I plucked out one of the Monster’s eyes and began examining it from every angle.
An alien beast. Just as the strange appearance of deep-sea fish that live without sunlight seems bizarre to us, the Tentacle Dragon was also a grotesque and difficult form to look at.
A sense of alienation that was even more disturbing than revulsion.
Ryoo picked up a surgical saw and mumbled something.
“Wow. But…”
“Yes.”
“This is on a whole different level from any Monster I’ve seen so far. Not just its strength, but the fact that the species’ language doesn’t work on it either. And the way it spreads that creepy black moss… it just feels wrong…”
I nodded.
A Monster that pollutes the world.
Without Awakened individuals, it would be almost impossible to capture.
‘Flying creatures like this can’t be handled without modern weaponry.’
I split open a few more of the Tentacle Dragon’s eyeballs and collected Magic Stones in a large specimen jar. That made it the fifth one already.
“Are these Magic Stones?”
Dr. Min, who was standing beside me, asked.
“I uploaded the paper to the group chat earlier. Trilobites have their eyes made of calcite, you know? Similarly, the lateral eyeballs of the Tentacle Dragon are made of crystalline calcite. That’s what a Magic Stone is.”
“That’s… complicated.”
“It’s actually the most primitive and simple eye structure. Some species of starfish still retain calcite eyes.”
“How do you know all this, Doctor?”
“I just looked it up.”
Dr. Min sheepishly fiddled with his gas mask.
“If you think about it, the fact that a Monster’s crystalline lens is made out of Magic Stone means it probably uses supernatural information processing methods as well, right?”
“I think so too.”
“This really is a thoroughly meta game.”
Ryoo frowned.
It sounds strange to say it like this, but it seemed like the rules were a bit more flexible for Monsters.
Sometimes, when creating tools with the Seeker’s Trait Activation, a similar logic applied. The opposite of the Gremlin Effect, right?
It didn’t strictly follow the laws of physics. If something didn’t suit the Monster’s will, it just… glossed over it.
‘We’ll have to research this properly.’
We can’t expect to win against creatures that don’t even abide by physical laws using only conventional methods.
We’ll need to prepare every possible means—whether magic engineering, Awakened abilities, or whatever else—to strike back against the Monsters.
Before re-entering the Tentacle Dragon’s Gate, there were three things I had to prepare.
First, assemble a team of Awakened.
Second, find the Monster’s weaknesses.
Third, create the equipment to bring into the Gate.
The recruitment of the Awakened team was probably already underway.
As for weaknesses, I wasn’t sure, but capsaicin and other toxic substances had shown some effect.
“I’ll need to think more about that.”
As for the equipment to take into the Gate, I was already working on it.
***
This was Laboratory No. 2 of the Supernatural Science Research Institute.
I was gathering materials for the creation and mulling over the construction method.
“I’ll have to make a robot.”
First, a legged robot capable of moving through rough terrain.
That was already done. I’d even deployed it into the second Gate. The Supernatural Science Research Institute had a Nose Robot for traversing harsh environments.
That part was the chassis.
For the personality module, an Artificial Neural Core. Dr. Kang had once used a certain supernatural phenomenon and a bot to create this thing.
It’s complicated to explain.
It’s the part that forms the personality of the robot assistant. A small black box of a computer, just a bit bigger than the palm of my hand.
Honestly, I never fully trusted artificial intelligence…
But at this level, it seemed human enough for my purposes.
As long as I didn’t arm the robot, it should be fine, right?
On the other hand, thanks to this artificial intelligence, my coding workload was drastically reduced.
“Man… that used to be manual labor.”
Lastly, for energy storage and information processing, a Magic Stone wired into the circuitry. Basic design—Magic Stone with copper coils wound around it.
“All that’s left is assembly.”
I’d prepared everything for the final product, but I hadn’t had enough time to prepare every component perfectly. I grabbed some blue tape and twine.
Now for the assembly.
I set the Nose Robot on the workbench, connected the Artificial Neural Core inside, then hooked up the Magic Stone.
And then…
Several hours passed, but eventually, it was finished.
The robot’s face—really, just a tablet screen—displayed a buffering message.
“Analyzing software. Detected 108 coding errors in the walking interface. Detected 408 coding errors and optimization suggestions in the conversation interface and operation interface. Beginning optimization now.”
“Go ahead.”
“In the future, I will automatically search for optimization measures.”
I waited for a moment. The robot beeped. Finding and correcting 516 errors and optimization points might have taken years otherwise. Without the Artificial Neural Core, I would’ve died doing it.
Long live Skynet.
“Detected 32 hardware optimization suggestions. While I can respond proactively in software, some physical adjustments are needed.”
“Got it.”
Is it protesting that I patched it up with tape? Right now?
For now, I nodded. Maybe it was because Dr. Kang had made the Artificial Neural Core, but the robot’s personality was a little unusual.
“Greetings, user. I am Research and Exploration Support Terminal A-8. Please state the operation you wish to perform.”
“A-8… I’m going to call you Pineapple.”
“Understood. Changing call sign to Pineapple.”
This was, quite literally, a research support robot.
