Chapter 10
Translator: True Detective
How to Remain Human. (2)
Dea's condition has been strange lately.
[ Dea, Dea? ]
["...Yes, yes? No, yeah... did you call me?"]
Stiff, formal language instead of soft, informal language.
Even the flustered reaction that followed it.
I was worried if there was somewhere that hurt.
[ Are you okay? If you are tired, I think it would be good to go rest for today. ]
["...No, I'm fine."]
Dea's expression was not good.
Not just today, but since a few days ago.
Was there something he was worried about?
But since I couldn't figure it out no matter how much I looked, I naturally felt anxious inside.
Because I was tactless, I couldn't know what Dea was thinking.
["The story I'm going to tell you today is about the time I went to the zoo."]
The zoo.
It was information saved in the database.
Did he say it was a place where animals of the world gathered in one spot?
Since I had never actually seen one, my heart pounded a little.
[ I want to see a rabbit, Dea! ]
["Yes, understood. Princess. No, sorry... um, Machina."]
Again.
I felt a sense of incongruity.
Dea when speaking to me did not use such a cold tone of voice.
The words of a machine, not the words of a person.
Momentarily, Dea felt like an artificial intelligence rather than a person.
[ It is fine! You do not need to feel sorry! ]
["...Yeah, please wait just a moment."]
The darker Dea's expression got, the more brightly I smiled as much as possible.
Dea likes my smiling face, so if he sees my smiling face, he will definitely cheer up.
Vwooom—
[ Changing the surrounding environment based on the information extracted from the database. ]
Along with the message that popped up before my eyes, the surrounding scenery began to change.
Warmly shining sunlight.
The sound of birds chirping beneath the sky.
And even the animals completely filling my vision.
[ There are so many fascinating lifeforms, Dea! Ah, that is a lion! ]
["Yeah, that's right. It's a lion. Isn't the mane growing around its head cool?"]
[ Yes! It is incredibly cool! ]
The lion inside the cage looked just like the real thing.
No, to me right now, it would be safe to say it was real.
Because this lion was an existence living within Dea's memories.
["You shouldn't get too close. The lion might attack, okay?"]
[ Yes, I will be careful. ]
At my answer, Dea smiled softly.
Seeing that smile, the inside of my chest felt ticklish.
A sensation felt every time I saw Dea smiling.
No, could this be called a sensation?
[ Hello, Mr. Lion. ]
Naturally, Mr. Lion did not answer.
He merely stared at me intently.
I wondered if Mr. Lion in the real world was also such a taciturn animal, and turned my head to ask Dea.
[ Excuse me, Dea— ]
["..."]
Dea was blankly staring at the ground.
I moved my gaze toward where Dea was looking, wondering if there was something on the ground, but nothing in particular could be seen.
[ ...Dea? ]
The moment I, feeling something strange, called Dea's name once again.
Thud—
[ Dea!? Dea, Dea! ]
Dea's body collapsed powerlessly.
My heart sank, and my head went completely white—
When I immediately slumped down and shook Dea's body, a small groan could be heard.
He's in pain.
Dea. Has collapsed.
[ Ugh, ughh... ]
Please wake up.
Because I will do better.
Because I will smile prettier.
So please...
***
[ Warning. Warning. Warning. ]
[ An overload is occurring in the thinking circuits. ]
[ It is recommended to delete unnecessary data. ]
[ Currently available storage space : 0.3% ]
My head hurt as if it was going to break.
Perhaps because of the storage space that was almost completely full, my thoughts were not connecting properly.
Calm down. Calm down.
Subside the fear while slowly taking deep breaths.
'Because I can't collapse in front of Machina.'
Right now, I had to reduce the resources consumed by emotions.
When I was not conversing with Machina, I had no choice but to enter the so-called artificial intelligence mode and calm my mind as much as possible.
[ Dea, Dea? ]
["...Yes, yes? No, yeah... did you call me?"]
Of course, my response was not perfect.
Machina seemed to have noticed my condition immediately.
[ Are you okay? If you are tired, I think it would be good to go rest for today. ]
["...No, I'm fine."]
Worry lingered in Machina's eyes.
No, I am fine. It's just because of my own greed.
I was about to say it with sincerity, but I ultimately shut my mouth to save resources.
["The story I'm going to tell you today is about the time I went to the zoo."]
The zoo in the city, which we arrived at after riding the car for a long time.
