Chapter 123
The advancement of technology accelerates.
This is the same in any industry. When a new standard emerges, compatibility with the previous generation gradually diminishes.
The data chip field, in particular, undergoes generational changes and specification updates so rapidly that within just a few decades, ordinary people can no longer even attempt to use older models.
Moreover, the chip I had brought was from the era when Agatha Custoria and Noel Mullizcane were still actively in service.
Gilda stared at the holographic screen and searched the network for specifications on the chip. However, as she struggled to find any clues, her eyes narrowed.
"If there's not even a trace of information online... hmm."
"Ah, it's probably a chip that was manufactured before the Empire settled on Planet Novus."
I added. Gilda's eyes widened before she uncharacteristically furrowed her brows.
"You should've told me that sooner! Not a hundred or two hundred years ago… this thing was used around three centuries ago. Well, now I’m really feeling the challenge."
Rolling up her sleeves, Gilda headed into the storage room. She returned carrying an armful of books that smelled strongly of dust.
Thud!
Gilda dropped the pile onto the table, sending a cloud of dust swirling into the air.
"Look for anything that looks the same or similar. Also, check for any matching numbers or letters. If you find a model with overlapping features, let me know immediately. It’s likely from the same manufacturer or at least the same standard."
Judging by the covers and titles, all of them were books related to electronic devices.
Gilda and I flipped open the books, our eyes darting back and forth across the pages.
Shffft.
I turned pages at a much faster pace than she did. Gilda shot me a startled glance before refocusing on her own book.
I finished a book in about thirty seconds.
Even for me, reading at that speed wasn't feasible. But since I was only scanning for matching letters and images, it wasn’t an issue.
"Ugh... what the hell happened?"
In the meantime, Gabriel groaned as he sat up, clutching his head.
"You were completely drunk and collapsed. Try drinking in moderation."
I spoke while flipping through the pages. Gabriel rubbed his jaw as if it felt sore and tilted his head.
"R-Really? I passed out from falling? No… I feel like something important happened… Damn, what was it?"
Gabriel blinked in confusion. I tossed a book at him and repeated Gilda’s instructions word for word.
"Start looking through this first. It's important."
Still dazed, Gabriel flipped through the book with his thick fingers.
Gilda's hand, which had been swiftly turning pages, began to slow. She alternated glances between the chip and the book.
"I think I found it. Hold on."
The first to find a clue was Gilda. She sat in front of the holographic screen with an old book open beside her. Dragging and overlaying information across multiple holographic displays, she consolidated everything into a single screen.
"No wonder I couldn't find anything! This chip could easily bypass the highest security clearance of its time, and its capacity is absurdly large because of its stacked interlocking structure.
Stacked interlocking means it's layered like a puzzle, fitting into empty spaces instead of just being piled up… Ah, never mind, you probably don't care. Anyway, it's an excessively advanced chip that condensed the cutting-edge technology of its era.
It was so expensive that there was almost no demand, so only a small batch was ever produced. Honestly, it feels like it was made just to show off their technological prowess.
The company that manufactured it even created a separate top-tier category called the 'OOPArts Grade' to classify this chip. Though, by today's standards, it's nothing special—you can find chips of this level anywhere on the street now."
Gilda spoke excitedly and added that it could fetch a considerable price on the market.
"So basically, it's expensive?"
Gabriel, who had been listening absentmindedly, suddenly perked up at that part.
"So, can you extract the data?"
My only concern was its contents.
"If we line up computer terminals from different generations and transfer the data step by step through compatible formats, it should work. Once we convert it to a standard from about a hundred or fifty years ago, reading it won't be a problem.
But there will be data loss and corruption. I don’t know what’s on it, but if it’s a program, there's a chance it won’t function properly. Also, the security system is vastly different from modern standards, so…"
Gilda continued explaining why the process would be lengthy, but I didn’t bother listening. I intended to leave everything to her.
"Ah! I remember now! Luka, you bastard!"
Gabriel suddenly snapped back to his senses and shouted.
"If you wanna punch me, go ahead. I'll take it."
"That's not what I meant! Whatever, I’ll let it slide this time. Because you, with that smug mouth of yours, actually said… sorry!"
Gabriel emphasized each word, pressing them out with exaggerated force. I had an overwhelming urge to take back what I said. But once spoken, words couldn’t be undone.
Crash! Thud!
Gilda was busy dragging out electronic equipment that was practically antique from the storage room. She was completely absorbed in her work, paying no attention to us.
"So, you're saying you were an orphan and then got adopted into a noble family? Damn, you're one hell of a guy. No wonder you didn’t have that typical noble brat vibe. I kept thinking it was weird—some lowborn bastard claiming to be a noble."
Gabriel nudged me with his shoulder as he spoke. Apparently not tired of drinking, he pulled out another beer and handed one to me as well.
"I didn't tell you because it’s too complicated to explain."
I was thirsty too, so I drank the beer. Compared to other alcohol, it was more like a soft drink—easy to drink, and I didn’t feel drunk.
"But still, you could’ve told me, Luka. I was kinda hurt, you know."
Gabriel, now completely over his earlier anger, grinned and joked around.
'Gabriel is a failure from the lower districts.'
When I first met him, his prosthetics were barely functioning. They were so unbalanced that it wouldn’t have been surprising if they malfunctioned or broke down at any moment. At that rate, he wouldn’t have lasted two or three more years before dying. It was a predictable outcome.
'He spends his days drinking and partying, and whenever he comes across a lump sum of money, he wastes it all within days. A short-sighted idiot.'
