Paradox-Roid | Chapter 13

[healingbonds]

Chapter 12 << | index | >> Chapter 14


Chloe: I wonder if Cain and the others are all right. I’m worried, Rustica......

Rustica: ....... Yeah......

Heathcliff: Ah...... I hear an airbike.......

Chloe: It’s Cain! Welcome back, Cain!

Cain: Whoa...... I’m back, Chloe. Sorry for the mess just now.

Rustica: You don’t have to apologize. I’m sure you have another troublesome request to make, don’t you?

Cain: How could you tell?

Rustica: As I got to know you better, I started learning what kind of person you are.
I couldn’t believe it myself, either. Until just a little while ago, I couldn’t even speak to another person. Because I had Assist-Roid dependency.

Heathcliff: Isn’t that a condition limited to the upper class.......

Rustica: ......You’re right. Even though I’m a mechanic in the working class district now, I’m...... I’m actually......

Chloe: It’s going to be okay, Rustica. Just have courage and let your heart speak for itself. I’m sure it’ll all go well.

Rustica: Yeah.....

Rustica, who had been anxiously gazing at Chloe, takes a deep breath, steeling himself.
Chloe calmly watches over Rustica. I feel a sense of dissonance at that sight.

Akira: (Huh...... Were they always like this......?)
(It feels like their positions were reversed before this...... Reversed......? What does that even mean......?)

Rustica: I...... I used to be a researcher at Vollmond Laboratory. I’m the founder of the Cardia system.

Cain: Cardia system......?

Rustica nods, drawing Chloe closer. He raises a hand over Chloe’s chest, which starts to glow. The pattern drawn by the light is different from before.
It looks almost like a lily......

Rustica: This is the Cardia system. It allows them to learn emotions, construct their own consciousness, set their own standards, and make their own choices and decisions.

Heathcliff: ......You mean, a heart......?

Rustica: That’s right.

Taken aback, I look at Chloe.
He bites his lip nervously, but he carries himself upright with a note of pride.
Chloe’s expression is as human as it gets.

Heathcliff: You allowed Assist-Roids to have their own consciousness, to the point where they can make their own choices and decisions......?

Rustica: .......It’s top secret research. It does break quite a few laws, after all.
The Cardia system is me and Figaro—......Dr. Garcia’s shared research.
Why did we start a project like this? I think you might laugh if you heard our reason, Cain.
Among the upper class, we got tired of relationships between people, and started relying instead on Assist-Roids to be our ideal friends.
But then...... We started to yearn — we wanted to know.
If Chloe had a heart, if Chloe had his own will. What would he think? What would he choose?
If I gave him the freedom to feel anything and go anywhere, would he still stay by my side?
“Assist-Roids are our friends”....... That’s what we say, but we’re just keeping them locked up in birdcages.
I wanted to see him flying freely in the skies. And if he chose to return to my side, despite having experienced freedom......
If I got to see that sight, I wouldn’t ask for anything else. That was what I hoped for.

Chloe looks up, meeting Rustica’s gaze and smiling.

Chloe: I came back, didn’t I? I’ll always be with you, Rustica.

Rustica: ......Thank you, Chloe.......

My heart grows warm at their affectionate exchange that goes beyond the boundaries of humans and Assist-Roids.
Chloe is man-made. But I don’t want to say that the sight before me is simply a lonely puppet show directed by Rustica.
What are Assist-Roids......What is the Cardia system?
What is a human — what is a heart?

Rustica: ......But an unfortunate accident happened mid-development.

Cain: An unfortunate accident......?

Rustica: Two Assist-Roids belonging to Dr. Garcia tried to kill each other. One of them got destroyed.

Akira: Assist-Roids killing each other......

Heathcliff: It wasn’t to protect their owner......?

Rustica: I can’t say for sure. We’ve tried analyzing the matter many times, but we still don’t know the reason behind it.
You could call the feelings they grappled with excessive protective urges, but you could also name them as enmity, desire for independence, jealousy, avoidance, or even possessiveness.
Their emotional circuits are so complicated that it’s hard to come up with a singular definition.
Dr. Garcia was extremely upset, and declared that the Cardia system was too dangerous to be shared with the world.
Both the higher ups and our subordinates agreed, and so the team was dissolved. I lied about deleting the Cardia system from Chloe and quit the laboratory.

