Interstellar Survival: Invasion

With Zhang Xingxing's order, Dodo played the next recording. However, we only saw a blank screen, indicating that the record had been deleted. Dodo started searching the database quickly, trying to restore the deleted recording. A few minutes later, parts of the recording were restored.

"Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bob, where are you? Bzzt. Bzzt. Bob, we're leaving on foot. Bzzt. Bzzt. Daisy, we can't keep waiting for Bob, or we will run out of time," amid the static noise, we obtained an important piece of information.  

"Sounds like the team posted here retreated?" said Kelly.

"Yeah, but it looks like the robot called Bob had not gone with them. Daisy and the others had left on foot," said Zhang Xingxing.

"You mean Bob the robot is still here in this outpost? If that's the case, we will be able to learn more from them," said Old Du in excitement.

According to the information in the recording, the robot called Bob had not left with the others. However, we had inspected the entire outpost. Where did that robot Bob hide? We doubtfully searched all the rooms in the outpost again, paying close attention to possible basements or hidden rooms. Unfortunately, we did not find anything even after a long, detailed search.

"Temo, have the drones on Markus search the outpost's surroundings," said Zhang Xingxing.

Temo did as told and deployed the drones from Markus. The sight they recorded appeared before our eyes, shocking all of us into a collective daze. The crater was in complete chaos, and the outpost was surrounded by cloud germs. At the same time, numerous ice chunk germs had already climbed onto the outer wall of the outpost.

"Shit! Would they enter through the ventilation ducts?" exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

"Don't worry. Pluto's air is filled with nitrogen, so there is no need to build any ventilation ducts. Carbon dioxide will be converted into oxygen by bacteria. The entire process is conducted in a closed-circuit system," replied Dodo.

As the drones continued scouting around, we saw an oddly-shaped block of ice. The conspicuous chunk of ice was extremely eye-catching, looking like a pupa standing straight on the ground.

"Is anyone else seeing that ice chunk? It looks odd," said Temo.

"The selected site for this outpost must be a relatively flat piece of land. That chunk of ice must have formed after the outpost was built. Is it possible that the ice chunk is Bob?" asked Old Du.

"That's very possible. Scan the ice," ordered Zhang Xingxing.

The outpost was equipped with external scanners. Dodo immediately controlled the scanners and performed a scan on the ice chunk. We were proved right—the result indicated that there was a metallic robot in the chunk of ice. There was no doubt that the robot was none other than Bob.

"The robot must have been frozen after running out by itself," said Domo.

"Robots deployed to Pluto should be capable of resisting the bitter cold here. I believe Bob must have lost their sense of direction and was trapped for a long time by the germs. Eventually, they ended up frozen for an unknown reason," suggested Zhang Xingxing.

"We're surrounded by germs. Do we have a way to get Bob back to the outpost?" I asked.

"The outpost is equipped with mechanical claws for germ-capturing purposes. We can try to use them to lift the robot over," said Dodo.

Without any hesitation, Dodo activated the mechanical claws and tried using them. Four massive mechanical claws immediately rose from the two sides of the outpost. The claws were much more nimble than we had imagined. All four of the arms moved steadily toward the chunk of ice. But when the cloud germs noticed the claws, they swarmed them. Before long, the arms vanished from our screen.

"This is bad. We lost visual contact with the mechanical claws," exclaimed Dondon anxiously.

"Don't worry. This is probably a common occurrence. I can still see the positions of the mechanical claws through the system. Looks like Outpost Koala had long prepared ways of dealing with these germs with their equipment, with the premise that the equipment remains connected to the outpost," said Dodo calmly while looking at the map on the screen.

With the power of technology, the giant mechanical arms ignored the germs and reached Bob speedily. The four claws worked together to snap the ice chunk off the ground before lifting it into the sky.

Numerous ice chunk germs fell off the rising claws. At that time, we noticed a red electrical current emerging from within one of the claws. The current wrapped around the captured object. Next, more electrical currents surged out from the other claws, but they were blue. The moment the blue high-voltage currents appeared, the cloud germs retreated. Once again, the mechanical claws became visible to our eyes.

