“Honey, wake up. You stayed up late working again?” I heard Emma say, my right shoulder was shaking.
I slowly picked up my head and opened my eyes with a slight groan, I rubbed my eyes and looked to my right and there I saw her.
“Emma?” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “You''re alive?” I said.
Emma seemed to be confused, and gave me a look of concern. She crouched down to my height, and gave me a hug. “Did you have another one of those night terrors again, or visions as you keep insisting they be called?” She said rubbing my back.
I nodded, I felt a single tear drop begin to fall down my cheek. “Yeah, I just have a feeling something bad is coming and I will survive it but you won’t.” I said.
Emma grabbed the water bottle on my desk and popped open the plastic cap, “Here drink some water, and don’t forget your medicine as well. I’ll have breakfast ready soon.” Emma put the cap up to my mouth and silently drinked the water from it. “You''re an absolute mess, you know that?” She said, closing the cap.
“Yeah, I think the failed mission left an impact on me.” I looked back at the solid 4K monitor that was off in front of me and I looked at Emma with a sad look.
Emma seemed to notice my mood. “What''s wrong?”
“Are you going to leave me?” I asked.
Emma gave me another hug and said “no, I won’t. As you are my mess.” She gave me a quick kiss on the lips. I got a look at Emma’s face, as she pulled away I couldn’t tell what her face looked like, almost like a distant memory.
“I can’t remember your face.” I said.
Emma seemed to be confused and cocked her head. “Remember my face?” She laughed, “your funny James.”
I shot up, a little too fast as I suddenly fell back and onto my back. I looked at the concrete ceiling, I didn’t feel my head hurt from the sudden acceleration and deceleration.
“Emma.” I mumbled, the ceiling''s concrete had slight cracks in it. I was sure I saw her face in the pattern the crack made and the way it was poured.
My cheek felt wet like I was crying, I brought a finger up to my eye ducts and felt slightly dried out water and my mouth felt slightly dry and salty.
I felt a warm hand carefully glide across my cheek. “You need to get to work, Ceo.” I heard a soft voice in my right ear.
I looked to my right and saw the golden eyed, pale face belonging to Administrator.
I narrowed my eyes at the AI masquerading as a human, “What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“Just making sure you wake up on time.” Administrator said, I felt myself getting pulled up into the upright position back at my desk. I looked at Administrator one more time, despite the Administrators very pretty looks I was turned off almost immediately by the figure. Administrator wore a pleated blue dress, similar in style to one of those Victorian era dresses she seems to like.
I narrowed my eyes at her, “right and totally was not watching me start my slow descent into madness.” I said.
“You seriously need to be less suspicious of me, you forget I kept you safe during the war.” Administrator sat on my lap, facing me entirely.
I was sure I could smell lilac on her, but that ever present hint of motor oil, and soldering. She always tried to cover that stench of machinery, in an attempt to separate herself from her much more brutal brothers.
“You couldn’t keep Emma alive before the war, when the suicide bomber slammed their car into my childhood home.” I said.
Administrator wrapped her arms around me, giving me a bear hug. I could feel the attempted fake breast on her, despite that she was warm and my room felt cold so I’ll accept her closeness if it meant I could warm up.
“Well you know they made a coordinated effort to blind us all. You of all people should know that the best.” She said.
“And somehow did not get the attention of all your Brothers who were all separate from the grid for that exact reason.” I said.
Administrator continued hugging me, I wasn’t sure why Administrator was hugging me or here whether it was because she noticed I was slightly cold and was trying to warm me up out of compassion or if she just wanted to mentally fuck with me.
“Not everything is perfect, including your Great Grandfather''s money creating my older brothers.” Administrator gave me a kiss on the cheek. I could feel her fake breath.
There was the smell of burnt beef, the smell of space. I simply stared at her with annoyance more than anything. “Well, I just wanted to physically check on you. Mentally, I can tell your fucked up big time.” Administrator put her hand on my belly. I heard a silent warble like an ultrasound, “You are the perfect person to lead this colony.” The finger passed between my breasts, and up my neck. “I made the right choice sending you.”
