The scout found the cottage as it was surveying its assigned area.
The scout determined that the cottage was a high priority target for investigation and called over the other scouts. Since it was obvious that people might be hiding in buildings, the scouts were programmed to prioritize their search around buildings. Once the three scouts had gathered, their roles were split up and one would stay outside to survey the entire building while the other two would head inside.
The two scouts used lasers to cut open the wooden wall and entered without a sound. Inside, they found signs of people having been there recently; they had found a boiler which was still hot. Since this was an alien culture, it took some time for the scouts to determine what it was, but it was clear evidence that people were inside. Based on the current circumstances, the chances of it being their target was high. The scouts increased their priority of this investigation and decided on doing a more detailed investigation.
“Ahahaha”
That was when a woman's laughter could be heard from a different room. Since the scouts had been given the order to find two women, one of them entered the hallway in response to the voice.
Having passed through the door and entered the hallway, the scouts heard a sound from two rooms over. They were the sounds of several men and women talking.
Hearing a woman's laughter and voice, the artificial intelligence's interest deepened further and moved towards the door in question. Once at the door, the scouts confirmed that there were people on the other side through the use of its heat sensors. But it couldn't get any more details than that, so one of them extended a cable from its body and squeezed it through the opening in the door.
Rokujouma no Shinryakusha v13 Illustration 5.jpg
The cable contained a camera and microphone, and by sticking it through the gaps, it could be used to scan the other side.
“That looks so great, I want to visit a place like that...”
Inside the room were two black haired women. One was a girl in her teens and the other was a woman in her forties. Only the girl and woman were in the room. They were sitting on a sofa and looking at an ancient video device, a TV. Voices talking came from the video device and the girl and woman were energetically looking at it. The two had cups in their hands with steam rising from them.
The scout that had observed them put all of the information it had gathered together and came up with a logical explanation.
First, it connected the heat from the boiler to the contents of the cup. They were drinking something that required hot water. Next was the laughter from before. It belonged to the girl and woman who were excitedly watching the TV. The talking voices came from the video device.
Having logically explained everything, the scout lost interest in the two women. They were local residents, relaxing and watching their video device. That was the artificial intelligence's conclusion. There was a possibility of them using disguises, but according to their analysis of their faces, they were completely different people.
The scouts didn't have the time to bother with some local residents. After retracting its cable, the scout began searching other rooms. However, there were no signs of other people in the cottage, and the scouts determined that their targets were not here. Upon reaching that conclusion, the two scouts returned to the door to the room where the girl and woman were. They were going to leave through the same hole they had entered, and continue working on their assignment.
However, all of a sudden an alarm rang from the two scouts. They had been operating covertly until now, but after that alarm they gave up all efforts on stealth.
Hearing that alarm, the two inside of the room stood up in surprise. Startled by the sudden sound, the two stared at the door.
The next moment, the scout broke through the door and entered. Surprised by the two balls of metal, their expressions grew stiff.
But in the next moment, the scouts passed through the room and crashed through the glass window and escaped out of the cottage. After joining up with the scout on the outside, they sped off into the distance.
“Just what is...”
The girl with black hair looked out the window. There she saw the starry sky, and a particularly large blue meteor.
“A meteor...?”
The meteor was obviously artificial. The blue light it was emitting was not caused by friction with the atmosphere, but was energy protecting it. With a long tail, the meteor headed for forest, and the scouts followed after it.