Chapter 32: Personnel Certification Center
[Ding! Detected that the number of survivors housed in the shelter has surpassed three digits. Achievement unlocked: Hundred-Person Shelter.]
[Calculating rewards...]
As the last truck drove into the power station and the gate slowly closed, a string of cold system notification tones rang out deep within 's consciousness.
The survivors who arrived at the power station this time numbered one hundred and eighteen.
[Obtained : 1000.]
[Unlocked building: ×1.]
[Unlocked blueprint: Blueprint ×1.]
[Ding! Detected that the shelter's survivor count has met the requirement. Five triggered: .]
[Mission Description: A true shelter should possess the capacity for sustainable development. Host is requested to establish at least one stable supply line within the shelter for each of the following: fruits and vegetables, meat, and staple food.]
[Mission Rewards: 3000 , unlocked building: ×1, blueprint: Blueprint ×1.]
Looking at the refreshed mission and rewards, was in an excellent mood.
Sure enough, just as he had guessed, this system clearly favored taking in survivors.
And the reward of a had arrived at exactly the right time.
His consciousness stirred slightly. In the underground base, the status number of a previously sealed room in changed from red to available.
"C-101 room automatic door unlocked."
***
"What is this?"
stood at the entrance to room C-101, looking at the equipment in the center of the room with a slight frown.
She had just finished registering the basic information of more than a hundred people when " " called her here.
At the center of the room stood a pure-white, ring-shaped console. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, without a single seam.
Several pale-blue holographic screens floated within the console's inner ring, data cascading across them like waterfalls, creating a strikingly futuristic display.
[I cracked a new security protocol and unlocked this room,] said in his usual steady electronic voice, talking nonsense.
[Then I discovered something interesting.] 's voice turned mysteriously teasing.
[Place your palm on the screen in front of you.]
eyed the camera suspiciously, then looked at the holographic screen flashing the words "PLEASE VERIFY." After hesitating for a moment, she pressed her palm against it as instructed.
Hum—
The instant her palm made contact, the screen lit up with a soft white glow. A pale-blue beam shot out from the top of the console and swept over 's entire body from head to toe like a ripple of water.
[Biological information collection complete.]
[Identity information missing. Please supplement and enter social information: name, age, past experience...]
Immediately afterward, her own high-definition, three-dimensional avatar appeared on the largest holographic screen in front of her, with a series of blank fields waiting to be filled in beside it.
's eyes widened. "Could this be...?"
[That's right, this base's ,] said, his voice carrying a hint of pride.
[I've reset its database. It can now be used for personnel registration at our shelter.]
Hearing this, the surprise on 's face quickly faded, replaced by speechlessness.
She turned toward the camera in the corner and said gloomily, "Then what exactly was I busy doing all morning? Couldn't you have told me that earlier?"
[It wasn't unlocked back then.]
[Besides, archiving paper information is also a necessary security measure.]
answered with utmost righteousness. [Although this place does support printing too, so there's that.]
"You..." typed her information rapidly on the virtual keyboard while asking in an extremely suspicious tone, "Are you really a good AI?"
[My quality is beyond doubt.]
's electronic voice paused for a moment, then added another line.
[Besides, you don't have a choice right now anyway.]
"..."
Information entry complete.
A light flashed in a recessed slot on one side of the console, and with a click, a card was ejected.
picked up the card. It was slightly heavy in her hand, warm and smooth to the touch.
The card was about the size of a playing card, matte silver-gray all over, with a distinctly premium feel.
In the upper-left corner of the horizontal card face was a laser-etched number, "001," with her portrait beside it—the photo quality was far better than the one on her ID card.
Below that were a few basic details, such as her name and age. The overall design was very clean, yet it gave off an unmistakably high-end impression.
"So this is the ID card the shelter will use from now on?" held it in her hand, examining it over and over, fascinated.
[Yes, and its functions go far beyond simple identity verification.]
was eagerly preparing to introduce the card's powerful features when 's brows suddenly drew together.
She raised the card, pointed to a line of small text beneath her name, and read it aloud in a strange tone: "I understand the logic, but... why is there a 'race' tag on this?"
"And then, ' , Third Galaxy, Second Arm... Solar System, humanoid intelligent race ( )'... What the hell is this?"
*Damn it! Did this crappy system do such a terrible job with the localization!*
At that moment, 's consciousness let out a silent shriek.
