The Predator. Among the numerous dangers in space, it is considered one of the most dangerous. Even space pirates, who are outlaws roaming throughout the universe, are considered extremely dangerous, but when it comes to individual organisms, everyone picks the Predator as the most dangerous.
These mindless creatures, which roam the universe in search of life forms to consume, are so dangerous that they could lead a civilization to its demise upon encountering it.
They feed on and absorb living beings, growing in size according to the amount they consume. The ecosystem of these creatures and their origins and destinations remain unknown, even to the scientists of Spacetron.
Each time they appear, they have different forms and characteristics, making it difficult to conduct research by collecting samples. Even if they manage to obtain a sample, the next one might have a completely different structure.
This is why Spacetron’s pilots always send reconnaissance teams to various potential threats, including the Predator.
Fortunately, due to advanced observation technology, if a Predator is detected near the ship, preparations can be made in advance.
While small Predators can be repelled, larger ones, having grown by consuming various life forms, are generally avoided.
The Predator is considered the highest level of threat by all interstellar civilizations in the universe, except for Spacetron.
“Nice and easy duty.”
A, who was assigned morning duty, sat in the combat information center responding to incoming communications and killing time. Siera and Ati were checking their fighters and robots at the hangar after returning from a mission, but despite being on duty, A was enjoying some rare uninterrupted time.
“Afternoon, I’ll have to go to the hangar again.”
“Do you really need to jinx it?”
Another engineer working in a different hangar joined A on duty. Although they weren’t close friends, they had some familiarity and conversed comfortably.
“You seemed overwhelmed with your training responsibilities.”
“It’s hectic. You have no idea how cautious I am with every word.”
They chuckled as they conversed, and then a signal came through A’s portable communication panel.
A greeted the caller each time they received a call and immediately recognized who it was just by hearing their voice.
“Hey. Klugger.”
“Yo. Ati said there’s an issue with the basic settings. What should we do?”
“Basic settings?”
While errors often occur during repeated program operations, it’s rare for basic settings to cause issues. A frowned and pondered for a moment.
“What did Ati say?”
“They’re waiting for you to set it up since you did it.”
“Alright. I’ll check it this afternoon after my shift ends. Leave it as it is for now.”
“Got it.”
With the call ended, Klugger looked up at the motionless robot standing beside him and shouted.
“Ati! A will come and check this afternoon!”
“Understood.”
Ati, who had been sitting in the cockpit, leaned out and replied before stepping down onto the elevator platform from the cockpit.
“Hey! Look at this!”
At that moment, voices from the team came from the launch bay. A team member had just returned from the launch bay carrying a dog, drawing everyone’s attention.
“What? Why bring a dog?”
“I found it wandering in the hallway while coming back from the restroom.”
“Why didn’t you leave it outside?”
Despite his colleagues’ complaints, the engineer carried the dog inside and tied it up on the floor after finding a leash. The dog seemed friendly and didn’t cause any trouble, sniffing around calmly.
“It seems well-behaved.”
“Looks like someone’s pet. We should find its owner after our shift.”
“Put it somewhere. A might smash your head if he sees it.”
The team members, expecting A’s reaction to seeing the dog, joked around. The engineer who brought the dog, worried about being caught by A, secured the leash in a corner of the launch bay.
“A is on duty right now, so only put it aside until this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
Seeing this, Klugger reassured the engineer that A wasn’t currently in the hangar.
Klugger didn’t approve of bringing animals into the hangar, but he couldn’t just abandon a stray dog, so he decided to turn a blind eye.
Meanwhile, Ati descended and observed Klugger from the side.
“Let’s keep this a secret from A.”
“Why?”
“He’d flip out if he knew.”
Understanding Klugger’s point, Ati nodded and said, “Ah.”
“Shouldn’t we take a break since there’s no supervisor?”
“Can I stay in the cockpit then? Should I also check for other issues?”
“Go ahead.”
Ati immediately headed towards the elevator platform where they had arrived and went back up to the cockpit. As Ati ascended, Siera’s fighter moved from the launch bay into the hangar with its wheels lowered.
“Move aside!”
Klugger signaled nearby team members, and Siera slowly maneuvered her fighter towards the hangar.
Routine work proceeded as usual in the hangar in the morning. Some were performing maintenance, others were repairing, and some were resting.
Before long, it was lunchtime, and the sound of someone shouting “Let’s eat!” prompted the engineers to pause their work and stretch.
“Klugger. Let’s eat.”
