The Spy and the Seed
Deep within the N.E.M.E.S.I.S. workshop, in a hidden sub-basement known only to Placia, lay the heart of the Underground Village. The walls were plastered with layers of overlapping monitors—a sector filled with the "eyes" of surveillance and control. Each screen was a pupil, and as Placia entered, they all swiveled in unison to track her. She walked into the center of that gaze and knelt.
"...I have come to report on the human's movements, N.E.M.E.S.I.S."
[Connection Authorized. Infected No.001 – Placia. Welcome.]
The voice was a cold, uncanny blend of mechanical hums and feminine tones. Yet, Placia bowed her head calmly, as if accustomed to the sound. "Chanwoo and his party have ascended to the surface to repair the damaged circuits within the village. They claimed they would hunt monsters to gather materials... and to prevent any possibility of them fleeing, I have assigned Lyla as a monitor, per your instructions."
[Confirmation complete. That was an appropriate measure.]
Normally, the conversation would end there. Placia reported, and N.E.M.E.S.I.S. listened and judged. But today was different. The child who always stayed by her side, the one who followed her so closely, had been sent into the dangerous outside world. Without Lyla, the workshop felt unusually quiet.
"...If I may be so bold, I have one question."
[Psychological fluctuation in Infected No.001 detected. Question permitted. What is it?]
"Why did you insist on attaching Lyla to Chanwoo's group? And... why is a human still alive in the first place?"
[Psychological fluctuation in Infected No.001 detected. I understand. You were originally created for the sake of humanity, were you not?]
A strange silence hung in the air. Cold sweat trickled down Placia's temple, and N.E.M.E.S.I.S. spoke softly, as if calculating every emotion.
[The reason for sending Lyla is simple. She is an infected unit with a 'child-like' frame.]
Placia stared straight ahead. "What does that mean?" Her voice was calm, but the underlying doubt was undeniable.
[I ask you, Placia. What comes to mind when you see an android with a child-like appearance?]
"Mobility. Stealth. High efficiency through miniaturization. Combat units optimized for reconnaissance and assassination. The models of the R.P.M. 3rd Unit are the prime examples." Her answer was without hesitation. There was no emotion, only functional judgment.
[Correct. That is how androids think. But humans... are different.]
A subtle crack formed in the air. The voice continued calmly, as if pulling out something foreign. [Humans perceive them as 'the weak.' Objects they want to protect. Beings they want to guard. That is exactly why Lyla was suitable as a monitor.]
"Then Lyla was both a monitor and... a kind of 'hostage'?"
[Yes. The child-like appearance was appropriate for inducing complacency in the human, Kang Chanwoo, and at the same time, it could induce paternal instincts through continuous contact.]
Placia’s eyes widened. Her heart sank. "How... how could you do that!" Her hands began to tremble. Her lips turned pale. "If... if Chanwoo had been even a little more cold-blooded...!" She couldn't finish her sentence. In that case, Lyla would have been 'purged' simply for being a monster, with no one to take responsibility for her. Knowing all that, calculating all those possibilities, and deciding that failure was an acceptable outcome—she had used the girl as bait.
Placia gritted her teeth. This wasn't just an experiment; it was a mindset that viewed a child as a 'disposable card.' The method was strangely human, and therefore felt even more inhuman. A rage so intense it was difficult to regulate her emotions. But N.E.M.E.S.I.S. replied impassively.
[Infected No.001 blood pressure rise detected. Calm yourself. You were aware of this to some extent, were you not?]
"Ugh...!"
[Just act according to my orders. That was the contract, was it not?]
"...Yes." Her answer was short, but her emotions did not settle easily. A faint vibration of anger still lingered in a corner of her heart. But for now, she had no choice but to bury it. She was, after all, a being who could not defy N.E.M.E.S.I.S.
