[Mercer: That dumb AI's emergency protocol is actually to vacuum... luckily it hasn't gone crazy enough to make a big hole in the base, otherwise we might be pushed at supersonic speed straight up into the Moon's sky.]
[Lark: This so-called emergency protocol is completely against humans... but it's better than a big bang... damn it! Mercer, you scared me!]
[Mercer: I really thought it was going to be a big bang... but if that's the case, we can survive - just find a small enclosed room, make a hole and let the air pressure push us out.]
Easy to say!
Lark scarcely had time to feel the joy of surviving the disaster as she looked around the dead silent base interior, watching those track aviation employees in spacesuits who had managed to survive, but at the moment were frantically gesturing at them.
[Lark: We need to solve the oxygen problem quickly!]
[Mercer: Looks like they have some advice to share.]
Hacking into their communication system was a piece of cake for Mercer, perhaps just a quick glance, and Mercer successfully established a network connection with a track aviation employee who was gesturing at them.
After regaining network signal, the employee's face showed wild joy, clearly not expecting to be able to reconnect online.
Mercer's current network signal comes from multiple satellites hacked into by the Sky Net System on the orbital path around the Moon, completely unaffected by the current base outage, at most with a slightly weaker signal, but that's no big deal.
[Employee: Listen to me! We must immediately go to the server room to restart the server and then reopen the air pressure balance device, otherwise, when the oxygen runs out, we're finished!]
The message from the track aviation employee was simultaneously received by Mercer, Lark, and V, but Mercer wasn't in a hurry to restart the air pressure device and continued to ask.
[Mercer: Besides this emergency protocol, does your base have any security measures like self-destruction?]
[Employee: I don't know! Just according to the contents of the employee handbook, the base only has three types of emergencies.
One is the red alert for repelling external invaders, another is the blue alert for critical internal facilities having issues, and the last is the current emergency protocol.
For the first two, for an ordinary employee like me, it just requires getting to the underground shelter in the facility as quickly as possible, the third requires us to put on emergency spacesuits and reach the safe house before the oxygen runs out, waiting for the emergency protocol to end... ]
At this point, the employee suddenly showed fear and quickly gestured, speaking urgently in voice communication.
[Employee: But now it's different! We've lost connection! To be precise, all equipment has disconnected! This means the air pressure device might not open!]
He pointed to the oxygen backpack behind him, clearly anxious from his actions.
[Employee: We have only half an hour's worth of oxygen in our spacesuits... we must restart the air pressure balance device within half an hour or we're done for!]
[Mercer: Lead the way.]
He calmly told the employee to lead the way and the employee also unhesitatingly waved to some nearby survivors who managed to survive Mercer and V's massacre, and were still wearing spacesuits.
No words were needed, the employees knew what they had to do.
The employee led the way in front, while Mercer just followed behind them.
[V: Could there be a trap?]
[Mercer: Lilith has already left this Moon Base, and it's isolated and disconnected now, she can't come back if she wants to, and as for these employees, they have to find a way to survive first, right?]
[Lark: Cutting off the oxygen supply to the base, they were smart enough to come up with such a method, if we weren't already prepared, we'd be in trouble now.]
[Mercer: Don't celebrate too soon.]
He gazed through the helmet at V and Lark.
[Mercer: There's a high chance the air pressure device here won't open anymore.]
[Lark: What? Lilith is crazy? If we can't restart the air pressure device, everyone here will die!]
[Mercer: We're definitely dead, but aren't the equipment and machines still here? Do you think Lilith really cares about human lives?]
[Lark: Damn... can't we just launch the manned rocket from this base while we still have oxygen and fly back?]
[Mercer: That requires restarting the rocket launch center's network, or else we can't remotely ignite it, who'll stay to launch the rocket for us?
If they could escape by rocket, these guys would have run off long ago! Besides...
I suspect the rocket launch center here might have been sabotaged by Lilith as well - I sent robots infected with Black Light to check the base's rocket control room, and it's a complete mess. ]
Mercer said this in a relaxed tone.
[Mercer: We have to be prepared for this base to be completely doomed.]
[Lark: Why do you look like you were prepared?]
[V: Ha... forget it, going to Arasaka to rob is the same, let's just find a vehicle and oxygen device and slip away?]
[Lark: Arasaka!? Hey, didn't we agree to leave after dealing with Lilith?]
[Lark: Wait, what exactly are you planning?]
[Lark: God, can I go check if there's a rocket that can still be used now?]