A Child's Illusion
The AC Series was built for military use.
Whether they were planned for the military from the very beginning, I couldn't say. But they made their appearance during the war against F, and in truth, they had never been used for anything else.
But why did they have the personality and self-awareness of a young child?
For military purposes, almost any other persona would have been far more stable—a hot-blooded youth, a seasoned soldier, or perhaps a cold, calculating strategist.
Yet CC possessed a demeanor that was the absolute least suited for the military.
Why, of all things, a child?
"Good work today."
"Yeah, good work, rookie. See you tomorrow."
Having finished my shift, I left the Goblin's Forest and headed toward Maetan Plaza.
CC, claiming she was bored while I worked, had gone off to explore Intra-Maetan.
I sent her a message so we could log out.
> CC, let's go home. Come back to the plaza.
...No reply.
I sent another message.
> CC?
Hold on! I'll be right there!
A reply came back, sounding somewhat rushed.
I sat down on the edge of the fountain beneath the plaza's central statue and waited for her.
"She's not coming..."
> CC!!
I'm on my way! Just a second!
> Where are you? I'm coming to get you.
Instead of a text reply, a navigational arrow materialized in the air.
It pointed toward Intra-Maetan's Virtual Amusement Park, specifically the area with the rides.
"Hahaha!"
"Wait up! Wait for me!"
"Ah, you're too slow! Catch me if you can!"
The Sea of Clouds.
It was an attraction built from old online game data, where equipping a special cloak allowed you to ride the wind and soar above the clouds.
Since flying was a physical impossibility in the real world now, the experience of taking to the skies made it incredibly popular.
The Sea of Clouds featured a backdrop of brilliant blue sky choked with thick, fluffy white clouds. Darting between those clouds were three children.
They were playing tag, reaching out and chasing after one another's tails in a joyous, chaotic spiral.
And right in the middle of them was a short, stubby, blonde girl: CC.
"What on earth is she doing..."
I didn't actually need to ask.
It was obvious she was playing with the kids.
It was just a highly bizarre sight to see an AI playing tag with human children.
After soaring through the air for a while longer, CC finally spotted me and drifted down.
She manipulated her cloak with practiced ease, landing softly on the ground.
"Mister! You're here already?!"
Her face was flushed red, her hair was damp, and a light bead of sweat trickled down her cheek.
No matter how you looked at her, she was the spitting image of a child who had just run herself ragged having fun.
"Hey, who's that?"
"Is that your dad...? Wait, a goblin?"
The children she had been playing with landed right behind her.
They looked to be around CC's age—a boy and a girl, both dressed in neat, clean outfits.
CC unequipped her cloak and spoke to them.
"I have to go now. Let's finish our game next time."
"Already?"
The boy looked at me, his voice trailing off in disappointment.
But he quickly gave up and nodded.
"Okay, let's play again next time."
"Bye-bye!"
"See ya!"
The kids waved energetically as they parted ways.
I turned and started walking back toward Maetan Plaza.
CC caught up after finishing her goodbyes and fell into step beside me.
"Who were they?"
"Friends I made today! Wow, Mister, it's been so long since I've played with friends like that."
"You have friends?"
"Of course I do! Don't you, Mister?"
A few faces flashed through my mind. Heechul from Garden, my senior Goblins, Kang Yeolchan... and why the hell did the tracksuit girl pop up? Either way, none of them quite fit the definition of "friend."
I slowly shook my head.
"I... used to."
"I had old friends too. Did you know? There are seven of us in the AC Series."
I recalled hearing about that.
The cutting-edge processing units humanity had developed to combat F served as the core of the human military's strength.
Three Satellite Battleships drifting in orbit, Haemu's Fleet patrolling the seas, a mechanical angel guarding a human stronghold... and others I didn't know about. Seven or eight in total, perhaps.
"When the military's communication network was still active, we talked all the time. What we did today, what we were going to do tomorrow. They all had such strong personalities, and they were wonderful friends. I haven't been able to see them since the Satellite Battleship I was assigned to crashed... Come to think of it, I wonder what they're all up to now?"
"Were they all around your age too?"
"Yes! The AC Series was customized based on a single prototype. So our core personalities are similar. We all have the persona of a girl around ten years old, though our actual temperaments vary wildly."
CC rambled on.
It wasn't like she was usually quiet, but she rarely opened up about herself like this. She was clearly still riding the high of having so much fun.
"Aside from my sisters, I only ever talked to soldiers. So playing with kids my own age was a real treat. It was so much fun!"
I pointed back toward the Sea of Clouds.
"Those kids you were playing with? They aren't children."
"Huh?"
CC froze in her tracks.
Her wide, round eyes practically screamed, What is this old man talking about?
"Did you honestly think they were actual kids? You do know that child labor under the age of fifteen is strictly banned in Maetan, right?"
"Uh... yes... I know that, but..."
"And you can only get a Neck-Hub if you're hired by Maetan. You know that too, right?"
"...Yes."
"Alright, let's do the math. To connect to Intra-Maetan, you need a Neck-Hub. To get a Neck-Hub, you have to be hired by Maetan. And to be hired as a worker, you have to be at least fifteen years old."
As the realization of her mistake dawned on her, CC's face turned pale.
"Which means those kids you just met are at least fifteen. And that's the absolute bare minimum—in reality, they're probably much older. Just like your avatar, custom avatars in Maetan cost a fortune. It's not something a fifteen-year-old rookie who just got their Neck-Hub could ever afford. Actual kids that age use the free default avatars that reflect their real-world appearance."
