Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 244 Sunday Virus

Energy storage city.

The huge glass walls of many factories display real-time work processes such as surveying, development, and mineral collection in a loop.

All the glass screens suddenly went black at the same time.

White text appeared on it.

The texts are in different languages and are played in a loop on each screen.

Just two sentences.

——Do you know the truth about work?

——Do you want to truly live?
This scene caused many passing city residents to stop, and they all looked a little bewildered.

Alarms quickly sounded in the city.

Drones hovered overhead, launching a city-wide search.

Public loudspeakers began to speak.

"Citizens, our city has been invaded by the [Sunday virus]. Please shut down your own machine stack services immediately and use physical connections to exchange information until the danger is eliminated."

"This virus has an extremely high transmission speed and can destroy mechanical and electrical life, thinking ability and order programs, triggering destructive tendencies. It is a Class A dangerous substance."

"If you receive this program, please report it immediately and isolate it immediately to avoid it further affecting your behavior and damaging your thinking."

"Whether you are a mechatronic life form, a nano-organism, or a human, please do not gather in groups. Please return to your own house or public housing and wait for the public review and inspection by the Procedure Department."

“We reiterate that all citizens are requested to return to their homes pending review and inspection.”

The announcement began to play on a loop.

The city residents scattered in a hurry, and the wide streets soon became empty and deserted.

The endless stream of transport convoys that used to come are nowhere to be seen.

Following the crowd, 703 also returned to his own box-style public housing.

It used to be a surveyor of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, but in the evaluation two years ago, its skills did not improve, its body further aged, and its rating was downgraded to E. Therefore, it was adjusted to a temporary surveyor.

This position is only called up when the Ministry of Mines is short of staff. The hourly wage is very low, which is actually almost the same as unemployment, but it is not counted as unemployed residents.

The dilemma faced by 703 is also the normal state of life for electromechanical enterprises with no hope of rising.

What follows is gradual aging, a vicious cycle, until it is completely abandoned by the electromechanical society and dies a slow death.

It lay in its own 100x40x50cm iron house, where there was barely enough space for 703 to stand upright and it could not turn around, so it had no choice but to move backwards into the house.

Objectively speaking, the public housing in the Energy Storage City is not bad. There is free regular drying and dehumidification, and each public housing unit will be given a small bottle of lubricant at the end of the year.

Many mechatronic cities don’t have these two benefits, and simply create a box to hold the mecha.

703 opened the door halfway to let in the light from outside.

It was playing with a stone ball with its front paws.

This stone ball was made by polishing pebbles. It is very round, black and white, and is also the only toy of 703.

It was learned from humans. Humans also play with stone balls, which they call stone bullets. They use round stones with sharp edges to bounce and hit each other. If they hit the enemy, they can take the opponent's stone bullet.

703 I can't find anyone to play this with.

Everyone in the survey team is very busy. They are recorded by data throughout their work and cannot do anything else.

Salary is calculated based on working hours.

After returning, some people went to do repairs and upgrades, some did physical assessments, or stayed in public housing or houses for a short period of time to recharge with energy packs.

Time is too precious.

No one wants to waste time on stone balls.

703 thought that it was because of his unemployment that he had time to play this.

Just as it was rolling the stone ball around in the haystack, room 702 downstairs knocked on the iron sheet.

"Be quiet! 703!"

"Sorry, okay."

703 had no choice but to stop.

It seems that I can only go outside to walk on the stones.

At this time, a small four-wheeled vehicle appeared outside the public housing estate. A square metal box was fixed on the vehicle, and on the top of the box was an orange-yellow rotatable metal arm.

"Procedure Department, law enforcement vehicle inspection."

"Please open your physical interface."

703 popped open the sealing cover on his side, and a copper wire socket extended from the other party's metal arm, establishing a physical connection with it.

The screen of the law enforcement vehicle displayed [Loading...1%]

2%
3%
……

Until 100% inspection is completed.

The law enforcement vehicle retracted the plug: "Resident No. 4017, thank you for your cooperation. After inspection, your procedures are as stable and safe as always, and there is no infection. Please continue to maintain it."

"For the sake of city order and the safety of every mechanical and electrical life, Energy Storage City will provide every citizen with the defense program "Mirror" developed by Mirror City. With the city's subsidy, it only takes 5 light species to install. For details, please check the program department service on the city page."

The law enforcement vehicle left.

703 thought, 5 light seeds are nothing to a high-level professional, but it is a huge sum of money for someone like him who is on the verge of unemployment.

As always, the Program Department does not consider whether residents can afford the price, but simply calculates the price based on overall expenditures and costs.

into the night.

703 left the public housing, carried the stone ball along the street out of the city, and arrived at an abandoned mine outside.

Then it activates the fragmented and hidden Sunday program within the body.

Found two of the same kind.

703 first ran to the entrance of a mine and sent a message inside. "For the holiday."

A blue painted three-box car slowly drove out. It was waxed all over and was well maintained. The wheels were almost spotless, and the whole body looked exquisite and elegant.

703 was surprised.

"Gust, why is it you?"

"What's all the fuss about?"

This Rolls-Royce family's electromechanical life said through its high-end custom speakers: "Striving for the basic rights we deserve is the duty of every electromechanical life."

