Chapter 72: Do Androids Pray for Cybernetic Heaven? (2)

We caught up with the mother and daughter, whom we hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Have you been well, Karen?”

“Yes, thanks to the Saintess. Sophia also enrolled in school safely and is doing very well.”

Karen, the mother without citizenship, still lived in the suburbs, but her face was full of a happy smile.

She said she could spend time with her daughter who returned during breaks, and thanks to the Church, the hair salon she originally ran was doing much better than before, making life better. She spoke with a bright smile on her wrinkled face.

I turned my gaze to her proud daughter and asked.

“Sophia, does school life suit you? Perhaps… is it uncomfortable, or is anyone bothering you?”

The genius painter, who once couldn’t see, now looked at the world with sparkling eyes and answered energetically.

“Yes! Everyone around me is kind and treats me well. They all praised my recently completed painting immensely.”

Fortunately, Sophia seemed to have adapted well to life here.

Perhaps it was because many students at the art school were in a position where their education wasn’t directly linked to their livelihood.

There seemed to be no bullying of external scholarship students; rather, an air of leisurely affluence permeated the place.

I glanced around.

The sight of students walking around the campus.

Surprisingly, there were many who didn’t have a single implant.

This was probably a sight you could only see in the special class at the Academy.

‘I guess this is what art is like in this era.’

Either inferior to artificial intelligence, or more special than artificial intelligence.

While all art was undergoing such extreme polarization, the state of the art school was the result of choosing the latter.

A place that valued humanity the most, and therefore, a place one couldn’t even enter with a body replaced by machines.

And living with a pure body in a city where everything was contaminated was a symbol of considerable wealth.

Thus, it was natural that most students were children of the wealthy.

Sophia, who had won an art competition and entered as a scholarship student, was a very special case.

Since they attended almost as a hobby without worrying about their livelihood, the situation was different from the Academy where school grades directly translated to corporate recruitment.

There was little reason to stoop to bullying someone.

So, I was relieved to hear that she was actually being doted on by her seniors.

As we chatted with the mother and daughter we hadn’t seen in a while, we soon arrived at the exhibition hall.

The student exhibition hall was set up using a part of the campus building.

Upon entering the interior of the quaint building, the noise from the outside world gradually diminished.

And under the soft lighting, artworks hung one by one on clean, monochromatic walls began to appear.

Under the gallery’s characteristic quiet and peaceful atmosphere, neatly dressed visitors slowly appreciated the works.

The solemn atmosphere naturally made us lower our voices as well.

“This is an oil painting by a senior I’m close with. Isn’t it amazing how she used the impasto technique to thickly layer the paint and express the texture of light?”

The girl added various explanations in a slightly excited yet quiet voice, befitting the surroundings, but honestly, I couldn’t understand them.

I don’t know much about art.

However, it was intuitively beautiful to look at, and I could faintly sense the artist’s effort and passion captured on the canvas.

We continued to look around the exhibition hall, guided by the girl, for a while.

It was during that time.

‘Something….’

I had noticed it since a while ago, but should I say the atmosphere was a bit strange?

The surrounding visitors were somehow whispering while looking this way.

More precisely, while looking at me.

‘What is it? Did I get something on me?’

So I adjusted my clothes or swept my hair aside, but their gazes didn’t leave.

Then, Sophia finally stopped walking at the innermost wall of the exhibition hall.

There, along with a placard that read ‘Freshman Representative,’ hung a painting that emitted exceptionally bright and intense colors.

“This is… my painting.”

The girl said in a voice that was slightly shy yet filled with pride.

At her words, we all held our breath and looked at her artwork.

“This is… an angel.”

Just as Yoanna inadvertently muttered, there was an angel in the canvas.

An angel painted in the reverent and sacred style characteristic of religious paintings.

But if that face looked somewhat familiar… was it a delusion?

‘No, that’s me…?!’

Silver hair that seemed to sparkle as if emitting its own light.

