Max didn't know how to react, but he knew that this was a part of the story's progression. There must be a way to calm them down.
How?
Obviously by talking.
"Eva, open the cockpit! They are hostile against the robots. I believe they will hear my words."
[Negative. Your life will be in danger without Mech-42's protection. Proceed to lock the cockpit for the officer's safety.]
"Of course, it would be like this!"
There was no way this storyline would be that easy, right? This was a forced event.
Max had no choice but to settle this forced event by himself. Fortunately, his weapon wasn't active. He raised Mech-42's arms in a surrender expression and said.
"I am not your enemy! This robot isn't a rogue one. It's $^R4ND!"
Just as he said that he realized that a word was censored. His eyes widened slightly and he clicked his tongue.
"So that word is censored too?"
— Well, yeah.
— Right now, the officer doesn't know what Strand is, so you can't say it in front of NPCs
— This game has a linear storyline. It forces you to do something and limits you to the knowledge your character has known
— Everything unrelated to the current story is censored in front of NPCs.
— But... Do you think you can talk to us right now, Breeze?
— WATCH OUT!
As Max read the last chat, he immediately raised his head and saw an incoming missile. His eyes widened as he operated Mech-42 to dodge it.
The missile passed by arm's length and hit the cliff behind him, causing a large explosion.
"Tsk! I missed it!"
A man with a mohawk hairstyle clicked his tongue from behind a tree. The rocket launcher on his shoulder had smoke escaping its back. Clearly, he was the one who shot earlier.
"Mohawk! What are you doing?!" A man with a large build shouted with a voice that boomed around the surroundings.
Everyone glanced at him for a second. His face was full of scars, and he wore a muddy green tank top, showing off his muscles.
"That thing moved, Pops. So I shot it." Mohawk answered nonchalantly while waving his hand.
"You idiot! That thing dodged your attack. At least hit it if you truly mean to!" Pops shouted back while raising two rocket launchers. "Everyone! ATTACK! There is only one of them.
We can destroy it and get the scraps!"
"Yeah!"
With the commands, more than 10 people sent missiles toward the silver robot in the distance that tried to regain its footing. The manned turrets also began to shoot live ammunition. Beams were only exclusive to robots. Humans had no resources to create the energy to shoot beam bullets.
The pilot inside noticed the attack. How could he not while it was so obvious and something popped up in his vision?
[Objective change!]
[Survive or retaliate.]
"This is bullshit!"
Shouting, Max chose MK-I Shield. He took it from his back and planted it deeply into the ground. A blue spherical barrier surrounded the whole Mech-42's body as soon as he activated it.
— Yeah! From their perspective, it's as if they saved you from a big, bad robot
— You were almost eaten and they saved you. You should be grateful!
— Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't raise you to be this kind of person, Breeze. You should say thanks to your savior!
— Kekw. NPCs: SHOOT AT HIM! KILL HIM! Then they proceed to rescue him, saying he was lucky.
'... I can't deny them.' Max thought. 'If I were in the NPCs shoes, I would probably do the same. An enemy popped up in front of their settlement. Of course, they would do anything to survive. And if I find a survivor, I would probably help that guy too.' He reasoned.
"I am worried that you might not wake up at all. To think you are inside a Strand that got taken over by AI and survived... That's a miracle itself." The doctor smiled gently.
"I have checked your vitals. Besides the small injuries all over your body, you are fine. Ah, we have destroyed all equipment invested with AI, so you can rest easy."
At those words, the officer's face twisted uncomfortably. He didn't believe that his equipment was destroyed, the only thing that could possibly lead him home.
However, he was smart. He didn't know the situation in this place. And based on the man's words, AI was a frightening enemy on this planet. He was unable to get the information he gained from the robot enemy from Eva yet. Right now, he was a clueless man in a foreign land.
Hiding his emotion, the officer forced a smile.
"Thank you." He said to the doctor.
"No problem." The old doctor nodded and stood up. "There will be someone here to guide you around our shelter soon. In the meantime, just rest. Hahaha, I can leave you alone, right?"
"There is no problem."
"Great! See you around the dining table then."
With that, the doctor left, and the officer was left alone. After hearing the door got closed, he climbed off the bed and checked his situation.
"Small injuries. There is nothing bad." He muttered and patted his whole body before his gaze settled on his wrist.
The device containing Eva was gone, and he was stripped bare, leaving only a simple shirt and pants.
Furrowing his brow, the officer contemplated while observing his surroundings.
"I must find information about this world and why AI is hated. Their technology was pretty good. There must be a library somewhere. Maybe I can find information in that place."
Just as he finished speaking, Max could see notifications in front of him.
[New Objective Created!]
[Secretly gather information regarding AI and robots from the Library.]
After the voice disappeared, Max could move his body again. He looked around and blinked his eyes. There was an objective arrow in his vision even though Eva was gone. Of course, it was only due to him being a player, and it had no relationship to Eva whatsoever.
Still, it was pretty good for Max. He thought he would be clueless and had to find the library manually before.
Smiling, he looked at the hovering camera in the air.
"Let's do this, chat. It's sneaking time!"
— Ninja time?
— Sneaky sneaky
— Don't forget to bring a box! Hide in the box! BE THE BOX!
— Enter the bush if you are spotted!
— Sneaky Breeze... Don't forget to enter a female bathroom!
— Shut up, creep! Breeze, don't do that, please. The male bathroom is fine, though.
— ... Get some help.