The Jeager Project

CH. 05: 3R's Story/Confrontation

8S LANDED IN THE CRATER ZONE. If one were to walk from the city ruins to the flooded city, it would take quite a bit of time. One would have to take a detour around the collapsed buildings and shattered roads. But in terms of distance, the two locations were not that far apart. Had 8S been blown away by the explosion, it wasn't impossible for him to have landed in that area. "Report: 8S's black-box response detected." Pod's scanner was giving feedback. "What's his current location?" "Answer: Underground cave." "Underground cave? The one with the alien ship?" "Affirmative." The underground cave had been discovered because part of the city ruins had caved in. The location of impact was in fact in the crater zone, so it wasn't impossible for 8S to have landed in the cave. But... "Let's go." She descended on a ladder extending from the edge of the hole to its depths. Occasionally, she looked around at the walls or cavities in the hole to see if she could find some trace of 8S. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find a piece of clothing or item of 8S's, let alone the man himself. The bottom of the hole was still flooded with water, resulting in bad footing. 8S wasn't here either. 3R raised her gaze. The hole was considerably deep. Without the help of Pod's gliding mechanism, a leap down would certainly lead to injury. Even still, 8S had not jumped down from the top of the hole, but had been flung there by the explosion. He would have slammed into the ground at the bottom of the hole. It was unlikely that he would have gotten up right away, or was in a condition to move at ease. So why wasn't he here? "Report: The source of the black-box response is coming from beyond the underground passageway." "Beyond the passageway?" From the bottom of the hole, there were two side tunnels running in different directions. One tunnel led to a dead end, and the other led to the alien ship. If Pod had said "beyond" the passageway, it was probably referring to the latter. She knew this was a red flag. If 8S were, by some miracle, able to walk, why would he walk through the passageway? Making Pod shine its light, she entered the tunnel. When she tried to follow the same route as last time, Pod stopped her. "Report: The source of the black-box response is coming from the right." "Right? Not from the alien ship?"

"Affirmative: While weak, the black-box response is coming from a different location than before." She took a right at the fork. "He came this far..." Something was definitely wrong. Why would he take an unfamiliar route? And if he was able to walk this much, it should have been possible for him to climb the ladder out of the hole. At the end of the passageway was an elevator. At this point it was undeniable. There was only one conclusion... "Warning: Possibility of a trap." "I don't care." 3R pressed the elevator button. There was no panel that showed which floor she was traveling to, but she felt the elevator move down. It was even farther beneath the underground cave, so it was at quite the depth. No wonder the scanner hadn't been able to determine an accurate location. The elevator shook erratically for a while and eventually came to a stop. The doors opened with an obnoxious rattle. Bright light pierced her eyes. "What is this place?" 3R squinted and looked around. Everything was white. Since her eyes had acclimatized to darkness, it was painfully bright. "Analysis: Structures made of crystallized silicon and carbon. There is not enough data to provide further details." Staring long enough, she could make out a cityscape stretching onward. But there was no color. There were rows of buildings with white walls and gray windowsills, casting pronounced shadows on the white street. They must have been colorless, because they were all apparently made from crystallized silicon and carbon. "Who would make an underground city like this?" Pod answered with an "unknown." Ironically, it was a good answer. If Pod couldn't answer the question, it meant that androids were not responsible. Unlike the buildings above ground, these buildings did not look weathered in the least. Then they were probably new, putting aliens out of the question. Then there was only one answer: the Machines. "Report: 8S's black-box response detected." She cautiously moved in the direction that Pod pointed in. No amount of caution was too much; she was in an enemy facility. But her guarded gait did not last long. "That's?!" She started to run without thinking. Some black had appeared amidst the white. It was the color of the JeaGer uniform. Not just in one place, but in many. "Why are there corpses..." "Deduction: They were left intentionally by the enemy." The underground cave had not been discovered before the city ruins caved in. Since the incident was still treated as confidential, no information had been shared within the squadron. In regard to the white city, even 3R had not known about it, so it was unlikely that other squadron troopers invaded of their own will. In other words, they were kidnapped by the Machines, and brought here. It was unclear when they were killed. She realized that she had started to sprint. She had to save 8S as soon as possible, while his