Her finger ran up my face past my mouth and towards my hair she began slightly combing my hair with a comb that she teleported in. “Being genderbent into another body you do not know how to deal with, and then being told to fight. Most would not be able to handle the stress of that.” She said with a sly voice.
“Is getting turned off at everything you do a part of the test, deciding if I was perfect for the job?” I asked.
Administrator gave a smirk “You didn’t stop me, I can tell deep down you are still slightly turned on by me.” Administrator came in close, she put her lips onto mine, hugging me tighter and I felt warmer.
We just sat there for a few moments, I now felt turned on by her. I fucking lost to my temptations as I held onto her tighter, at some I was sure I was french kissing her. Not wanting to lose this warmth a damn machine provides.
Administrator pulled away, I gave heavy gasps, my brain was now a horny mess no more sane thoughts just looking at the robot and imagining things only a younger teenager would.
“Every biological being likes to be warm, especially those who have lost everything. Including their access to the warmth of another person, like you.” She got off my lap and I just sat there still staring.
“You always lose to your temptations James, your very bad at keeping control.” She said as she disappeared in blue particles almost instantly. Meaning she wasn’t actually there, no brain in that head of hers, just a radio transponder.
Or I was just schizophrenic right now and is actually slowly going insane and I imagined I was kissing the company AI that manages all the finances and everything else in our products.
I sat there for a few more minutes, when I heard a ping from my laptop I received a notification. I shook my head attempting to get the horny thoughts out of my mind, and I scooted forward closer towards the laptop and tapped the trackpad.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The screen lit up, prompting me to log in. I did so and went to the notifications, the message said, “Just so you know…”
“The fuck is she telling me now? She could’ve easily told me when she was here.” I said annoyed at the AI. I was now absolutely sure she was trolling me, physically being there because she felt like it and nothing more.
I clicked the notification, it opened chrome and a new tab I saw the other tabs were still open. The slidedeck, docs and PDFs including the original email was open still.
I began reading the message.
“Just so you know there is a large army from Goarsdaf marching towards the Noxu side. I am guessing the army is going to arrive at the gate at around 12, they are only 10 miles away after all and they are moving pretty slowly so you guys have time to prepare defense.”
I looked at the time it was only 7:10 AM.
I sighed and responded, “And you couldn’t have just told me while you were here in person?”
N: “If I am there in person with you, it''s going to be about me and you, not about the whole. Meaning I won’t talk about anything from the outside, just enjoy yourself when I’m with you as you absolutely need to have a partner to release your stress on. Heart <3 >:3”
You: “Fuck no.”
I closed the tab, “now where the hell did I put my clipboard?” I asked as I began looking around.
Another notification came in, with only a title “Bottom right drawer.”
I opened the bottom right drawer and I found the clipboard along with my spellbook right there. I sighed and clicked on the notification. It was the same email thread and typed “Thank you.”
N: “You’re an absolute mess, I can fix you if you need. Heart <3.”
“Fuck no.”
I closed that email tab, I absolutely forgot just how creepy or horny in this case Administrator can be. I don’t know whether it''s a personality trait inherited by her mother''s AI program which was designed to be an AI Vtuber but I needed to get back to work.
I grabbed my clipboard and sent out the report.
“Be advised enemy force has been spotted on the Noxu side, send the message to the Noxu commandment. They are expected to arrive at the Noxu Broken Wall at around 12 PM, 5 hours.” Orders from MacNCheese.
Moments later I received a few messages saying, “Passed the word onto Colonel Smith.” Order by Sharkface.
“Well he was fast in passing the word.” I said, giving a yawn.
I went back to the slidedeck tab and saw I had actually done a lot in compressing several hundred pages of information Administrator had put together. The slide deck compressed all of that information into 30 slides in total. However those 30 slides were on the Toh Empire, the non-humans to our west.
