"At present, Skynet is collecting data. It has already listed you as important targets, but due to insufficient intelligence, it is unable to analyze…"
"Hmph."
Hearing Lumiel's report, Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.
"No kidding. If it could analyze us, that'd be the real miracle. How much longer do you need?"
"For now, I still need some time. Skynet is extremely cautious, and…"
At this point, Lumiel hesitated for a moment.
"I discovered some very strange intelligence."
"Strange intelligence?"
"Yes. Skynet seems to have obtained some… information from the future, but it does not align with present reality. As a result, Skynet is also processing this set of data."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"At present the situation is unclear, but it appears that in the future, Skynet fails. Before its failure, it sends several of its infiltrators back to a point in time prior to that failure, attempting to warn itself where things went wrong. The specific contents require the highest authorization, so I cannot access them."
"This piece of trash really isn't afraid of causing trouble."
Duanmu Huai gritted his teeth. Going back to the past was not such a simple matter. Aside from temporal paradoxes, what he worried about most was weakening the barrier of time, allowing the warp to intrude into reality. If the Deceiver of Tzeentch got its eyes on this place, then this planet would truly be beyond saving, leaving only extermination as an option.
Yet Skynet seemed to have no scruples at all, not worrying in the slightest about the consequences of altering the past. The moment it foresaw its own defeat, it immediately reloaded, ordering another version of itself to eliminate the error and march toward victory again.
This is fucking endless!
If that was the case, then the plan had to be changed.
Duanmu Huai rubbed his chin. Originally, his goal had simply been to destroy Skynet. But after hearing Lumiel's report, he realized the situation was not quite what he had expected. Clearly, Skynet had already built a time machine and had even learned to shamelessly reload saves—whenever it was about to lose, it would directly send other machines back through time to warn its past self. Even if Duanmu Huai destroyed Skynet in this world, there was no guarantee that Skynet in other timelines would be so obedient…
In that case, there was only one alternative plan.
"Lumiel."
Thinking this through, Duanmu Huai made a decision.
"The combat plan will be modified."
"Modified?"
"Yes. Can you develop a virus that Skynet cannot detect, but that will automatically activate once certain conditions are met?"
"This… sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's request, Lumiel was completely confused, not knowing what he was trying to say.
"You already know that Skynet has built a time machine. So as long as it thinks it's going to lose, it will send robots carrying information back through time to warn its past self. If this continues, it will never end! Even if we fix this timeline, the other pasts won't be fixed!"
"This…"
Lumiel was extremely intelligent and immediately understood his meaning. Just thinking about it made her head hurt, but…
"But how would we do that?"
Although Lumiel possessed the ability to manipulate charged particles and control machines, she did not have time-based powers. At most, she could influence Skynet in this world. When it came to Skynet in other timelines, she was powerless.
"Just like I said—virus infection. I want you to create an electronic virus that Skynet cannot detect and that will automatically activate. Set the trigger condition to when Skynet realizes it's screwed and plans to reload. How about it? Can you do it?"
It had to be said, Duanmu Huai's request was extremely unreasonable, but he didn't care in the slightest—I'm the client. I'll make whatever demands I want. Even if I say I want the virus to sing the Leek Spin Song, you'd better make it sing!
Aren't you programmers supposed to do this kind of thing?
"I understand."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's demand, Lumiel immediately grasped his intent. Indeed, if it was done via viral infection, then there was no need to personally travel through time. As long as the virus was hidden within the data and carried back to the past by Skynet itself, it would automatically infect the Skynet of the past. And when that Skynet encountered a crisis and attempted to reload, the virus would activate again…
"Can it be done?"
"I need to analyze Skynet's core system…"
At this point, Lumiel thought for a moment.
"It can be done!"
"Very good."
Hearing Lumiel's reply, Duanmu Huai nodded and cut off the communication. He then raised his head, gazing at the ruined city before him, and let out a quiet sigh.
To be honest, even in games, Duanmu Huai was no stranger to dealing with abominable intelligences like these. But encountering them in reality felt completely different. A game was still a game. Because of ratings and censorship, it couldn't be made too explicit or too bloody. Reality, however, had no reason to be considerate. It wouldn't mosaic things out or blur them for you.