With the protection of the high-voltage currents, the mechanical claws brought the frozen chunk to the top of the outpost and through an opening. After the arms withdrew, the opening closed.

"There's a room upstairs. Let's go," I urged impatiently.

"Wait. Some germs still managed to enter with the claws. We need to strictly disinfect our target and cover it tightly before doing anything with it. Otherwise, a single fatal germ will be enough to kill all of us. Here in this room, we can personally monitor the disinfection," said Dodo.

The disinfection took 30 minutes. Apart from the object wrapped in the red electric current, all the germs around the claws were killed by electrical discharges. After killing all the surrounding germs, Dodo melted the ice chunk and then killed all the germs that were in the water that had melted from the ice. 

Next, some gel-like substance started permeating into the red electric current before solidifying. Before long, something that looked like a preserved specimen appeared before our eyes.

"Dodo you fool! You turned it into a specimen! How are we supposed to talk to the robot now?" questioned Zhang Bao'er loudly.

"Please respect a robot at work. I'm only halfway through the process. Why are you shouting at me?" Dodo scolded back.

We could see that within the solidified chunk, countless germs of all sizes could be seen. Even though they had all been frozen in the gel-like substance, the sheer number of them was enough to shock all of us.

A laser beam appeared and started its work. The beam cut the solidified gel around Bob. The beam worked carefully to ensure that all the frozen germs were cleanly separated from the robot without exposing a germ to the air.

It was slow and delicate work. We could only wait patiently. After more than an hour, all the frozen germs were cut off and gathered by the micro-robots in the room. After a final scan, the system finally confirmed that Bob was free of germs.

"Disinfection complete. We can now send that fellow to the command center. Permission to start," said Dodo.

"Are you sure this robot has been cleared of all germs?" asked Old Du cautiously.

"Bob is a robot specially designed to work on Pluto with airtight skin. I already confirmed that there is no exposure on the robot. A full scan has been performed inside the robot as well, ensuring that there are no germs inside," said Dodo confidently.

"If you're sure, send it over. Shields on, everyone. Anxashe and Zhang Bao'er, get your weapons ready," ordered Zhang Bao'er.

Dodo carried out the order and had the outpost's internal system deliver Bob to us. Before long, the metallic fellow was standing before us. Bob looked much sturdier than Dodo. After all, Bob was a robot working on Pluto. Their entire body was completely airtight, and thrusters and simple weapons were installed on them. 

This was completely different from Dodo's design, and it was considered an unlawful design according to the league's laws. After all, robots were prohibited from carrying weapons in the league. It was now clear that not all rules were absolute. For unique circumstances, change was necessary. Bob remained unconscious, their eyes still shut tight as they stood still.

"Dodo, this is your people. How do we wake them up?" asked Wind Spirit. It was quite rare to see her speak because she had been busy eating the entire time.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"I think the independent energy circulation system in their body has been shut off for too long. There is not enough energy reserve in the body for activation. I wonder if their energy has been exhausted during the fight with the germs or if the energy has simply been absorbed by the germs. According to the data, they have no energy in the body. The energy circulation system will only resume operation after the system is recharged," replied Dodo politely.

"The recharge should be doable inside this outpost, right? Let's do it. Don't waste more time. I feel very uncomfortable staying here," said Zhang Xingxing.

After receiving the order, Dodo went to work. A probe was inserted into Bob's recharge port, and a rapid recharge started. A minute later, the number zero on the screen indicating Bob's energy level increased to one. That confirmed that the recharge was working. We were all relieved.

At that speed, it would take about an hour to completely recharge Bob. Zhang Xingxing requested us to not activate Bob's built-in reactor and energy crystals until after Bob was fully recharged. That way, we could ensure that the energy circulation system within Bob would work without any issues. While waiting, everyone took the chance to rest and recover some energy.