The next day, Albert woke up in his bed. He groggily got up from his slumber. He stretched his arms and looked at his chamber. Rows of bunk beds were lined up against one another, all with soldiers sleeping on them. Due to the danger of the great eastern wall being extremely close to the shore of the gatekeeper's sea, it was not possible for him to get a separate bedroom from his soldiers, but he didn't mind. He checked the clock, and it was already five in the morning.
'It's already five…Why aren't these idiots up yet?!'
Albert thought to himself as he got out of bed still in his pajamas. He went to one of the many bathrooms in the hall and cleaned himself. He went back to his bunkbed, and he could hear the soldier above him sleeping soundly. He pulled out his uniform from under the bed and slipped it on. After a few minutes, he walked to the center of the room.
He grabbed a megaphone and turned it on. The static sounded as if he pulled it closer to his mouth.
"ALL PERSONEL, WAKE THE FUCK UP!"
As his shout rang across the room, all the soldiers jolted up from their sleep. Some fell off their beds and the unlucky ones crashed down from the top bunkbed. They immediately started to get prepared by going to the bathroom after one another. A lieutenant who was lethargic walked up to him.
"Did you…really have wake us up…like that?" The lieutenant asked in a drowsy voice.
"You should've woken up at 5 am…and go wash yourself or else you're going to attract the benthos."
The lieutenant nodded and dozily walked to the washroom. Albert made his way outside to the odd hall. He walked down the corridor for a couple minutes until he reached another massive gate with warning labels. He scanned his card on the side panel, and it slid open. He stepped outside while activating his umbrella. The umbrella instantly folded open like a machine, protecting him from the heavy rain. He climbed up the ladder of the tower. When reaching the top, he powered up his walkie talkie. He brought it close to his mouth and whispered.
"All night-patrol agents may return to their rooms. Day-patrol will take over from here. Over."
With that, footsteps echoed from each tower. Soldiers climbed down the ladders of every tower and went back to their rooms. Albert grazed the side of the railgun with his hand. Then, he spoke into the walkie-talkie again.
"All day-patrol agents, Make your way up to each tower in under 30 minutes. Otherwise, I will feed you to the fish. Over."
He placed the walkie-talkie back onto his waist and placed his hands in his pockets. He closed the umbrella he had mistakenly left open. The rain battered against the high roof of the tower as he heard squirming under his feet. Going closer to the edge, he peeked over and saw hundreds of small benthos squirming onto the tower's walls, trying to climb over it. Their disgusting appearance made him grimace.
'I still can't get used to this…Eh! These little disgusting creatures make me want to puke.'
Albert thought as he backed off. In the next 30 minutes, soldiers crowded in the tower and surrounded the circumference of the tower. Albert climbed down the stairs and placed his umbrella back onto his waist. The umbrella retracted to the size of a phone and was placed on his waist. He yawned and walked down the hall.
Eventually he found a door and opened it. Inside there were many individuals in lab coats running around, rushing to do their work. Huge monitors were on each wall of the room, displaying various things such as a temperature, Sonar images and cameras. In front of those screens were scientists, pressing many buttons, adjusting and scanning many things at once.
"Good morning, everybody." Albert said as he walked past.
"Good morning, sir!" The scientists replied hurriedly.
Albert moved past them to the spiral staircase coiling around the control room's central pillar and began his long ascent. After a few minutes, he reached the peak of the staircase and found himself in a room in which there was nothing…except for one thing. In the middle of the room was a monitor setup in the shape of scorpion. It was completely black and almost invisible with the dark clouds covering the sky.
He grinned and stepped inside it. Inside, the air was still — too clean, too artificial — before the hum of the machine swallowed him. Suddenly, blue light started to erupt in the darkness, and many holographic panels floated in the air. The screen, which was made of glass and had no outer covering was projected with a display. Albert grabbed the headset above him and placed it on his head. His brain and vision seemed to merge with the machine as he gained access to every camera connected to the wall.
He switched to highest camera on the wall and took in its grim beauty. The Eastern Wall stretched for miles along the Gatekeeper's Sea, ten towers guarding every interval where the water met the land. In between the towers rows of LAWS (Lethal Autonomous Weapon System) were placed, constantly scanning and searching for any benthos trying to climb the tower using information received from the control room and AI. Albert constantly switched cameras and read data received from the control room.
"Tower 2, Benthos coming in from 2 miles on the northeastern side…" Albert advised.
Albert gave out commands and instructed the soldiers on where benthos was.
"Tower 6, Strange readings are coming from the 2o'clock. Look out for any disturbances…"
As he continued to give commands, time flew by. After a few hours, it was already lunchtime.
"All units, please come down to the cafeteria to get your lunch. Setting the Artillery to Kill-on-sight mode…"
He gave out his last command as he released the headset on him. He took a deep breath as the machine started to unfold. He saw the rain drop endlessly; thunder split the skies and the wind blowing swiftly like a bird in the sky.
'Not this much have I wanted to see the sun…'
He scowled as he climbed down the spiral staircase. Going past the control room, he made his way to the nearest cafeteria. He walked inside and soldiers were already devouring their lunch. He grabbed his lunch and sat on an empty seat where his subordinates joined him.
"Hey, General. How did you sleep last night?" one soldier asked.
"Pretty good but you all woke late, didn't you? Do you want us to be eaten alive?"
Upon hearing Albert reply, they went silent remembering how he had woken them up. Albert chuckled and then said in a sarcastic tone.
"Ha! If the fort falls someday, I'd like you all to be my replacement for the benthos dinner. How about it?"
"…Y-Yeah…"
Their voice wasn't so confident now and Albert laughed ludicrously. He continued chatting with them until he finished his dinner. After he finished his lunch, he went back to the Scorpion -017 meta connector. The system booted up, and he turned the LAWS from kill-on-sight to active mode.
"Tower 10. Look out for high waves… or else their going to wash you away~."
"Tower 4. Benthos's are rapidly approaching you from the front prepare for combat."
"Tower 6. Huge wave with benthos incoming. Initiate lockdown on tower 6."
"Tower 9. A massive benthos coming your way from 12o'clock. Stay alert."
"Tower 2. The sonar is detecting movement 7 feet away at 1o'cock. Stay vigilante."
He continued giving instructions to the Towers like playing a tower defense game, giving the optimal command to fend off monsters. Suddenly, another voice came through.
"Tower 4. Two personnel injured, Requesting immediate support."
"Tower 9. One personnel injured. Requesting immediate support."
Albert calmly switched channels and said in a calm tone.
"Paramedics, Tower 4 and tower 9 are requesting aid."
He switched channels again and ordered the soldiers on duty.
"Tower 4 and 9. Provide immediate first aid to your comrades. If you didn't do that before my command, your stupid."
After handling the situation, more time passed swiftly until Albert could see the sunset through the cameras. He drew a sharp breath and looked at the clock which was approaching 6 pm. He switched channels and announced with a hoarse and tired voice.
"…Night-time patrol, prepare to take over…Lieutenant general, please make your way to the scorpion – 017 meta connector, immediately."
When Albert opened the machine, he saw the dreadful rain again. The rain hadn't stopped all day – it hadn't stopped for years. Albert wondered if it would ever stop.