Dean Noyan summoned all personnel from the first warning and control base back to the academy to prevent any further incidents. Within two hours, all personnel in the cave had been evacuated. Only Head Instructor Turan, Demir, and two humanoid combat robots remained in orbit around the black hole.
Turan took his combat robots with him and set up a barricade in front of the portal gate. Supposedly, he wanted to prevent any potential enemies from emerging from the black sphere. But in reality, while the combat robots were fighting the enemy, he would pass through the portal gate and return to the academy.
Hours passed, and when there was no change in the black sphere, Head Instructor Turan grew tired of waiting and headed towards the cave entrance. He wanted to watch the stars and find some peace, but just as he reached the cave entrance, a bright light illuminated the entire cave and then slowly disappeared.
The fear of death suddenly gripped Turan's heart, and he immediately turned back and began running towards the portal gate, all the while muttering, "My robots, keep fighting!" Just as he was about to reach the robots, he realized the black sphere was gone. His running speed slowed, and then he stopped.
The black sphere was gone, but there were no enemies around either. His bewildered gaze took in what was left of the black sphere, and he completely forgot about Demir.
The part of the black sphere that touched the virtual chamber had been cut into a smooth oval. The cave's ceiling had also been affected by the sphere, creating an oval-shaped hole there. But there was no trace of the cut-off part of the virtual chamber, nor of the rocks and soil removed from the cave ceiling. They seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Seeing no enemies around, Head Instructor Turan mustered his courage and stepped out from between the two humanoid combat robots, moving closer. A deep oval had formed on the cave floor, and it was filled with water. Above the water, Demir lay on his back, like a plank floating in water. He didn't move at all.
Without even thinking about where the water had come from, Turan quickly entered the pit, picked up Demir from the water, and pulled him out. When he placed him on the ground at the edge of the pit, Demir opened his eyes. The moment he realized he was soaked and lying on the ground, he tried to get up, but Turan stopped him.
- Sudden movements might make you dizzy. Rest a little longer, then you can get up.
- But teacher… (Demir felt suddenly weak as memories of what he experienced in the virtual room flooded his mind.) Okay…
As Demir lay down and rested again, Turan thought about how he would explain to Demir what had happened and this cave they were in. Finally, a brilliant idea came to him. With Demir still reeling and his mind struggling with memories, there couldn't be a better opportunity.
He immediately carried Demir and began walking towards the portal door.
- Teacher…
- It's okay. I'll take you to Esin Hanım right away, and she'll take care of you. You just have to be patient. Don't tire yourself out and rest. We'll be with her in a minute.
When Demir closed his eyes again, Turan carried him and they entered through the portal door. Two humanoid combat robots remained behind. Once the area quieted down, the two robots slowly moved and came to the cave entrance, taking their designated positions. Immediately afterward, they activated their weapons and began their task of guarding the cave.
…
Twenty-five days later…
Seated in Chief Instructor Turan's office, Dean Noyan glanced at the countdown clock reflected in the window. "00h:12m:41sec" …:40sec …:39sec." The clock showed that the personnel at the first warning and control base had just over ten minutes to arrive at the academy.
"How are the preparations going?" he asked, and the image of the portal room they used for virtual training on the lower floor appeared in the window. Four humanoid combat robots stood armed and ready, two at the entrance and two on either side of the portal door.
In the room adjacent to the portal room, six medical robots, clad in quarantine suits, were prepared. Because of the clothes they wore, it was impossible to tell whether they were robots or humans. Each stood at attention at the head of a stretcher.
"Check for anyone else inside and outside the building, or nearby," he said, and a bird's-eye view of the building appeared in the window, and a scanning effect passed over it. The scan revealed no living life forms in or near the Formal Education Building, except for Dean Noyan.
No one except Dean Noyan knows that the staff who went for virtual training will return today. Only Dean Noyan will greet them today. Everything was proceeding as Dean Noyan had planned. He calmly stood up and walked slowly out of the room. "00h:09m:22sec" …:21sec …:20sec."
When Dean Noyan arrived at the portal room, he stood between the two battle robots guarding the entrance and waited. A moment later, all the personnel from the first warning and control base entered the portal door. Everyone had a smile on their face.
But that smile faded when they realized that the only ones who had come to greet them were the battle robots. Everyone was looking at Dean Noyan.
