Ch.1919. Heaven.

# 19. Paradise

“—What are you doing over there?”

I turn my head and wave at the drone, which strangely avoids making eye contact with me.

Usually, this drone flies high in the sky but somehow knows to find me when I mumble quietly or trip over a stone.

But now, despite me calling it to come closer, it’s actually moving away from me and even disappearing from my sight completely.

It’s almost as if it’s thinking on its own, deciding it shouldn’t capture me bathing on camera.

“It was already strange how it follows me around without me controlling it… Is someone actually controlling it remotely?”

Come to think of it, there were many odd things about the drone.

I suppose it’s not that strange that it follows me around without direct control since I always wear the Controller on my wrist—it could simply be programmed to orbit around that.

But the way it always comes close when I say or do something unusual, specifically focusing on my face or whatever I’m looking at… that’s not exactly normal behavior.

The former could be explained by saying it’s designed to detect and follow movement.

But the latter? That would be impossible unless the drone had some kind of intelligence.

“…Hmm, I’m not sure.”

Still, I couldn’t definitively claim that someone else was controlling it remotely or that the drone had the ability to think and judge for itself.

The biggest reason being that I assembled this drone myself.

In this abandoned city without a single person left, I was the one who repeatedly disassembled and reassembled the drone I found by chance, relying on a single blueprint.

The blueprint only mentioned communications—there was nothing specifically written about self-thinking capabilities or remote control possibilities.

Even if remote control were possible without using the Controller…

Logically speaking, they wouldn’t design it to allow just anyone to control the aircraft without authentication or restrictions.

Besides, who would know about and control an unfinished drone in an abandoned city?

And while it’s connected to the network, the idea that someone watching my footage could reverse-engineer control of the drone with advanced technology… there are too many strange points.

As I mentioned before, would a civilization with such advanced technology really leave this city and its items abandoned?

“Those abandoned machines alone would have been quite valuable…”

If people couldn’t come directly, they could have sent drones to transport resources, or hacked the drones here when electricity was still available.

From that perspective, the possibility of someone controlling the drone from outside… isn’t very high.

Also, would some strange person who takes control of a drone without the owner’s permission move it far away in this situation?

“…Thinking most simply, maybe the Controller has a function that reads the brainwaves or signals of the person wearing it.”

Since I always wear it on my arm, if it could read my thoughts or actions through the Controller, then the behavior I mentioned earlier wouldn’t be strange.

Now that I’ve taken off the bracelet, it doesn’t understand when I tell it to come here, and if it’s programmed not to film anything that could be ethically problematic… then that behavior isn’t strange.

“Whatever it is, it’s certainly a suspicious and interesting little thing.”

It’s really amazing how I happened to find such a drone.

I chuckle and lean against the edge of the snow removal box.

“Phew…”

Sting, sting.

Despite wearing gloves, I still feel constant stinging pain from my perpetually stiff hands and my feet, which are blistered and scarred from never getting a proper day’s rest.

The pain feels like needles constantly pricking all over my body, but strangely, I don’t mind this pain.

“I want to stay like this forever…”

My body feels pain, and sensations like vision or touch still feel unfamiliar.

But thanks to this pain and unfamiliarity, the feeling of being alive is stronger than ever, making me smile involuntarily.

My head and body have become a little strange.

“Still, resources are limited, and the attention people send me won’t last forever, so I need to move quickly…”

Finding the drone, getting plenty of food from the Superstore, finding many treasure boxes at the Train Station…

I’ve been experiencing an abundance I’ve never known in the past year, but that doesn’t mean I plan to settle for what I have now.

My goal is still to meet living people in person… to escape this solitary life.

“When I get to the next city… what should I do first? I think I need to find some information first… Huh?”

No sooner had I mentioned my next destination than the drone, which had disappeared, approached right in front of me.

How did it understand and come looking? I hadn’t put the Controller back on.

It’s too suspicious to call it a coincidence.

