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3. Advanced Tools

Dean seemed to receive a report from the microphone in his ear.

"They launched another attack. Two buildings to the West were destroyed," Dean's subordinate reported.

"I'll be there soon. Evacuate the residents immediately and treat the victims immediately," Dean ordered.

"Ready!"

Alexa was still staring at the man, waiting. And when Dean finally looked at Alexa, their eyes met again. Alexa's heart was pounding because of the explosion.

"I have to go," Dean told her.

However, with a quick movement, Alexa grabbed Dean's hand and forced the man to look at her.

"What happened?" Alexa asked.

Dean stared at her for a moment.

"It was an explosion from an attack launched by the enemy," Dean replied.

"And you're leaving?" Alexa asked. "What about me?" Alexa continued.

"Yes. I have to go because of my duty on the front lines as a commander," Dean answered again and immediately let go of Alexa's hand. "You stay here. This place is safe. This is also Harlan's shelter, so you'll be fine," Dean continued and left without paying attention to the girl anymore.

Alexa remained silent. The sound of the explosion was heard again, but this time, it sounded far away. The girl's attention was diverted to the window facing West, smoke billowing in the clear air.

"Am I going to die here?" Alexa thought as she began to feel afraid.

Throughout her life, Alexa had never felt what it was like to be in a war zone. The world where she lived was peaceful and safe, there were no more deafening explosions, making her afraid, traumatised and so on. The Morphile country was secure, and Alexa's life was fairly good even though the girl's romantic relationships often failed and she was betrayed.

"What should I do now, Dad?" Alexa muttered and began to cry, remembering her father on Earth who was still working non-stop to provide a better and safer life for Alexa but the girl was trapped in a robot world that was experiencing war.

Whether fate was joking or what, Alexa couldn't think at all now and just stared at the outskirts of the city. The foreign place that would be Alexa's shelter this time was very different from the places on Earth.

“What should I do now, Mom?” Alexa called the woman who had given birth to her. The mother who had died long ago could not be hugged by Alexa.

The woman Alexa called her mother had died when she was fifteen years old due to an illness that was eating away at her body. Alexa lived with her father and older brother. Alexa wanted to live her life well and thought about living independently by hiding her identity as the daughter of a multi-international businessman. However, Alexa was instead toyed with.

“Dad will let you make your own choices. But with one condition,” her father said at that time.

“What is it, Dad?” Alexa waited for the conditions her father would give.

“Never get hurt. It’s enough for Dad that you live and are happy in your way, but never get hurt badly, and never follow your mother before Dad. Dad won’t be able to let you go, Alexa,” her father said.

Alexa fell silent and began to promise that she would be better and work hard out there to find happiness and achieve her dreams. However, what happened now? Alexa was trapped in a foreign world filled with robots. This war in the robot world did not guarantee Alexa's safety.

"I have to find a way out so I can get out of here. That damn prophecy is stupid. I don't care," Alexa said and started looking for something in Dean's room.

From corner to corner Alexa looked for a gap, looking for something so she could get out of there even though she knew it would be in vain. The room was lined with steel and something strong with system protection too.

"Damn!" Alexa cursed and fell silent because of exhaustion. The girl messed up her hair and caught her breath. "I'm thirsty," Alexa complained because she was walking non-stop.

Strange. Magical. All the things that Alexa had damaged slowly returned to their original places as if by magic and made Alexa amazed to see the objects.

"Hey, Alexa, come down."

Alexa was surprised to hear the voice calling her. The girl looked for the source of the voice and started to get scared.

"Stupid! Come down. I'll explain and tell you something," said the voice again which Alexa remembered as Harlan's voice.

"Are you watching me?" Alexa did not accept it.

"Whatever. Just come down and meet me downstairs. Don't tell me to go up to that damn high place," said Harlan whose voice was heard through a monitor that looked like a CCTV in the corner of the room.

Alexa realized the object and approached him then waved her hand to play, even the girl chuckled.

"Hey, hurry up and come down!" Harlan looked impatient. Alexa laughed again because Harlan was exactly like an old grandfather on Earth who grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go down now," said Alexa and turned around.

Dean's room door was also made of steel but there was a sensor device there where Alexa had to enter a password if she wanted to enter. When leaving the room, it was easy, just needed to open it and the door would close and lock itself. Alexa began to be amazed to see it.

Walking down to the ground floor. Alexa was again amazed by the stairs that looked like an elevator, only transparent with a white system. There was a transparent button there, the house had five floors.

"Second floor," Harlan's voice was heard again giving directions.

Alexa nodded and started pressing the second-floor button according to Harlan's words. The girl went down to the second floor from the fifth floor where Dean's room was.

"This is amazing," Alexa admitted.

The decoration of the place was very spacious, everything was system-based and there were small round robots with their hands busy cleaning the surroundings. Alexa chuckled at the cute robots, just like the robots made by humans on Earth.

Arriving in front of a white door, Alexa was about to knock, but before her hand touched it, the door had already opened first. Alexa entered the room which looked different from the inside.

"Your room looks different, Old Man," said Alexa while looking at Harlan's room area which looked like a study on Earth.

"Easy," replied Harlan a little arrogantly. Alexa clicked her tongue and approached the old man who was sitting on a wooden chair near the window.

"In the virtual world," commented Alexa.

Harlan rolled his eyes at Alexa's behaviour.

"Do you think this is real? Seriously. In a world where the soil is black and smells of rust, how could there be plants and fresh air if not artificial?" said Harlan again.

Alexa grinned.

"Yeah, that's right. So, why did you call me?" asked Alexa who didn't even care whether Harlan was old or not, what Alexa saw from the old man was a friend. Alexa was happy because Harlan was human even though he looked old.

"Before I answer. I want to know, what kind of room do you like?" asked Harlan.

Alexa tilted her head slightly.

"A room I like? I don't know. Anything," Alexa answered because nothing came to Alexa's mind about a room.

Harlan nodded his head.

"Then, humans on Earth, if they want to chat with someone, they go to a cafe, right?" Harlan asked again.

Alexa looked at the man and nodded.

"How do you know?"

There was no answer from Harlan, but the man pressed a button on his wooden chair and the room immediately turned into a cafe that Alexa often saw on Earth. There were many tables, people eating, even food. Alexa was immediately amazed to see the changes that looked so real.

"This is just virtual 3D, it looks real, right?" Harlan asked for her opinion.

"Yes, it is very real, exactly like a cafe on Earth," Alexa answered while observing her surroundings.

Harlan chuckled.

Even at the table where they were sitting, the food seemed to have been served without them ordering.

"So, this is the advantage of robots here. Everything looks real, but it's not," Harlan informed and Alexa looked back at the old man.

“The downside, huh?” Alexa asked again, and Harlan nodded his head. “But how did you know this was a cafe on Earth?”

Harlan paused for a moment and looked at Alexa.

“The technology here is more advanced than on Earth. No one can match the robot technology on this Star. However, that is what then triggered this war,” Harlan said a little.

Alexa realized that Harlan might know more about this world, and Alexa wanted to know why Harlan was trapped in that robot world in his human form. How many secrets were there?

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