I Am Not a Robot. Beep-bop

Chapter 61: Give It to the Kids! 4

On that day, Earnest Rail’s main forces returned to their base in high spirits after successfully intercepting and wiping out the remnants of the Dawn, a rival corporation.

Now, the only things remaining on the northern front were the external forces, the natives, and a few non-threatening monster species.

With Earnest Rail’s wealth and manpower, it was entirely possible to overwhelm them with sheer power.

Of course, betraying the Dawn hadn’t been an easy task.

The Dawn was a Mega Corps on par with Earnest Rail.

Even considering the element of surprise, the skill of those employed by the Dawn meant that a single misstep or chance for retaliation could have turned the ambush into a disaster for Earnest Rail.

To prepare for this, Earnest Rail’s top executives secretly deployed weapons known as [Dolls].

Here, “Dolls” did not refer to combat robots or AIs in the usual sense.

Using AI required permission from at least three administrators, and all other AI systems were monitored and managed by a central control AI.

Mega Corps had long recognized that the most efficient and advanced AI was a human being.

Dolls referred to children—orphans or trafficked individuals whose human rights had been auctioned away—who were fused with mechanical bodies and weapons from a young age.

These children, adapted to mechanical bodies, displayed far superior compatibility than adults ever could.

In exchange for their extraordinary combat capabilities, they lost all sense of reason outside of following orders.

They sat still like soulless machines most of the time, losing more of their emotions and rationality as time passed.

For Mega Corps, however, the ability to create obedient combat weapons from a few orphans was an enticing advantage.

Naturally, the act of manufacturing Dolls was condemned under the stringent laws of Ark.

If caught, conducting illegal Doll production could escalate to the deployment of a second-class Overseer.

But this was Zain, a satellite city far away from Ark.

Without Ark’s eyes and ears, any atrocities committed could go unnoticed, provided no survivors were left behind.

In fact, the reason the two Hunters who had encountered Alice and the girls of the Immortal Legion fell for Alice’s evidence-free tale was largely due to Earnest Rail’s Dolls.

Even if kept under wraps, Hunters experienced enough in Zain would have heard rumors of the terrifying Doll weapons linked to Earnest Rail.

Though Alice hadn’t deliberately crafted her story, it ended up gaining her the cooperation of kind and helpful Hunters, allowing her to engage in the “distribution business” of moving food.

In any case, the nearly 50 Doll weapons illegally manufactured by Earnest Rail had efficiently eradicated the remnants of the Dawn without leaving a single survivor.

With this victory, Earnest Rail’s pursuit and combat units returned to base with a sense of satisfaction.

“Clean and dry all the Dolls, then stash them in the warehouse where they won’t be noticed!”

“Yes, but… aren’t they still human? What about their meals?”

“Feed those tasteless things nutrient capsules. That’s enough.”

“Alright, today’s a feast. Let’s distribute meal kits and beer to each department and party hard!”

Returning with the victory, it was time to enjoy a beer party and a grand feast.

Ordinarily, letting one’s guard down in the base was unthinkable, but with Earnest Rail now the sole ruler of the northern front, there was no one left to oppose them.

However, when the group arrived at the food warehouse, instead of beer, BBQ, and meal kits, they were greeted by empty containers.

“……….What on earth is going on here?”

“My apologies, sir…”

Milton, the head of Earnest Rail’s pursuit team, let out a deep sigh and glared at the subordinate staff member who had been guarding the base.

Slaughtering the Dawn’s employees and the Hunters they hired had been immensely satisfying, but to return and hear that a mysterious intruder had stolen all their meal kits left Milton utterly baffled.

“All the kits from the dining hall and warehouse? Even the beer, meat, and the food production machine?”

Who could have done this?

The sheer absurdity of the situation left Milton, the base commander, stunned into silence.

The pursuit of the Dawn Guild had taken only a single day.

Had they been away on an expedition for a week, it might have made sense for the base to have gaps in its security and personnel.

But for the food warehouse of a Mega Corps like Earnest Rail to be completely looted in just a day defied all logic.

Even for an adult male, moving boxes of meal kits in bulk was a struggle.

Clearing out the entire warehouse would have required heavy machinery.

And if heavy machinery had been used, there was no way they wouldn’t have noticed.

The only plausible explanation was…

“Don’t tell me—you betrayed us?”

“No, sir! Absolutely not! All permanent employees of Earnest Rail have biological collars, don’t they? If I betrayed the company, HR would’ve detonated my collar immediately!”

“Hmm…”

That was true.

Earnest Rail showed no mercy to traitors.

The moment a person even considered betrayal or harbored resentment against the company, they were flagged by HR as a special case.

If those thoughts turned into actions, or if someone tampered with the collar, it would explode within their body.

“Are there no witnesses?”

“There were two Hunters present in the dining hall, but even under interrogation with a lie detector, no anomalies were detected…”

“Ha, was it those damned monkeys?”

“They’re the only ones capable of something like this.”

The Monkey.

This was a derogatory term used by Mega Corps to refer to criminals who fled Ark and the native inhabitants near Zain.

Most Mega Corps employees, being from elite or privileged backgrounds, were consumed by a sense of superiority and did not even consider external forces as fellow humans.

Though their resistance was fierce, the perception that they were merely an alliance of criminals and incompetent people remained unchanged.

“I thought their forces would collapse on their own after their leaders were captured, but this is unexpected.”

“Manager Milton, it seems the monkeys’ cohesion is stronger than anticipated.”

The faction was composed of exiled felons from Ark and uneducated native groups.

They were notorious for lacking unity even among themselves.

Up until now, one strong leader had united the external forces, but once Earnest Rail captured that leader, the battle’s outcome was practically decided.

