Amidst a forest where the trees flourished with vibrant greenery, adorned with lichens like a night gown, I stood and turned off all my olfactory filters, taking in a deep breath.
For this chassis, the act of breathing was merely a gesture to draw microparticles into the sensors densely packed within the nasal cavity, allowing for the dispersion of minute substances in the surroundings. Of course, it could still fulfill its original purpose of detecting smells.
Generally, I filter out unpleasant stimuli — things like the stench of death — so that I wouldn’t have to perceive them unless necessary. However, it wasn’t bad to occasionally experience raw scents.
Though it resembled the experiences in VR, the sensation was profoundly different in density. It was a unique blend: the damp earthy smell of decaying leaves mixed with a fresh, green scent from the living trees, alongside the vibrant aroma of their life force; and then, the animal musk left by creatures.
“Phew.”
To put it bluntly, it was pungent. I understood that, given these were not artificially managed park trees, it wasn’t about enjoying the smells alone.
Yet, there was a wealth of information to be had. The presence of many small animals near the periphery of the forest, the lack of the smell of blood, and crucially, no trace of metal particles or explosive residues suggested this forest remained uninfluenced by such elements.
It must be the elves that reside here. It has to be.
“Hey!!”
I amplified the speaker’s volume to project a loud shout into the forest, calling out in the common tongue. However, there was no response.
Information from the drones I had hovering nearby showed nothing on the motion sensors, which processed images and detected anything moving above a certain threshold. Nothing from the acoustic sensors either. Radar showed no significant activity, and the only thermal reading was of the small animals startled by the sound and scampering away.
“Hmm, looks like I’ll have to settle in for this one.”
‘Oh great and mighty beings!! Is there anyone here??’
Using every possible communication method at my disposal, from compressed radio waves to every trick in my arsenal, I probed into the depths of the forest — but there was no response. The only acknowledgment I received was the sound of the wind rustling the trees, as if the forest itself couldn’t be bothered to give a reply.
“Guess there’s no choice, time to step further in.”
‘We cannot recommend this; the risk is far too great. What if your cranium gets destroyed or goes missing entirely? How will we recover it?’
“I wish you’d give my Class-A combat badge some credit…”
My country had given me the nod of approval for my prowess in close combat, even allowing me to call myself a “Samurai.” It would take more than a surprise attack to land me an ignominious ending like those from horror flicks.
Besides, even if it gets rough, this body is a mechanized prosthetic. It’s not easy to take down with just a slashed neck or a stab through the chest.
I carefully ventured in, searching for any reaction from within the deeper forest.
Stepping on a fallen leaf and some lichens seemed to bring no offense. There was no reaction.
“Collecting samples.”
‘Understood. Please send them via drones.’
With sterilized tweezers maintained by tiny mechanical elements, I picked up a fallen leaf, placed it in a small sample case, then captured a few pillbugs that had come to light during the process. These samples would be analyzed by Selene within the electronic warfare bay.
Now for something riskier. Picking up fallen lichens and a tree branch, all while setting my sensors to maximum alert—this was the first test to see if the forest’s guardians would react unfavorably.
From the memory recordings shared by Aurelia, knights had been exceedingly brazen in entering the forest. Large groups would march through, trampling on tree roots and hacking away branches to clear their path. These actions would be considered flagrant offenses against the life of the forest.
It’s said that elves, upon a twig being snapped, would demand retribution of an equal number of one’s bones. I suspect their anger may stem from the knights’ reckless behavior. But the real question lies in defining where exactly the line of disrespect is drawn.
Calling out had brought no immediate reaction, nor did simply stepping into the forest.
Therefore, to prompt some kind of contact, I conducted a preliminary test by taking pieces of the forest. Yet, it seemed that there was still no response.
“Quiet place.”
‘Captain, analysis complete. Both the plants and decomposers follow the standard Earth terraforming package.’
While contemplating whether a more aggressive approach might be inappropriate, and considering the risks of venturing too deep, Selene had swiftly completed her analysis.
Examining the data sent to me, it did indeed match the standard gene sequences used in the terraforming process for plants and their decomposers—but something wasn’t right…
“Is the genetic composition a bit too… immaculate?”
‘For a system that’s allegedly evolved for two millennia, they’re shockingly ordinary. It’s as if they’re brand new.’
Living organisms, through natural reproduction, usually undergo genetic evolution where stronger, more adapted individuals prevail, leading to a certain degree of genetic divergence suitable to their environment. After two millennia, it would have been quite plausible to expect a certain amount of evolutionary adaptation to the colder climate of this particular geography. However, the genetic information that had been analyzed was unnaturally “pristine,” as if freshly produced in a plant.
In other words, it gave off a feeling unnatural, akin to something mass-produced in a plant.
“What does that mean?”
‘This is just a hypothesis, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s an active, living terraforming hub around here.’
“There shouldn’t be any hub around here.”
I pulled out the map, doubting my memory, but confirmed that there were no such facilities documented near this forest.
If there were a terraforming hub here, it wouldn’t make sense why plant and animal life akin to factory production would exist. There would be no reason for them to be brought from somewhere else, nor would the perfect preservation of their genetic makeup be explainable.
