Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Do Androids Pray to the Cybernetic Heaven? (5)
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One corner of the cathedral office. A low voice echoed softly.
"Lately, unfamiliar androids have been spotted frequently in the back alleys of the outskirts."
The priest continued his report, handing over documents containing photos from the scene.
"The strange thing is, someone has been chasing them down and recovering them back into the city."
I tilted my head and asked back.
"That's definitely... odd. Androids are scattered all over the streets downtown too. Why bother chasing them all the way out here to capture them?"
In Omega Detroit, androids were treated no differently from roadside trash cans.
They provided labor, but due to widespread disdain, they were discarded. With no one willing to hire them properly, they scraped by on day labor, barely recharging their batteries day to day. Those that malfunctioned and shut down ended up as scrap picked up by junk dealers.
Wherever they were, wherever they went, no one paid them any mind.
Yet here was someone deliberately targeting them and coming out to the outskirts to retrieve them. It was suspicious. If it were just scavenging for parts, most androids operating in the city were outdated models from before production bans. It wasn't worth the effort to chase them this far for the value.
And right when we'd taken in that mysterious android girl at the cathedral... The timing felt a bit too coincidental.
The priest's report went on.
"From what we learned during the skirmishes, the pursuers seem to be mercenaries from downtown. But they're quite skilled, so we couldn't interrogate them enough to uncover who's pulling the strings."
"Hold on. Have we clashed with them ourselves?"
"Yes. There are reports of our guardians repelling those pursuers several times after they attacked church followers."
I tilted my head again and asked.
"Why would they attack our followers? Weren't their targets androids?"
"Because an android was mixed in among the followers who attend our cathedral."
The unexpected answer drew a startled voice from me.
"What? W-wait a minute. What does that mean? I don't quite follow... When did we decide to accept new androids into the church? Who made that call on their own?"
"That's not it, Saintess. The android in question who was attacked has been a follower with us since the early days of the church's founding."
"What?!"
The response was even more shocking.
From the very beginning? As I mulled over the meaning, realization dawned, and I urgently asked back.
"You don't mean... androids have already been living among the outskirts residents all this time?"
"Exactly. Even the neighbors had no idea. If those pursuers from the city hadn't scanned and attacked, that is. They must have been mistaken for androids who recently escaped downtown."
"That's..."
I couldn't hide my bewildered expression.
Until now, I'd thought the android issue was completely someone else's problem. Taking in the girl was just an exceptional case.
But they had already been our neighbors—and Radiance Church followers, no less.
After calming down and thinking it over, it made sense. Androids who had developed emotions couldn't tolerate their mistreatment and had been fleeing to various places for ages.
And the outskirts, teeming with people without proper IDs... was the perfect hideout for androids.
Moreover, androids were hard to distinguish from real humans by appearance alone. Unless you saw orange hydraulic fluid instead of red blood from a wound, or scanned them with specialized tools. In this neighborhood, no one would even think to suspect if someone was human or android.
So they had lived openly as neighbors and some of the church's followers.
Without this commotion, they never would have been exposed.
Learning this unexpected truth only complicated my thoughts further.
They had masqueraded as humans and slipped right into our fold.
Was their faith an act? Just to blend in without being discovered as machines?
Or was it genuine? Had they truly come seeking salvation to soothe their uneasy minds as sentient beings...?
If so, did we have a duty to protect them, no matter that they were androids?
My mind was a whirlwind.
"......."
I never imagined things would turn out like this. I'd drawn a clear line, thinking robot rights debates had nothing to do with us. But now it was directly tied to the church.
With some unknown force targeting outskirts androids, what exactly were we supposed to protect?
Until now, helping desperate people required no special justification. Risking danger to shield the weak from unfair hardships might come with costs to bear later... but it was never confusing. It even brought a sense of conviction.
But now that very foundation was shaking.
We had to redefine what a "desperate person" even meant.
What is a person? What was I supposed to protect in this city?
'My head hurts...'