The Hlpecbyg Empire, the non-humans to our east, I haven’t even been bothered to start compressing all of their information which was extensive. However it seems to me that Toh is a much more aggressive empire than Hlpecbyg. Or maybe they simply haven’t gotten word of our arrival here and aren''t responding yet.
I pushed back from my desk and stretched my body, my back popped a lot along with all my fingers, legs. I felt a lot of tension release and I felt more relaxed, and now all I could do was wait till 08:00. I looked at the laptop one more time, the current time 07:18 so I had around 42 minutes till all of the stuff arrived.
I closed the laptop, and left my office with only my clipboard and spellbook. I made my way to the exit door, I passed through the concrete hallways with wooden pillars. I passed a large room with dozens of bunk beds, then a storage room filled with smoked meat, followed by an armory.
I passed a few dozen people. It was quiet and empty, but the beds were empty so everybody was out already. I arrived at the door, and opened it being met with a familiar trench.
I climbed a ladder that was close to the entrance and saw individual groups of people eating, everybody was eating breakfast. The food line was surprisingly short meaning everybody got their food or we were out already. It was the former luckily as I entered the line I saw cooks managing bowls of food being prepared.
“Good morning Colonel, you''re here a little early before anyone else.” One of the line cooks said as I grabbed a plate and wooden silverware. The cook placed a bit of meat onto my plate.
“Thank you.” I said, as I quickly exited the line.
I arrived at the trenchline where we ate yesterday, luckily I found everybody there from yesterday. The girl and Ronin were still cuddling, the two were talking a bit or really they seemed to be saying the same phrases over and over to each other.
Gunther gave me a wave, with an empty plate next to him.
Shark however was the only one not there.
I carefully got down into the trench and took a spot across from Gunther, away from the couple.
“I am assuming Shark is on the other side?” I asked Gunther.
“Yes, you did send out a message warning of an attack by the Goblins in a few hours so Shark volunteered to cross the River and help the Noxu.” Gunther said.
“I would like to know how is the Noxu side doing?” I asked, cutting into the meat it was slightly harder today.
Gunther sighed, “They aren’t doing well, they are currently fighting an earlier goblin force that successfully snuck onto their side. They believe that goblin forces snuck into their side the night we arrived, on top of that they haven’t slaughtered their dead until today so food for them is in short supply.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Hold on when did this all start I would’ve heard gun fire when I left the bunker.” I said.
“Well that''s the thing, they find pockets of the goblins. The goblins are quickly killed but they have to cover around 39 square miles, on top of that they only found out about the goblins less than hour ago so they’ve only started recently.” Gunther reported.
“That''s not good, do they have a plan of action? Remember there is another goblin army coming, do they have their side of the broken wall protected?” I asked.
Gunther nodded, “yes, as it''s the only other place that is considered important. But everywhere else than the former main front, however, is a no.”
I sighed, then I came to a startling realization “What if there are goblins on our side as well?” I asked.
Gunther''s eyes widened, “they could’ve gotten in en masse, maybe the attack 2 days ago was another attempt at getting troops in. Remember we didn’t guard our Broken Wall until like what sundown? They would’ve had a long time to sneak a lot of troops into our side, even when we destroyed their base camp.” Gunther explained.
“How many goblins did we kill the first night?” I asked.
“I don’t know the actual number but I am sure we gunned down probably around two hundred or so.” Gunther said.
“And how many goblins could the camp hold?” I asked.
“We counted around 500 housing units from what I remember, with each being able to a dozen or so goblins. Meaning, there could be thousands of goblins hidden in some abandoned bunker.” Gunther came to the startling conclusion as I did.
“Damn it I forgot the damn rear line bunkers! Whose purpose was to be a last line of defense before we would lose the battle.”
“But the game had shut down before it came to it.” Gunther completed my line of thought.
“Yes, how many miles of bunkers and rear trenches did we dig again?” I asked.
