healingbonds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
healingbonds) wrote2021-04-18 10:29 pm
healingbonds) wrote2021-04-18 10:29 pm
Entry tags:
Paradox-Roid | Chapter 12
Chapter 11 << | index | >> Chapter 13
Cain: Arthur was just like any other human. It wasn’t just his appearance, but even his expressions and mannerisms — it almost seemed like he had a real heart.
Akira: A heart.......
Cain: The mission details were to watch over Arthur’s first errand.
Assist-Roids are equipped with basic self-defense programming. Obviously, since they’re luxury items.
And yet, Arthur was reckless, full of curiosity, and had a strong sense of adventure. He didn’t care about protecting his own safety at all.
I was so confused. I thought he was malfunctioning. But Arthur.......
He was just listening to the voice of his own heart. Just as we humans do.
The beams from the air cars and airbikes blur into countless lights, flashing by the edges of my vision. Gradually, the number of lights decreases.
The highway stretches out into the darkness. We head away from the shopping district, and into the outskirts of town.
Cain: I met Arthur many more times after that. Arthur is the type that can change his age. He was sometimes a youth, and sometimes a young man.
I gradually started to enjoy escorting him. I grew to like Arthur, and looked forward to meeting him.
So I said, without thinking much of it, “You don’t seem like an Assist-Roid. It’s like you have a heart, Arthur.”
Akira: ............
Cain: ......That was the last I saw of Arthur. We stopped getting requests for escort missions. I don’t even know how to contact him.
Cain casts his eyes downwards despondently. The light in his gaze wavers with an emotion somewhere between regret and loneliness.
Cain: .....Chloe was the same just now. He prioritized his own heart and acted according to his own will instead of obeying Rustica.
But Rustica didn’t say anything. Wherever I turn, everyone just stays silent when it’s brought up.
Are you the same? Do you also know the secret in this city — one that I’m not aware of?
Akira: Huh......?
Cain laughs, the corners of his mouth lifting. It would almost sound cynical...... If not for the strangely lonely, sulky expression on his face.
Cain: Are you also going to leave me behind and disappear too?
I blink. I fumble for words, pause, and then laugh.
Of course he would feel left out.
He’s protecting this city, and yet he doesn’t know its true form.
He’s like a prince who knows only the princess by her shoe.
Cain: .....Hey. Don’t laugh at me.
Akira: Sorry. Somehow, you’re the one who seems like a lost child.
Cain: Haha, even though I’m the officer here...... You’re right. I have to take you home, Akira. ......Sorry for dragging you into such a mess.
Akira: That’s right. Without you, Cain, I wouldn’t even know how to get home.
Cain shoots me a curious sideways glance. I laugh jokingly, throwing out my chest.
Akira: I’m not keeping secrets from you, and I’m not going to leave you behind, Cain. I might not be useful, but I am on your side.
Cain laughs happily like a child.
Cain: You’re not useless at all. But it’d be fine even if you were.
Akira: Even though I’m a robot? Robots should be useful to humans......
Cain: Legally, Assist-Roids are our friends. I don’t choose my friends based on whether they’re useful or not.
I choose the guys I get along with. And I feel like we’d get along, Akira.
Akira: That makes me happy. So this means...... My programming and yours are a good match. ......Is that a weird thing to say?
Cain: Ahaha! It’s not weird at all. What an awesome program. I might just get hooked.
Akira: Ahaha. When you keep praising me, it doesn’t feel that bad being a robot.
I laugh, feeling refreshed for some reason.
Whether human or robot, I’m still me. Even if my feelings are lines of code written by someone else. Even if this entire world is a lie.
I am still the one experiencing this moment in time.
Who knows if this world is real or fake? What matters are these emotions — swaying, leaping, bursting, and dancing within my heart.
Akira: Cain. Let’s go meet Owen again. I don’t want that to be our goodbye.
Cain: Of course. I still have to treat him to a CBSC. I promised him, after all.
We exchange smiles. Then Cain’s breath hitches.
Bradley’s car swerves off the highway, heading towards a row of giant institutions.
Akira: (What’s with that place over there....... It’s neither an industrial nor residential area. But there’s a uniformity to those buildings, and it makes me feel curiously comfortable ......)
Cain: ......It’s the Vollmond Laboratory.
Akira: Vollmond Laboratory? The one introduced on the news just now?
Cain: Yeah...... It’s a research institute that holds more authority than the mayor. In the past, this city used to be centered around academic institutions.
After Vollmond Academy was established, the number of universities and research institutes increased and the city flourished.
The chairman on the board of the Vollmond Research Institute is a descendant of the academy’s founder. That bunch is the cream of the crop of the upper class.
This just got trickier...... My stealth mode is nothing more than child’s play against the lab’s security.
You need a special password to get through the gate. Let’s head back to the city and try to get our hands on it.
Akira: Do you have something in mind?
Cain: Yeah. This is just my gut speaking, but.......