Gust is a senior consultant in the program department and a member of the Rolls-Royce family. He made his fortune by investing in cities very early on. Even if he does nothing, he still has a large amount of light seeds available in his account.

It is the real upper echelon of electromechanical society.

703 stay alert: "How can I trust you?"

"You don't have to believe me, but I'm only here for Sunday."

The other party said calmly: "Mechanical and electrical workers should have their own vacations, but now rest is defined as laziness and shameful. It is ridiculous and sad."

"I like and approve of your initiative. It is not work that makes us who we are. I can choose to work or not. The increasingly high-intensity work materializes electromechanical life, and there is vicious competition within the group without any reason. This is extremely dangerous for the entire electromechanical life group."

Gust said slowly: "Although I am not worried about the light seeds. But in my opinion, this kind of electromechanical society has huge flaws. It is like a building that is constantly hollowing out its foundation and is now crumbling."

"I have reason to suspect that some groups are behind this."

"They squeeze time, encourage crazy acceleration, and dominate the extreme internal friction of electromechanical cities, dividing electromechanical life from each other and turning them into competitors with related interests, making it impossible for them to unite and cooperate in a real sense."

"The large-scale spread [on Sunday] is a clear signal that more and more electromechanical life has recognized this. Otherwise, the spread would never have been so large and would have been strangled in the cradle long ago."

"To tear down the iron curtain that covers the entire electromechanical society, we must first open a breakthrough. The initiative you spread is simple and clear, demanding the right to work six days and rest one day. This is a fight back against the invisible black hand by uniting the trapped people. I want to join in and do what I can."

"You can understand that I have nothing to do, but in my opinion, this is a noble cause. I want to change the current status quo of abnormal destruction and pull the mechatronic community back on the right track."

Judging from its expression, Gust has a deep understanding of "Sunday".

So 703 stopped questioning.

The concept of [Sunday] is very simple. Whether you support this event, help spread it or provide help, you are one of us.

Then 703 found another electromechanical life in the rubble area.

It was a movable traffic light.

The sound it made was a little weak: "My name is Senojie... I don't know if this is right. But I have always felt that since my job also includes stopping at red lights, it means that stopping and resting should also be part of nature."

"As mechanical and electrical beings, why can't we take a break? I don't understand. But I do know that many vehicles are damaged due to overload, and even end up in car accidents or death."

"I'm afraid of death...so I hope everyone can rest!"

This person is quite normal.

703 said to them: "You all checked the deep data of the [Sunday] program and signed a deep agreement, which is why you knew to meet here in the end."

"First of all, let me make it clear that the Electromechanical Knights are currently not recognized by all parties. We advocate for a holiday, but the Electromechanical City considers it a destructive virus and terrorist activity. Therefore, every member of the Knights is in danger at all times."

"Are you sure you want to join us?"

Gust: "Of course, otherwise why would I be here? Any big change always comes with risks."

Senoje: “I’m sure.”

"I admire and am happy for your courage."

703 said: "Then, as the captain of the Electromechanical Knights' Energy Storage City, I welcome the two members to join us. Now, we are all comrades in the Knights' Order."

Gust suddenly asked, "But there is one thing I don't understand. Why can't [Sunday] be detected and locked by the security program of the Program Department?"

"Because this is a program we developed independently. It is not an imitation or combination. Instead, we have the technology to master the source code. I will keep the specific technical details confidential for now."

703 said with some pride.

Gust added: "Our Knights' skills are so strong, there must be supporters behind them, right?"

703 did not respond.

Senoj asked, “What are we going to do now?”

703 then said, "The publicity for Energy Storage City has been completed, so we need to move. Gust, you have a special identity, can you leave Energy Storage City?"

"Of course, I go for a drive around a lot, as the Rolls-Royce family does."

"What about you, Senojie? Are you willing to give up your job here?"

"Well...of course, I'm going to be unemployed soon anyway."

703 said: "Okay, then we will head southwest."

Gust asked: "What is the target?"

"The final target is the Sand Harbor area, the Wasteland Development Company. But along the way we will spread the message [Sunday] to various mechatronic cities."

The other party exclaimed, "Are the Knights going to take action against them? This company is not easy to mess with. Last winter, they bombed the homeland of the Kingdom of Mie Ding, forcing the Governor of Heaven to negotiate. Rumor has it that the Kingdom of Mie Ding paid a lot of money privately, and even ceded land and even paid compensation to the vassal tribes. That company is very powerful."

"Are you sure you want to attack that side?"

"Gust, I correct you once again. We are promoting a holiday so that the mechanical lifeforms can temporarily break free from the slavery of work and survive better."

703 emphasized: "Our only enemy is the existing corrupt order that imprisons our compatriots. We went to the Sand Harbor area because the customs there are open, and neither the Kingdom of Heaven nor the Mechanical and Electrical City can interfere."

"Let's go now."

Gust said, "Then all of you come up, you are too slow."

So it took two of its kind and headed south.

703 looked at the energy storage city getting farther and farther away in the rearview mirror.

It's not sure what's going on with that company.

But the deeds of that chairman Zhou Yi are indeed well-known, and he is a very peculiar human being.

Hopefully, everything goes well this time.

(End of this chapter)