Additionally, the strange phenomena occurring on this planet should be limited to machines. If some mysterious force were maintaining the system, surely the crew of the “Inanna 12” would have turned into freeze-dried forms by now.
So, something still doesn’t add up…
While I was pondering this, a warning from the sensors broke my thoughts.
Before the alarm for an incoming projectile even finished ringing, my hand instinctively reached for the weapon at my waist and unsheathed the Mono-molecular Atomic Blade. Reacting instinctively to a vague but discernible sense of danger — call it intuition if you like — I deflected the incoming object with practiced fluidity.
Indeed, the sword had deflected a single arrow. Judging from its trajectory, this arrow had been fired from over a kilometer away. Strangely, it was an entirely wooden construct, tipped with a chestnut-like seed pod shell, and featuring dried leaves for fletching, an oddity that defied logic.
There was no conceivable way this thing should have traveled this distance.
‘Captain!!’
“…This isn’t an attack; it’s a warning.”
As I sheathed my sword, I noticed something tied near the arrowhead. It was a folded large leaf, likely attached to carry a message.
“Wow, it’s starting to get dramatic, isn’t it, Selene?”
‘Do you really have time to joke around? The trajectory of that thing required it to travel at supersonic speeds. That’s not a normal speed for that kind of material; it should have disintegrated by now with such a design.’
Curious and excited, I unfolded the message on the arrow to find something truly surprising.
It was written in blood.
As much as it adds to the theatricality, this wasn’t just any blood. It was smart blood — not something unusual given my past foes, including Tech Gobs, but it was still smart blood. And the language? “Compressed characters,” to be exact.
Think of it as a matrix-type two-dimensional code containing compressed text — essentially, the written form of a compressed radio wave language.
It was a language only comprehensible to a mechanical body.
“Huh? Why? Why is an elf using binary code?”
‘Exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you…’
Ignoring my growing confusion, Selene read aloud the message attached to the arrow:
‘Thou shalt not trespass upon the sacred forest.’
The compressed characters carried a singular meaning: repulsion. This was a warning to not venture any further.
Even if they wanted me to stop, there was no way. The prospect of the elves appearing had dwindled, but a new possibility had emerged.
A clue towards unveiling the core mystery of the phenomena affecting this strange planet.
‘If you can hear me, answer! I am from…’
Just before we set out, Aurelia arranged for me to connect directly to the system called the “Sanctus Gear,” which the “Inanna 12” used to manage itself.
The phenomenon witnessed during that interaction was incredibly peculiar: a human with an incomplete cybernetic brain enhancement could somehow manipulate the malfunctioning semi-intelligence and restore full function to the factory equipment in ways that defied logic.
It seemed likely that the semi-intelligence of the “Inanna 12” had been allowed to remain deranged due to the lack of properly trained technicians. Even though we didn’t encrypt the control systems as an export restriction, it would have been impossible for non-specialists to revive the severely damaged intelligence.
Instead, they had cleverly integrated the mysterious external activation of their creations into their religious doctrines, turning it into a form of spell they named the “Gear Spell.”
While I may not fully understand why they thought it was okay to proceed despite knowing it placed undue strain on the brain, I couldn’t help but be impressed that they essentially transformed it into a form of magic.
After all, that’s essentially what we witnessed — genuine magic right before our eyes. The act of inserting a chaotic code into broken machinery and having it function normally defied any simple logic. It wasn’t as if negative multiplied by negative would equal positive.
Still, the fact that it worked proves magic exists on this planet.
And so, I should have been prepared.
For an attack of magic.
‘Captain!!’
‘IIIIIIIII-YAAAAAAAAAAAA!!’
As I shouted the compressed wave language, I deflected three incoming arrows with a single slash.
Each arrow had been fired from different directions and with varying timings, making the act of parrying them all with a single strike both an art and a science. The key was adopting the principle of “one-stroke writing,” predicting and tracing the spatial paths where all the arrows would pass and adjusting my sword’s trajectory to follow them all.
However, when all three arrows are traveling at supersonic speeds, close to the velocity of bullets, the difficulty increases exponentially.
“Damn it, they’re not giving us a chance to talk!”
‘Didn’t we know that from the start?!’
“If there’s a chance, why not take it?”
‘If you die by chance, there’ll be no room for complaints!!’
But still, damn it, I had hoped the elves would show themselves!
Admittedly, things are getting tight. With the projectiles surpassing the speed of sound, they are exceptionally dense and heavy. Moreover, slashing through them isn’t just about cutting but requires simultaneously deflecting them away from the blade’s path, placing an enormous strain on my arm. I almost felt my elbow give out under the pressure.
With my old body, my forearm might have simply ripped off.
“Anyway, Selene, any readings on the sensors!”
‘Still nothing!! It’s unreasonable. This kind of magic that lets an arrow reach supersonic speeds!!!’
One way or another, our senses can’t detect the activation of “magic.” Despite all the advanced sensors on our equipment, we are blind to it and can only experience its effects. It’s an unsettling situation.
But, given the potential for the chassis to be torn apart by a direct hit, we needed a solution.
What to do…?
‘Nozomu! Take cover!! I’m going to fire suppression rounds!!’
“Huh?! Wait a minute, Galatea…”
‘Fire!!’
Right as I remembered granting permission for arbitrary shooting, an intense barrage of bullets began tearing into the forest…