In the cafeteria, the lights above the new survivors wolfing down their food suddenly dimmed, then flared bright again, flickering erratically.
In the laboratory, the centrifuge in front of abruptly spun out of control, letting out a harsh screech.
In the dormitory building, Teacher was teaching the children to recite "The white sun sets behind the mountains" when the ceiling lights flickered between bright and dim, "startling" several children into delighted shrieks.
"What's going on? Unstable voltage?"
" !" immediately shouted at the camera in the corridor. "What happened? Is there an enemy attack?"
[It's nothing,] 's voice spread throughout the base through the broadcast system.
[Just a small technical adjustment.]
Inside room C-101, the lights had returned to normal.
silently tucked the freshly regenerated identity card into her pocket. The race information was no longer displayed on its face.
Her expression was a little stiff as she tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Heh, looks like this equipment... is pretty prone to glitches, huh?"
[Yes. The previous staff member was a bit mischievous. I sincerely apologize for the negative impact on your user experience,]
's words sounded more fitting for an electronic synthesized voice than ever before.
[I've completed emergency repairs and parameter calibration. Please rest assured that no similar problems will occur in the future.]
[Please understand.]
"You... you say, understand... you say..." looked at the camera in the room, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.
Then she took a deep breath, rubbed her face hard, and finally continued.
"Forget it. I don't know anything, and I didn't see anything. You... just don't kill me to silence me, that's all."
[Since the certification device has been confirmed to be in proper working order, we can arrange for the others to come over for unified registration.]
decisively changed the subject.
"Mm," said with a nod. "I'll go call and the others over."
***
At two in the afternoon, all the survivors, including the more than one hundred newcomers, had completed their information registration and received their own identity cards.
"Whoa! This thing is seriously sci-fi!" held his card, number "004," turning it over and over, unable to put it down. His face was full of admiration.
[Because this is genuine cutting-edge technology.]
's voice suddenly came from the card, startling .
"Holy crap! You can talk from inside this thing?" turned the card over and over in amazement. "There's no speaker or microphone on it!"
"Because it's cutting-edge technology." , standing beside him, repeated 's words with a deadpan expression.
She didn't look the least bit surprised. Instead, her face wore the faint expression of someone who was already dead inside.
[Uh, right, exactly that.]
[This card has a built-in micro-communication module. It's not just me—you can pair your cards with one another. Once you store another person's identification code, you can call them anytime, anywhere.]
[Of course, that's provided the other party hasn't blocked you or declined the call.]
[Additionally, you can call me whenever you like, and when I establish communication with you, I don't need your consent.]
"Your permissions sound really extensive!" marveled from the side.
[Only with extensive permissions can I serve everyone better!]
was more concerned with practical matters. "How far is the communication range?"
[Theoretically, there's no limit, but its actual performance hasn't been tested. You can try it when you go out on missions later—at the very least, its range is definitely longer than a walkie-talkie's.]
"Then... can it get online and play games?" blinked his big eyes, looking at the card he had received with eager anticipation.
In his view, anything that could make calls was basically a phone, and a phone could get online and play games.
[Lele, it's just an ID card.] shattered the child's fantasy in a few concise words.
The card really had no gaming functions.
Besides, in the current environment, what conditions were there for playing online games?
Still, once things improved later, rebuilding the network wasn't entirely out of the question.
Anyway, if that kind of work were undertaken, people's enthusiasm would definitely be high.
***
Through the identity cards, had initially achieved information-based management of all shelter members.
To deal with the management and security pressure brought on by the sudden population boom, he also unhesitatingly spent most of the he had just received.
He materialized seven new " " Security Units and upgraded the to Lv3.
[ (Lv3): Unlocks the regional coordinated combat module, biometric access control system, and drone automatic patrol and fire support protocol. Maximum connectable Security Units raised to 10 (current count: 10/10). consumed: 600.]
After that whole round of operations, the in 's possession instantly dropped to only 80.
But he didn't care in the least.
Because very soon, he would have a hefty "income" coming in.
Over the past few days, besides "eliminating" the scavengers sent out by 's convoy, preparations for the operation on the downstream industrial park had been advancing in parallel.
Equipment dismantling, heavy trucks, lifting gear, operation route planning, road clearance... everything was ready.
The actual distance between the two locations was no more than a dozen or so kilometers. With the current abundance of manpower, the difficulty of the task had already decreased considerably.
Now it could truly be said: everything was ready, and only the final move was missing.