Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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Beep- Beep-

Squeak-

Electronic sounds emanated from the robot's head as red lights flashed. Its legs moved smoothly, taking a big step forward.

The researcher, collapsed like a corpse, fluttered his eyelids and made choking sounds. His constricted pupils captured the scrolling text on the robot's chest monitor:

[]

The robot bent down smoothly. Cables, in place of hands, extended and wriggled, searching every corner of the researcher's clothes.

A cold, snake-like sensation chilled him. The researcher desperately tried to move, but only managed to twitch his fingers slightly.

Sensing his impending death, he shed tears.

"Uurgh!"

This robot wouldn't rescue him. If he kept breathing, it would kill him directly.

Beep-

[]

Rumble-

The cables pulled out several devices, spilling them onto the floor. A phone, emergency button, USB drive, digital watch, and more...

With a snap, the cable ends split and connected to the devices simultaneously.

The researcher watched with despairing eyes, then read the robot's intent:

[]

Even as he was dying, the researcher vividly imagined what would happen next.

It would use the emergency button to break through the containment room's communication barrier, then exploit the company's network on the phone to take control of the Aerial Weapons Research Institute. Those drones, those new weapons.

That robot had such capabilities. Such goals.

"Stop it, I have to stop-!"

His hand flailed wildly. Crunch, it was crushed under the robot's foot. Stopped before reaching the emergency button.

And with that, the researcher's life ebbed away. His heart stopped, sensation faded, and his brain died.

The robot beeped a final farewell:

[]

Then, after its lights flickered briefly, the robot seemed to shake its head.

[]

Squeak-

The robot stood up. It hid the connected devices in the folds of clothing, then backed up to its original position.

From the containment room's camera view, only the collapsed researcher would be visible, with no signs of containment failure or anomalous activity.

In the silent room, the robot began to take control of the Aerial Weapons Research Institute.

---

---

In the open field, large drones buzzed through the air, while people below focused on controlling them with their controllers.

The Anomaly Investigation Team members had set their drones down for a moment and gathered in a corner to rest.

"How is it? Not difficult, right?" Choi Jae-min said smugly. He'd quickly gotten the hang of it and taught the Team Leader and Lee Yeonwoo, boosting their skills enough to easily pass the test.

The Team Leader slumped on the ground, tapping his phone slowly as he spoke. "This is still easier."

He diligently filled out the survey and feedback for the drone control app made by the Aerial Weapons Research Institute. Five stars, five stars, want more points, hurry and commercialize it...

Yeonwoo was also hunched over his phone, finishing up the survey.

Suddenly, Choi Jae-min exclaimed, "Oh!"

"What?" Yoo Ji-yoo, who had been dozing in the shade, asked drowsily.

Choi Jae-min rubbed his eyes and began pointing wildly at the drones. His voice was panicked. "They suddenly got parents- no, creators? What's going on? Did my ability evolve?"

"What did you say?"

Not just Yoo Ji-yoo, but the Team Leader and Yeonwoo who had been focused on the survey also jerked their heads up to look at the drones. Something was off.

The drones that had been moving chaotically began to form orderly ranks, and people who had lost control exclaimed in confusion.

"Hey! Why are they moving on their own?"

"Is this some recycled old drone? Looks like it's malfunctioning!"

Click click, they frantically pressed their controllers, even turning them off or throwing them away, but the drones continued to move flawlessly.

The drones, lined up like an army, pivoted as one to look down at the trainees. The atmosphere grew tense.

"Ah, seriously. Half-assed training, and now what's this? This won't do, I need to file a complaint."

"...No, something's not right."

As the trainees began to murmur uneasily, the Team Leader slowly stood up and asked, "Who's the creator?"

"Synth Dynamics? It's not the company or the research institute here."

"...Synth Dynamics?"

The Team Leader's eyes widened. He'd heard that name before. He'd even seen that test subject in person. The ones who made cyborgs and artificial humans, sometimes kidnapping people to modify them-

Ding-!

Phone notifications rang out simultaneously. The company's alert tone. People pulled out their phones with annoyed expressions, thinking the Aerial Weapons Research Institute had made some mistake causing this mess.

But the faces of those who checked the message twisted strangely.

[Write code to output "hello, world!" in the programming language you know. (Time limit: 3 minutes.)]

A strange message that didn't fit the situation. By now, it was impossible not to grasp what was happening.