‘They’re not complete fools. Without a leader, they should scatter and flee, which is their usual behavior. But if they haven’t disbanded and are ambushing us, then they must still have something to rely on.’

Whether this was a temporary phenomenon or not remained uncertain for now.

“Deputy, is there anything flagged by the surveillance system?”

“We’ve checked all systems, but no enemies or unidentified entities have been detected. However, for 18 minutes this morning, part of the system was down due to a generator exchange failure. They might have taken advantage of that time.”

“Then does that mean the monkeys have identified the location of our generator?”

“…That seems unlikely. Even if they knew the generator’s location, they wouldn’t have the capability to hack into our systems. Breaking through Earnest Rail’s system security is impossible for them.”

“They are uneducated monkeys, but stealing our food supply like this… What could their intention be?”

At Milton’s remark, the deputy bowed their head even lower.

“Currently, the monkeys are cornered. Since they cannot face Earnest Rail head-on, they must be trying to drive us out by stealing our food supplies.”

“Foolish creatures. It won’t make a difference… Harmful beasts should be eradicated swiftly.”

After contemplating briefly, Milton pulled out a nutrient capsule from his pocket.

Its overwhelming bitterness, fishy taste, and pungent smell made him grimace.

Each capsule contained the nutrients necessary to replace a full meal.

The taste was so dreadful that people avoided eating it unless absolutely necessary.

Only the meal kits were missing.

It was infuriating not being able to enjoy a decent meal because the kits were stolen, but the nutrient capsules remained, so they wouldn’t starve.

“Increase the number of surveillance personnel and recheck the security system. While we allowed those monkeys to breach our base this time by coincidence, such incidents must not happen again.”

In reality, Earnest Rail was not significantly affected by the loss of a few boxes of meal kits.

With emergency nutrient capsules available to employees and Hunters, the situation wasn’t critical.

Moreover, the fact that the external forces resorted to stealing food rather than launching an assault only demonstrated their inability to continue direct confrontations with the corporate front.

Imagine a beast breaking into your home and emptying the refrigerator.

At most, you’d lose some food and have a mess to clean, but you could simply buy more food and tidy up.

“But this is strange. If they were going to attack, wouldn’t it have made more sense to burn the weapons warehouse or destroy the dining hall and food storage entirely? Why did the monkeys only target the meal kits?”

“It seems their thinking doesn’t extend that far. Don’t worry about it, Manager.”

“Hmm…”

“The monkeys are scattered and hiding, making them hard to find, but it’s only a matter of time. We’ve already driven out the Dawn. Once the next food supply arrives, we’ll wipe them out completely.”

Still, what upset Earnest Rail’s employees the most was not the loss itself but the breach of their corporate security and pride by creatures they deemed no better than animals.

“Still, the fact that base security was breached by mere monkeys… You, as the person in charge, will have to submit a detailed report. One that will satisfy those above.”

“Yes, understood…”

The deputy sighed in deep relief that it ended with just a report.

Had the mistake been more severe, resulting in massive corporate losses, a mere report wouldn’t have sufficed—they would have had to prepare for far harsher consequences.

“Request additional food supplies to the Zain branch in my name. While we won’t starve, the absence of meal kits will affect employee morale and satisfaction. With so many Hunters hired, neglecting their welfare would only lead to more complaints.”

“Yes, sir!”

Mega Corps employees, like those of Earnest Rail, often disdained and disregarded Hunters.

However, they could not ignore the Hunters’ power and combat capabilities.

At least while maintaining the northern front, the corporation was obligated to provide the Hunters with food, shelter, and other contractual benefits.

Failing to do so would constitute a breach of contract, leading to additional penalties and the cancellation of ongoing agreements.

‘Even though the base was briefly breached, it’s not a serious issue.’

There were no casualties, and the weapons warehouse hadn’t been compromised.

The only loss was 64 boxes of meal kits, sufficient to feed 2,000 people for a week.

While it was true that the corporation lost valuable assets, Earnest Rail’s enormous financial resources could easily absorb the blow.

Food for the base personnel could be resupplied at any time.

When a new order for meal kits, along with luxury items like cigarettes, alcohol, and painkillers, was placed, a hovercraft capable of filling the warehouse would arrive by the next morning.

Leaving meal kits in the storage of a forward base, only to have a few stolen during a temporary absence of the main force, was understandable.

The person responsible at the time might face minor disciplinary action, but anyone deployed to the front lines should expect occasional hardships.

However, intercepting a corporate hovercraft mid-transit was impossible for the monkeys.

Hovercrafts were programmed to detect anomalies and send immediate support signals to nearby Earnest Rail bases.

The monkeys lacked the ability to hijack a flying hovercraft.

Even if they miraculously captured one, they wouldn’t know the security codes or how to hack it, making it impossible to open its cargo doors or steal the supplies.

And so, a week later, on the day of the regular supply run…

“…….”

“It’s… it’s empty…”

They greeted the hovercraft with the anticipation of opening a gift box.

Finally, they thought they would be freed from the awful nutrient capsules.

But what greeted them was an empty hovercraft, its storage filled with nothing but dust.

The only thing left inside was three days’ worth of nutrient capsules and a note scribbled with the words: [Hey! You’ve got plenty of supplies, so give some to the kids!]

“This is insane… They hijacked Earnest Rail’s supply hovercraft?”

“What are we going to eat now?”

“The capsules are all gone… we finished them yesterday…”

From that point on, Hunters at Earnest Rail’s base began defecting, citing contract violations.

“…I’ll kill them. Those damned monkey bastards…!”

Even Manager Milton sharpened his blade of vengeance against the monkeys who dared to mock him and the corporation.