A beautiful woman looking down with a gentle yet somehow sad, complex expression.

Freely spread wings, and a radiant, warm light enveloping her surroundings.

No wonder people in the exhibition hall had been glancing this way; now everything made sense.

Honestly, my face burned, thinking it was overly beautified.

Still, the painting itself was very beautiful.

God’s compassion and mercy towards humanity were expressed through the angel’s beauty and the light emanating from her fingertips.

It was such a well-painted picture that even I, a complete layman in art, felt overwhelmed by something.

Seeing the girl’s expectant face, I haltingly shared my impression.

“I didn’t expect you to draw me as a model… I was quite surprised. The painting is really beautiful.”

Then Sophia shyly explained.

“When I opened my eyes again in the darkness, I wanted to capture the very first sight I saw. That image of sharing love equally with everyone, without any barriers…..”

“…….”

At those words, a corner of my heart somehow tingled.

The fact that the girl, who once couldn’t see anything, was now freely displaying her world with such a happy face made me feel proud and pleased.

Lost in appreciation, we silently gazed at the painting for a while.

Then, someone quietly approached and stood beside us.

And they spoke to me.

“Well, I never imagined the model was a real person. I thought she was someone who could only exist in a painting.”

The owner of the voice was a man dressed in a light shirt and slacks.

He took out an electronic business card from his shirt’s breast pocket and said.

“Ah, excuse me. Let me introduce myself first.”

As I checked the business card he offered, Yoanna, who was next to me, quietly added an explanation.

“Veridique… It’s a pretty famous luxury goods company downtown.”

The man, who introduced himself as a marketing manager there, looked at me and asked lightly.

“Are you perhaps interested in modeling work?”

Surprisingly, even hearing such an offer, I wasn’t very flustered anymore.

Rather, my own reaction was even more surprising.

I swallowed a strange feeling and politely, yet familiarly, declined.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not interested in that kind of work.”

“Well, this is quite a shame. You have a luxurious image that would perfectly suit our brand… Ah, but that wasn’t my original purpose for greeting you.”

He shrugged and turned his gaze to Sophia.

“Young student. Are you perhaps the artist who painted this picture? If so, are you thinking of selling it after the exhibition? Our president really wants to buy this painting. His son attends this school, and he apparently came to look around and completely fell in love with this piece.”

“Y-Yes??”

The girl was flustered.

With a face that said she never dreamed of receiving such an offer, she didn’t know what to do and just glanced around at others.

Then, her mother, Karen, who was beside her, asked me with a worried face.

“Lady Eve, what should we do?”

“Huh? Why are you asking me… It’s Sophia’s painting, isn’t it?”

I asked back, bewildered, then suddenly realized.

It seemed Sophia was hesitant to sell it freely since I was the model for the painting.

However, this was clearly a work completed through the girl’s efforts.

I nodded slightly towards Sophia, as if to say it was okay and she could do as she pleased.

The man grinned at the sight and said.

“Excellent. Considering the artist is still a minor student, we will discuss the value of the painting and the sale amount later with your supervising professor.”

After arranging the next meeting, the man politely bowed and left.

I looked at Sophia, who was still standing with a dazed expression, and said with a smile.

“That’s great. You can use it for your tuition.”

At those words, the mother and daughter immediately began to bow their heads deeply before me.

“Th-Thank you, Eve unni….”

“Thank you, Lady Eve. You’ve helped us so much again…..”

I waved my hands in embarrassment, saying it was nothing.

“No, what did I even do… Please calm down a little.”

---

Thus, we finished our viewing and came out of the exhibition hall.

Stepping out of the somewhat dim gallery and back into the sunlight, a sense of satisfaction from enjoying cultural life after a long time filled my heart.

I said to the mother and daughter.

“Thank you for inviting me, Karen, Sophia. The painting was really beautiful.”

“Eve unni, you’ll come to see more next time, right?”

“Of course. Call me anytime.”

I held the girl’s hand tightly one last time and added.