Teo approached, dusting off his clothes, and Klugger stopped examining the maintenance robot.
“We need to take Ati with us. Without A, nothing gets done.”
“Right.”
The two headed to Ati’s robot in the launch bay.
“Hey? What’s going on?!”
Turning towards the voice from a corner, they saw an engineer who had brought a dog earlier trying to retrieve it, but the dog was nowhere to be seen.
The leash was still in place, but the dog had vanished without a trace.
“Why?”
Klugger and Teo turned towards the voice and followed the engineer who was searching for the missing dog.
“Didn’t I tie it here? Where could it have gone?”
“Why isn’t it showing up?”
Approaching the engineer who was looking for the dog, he responded without turning his head.
“Hey! Can’t you see it?”
If the dog had escaped and gotten into trouble, it could become a problem. Klugger called out loudly to ensure a proper check, and the engineer collapsed.
The engineer who had just been standing there moments ago now had no head.
“…”
Caught off guard, Klugger and Teo froze, and what they saw next was a large, dark red mass of flesh chewing something.
Having experienced many things during their long military service, both instantly recognized the nature of the dark red mass and raised their voices.
“Emergency!”
Everyone’s attention focused on Theo’s shout, and the dark red mass was now eating the fallen engineer’s body.
“When will they get here?”
A, who was on duty and waiting for the next shift, complained as he leaned against a chair, annoyed by the delay.
“They’ll be here soon. Let’s wait patiently.”
Already feeling a headache from the thought of inspecting the robot in the launch bay later, A frowned. Suddenly, the entire aviation headquarters sounded an emergency alarm.
“What?!”
Panicked by the loud alarm, A checked the incoming communication and answered.
“54th Air Corps…”
“Predator sighting!”
Hearing Theo’s urgent voice through the panel, A froze, then regained his composure and switched to speaker mode so everyone in the combat information center could hear.
“Speaker mode. Report the situation.”
Outside, frantic running sounds could be heard, and through the communication, chaotic voices echoed.
“Predator spotted in the launch bay connected to Launch Bay 1. Currently, one casualty confirmed. The blast doors between the launch bay and the hangar are closed to prevent the predator from escaping.”
Everyone in the combat information center heard the report clearly, and Esmaralda, who had just entered due to the emergency alarm, also heard the report.
“Theo. Are there any additional casualties confirmed?”
“No new casualties. However…”
“What happened?”
Before Theo could continue, A felt a sense of unease. The predator had been spotted in the launch bay connected to Launch Bay 1, where Ati’s robot was stationed.
“Biroid Ati is inside her robot in the launch bay.”
The realization hit A, and his face paled. Ati could be in grave danger if the predator got to her.
“Understood. Ati.”
When Esmaralda’s gaze shifted to A, he was already communicating with Ati’s robot. Soon, Ati’s image appeared on the screen in the combat information center.
“Ati. What’s the current situation?”
Assuming Ati had observed everything happening outside the robot, Esmaralda asked about the situation inside the blast door-secured launch bay.
As expected, Ati had already witnessed everything happening in the launch bay and was safely waiting inside the cockpit.
“There is one casualty in the launch bay. Except for me, no one else is present, and no further casualties have occurred.”
As Ati finished reporting, A displayed CCTV footage of the launch bay on the screen. The dark red mass, having consumed one person, was clinging to the side of Ati’s robot cockpit.
“Is it possible to escape from there?”
“The drive units are partially damaged, and since the predator is tightly attached to the robot, it seems impossible to detach and escape fully.”
Unable to do anything in such a desperate situation, A silently watched Ati on the monitor, and Esmaralda pondered. While wanting to rescue Ati and eliminate the predator, it seemed difficult.
Deploying soldiers after opening the blast doors could result in additional casualties, but waiting could endanger Ati in the cockpit.
“Captain Esmaralda. Should we separate the launch bay?”
Hearing a familiar but unwelcome voice, A turned his head. Balutor, the record officer, calmly proposed his opinion.
All ships were equipped with blast doors to divide sections at regular intervals. These were used to isolate a section in case of major accidents or problems that couldn’t be controlled within one area. Balutor suggested separating the launch bay where Ati was.
“Officer Balutor.”
“What?”
Balutor’s suggestion was effectively abandoning Ati. Esmaralda called him to restrict his statement, and A glared at him, displeased with his ridiculous suggestion.
Feeling A’s gaze, Balutor averted his eyes. In the silent combat situation room, the next suggestion came from Ati on the screen.
“I agree with Officer Balutor’s proposal.”
