Chapter 35: The Government (Not Really)
Translator: ShutDoor
The biggest difference between Rachel, the research center director, and Ann was their personalities.
Both had catlike faces, if you wanted to get technical, but Ann was an emotionless psychopathic robot cat, while Rachel at least felt like a cat that had been socialized.
Besides, Ann was naturally expressionless, whereas Rachel had a slightly cheerful-looking face.
Though perhaps because she usually looked so cheerful, she would be far more frightening if she ever stared someone down without a trace of expression.
In a different way from Ann, she gave off the aura of someone you absolutely did not mess with.
“Ha ha, is that so?”
As if she had read my mind, Rachel raised only the corners of her mouth (her eyes weren’t smiling) and gestured toward the sofa in the research center director’s office.
For the record, I got the seat of honor.
“Would you like coffee or green tea?”
“Coffee would be nice.”
“Then coffee it is~.”
Still smiling with only the corners of her mouth, Rachel held out a steaming mug.
Slurp…
The sweet, familiar instant coffee eased some of the tension wound tight inside me. It was probably because I had spent the past several days doing nothing but staring holes through the monitors in the central control room.
Apparently satisfied that I had relaxed enough, Rachel got to the point.
“The virology research building plans to begin analyzing the pathogen as soon as we secure samples. But we’ll have to go outside the shelter for that, so I don’t know exactly when we’ll be able to obtain them.”
“What about the hydroponics research?”
“The plant physiology research building and agricultural engineering research building have agreed to handle it together. The other departments with capacity to spare will each choose a medium- to long-term objective and proceed with that for now. Since the research complex has all the advanced equipment they need, things should go smoothly for the time being.”
「Research」 was divided into five grades by difficulty, ranging from one star to five stars.
Considering that an advanced bioprocessing system as complicated-sounding as the <High-Efficiency Closed-Loop Vaccine> was only two stars, it wasn’t hard to imagine what the higher levels might be like.
Starting at three stars, even the names of the tech-tree nodes were hidden. It was like being unable to see Medics or Firebats in StarCraft until you built an Academy.
For reference, the two-star ‘Closed-Loop Vaccine’ research normally took 1,840 hours, though it said that under optimal conditions the research time could be reduced to roughly one-third of that. In other words, a little under a month.
Of course, we couldn’t work the researchers around the clock, so actually completing the research would take much longer…
‘It doesn’t seem like the technology will magically develop itself just because I put researchers inside a research building.’
The problem was that even I didn’t know exactly how 「Research」 worked.
Did we simply need to prepare the appropriate equipment and researchers, select one research focus like in any other game, and let the clock run down? Or did they have to conduct actual research ‘realistically’, with success or failure determined within those 1,840 hours?
“I imagine it’s probably the latter, don’t you?”
I nodded at Rachel’s words. I also thought the latter was more likely.
…But if so, how was that any different from conducting research in the real world?
“Hmm. At the very least, the greatest difference would be knowing the ‘direction’ before we begin.”
The corners of Rachel’s mouth slowly curled upward as she continued.
“Science is rather like swimming through the vast universe with your eyes closed, isn’t it? But if someone points you in the right direction, all you need to do is follow that path.”
I took that to mean that merely having the system show us the ‘path to the correct answer’ in advance would be an enormous advantage.
“…”
No, actually, I hadn’t understood her. It wasn’t because I was stupid. Rachel’s explanation had simply been far too poetic and long-winded.
[Administrator.]
At that moment, Ann, who had been quietly listening to our conversation from the central control room, cut in over the intercom.
[The development of modern passenger aircraft into their present form involved countless rounds of trial and error, numerous accidents, and innumerable improvements. Ultimately, however, they reached the endpoint of optimization.]
Ann explained using examples from the history of industrial technology and scientific development.
Humanity had only realized the dangers of hydrogen airships after the Hindenburg disaster, just as it had learned to use flame-resistant materials in spacecraft only after more than a few astronauts had lost their lives.
How many mistakes and sacrifices had it taken to progress from the biplane to the modern passenger jet?
But with the 「Research」 feature, we had no need for that.
Because the system—
[—provides every answer, including what equipment, resources, and applied knowledge are required to complete the model at the very end of that chain of improvements.]
Simply put, we could bypass the countless intermediate stages between the biplane and the passenger jet and go straight to the end.
Wasn’t that ridiculously overpowered?
Of course, a technological blueprint alone wouldn’t be enough. We would also need the appropriate production facilities, new materials, and other underlying infrastructure…
It finally sank in that this system was far more broken than I had imagined.
So Shelter Builder wasn’t merely a survival game. It was an apocalypse-survival-civilization-development game.
Rachel broke me out of my thoughts.
“Of course, if merely knowing the route to the answer were enough, humanity would have commercialized nuclear fusion and ventured into space long ago, wouldn’t it?”