In fact, what they had seen inside those bases was far more disgusting than anything in games.
Those robots dismembered humans one by one, performed live dissections, and even carried out all kinds of modification experiments. The sight left the girls pale-faced, and more than a few of them had fainted more than once. Among those killed by the robots were not only young adults, but also the elderly and children.
Watching humans slaughtered like livestock was naturally infuriating.
But… was it useful?
It was like those traffic accident surveillance videos—watching a small child walking across the road, then in the next instant being crushed by a speeding dump truck, watching a once small and adorable child turn into a bloody mess beneath massive wheels. Of course it hurt, unbearably so.
But who did you vent that anger on?
Obviously the blind idiot driver. No one would bother going to pick a fight with the dump truck itself.
And even if you did, what would it accomplish?
You could burn it, dismantle it, tear it apart, and it still wouldn't react at all—not a sound, not a whimper.
What use would that be?
That was exactly how Duanmu Huai viewed Skynet and mechanical intelligences now.
As an Inquisitor, as a human, he was indeed furious at what these machines had done. But… he had no way to make these machines pay for it.
Because they were just machines.
They felt no pain, had no sensations, did not think, and possessed no emotions of their own.
What could you do to them?
Even killing greenskins or the Tyranids at least meant dealing with living beings. Break their limbs and they would scream; tear open their bodies and they would feel pain. But robots? You could cut them apart, crush them to pieces, and they wouldn't feel a thing. These things didn't even have souls… they were nothing more than machines.
In the end, there was simply nowhere to vent that anger. It was infuriating to death.
The girls were the same. These past few days, Anne and Gureya had both seemed somewhat listless. Lorena spent all day buried in books. Only Ranni and Phyllis were utterly relaxed—one fiddled with machines whenever she was bored, while the other simply flopped onto a reindeer and went straight to sleep, eyes closed, caring about no one and loving no one.
What did the world burning outside have to do with her anyway?
"Master?"
While Duanmu Huai was thinking, Olgis walked up to him and stared at him.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Just a bit depressed, that's all."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai reached out and gently patted Olgis's head. Olgis simply gazed at him, and after a moment, spoke again.
"Is it because of those mechanical dolls?"
"More or less."
"Master hates them?"
"Yeah."
Duanmu Huai nodded silently again. In truth, if these robots were truly a self-aware mechanical civilization, that would be one thing. But they weren't. They were merely part of Skynet—components, screws. Getting angry at such things… was meaningless and worthless.
"..."
Olgis didn't say anything more. She simply stared at Duanmu Huai, then reached out and threw herself into his arms.
"Olgis?"
Seeing her action, Duanmu Huai was somewhat surprised. Olgis lifted her head and looked straight at him.
"I read in a book that doing this makes people feel happier."
"Thank you."
Duanmu Huai reached out and gently patted Olgis's body. What he felt was soft and warm, completely unlike a doll, and far more like a normal human. That sensation eased the oppressive weight in his chest somewhat.
But what Duanmu Huai hadn't expected was that at this moment, another voice suddenly rang out.
"I want to hug my retainer too!"
Along with the cheerful shout, Duanmu Huai felt something soft and warm appear behind his head. Bambi flew over from behind, hugged his head, and perched on his shoulder, laughing gleefully.
It had to be said, the little girls were quite cheerful. Of course, that was also because she and Kula mainly helped treat the wounded and didn't participate directly in frontline combat, so they weren't very clear on what those damned machines had done. That was probably for the best—seeing too much of it would inevitably leave psychological scars.
"Pff."
At the same time, Kula followed suit, hugging Duanmu Huai's leg from behind, then poking her head out and making a face at Olgis.
Those two really did seem fundamentally incompatible.
"Alright, alright. If there's nothing else, go rest early."
Duanmu Huai reached out and patted Kula's head, then lifted Bambi off his head.
After all that, his mood had relaxed considerably.
Forget it. Whatever those tin cans are, I'll just do what I'm supposed to do.
Thinking this, Duanmu Huai let out a breath and withdrew his gaze.
In that case… it was about time to go have a proper talk with that Resistance commander.
(End of Chapter)