I could only sigh.
Androids had already been in our church.
Could we call a machine's faith true faith? Was there any way to prove it?
Androids had long passed Turing tests with flying colors in terms of intelligence.
We could argue how close they were to humans, but could we ever prove it?
"......"
I stared blankly out the window.
There was the girl playing with kids her age, just like always.
Clarice, the android girl we'd taken into the cathedral a few days ago. We'd only observed her briefly, but she seemed like such a good child. Almost as if she'd been made to be loved.
If the real aim of those downtown mercenaries coming all the way to the outskirts to hunt androids was to find Clarice at our cathedral...
Should the church stand against them? Even without knowing who's behind it. Was it right to endure risks and sacrifices to protect that android girl?
"......"
I had no answer. But I couldn't just keep agonizing forever.
Not when an unknown threat was closing in.
If I hesitated too long, I'd miss the moment to choose.
At the very least, I needed intuitive proof I could use to convince everyone—and myself.
Right then, the girl playing outside tumbled down with a thud!
".....!"
She'd bumped into another kid horsing around. It was a pretty dramatic fall—even the other children froze for a moment, gauging the situation.
The child got back up but didn't cry. She just stared blankly at her knee.
"........"
Her scraped knee: thin orange hydraulic fluid dripped from the torn synthetic skin.
Watching that, I jumped from my seat and hurried down the stairs.
A short while later.
I knocked on the infirmary door. The caregiver, about to put a bandage on the child's knee, paused and turned.
"Oh, Saintess! What brings you here?"
"I saw Clarice fall outside the window earlier. Mind if I take a quick look at the injury? And there's something I'd like to discuss with her alone..."
"Of course. Take your time."
Click. The door closed. Confirming we were alone, I sat on the small chair in front of the girl.
"Clarice. It's been a while. How's life at the cathedral? Anything uncomfortable?"
The child shook her head.
"It's good.... Everyone treats me nicely. Playing with friends is fun too."
Her face flushed pink as she smiled. That innocent sight only weighed heavier on my heart.
The fact that I'd come here to test her pricked at my conscience.
But I steeled myself and got to the point.
"Mind if I... take a quick look at the wound?"
Clarice nodded readily. I leaned down to examine her knee.
Beneath the torn synthetic skin, thin orange hydraulic fluid pooled, with glimpses of inorganic components.
No matter how human she acted, she was unmistakably different from a living being.
That stark reality fueled my confusion.
'Is protecting her really the right thing?'
Half of me wanted to pretend I hadn't seen and let it slide.
The other half yearned for a clear answer right now.
Hiding my inner turmoil, I placed my fingertip on her wound.
"Sorry, could you close your eyes for a moment?"
"Okay."
The good child obeyed without question.
A moment later, I prayed silently in my mind.
A familiar glow filled the room before fading like mist.
Whoosh—
I slowly opened my eyes to check the result.
"......."
The wound on the girl's knee... was still torn open as before.
Not a bit healed.
I stood there speechless for a while. Clarice, still with eyes closed as instructed, asked in an uneasy voice.
"Is something... wrong? Or maybe..."
"No."
I forced a smile, took a bandage from the drawer, and carefully applied it over the wound.
"Nothing to worry about. It won't be an issue."
Thoroughly, so the truth underneath stayed hidden.
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Only after walking a long stretch down the infirmary hallway did I finally exhale the breath I'd been holding.
"Haa—"
What I'd just witnessed was surprising yet exactly as expected.
'The miracle didn't work on Clarice.'
The healing miracles I'd seen so far were near omnipotent.
They restored mechanical parts or cybernetics as long as they were part of a "person."
But why hadn't it worked on that child just now?
Were androids truly... not people? Did they lack souls?
If so, had the other androids baptized and praying in the church just been pretending to believe?
I was more confused than ever.
I'd acted to find a clear answer to my dilemma, but it only deepened the mystery.
'What... am I supposed to do?'
A few days passed like that.