- First of all, welcome, everyone. I congratulate you all on successfully completing your mission. I want you to know that we will reward you for this achievement. (As some of the staff began to rejoice at the reward they would receive, Dean Noyan continued his speech.)
But, as you all guessed, we must take some precautions. You encountered a black sphere in space. We need to know if the sphere affected you, and if so, what effects you were exposed to.
You may have a virus or a deadly disease on you and your body. We need to examine you to determine this. Please remain calm and follow the instructions of our medical team.
As soon as Dean Noyan finished speaking, the door to the next room opened, and medical robots dressed in quarantine uniforms entered, pushing their stretchers. When they arrived at the medical cabin, they all left their stretchers, picked up the gas cylinders on the sides of the stretchers, and turned toward the crowd.
One of them took a step or two forward.
- Please remain silent, everyone. We will be spraying you with gas in a moment. This gas instantly destroys any viruses and bacteria you may have on you. The fumes will spread, but you must remain calm and remain still. If you remain silent and remain in order, our work will be over quickly.
- What gas are you talking about?
- What's going on?
- ... ...
Even as objections began to mount, the quarantine-suited robots began spraying gas into the crowd. As the smoke began to spread, the watch on the chief engineer standing behind the group began to vibrate and flash a warning message.
"A deadly virus outbreak has been detected. Please put on your protective mask." As the chief engineer saw the message, the first men exposed to the gas fell to the ground one after another. He immediately held his breath and showed the message on his watch to his friends.
Without a word, all three of them moved instantly and began running towards the portal door, their only escape. But two humanoid combat robots were waiting for them there. When the robots began firing, the engineers stood no chance.
The three of them had their bodies riddled with bullet holes before they reached the portal door. Death came suddenly. All three of them fell to the ground, but instead of pain, their faces held a faint smile. Because they did what had to be done and managed to send a message from Aister to their hidden planet.
The three engineers meticulously executed every movement throughout their time in space. Hidden from Aister's eyes and ears, they managed to construct a system-independent communication device. This device was 100 times slower than Aister's, but it still worked. And death was a consequence of this success.
Time passed, and Dean Noyan remained in the portal room, the only one who hadn't died from the deadly virus. Such a virus couldn't possibly affect him. He moved forward and arrived at the location of the three engineers' bodies.
...
This decision wasn't actually a difficult one for Dean Noyan. Like the sphere incident before, he wanted to keep this one secret. Let no one know, and avoid unnecessary problems. It's unacceptable for such dangerous information to be known by those he can't control.
But he couldn't give up on Turan. He didn't want to kill him and destroy his earnings and knowledge. Having a new Turan wandering around who knew nothing would cause much bigger problems. So he ordered everyone except Turan to be transferred immediately. Turan was also not to say anything about the sphere to anyone.
When death was written on the personnel who were happy to be freed from space, Dean Noyan had only one choice: how to die. They were Dean Noyan's personnel. They deserved at least a painless death.
...
As Dean Noyan looked at the bodies of the three engineers, he calculated that another method would be more effective. But it was too late. The poison gas idea was a good one, but it didn't work well with the engineers. They resisted until the end.
While Dean Noyan was lost in thought, the medical robots placed the dead on stretchers and carried them to the inner chamber. They threw them into the furnace prepared there beforehand, incinerating them all. After the three engineers were carried away, all that remained of the personnel who had gone into space were puddles of blood on the floor.
Having finished his work in the portal room, Dean Noyan took one last look at the puddles of blood, turned around, and as he headed for the exit door, he gave Aister an order:
- Send the team in; have them clean this place up. Then inform the group leaders that Turan and Demir are on their way. Everyone should be here before they arrive.
…
When Dean Noyan left the room, a pale white holographic image of a woman appeared over the puddles of blood. She bent down and touched the blood on the floor with her finger. Instantly, her fingertip turned red, and then, as if blood were flowing from her fingertips to her heart, several red lines began to run from her fingertip to her elbow.
Just as the blood lines were reaching her elbow, the surrounding medical robots began to approach Aister's holographic image to get a clearer view of what was happening. Realizing the situation, Aister stopped what she was doing and stood up immediately.
As her gaze scanned the medical robots, the blood trail on her arm gradually disappeared. When the robots, unsettled by Aister's menacing gaze, began to retreat, Aister relayed her command to them through the system and then vanished…