Doomsday Wonderland

“Pet is currently located at the orbital module, living block section 12, corridor A-34.”

Silas’s soft voice echoed in the corridor. This was the third time she reported Woyu’s real-time location, and there was only one reason why she would do so.

“1082, screw you!” Woyu wheezed out a curse. “Shut up, XR!”

Silas ignored him.

Normally, when Silas was responding to one of their calls, her voice wouldn’t spread throughout all of Exodus. Woyu instantly realized that this must be the man’s doing. He wanted him to know that he was coming for him. He wanted him to fear.

His legs were sore, his muscles were trembling, and a burning pain was ripping his chest. However, Woyu would rather die from running than get caught by the man. The man was chasing him on a maglev pod while he could only rely on his two legs, so he couldn’t stop running. After a very short bout of rumination, he dashed into another corridor.

“Pet is currently located at the orbital module, living block section 12, corridor A-37.”

Before Silas could finish her announcement, Woyu came to a jarring halt and pressed a few buttons on the wall. Following this, several irregular polygonal shapes protruded from the wall to form into a door and occluded the corridor behind him. After all, Silas was merely a computer system. She wouldn’t open the door if the man did not give the command.

This was the third time he’d used the same tactic.

Soon enough, the man that was hot on his heels arrived at the door. Just as Woyu was sprinting for all he’s worth, he heard Silas’s voice rang out in the corridor once more, “Command received. Opening all the doors right now.”

“Dammit, 2901!” Woyu cursed out aloud, the burning sensation in his chest growing even stronger as his fear and anger mounted.

‘If I don’t do something now, he will get to me soon,’ Woyu thought inwardly.

The communication device was undoubtedly a burden. It jounced up and down with every step he took and pounded on his back, causing him a lot more pain and discomfort. He hoped that Lin Sanjiu would call him right now, but unfortunately, the communication device remained silent the entire time.

“What should I do, A46, what should I do, 1082, what should I do, XR,” Woyu repeated as he continued to storm down the corridor. He had no idea how Silas could locate him precisely every time and began to wonder if the designer had fixed cameras in every nook and corner of Exodus. With that thought in mind, he raised his head and looked above. He found nothing but a long strip of light. There was no camera in sight.

Woyu spat on the floor to express his frustration. However, his frustration was short-lived. The fury in him evaporated very soon and was replaced by fear when he realized he had missed the last fork where the corridor diverged. Ahead of him was Exodus’s main corridor. It was a long, empty passageway, and Woyu was certain that if he were to undertake the route, it wouldn’t take too long for the man to catch up to him.

‘No, I can’t go that way.’ Woyu stopped running forward and turned his head back. Then, his blood ran cold as a chill crept up the back of his neck. A shadow that was growing with every passing second had appeared at the edge of his sight. Within the blink of an eye, he could see the hair of the man in the pod.

“Keep running, pet!” the man shouted, his voice laced with excitement.

If he survived this ordeal, Woyu swore to himself that he would stop all the hanky-panky and turn a new leaf. Tears were welling in his eyes, and his legs felt weak and almost gave way, but he told himself he should not stop. Mustering up every inch of courage in his body, Woyu clenched his teeth and charged towards the man.

“Hoh?” The man raised one of his brows and laughed. “Don’t want to run anymore? Very well, then, come at me!”

In the twinkle of an eye, a gun-like weapon appeared in his arms. Considering the fact that he owned this spaceship, without a doubt, his weapon couldn’t be an ordinary gun either. Tears streamed down Woyu’s face, and his heart tightened up. When the muzzle lit up slightly, he ducked down and skidded into the corridor on his left.

Once he was in the corridor, he spun his head around and happened to see a light beam that sliced across the air.

Without wasting a second, Woyu sprang up from the floor. He slapped the buttons on the wall several times, as he remembered that the man had ordered Silas to open all the doors before. Perhaps God had heard his prayer this time. It was already too late by the time the man arrived at the entrance of the corridor. Several geometrical metal plates began to move towards the center, and soon enough, a door formed, separating Woyu from the reach of the man.

“Silas! Open the door! Now!” the man shouted angrily.

Even though Silas had replied, “Alright”, Woyu knew that there was a lag time between each opening and closing of the door. The door had to be fully closed before it could be opened up again. Seizing the opportunity granted by the lag time, Woyu turned to flee.

After all the door had closed and began to open up, the man immediately dashed out once it was large enough for the pod to squeeze through. He looked around and then cursed under his breath. After that, he controlled the pod and went towards the other side of the corridor.

Woyu heaved out a long sigh of relief when he saw the man getting further and further away. He crawled out from his hiding spot and moved towards the door with his wobbly arms and legs. After he went through the door, he slapped the button, sprang up from the floor, and turned to flee again.