Originally a quadruped military robot designed to haul equipment across rough terrain—like the ones the U.S. military deployed during the Iraq War, before they canceled the mass production plan.
Too noisy and prone to breakdowns, apparently.
People said a real mule was better than the Nose Robot.
Might be tough to use in the field, but I thought it’d work fine for the Research Institute. Especially if I enhanced it with magic engineering.
The A-8 research and exploration support robot—Pineapple—looked around with its camera eyes. I waved my hand.
“Pineapple, do you see me moving my hand?”
“Yes. I see you.”
Pineapple’s central control unit had a sophisticated Artificial Neural Core. It could speak.
It also had a motion detector.
I hoped it wouldn’t malfunction during a mission. But then again, humans malfunction sometimes, so what can you do?
Here’s the crux of the problem.
The more sophisticated and complex an artificial neural network becomes, the more it resembles a human.
And the closer a machine gets to a human, the more it mimics our flaws. Acting inexplicably, or even behaving emotionally at times…
“Well, it can’t be helped.”
Nothing else is as fast at flexible mechanical calculations while adapting to circumstances. At least for now.
I tested Pineapple’s functions.
Pineapple, the A-8 research and exploration support robot, could do three main things:
Carry cargo, allow you to hide behind it and fire a gun, and record the surrounding environment.
If needed, you could even ride it like a Yogurt Cart.
It’s pretty uncomfortable, though.
Other attachments could be added as necessary.
Technically, arming the robot with a gun wouldn’t be difficult, but I didn’t trust the machine that much.
Wasn’t this the robot that Dr. Kang and Dr. Min worked on?
Every other day, I’d hear about some new bug or that the Artificial Neural Core couldn’t distinguish between a muffin and a puppy. I definitely didn’t want to arm something like that.
“Pineapple.”
“Please state your objective.”
“Patrol the Research Institute. Lead the way.”
Clank, clatter, clunk.
I stepped out into the Research Institute corridor with Pineapple. Pineapple walked ahead, matching my pace. It was loud, but that couldn’t be helped.
Probably not a weapon for fighting people.
While I was pondering, my phone rang.
– You should come check something out.
A message from Dr. Ryoo.
“What’s going on?”
After checking the notification, I got on Pineapple and headed to Molecular Biology Laboratory No. 1.
It seemed Dr. Ryoo had discovered something…
A short while later.
I arrived at Laboratory No. 1, and Dr. Ryoo looked up at me at the strange mechanical sound.
Clank, clatter, clunk.
“Stop. Stay still.”
Pineapple nodded and stopped. I got off the robot and stepped into the molecular biology lab.
Dr. Ryoo gave me a look of disbelief.
“What’s that thing now?”
“It’s a robot.”
The robot was pretty big. Since Pineapple also had to serve as cover for a person, it stood 180cm tall.
It was quite an imposing sight.
“They have things like that in the Research Institute?”
“Yes. It even talks.”
“Really?”
He looked skeptical. I called Pineapple, and a smile appeared on the tablet face it used in place of a head.
“Hello, Doctor! I am Pineapple.”
“Oh, hello.”
The robot greeted him, and Dr. Ryoo looked surprised. Pineapple tilted its head and sat quietly.
“You’ve made another strange thing.”
Dr. Ryoo turned his attention to his computer. I followed his gaze to his laptop screen.
What did he want to show me?
“Anyway, you said you had something to discuss?”
“Yes. It’s about the Tentacle Dragon’s gene sequence—”
I quietly listened as Dr. Ryoo spoke.
The most effective way to analyze a gene sequence is to use a Polymerase Chain Reaction machine.
You replicate the DNA, then analyze the sequence.
Technically, the analysis machine is separate from the PCR Machine, but these days it’s all automated, so there’s nothing too difficult.
The analysis itself is easy.
So, this is the result. I checked the Tentacle Dragon’s gene sequence displayed on the computer. This…
I scratched my head.
“It’s just a mistake.”
“You think so too, Dr. Lee?”
Ryoo crossed his arms and stared at the gene sequence.
I sat down at the computer and looked over the sequence.
Gene sequences are handled as long text files on the computer. ATG CAT ACG… that kind of thing.
You use a program or a search engine to handle the sequence. Even if there’s an error, you can spot it.
“Dr. Ryoo. Have you ever researched fruit fly genetics?”
“No.”
“There’s a group of genes called Hox Genes. They define the regions of an embryo’s body structure, and the order and type of Hox Genes on the chromosome define the developmental body plan.”
“Wouldn’t that be hard to apply to extraterrestrial life?”
“From jellyfish to humans, every motile organism has this gene group. It should apply here too.”
The important thing is that analyzing Hox Genes allows you to determine an organism’s structure, function, and even its phylogenetic classification.
“If we can find the Hox Genes, we can pinpoint the Tentacle Dragon’s place in the phylogenetic tree. Then we can find comparison targets and trace the genes from there.”
“Yes.”
No further analysis was needed. I copied the Hox Gene sequence of a green tree frog and plugged it into the search engine.
“There it is.”
Gene sequences are just text files, after all.
The search for Hox Genes returned immediate results, and Ryoo frowned in disbelief.