Even after coming close, it’s acting unlike itself, filming my discarded clothes and the boiling water instead of me, which is also strange.

Still… I have no choice but to dismiss it as coincidence.

I can’t disassemble the drone now or leave it behind.

“…Hello everyone. Did you have a good trip with the drone? I was talking to myself while bathing… thinking about what to do when I reach the next city, and you arrived at just the right moment.”

Splash, splash, the sound of water tells them I’m still in the water as I continue talking.

“When we get to the next city, first… I think we should find a Library. I feel like I need more information about myself and you all in order to find my way to you.”

Despite talking through the drone for quite some time, we still don’t know much about each other.

And it’s not like I can use some amazing technology to find you all at once.

I need objective knowledge about the current situation, and that’s why I thought of a library.

“Even if electronic devices are dead and we can’t access the information inside them… information recorded in writing should still remain.”

Yes, like the many letters and pictures we saw in the slums.

“Come to think of it… I haven’t seen a single library until now.”

As personal electronic devices became widespread, people grew distant from books.

Unless you particularly enjoyed the unique weight of books or the feeling of turning paper pages, there was no reason to hold a book when you could use an electronic device.

Still, until my time, there were at least one or two libraries or large bookstores in each city… but in this world, computers have become so miniaturized they fit in one hand, and I haven’t seen a single library or bookstore in the past year.

“When we get to the next city, I’ll look for a library first… and if there isn’t one, then… what should I do, what can I do?”

Should I just wander around aimlessly again, hoping for another stroke of luck?

Now that I’ve been given this miraculous opportunity to talk with people, I want to try everything I can.

But right now, I can’t grasp what I can do or what results my actions might bring.

“Ah! I don’t know. I don’t want to think complicated thoughts right now. I can think about that while walking through the snowfield.”

So, I gave up thinking.

I’m having a good time for once, and I don’t want to complicate this precious moment.

Thoughts about the future can wait until I’m in the snowfield, where there’s nothing to do but walk.

For now, let’s set aside worries about the uncertain future and enjoy the immediate pleasure.

Worrying about the future from now won’t change it much anyway.

“…I should add more warm water. Phew.”

Relief from worry and a sense of security.

Even if it’s just for a moment.

These little things provide the driving force to move forward.

“Oh, it’s snowing less and less cold than usual… the sky that’s been closed all this time has opened up.”

I briefly stuck out my arm to transfer hot water from the pot.

In that brief moment, moonlight seeped through the gaps in the clouds, illuminating the whole world.

The darkness that reclaimed its place when the city ceased functioning…

It allowed me to see countless stars dimly shining alongside the large moon.

“…In the era I lived in, the sky was always filled with smog, so stars were like fantasies that could only be seen through planetariums.”

The endless sea of snow.

The endless world of stars.

And me in between.

“…It feels like I’ve come to Paradise.”

Those words slipped out unconsciously at the beautiful scenery.

Paradise.

“Paradise. Paradise…”

Toward Paradise.

Those words were written on the emergency exit door too.

Does it mean there’s a paradise-like city ahead?

Or did someone dream of Paradise after giving up everything?

Or could it be a sentence written by someone admiring a beautiful world similar to what I’m seeing?

“Whether Paradise exists or not, I can’t know… but ultimately, Paradise is the world after death.”

I don’t completely deny the existence of an afterlife—I’ve prayed for the deceased to go to a better place.

But still, I don’t want to imagine what comes after death while I’m still breathing and living earnestly.

Every moment of being alive is too precious to imagine what comes after death.

Unless death is truly imminent, I’d like to use the word “Paradise” only as an expression of admiration, like now.

“Hmm… but thinking about getting out makes me reluctant. I guess this isn’t Paradise after all.”

How cold and painful will it be when my relaxed body in this comfortable water has to go out into the world and get dressed?

Life and death, happiness and despair.

They’re so close together, it’s painful.