When Silas’s voice once again tore through the air in Exodus, Woyu fell into thought. He felt that something was amiss. Holding to the thought, he bolted into a dining block which specifically built as a tea room. It was only about ten or so square meters wide. Several tables and couches were fixed firmly onto the wall, and there was no other door than the one he came through just now.

If there was anything Woyu had gained from the thrilling moment a while ago, it was that he had figured something out.

It was impossible for the spaceship to have cameras everywhere. Even if that was the case, Silas was just a computer system. She wouldn’t be able to locate him instantly without analyzing the visual input first. Hence, Woyu was certain that there must be another method for Silas to locate him.

Woyu looked at his feet. They were covered in red welts and bruises, and the pain was unbearable.

He clenched his teeth and then climbed on top of a round table. He looked at the ceiling, a thought in mind. Probably due to the wiring system and some instruments, the ceiling wasn’t made up of a whole piece of metal. He punched the ceiling hard and pried a crack through it.

Silas’s voice rang when he managed to get his hands into the ceiling and held firmly to the edge of it.

“Pet’s current location: unknown.”

“2901,” Woyu mumbled as he released a long breath. Only now did he cry; he felt itchy and cold on his face. Right now, he was supporting himself with only his arms. He curled his legs up like a frozen shrimp, as he did not want his toes to touch the table as the table was connected to the floor. If he were to put his feet on the table, Silas would be able to detect his weight as well. And Woyu did not want that to happen.

‘So it was the weight, from the start… A46, is that the reason the maglev pod is the only transportation in this spaceship?’ 

As Woyu breathed out slowly, he heard a roar of anger come from the corridor outside, “Tell me his last location, I’ll look for him from there.”

The man’s roar echoed clearly in the corridor, and Woyu surmised that he wasn’t very far away from him. He would see Woyu hanging on the ceiling once he entered this tea room.

“1082, why doesn’t Lin Sanjiu call me right now? XR, Jesus, she’s really unreliable!”

A muffled thump erupted from the corridor outside, which suggested that the man had kicked a door open, sending it slamming hard on the wall and causing a frightening echo that traveled down the entire corridor. Woyu forced himself not to whimper and looked around the tea room with his tearful eyes. Suddenly, his gaze paused at the bar.

‘The man isn’t asking about my current location, 2901, nor did he ask Silas to keep him updated with my location…’ Woyu made up his mind when he thought of this. He sucked in a breath through his teeth, but he still could not stop himself from trembling. Although he’d psyched himself up several times, he still couldn’t bring himself to let his hands go.

At last, another loud noise caused him to let go of his hands and fall from the ceiling. Judging from the sound, the man should be in the room next to him. Woyu laid flat on the ground, his heart pounding fast like a caged bird underneath his rib. He waited with bated breath for a few seconds, yet Silas remained silent.

Woyu let out a sigh and hastily crawled to the bar. He tapped on the screen a few times. He had stayed in Exodus for two weeks, so he was very familiar with the setting system on the bar. Without wasting a second, he pulled out the communication frame with Silas from the screen. He used to talk to Silas with it when he had a special request on his diet menu. Otherwise, as a pet, he was mostly ignored by the system.

A faint sound erupted out of the speaker beside the screen, “Good day, mister, may I help you with anything?”

“Re….Re….Request,” stammered Woyu. His teeth, tongue, and even vocal cords were quivering so much that he couldn’t articulate his thoughts into words fluently. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and took a deep breath. Then, as his heartbeat began to slow down, he spoke again. This time, his voice was firmer. “Request to change the passcode.”

“Alright. May I ask who is the registrant?”

“MO—MO—MOTHERSHIP COMMANDER.”

“Please confirm the old passcode.”

‘Yes! I can do this! Come on, Woyu, you can do this!‘

“1082-XR-2901,” Woyu uttered the passcode fluently as if it had been ingrained in his brain. However, before he could finish the passcode, he heard the man’s heavy footsteps approaching fast toward the tea room. Knowing that he did not have much time left, he kept his voice low and spoke out the last few letters, “A46.”

“Confirmation successful. Please report the new passcode.”

Woyu reported a series of new numbers to Silas. The footsteps were coming closer to him.

“Do you want to activate voice recognition?”

“Yes, yes, of course!”

When Silas gently uttered, “Welcome, Commander,” Woyu felt a thrill in him as if he was drenched in hot water. He then gave his first command straight away, “Lock the door to this tea room.”

“Bang!”

The door to the tea room was kicked open from outside. Then, a pair of black boots walked slowly into the room.