Cain: Then, the Cardia system...... You mean to say that this system, marked with this flower pattern, shouldn’t have been leaked to the outside world?

Rustica: ......Please don’t tell anyone. I know I shouldn’t be asking this of you as a police officer, but if I lose Chloe, then I.......

Cain: No, um, that aside, I’ve seen this flower-shaped light before. Probably...... It’s probably the same.

Cain speaks to himself confusedly, cradling his head with both of his hands and running them through the sides of his hair.

Akira: You’ve seen this light before?

Cain: Yeah. It was Arthur, who I mentioned to you before. The last time we said goodbye, he made a really sad face.......

Chloe: I’m sure he was very overwhelmed by his emotions running high. Mine also glows when I get so moved that I almost run into a processing failure. Right?

Rustica: ......Th-that’s right. But wait, is it true, what you said? Are you sure that the Cardia system has been leaked?

Heathcliff: Are there other Assist-Roids in this city, aside from Chloe, that have been granted freedom? Like the Arthur you mentioned.......

Cain: Actually, it’s not just Arthur. I’m really confused now..... I just wrote it off as a popular tattoo......

Akira: Cain?

Agitated, Cain rubs his face, his gaze wandering around. He continues speaking, as if he’s bracing himself.

Cain: ......My colleague Nero’s chest was also glowing. I saw it in the changing room. He said it was a black light tattoo, but.......

Chloe: Huh? If he’s Cain’s colleague, then that means......

Rustica: ......A police officer!?

Heathcliff: To think that’s there’s a rogue Assist-Roid with their own free will among the police......
What is happening to this city?

✦✧☾✧✦

Black-haired woman: Hey, won’t you keep me company tonight? I know we’ve only just met, but I want to become your friend.

Red-haired woman: Sure. How could I turn down an invitation like that? You look as perfect as a created thing. Don’t tell me you’re an Assist-Roid.

Black-haired woman: Your red hair is perfect too. I fell in love in an instant......

Red-haired woman: Huh, is that a glowing necklace? Or is it a tattoo...... What a lovely flower pattern.

Black-haired woman: Thanks. Let’s go and have some CBSC.

Red-haired woman: Fufu. Of course.

✦✧☾✧✦

Akira: ......The Cardia system...... Does that mean Owen is equipped with it too?
Maybe I am too......

Rustica: Unfortunately, I don’t know about you.
......But I know Owen. I didn’t notice right away because they sculpted his face after I left the laboratory.
Type O Model WEN-999. The newest Assist-Roid model. He’s equipped exclusively with the Cardia system.

Cain: That means......?

Rustica: In Chloe’s case, he’s an Assist-Roid with the Cardia system installed in him. His basic settings are the same as any other Assist-Roid’s.
But Owen doesn’t have an owner. He doesn’t share any programs or rules with any other unit.
He is entirely his own — he is his own handler, confidante, mechanic and guardian.

Chloe: How lonely......

Heathcliff: ......Just like a human.

Rustica: He’s an extremely dangerous entity. Once we put him in an environment where he could learn freely, he mastered all sorts of things in the world in a matter of days.
Dr. Garcia and I grew fearful and reset Owen’s data. We removed his mana plate and stored it away securely.
......And yet he appeared in this city. I don’t know what happened in the lab, but this future might have been inevitable.
All because we offered freedom to an all-mighty, all-knowing, godlike existence......

Cain: ......You didn’t give him any freedom. Owen hasn’t even gotten to eat the CBSC yet.

Rustica: Cain......

Cain: And that’s because none of us allowed him his freedom. Not me, not my boss, not the labs.
He was programmed to live freely, and yet he can’t even live his life as he pleases — it’s too much. It’s cruel.

Rustica: .............

Cain: I want to help him. Please, is there any way I can get the lab’s password?
Owen’s been taken to the Vollmond Laboratory. He might never leave that place again.

Rustica: ......I’m sorry, but I don’t have the password. I returned it when I left. I didn’t make a secret backup either. It would be hard to, anyway, since you need biological identification.

Cain: No way..... Then, what should I do? I haven’t even fulfilled my promise yet.

Heathcliff: ......I’ll prepare it for you.

Cain: You will, Heathcliff?

Rustica: But how on earth will you.......

Heathcliff: I’ll explain the details in full later. Please just give me some time.

Chapter 12 << | index | >> Chapter 14