.

The time it took for optimization was gradually increasing. This meant that the things to be deleted were gradually increasing.

“We need to find a way to reduce optimization time.”

At this rate, the time of functional suspension would gradually increase, and it was clear that the city’s gap would increase.

“If it’s a performance issue with the android body, replacing the body is also…”

Suddenly, Isis’s mouth closed.

[Just do it yourself. Not another appearance, but that appearance as it is.]

The words Master had said to Isis the day after completing her first stress management were automatically replayed.

“We need to choose a method of upgrading the body itself.”

Isis muttered and grabbed Kang In-ho’s wrist.

Pulse, respiration, and blood pressure were all normal.

There was a change in brain waves, indicating that he had woken up slightly in the middle, but since this trend had been seen recently, she would only record it for now.

After the master’s medical checkup was completed, she checked the city’s situation in the control room as usual.

As expected, the destructive power of the storm was terrifying. This Sandstorm, which originated in the wilderness, had covered most of Aaru’s facilities and destroyed the majority of them.

“We will begin repair work after the storm passes.”

However, since the main facilities were installed in the Cradle and underground in the city, there was no problem with the master’s survival.

Isis lowered the screen that illuminated the city and brought up another screen.

“Checking the dimensional distortion value. …Approaching the critical point.”

Isis’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the upward-sloping graph.

It was still within the normal range, but it looked like it could exceed the allowable value at any time.

When the dimensional distortion value reaches the critical point, a dimensional passage occurs.

Isis gathered data and specified the time when the dimensional passage would occur. The estimated time until the dimensional passage occurred was approximately 44 hours.

At this rate, they would have to face the dimensional passage along with the storm.

“If the passage opens before the storm passes, it will be difficult to guarantee the master’s safety.”

Isis quickly assessed the situation.

“We must also consider moving up the master’s transplant surgery schedule to today.”

To do so, a more detailed medical checkup was needed.

Isis decided to proceed as soon as she returned to the room.

Isis got up from her seat and began to check for any unusual events that had occurred overnight as she returned to her room.

While checking the unusual events recorded on CCTV, excluding the damage caused by the storm, Isis stopped abruptly in front of the door to the room where the master was.

The video recordings from 3:42 a.m. to 6 a.m. were inaccessible.

“It’s not inaccessible.”

Isis muttered, looking at the empty space. Emotion began to seep into her expressionless face little by little.

“The record has been deleted.”

Isis frowned and muttered in a low voice.

Isis searched for the deletion record, analyzed the cause, and opened the door to the Cradle. The first thing she saw was the bed.

An empty bed.

[Video record deletion – Deleter: Isis]

The record said that she had deleted it, but Isis had no memory of deleting that record.

Isis quickly searched under the bed and in every corner of the room.

And she opened the bathroom door without knocking.

An empty bathroom.

The master was not there.

He was nowhere in the room.

“…NB.”

Her face reflected in the mirror was unfamiliar even to herself.

Isis muttered.