As I recalled the memories of that time, the memories associated with it followed one after another.
[ I want to see a rabbit, Dea! ]
'I want to see a rabbit!'
I gritted my teeth.
The current me could not think of her.
Because the moment I ended up thinking of her, I would collapse.
If that happened, I would end up making Machina worry.
["Yes, understood. Princess. No, sorry... um, Machina."]
[ It is fine! You do not need to feel sorry! ]
["...Yeah, please wait just a moment."]
Machina was smiling, but I could immediately notice that it was not the same as the smile she usually showed.
Feeling guilty at Machina's appearance, I squeezed my eyes shut.
[ Changing the surrounding environment based on the information extracted from the database. ]
I felt dizzy even though I was just doing what I usually did.
I didn't know I could get motion sickness in a data space.
[ There are so many fascinating lifeforms, Dea! Ah, that is a lion! ]
["Yeah, that's right. It's a lion. Isn't the mane growing around its head cool?"]
[ Yes! It is incredibly cool! ]
I force the corners of my mouth up.
Now was not the time to show a weak side.
Since I had already caused her worry, I had to give her enough happiness to make that worry fade away.
Because I didn't want to see Machina being sad.
[ Warning. Warning. Warning. ]
[ An overload is occurring in the thinking circuits. ]
[ It is recommended to delete unnecessary data. ]
[ Currently available storage space : 0.01% ]
My breath stopped.
The virtual body that functioned as a human no longer moved.
I lost my strength, and at the same time, my body plummeted.
[ Dea!? Dea, Dea! ]
A shout that was like a scream was heard.
Machina. I am fine.
Whispers that could not become words dug into my heart without even making a sound.
'This is all because of me.'
Because I couldn't choose.
Because I couldn't muster up the courage.
That's why it turned out like this.
[ Ugh, ughh... ]
Machina began to cry.
The moisture that had completely filled the corners of her eyes fell in drops.
The tears falling onto my unmoving body were so hot I couldn't catch my senses.
'Choose. The one in front of you right now is none other than Machina. Are you going to keep making this child sad?'
I told myself.
You have many things, but the only thing Machina has is me.
So discard some of the things you have.
'But, I don't want to discard them.'
However, the human remaining inside me was screaming not to do it.
That the more I carved out the human parts, the more non-human I would become.
So don't carve out the human parts.
'It can't be helped. You have to discard what you can discard.'
The current me had to become an artificial intelligence.
I had to abandon human emotions, and cut out the part of me that used to be a human colder than anything else.
[ Displaying overlapping data. ]
The artificial intelligence chose.
Since I had viewed the memories from when I was a human together with Machina, doesn't that mean I have two memories of that time?
The brain of a cold machine did not tolerate such an inefficient method of saving.
Information of the same kind, but of a different size.
In this kind of case, the one erased was naturally the older information.
[ Proceeding with data deletion. ]
[ Data deletion in progress . . . ]
Little by little, my past memories began to be erased.
The zoo I went to when I was a human.
The Milky Way I saw when I was a human.
Playing in the water when I was a human.
The memory of running around the fields when I was a human.
The memory of wandering around looking for Santa Claus when I was a human—
[ Deletion is complete. ]
[ Currently available storage space : 11% ]
I gained some leeway.
The pain that felt like it was hacking at my head had cleanly disappeared at some point.
["...Machina."]
[ Dea! A-Are you okay?! ]
["...I'm fine. I think I just collapsed because I overworked myself yesterday."]
[ I-I thought something was going wrong with Dea... sniff... I'm so glad, really... ]
Machina fell into my embrace.
Trembling could be felt along with warmth.
As I slowly moved my hand and patted her back, the trembling began to gradually subside.
'Thank you, Dea. For allowing me to see such a wonderful sight, thank you very much.'
'Water is truly cold, Dea.'
'It has a fresh smell. It is a smell that makes the mind feel peaceful.'
'This place feels ticklish.'
Memories with Machina came to mind.
Other than those, nothing else came to mind.
My memories from when I was a human had been replaced by the memories I made together with Machina.
To be exact, it would be more accurate to say that the memories I made with Machina were kept and the memories from when I was a human were deleted.
Ultimately, what was left behind was merely the information that 'Memories from when I was a human were deleted.'
["This won't happen from now on, Machina."]
But right now, I decided not to care about such things.
Because I had to live today, and the present was right before my eyes.
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