“…”
“So in my opinion, there may be some additional assistance from the system. In terms of computational ability alone, we androids far surpass humans, yet only humans are permitted to conduct 「Research」.”
Rachel rested her chin on one hand and thought for a moment before continuing.
“Perhaps a lightning bolt of inspiration strikes during the research and suddenly sends progress soaring? Well, ultimately, we’ll have to begin 「Research」 ourselves to find out for certain.”
She had a point.
After putting our heads together and discussing the matter, Rachel and I ultimately selected the twenty-three 「Research」 projects most likely to produce meaningful results at present.
Basically, we were making a vaccine, improving hydroponic efficiency, breaking down plastic, and unlocking nanomaterials.
Since I wasn’t a scientist, however, Rachel had to explain what each project actually did, one by one.
“To put the research assigned to the biology research building simply, it is based on degradative enzymes immobilized on bacterial outer membrane vesicles…”
…But no matter how long I listened, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so I eventually had to call Ann.
Ann appeared less than a minute after I called and fully demonstrated her abilities as my foremost staff adviser. Apparently, she had started running this way the moment we communicated earlier.
“It means using bacteria to biologically degrade plastic. Acquiring this technology should provide significant future benefits in waste treatment and resource recycling.”
Ann neatly summarized Rachel’s barrage of impenetrable technical jargon.
“The chemistry research building is conducting nanomaterials research. Research into pico-scale materials may be beyond us for now, but this technology will provide a crucial foundation if we pursue it in the future. You can communicate with us through thought alone because of the picomachines in your brain, after all.”
Without Ann’s helpful explanation, understanding it all might have taken me forever.
The conclusion was simple. Even if the current research wasn’t immediately useful, it would prove tremendously valuable someday.
But why couldn’t Rachel have explained it like that from the start?
When I gave her a questioning look, Rachel brazenly smiled and took a sip of the instant coffee in front of her.
“I’m a scientist through and through, whereas Secretary Ann is perhaps half researcher and half secretary. Researchers actually understand explanations better when they’re phrased the way I did.”
“…”
“Research Center Director Rachel is correct. Therefore, please make sure to bring me with you from now on.”
“…”
I didn’t have a single person on my side.
Still, using a 1.8-trillion-won android as nothing more than an interpreter seemed like a bit much.
“I can adequately perform my original duties while remaining at your side and assisting you, Administrator.”
If she was going to argue her case that hard, I supposed I had no choice.
I discreetly tuned out Ann’s scolding and surreptitiously checked the 「Research」 window.
Instead of the complicated UI crammed full of detail that I had seen before, I used a version that summarized only the essentials. Ann had made it for me.
[ Hydroponics Power Efficiency I ]
Effect: Reduced electricity consumption
Research difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
Current progress: 0.03%
[ Biological plastic degradation efficiency improvement I ]
Effect: Increased plastic decomposition speed
Research difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
Current progress: 0.01%
.
.
.
The numbers were small, but they were steadily inching upward, so apparently something was working.
In any case, the virology research building needed samples before it could begin studying the pathogen. Sooner or later, we would have to bring in an infected person from outside.
Of course, bringing one back was the real problem.
True to the term infectious-disease ‘apocalypse’, every road in the country was now packed with inspectors in protective suits and armed police tactical officers.
Screening clinics and temporary screening sites, which I had only ever seen on the news during COVID-19, had now been erected along expressways, national highways, and even neighborhood streets.
Naturally, the checkpoints were so strict that it was hard to believe this was a democratic society. But with the country visibly going to hell in real time, the citizens didn’t dare resist.
People who had been perfectly healthy that morning were suffering from high fevers by evening, and stores that had been open yesterday were closing overnight all across the country.
What was truly frightening was that China of all countries had gone silent without issuing any official statement about the situation.
Normally, its foreign ministry and state media would have been loudly declaring something several times a day, yet this time they were strangely quiet.
For now, there was no way to know whether the Chinese government was hiding something or whether its domestic situation had grown so dire that even China could no longer spare any attention for the outside world.
But if it was the latter, something truly horrific was about to happen.
By a rough calculation, if one-fifth of China’s population had been infected just as in South Korea, that would mean a staggering 289 million infected people.
Imagine infected people from China getting out of control, boarding planes and ships, and flooding into South Korea.
This country would be finished the instant that happened.
“By that logic, India’s estimated infected population would also exceed 290 million.”
Ah, fuck. What a wonderful place Asia was.
In any case, if the checkpoints were this strict, even androids would have trouble bringing back an infected person from anywhere beyond the nearest village. Needless to say, the same applied to the scientists’ other family members.
Naturally, that meant vaccine development would be delayed just as much…
But Ann gave an answer entirely different from what I had expected.
“I don’t believe you will need to bring an infected person in from outside.”
“…Why?”
