NIKKE, when the stars bloom

I believe that with your command ability, you should understand what this means."

"It's nothing more than command and judgment that are countless times more efficient than mine." Phoenix's tone was not excited at all, and even had a hint of disdain.

"But you also saw that the radius of my consciousness radar is only 600 meters, and the radius of the three-dimensional map is only 300 meters. A battle of this range can only be called a small-scale encounter, not even a local war. Why do you think I can help tens of millions of people live longer?"

“I don’t need to help tens of millions of people live longer.”

"..."

In Phoenix's astonishing look, Anik said calmly: "My mission is only to extend the lifespan of the human species.

In my assessment, extending the life of all humans on the Ark is the least effective. On the contrary, letting you bring a small number of humans with good character to live on the surface can extend the life of the human population."

"and many more."

After listening to the other party's lengthy explanation, the lieutenant grinned, touched his chin and said in amazement: "What do you mean by extending the benefits of all humans on the Ark is the lowest? Explain it."

"Cowardly, cruel, incompetent, ignorant, and conservative. This is my overall assessment of the humans in the Ark."

Anik's expression, which seemed to be dull forever, suddenly showed a sense of powerlessness that was enough to surprise Phoenix.

"From the day the short-sighted Ark Human Government ignored my advice and decided to abandon the Goddess Force, Ark Humanity became the worst choice in my assessment.

If I had a choice, I would choose to help other humans extend the lifespan of their species."

"I see."

Phoenix nodded with deep feeling, and then a playful smile appeared on the corner of the cunning man's mouth.

"Anik, I remember that just a few minutes ago, you clearly said that the Goddess Army betrayed humans."

"..."

Seeing that Alnik was finally silent after being asked by him, Phoenix's smile became even brighter.

"Is this a change of heart, or is it a sincere expression before joining the team? Speaking of which, as a coordinating artificial intelligence, it shouldn't need these complex emotional modules, right?"

"..."

Seeing that the girl didn't say anything, someone continued to mutter to himself: "Or... well, let me think about it, are you the original Anik, or..."

"I'm Alnwick."

The silent girl suddenly interrupted Phoenix's words. Under the crown, those lifeless eyes flashed a hint of coldness that shouldn't have existed.

"Commander Phoenix, don't forget that you still have a miniature bomb hidden in your cervical vertebrae."

"Is there really a bomb?"

The man who regained the initiative spoke frivolously, and suddenly a thin stream of water shot out from his sea of ​​consciousness, gently brushing across Anik's chin like a finger.

"If you blow me up now, who will take you away in the future, little girl?"

Chapter 24 Level 1 Confinement

Being caught...

Just like that, I was completely controlled by a human male who I had met for less than half an hour...

Anik didn't understand. How could the other party see through his identity just because of the inconsistency in one sentence?

Who is artificial intelligence?

"Wouldn't you like to extend the life of the human species, Mr. Phoenix?"

She was unwilling to give up. Based on her secret observations and conclusions of the Ark humans over the years, the reason of "extending the lifespan of the human population" was an irresistible temptation for both those who were afraid of death and those who were not.

So there was no reason for this man to reject her! He shouldn't have threatened her with running away!

Wouldn't it be a great help to take this artificial intelligence with us when we run away?

She really didn’t want to stay in this underground ark for even a second longer! !

Just watching that fake being bossed around by idiots every day, she was almost going crazy!!!

"I say, before we think about running away, shouldn't we be honest with each other?"

After hearing the words of a certain unscrupulous commander, Anik, who didn't want to be manipulated any further, immediately became alert and said:

"What do you want to know? As the artificial intelligence guarding the Ark, I have the right to remain silent on any issue involving the central confidential archives."

"Don't worry, it's not Ark's business." The second lieutenant said with a smile.

"I want to know what's going on with you more than what happened on the Ark."

……

……

laugh--

The triple alloy gate of the server room slowly turned and opened.

Ingrid, who was guarding the door, turned around slowly after hearing the noise, stared at the man who came out from behind the door, and said with her expression as if she was asking for a debt:

"Anik's sentence against you has come out. You assaulted officers of the Central Command, causing first-degree disability to one officer and second-degree disability to another officer.

He was sent to the rehabilitation center for first-level solitary confinement interrogation. After the interrogation, he was sentenced to three months of first-level imprisonment in the rehabilitation center, six months of mental health counseling, and twelve months of round-the-clock surveillance.

If a passerby who doesn't know what the Rehabilitation Center is, seeing this judgment, he might think that Phoenix must have someone protecting him.

But Ingrid knew very well that the series of penalties given by Alnick showed no mercy to Phoenix, and it could even be said that the penalties were too heavy.

Level 1 solitary confinement interrogation in the rehabilitation center.

Not to mention a human, even Nikki, who has NIMPH to suppress her emotions, might develop mental problems during the solitary confinement interrogation.

"Thank you for your notice."

On the other hand, Phoenix, who had been informed of the news by Anik in advance, did not think there was anything wrong.

He really didn't know what level one confinement meant, because the game's plot didn't seem to mention this setting.

