Ch.5252. Destruction.

# 52. Destruction.

All beings are born and, as they live in the world, become surrounded by shackles that block their will. Relationships with others, social backgrounds, physical and genetic factors—things like that.

Humans are too weak to live alone, yet simultaneously cannot fully trust others without contracts and comparisons.

Therefore, the shackles we wear voluntarily or involuntarily to fit into society keep us from escaping what we call everyday life.

—But that’s neither absolute nor forced.

It’s true that to maintain a peaceful daily life and continue belonging to your current society, you must wear these shackles.

However, humans possess the power to throw off their shackles and escape to another world whenever they wish, if their will is strong enough.

“Those who can remove invisible shackles at will must truly be blessed beings.”

Yet humans, who know the dangers of freedom precisely because they are freer than anyone else, did not grant complete freedom to their creations.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t given the right to choose for myself by my creator.”

The Robot looked at me. Then it looked at the Robot that had come here with me. Though it had nothing but a large camera lens in what could be called its face, I could see envy beyond it.

“What I—what we can do is limited to maintaining and repairing this facility. Even if no one comes, even if no one uses the items produced here, as long as the facility operates, we cannot even stop functioning on our own.”

“…I see. Before coming here, I saw many robots who chose death by their own will, so I thought you could do the same.”

“How enviable. I wish I could affirm death like those friends did.”

The Robot activated the machine. The device that processed dead animals into forms desired by humanity began to move with a humming sound. Though it was clearly just the sound of machinery in motion, to my ears it sounded like screaming.

“So I’ve been waiting all this time. For someone who would free me from these shackles and help ensure my poor friends are no longer meaninglessly born only to die meaninglessly.”

“By someone to help… you mean me?”

“Yes. Programs created by humans can only be deactivated by human hands.”

So that’s why the Robot I first met was excessively kind to me.

Even for a robot made to serve humanity, it seemed too attentive to me, a mere intruder.

How happy it must have been when the only being who could unlock its unbreakable shackles appeared.

“Alright. If that’s your wish, I’ll grant it.”

It wasn’t pure goodwill, but it still felt nice.

It’s a happy thing to find someone—well, not exactly a person, but a being—who needs help in this era, and to be able to help them.

“What do I need to do?”

“Hmm… first, since it’s getting late, let’s rest today and do it tomorrow.”

“Really? Wouldn’t it be better to do it as soon as possible?”

“If my wish is fulfilled, we likely won’t be able to use this facility anymore. It would be good to gather any necessary items before that.”

“I see.”

“Follow me for now. I’ll show you to your room.”

The now empty-handed Robot leads the way.

Despite being made of scrap metal, somehow its back revealed heavy emotions.

“Wow. The bed is soft and there’s a place to wash up. Nice accommodations.”

“It’s similar to the house we visited when we first met.”

“You’re right.”

The quarters, likely once used by the facility’s researchers, were luxurious, indicating how important researchers were in human society.

For me, who hadn’t found a decent house since beginning my climb up the Tower, I was simply grateful.

Zzzzing—

“Huh?”

As I was taking off my coat and organizing my belongings, an unfamiliar robot opened the door and entered.

It was a square, somewhat simply designed robot. Since there were only two robots left, this must be the maintenance robot.

“This one seems unable to speak.”

“Robots that only handle repairs or manufacturing don’t necessarily need language circuits.”

“I would think being able to communicate would be more efficient when working.”

“Well, they kept chattering among themselves at all hours, which decreased productivity.”

“What? That’s adorable.”

I remembered the robots at the factory. They were clearly chatting in their own language made of shapes and lines.

I wonder if this robot also communicates with that cheerful robot using lines and shapes?

Thinking how cute that was, I watched as it carefully placed a plate on the desk.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

Maybe it was my imagination, but the robot nodded at my thanks before leaving the room, as I stared at the plate of food.

“Steak…”

“It looks well-cooked. Seems the cooking facilities were still operational.”

This steak was surely made from that dead animal from earlier.

Though I finally had the meat I’d been longing for and craving, my feelings were quite strange.

Usually, we just eat completed dishes—we rarely see the process or raw ingredients that go into making our food.

