Chapter 60

Chapter 5 Inside Out (8)

***

Indeed, home is good.

The familiar smell of dust around the house, subtly different from other places. The alleyways I know so well, having dug through them to the point of knowing the shape of every pebble. And...

Whirr— Click!

[Warning. Unauthorized access. Disarm and raise your hands above your head, then approach slowly.]

The unfamiliar mechanical voice of Corduroy and the unfamiliar sound of the defensive turret activating.

‘This guy. He must think I got caught somewhere and brought here.’

It’s obvious why the turret, which usually only has its motion sensor on, is now fully operational. Corduroy must have moved. He probably rushed out to save his master.

[This is your final warning. The subject has trespassed on private property, and this AI has been authorized to use force if the intruder does not comply—]

“Hey, Corduroy! Shut up and stand down the turrets!!”

[...Negative. This private property does not allow entry to anyone other than the facility users. Only one person, the elderly—Bzzz—individual and the large one will be allowed entry—]

“Alright, stand down the turrets! These people are my friends, and they’re going to live here from now on. This car is also theirs.”

[...Living together? So you’re saying they’re new owners?!!!]

Corduroy’s voice, coming through the old speaker, bloomed like a field of flowers.

***

Whirr— Clunk!

Crackle, crackle—

“Ohhh! What a nice place!”

“Wow! There’s a dust-free shelter in the wasteland, and it’s not even a domed city! Did you completely block out the outside air? Then how do you breathe?”

“Hey, Joe! Come here! There are plants and trees growing inside the house!”

“Trees? You mean real trees with green leaves? Not plastic models or fake ones?”

When they entered the decompression chamber, the two of them were constantly exclaiming in amazement. Once inside the shelter, they started running around excitedly like five-year-olds visiting Disneyland for the first time.

“You guys... Where have you been living until now? This is just the basic setup! Even though some unique equipment has been added recently, we’re not exactly well-off.”

The professor looked around. The interior, with its peeling paint revealing gray concrete, the slightly dim lighting, the table that would be covered in dust again after just a few hours despite Corduroy’s diligent cleaning, and the old sofa that had sunk in the middle. What was so great about this place that they were exclaiming so much?

“Bourgeois brat. If you don’t have bread, eat cake.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m so full. How can you belittle such a wonderful home!”

“You guys have way more money than me! You! Ian, you said you owned a store!”

“That was just a hidden shelter and a shield set up near a less broken bowling alley entrance. I just stored some stuff there. I couldn’t even dream of a greenhouse. Every time the wind blew, sand would pour in like a cartload of dust.”

“So, you slept while swallowing all that dust?”

“I guess... When I woke up, my throat felt dry, but I didn’t feel anything else. Maybe the tar in my lungs filtered it out?”

“Hapvan, I was a scavenger until a few days ago. I was part of the wasteland’s poorest class.”

“Bourgeois brat.”

“Enemy of the proletariat.”

“No, that’s... Oh, really! Rich people who don’t know how to spend their money!”

“Hehehe, Master, now you understand how I felt—”

“Shut up, Corduroy!”

[So funny! Too funny!]

“Ughhhhh!!!”

This is bad. Usually, when I came home, I felt a sense of comfort, like ‘Ah, home~’. Now, even that is hard to expect! It’s not a home sweet home anymore, but a home sweat home!

‘First, I need to calm these guys down. We need to decide how to live from now on, and there’s a lot to do...’

Squish!

“Wow! Joe! Look at this! It’s a carrot!”

“Small deer? Or a smaller one?”

“Ohhh! Precious calories for my masters!!”

Snap, snap!

“Look! There’s a glass facility in the middle of the garden!”

“It looks like a shower room? But it’s a bit too small for my body, eeek—”

Crackle!

“Shut the fuck up!!! Sit in front of me in 5 seconds, or I’ll bulldoze the greenhouse and bury you alive in it!!!”

Finally, after the professor’s roar of frustration, Ian and Vex obediently sat in front of him.

***

“Phew... Alright. Now, let’s talk about how we’re going to live from now on.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk! Do we really need to decide this? I was just going to build a shelter next to yours and live there, visiting occasionally.”

Grind!

“Wh-what are you saying...”

The professor clenched his teeth and dismissed the thoughtless friend’s suggestion before slowly explaining to these idiots.

“Alright, let’s take it one step at a time. Who gave you the meat you’re eating right now?”

“Um... Professor?”

“Damn it! I told you a minute ago! The Market Place! The Market! The company in the dome! The big traders!”