That’s why Gabriel never made it up the ladder and ended up living the life of a failure. He was exactly the kind of person I despised the most.
If not for our interactions and the bond we had built, I wouldn't have even considered him as the same kind of human as me. And in the past, I acted accordingly.
...But now, I don’t dislike Gabriel. I don’t feel the need to look down on his life either.
'Everything about this is just funny.'
Just because you’re close to someone, you start overlooking their flaws. Once, I had despised that kind of attitude, seeing it as hypocrisy.
'Well, Gabriel still seems pathetic to me sometimes... No, not sometimes—almost all the time.'
Yet, even this pathetic Gabriel wasn’t all that bad.
If I had to put this complicated feeling into simple words, it came down to one thing—if Gabriel died, I would be sad.
"Luka, can you see my wing tattoo?"
Gabriel pulled down his coat, exposing his back. His shoulders, covered in scars, bore an oddly out-of-place wing tattoo.
"You don’t have to show me. I have no interest in looking at another man's back."
"The name Gabriel is pretty common, right? My mom tattooed this on me so she could find me again. Apparently, Gabriel was originally an angel’s name or something."
"Yeah, sounds fitting. I don’t know much about angels, but I guess they must all be handsome like you."
"I used to be pretty good-looking before my face got wrecked. If you go through about three rounds of facial fractures and reconstructive surgery, you’d probably end up looking like me too."
"At least you have an excuse for being ugly."
"Ha, shit, I swear I wanna beat the crap out of you. If only you were weaker than me, I would've—"
Gabriel clenched and unclenched his fists, barely holding back his irritation.
"Well, at least you remember your mom's face. Not that I'm jealous or anything. I'm not that sentimental."
"I wasn’t originally born in Akbaran. To be precise, the Empire isn’t my homeland."
I hesitated for a moment and glanced at Gabriel’s profile.
This was something new. The Empire’s database didn’t keep detailed records on every lower-class citizen. Its information network wasn’t that meticulous.
"So, you’re from Corite or Bellato?"
"Not that either…"
Gabriel smirked and let the suspense drag out, clearly trying to get on my nerves.
"…I was born in the Wastelands. I’m a Nomad, someone who lived a free life."
There was unmistakable pride in his voice. That only made me want to stomp it down out of sheer spite.
"You mean those homeless vagrants with no proper houses?"
"Hey, you—!"
"I’m kidding. I know who they are. Still, that’s unexpected. A Nomad, huh?"
It was a term I almost never heard.
On Planet Novus, there were wandering groups that didn’t belong to any nation. They were called Nomads. Calling them a faction was a stretch, as the term encompassed numerous small communities with no real collective presence.
More importantly, the Nomads were a mixed-race society, with humans making up only a part of their population. To the human supremacist Empire, they were an impure element, not worth engaging with.
I only knew they existed—nothing more.
"I was only about four or five back then, so I hardly remember anything. But thinking back, my group must have been in danger. They paid to leave me at an orphanage in Akbaran. Since I haven’t heard from them in over twenty years, they’re probably all dead."
At least he was lucky that the Empire didn’t treat him as a non-citizen and throw him out of the orphanage. A different boy named "Gabriel" had died in an accident, and the orphanage director, wanting to keep collecting subsidies, forged records to replace the dead child with this Gabriel. It was a common form of corruption.
After that, Gabriel’s life was no different from any other boy in Akbaran.
During the aptitude screening, Gabriel failed to meet the requirements for military service and was assigned to a vocational school. After a short training period, he was sent to work at a construction company, but an accident cost him both of his legs, leaving him on the verge of being discarded.
'This is the first time I’m hearing about this.'
Gabriel spoke about his past in a calm tone.
"So, out of spite, I robbed the boss’s safe. Since I had no legs, my body was light, which made it easier to climb up walls. Anyway, I used that money to get combat-grade prosthetics. I didn’t bother calculating compatibility or anything—I was desperate, so I just had them installed. Looking back, I was lucky. Those legs let me take down the company goons who came after me."
After bouncing from one disaster to another, he had made it here.
"I used to be pretty confident in a fight. That is… until I met you. I’d never been beaten so thoroughly before."
Gabriel stared at his hands. His arms were crude lumps of metal. To grow stronger, he had continuously replaced his limbs.
I silently drank my beer as I listened.
It was clear why Gabriel was telling me all this. Regardless of how we had gotten here, he knew about my past, and this was his way of sharing his own.
"That was just bad luck. You don’t run into someone like me in the lower districts every day."
I set my empty beer bottle down as I spoke.
"No, I think I was lucky. After all, it led me here. See you around, noble hunter Luka."
Gabriel threw out a meaningless remark as he stood up. Stuffing his large hands into his coat pockets, he left the workshop.
I stared at the door he had walked out of, lost in thought.
Creak.
About ten minutes later, the door opened again. At first, I thought Gabriel had come back because he had forgotten something.
Whoosh.
A cold gust of wind swept in through the open door. The sun was setting, but even if it weren’t, I would have still felt a chill run down my spine.
The warmth in my chest froze solid.
I squinted slightly and fixed my gaze on the man standing at the entrance.
'...Kinuan.'
Kinuan casually took off his coat and stepped inside the workshop.
"Ah, Luka. You’re here too. Gilda, it’s been a while. You seem busy with work, but I trust you’ll still accept my greetings."
Kinuan brushed past me and took a seat.
...Think, Luka. Why has that monster come here?