Chapter 1302: New Clues (1)
Erik woke to the sound of tal scraping against concrete. The battle with the thanatocoleoptera queen ended during the night of the previous day. The problem was that defeating the queen was just the first step, and the work was far from over.
He stretched. His muscles were still sore after the fight against the queen, but his mana and stamina got replenished.
…
…
…
Erik stepped outside, checking the underground cavern. The clones worked throughout the area, clearing debris and removing bug carcasses.
The sheer number of dead thanatocoleoptera was a problem—they needed to be moved before decomposition made the air unbreathable. But the bodies were many, and the number of clones was not so high, so it was going to be a logistical nightmare.
“Master,” a clone said, wiping sweat from his brow. “We’ve made a periter and secured the main Silver Line Corporation building. We also checked the place. There was just minimal damage during the battle, so everything should be ok.”
“Good work. What about the others?”
“Miss Amber and Miss Mira are helping with the cleanup in the eastern sector. Miss Emily is helping us search the main laboratory. Elder brother June is coordinating the security teams.”
With the clones stripping away the bugs’ additions, the underground facility had a changed appearance.
[Yeah, it doesn’t look real.]
This was the company that actually created the biological supercomputer, so maybe it felt nervous to learn more about its own origins. That’s if they actually found sothing there.
More clones ca from the forest base to help. With more workers, the cleanup went faster. The teams were clearing walkways and making sure buildings were safe, but they focused mainly on the Silverline Corporation building.
During the morning, Erik helped clean the area surrounding the building. Then, after having given the clones more ti to search the place, he headed toward the main building.
The clones were removing the nest material the bugs had built over the years. The problem was they had to be careful about not taking off the parts that helped the building keep its structural integrity.
A lot of ti passed since the place was built, and ti affected everything. The bugs had to reinforce the parts that were prone to collapse after so much ti. But it wasn’t all, because the building itself had been damaged when the thanatocoleoptera queen escaped centuries earlier, and that made the rest of the building rather fragile.
“How’s it going?” Erik asked the clone in charge of cleaning the server room.
The clone straightened. “We’ve removed the largest chunks of nesting material and dried out the room, but there’s still significant work ahead. The bugs used a kind of resin to cover the walls. They applied it everywhere, including on the servers themselves, making removal hard without damaging the equipnt beneath.”
“Do you think the servers can be saved?”
We’re still unsure, Master. Everything needs to be powered up, but equally important is a complete cleaning to eliminate the possibility of residual materials causing problems. However, we have found several undamaged backup storage devices. They were inside so cabinets, which the bugs covered with their resin. They were essentially locked inside the cabinets until now.
Erik examined the room. Remnants of ancient technology peeked out from beneath years of bug infestation. The Silver Line corporation invested heavily in computational power. It was weird. Most of today’s technology was better than that of the past, yet back then they were able to make sothing as absurd as the biological supercomputer, which was impossible to make by today’s scientists.
“Make this a priority,” Erik said. “I want those servers operational as soon as possible. Be careful with the hardware—if anything looks irreplaceable, consult with before proceeding.”
“Yes, Master.”
Erik left the clones to their work and went to the courtyard, moving past broken pieces of ceiling and dead bugs on the ground.
It was going slowly, but at least it was progressing.
[Yeah, last night you couldn’t even walk here.]
Erik saw Amber sitting with her legs crossed on top of a broken wall delimiting the building’s courtyard. Sothing was bothering her.
He cleared his throat, and she turned.
“Hey…” She said, then went back to watching the cleanup work below.
“Sothing wrong?”
Amber sighed. “I’m just tired.”
“We all are. That was a hell of a fight.”
“That’s not what I an.” Her voice carried an edge. “I’m tired of being weak.”
Erik raised an eyebrow. “Weak? You fought through an entire hive of thanatocoleoptera. I wouldn’t call that weak. Besides, killing them wouldn’t have been that easy without your powers.”
During cleanup, Amber’s gas manipulation was what made killing the bugs a fast affair. She took care of the largest groups. Without the queen, preserving the buildings’ integrity beca possible since they just needed to lure the thaids away from the city. That was what they did.
“Compared to you? Compared to the queen? I’m still weak.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t do anything aningful until after you killed her.”
Amber got much stronger than she was in the past, and her powers weren’t weak either. But Erik could see this coming.
“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Erik said. “Your abilities saved us hours, maybe days, of work.”
“That’s not the point.” Amber turned to face him. “When it mattered most, during the queen fight, I couldn’t help.”
“That’s not because you are weak; rather, it was because we needed you in case things went bad.”
“I know,” Amber said, “But I can’t keep acting only when you need to escape. That was not nice.”
“We didn’t have a choice, Amber.”
“I know, and that’s what is bothering . I’m not saying I had to use my powers, but I could have done sothing else if I were stronger.”
She paused.
“I want you to give a new power,” she said. “I need more neural links. Not just for another ability, but to get physically stronger, too. I can’t keep running away when we see stronger thaids. The clones are powerful, but I can’t lean on them all the ti.”
“I’ve been thinking about it,” he said. “For all of you, in truth. But I’m still working out which powers would best complent your existing abilities.”
“I don’t care what it is,” Amber insisted. “But if it’s sothing that would help replenish my mana, it would be good. I need to be able to teleport everyone away while still being able to fight.”
“You should make more neural links. Finding a power like that is not easy.”
“It’s not simple, Erik. You know this better than anyone here.”
A clone approached, interrupting their conversation. “Master, we’ve found sothing in one of the laboratories. You might want to see this.”
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