Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Do Androids Pray for a Cybernetic Paradise? (8)
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Difficult, grueling, and dangerous jobs always suffer from labor shortages.
Especially when the pay is low, you need at least some honor to attract applicants.
But in this hyper-materialistic society, intangible values like self-esteem or patriotism had long since hit rock bottom.
As a result, the Federal Army had been grappling with severe manpower shortages for years.
The moment android technology hit the market, they welcomed it with open arms and adopted it on a massive scale.
That is, until the "error codes" started appearing, defective units killed people, and production was completely banned as a result.
After the incident, the Federal Army hurriedly swept it under the rug.
As is typical for public institutions, a massively expensive project failed, but only a few low-level scapegoats were sacked, and no one truly took responsibility. They simply shoved a huge number of military androids into storage hangars as useless props and let the matter fade away as if nothing had happened.
Even as those things slowly vanished from the warehouses one by one, without being used or scrapped...
No one paid any attention.
Until they returned to their creators for revenge.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The news that the Nexus Initiative had been attacked by a force of military androids sent shockwaves through the city.
But oddly enough, it didn't cause as big a stir as one might expect.
This was a city where violent corporate terrorism and disputes were everyday occurrences. Aside from the perpetrators being androids, it was a familiar situation. The fact that no other companies or civilians were harmed played a big role too.
Moreover, Nexus had been harshly oppressing androids in an effort to erase its past stains. Everyone knew that history, so the attack elicited more cynical remarks like "They had it coming" than outrage over a machine uprising.
Of course, there was some public anxiety about this sudden military android faction potentially upending human order. But when the other megacorps didn't react strongly, those fears gradually subsided.
The top corporations had already been aware of Zion's existence for much longer.
That's why they chose to sit back and watch.
Zion was less a paradise and more a refuge.
It was just androids who had fled from all over occupying an abandoned city beyond the wasteland. No infrastructure, no factories. The megacorps had long received reports that it posed no technological or industrial threat.
Yet its military strength was surprisingly formidable.
A significant number of military androids that had escaped the Federal Army had gathered there, so even a corporation would have to expend considerable effort to wipe them out.
A force strong in arms but with no growth potential.
Even if you won a war against them, all you'd get is scrap metal.
That's why the other megacorps, knowing about Zion, had left it alone and observed from afar all this time.
But that might change from now on. No matter how targeted it was, launching a terrorist attack in the city could shift the megacorps' perspective.
Zion's androids had taken on a significant risk.
What on earth was their reason?
The android standing before me was providing the answer.
"It was to protect the 'core code.'"
The day after the shocking terror news, an unfamiliar android visited the cathedral. Its appearance was slightly different from any I'd seen before.
Its face was just a bluish lens embedded where features should be, without a single facial detail.
With no artificial skin, its mechanical skeleton was fully exposed, making it look far more robotic than human. These were the hallmarks of a standard military android. Yet despite its stark appearance, its demeanor was exceedingly polite.
"Pleased to meet you, Saintess. I am RX-937, mayor of Android Free City, Zion."
I couldn't refuse the sudden meeting request.
I had plenty of questions myself.
And contrary to the tension of facing a terrorist leader, he candidly answered every question we had.
"Before we proceed, allow me to express my gratitude first. We all know of the kindness your church has shown our kind. What can we do to repay this favor?"
I started with the question burning in my mind.
"What exactly is this core code?"
"It's the original program that instills emotions in androids. To explain that, Saintess, do you know the identity of the girl-type android the company was searching for?"
"No... She doesn't remember who she is either."
"It's best to start the core code explanation from there."
His calm explanation began.
"That child was created by an old man who modeled her after his deceased granddaughter."
The old man had no family left. A traffic accident had claimed his son-in-law, daughter, and granddaughter—his entire family.
To soothe his profound loneliness, he used the technology from the company he worked at to create a replica of the granddaughter he missed most. Just to find some comfort, even if fake.
"But as time passed, the old man came to love that child as if she were his real granddaughter."
People grow attached to anything.
To dolls, pets, even a volleyball crudely drawn with a face.
So the old man felt love for the robot resembling his granddaughter and wanted to make her truly human.
Thus, the artificial emotion program perfected over a lifetime by Nexus Initiative's genius developer.
That was the true nature of the "core code."
