“Who? Hey, who is it? Hey now…”
A simple question, compounded in immense data combining ternary and pentadecimal numbers alongside unknown codes, hit me all at once, causing my vision to temporarily whiten. It felt like the sturdy entrance door, fortified with heavy gates, was being pounded on by hoards of zombies.
Peering through the small window, the enemy’s code appeared disordered, yet I had a fragment of it from our previous battle, which allowed me to counter-attack by infiltrating their entrance.
“You there, who are you?”
The endless echoing of “Who?” affecting my sense of self was intermingled with friend-or-foe identification signals, rendering half of my defenses useless. Moreover, various quarantine codes bypassed my defenses, directly assaulting my binary-coded self, corroding it with ceaseless questions.
However, I had transformed into a kind of data fortress, converting vast amounts of processing into binary code for comprehension, and managing to respond to the chaotic but patterned queries of the enemy.
What I learned was surprising: the enemy possessed a bio-computer, whose structure was vastly different from our advanced specifications.
This… a bio-computer?!
What ancient technology is this?! The old humans, the naturalists, tried to match our computational speeds and came up with this, but most of them went insane from the stress on their brain cells, rendering these creations defective. How has something like this ended up here now?
A bio-computer, which doesn’t use CPUs or photonic crystals but twists neurons artificially to function as computers—after all, the brain is essentially a high-level CPU—is honestly not that effective.
Turning a regular human body into a computer was a crazy idea, an inverted creation of madness. It’s a mystery how this thing is fully functional and how its ability to disrupt mechanized humans’ numerical selves works.
Anyway, I had to endure the torrent of “Who?” and locate their ports, launching a counter-intrusion.
Tch, for a product of madness, this thing’s computing speed isn’t bad. Moreover, since I’m trying to improperly access their ports, their offensive and decoy defenses are activated, blocking my intrusion. The other side is counter-attacking so well even though my defenses aren’t holding up too well—it’s despicable.
“Senior, access points 43~56 are decoy barriers. Please disable the offensive barriers and break through,” said Selene.
“Stop making unreasonable demands, Selene!”
“This area requires quick penetration since it’s in your self-domain… Ugh, the barriers have latched onto me too.”
I could hear the entrance walls being chiseled away. It felt like I was playing a VR game where I had to fend off hordes of zombies just to see how long I could survive.
Still, this isn’t a virtual reality where you can respawn. If this fails and they infiltrate the main entrance to touch our self-domain, I’ll be overwritten with mad codes, disappearing.
Before that happens, I need to breach their entrance and decompose their data into something we can understand, or I’ll lose.
“Tch, not only is the deception protocol active, anti-reaction viruses have been spread throughout the domain. Block access to ports 23~33.”
“Senior, try ports 89~111. The defenses are thinner there.”
“Ugh, the offensive barriers are too thick… Purging damaged sections.”
Some of the photon crystals inside the open calculators were contaminated in the processing area and were being rejected by the arms, disconnecting them. This lets me escape the information contamination without damage, but performance will decline as a result.
Damn it all, despite all the bother and cost to fortify this, it’s ridiculous how much a single bio-brain can achieve. Who thought up such a design from what rotten brain could it have come?
“Who? Who? Hey, what is this?”
Shit, the nature of the question has changed. Codes are converted from known ones, bypassing blockers and attaching to the barriers. Some of the decoy barriers broke easily, and rogue codes were infiltrating my simulated self-domain.
Scary, if this had been my true self-domain, my binary codes would’ve been completely corrupted by now into a chaotic mess, utterly losing meaning.
Moreover, the enemy seems to sense the feeling of disrupting my self-domain and has stopped thrashing around the simulated area, now searching for detours.
I need to settle this quick or I’ll die.
“Ports 115~132 are locked. Deploy decoy barriers… Good, they’re biting. Your calculation ability isn’t inferior, Senior.”
“Just the thought of a chunk of meat standing up to the crystallization of advanced knowledge is infuriating!”
With eyes closed, I immersed myself entirely in interpreting the mad codes, desperately rewriting them into a binary format I could read, but they keep reverting. Through much difficulty, I’ve managed to gain a slight edge.
Alright, it’s readable. I’ve got a hold of the enemy’s basic control program by the tail. From here, I’ll reverse engineer their baffling codes, forcefully insert a decoder into the port, and brute-force them with computation power to overwhelm.
“Who? Who is it? Hey, what is this? What do you want?”
“Be silent! State your affiliation. Reveal your official name and ID code.”
I flood the high-level IF codes in response to the onslaught of constant “Who?” to overpower them with processing numbers and force a shutdown. Regardless, the enemy is tirelessly searching for our detours while holding their ground against us.
I noticed two photon crystals detaching themselves to avoid contamination. The external barriers must’ve been breached and transformed into unreadable codes.
Ugh, it’s disgusting. This thing is randomizing language codes. Not only does the “Who?” echo, but various non-overlapping noises ring out, making me want to vomit. Though my prosthetic body lacks the ability to vomit, I can almost feel an ominous fluid seeping out from the photon crystals as hallucinations.
Had this come at the formal communications band when someone was completely off-guard, no one would’ve been able to resist. It must’ve been hard, sickening, and terrifying to feel one’s self being corrupted.
