The Dragon of Dreams

Chapter 176: Missing History

Late Afternoon - Mid Summer : Deep Ocean (West of Central Sirathian Mountains)

After memorizing the entire language translation file, I spent quite a while bouncing through my memories and reinterpreting all of the texts I had memorized in the other rooms.

Although not a ton of important information was actually contained in them since they just described what was on display in the case, quite a number of them mentioned something known as '4856'.

-Isn't 4856 the number of the lab though? Why do some of the texts talk about it like its a person?-

{*Beep*} The instant I thought about it, a beep that sounded like it came from within my head and halted my thoughts.

Looking down at the screen, I noticed a large window had appeared.

'Batteries at 5% ; Attempting to reconnect to District Base.'

My gut instantly sank as I thought about the countless horrible scenarios that could occur if I somehow alerted such an advanced civilization, but before I could find a way to stop it, it finished.

'Connection Failed'

"Phew." I let out a deep sigh of relief. "Thank the lord-"

'Attempting to launch Dungeon Research Intelligence '4856' in 'Offline Mode.''

-WHAT?!- Like a mental flashbang, everything I was idly thinking about vaporized into thin air.

I simply couldn't do anything but watch as countless errors and colossal volumes of information washed over the screen.

'WARNING: Power Below 4%'

'Charge Rate is Insufficient : Charge Towers Require Immediate Repair'

-That... can't be good...- There was a short pause before the next message popped up.

'Dungeon Research Intelligence '4856' Activation Sequence Initiated'

The instant the message popped up on the screen, I just blankly stared at it. I simply just didn't know what to do and was too curious to try and find a way to stop it.

Glancing towards the center of the room, I noticed the huge black tube was starting to light up.

A light vibration accompanied the glow as it got brighter and brighter before forming a dimmed ball of light in the center.

{*Beep* "Please Provide Instructions."} The familiar voice quickly pulled my thoughts back together.

-Why is it always the same voice?- "Who are you?"

{"I was named 4856. I am a Dungeon Research Intelligence."} The voice lacked even the slightest hint of emotion.

-I didn't mishear it earlier.. this colossal cave is actually a dungeon... Yeah that's totally not horrifying...- I tried to make a joke to shake off the anxiety in my stomach but it didn't help much. "Could you explain what a Dungeon Research Intelligence is?"

{"I am something akin to an artificial brain with the sole purpose of researching dungeons on A-class planet, Div-4856."}

-To name this planet like that... They really weren't from this world...- "What was the purpose of your creators coming to this world?"

{"Unknown. Attempting to connect to servers to retrieve answers." *Crackle* "Ping Tower Damaged ; Connection Impossible."}

-Damn.. so I can't just ask it anything...- "What was the race of your creators?"

{"In the era of atomic engineering, they lacked a collective race, but called themselves the Acardi."}

Although not an exact match, the name Acardi took parts of the words 'explorers', 'discoverers', and 'manipulators' from the language I had just learned. -They sound more like a knowledge-seeking race…- The instant I thought they could be a peaceful race though, my instinct shot through the roof.

It made me feel a sickening mix of emotions but it only made my curiosity deepen. "What kind of race were they?"

{"They were a high-humanoid race."}

Although my mind was overflowing with questions I wanted to ask, I had to think carefully. “What is a high-humanoid race classified as?”

{“Information Loss Detected. Retrieving alternate answer: A ‘high’ race is classified as a race that has evolved to the pinacle of its species.”}

-What? Does that mean they were a humanoid race that could evolve originally?- For a short instant, my visualization of the race altered in a very nightmarish way before changing back. -I'm probably just overthinking it…- "Did they have hostile intentions against this planet?"

{"Unknown."}

"Were the Acardi on friendly terms with the sentient life on this planet?"

{"Unknown"}

-Dammit...- They were too questions that, if the AI were to respond like I thought it would, would reinforce a few of my theories, but with them both shot down I had no choice but to move to more obvious questions. "How old is the Acardi race?"