Instead of answering, Ann held out the tablet she was carrying. Apparently, this was what she had come here to show me in the first place.
[(Breaking) New Zealand becomes first country in the world to completely close all airports and seaports. Number of people infected with Neuroinfection Virus (NIV) exceeds critical threshold.]
[WHO Director-General announces, “The NIV virus hasn’t even begun mutating in earnest yet.” Now more than ever, the world must set aside its grudges and cooperate.]
[Health authorities revise estimated number of confirmed cases from 11.32 million to 13.27 million, an increase of 17.2%.]
[Emeritus professor at China’s Jinghua University: “China, not the United States, was the first to identify the NIV virus.”]
“…”
Among the countless lines of text, the article at the very bottom seized my attention at once.
Really, it was only natural that it caught my eye.
Even among the articles plastered with sensational headlines to milk clicks when extinction was right around the corner, its headline was more shocking than any other.
[U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detects NIV virus in migratory birds arriving from the Atlantic Ocean. NIV definitively confirmed as a zoonotic disease.]
“…”
Amid the oppressive silence, I learned one piece of good news and one piece of horrifying news.
First, the good news. We no longer had to risk capturing an infected ‘person’ alive.
Then, the horrifying news.
Every vertebrate on Earth was now an enemy of humanity.
Including humanity itself.
*****
Finding wild animals in the winter mountains of Gangwon Province wasn’t particularly difficult.
Wild boars, water deer, owls, roe deer, and more. From mammals and birds to rodents, nearly every kind of animal native to South Korea could be found there.
I dispatched the Enigmas serving as security personnel and soldiers, and in a single day they captured several wild animals displaying abnormal symptoms.
Unsurprisingly, the virus had spread freely across species. Statistically speaking, thirty percent of the captured wild animals were already infected.
The animals underwent stricter quarantine and infection-control procedures than ever before and were safely transferred to the animal testing laboratory inside the virology research building.
January 28, 2027, 2:00 p.m.
At last, Research Center Director Rachel appeared in the central control room carrying the laboratory test results.
“Hmm. We’ve identified the pathogen, but it will take about two more days to get the WGS, or whole-genome sequencing, results.”
Without any specialized knowledge, I had no idea whether that was fast or slow.
Ann, who had remained constantly at my side since yesterday, answered that question.
“That process would ordinarily take at least ten days, so this is extremely fast.”
She explained that our shelter was packed with the same cutting-edge nanopore genetic analysis equipment used by the U.S. CDC, allowing us to dramatically reduce the time required for DNA analysis.
“Well, we could shorten it even further if we had an actual infected person~.”
“…”
It wasn’t as though I hadn’t considered it.
The pathogen might infect every vertebrate, but there were bound to be differences between its effects on humans and animals.
Even camels, the hosts of MERS, often suffered no serious symptoms when infected with it.
The real problem lay elsewhere.
It had now been nearly six days since the last of the researchers’ spouses and children arrived at the shelter. Discontent was beginning to seep out among the researchers.
It wasn’t as though the researchers and their spouses were throwing tantrums and demanding to leave immediately. The headhunting team’s dazzling sales pitch, the extraordinary salaries, and the shelter’s cutting-edge facilities had already left them half out of their minds.
They would therefore endure quietly for the promised ‘month’ without complaint.
The problem was that we had brought their children too.
The unusually long Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January would end the day after tomorrow.
—Um… we really need to start sending the kids home soon…
No matter how obsessed the researchers were with cutting-edge laboratory equipment, would they really want to keep their children underground forever?
The facilities themselves might have been better here, and I was confident of that, but such an abrupt change in environment was inevitably going to harm their children’s emotional well-being.
The complaints had remained civil only because the researchers and their spouses were capable, rational elites with at least master’s degrees, if not doctorates. Ordinary families would have caused a scene long ago, shrieking, ‘My child has to go to cram school the day after tomorrow!’
To be fair, we didn’t have much of an excuse on that front.
“Some of them wanted to leave their children with their parents or in-laws for the holiday, but we did more or less pressure them into bringing the children by insisting we would take responsibility for them throughout the break.”
The fact that Deputy Manager Lee Jun-su, who had overseen the headhunting, confessed as much said it all.
“But I believe it was a necessary measure. How could we possibly bring their children in from outside under the current circumstances?”
The solution was actually simple.
We only needed to tell them that taking their children outside now would be disastrous.
We also needed to tell them that, unlike the outside world, our shelter was completely safe.
But they would find it far more convincing coming directly from a South Korean general than from a guy in his twenties with two years of part-time work experience.
“Administrator, we’re ready.”
General Kang, now dressed in a perfectly pressed military uniform without a single wrinkle, stopped in front of me.
Operators in equally immaculate military uniforms stood in formation on either side of him.
In any case, from now on, this shelter was under direct government management.
Even if we never explicitly claimed as much, that was what they would believe.
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