However subtly, I’ll avenge them.
“I’ve figured out the pattern of the random changes! Increase the ports for offensive saturation attack. Selene, protect us!”
“The decoy barriers have been bypassed. They’ve read our pattern! No luck with thought mazes or simulated self-domains!” Bang, barriers 67~89 have been burned!”
Three photon crystals suddenly popped within the calculators. Ah, they are reading the patterns as we are.
No, wait. With their knowledge of the high-level binary foundation format, they probably have an advantage over me who is having to convert things every time. That’s why they could overwrite the self-domains and cause insanity.
I feel the pressure increasing on the computer entrance. The zombie-like codes are pressing harder on the virtual barriers surrounding me, which are turning a deep purple from the infection and shattering.
“Hold on just a little longer! I’ve taken over some ports! I’ll overlay and lock their OS to our standards!”
“34% auxiliary calculator loss rate! We’ll bring them back in line after a reboot, but it’s tough!”
“Hang on a bit longer, I’m about to access the library. I’m almost there!”
My main goal is information gathering. The enemy won’t just be incinerated; instead, I aim to access the archives, retrieve all the information stored in this nasty brain, and use it to grab the collars of the group responsible for many comrades’ deaths.
I may blow off their heads if needed, but unlike “Tiamat 25”, this isn’t a must-secure area. I’ll prioritize efficiency and accomplish my primary objective first.
Almost there. This feels like digging a hole where every scoop you take gets replaced, but a conclusion is forming.
I can understand this now. Understand, yes. This twisted code wasn’t naturally occurring. It had a specific design to decode binary codes and turn them into an information warfare weapon explicitly targeting mechanized humans and number-based selves to destroy them intentionally.
It’s like poison gas. By contaminating the data we exchange routinely, it’s an intangible weapon erasing the self. It would’ve been fatal or directly destructive if our defenses weren’t in place, but I focus on locating the archive ports even faster.
“Found it! Not enough time to decode. I’m dumping the raw data!”
“Barriers 34~66 are infected! Cutting them off!”
Things are getting dangerous here, but my self-domain isn’t compromised yet. The entrance resembles a horror movie scene, but I’ve touched the archives.
Commencing download. Cautious of viruses or sanity-destroying codes, I’m forcefully uploading them not to my personal computer but the information zone of the calculators.
Then, as if realizing its end was near, the enemy escalated its offensive speed and started formatting itself!
Are they sane?! Even for confidentiality, how can someone wipe their own brain to clean it?! Desperately attacking with their remaining territory, the barriers were being destroyed with alarming speed. Five photonic crystals of Tech Gob self destructed at once, and the calculator’s defensive functions are down to half.
Faster, quicker, faster! Even 1GB will help… I need to download more information…
“Senior! Disconnect the direct link! I’m going to explode!”
“Huh?!”
If Selene’s voice had come even 1μs later, the direct download path would’ve fried my computer. The moment I yanked the connectors out by reflex, I saw smoke rising from my neck’s “substitute barrier” as the last reserve port blew off.
After that, the grotesque water corpse-like figure foamed at the mouth, convulsed, and fell silent. The crimson-black body turned a dark blue indicating the cessation of functions.
“…We’ve won.”
“Senior! We’ve managed to secure 70% of the archive data! Let’s return immediately and analyze the information from an isolated computer!”
“Yeah, good. With this, the Nosferatu threat will be resolved…”
I paused mid-sentence. The gunfire hadn’t ceased.
“What’s going on? How is the surface?”
“The Nosferatus are still going strong, Senior! Combat operations continue!”
“What!?”
We should’ve taken over the central control! Then why…
That’s where a chilling thought hit me.
If I were the enemy, would I leave a fort exposed, especially one susceptible to potential “unlock bomb” invasions after a supposed tectonic shift?
Wouldn’t I have remodeled it over the two thousand years of its existence? Especially since this place looks like this since the creation of the Canopy Holy Capital, unlike Tiamat 25 where Tech Gobs occasionally attempt to retake it, suggesting ample time for modifications.
“Damn it! Everyone, evacuate!”
[Nozomu-sama!?]
“The surface structures are decoys! The underground has been expanded!”
I hastily closed the computer, had my sub-arm grab it, and ordered the squad at the entrance to get to the surface immediately.
I dashed at full speed, jumping from building to building using wires.
[What’s wrong, Chief! The enemy is still moving!]
[The estimated threat was underestimated! The surface structures are just a decoy!]
[What!]
“Everyone, aboard! Prepare to detach! Leave the barriers behind!”
While the warriors scrambled to board their vehicles, the ground rumbled violently as something began to rise from beneath. The vibrations were enough to stagger but not incapacitate us yet.
“What…?”
I shouted as I rushed into the “Sashigame” control seat and interfaced with the high-sensitivity components.
“What in the world is THAT!?!”
Ten-meter tall “super Nosferatu” creatures emerged slowly but surely from several launch ports into sight…
[Supplementary Note on Planetary Exploration] Though the self of mechanized humans is complex, it’s not incomprehensible. Experts have been known to decode the information and write programs to “pollute” them, which happened often in communication collapses leading to the loss of meaning in various traps.
A further update is planned for 15:00 on August 18, 2024.
