The Nanomachine Swarm
The Nanomachine Swarm
"This is the Nanomachine Swarm?" Hao Ren looked down at the viscous liquid in the Gray River. "That's… massive."
"Everyone knows the Gray River is made up of the Nanomachine Swarm." Nolan looked at Hao Ren. "You should have crossed one of the Gray Rivers when you fled the city of the Naturals. Have you not seen it?"
"One of the Gray Rivers?" Hao Ren frowned and steered away from the subject. "No, it was chaotic back then; I was separated from the group. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings. What's your plan to cross this river? By boat?"
"We're waiting for it to solidify." Nolan turned and walked away before she began to issue commands, "People, we'll rest here. We'll cross the river after dusk! Kim, Lorraine, make sure the armored vehicles are on standby mode, and I want all electromagnetic hibernators switched on 24/7. Report if you encounter a problem with the electromagnetic hibernator."
The mercenaries immediately acted under orders. They rested next to the armored vehicles and took out compressed food from the car to replenish their energy. Carl walked up and down among the soldiers and shouted, "Don't touch the soil directly with your hands. Look after your water tumbler. Discard it immediately if you find it damaged! Get another antidote in half an hour's time. Those who feel a burning sensation while they breathe, take double the dosage!"
Ulyanov swaggered to the armored vehicle and said, "I don't need the antidote for the toxic air. My lungs have long gone."
"He's a very optimistic guy," said the ardent mercenary girl who was walking past. "But it gives people a headache whenever he jokes about his guts. Have you recovered from your trauma? Aren't you planning to start a new relationship in a new place?"
As she spoke, she went up to Hao Ren, and he took a step back. "Shall I throw you into the Gray River to cool you down?"
"That's not funny."
Hao Ren turned and walked back to the armored vehicle. He remembered a computer being in the vehicle. Its primary search function was open to all, and he had seen how Nolan used the terminal. After fiddling around for a moment, he succeeded in connecting to the Internet and began to search for information about the Gray River and the ruins in the North.
The ruins in the North referred to the entire area that the Nanomachine Swarm destroyed 65 years ago. That included three dissolved cities and the vast expanse of land between them. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of the area had turned into dead zones. Their destination was Northern Ring Tower in the mid-south of the ruins. As for the Gray Rivers, they were remnants of the Nanomachine Swarm.
The Gray River was not a single river as Hao Ren had initially thought but a series of radial cracks spreading around the ruins in the North. Other than the smaller tributaries, there were hundreds of larger ones. Like a spider's web, these rivers isolated the entire northern ruins from the outside world. Looking from above, the ruins in the North seemed like a bloody eyeball, and the Gray Rivers were its bloodshot veins. Anyone who wished to reach the Northern Ring Tower had to cross the Gray Rivers.
Observing the simple maps found on the Internet, he found that the major routes between the Natural city and Lawless District ran across one of the Gray Rivers. No wonder Nolan thought that Hao Ren had seen the Gray River.
Although the Nanomachine Swarm had dissolved everything in the area, it did not cover every inch of the ruins in the North. The Nanomachine Swarm remnants just concentrated themselves in the many Gray Rivers and divided the land into many "isles". Debris modified by the Nanomachine Swarm littered the isles, while toxic substances created by the insane Nanomachine Swarm had polluted the soil. As the terrible, gray "slime" was everywhere, these isles were the only safe places.
Nolan seemed to know the best route—a series of adjoining lands. They only needed to cross a few Gray Rivers to reach the ruins of the Ring Tower.
"Don't you think something's amiss?" the MDT's voice sounded in Hao Ren's mind. "There's information about the Nanomachine Swarm's loss of control, but not a single word about how to control them. These things could have destroyed the whole world, but why did they stop in the Gray River?"
"There's nothing about it on the Internet. Probably, someone erased the information," Hao Ren said, turning off the computer and leaving the car. "I'll talk to Nolan. How are you feeling in the Dimensional Pocket?"
"Incidentally, I found your gravity generator. Now there's a standard ground with 1.0 G of gravity. I'm learning to walk," said the MDT, sounding very pleasant. "I think this is it; the body still feels like its having cerebral thrombosis. It's not going to get better no matter how hard I try. Maybe the compatibility has a bottleneck."
"Well, as long as you're happy. But don't touch my arsenal."
Hao Ren found Nolan, who was standing alone on the bank of the river and gazing at the darkening sky. The gray-haired girl's silhouette looked extremely thin in the dim light. Hao Ren approached her from behind. While he was a dozen meters away, he noticed that Nolan's ears flicked slightly; the mercenary leader had a terrific auditory ability.
Hao Ren waved at her as she turned around. "Why aren't you with everyone else?" Hao Ren asked.
"The Gray River is about to solidify," Nolan said, pointing at the river below with her chin. The viscous liquid was flowing slower and slower, seemingly solidifying. "After dusk, the Nanomachine Swarm will stop temporarily like an alloy platform, and it'll be hard enough for the armored vehicles to cross. Of course, don't switch off the electromagnetic hibernators, or else these things will wake up in a flash. That was how some men from my team died."
Nolan seemed to be in a good mood, or rather in excitement. She was not as cold and alienated as before. Instead, she patiently answered Hao Ren's questions. Hao Ren thought that it was an excellent time to ask questions too. "How did humans stop this out-of-control Nanomachine Swarm 65 years ago?"
"Stop?" Nolan shook her head slowly. "No one's stopped them. The swarm stopped spreading on its own. At that time, many people thought that the world was going to end as all countermeasures and safety devices had failed. Everyone here was waiting for their final moment. But the sudden halt of the Nanomachine Swarm saved the humans. Have you seen these riverbanks?"
Nolan stomped on the metal surface. The shape of the "riverbanks" was similar to natural rock, but they were metal.
"Humans didn't make these barriers; the Nanomachine Swarm did. They confined themselves in a limited area, so human beings could survive and continue to fight among themselves outside this area. The Nanomachine Swarm should have covered the entire world, continued to multiply and devoured the world until the planet became a large piece of mud. Instead, they created a complex container and put themselves in it."
Hao Ren blinked. "Why is that?"
"Who knows? Even scientists were scratching their heads," said Nolan. The corner of her mouth was slightly twisted upward. "You should ask Ulyanov; he's an expert in this area. But I doubt he likes the topic."
"Since we're here, I don't mind telling you," Ulyanov's voice suddenly came from the side. He came up to Hao Ren and quietly watched the Gray River settle down. "Some people guess that the Master Computers sent the last command to halt the multiplication process of the Nanomachine Swarm before they shut down. There are also people who suspect that the Master Computers are still running. The computers are deep underground and getting power from the nuclear reactor. In theory, that will allow them to run until today. If we consider that they're controlling the Nanomachine Swarm to protect themselves, perhaps they'll keep running indefinitely."
Ulyanov paused and continued in a mocking tone of voice, "There's an even more frenzied speculation; the mutants who call themselves Rangers believe that the Nanomachine Swarm became self-aware and preserved the world based on some decision beyond human wisdom and logic to observe the evolutionary process of humankind. The Rangers see the Nanomachine Swarm as the new master of this world. They demonstrate their superiority of evolution through indiscriminate attacks on other humans and think that by doing so, they would secure a place in the New World during Judgment Day. There are many other similar theories."