"Th-then... the children I just met..."
CC trembled, her arms shaking as the color drained from her face.
"There is a very high chance—no, it's practically guaranteed—that they were grown men roleplaying as kids. Could be middle-aged women, too, but... usually, it's middle-aged men."
CC clapped both hands over her mouth in sheer horror.
"From their perspective, they hit the jackpot. They were just messing around roleplaying as kids, and suddenly they got to play with a 'real' child. You gave them quite the fan service."
"How... how could this be..."
CC collapsed onto the ground.
"I really thought we were friends..."
Her small shoulders shook violently.
Suppressing the smirk tugging at the corners of my mouth, I pulled her back to her feet.
"Couldn't you have easily peeked at their account info without them knowing? You didn't check?"
"I would never spy on a friend's private information!"
CC wailed.
She rubbed her goosebump-covered arms as if her innocent young mind had just been permanently scarred by the sheer filth of the world.
Meanwhile, we arrived at the plaza and logged out of Intra-Maetan.
Logging out of Intra-Maetan.
Waking up on the worn mattress in my room, I checked my balance before unplugging the cable.
Roughly 10 million Maetan Points.
At one point, it had plummeted below 6 million, but the mission payout from Sprout had given me some breathing room.
In particular, the drone schematics alone had brought in a hefty 4 million Maetan Points.
On top of that, I had an incentive coming soon for the Multi-legged Tank, which would bring my total balance to around 20 million Maetan Points.
I still think they should have paid more for those drone schematics. Even during the war, we never managed to get our hands on blueprints for the Machine Species.
"It can't be helped. They said they already have plenty of physical drone samples."
Since the drones deployed by the Search-type Machine Species had zero combat capabilities, they were the easiest machines for humans to capture or hunt down.
And because they swarmed in such massive numbers, the Machine Species didn't seem to care if one or two went missing or got damaged.
But having the actual blueprints is on a completely different level of difficulty compared to reverse-engineering a finished product! Is cooking from a recipe the same as eating a finished dish and trying to guess the ingredients? To get anything useful out of a salvaged machine, you have to X-ray every single component, analyze the materials, predict their functions, and run endless experiments. A single blueprint lets you skip all of that misery! How can they treat them as the same thing?
It was rare for CC to get genuinely angry.
She complained constantly, but this level of serious frustration was unusual.
Was it because of her past fighting the Machine Species?
"What's done is done. For now, I need to find a new way to make money. We're comfortable at the moment, but my funds are draining faster than I'd like."
The drone schematics had been a stroke of pure luck, and the Multi-legged Tank wasn't technically my achievement to claim.
"Farming items from Event Zones and selling them seems like the most reliable bet."
How about stealing military secrets from Royal Canin again and selling those?
"Maybe I should..."
The reason I hesitated was that it wasn't as easy as it sounded, and the rewards were incredibly inconsistent.
Unable to let go of the high from the drone schematics, I had cleared that zone once more, only to be rewarded with a famous noodle restaurant's secret kimchi recipe. According to Kang Yeolchan, most drops were of that caliber.
Your funds are draining so fast because you eat way too much, Mister... If you cut back on your food expenses even a little, your budget would balance itself out perfectly.
"That is a mathematically impossible equation."
There were a few other cities besides Maetan where one could connect to the Internet.
The sole reason I had chosen Maetan over them was that here, I never had to worry about going hungry.
For someone like me, who burned at least three times more calories than a normal human just by breathing, a stable food supply was of the utmost importance.
"Let's head out for now."
I left my apartment and walked in the opposite direction of the bustling downtown district.
Where are we going? This isn't the way to the diner.
"There's a place I need to stop by before it gets too late."
I had plenty of time originally, but waiting for CC had set me back.
Quickening my pace, I soon arrived in front of a shop situated along the main road.
A heavy iron door, tightly spaced steel bars, and a security camera mounted right above the entrance.
Even for Maetan's notoriously dangerous Civilian Zone, the security here was excessively tight.
What is this place?
"A pawnshop."
I pushed open the heavy iron door and stepped inside.
The interior was sparse, dominated by a single counter fortified with a triple-layer security system of thick wood, iron bars, and bulletproof glass.
Behind the glass sat a portly man with a greasy face.
The owner of the pawnshop.
He slowly raised his head.
"Welcome. What brings you in?"
"I'm here to retrieve an item."
"...Hup."
The owner grunted as he hoisted his heavy frame out of his chair.
Realizing I was a paying customer, his attitude shifted, if only slightly.
"Ticket number?"
"ATDB89Z."
The owner flipped through a ledger on the counter, searching for the code.
"ATD... B89... Z... Well, look at that. This was brought in two years ago. Took you long enough, didn't it?"
"I'd say it only took two years."
The pawnshop owner let out a wheezy chuckle.
"Fair enough. Most people forget about the things they pawn anyway. Our maximum storage period is three years... Even if you take it now, we don't refund the difference for the remaining time. You alright with that?"
I nodded.
Dragging his heavy body toward the back of the shop, the owner returned carrying a large steel box.
I punched in the passcode I had set when I first left the items, and the lid popped open with a soft hiss.
"Oho... What's all this?"
The pawnshop owner stroked his belly, letting out a low whistle of admiration.
Inside the box lay a pile of rusted prosthetic forearms, identical in shape to my left arm.