Infiltrating the library was... easier than Max thought. No, it wasn't even an infiltration.
As soon as he stepped out of the medical room, Max met with Mohawk. The man introduced himself and happily guided him to the library without asking anything.
Max questioned whether this was a part of the story progression. He followed the man to the library before a cutscene started again. His character moved by itself, reading many books accompanied by Mohawk.
While this happened, he talked to the viewers.
"The story is indeed pretty linear. It's a bit interesting seeing the officer's expression change when he learns of the AI's wickedness, but this also feels strange to me. Is it because I never played this kind of game before? It's like my freedom has become so limited."
— I know that feeling! That's probably why I only play online games lately
— True. A linear story can sometimes be burdensome to some people. But part of the gaming community likes it, too
— Believe me. Sometimes, you just want to follow the story and not think about the route... Huff... Huff... I wanted to be restrained!
— That's also something I experience. Like... You wanted to do this, but you're unable to!
"Right?! Being so limited isn't fun."
Max wanted to love this game. But it wasn't as fun as he previously thought due to the many limits placed on him by the storyline. He was the type that enjoyed freedom more than a good story, it seemed.
Of course, a game with freedom and a good story was better than just a good game. For example, Knight's Journey story was good. Mercenary Quest also had many to offer as he was still at the start of the game. Neither of them limited his choice and freedom in playing.
The officer closed the last book he read and approached the Mohawk, who had fallen asleep. He nudged the man and asked him something.
"Can you show me where the hangar is? I want to see this Strand."
Finally, the word Strand wasn't censored from his mouth. After Mohawk agreed to show him, Max was able to control his body again. He followed the man to a large hangar where all Strands, humanity robots were located.
This place made Max change his mind again. Five robots, which looked bulkier than Mech-42, stood side by side with scaffolding around them. Many people worked on them, taking care of the robots with care.
"How's this?! Aren't these Strands amazing?" Mohawk boasted proudly.
Max wanted to say they weren't as impressive as Mech-42 because it seemed like they had no thruster. But he kept silent and let Mohawk continue.
"The truth is, I am one of the pilots. Mine is that red one, Strand-69! Hehe, isn't she beautiful? The silver one is new; we just built it, and no one is piloting that unit yet. Ah, piloting is hard, though. Don't ever think of trying even if that unit has no key!"
As they walked through the hangar, the man kept yapping and boasting about his achievement. Max stayed silent as he focused his gaze on the corner of the hangar. Mech-42's chest armor lay there. It was the cockpit.
There was something strange with it.
"Why is the cockpit glowing?" He asked in a low voice and looked at the chat.
— Isn't it natural?
'So even the name is forced? Talk about too stiff!'
Even so, it was getting interesting. Pops explained something that Max ignored. No, it was more like his words moved so fast that he could only hear the important part.
"We welcome you as part of our shelter now. But you joined at a hard time. The AI and robots will attack us soon, as they found us yesterday. Thankfully, we defeated it before it could send a distress signal, so we had at least a day to move.
"Humanity has no hope against them yet. We plan to destroy their main server in a week and regain our footing in the world, but we need to push that back and move our shelter first. People from other shelters have prepared a place for us. We will move tonight. I hope you also help us."
A day? No distress signal?
Hearing Pops, Max had a bad feeling. Didn't he destroy a robot before going toward the settlement? And based on the location where that four-legged robot appeared, it seemed like it just returned from the human settlement area.
A cutscene started so suddenly. Max was expelled from the officer's body as the character suddenly turned serious.
"Pops! The truth is–"
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rang and shook the ground greatly.
Beep beep beep!
"ATTACK! WE HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY ROBOTS!"
Following that, the alarm and the speaker on the ceiling rang loudly, informing the situation. Pops narrowed his eyes dangerously as he grabbed a rocket launcher beside his desk.
"Tsk! How can they find this place so fast?!" He clicked his tongue and strode out of the room. "We changed our plan! We will move now. Tell everyone else."
"Yes, sir!"
Mohawk and the Officer followed suit. Explosions kept happening above the ground, but they didn't stop. They went to the hangar, and Max stood to the side, looking at the hectic situation. Everyone prepared for war.
Pops and Mohawk entered the Strand with two other people, a young man and a busty woman. They had no fear written on their faces, unlike the normal shelter citizens who were evacuated using trucks.
Four robots quickly departed and were sent above the ground using a large elevator.
And Max, who was left alone, stared at the panel in front of him.
[New Objective!]
[Help Pops and the Shelter to fend the enemy off!]
The cockpit glowed brightly, with an arrow pointing at the silver Strand left in the hangar.
And the officer moved toward the engineer.
"Combine them." He commanded in a cold tone.