Ch.2828. The Notebook.

# 28. The Notebook

In the very, very distant past, humans made everything themselves.

Just like how I built a snow house to have a warm place to sleep.

There was certainly a time when people would gather materials by hand and carefully craft things one stitch at a time whenever they needed something.

But humans, wanting to live their limited lifespans more freely and abundantly, considered such time and effort a waste.

So they created tools. To save time and conserve energy.

With tools in hand, humans gained more leisure in their lives.

They could think more thoughts and imagine even better tools.

Humanity, more industrious slackers than anyone, soon began creating beings that could do everything for them.

Humans created thinking beings that could act on their own according to their roles, and called them Robots.

At the same time, they called it artificial intelligence, as it was human intelligence created by humans.

Looking back now, that was probably when it began.

When human civilization truly started heading toward extinction.

“I vaguely thought about it when I learned about factories, but sure enough, there are only Robots here.”

The first artificial intelligence, like the first tools humans created, simply carried out given commands without issue.

Things like avoiding obstacles in their path, switching items in their hands, and outputting appropriate voices through speakers depending on the situation.

But humans, whose greed couldn’t be satisfied just by preserving simple labor, made artificial intelligence capable of identifying and solving problems on its own.

Machines began making machines.

The difference now was that machines began thinking about and creating structures themselves.

Just like humans did in the past.

“Even in my time, most people were replaced by machines, but I heard there were always managers or designers nearby. It seems here even those roles were taken by machines.”

From the floor to the ceiling above, countless rails are intricately intertwined.

Rails, cables and pipes supporting them, and rebar fill the space.

All I can see are Robots. I can even see Robots making other Robots, like humans giving birth to children.

“If people had worked here together with them, they wouldn’t have created a space like this. The movement paths, the height that arms can reach… there would be countless inconveniences for a human body.”

I look around while trudging along the stopped rails.

The space designed for machines rather than human bodies is surprisingly cramped despite the building’s vast size.

“A space that only Robots can properly utilize, and is rational only because of Robots.”

Machines created their own world. So similar to their efficiency-seeking creators, they created a space that excluded those very creators.

Humans lost their place to the beings they created.

“Countless pipes, cables, and even steel frames. I wonder if this factory might look like a forest through a Robot’s eyes.”

The source of life is everywhere, not hindering them at all, and available whenever needed… a mechanical forest.

Of course, Robots probably didn’t think about all this while creating this space, but it still makes me think.

“Truly, I understand now why some people so vehemently opposed technology.”

There were always people who warned against creating beings that surpassed humans both physically and intellectually.

But most of humanity, enchanted by beings that eliminated their life’s inconveniences, considered such people strange and embraced technological advancement.

Thanks to that, people enjoyed free and happy times. Even as their given roles disappeared and the sky grew polluted.

But thinking about it now, I wonder if all that was a direct cause of humanity’s extinction.

“…Most people who delegated all thinking and production to machines eventually gave up on learning.”

You can live an abundant life without learning anything or doing anything.

Most of humanity, who became accustomed to this, gave up on learning. They began surrendering to primal impulses.

I recalled the various complex machines at the Superstore.

Countless machines made by combining parts and circuits too small to see with the naked eye.

How many people in this era could make and repair such machines themselves?

Humans, who once could accomplish and create so much alone.

Blocked by the wall of abundance, they gradually became unable to do anything.

And no one taught that people needed to learn diverse skills.

That they needed to prepare for this kind of era… they knew but didn’t act.

“Perhaps the end was beside us since ancient times.”

Physical ability, intelligence, technology.

The first human who created a being that transcended humanity.

What were they thinking, and what future did they envision when making this?

Where did the voices of the awakened people who proclaimed the end go in such an obtuse society?

[Maybe there are still living people inside, surprisingly.]

“Thanks for the positive words. But unfortunately, there were no people inside. Just machines, machines, and more machines.”

Holding a flashlight, I walk along the long rails, climb ladders, or mount large machines.