“Oh, right, right. They sent it, saying they hope we get along well, right?”

“Exactly. They thought I was setting up a new outpost, separate from other groups, and sent this as a greeting. They were completely mistaken, but in the end, that’s how it turned out. We are three people, and we plan to set up a new shelter here. So, why would the Market Place in the dome, which is far away and rarely seen, bother to greet such a small, new group?”

“Um... I don’t know?”

“To be friendly?”

The professor put his hand on his forehead. Wrong. These guys, despite their incredible knowledge of survival and the wasteland, know as much about political and social intrigue as kindergarteners.

“The correct answer is, because we will be seeing each other often. The dome will inevitably approach us, and depending on their judgment, they might become hostile or friendly. In any case, they see us as a potential larger customer. That’s what the Market Place guys think.”

“Getting involved with the money-grubbing dome guys... That’s a bit much. Isn’t that incredibly troublesome?”

“That’s why I said it this way, Mr. MetalJoe. If you were just coming here to stay for a few days, it would be different, but setting up a base here and establishing a new home is no small matter.”

The professor scratched his head and asked Ian.

“You. You haven’t bought the shelter construction materials yet, right?”

“Hmm? Oh, right. I can’t order delivery without knowing the coordinates of your place.”

“Good. Then give me the money to buy them. Since we’re in this situation, we need to act like a new group. If Corduroy shows that he bought the materials for the shelter, they’ll probably think the person with the `professor` ID has started a new clan.”

“Hey, Hapvan? There are different types of groups, right? Like the predatory Leptr groups, undertakers who scavenge from mutants and use their equipment, or the scavengers we know. How should we introduce ourselves?”

Vex’s question made the professor think. The easiest way would be to introduce ourselves as scavengers. They are harmless, weak, and not worth the dome’s attention since they don’t make money.

‘But the dome’s inspectors won’t be so easy. No matter how much we hide, the amount of gunpowder and weapons we have will be noticeable. Besides, having a car from a previous generation doesn’t fit the scavenger profile at all.’

“Hey, Ian. You’re going to start trading again once you settle here, right?”

“Hmm? Of course. I didn’t move here to just sit around and suck my thumb.”

“Good. Then it’s decided.”

Clap!

The professor slapped the table and said to the two in front of him.

“From now on, we will be a caravan, a group of traveling traders based in this area.”

***

“Caravan?”

“Yeah. That’s the surface-level introduction.”

The professor slowly explained to the two, who were unfamiliar with the dome’s ways.

A caravan. Named after the traders who cross the desert, this group travels the wasteland, crossing regions to trade. In fact, most transactions are made through the GG exchange for convenience, safety, and to avoid exposure.

“However, as Old Wujin said, there are cases where GG drones are hijacked. For scavengers, psychogangs, and others who live without access to the network, the penalty of being locked out of GG’s access zones is practically nonexistent. For really important items, like the weapons and gunpowder you deal with, Ian, direct trade is often preferred over drone transactions. Caravans are groups that trade valuable items, items hard to find in the same region, and items requested by customers.”

A notable example is the Gold Walking Cane Caravan of Ranker Goldman SUCKS. They fill nearly ten heavily armed trucks and lead a massive escort force, crossing five or six regions to trade local specialties and valuable items. I’ve heard they rake in money with every trip. That’s why Goldman can pour so much money into GG.

“Caravans are viewed very positively by the dome. They won’t bother us much, except to occasionally ask for catalog updates.”

“Introducing us as traders will also align with my spice trading.”

“Right. This seems like the best option. What do you think? When the dome contacts us, we’ll introduce ourselves as a new caravan settled here.”

“Okay. I agree. Me too.”

“That’s up to you, Professor. You know it best.”

Seeing everyone go along with it, the professor clenched his fist under the table.

‘Thank goodness. I managed to gloss over it!’

As the professor was wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and moving on to the next agenda, Vex, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“Name.”

Boom!

And with that one word, the professor’s mood plummeted.

[Gotcha! That guy is strangely perceptive!]

‘Damn it!’

“Huh? What about it?”

The professor desperately hoped it wasn’t what he thought, but Vex mercilessly shattered his hopes.

“I mean the group name. When we introduce ourselves to the dome or when they contact us, we can’t just say ‘some caravan’. We need a name, like ‘We are the Dome’ or ‘We are the Leptr Society’. What should our name be?”

“Oh, right. I’ve already thought of a great name—”

“Please, no.”

Absolutely, it must be stopped. These guys are bound to have thought of some weird names like HIV or something.

***