Chapter 15: The Second Research: Machine Church Gate (4)

It’s time to study the remains of the robot.

You know those jokes about developing technology by torturing aliens somewhere?

Today, I’ve really gotten the chance to dissect technology made by aliens.

The Monster prototype and Artifact from Gate No. 2 have been transferred to the Supernatural Science Research Institute.

The list of things to research keeps growing.

A forklift unloaded the Monster corpse from the refrigerated truck.

Dr. Kang scratched his head.

“Why did they bring it in a refrigerated truck when it’s a robot?”

“Can you prove it’s a robot before we cut it open?”

Dr. Kang opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it again.

“That’s true.”

“Also, the Public Servants prepared the refrigerated truck using the standards for Goblin Gates. It just happened to be a Steel Monster this time.”

I was curious about it, too.

Of course, the Steel Spider and the rest of the Machine Church Monster types don’t have any organic matter inside, but I can’t say for certain that temperature wouldn’t affect the Steel Spider’s activity.

“Let’s get started.”

We had plenty of specimens today.

We’d caught dozens of Steel Spiders.

We could dissect as much as we wanted.

But what worried me was that we might end up finding nothing and just conclude it was all ‘magic.’

Though, that wasn’t likely.

I still had memories of the research I’d done before returning.

If I started searching from what I already knew, we’d find something.

“Well, we can only try.”

The researchers of the Supernatural Science Research Institute gathered, and we began by circling around the Steel Spider placed on the dissection table.

I glanced at the camera set up beside the dissection table.

“Gate Phenomenon-001. Dissection experiment on the biological-type Gate Phenomenon from Gate No. 2. The experiment begins now.”

Preparation for the dissection was finished faster than I thought, and the camera started recording.

Dr. Kang nodded.

“The weight is about 45 kg. We’ve done the 01 scan, too.”

Dr. Kang took photos of the Steel Spider damaged in battle.

Recording its original state was also part of preparing for dissection.

“Heavier than I thought.”

“Maybe it’s light for being made of iron.”

We snickered as we flipped over the Steel Spider’s corpse.

Underneath, there was a complex mechanical structure arranged in multiple layers.

We examined the machinery under its belly.

“It’s just a hypothesis for now. But the Steel Spider seems to gather metal and materials to create other Steel Spiders or Monsters of the Machine Church.”

It was a phenomenon I’d seen in my previous life.

Still, Dr. Kang’s doubtful gaze told me he wasn’t quite convinced.

Seeing his reaction, I hesitated for a moment.

“If you think about it biologically, it’s possible. But how could a simple robot create living things from steel? Is it just magic?”

I shook my head.

“It seems a bit hasty to just dismiss it like that. There must be some logic to how it operates… Let’s start with the dissection.”

Golems had their own logic of operation, too.

Even if magic was involved, it didn’t mean the principle couldn’t be understood.

We picked up hammers and awls and started cracking open the Steel Spider.

The robot was already damaged from battle.

I searched its body for any way to reach the inner workings.

There had to be a way to reach the interior circuit.

“Strange. Not a single screw is used.”

“Well, it’s not made by humans.”

There’s a saying that clothes made by ghosts have no stitching marks.

Same logic.

If it’s not made by humans, it lacks the machine parts you’d expect in human-made devices.

I picked up a claw hammer and started prying at the seams of the Steel Spider’s armor.

Metallic grinding rang out for a long time, but the Steel Spider’s exoskeleton didn’t open easily.

No wonder, since it was a tough Monster not easily taken down even by guns.

“Now I want some marinated crab.”

“Mmm.”

It did look a bit like marinated crab.

Especially with the way black fluid was seeping out from the robot’s joint gaps.

“This is taking longer than I thought…”

After a lengthy struggle, we started to see the internal structure of the Steel Spider.

There was still a lot left, though.

At this rate, the whole day would be gone…

My patience was running out.

“Step back for a second.”

“Huh, what are you going to do?”

There was no time to spare until the next Gate opened.

The research had to proceed without delay.

Before Dr. Kang could stop me, I picked up a hammer and smashed down on the Steel Spider.

There was no time to waste.

Bang!

Robot fragments scattered in every direction.

Dr. Kang stared at me and my hammer in disbelief, but ultimately, the problem was solved.

And quickly, too.

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best in a situation like this.

***

Today is the sixth day of the Gate disaster.

This is the Heo Boo Room of the Supernatural Science Research Institute.

We’re in the middle of dissecting a Steel Spider from Gate No. 2.

It feels like I’m back in grad school.

For days on end, I’ve been working overnight at the lab, not even going home.

But still…

Here, I’m the lead researcher, and I don’t have to take orders from anyone.

It’s better than being a graduate student—practically a slave.

I’d studied all sorts of weird things at the Supernatural Science Research Institute before returning, but the Machine Church Gate was especially useful.

“Told you I was right?”

We’d reached the “flesh” inside the marinated crab—no, the Steel Spider.

A shining piece of machinery sat at the heart of the Steel Spider.

I reached out and picked up the pliers nearby.

“That… looks fragile. Shouldn’t we be careful?”

“It won’t break that easily.”