“You’re already a wonderful painter, but I’ll pray for you to do even better in the future.”

After exchanging farewells, our outing for the day came to an end.

As we walked back to the car parked near the school, I asked the two for their impressions.

“How was it? Yoanna, ST?”

“Miss Sophia is still young, but her skill was excellent.”

“Even though it was a little less than your real appearance, Eve unni… it was a pretty picture.”

We were walking while having such trivial conversation.

In the distance, we encountered a somewhat noisy scene.

“…..?”

In front of the main gate of the art school, a group of people were holding pickets and protesting.

The slogans they shouted were clearly audible even amidst the noise of the bustling city.

“Guarantee basic rights for androids!”

“We have feelings too! Recognize us as humans!”

‘Androids…?’

Android.

By definition, an AI robot that looks like a human.

Those who looked no different from humans externally were protesting, calling themselves androids.

Their appearance, covered with sophisticated artificial skin, made them look even more human than mercenaries with cybernetic attachments.

I knew that such robots existed in this city, but this was the first time I was seeing them in person, not in a game.

There was no need for robots like androids in the suburban areas.

In the first place, humans were much cheaper than machines.

Whether it was dangerous, dirty, or any kind of work, they could just use humans.

Perhaps they were used for special purposes in places like entertainment districts, but I had never been there myself.

Moreover, android production in this city had been halted several years ago, so the number of remaining units probably wasn’t very large.

Yet, such android protesters were now occupying the front of the art school’s main gate, which we were about to exit, and shouting.

“Repeal the Android Ownership Act immediately!”

“We are! Alive! We are! Human!”

I suddenly felt like I understood why they had started protesting here.

Art in this era places the highest value on humanity itself.

So, for androids who wanted to be recognized as human to protest in front of an art school was, in itself, a good way to show something symbolic.

Also, being in front of a school attended by children of the upper class, it attracted a lot of attention.

A few reporters were already there taking pictures.

As I was lost in such thoughts, ST spoke to me softly.

“Lady Eve, it would be best to distance ourselves from the scene for a moment.”

“Yes?”

The moment I turned to look at her, loud siren sounds began to blare from afar.

Soon, several patrol cars arrived near the campus.

Police officers in riot gear poured out of them.

‘ODPD….!’

This was also the first time I was seeing them in person, not just the androids.

The police, who formed ranks in an instant, simultaneously extended their electric shock batons with a sharp sound.

Crackle-

Soon, a sinister blue current sparked from them.

“…..”

“……”

Seeing that, a murmur began to spread among the android protesters.

But before they had any chance to react, the ODPD riot squad immediately rushed in and began to suppress the protest.

Soon, a merciless assault began.

Thwack- Thump-

“Aargh!”

“Kaaargh!!!”

The sight of the protesters being unilaterally beaten was quite horrific.

Because their appearance itself was almost identical to humans.

Cruel beatings that didn’t even spare the head or vital spots.

However, what flowed from the torn artificial skin and broken mechanical limbs was not red blood, but a thin, orange liquid.

“…….”

At the sudden outbreak of violence, I, who was watching the scene, hesitated.

If real people were being treated like that right in front of me, I might have done something immediately.

Because not seeing people as people, and oppressing the weak with mere force, is wrong.

I had fought against such evil deeds and protected people, and built the Church, up until now.

But… are the androids before my eyes now human?

Or are they machines?

Omega Detroit city law still defines androids not as humans, but as ‘property.’

Their claim to possess intellect and emotions was also, at best, interpreted as sophisticated imitation.

Is someone roughly kicking a vending machine a sight that someone other than the owner should be angry about?

To determine whether that vending machine was truly human or not, one first needed to know what ‘humanity’ even was.

But in this city, that standard was too ambiguous.

There were countless individuals who, despite having hearts, acted more heartlessly than machines.

“……….”

While I was lost in confusion, the android protesters scattered in all directions and fled.

And the ODPD riot squad was fearsomely chasing after those escapees.