Even after entering the factory, I didn’t forget my wanderer’s duty and roamed around, but nothing particularly caught my eye.

“Still, since it’s not a place meant for people, at least there aren’t corpses or other horrible things, which is good.”

There are no bloodstains, insects, or corpses here.

As if the world of Robots and the world of humans are separated.

What’s common outside cannot be found here.

What’s common here is only what I haven’t seen outside.

“But, this is definitely the place furthest from death among all the places I’ve visited so far, yet I don’t know why it feels so eerie.”

Why do I get goosebumps occasionally just walking on the rails, between stopped machines?

I startle like a timid rabbit at wind sounds that normally wouldn’t bother me.

Is it because it’s an unfamiliar place?

Or is it because the sight of machines that fulfilled their roles and finally stopped somehow reminds me of death?

“Still… if I simply judge whether it’s good or bad, it’s a good space.”

Though the inside is messy in many ways, there are still places to step.

There are places to sleep sheltered from the wind, like on top of the rails or beside large pipes.

Considering that just two days ago I had to build a snow house because there was nowhere to sleep, this is something to be grateful for.

“I’d like to go deeper inside if I could, but it’s getting late and I’m tired, so let’s set up camp here for today.”

It’s snowing outside, and even considering we’re indoors, it’s so dark I can’t see an inch ahead without a flashlight.

The space is so vast and the rails are so complex, extending across several buildings, that proper exploration would require drawing a map on the spot.

It’s difficult to do that on such a dark night, especially when I’m exhausted after staying up for two nights straight.

“I wonder if it’s okay to light a fire or turn on a heater? It seems operations stopped long ago, but I hope nothing explodes from any remaining oil or batteries.”

I put down my bag behind a pipe that blocks the wind coming through open doors or ceiling gaps.

After contemplating for a while, I carefully light an alcohol lamp.

It’s better not to do things that might endanger my life, but… I desperately needed fire to heat water for my empty bottle or to warm my frozen body.

It’s too windy outside, making it difficult to maintain the flame of such a small lamp until the water boils.

“Hmm, seems safe enough.”

Fortunately, lighting a fire didn’t cause an explosion.

I had run away right after lighting it just in case, which now makes me feel a bit awkward.

“I’ll put this canned food here for dinner… and I need to go gather some snow to make water.”

With food secured, water was next. I grab a shovel and head outside.

I don’t need to go far—I scoop up a bundle of clean snow from the entrance and bring it back inside.

“I’ve heard that when surviving in isolated places like deserted islands, the biggest problem is limited ways to get water. It’s nice that here, as long as there’s a place to light a fire, water isn’t a concern.”

Chattering to myself, I walk back to where I lit the fire.

“…Huh? What’s this?”

As I was walking carefully to avoid spilling the snow, my foot touched an unfamiliar object.

It was a tattered notebook, something that didn’t belong in this space filled with machines.

“I wonder if someone who came here before me dropped this?”

This must be fate. I picked up the notebook, put snow in a cup, and began reading it while eating the contents of the now-cooked canned food.

I feel a bit guilty reading someone’s notebook that likely contains personal stories.

But there might be important information about this world written in it.

“Hmm….”

I lie on the floor and turn the pages one by one.

I opened the notebook with some expectations, but unfortunately, there wasn’t anything meaningful.

The notebook’s owner was an ordinary single man.

He wrote that many people including family and friends had died, and he decided to leave the city and his hometown.

He seems to have been quite meticulous, noting the amount of food and water he had by date.

But other than that, there wasn’t particularly helpful content.

“Paradise, huh.”

If there was anything interesting, it would be on the last page of the notebook.

Written in large red letters was a message saying one must go toward Paradise.

Toward Paradise.

Toward Eden.

Go there and you can be saved.

Escape from this painful, hard reality.

And enjoy true freedom.

“It seems there is something special in the next city after all.”

On the page proclaiming Paradise, there was a black pillar so tall it seemed to reach the sky.

The black pillar that still looks distant, but seems a little closer now.