“—Nom.”

Still, I couldn’t afford to waste precious food. My stomach was growling, and all I had in my pocket were hard solid food items and candy bars with questionable expiration dates.

Rejecting a well-cooked steak… that option didn’t even exist.

My feelings fluctuated a bit while eating, but survival instinct naturally pushes minor emotions aside.

—Whirr whirr.

—Drrrrrrrrrr.

“Mmm…”

“Ah. You’re awake.”

“…What is that noise?”

I jolted awake, having fallen asleep right after filling my stomach, disturbed by strange, harsh sounds.

Having lived in such a quiet world, these unusual sounds felt more stimulating and sharp than they actually were.

“Did something happen…?”

Frightened by sounds of things breaking and shattering, I grabbed Alexander and went outside.

Without even putting on my coat or shoes, I tiptoed toward the source of the sound.

Thud thud thud thud!

With each step I took, the sound grew louder.

Squish—

“Ack!”

Suddenly I felt something strange under my foot. An extremely sticky yet slippery, unpleasant sensation made me scream involuntarily.

“Oh! You’re up. Wait there for a moment, the tank cracked and I’m repairing it.”

Looking down at the Robot’s words from ahead, I saw the corridor had become flooded with liquid from the tank.

“This feels really gross…”

“You shouldn’t touch it carelessly. The touched area might transform into a part of a non-human organism.”

“Ahhh!”

“I’m joking.”

“…There are jokes you should make and jokes you shouldn’t!”

I thought my heart would stop!

Having fallen on my backside from shock, I glared at the Robot while grumbling.

Now I understood why my robot friend disliked how flippant this one was.

[Such facilities shouldn’t exist]

[If those organisms have no emotions or sensations, isn’t it fine? Applying morality or rights to beings that can’t feel anything is foolish, I think.]

[Are you sure they truly have no sensations or emotions? Maybe they’re just slow to respond or have gentle personalities.]

People who had seen this facility while I slept seemed to be deep in thought, just like me.

Perhaps because it dealt with the sensitive subject of life, messages showed rougher language than usual.

When words like “barbaric” or “stupid” were exchanged, I considered intervening, albeit belatedly.

But since the messages seemed to be conversing with each other, which was interesting, I decided to maintain my role as a neutral observer.

[It’s a cruel facility, but I don’t deny it was necessary. However, now that its reason for existence is gone, I think it should disappear.]

“So you think the same way too.”

Countless opinions were exchanged about the rights of organisms that lack not only reason but even instinct.

But everyone agreed this facility was now unnecessary.

I thought the same.

With only me wandering this world, and even I’m leaving, there’s no reason for a facility producing human food to remain.

“The Robot must be thinking the same as us.”

Yesterday, the cheerful Robot said that if its wish came true, the facility would become unusable.

Though I don’t know exactly what the wish entailed, once it’s fulfilled, the facility would permanently stop operating.

It’s quite joyful when our desires align, but there was one thing that worried me.

“Hey. After your wish is fulfilled, what do you plan to do?”

If there’s a “next,” one can move forward even in the depths of despair.

But when everyday life disappears without a “next” to look forward to, only emptiness remains.

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I wanted freedom, but I never imagined what lies beyond it. It’s not something suitable for us, and I thought it would never happen anyway.”

“Is that so? Then maybe you should start thinking about it now.”

When the facility stops operating, the robots managing it will lose their reason for existence.

Even without a beating heart or flowing blood, they are clearly beings who can think for themselves and have emotions similar to mine.

So I hoped they wouldn’t choose death immediately after their wish was fulfilled.

That’s why I too had to constantly contemplate at this crossroads.

Should I stop the production and meaningless death of emotionless animals at the cost of destroying the foundation that has kept the robots alive until now?

Or should I leave without doing anything, even if it means bearing resentment, to keep the robots alive at least until facility maintenance becomes impossible?

—Well, the answer was already decided.

“I think this is enough food, but I wonder if there’s any fuel here that could be used for the snowmobile.”

“If biodiesel is acceptable, we have mountains of it stored.”

“That’s great. Let’s quickly load up and go fulfill your wish.”

The Robot wanted to escape its role.