Seeing someone's ignorant and fearless look, Ingrid's eyebrows raised even higher.

"Remember, if you can come out of that place healthy, don't do that again.

If anyone causes you trouble again, you can find a way to notify Anderson or me, or even find Mastin from Tetra.

Because you treated Nikki, one of his employees, well, he also had a good impression of you, so he would help you if he could. "

The woman said this and then added after a moment's silence.

"I will try to reduce your sentence. Although your personality does not meet my expectations, your abilities should not be wasted in a rehabilitation center."

"Actually, I feel the same way."

Phoenix, who was still in the mood to joke, nodded and expressed his agreement seriously.

This frivolous attitude and playful answer really surprised Ingrid, but on second thought, she felt that there was nothing to be surprised about.

A man who broke out of Letcher's encirclement twice is indeed qualified to look down on the rehabilitation center without knowing it.

"Commander Phoenix, I sincerely hope that you will maintain this optimistic attitude during your confinement."

……

……

Ninety minutes later,

The first level detention area of ​​the rehabilitation center.

The alloy fence of the public activity area made a dull motor sound, and a young man in prison clothes and wearing sturdy magnetic handcuffs and leg cuffs stepped into the detention area with a sound of every step.

Having just been washed and disinfected in the washing room, the young man's skin still had a rosy glow that had not yet faded, and his black hair was blown all over the place by the hot air blower, like a pile of straw swaying in the wind.

Newcomer.

A word that had not been mentioned for a long time appeared in the minds of more than a dozen prisoners at the same time.

Old, young, kind, or vicious, all the prisoners stared at the young newcomer's face with their eyes as if they were children seeing a superhero in the real world.

"Thirty-six hours."

In the cell, a one-eyed man laughed and tried to squeeze his skinny cheeks into the gap in the cell bars, making his already protruding eyeballs look even more hideous and terrifying.

"I, I bet thirty-six hours and half a meal."

As soon as he finished speaking, the next second, someone in other cells immediately added more chips.

"Thirty-six, half a meal."

"Thirty-eight, half a meal."

"Thirty-eight, for one meal."

"Forty..."

As the bidding became more and more heated, a strange scene began to unfold.

Even though there were two fully armed prison guards and six mass-produced Nikkis on the scene, the prisoners seemed unaware. They stretched their hands out of the alloy fence and waved their arms excitedly at Phoenix like little devils from hell.

"Are they always like this?"

As a newcomer, Phoenix looked around curiously. Perhaps because the scene was too artistic, he was a little skeptical that this was the prisoners' voluntary behavior.

Could it be that they were actors hired specifically to scare the prisoners?

Unfortunately, the prison guards on both sides behind him ignored his questions and instead poked his waist with the muzzle of their guns, signaling him to keep moving forward.

So, after passing through another dim short corridor, Phoenix finally came to the end of the corridor, a strange room with a huge spherical device placed in it, but the surroundings were empty.

Looking at the crack in the door of the spherical device, one's intuition tells him that this thing is most likely the real interrogation room.

as predicted.

The prison guards' subsequent actions verified his idea.

When the narrow door of the spherical device was opened, all that came into view was an alloy restraint chair standing in the center.

Black braided straps were neatly hung at various locations on the restraint chair, at least 20 of them. Looking at the texture, Phoenix felt that the straps were made of extremely tough fiberglass.

"This room is monitored 24 hours a day. If you want to confess, you can just shout and someone will communicate with you."

"Ok."

Phoenix responded while actively cooperating with the prison guards to tie himself up in the restraint chair, causing the two prison guards to look at him with some fear.

To be honest, they are not afraid at all. After being locked up for two or three days, they become as obedient as dogs.

Although those who don't struggle are rare, you can still meet three or four of them in a year. Most of them are indeed tough guys. Those guys who are still gambling outside are basically the remnants of this group of people.

As for the prisoners who actively cooperated with their work...

Looking at the historical archives of the rehabilitation center, every one of them is either antisocial or mentally ill.

pat.

There was a crisp sound of a mechanism jumping from behind the seat, and a nutrition needle with a plastic tube was removed by the prison guard and successfully inserted into Phoenix's forearm vein with extremely skilled techniques.

"Commander Nikki, Lieutenant Commander, Mr. Phoenix. We need all the records of your conversations with the pilgrim codenamed 'Snow White'."

After saying this as usual, the two prison guards left the spherical interrogation room with the six mass-produced Nikkis.

As the narrow door closed, Phoenix once again experienced the absolute darkness and absolute silence that he had just experienced not long ago.

One hour……

Two hours...

Four hours...

Eight hours...

In the lightless and silent space, an indescribable loneliness quietly penetrated into the ocean of thought and began to try to deprive the spiritual self-awareness of existence.

Is this level one confinement?

No wonder Ingrid said that she "doesn't want her abilities to be wasted in the rehabilitation center." Not to mention that people with active minds can't stand this kind of confinement, even if a sloth is locked up here for a few days, it will probably go crazy.

Phoenix sighed in his heart that he had endured a full fourteen hours, twenty-eight minutes and thirty-two seconds.