But it didn't change anything. {"Unknown."}

-Oh come on...-

I ended up firing out several more questions to try and learn more about the Acardi, but was constantly hit with the word I would come to dread or an ‘information loss detected’.

After about 20 questions in a row went unanswered though, I took my time to think of what the AI would be more likely to know. -If it doesn't know about much of anything other than itself like when its creator came here, then...- "How old is this laboratory?"

Although I somewhat expected to get an 'unknown' immediately, it hesitated for a moment.

-Maybe?-

{"Unknown."}

"F*CK!" I couldn't help but want to blow apart the structure at this point. -What's the point of having such a stupid f*cking AI?!-

As I cursed it, the voice continued. {"Clocks Require Synchronization.

Attempting Sync: Sync Impossible.

Searching for other methods... Method Found.

Attempting Carbon Dating."}

With a glimmer of hope, my eyes quickly lit back up.

{"Inaccuracies Found."}

-Oh, COME ON!- With my hope slamming back down into the ground like a tungsten block, I assumed things couldn't get worse, but...

{"Attempting Alternate Methods.

ERROR: Damaged Systems Detected: Attempting Immediate Repairs. Repairs Failed.

WARNING: Power Below 1%

WARNING: Extreme Radiation Leaks Detected"}

-That can't be good...-

{"WARNING: Lacking Electrical Charge in Antimatter Batteries Detected: Attempting to Fix"}

-Wait..WHAT?! ANTIMATTER?!- All of a sudden, everything I had idly wondered about the rune outside and the particle it created made sense. It was something that made me incredibly excited to experiment with, but that excitement immediately conflicted with an ever-building worry. -Isn't a problem with batteries storing antimatter like.. a serious problem?!-

Almost immediately after thinking that, the entire structure turned silent with only an extremely faint hum filling the air.

But then, out of nowhere, I heard an odd buzzing sound. *Bzzz*

{"Critical Error Detected: Initiating Active Protocol." *BEEP* "Intelligence 4856 Causing Instrument Inaccuracies: Powering Down."}

*CLUNK-THUD* The entire building shook as the huge tube in the middle of the room instantly turned off.

{*BEEP*} Another deafening beep shot through my head before I could make sense of what was happening.

Looking back at the screen with wide eyes, I read the black text in a large red window.

'Attempting Controlled Battery Discharge in 10.. 9.. 8..'

Not trusting the word ‘Controlled’ in the slightest, I immediately thinned the walls of my reserve and threw up the thickest and most controlled vacuum barrier I could.

'3.. 2.. 1.. 0'

As the counter finally hit zero, the structure's constant light vibration disappeared, but it only lasted an instant.

*h-h-h-hhhhmmmmmmMMMMMMMM* A deep thruster-like rumble shook the entire structure and continually got louder and more violent.

The screens and equipment in the room started breaking and falling off their mounts from the vibration, even causing several huge robot arms latched to the ceiling to fall and smash through other equipment, but that was only the beginning. Things continued to get worse for the next few seconds, but eventually, things finally calmed down and I was left to the eerie and unnaturally quiet silence in the room.

-Fu*k...- Although it felt like just about everything that could've gone wrong, had gone wrong, I stood there for a few minutes to see if the power would somehow come back.

But, as expected, nothing happened.

-Well... I guess I should be thankful I didn't have to deal with an antimatter explosion or something...- Finally releasing the barrier, I looked around the room and took in just how serious the damage was.

Thankfully the computer I had been using was protected, but it wasn't the only thing I needed to be intact to use it. -I really hope its data is stored locally…-

Wanting to try and find a way to return power to it, I looked for any kind of switch or intersection of the room's power cables but the only one I could find was for antimatter.

But even though I knew it was the main power cable for the room, I couldn't bring myself to try and give it any juice. “Haah, f*ck…” -I should probably explore the rest of the structure before I risk blowing it apart trying to power this room... shouldn't I...-

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