"AI."

"At your service."

"Have you translated anything from the book? Is there any information about the enemy there?"

"My apologies, I have analyzed it and compared it to all the current and extinct languages on Earth, however it had little result, I’ll need more time or more data."

"Wonderful, everything’s going really good!"

"I'm glad to be of assistance."

"Sometimes I don't understand, are you joking or are you being sarcastic?"

"You flatter me," it laughed mockingly in response.

"As I understand it, this language was created by the developers, and they didn't teach it to you, right?"

"You are correct. This is a role-playing component of the game. If I knew everything, exploring the world would not be so interesting."

"Ok. Are your algorithms not enough to learn at least some part of the language from the book?"

"If I may ask, have you ever heard anything about the Chinese room theory?"

"Is it important?"

"Yes."

"Then explain it briefly."

"As you wish, the meaning of the Chinese room is to show the difference between a person who is learning a language and a machine. While AI uses algorithms, a person puts meaning into words. In the Chinese room, a person is given a card and instructions on how to answer this card. He does not know what the hieroglyph that is given to him means and what the hieroglyph that he has to answer means. A year later, the test subject will learn to respond mechanically to the same script, but does this mean that he has learned Chinese? No. Learning a language always requires a native speaker who could explain the words. Starting point. Without this, there will be no progress in language learning."

"And where to find a native speaker?"

"A native speaker is any sentient being in this world."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Like the ones who are waiting outside right now, waiting for the right moment to kill us?"

"More compliant."

"Could you not be silent when I ask a question?"

Ronnie came back to reality from the depths of his consciousness and asked again:

"What did you say?"

"We are in deep shit, aren't we?"

"Yeah. A huge monster-army is waiting for us outside the tent. Usually in such cases, a raid of thirty or forty players is going to be assembled. There are only two of us."

"What should we do?" Nika asked in a barely audible voice.

"As soon as the anomaly is over, we'll run outside, you'll cover me with fire, and I'll pack the tent and run towards the forest. I'll explain the strategy of our retreat. We'll run around each other in a semicircle. You shoot, I run over your back, I shoot, you run over my back. You need to move all the time; the main point is to not stop. Don't try to hit them in the head, just cover fire."

"I see, there’s a reason that you’re the sixth place in the military rating."

They sat in silence for another half an hour, surrounded by the intangible pressure and howling coming from the monsters. They did not look outside anymore. The storm began to subside, glass fragments no longer broke on the protective field, the strength of which fell to the meagre 13%. They both put their things in their backpacks, Nika checked the revolver in the holster and suddenly started laughing. Ronnie looked at her questioningly, but did not say anything, she caught the look and explained:

"My father may be a military man, but he never taught me how to fire, especially with such an ancient weapon. My first shot from a revolver broke my arm."

"Recoil."

"Yes," she nodded. "For some reason I remembered and it became funny."

"The PPSh-41 has weak recoil. You can handle it."

Ronnie crawled closer to the mosquito net, opened it, then unzipped the outer awning and saw a pile of precipitation around the protective field, which overflowed them and buried them underground. Blinding them. Ronnie swore. Nika asked what happened, and he answered:

"The plan is canceled. We are completely covered with glass."

"AI."

"At your service."

"What kind of stones were falling from the sky?"

"Apparently, it's silicon."

"What is the temperature outside the protective field?"

"Scanning... the surface temperature is 60 degrees Celsius. The glass temperature is about 100 degrees."

"Will it cool down soon?"

"It might take about an hour."

Ronnie closed the outer awning and saw Nika moving on all fours towards him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going out."

"Aren't you listening to me? We are buried under hot glass."

They sat for another hour. Nika started rummaging through her backpack and Ronnie saw her periscope and asked why she needed it?

"In case I met a dangerous monster, I would bury myself in the sand and watch him."

"This is weird."

Ronnie took the periscope from her, pulled out the right-angled prism outside and began to observe what was happening. Steam covered the desert. Sharp shards of glass littered the plain around them, so much so that it looked more like an icy lake. And to the east of the army of monsters was a huge maze of silicon pillars. Thick black clouds continued to float across the bloody desert sky. No ray, no lumen, only haze. It was getting very cold. In the distance, near the horizon line, there were yellow flashes. The temperature outside dropped to ten degrees.

"It's time to get out. Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes, my General," she replied.