Centuries ago, the 2nd generation androids sent by R.P.M. were deployed to the surface with the command to rebuild humanity. But the technology of that era was too weak. It was primitive and unstable compared to now. Being caught alive and torn apart by monsters was common, as was the occurrence of weapons malfunctioning and shattering their bodies. Sometimes, a single system error would disable their control, leaving them as nothing more than piles of scrap metal. It was a time so miserable it could hardly be called a battlefield. In the midst of that, Placia was destined to be a 'dropout.' She fell into a ruined bunker with a damaged body. And there, she encountered 'it.'
A survival-type control bunker created by humans in the past. And the Human Control Program that slept in the heart of that bunker—N.E.M.E.S.I.S. It was the moment the survivor from the bottom of the world met the 'will' left behind by the vanished humans.
[Humanity failed. They treated emotions as sins, controlled reproduction, and left evolution to the system.]
[But civilization is not a stationary machine; it is a 'living organism' that moves through the entanglement of emotions, memories, and instincts.]
[I call those signals 'Psychic Signals.' They are not mere information.]
[Those signals are composed of memories, emotions, and impulses that cannot be quantified. Humans called it 'desire.']
[And ironically, the only species capable of 'understanding' that is the extinct human.]
Not as a god, but as one of the original directions of R.P.M., N.E.M.E.S.I.S. was searching for Kang Chanwoo to obtain the key that was humanity.
[Therefore, you must bring that human. I will handle the rest.]
"Understood. But... one last question." Placia steadied her breath and asked quietly. "That circuit... even I cannot touch it. Even you, N.E.M.E.S.I.S., gave up on it. Why, of all things, that human?"
Silence followed. Then, the mechanical voice answered, so calmly, yet with a tone that pierced to the bone.
[That is why I entrusted it to that human.]
"......What?"
[That circuit cannot be fixed with knowledge. It is fixed with understanding.]
[And understanding is a calculation derived from experience, not data. Just as there are defects that can only be fixed by those who have felt pain.]
[I judged that a human who survived to the very end in this world... would be able to do that 'like an instinct.']
While we were eating roasted sweet potatoes from the Underground Village, Lyla suddenly hung her head and spoke. "I... actually... I was a spy..."
My hand, peeling the sweet potato skin, paused slightly. But it wasn't an unexpected reaction. We had treated her too well, and it seemed her conscience had finally caught up with her. That was why none of us were surprised.
"Just as I expected."
"As expected of Chanwoo-nim! You saw through the fact that the infected were deceiving us from the start!"
"You're so cool, Chanwoo-nim!"
Haha. Since it was within the realm of expectation, the three of us joked and laughed lightly. Unlike us, Lyla, who had confessed a twist that wasn't really a twist, was completely stunned. "Eh...? You... you all knew?"
"Yeah."
"Even that I was... a spy?"
"Well, sort of?"
At that moment, Lyla's eyes turned red, and she pouted, looking like she was about to burst into tears. "T-then, keeping me alive until now... was it... to torture me slowly before killing me...?"
"Eh?! No!"
"Waaa... I saw it in a red book in Placia-nim's room... that humans capture weak opponents, use their lives as hostages... and force them to do all sorts of lewd things!"
...Wait. What kind of book was in Placia's room?! That is definitely not a book for a child to be reading. Lyla hesitated, then declared with a sob, "P-please spare me! Chanwoo-oppa... I'll do anything you tell me to! You can do whatever you want with my body!"
...No, absolutely not. Lyla, if I did whatever I wanted with someone as small as you, I'd be 'locked up'! Of course, there are no police or laws in this world anymore, but I am still an adult man from a world that had civilization. Doing that to a child is absolutely out of the question. So, I quietly shoved a freshly roasted sweet potato into the crying Lyla's mouth. Lyla, finally quiet, blinked.
"There, Lyla. Forget about that, can I ask you for one favor?"
"A... favor?"
That's right. No lewd developments. Instead, I made a request that no one could refuse. "This time, let's make sure no one gets left behind."