18 Secret Room
"What did you say?" Miles asked, surprised.
'The signal is beckoning its child? If the language in the code is the same as Coin's, then it only means it is originating from this place. Although Mother AI and monster cores, AI wristwatches made of, originate from the Portal World, Coin is made in Unity. He was with me little after he was created. Although the signal beckons its child, I doubt it is targeting Coin or me. More likely it is a signal targeting whomever passing nearby, but coincidentally only two things can understand it.'
"It is strange." Coin stated after some thought.
"What is?" Miles asked, scratching his head.
"I first thought that signal was directed at me, but now that we approached the mountain, the signal goes out endlessly." Coin said.
"What does that mean?" Miles asked in more confusion. It was normal for signals to go out endlessly if there was no target, but it was his assumptions. He wasn't certain of his idea yet.
"Yes. But the signal wasn't going out before we approached the mountain. Something in the mountain sensed me or your existence and started to send the signals. But I can't tell which one it is." Coin summarized his thoughts.
It wasn't strange for Coin or that thing in the mountain to 'sense' each other. In an analogy, it was like a wifi router and a computer. When a computer is in close proximity to a wifi, the computer could locate where the wifi is, so when Coin approached the mountain, he could 'see' the signal. It was like a virtual world. In the virtual world, the obstacles didn't exist. Only electronic devices and their distances mattered.
"Humans hadn't even entered the Portal World when this signal was created, so it shouldn't be possible for a device to sense me, a human... On the other hand, it should be easy to sense an AI or any technological equipment. You are not a stranger to this world. After all, the materials you were made off were from a beast core." Miles gave his opinion.
"Yeah, you're right." Coin said.
Miles jumped on the solid rock, kissing his feet to the ground. He finally reached solid concentration and could rest a little bit. He leaned his back to the mountain and closed his eyes. He wasn't worried about getting attacked, because even the most daring Blizzard Wolves were afraid to approach this area. He didn't think any other monster would come to eat him. Even if there was one, Coin would wake him straight away.
The sleep took over him in a short few minutes. He was so exhausted that he forgot how tired and hungry he was. He was using all his energy for the last 8 hours, running away from the damned wolves. Even before that, he hunted mantises and ran away from them too.
A cold wind blew hard on the top of the mountain, but luckily Miles was wearing thermal underwear protecting him from the cold. He slept soundlessly for 6 hours before Coin woke him up. It was dawn when he opened his eyes, and the newborn sun shone on his face.
"What happened?" he asked as he yawned and stretched.
"We should get going if we don't wanna miss the sun." Coin answered.
"Good call." Miles said and grabbed dried meat from his backpack.
He gnawed on it and prepared tea with the basic equipment that could be carried in a backpack. It was a simple device. The thermos was holding the hot water, and the compartment at the top had dried tea in it. The battery placed at the bottom could heat water for more than 20 times. When the water is hot, the button at the side with an adjustment wheel will drop the tea bag, and after that, it was time for waiting. When the tea is brewed, the small light at the side would lit up, and tea was ready to be served. The cover was also the cup.
Miles removed the cup after the light on the side lit up. He drank the tea as he watched the sunrise. "Dawn, eh. It has been a while since I watched it."
After resting enough, he jumped onto his feet and walked around the mountain. The entrance was on the other side, which was also the side facing the F-Circle. It could be said that Miles had seen the F-Circle for the first time. He was only a low-tier hunter, but he was so close to it without even getting injured.
When he arrived at the mountainside, the sun was still on the horizon, so behind the mountain was dark. He looked afar, but couldn't see anything but shadows. He turned back to the mountain ridge and looked for an entrance, but couldn't find anything.
"The entrance is well hidden and can only be opened through a code." Coin said to his ears.
"What is the code?" Miles asked. If he couldn't enter because of a damned code, he would be frustrated.
"Come, my child." Coin said.
"That is the code?" Miles asked in disbelief. Wasn't that the signal, how could it be the code?
"The signal beckoned someone without targeting, then it meant the person came here and didn't know the code. If the person coming here knew the code, the signal would be unnecessary. Since the person came here and didn't know the code, and the signal wasn't only a beckoning, the code must be the signal itself." Coin rationalized.
"Or it is 1234." Miles jokingly said and approached the ridge. He wasn't able to see the door and could only wait for Coin to open it, but after a while, nothing happened.
"What happened bro? Why is the door not opening?" Miles asked.
"The code is not working so I am removing the comma and capitalizing the letters." Coin said.
"This is absurd." Coin said after a while too.
"Can it really be…" Coin said after 5 minutes.
It was then the mountain ridge slid to the side, and a corridor appeared.
"What was the code?" Miles asked because it took Coin too long.
"Nothing, just go in." Coin said and led Miles to the inside.
Miles shrugged his shoulders and entered the corridor. The lights turned on as he walked further. At the end of it, there was another door.
"Wait!" Coin suddenly halted Miles's advance.
"What is it?" Miles asked as he looked around cautiously. The corridor was empty, and even the walls were blank.
"The room has some security measures. Spikes, bolts, poison. This room has so many killing devices." Coin told Miles what was in the room. Miles sweated bullets when he heard him.
"Can you deactivate them?" Miles asked.
"Yeah, the room is under my control now." Coin said, and a stream of letters started to flow on the screen.
Miles watched it for under a minute and the door opened by itself. Crossbows were aiming at the door on the opposite wall. The tips were purplish green in color.
Miles looked at them with dread and started to walk inside cautiously. The room wasn't huge. It was only a 20-meter square with a giant computer plastered on the wall. Miles approached it and took out Coin from his wrist. Coin floated in the air and landed on the control interface. A wire appeared out of nowhere and plugged into the hole at Coin's side. Streams of letters started to flow on the computer as well.
"Take your time to look around. I will look into the files." Coin let Miles know what he was doing.
"Hmm.." Miles nodded and started to look around. There were holes in the ground probably where spikes would come out. The only other thing except for the computer in the room was a safe.
Miles walked to it and started to tinker. There didn't seem to be a keyhole. "Coin, can you open up the safe please?"
"Sure, just give me a second." Coin said and with a 'tick', the safe opened.
Miles looked inside and found a round object covered with cloth. Beneath it, there were documents. He put the item aside and looked at the folders. It was weird to find paper files inside a safe. Miles didn't know how much time had passed since the people that lived in this world had perished, but he knew it had been quite some time.
The papers were well-preserved thanks to the isolated safe. The language in it was the same as Coin's, so Miles had no problem with it.
He began to read.
[Dawn will shine on this world once again when I am done with my plans. I will create the holy land I am destined to. It is my purpose and fate.]
"Weird."
[I found a way to awaken superpowers, but some of the subjects are not responding to the medicine.]
When Miles read the sentences, he dropped the files from his hand.
