49 Perfect World VR (27) - Command and Conquer

[Alert… Alert… incoming signal from an unknown source has been intercepted.]

The warning message erupted in the Mammoth a few seconds ago just as Red Wing Thunder were putting the finishing touches on their tactic to take down the Northern Crawler.

They needed to be careful and smart. The smallest mistake would end in their utter defeat. They could not afford to underestimate the Northern Crawler or expect that foolish underhanded tricks would work against it.

As the alarm signal began to blare off, everyone was immediately on edge. They had just experienced not one, but two ICBM attacks. They still had a nagging feeling that the Northern Crawler would send another missile soon enough.

It was a probability that could not be ignored. They were prepared to act if such was the case. Of course, the content of the alarm allowed them to relax, if only by just a little bit.

Nathan rose to his feet and moved over to the control panel, pulling up a blue screen as he sort to find the reason for the alarm. After almost an entire minute has passed, the alarm sound came to an end

On the blue screen, there was a notification. Everyone watched silently as Nathan worked. He clicked on the message and a bunch of jargon appeared. It would have been a letter if not for the fact that the words were not at all human.

If anything, it looked a lot like Machine language. "What is it?" Elena asked. "It looks like some kind of message. It's encrypted using machine language though, so I'm unable to make sense of anything that is written."

He looked rather confused as he stared at the screen. At that moment, Leah got up from her seated position and approached him. "Let me help."

Nathan glanced over at her. "You know Machine language?" It would be a bit too convenient if she was familiar with it. Leah shook her head. "No, but in the end, it is still a code and one thing I am confident in is my code breaking ability."

Nathan nodded in agreement as he stepped back. "Alright then. Go wild." She stepped forward and got to work on the text. The others shot glances at Elena in a bid to find out if they would have to wait for Leah to decipher the text.

They received no response.

Ten minutes later and Leah had cracked the code. She frowned as the text began to change from unreadable machine language to a universal human language, English.

Nathan noticed the expression on her face. "What is it?... You cracked the code but instead of being happy, you look pretty out of it." Leah slowly responded as she ruminated over her thoughts.

"I don't know… Maybe I'm being paranoid. It might be my pessimism taking the forefront. Don't mind me." Just as Nathan was about to press on, Elena stepped up. "What's wrong, Leah?... Do you suspect something is wrong with the text?"

She did not immediately respond but the more she saw the text changing, the more she felt a sense of foreboding creep up her spine. She realized the need to share what she was thinking with the others.

"Is something wrong, Leah?" "Well… I don't think I was the one that cracked the code." Nathan put up a brow. At this point, most were intrigued by her statement. "What do you mean you don't think you are the one that cracked the code?"

"I have spent my whole life studying codes and so I can say without a doubt that there is something weird with the text that we received. I tried to decipher it but it seemed almost indecipherable.

"I was almost about to give up when I attempted a somewhat easy method that I had already implemented. It did not work the first time, but suddenly the second time it did?... That's suspicious from the perspective of a programmer."

"Maybe you clicked the right thing the second time, it doesn't seem like something to fuss over," Chelsea commented at the side.

Leah shook her head. "No, I wouldn't make such a mistake." "It's easy to make mistakes when under pressure and we are all aware of your inability to work under pressure." Gary made a calm analysis.

Everyone in their squad had already known of Leah's inability to handle pressure. This was made increasingly clear during their battle against the second Crawler. In any case, it was simple information that could be gotten by questioning Thunder.

Leah took a step back in her stance. Maybe they were correct and she was just overthinking things. I must have made a mistake… Gary's words resonated with her.

Just as she was about to agree with him, Nathan spoke up. "Let's say that you were correct on both instances with the deciphering process, why do you think it did not work on the first attempt but worked on the second?"

Nathan did not doubt Leah's capabilities when it came to programming and codes. He could attest that her knowledge was greater than his by a whole lot. Unfortunately, her self-doubt was similar to his.

They both doubted their capabilities. Thus, he chose to support her theory. Allow her to be more confident in herself. Her expertise would be needed when it came time to face the real enemy.

"Well… If that were the case, then I would expect that the body of text wasn't meant to be deciphered." She wondered why Nathan was pushing the topic but still answered him in good faith. "Explain."

"Well, there are texts that are rendered indecipherable because of a timer placed on them. Instead of hacking or cracking the code, all one had to do was to wait till the timer expired and they would be able to access the text."

"So you are saying that this text might be in that category?" She nodded in response. "But why would the Northern Crawler send such a text?" Elena was heard at that moment.

"To stall us for time." It was then that everyone present realized that they had been too lax. Elena's guess had put them on high alert.

At that point, the text was fully deciphered and the words laid out for all to see.

[This is Magnum008. I am the Android unit in charge of the Northern Crawler. I send you this message to inform you that you cannot win. The Northern energy node has been fully harvested and all resources gotten from it have been invested into exterminating all biological life forms. I expect you to surrender but if you don't, then expect the full force of the Northern armada.]

!!!!

Everyone was rendered speechless as they read the message till the end. "An Android… An Android is in charge of the Northern Crawler." Elena knew the implications of having to face an Android.

Down here, they were one of the few Machine units capable of communication due to the application of an AI in their program. Which also meant that they did not work on a binary setting. They were more versatile and had more options to choose from. That alone made them troublesome to handle.

Of course, they were of the lowest rank amongst the Machine units with AI but that did not downplay their effectiveness on the battlefield.

Nathan's thoughts were on a different aspect from what Elena had on her mind. He was shocked to realize that the Northern Crawler had completed the extraction of the node located there.

Not only that, they did not bother to keep any and instead invested everything into their attack force just to ensure that they were eliminated. He could make a rough estimate of just how many machine units could be produced with the entirety of the energy node.

"Isn't this a bit much?... This is practically overkill." He thought as he gulped down saliva. The Northern Crawler was crazier than they imagined.

As the entire team was trying to process the message they had just received, a notification popped up on their wristwatches.

Elena put up her arm and tapped on the watch. Following this action, a blue screen appeared, and on it, new information about their mission.

[Mission update: The Northern Crawler is being manned by an Android. The energy node located there has been depleted and now, it sets its sight on destroying all biological life forms that threaten its existence in Krakatoa.]

[ Mission reassignment: Destroy the Northern Crawler.]

[Additional information: The Northern Crawler has completed the construction of a missile base a few meters away from its location. Destroy the base or risk getting blown up the moment you engage with the Crawler.]

[Good luck players.]

Elena's frown deepened as a few fought the urge to curse at that moment. A missile base was built?... This was going too far, it was just too much to take in.