“Ati!”
A shouted loudly, but Ati continued undeterred.
“Some drive units are damaged, but I can move my arms. If I exit into space, destroy the outer wall, and activate the emergency escape device, I might be able to escape with the predator in space.”
Listening intently to Ati’s words, Esmaralda calmly assessed the situation and sharply looked at Ati on the screen. Despite wearing an eye patch over her right eye, she seemed to see through the screen as if she had both eyes open.
“What are the chances of success?”
“Low, but not impossible.”
“Understood. From now on, separate Launch Bay 1.”
“Captain!”
A urgently called out to Esmaralda, but she remained calm and unflinching.
“It’s better to do something than just wait. Trust Ati, who says it’s not impossible.”
“Senior. It’s fine.”
Realizing he could do nothing at the moment, A felt regret for being here. He wanted to punch himself for being happy about morning duty instead of going to the hangar just hours ago.
He felt responsible for the malfunction of the robot in the hangar, which he had emphasized as real combat training.
“Permission granted to separate Launch Bay 1.”
The engineer working alongside A reported to higher-ups immediately upon hearing Esmaralda’s statement. Given the emergency, permission to separate was granted quickly.
“Sorry, Ati. After you go outside, I’ll rely on you to handle the situation.”
“Understood.”
The communication with Ati ended, and the screen showed footage from a camera outside the ship.
“Launch bay separated!”
Ati’s robot was detached from the massive ship, and gas was released to push the separated section into space, pushing Ati’s robot into the void.
Now, all that was needed was to wait for Ati to break the outer wall of the launch bay and use the emergency escape device to exit the cockpit into space, where she would be rescued.
“Hold on… What’s that?”
The large monitor showed the launch bay moving away along with countless asteroids in space, and A’s eyes widened as he looked at the distant background behind the launch bay.
There were countless small, dark red masses floating in space, spewing gas and swimming like fish.
The predator detection sensors were functioning correctly, showing only normal status.
“A mutation?”
Predators usually exhibit different characteristics each time, but this one appeared with characteristics undetectable by the sensors. Just as A was about to mutter a curse under his breath,
“We need to leave here!”
Balutor’s voice broke the silence in the combat information center.
“Report to the command immediately and request warp drive activation!”
“Hold on, then Ati!”
Following Balutor’s advice, they needed to leave the area immediately. But Ati hadn’t yet left the launch bay, and doing so would put her in even greater danger.
Esmaralda prioritized rescuing Ati, but Balutor interrupted her.
“Isn’t Ati a replaceable biroid? All records are stored, so we can recreate her upon return!”
“You son of a—!”
Balutor’s loud voice was drowned out by a louder shout as A rushed forward and punched him in the face.
“Gah!”
Before falling to the ground, A grabbed Balutor by the collar and glared at him with fierce eyes.
“What? A replaceable biroid? Does it look like just a biroid to you? Answer me, you son of a—!”
Struck by A, Balutor collapsed, unconscious and held by the collar.
“A, calm down. Rescuing Ati is important, but we need to activate the warp drive and leave quickly.”
Listening to Esmaralda, A released Balutor and stared at the monitor showing the separated launch bay floating alone in space.
“Damn it!”
Rushing out of the combat information center, A ran full speed toward Launch Bay 1.
“A! A!”
Esmaralda shouted late to catch A, but her voice didn’t reach him.
Without slowing down, A ran toward the hangar, using his portable communication panel to contact Ati and plugged in the wireless earphone.
“Ati! Don’t come out! Stay where you are!”
“I’ve connected the external camera of the launch bay to check the outside situation.”
“There are predators outside! I’ll come to you, so don’t move and wait there!”
“Senior. I’m a replaceable biroid. It would be more efficient to self-destruct the robot to buy time for the ship to activate the warp drive…”
“Shut up!”
Only now did A realize his mistake. Ati saw herself as a replaceable biroid, a disposable item, a common thought among many biroids. He thought it didn’t require fixing.
But it wasn’t true. Spending time together, Ati had become more than just a biroid; she had become a colleague. The same was true for other biroids he had trained.
He needed to change Ati’s perspective. Regretting his complacent thinking, A kept running toward the hangar.
“Senior. Even if I die here, my data will be recorded and I can be reborn…”
“Shut up! Stay where you are! If you self-destruct, you die by my hand!”
Thinking Ati might make a decision to self-destruct, A cut off the communication and ran toward the hangar. Despite his breath reaching his throat, he didn’t stop and kept running.