I used the pliers to pull out the Steel Spider’s heart.

A palm-sized, translucent crystal.

From what I remembered from my past life’s research, this translucent crystal served as both the Steel Spider’s energy source and its central processor.

That’s why it’s called a heart.

“This is the Steel Spider’s Heart.”

Dr. Kang hesitated, then grabbed his tools and turned back to the Steel Spider’s corpse we were dissecting.

His expression was as serious as ever.

“Dr. Lee. I found something really weird inside the spider. Come take a look at this.”

“What is it?”

“Already figured something out?”

I glanced over at Dr. Kang.

He pulled something out from inside the Steel Spider—a rubber tube-like object.

Black oil oozed out from it.

Almost as if it was bleeding.

It reminded me of the blood vessels of a living organism, and the blood pouring out.

It looked just like what poured out of the corpses of those Monsters from the Machine Church.

Black liquid that the Monster bled like blood.

“It really did smell like blood, too.”

I fell silent, deep in thought.

If those tube-like hydraulic devices are what moves the Monster, then why does that black fluid pool inside the Steel Spider’s torso like blood, instead of just inside the hydraulics?

I tried to recall the mechanism by which the Machine Church robots operated, the one that was interrupted during my research in my past life.

Metal, smell of blood, hydraulic devices.

“It’s a magnet.”

I touched the black liquid in question with a magnet, and inside the robot, the black fluid clung to the magnet like iron filings.

Dr. Kang frowned in confusion.

“A magnet?”

“Yes, in simple terms.”

It’s a Liquid Magnet.

You could say we found the missing link, the medium that allows inorganic robots to function like organic creatures.

You grind up metal finely, mix it into an oil-like liquid, and create a magnetic fluid.

That’s probably why it smells like blood.

To be precise, because of the iron.

“The Liquid Magnet is used to move the robot with magnetism and hydraulics. It’s the medium that serves as the blood and temperament of the inorganic robot.”

As if something occurred to him, Dr. Kang took off his gloves and began typing something on his Tablet.

“Dr. Lee. Do you think this could be replicated with modern technology? It’d be great if we could make weapons or tools with this. Or would it be too difficult?”

“It’ll depend on whether the physics team can figure out the properties of the machine’s heart, but personally, I think it’s definitely possible.”

I tried to recall if I’d done any research on this in my previous life.

“Was there anything else that might help?”

I placed the Steel Spider’s Heart under the dissection microscope.

Inside the translucent crystal, thin silver patterns were inscribed like threads.

“Dr. Kang. Look at this.”

“What is it?”

Now that I looked at it again, I remembered.

“It looks like a kind of circuit. Not a technology used by modern humans, but it seems they’ve engraved a circuit into the crystal to store energy and use it as a data processor at the same time.”

“Wow. They’ve really thought of everything.”

Let’s confirm it.

I used the Explorer’s Trait on the crystal under the dissection microscope.

[You have identified the principle of the Machine Church Monster.]

[Exploration Points +10.]

[30/200 to Enlightenment Level 2.]

With the research going so well, my Exploration Points were rising quickly.

I’d reach the next level soon.

The keyword of the second Gate is ‘machine.’

But it wasn’t a perfect machine.

A strange creature, somewhere between organic and machine, capable of collecting resources and self-replicating.

Using liquid metal as hydraulic fluid and as an energy conductor wasn’t a technique used in this era.

My phone’s ringtone interrupted my thoughts.

– Caller ID Restricted.

“Who could it be?”

I waited for the phone to ring three times before answering.

A restricted number usually meant a call from deep inside the government.

Like, say, the National Intelligence Service.

“Who is this?”

“This is the National Intelligence Service Science and Technology Headquarters.”

“Ah, yes.”

I hesitated for a moment.

“A few days ago, during the Central Disaster Response Headquarters meeting, you predicted that countries would soon start collapsing because of the Gate disaster, right?”

“I did.”

“Can you meet today? If you can, I’ll send someone to the Research Institute right now.”

The government knows, too.

That I’m the one who knows the most about the Gate disaster.

That must be why the National Intelligence Service is reaching out for my help this time.

“Yes. Send them over quickly.”

The call ended soon after.

That was different from my previous life.

Back then, I’d wasted a lot of time being dragged around by government agencies, and just accepted it as normal.

But not this time.

Now I hold the answers.

If they want those answers, they know who they have to come to.

“As expected, things are off to a good start.”

***

Before meeting the government Public Servants, we gathered the standing research fellows for another meeting.

Four standing researchers of the Supernatural Science Research Institute gathered.

I looked around the conference room.

Dr. Min was busy flipping through piles of paper, Dr. Kang sat quietly like a statue, and Dr. Ryoo was spinning some model on his Tablet as if bored.

What an odd bunch.

I began to speak.

“Today is the sixth day of the Gate disaster. Let’s discuss what we’ve discovered so far, what we’ve found, and what we still need.”

It hasn’t even been a week yet.

The Gate disaster is a terrible tragedy, a threat to humanity—

But just this week, two doors to new worlds have opened.

There’s literally more research to do than I can count.

Even a lifetime wouldn’t be enough to study it all, but we had to focus on what could be applied right away.