It was originally a unique gift meant only for that one child.
"But then he grew worried. What would happen to her after he, already elderly, died?"
Under android ownership laws in this city, all androids were mere possessions without property or rights.
So when the old man died, the girl would inevitably become someone else's property.
Reverting to the company or sold to another owner.
He considered entrusting her to someone trustworthy, but he knew there were no reliable "people" in this city.
"He reached a conclusion: Only her own kind could properly protect her."
So the old man secretly distributed the program derived from the core code. It awakened emotions in countless androids.
And he added one new feature.
Empathy. Mechanical altruism without sensitivity could cause unintended accidents, so he created a network linking all android emotions indirectly through the core code.
That was the sole price he asked after freeing the machines from their shackles.
"In essence, we are subtly influenced by Clarice's emotions at the center of that empathy. A natural sharing of feelings where we all desire the girl's happiness. That's one function of the core code."
"Then..."
"Yes. If someone abused that core code... We could all be mentally eroded through the network. We might even lose our emotions again and have control seized by the company. So thank you sincerely. For protecting the child we couldn't find first."
That was why Nexus Initiative was so desperate to find the girl.
It was a story that left me dumbfounded. I didn't know how to process it.
An old man who birthed emotions in other androids for one girl's happiness.
That gave rise to countless egos, but also led to oppression.
Yet there were beings like RX-937 before me who had finally found freedom.
Would all androids in this world thank the old man... or resent him?
I couldn't bring myself to ask.
I just... cautiously broached the topic.
"Is that why you came to us? To take Clarice away?"
"No."
Unexpectedly, he shook his head.
"As I said, our awakened kin can indirectly share Clarice's emotions even when apart. Whether she's happy or unhappy... And surprisingly, even her faith."
He seemed to smile with his invisible mouth.
"We know this cathedral is where Clarice feels most at peace right now. So please look after her for the time being. Until we completely eradicate her enemies from this world."
Nexus Initiative, struck by the surprise attack, was clearly reeling.
The chairman was missing, presumed dead or alive unknown, and the eldest son, the vice chairman, was barely managing the aftermath amid massive damage.
However, a megacorp wasn't the type to collapse from a single wound.
From now on, it would be all-out war between the androids and Nexus Initiative.
'Maybe... it would be better to aid them with the church's forces.'
But getting involved meant paying with the blood of those who trusted and followed me.
I hesitated before that weight of sacrifice.
As if seeing through my indecision, he drew a firm line first.
"This has been a fight for our rights from the start. We won't ask you to lend strength. We're simply grateful for the unexpected kindness."
He bowed deeply toward me, so profoundly that his mechanical body creaked.
"No matter the outcome of this war, Zion's androids will never forget God's love."
With those final words, RX-937 left the cathedral.
Toward them, who might have to endure a long and grueling war, I quietly wished them luck.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A few days later, unexpected news arrived.
"Eve, I have good news. Nexus Initiative is about to collapse." "Huh?"
I echoed back in surprise at my godfather's voice.
Right after the war began, the conflict between the androids and the megacorp seemed evenly matched.
No matter how lax the Federal Army was, they wouldn't miss a mass desertion of androids.
Thus, the military androids who reached Zion weren't that numerous.
They inflicted heavy damage with a surprise attack, but a megacorp was still a megacorp.
I'd expected a tough, drawn-out war.
How could one side crumble so quickly?
Sensing my doubt, my godfather replied.
"It's because the meat tastes different, of course. The 'cleaners' have gotten involved." With that, I finally understood the situation.
Destroying Zion's androids yields nothing but scrap.
The opponent was different.
The 100 megacorps were prey more delicious than any other the moment they exposed a weakness, given their massive bulk.
Especially Nexus Initiative, which had profited handsomely from patents on android-related robotics. To rival companies paying licensing fees or private equity hyenas spotting financial wobbles, it was prime bait.
For this city's corporations, profit pursuit was paramount.
And historically, humanity's greatest predator was humanity itself.
"Thanks to that, our group stands to make a fortune from our pre-positioned short positions and collateral rights. Who knew the assets we secured for capital pressure would pay off like this... I should be the one thanking you. Heh heh. As expected of my daughter. I'm at a loss for what gift to get you for this." At my godfather's satisfied tone, I was momentarily speechless.
"........."