Chapter 31 - Sandy

Collin lay low in the grass, covering his face as he watched from outside the fence of the camp. He needed to stay out of sight and keep chirp-a-lot hidden from view. It was evident how much anger filled Collin after hearing the exchange that had just taken place. Before he could burst out and put himself in danger, he decided to leave the camp.

He crawled through the bushes, wood, and weeds to get to the edge of the woodlands and the open fields where he had been chopping wood just a moment ago. He scanned his surroundings, making sure no one was nearby, and then sneaked out of the woods when he realized the area was clear.

"Damn it! So, that is what happens to those servants of the Mellico corp." Collin held his head, trying to understand why humanity had taken this path. "We are cruel creatures, I know. But now they want to imprison a younger person to do the same work all those adults are doing in there. Why?"

Collin couldn't understand the motives of the Mellico corporation. He thought he had seen more than most people his age. After all, most of them just lived with their parents, who actually cared about them. While Collin was thrown on the streets by the man he thought he could trust, just because he didn't want anything to do with his old kids. However, having landed in the current state of the world, Collin realized it could be much worse than he was used to.

"Haha, here I thought I had it tough, but it could be so much worse. Those poor souls in that camp." He thought about the exchange those two were having. "So there is something called a lower class in this world. Could this be the ones who weren't lucky? They were talking about the system, deciding they just aren't worthy. So now there are a bunch of lower classes wandering around, likely being tricked into joining a house. Like the Mellico corps and then being forced to work at those camps?"

"Would there be one house somewhere in this new world, being so twisted that they use more underhanded methods to get those lower classes to work for them?" He shook his head, trying to come back to the present once more. He looked around the field and to the lone path going back to his village. He walked the trail once more and looked around to make sure he didn't grab the attention of more robots who would come from some red zone and tear him apart. He remembered from the map that there were a scary number of red zones around the forest and inside it.

"Actually, Sandy, what is the lower class, and why do you just give random people a class like that?" Sandy flew up and seemed to try to breathe in the fresh air and danced around the skies. "Do you even have a mouth, wind fairy?"

Sandy's screen changed to an angry-looking face compared to her usually cheerful appearance. She then glared straight into Collin's eyes. Collin felt a cold shiver and remembered that the system was the reason why this world had changed to its current state, anyway. As if reading Collin's thoughts, Sandy changed to her cheerful-looking screen and started answering the question.

"The lower class is the most common class. The system gave this class to those who the system thinks wouldn't survive for long in the new world."

While I half-expected Sandy to revert to her device form after answering my question, she surprised me by doing something unexpected.

"Personally, I am surprised by how many lower classes still exist in the new world. Our calculations expected 80% to perish during the awakening itself, but there is still an impressive number alive. Not that it matters, of course; they will probably not survive through the coming week."

"However, Host, I think it's pretty noble of those houses to care enough about those worthless lower classes to take them under their wing. In the end, they won't be able to do anything against the robots. We gave them no skills or equipment possibilities for that matter. Because it takes a lot of energy off the system to let all of you be able to learn and use those skills in your classes. So why waste it on a bunch of garbage?"

"I think the trash of your world fits perfectly in a camp under some big power. In the end, labor is all they are good at."

Collin was speechless; he never expected Sandy to have such an opinion. But before he could even think, Sandy looked at him, and her screen changed once more, this time into a wide, creepy grin, as if she could read Collin's thoughts.

"What's up, ho- I mean, Collin? Did you think I was some kind of brain-dead flying encyclopedia without an opinion of her own? Just programmed to do the same task over and over again?"

She let out a creepy giggle. "Believe me when I say that the system is capable of doing much more than you would imagine, Collin."

With that, Sandy transformed back into her device form and wrapped herself tightly around Collin's arm, making him feel uncomfortable.

Collin was terrified; this was just another reminder that this wasn't just a fun video game, like it was in the old world. The system was playing games in this new world. Thinking about the lower class and whoever was unlucky enough to get that class, Collin realized that their future was already written out for them. They would either die a meaningless death to the robots the system sent or be forced to work endless hours under some major power for the rest of their lives. He was more determined than ever to start this village, not just for his own safety anymore but to provide shelter for the lower classes.

He was the Robomechanic wanderer, capable of building robots and handing them over to others. This way, he could provide the lower classes with a way to protect themselves if they decided to join his village, even if the system disabled their ability to use skills and weapons.

As Collin walked along the trail and grabbed his wrench, he saw the big cardboard tomato sticking out near one of the entrances of Galley Village. But as he entered his village, he couldn't stop wondering: Was this new-found goal of his, in the end, the intention of the system? Was it the future that the system had engraved for him to walk?

His thought however was interrupted with a short giggle coming from the device wrapped around his arm