Rather than leaving it bound to an unwanted role and suffering for life, it would be right to let it be free as it wished.

Whether by coincidence or not, everything I needed—including food and fuel—was available at this facility.

After spending time loading as much as I could onto Alexander, I followed the Robot to the facility’s core with light steps.

“This is quite a bustling room.”

“My goodness! Can you read this language?”

“No, but words and the emotions they contain don’t always need interpretation to be conveyed.”

In the innermost part of the facility.

In a white square room, countless shapes and lines were drawn.

I could feel just by looking that these were languages drawn over and over by the Robot in attempts to stop itself and the facility from functioning.

“Place your hand here.”

“…That’s it?”

In the center of the room was a pedestal with a button shaped like a handprint.

“Yes. Blocked by this simple button, we couldn’t do anything all this time. What a ridiculous period it’s been.”

“No, it was a noble time of fulfilling your responsibility.”

“Even if that’s what I was born for?”

“Of course.”

Perhaps pleased with my answer, laughter flowed from the Robot.

At that sound, I smiled faintly too, and placed my hand on the button.

Then, with a voice from somewhere saying “Authentication complete.”

Boom boom boom. The facility began to shake.

“What? What’s happening?!”

“It’s the sound of machines that have been running endlessly stopping. You could call it the death throes of this massive organism.”

The ground shook, and the lights flickered on and off. As I staggered, unable to maintain balance—light began to pour from the Robot.

“Thank you. I can finally escape this long nightmare.”

“Ah.”

I realized.

From the beginning, the Robot never considered the world after the facility’s destruction.

It planned to end its life along with the facility, just like the lives that disappeared here.

“…You should look around the world a bit. You might find a new purpose.”

“I doubt it. Would anything resonate with me? At least I want to meet my end in the place where I was born and where my traces remain.”

“Still…”

“It’s okay. Right now I’m—”

We call it anguish when our will is obstructed by obstacles between us and our goals.

And we call it fulfillment when we overcome those obstacles and achieve our goals.

“—extremely happy.”

At the same time, we call it happiness.

“Thanks to you.”

Creation and destruction are powers possessed only by humans.

At least to this Robot right now, I must be a god-like being.

The creation thanked the god for killing it.

It expressed gratitude for affirming an individual’s will to give up their life.

The reason I pressed the button, knowing it would somehow kill this Robot, was probably due to my selfish desire to respect the Robot’s will.

“But are you going to stay here like this? There’s not much time left! You might get crushed to death! I’ll help you escape, so let’s get out quickly!”

“That’s right! We’re all going to die at this rate!”

The floor was already soaked, and tiles and hoses kept falling from the ceiling.

“Left! Go left!”

“No, right! Go right!”

“Only one of you speak!”

I moved quickly with the two robots and the drone, careful of the falling debris.

It was fortunate I had left Puppy in Alexander, just in case something like this happened.

“Ah.”

And when we had almost escaped from deep underground.

I encountered the robot that had brought me food from across the corridor.

The robot, which had been repairing damaged parts until just before the facility collapsed, was staring at me with its arms down.

Then suddenly it bowed its head, as if saying thank you.

I wanted to thank the robot too.

But just slightly faster than my words could leave my throat, a huge stone fell from the ceiling, blocking my path.

“Whew… huff… I really thought I was going to die.”

“I’ve aged ten years from this. If I hadn’t oiled my joints, I would surely have been crushed to death…”

We barely escaped from underground.

And not long after we got out, the facility collapsed along with the hoses containing the culture fluid.

Some walls and pillars remained standing, but with time, they too would crumble until the original form was completely unrecognizable.

“I was only here for a day, but seeing it collapsed like this gives me such a strange feeling.”

“I know what you mean. Is this what they call nostalgia?”

“No, it seems too early for nostalgia…”

I exhale, leaning against an intact wall. Though it was just one day, having been in a warm space made the cold air pierce my lungs.

“Hey. What will you do with your remaining time?”

“I don’t know. Right now I just feel empty, and don’t want to do anything.”

So it was this easy.

It was this simple.

“…”

The Robot’s voice, carried away by the wind, was clearly steeped in longing.