Ch.4646. Truth.

# 46. The Truth.

Since communication through the drone wasn’t exactly free-flowing, there were many times when messages didn’t connect or random topics came up out of nowhere.

It wasn’t the first time my serious conversation got interrupted by messages like [a handful of pasta, 5 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 whole garlic cloves, perilla leaves, chicken stock, red pepper], completely breaking my train of thought.

But the message that just arrived was a bit different from the usual self-centered messages I’d been getting.

“They decided to build an Ark? What does that mean?”

This was the first time I’d received a message about the lives or future plans of the people on the other side of the drone.

Could this be because we’ve gotten closer?

Hoping that was the case, I looked at the camera. Right now, I needed to know what this “Ark” meant according to the person who sent the message.

Is the Ark you’re talking about the same one from the Bible?

Are you building it to escape this cold and go somewhere warm?

I thought you were in Paradise, so why do you need an Ark, and if you’re building one, can I get on it too?

As I kept firing off questions, I couldn’t help but be shocked by what I saw on the Controller.

“…What? What’s wrong with this?”

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The message that had been perfectly fine just a moment ago was now completely garbled.

As if a message I wasn’t supposed to see had arrived.

“You received a message saying they’re building an Ark?”

“Yeah. But shortly after, the text got all scrambled like this.”

I briefly got off Alexander and went to check on the Robot tied to the cargo compartment.

The Robot, now covered with a blanket, no longer had to worry about its parts malfunctioning from the cold or wind, but it had become somewhat less sensitive to outside sounds.

We could still talk if I spoke loudly enough, but it was rather hard on my throat.

“This has never happened before, so I thought you might know something about it.”

Generally speaking, robots are superior to humans when it comes to knowledge.

Unlike humans who constantly distort and forget information due to the limitations of the brain, robots don’t forget what they’ve seen and learned as long as their storage capacity allows.

Even if the Robot didn’t have the ability to remember everything, it was natural that a robot who had lived in this world longer than me would know more than I did.

So I asked the Robot if it had any idea why the message was scrambled and what the Ark might be referring to.

“Please wait a moment.”

The Robot inserted its thinnest arm into the Controller and drone I had brought. It seemed to be checking if there was a mechanical problem.

That arm looked like it would break if you tapped it, but it had such amazing capabilities. Manipulating machines, opening locked doors, turning on lights in dark buildings.

I looked down at my hands, wishing I had such abilities, but all I saw were ordinary human hands covered in various injuries.

“Hmm. In both good and bad ways, it’s working fine. There’s no technical issue.”

A few minutes passed. The Robot finished its inspection and informed me that the drone and Controller were functioning properly. This meant there was no way to know why the message was scrambled.

“I see.”

I nodded. I hadn’t found out the reason, but I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I’d be.

“Then do you know about the Ark? What do you think my friends meant by it? Could they be talking about the Ark from the Bible?”

Because right now, I was more curious about something else. The “future” plan my friends had told me about for the first time. I needed information about this.

“…Mori. If I may ask, did you really receive a message saying they’re going to build an Ark?”

“Yes. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. Why?”

“…………”

The Robot fell into deep thought. Was it searching for memories about the Ark? Or was it contemplating whether to tell me about it?

Just as humans can’t look into another human’s brain, I couldn’t tell what the Robot was thinking.

“I hope you’re not going to pretend you don’t know again, or tell me I’ll find out when I get to Paradise.”

As the contemplative silence grew longer, I became certain. There must be something important about the word “Ark.”

If it didn’t have any information, it would have already said it didn’t know anything.

“Mori. When we first met, I told you I thought there were no survivors outside this city. Do you remember?”

After a long silence, the Robot spoke. Come to think of it, it did say that. I nodded.

“I don’t know how you interpreted my words then, but when I said ‘outside,’ I wasn’t just referring to this city and the cities connected to it.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. All humans on Earth, except for those remaining in Paradise, are dead.”

The Robot told the last wanderer the truth about the world in an incredibly calm voice.

…What?

For a brief moment, my consciousness drifted away before returning. I simply couldn’t accept what the Robot had said.

“You’re saying everyone on Earth except the people in Paradise is dead? All those over 8 billion people?”

I shook my head, saying it was impossible.

Humans, while not perfect organisms, knew how to adapt to their environment and could transform their surroundings into habitable spaces with their intelligence.

Since the emergence of human ancestors on this planet, humanity had built cities capable of supporting billions of people and had even sent exploratory vessels beyond the galaxy. How could such a thriving species have all died during the time I was asleep?

“Wait, I don’t understand. I’ve only been asleep for a few decades or centuries at most, and in that time, all of humanity perished? Leaving only me and a few people in Paradise? How is that even possible?”

I was in shock. I had believed that only this place had met with destruction for some reason, but that human civilization still existed in some form in distant lands—even if civilization had regressed due to complex reasons, there would still be survivors.

“I don’t know exactly why or how humanity met its end. I’m a robot created at the tail end of the extinction, and there weren’t any eccentrics who would share such knowledge with a mere maintenance robot.”

“…So, what does what you just said have to do with the Ark?”

My voice was completely distorted. It felt like my world was crumbling. Everything I believed in was just an illusion. I desperately wished someone would appear right now and tell me it was all a lie, that this was just a setup to capture my suffering on camera.

But the world remained silent. The silence was so terrible that even the sound of my clenched fist was crystal clear, as if the world itself was confirming the Robot’s words were true.

“I hope you’re not trying to tell me that the place I’m standing on right now is an Ark built by people to escape extinction.”

I covered my face with my hands. I had a vague idea of what the Robot would answer. Yet I denied the possibility I had imagined, not wanting the Robot to confirm it.

But truth is not something you can avoid simply by denying it, by covering your eyes and blocking your ears.

“You’re right, Mori. We are currently on the Ark, the last creation of humanity.”

“Ah.”

Humans dream to escape painful realities. Just as we apply medicine and wrap bandages over wounds, we overlay dreams on painful realities to see what we want to see, and we call that hope.

That’s why the truth is cruel. It forcibly eliminates all possibilities that people can dream of and makes them face the painful reality as it is.

My belief that even if Paradise was empty, I might eventually find survivors somewhere if I kept going with Alexander was shattered.

“So, so there was nothing beyond the city. Because it’s an artificial space created by humans from start to finish. That’s why there couldn’t be forests or rivers.”

Ahaha.

Laughter escaped from the lips of someone who had realized the truth and solved many questions.

And at the same time, despair flowed from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks to become part of the world.