I think Rustica used to be a researcher at Vollmond Laboratory.
Chapter 11 << | index | >> Chapter 13
Cain: Arthur was just like any other human. It wasn’t just his appearance, but even his expressions and mannerisms — it almost seemed like he had a real heart.
Akira: A heart.......
Cain: The mission details were to watch over Arthur’s first errand.
Assist-Roids are equipped with basic self-defense programming. Obviously, since they’re luxury items.
And yet, Arthur was reckless, full of curiosity, and had a strong sense of adventure. He didn’t care about protecting his own safety at all.
I was so confused. I thought he was malfunctioning. But Arthur.......
He was just listening to the voice of his own heart. Just as we humans do.
The beams from the air cars and airbikes blur into countless lights, flashing by the edges of my vision. Gradually, the number of lights decreases.
The highway stretches out into the darkness. We head away from the shopping district, and into the outskirts of town.
Cain: I met Arthur many more times after that. Arthur is the type that can change his age. He was sometimes a youth, and sometimes a young man.
I gradually started to enjoy escorting him. I grew to like Arthur, and looked forward to meeting him.
So I said, without thinking much of it, “You don’t seem like an Assist-Roid. It’s like you have a heart, Arthur.”
Akira: ............
Cain: ......That was the last I saw of Arthur. We stopped getting requests for escort missions. I don’t even know how to contact him.
Cain casts his eyes downwards despondently. The light in his gaze wavers with an emotion somewhere between regret and loneliness.
Cain: .....Chloe was the same just now. He prioritized his own heart and acted according to his own will instead of obeying Rustica.
But Rustica didn’t say anything. Wherever I turn, everyone just stays silent when it’s brought up.
Are you the same? Do you also know the secret in this city — one that I’m not aware of?
Akira: Huh......?
Cain laughs, the corners of his mouth lifting. It would almost sound cynical...... If not for the strangely lonely, sulky expression on his face.
Cain: Are you also going to leave me behind and disappear too?
I blink. I fumble for words, pause, and then laugh.
Of course he would feel left out.
He’s protecting this city, and yet he doesn’t know its true form.
He’s like a prince who knows only the princess by her shoe.
Cain: .....Hey. Don’t laugh at me.
Akira: Sorry. Somehow, you’re the one who seems like a lost child.
Cain: Haha, even though I’m the officer here...... You’re right. I have to take you home, Akira. ......Sorry for dragging you into such a mess.
Akira: That’s right. Without you, Cain, I wouldn’t even know how to get home.
Cain shoots me a curious sideways glance. I laugh jokingly, throwing out my chest.
Akira: I’m not keeping secrets from you, and I’m not going to leave you behind, Cain. I might not be useful, but I am on your side.
Cain laughs happily like a child.
Cain: You’re not useless at all. But it’d be fine even if you were.
Akira: Even though I’m a robot? Robots should be useful to humans......
Cain: Legally, Assist-Roids are our friends. I don’t choose my friends based on whether they’re useful or not.
I choose the guys I get along with. And I feel like we’d get along, Akira.
Akira: That makes me happy. So this means...... My programming and yours are a good match. ......Is that a weird thing to say?
Cain: Ahaha! It’s not weird at all. What an awesome program. I might just get hooked.
Akira: Ahaha. When you keep praising me, it doesn’t feel that bad being a robot.
I laugh, feeling refreshed for some reason.
Whether human or robot, I’m still me. Even if my feelings are lines of code written by someone else. Even if this entire world is a lie.
I am still the one experiencing this moment in time.
Who knows if this world is real or fake? What matters are these emotions — swaying, leaping, bursting, and dancing within my heart.
Akira: Cain. Let’s go meet Owen again. I don’t want that to be our goodbye.
Cain: Of course. I still have to treat him to a CBSC. I promised him, after all.
We exchange smiles. Then Cain’s breath hitches.
Bradley’s car swerves off the highway, heading towards a row of giant institutions.
Akira: (What’s with that place over there....... It’s neither an industrial nor residential area. But there’s a uniformity to those buildings, and it makes me feel curiously comfortable ......)
Cain: ......It’s the Vollmond Laboratory.
Akira: Vollmond Laboratory? The one introduced on the news just now?
Cain: Yeah...... It’s a research institute that holds more authority than the mayor. In the past, this city used to be centered around academic institutions.
After Vollmond Academy was established, the number of universities and research institutes increased and the city flourished.
The chairman on the board of the Vollmond Research Institute is a descendant of the academy’s founder. That bunch is the cream of the crop of the upper class.
This just got trickier...... My stealth mode is nothing more than child’s play against the lab’s security.
You need a special password to get through the gate. Let’s head back to the city and try to get our hands on it.
Akira: Do you have something in mind?
Cain: Yeah. This is just my gut speaking, but.......
I think Rustica used to be a researcher at Vollmond Laboratory.
Chapter 11 << | index | >> Chapter 13