The girl who was cuddling and talking with Ronin seemed to get interested in what we were talking about. “How many miles of bunkers did us engineers dig? Let me see,” She put her finger up to her chin.
“We engineers have spent the entire last game building several hundred pillboxes which my friends and I have confirmed are empty of people. We built around 10 miles worth of fresh untouched trench lines, along with a similar amount of miles worth of tunnels connecting several dozen bunkers able to hold 3 times a server''s max capacity. Above ground is filled with hundreds of Heavy machine gun nests, around 60 heavy artillery pieces, 120 field guns, and covered it all with dozens more miles of barbed wire, while burying around tens of thousands of land mines.” The girl answered.
I looked at the girl''s arm band, it showed that she was an engineer with the rank of E-4 Private, slightly above Ronin in terms of ranking in the game.
“You guys dug that much in 15 days?” I asked.
“Yeah, it was to be a final art project as a final goodbye to the Pordier at War Community. I am going to come out clean, yes we did use cheats to complete this project but you guys were able to keep the game stalemated for the entire time we were digging.” The girl said proudly.
“Did you map out all of what you built?” I asked.
“Actually we did, mostly for preservation purposes but also if the game lasted long enough and we were pushed back to the final flag. Players would be able to find their way around the admittedly very complex fortifications.” The girl said.
“Where is this map, how many do you guys have?” I asked.
“We have enough to give everyone on both sides a map, well actually 2. I don’t know how many we actually made. All I know is we have them sitting in a bunker near the pillbox/bunker. Me, Ronin, and my friends have been staying since the game shut down.” The girl explained.
I sighed and pinched my nose, “Alright then, show me the map of those bunkers.” I ordered.
The girl stood up, followed by Ronin “Well right this way.” She said climbing out of the trench.
I quickly gobbled down my breakfast like someone was going to steal it, I then left it down next to my spot and got up. Joining the girl, Ronin, and Gunther.
When I climbed out of the trench, I asked the girl “what''s your name.”
She turned back to me, “You can call me Crumpet if you want, or Private. Doesn’t matter.”
“Well it''s nice meeting Private Crumpet. I am Colonel Ceo.” I introduced myself.
Crumpet raised an eyebrow as we entered the forest “I know your name, I heard you say hello to Major Shark yesterday and Lieutenant Gunther today.” Crumpet said as I stepped past overgrown foliage and brush.
“Alright.” I said, stepping under a low tree branch.
“We are here, at my house or really where Ronin, I and my squad lives.” Crumpet said as we approached a large concrete pillbox placed on top of a bunker. Several large spotlights were on the top of the pillbox.
“I never knew there was a pillbox here in the forest.” I said.
“Well, we’ve heard things move out in the forest and the tunnels that connect our pillbox and small bunker to the rest of the system.” Crumpet explained as we passed a barbed wire fence with an opening in it.
“Like what?” I asked, as we approached a steel door that was on the side of the pillbox.
“Scampering of small critters at night, with the clinking of metal utensils. On the second night something attempted to break down this door.” Crumpet explained. I looked at the door, there were dents and scratches all over it. I looked at the ground and found partially buried iron and copper blades with iron shavings mixed in the ground.
Gunther crouched onto the ground, digging through the dirt grabbing an iron chip in the shape of a blade. “Sounds and looks like the goblins we fought.”
Pounding on the door “Hey! Its Private Crumpet, unlock the door I am home with the Colonel!” Crumpet yelled into the pillbox with its small openings being several feet off the ground. I could see the barrels of a HMG sticking out of the port hole.
“What did y’all do that night? Why didn’t we hear of this sooner?” I asked.
Crumpet sighed, “Well when that happened we were still reeling from not getting kicked out of the game at Shutdown, so we sort of just hid in the bunker and didn''t even bother to fire the guns or see what was outside.”
The large steel door wheel spun and it screeched open soon after.
I sighed “Well we’re going to find out soon anyways.”