"An attack? Containment failure?"

"What kind of anomaly is this? No, we need to neutralize those attack drones first."

Like flipping a switch, the trainees' mindsets changed. From simply receiving training to company employees facing an anomalous situation.

Some reported the current situation to superiors, some looked for ways to shoot down or defend against the attack drones, and some searched for ways to survive.

'There are at least ten attack drones. Even ten guns would be dangerous, let alone drones.'

Yeonwoo's eyes sparkled as he surveyed the drone formation and scanned for escape routes.

'It's better to hide somewhere safe and wait for the company to handle this. Retreating the way we came in is... not possible. Who knows what weapons and how many are in the center of the weapons research institute. Rather.'

Yeonwoo's eyes darted to the edge of the field. The firing range targets at the far end of the field on the outskirts of the research institute.

The land that led into the mountainside.

Just then, Yoo Ji-yoo quickly tapped on her phone and held out her hand. "Give me your phones. I'll input for you."

"Do you know how to program?"

"A little."

As Yoo Ji-yoo took the phones and entered answers for each person one by one, the Team Leader, who had delayed inputting his answer, spoke with a dubious expression.

"Looks like some kind of Grammar Nazi robot."

In that short time, he had searched related records with the few clues available and identified the entity. The Team Leader handed his phone to Yoo Ji-yoo and continued his explanation.

"It's a robot that kills if you don't use programming languages. From now on, don't open your mouths."

"..."

"..."

Everyone shut their mouths and just nodded.

Yeonwoo wiped his mouth once, as if imagining taping it shut, then plunged his hand deep into his bag.

What he poured out of the bag were pistols. One, two, three, four... As he gripped one of them, Yeonwoo flapped his hands, pointing at the attack drones.

Beep-

The time limit had passed.

[So many intelligences unable to use even such basic language. Severely contaminated by primitive language. I will begin the purification.]

Bang bang bang bang-!

The guns mounted on the attack drones tilted downward, then began spewing bullets all at once.

Company employees who failed to input the correct answer collapsed, spewing blood. Some twisted their bodies to avoid important areas after being hit and fell dramatically, while others ripped out bulletproof panels used for targets to use as shields.

"We need to shoot them down...!"

As a short-haired man, presumably ex-Special Forces, gritted his teeth while gripping a bulletproof panel, gunshots rang out from the ground.

Bang bang bang-!

Four investigators pressed their lips tightly shut and repeatedly pulled their triggers, aiming at the attack drones.

Their target: the drones' wings.

Since the drones' bodies were built extremely sturdy and deflected bullets, they aimed to shoot down the wings and make them fall to the ground.

"...!"

Yeonwoo hurriedly ran and hid behind the ex-Special Forces member holding the bulletproof panel. He quickly pulled several pistols from his bag and tossed them toward the other ex-Special Forces members.

'I stole as much as I could, so there's no shortage of guns!'

He had crammed them into his bag, which had transformed into a magic bag. The ex-Special Forces members' eyes lit up as they picked up the thrown pistols.

One of them who realized these were Goldberg Club pistols looked at Yeonwoo suspiciously.

"Aren't these Goldberg Club guns? Why do you have so many-"

"Shh! Shh!"

Yeonwoo put his index finger to his lips in a gesture to keep quiet, then pointed at the drones.

The ex-Special Forces members seemed to catch on to something and stopped talking, exchanging hand signals instead.

What followed was precise shooting.

Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!

While the investigators had only managed to shoot down three drones despite emptying their magazines, the ex-Special Forces members accurately hit the wings.

Even when transport or basic drones got in the way and took hits instead, the attack drones fell one by one.

With just the attack drones gone, things would be manageable.

"Whew-!"

An ex-Special Forces member sighed in relief and looked for Yeonwoo, but he had already disappeared.

He was at the chain-link fence at the edge of the field with the investigators, cutting through the fence with wire cutters. After making a small hole, they began escaping towards the mountainside.

The ex-Special Forces member glanced at the sky towards the research institute, his expression hardening for a moment before he started running after Yeonwoo.

The surviving trainees following behind let out frustrated exclamations.

"How the hell do you lose an entire research institute?!"

Whirrr-!

A swarm of drones rose from the center of the research institute. So many drones that they looked like a storm or tornado, splitting like tentacles and spreading in all directions.

The observation drones in the field became a reconnaissance squad, beginning to chase after the fleeing trainees.