Ch.5353. Interlude.

# 53. Intermission.

“Are you sure it’s okay if I don’t come with you?”

“I’ve told you several times. I only have enough battery left for two days at most, and unlike the robot next to you, I can only charge with the charger that was in the facility.”

The facility built solely for human survival has disappeared, remaining only in our memories.

“But… you could still explore the world until then. It seems like a waste when you’ve finally made it outside.”

“Don’t explorers who roam the world with uncontrollable curiosity want to spend their final moments in their hometown? It’s like that.”

The robot from the facility who longed for freedom finally achieved that freedom.

Yet in the end, it wished to spend its final moments in the place where its memories and life had been.

…Was destroying the facility really the right thing to do? Was I too hasty?

Standing in front of the ruins, looking at the robot’s back that somehow evokes loneliness, many thoughts come to mind.

Maybe we could have left the facility as it was, just stopping the production of animals or removing the restrictions placed on robots.

Then they could have freely roamed the world and returned to the facility when needed to charge their batteries and live much longer. The maintenance robot wouldn’t have disappeared under those rocks either.

“……..”

But this is just a delusion born from the desire to preserve as much as possible in a world where everything is disappearing.

“I think I’ll spend my remaining time making graves for the friends who died here. Two days won’t be enough, but still.”

The robot wore an expression that seemed a bit empty but also relieved, having fulfilled a long-held wish.

If the robot is satisfied, there’s no use dwelling on what’s already done. I was the one who decided to fulfill the robot’s wish and respect its decision.

“Alright. Then… take care.”

“Are you leaving right away?”

“I can see big clouds approaching in the distance, and I need to cover as much ground as possible while I have plenty of food and fuel.”

Above all, even though it had only been a day, I didn’t want to see the robot I’d formed a connection with disappear.

I climbed onto Alexander. People used to say that where there are meetings, there must be partings. That’s the law of nature, but it’s also a human excuse to accept inevitable separations with indifference.

“Woof!”

“I’ve secured everything firmly.”

After confirming that the Puppy and Robot were in their seats, I turned the steering wheel.

Maybe it was because of the weight from all the fuel and canned food, or maybe it was just my mood, but the vehicle felt slower than usual.

I looked out the window. The robot sitting in front of the collapsed facility was waving at me. Goodbye. I whispered softly as I waved back.

Ah. Come to think of it, this is the first farewell I’ve experienced in this world. A meeting and parting completely unrelated to the world before I fell asleep. Even though I told myself not to have regrets, I kept having them anyway.

If meetings naturally lead to partings, will the time eventually come when I have to say goodbye to the Puppy, the Drone, and the Robot sitting in the cargo area?

“…I don’t want that.”

I pulled up my legs and curled into a ball. Even if they’re machines, even if their hearts don’t beat and oil flows through them instead of blood, the beings by my side now are all precious friends.

In this world full of disappearing things, if the friends I’ve finally found also disappear, I’d be incomparably sadder than I am now.

Hoping such a thing would never happen, I drove forward through streets where light had completely vanished.

* * *

Each human is a world unto themselves.

This speaks to the independence and individuality of each person having their own history and future.

But at the same time, it means that even a single human can have a significant impact on this world where billions live.

We don’t perceive the existing world as it truly is. Just as people have different impressions and sensations when looking at the same object, humans cannot grasp the essence of things.

That’s why the human world consists of will and information. Civilization is created when numerous worlds compromise to live together on one land, spreading the compromised knowledge.

Therefore, if even one person’s will, actions, and knowledge are powerful enough to shake the world, the world can certainly change.

“…Isn’t that the project you were planning?”

“…No way, that’s impossible.”

However, most people don’t realize how much their decisions change the world.

There have been many scientists and engineers throughout history, but few have closed their eyes knowing that their discoveries had a significant impact on the world, because changing this vast world also requires time.

Well, it might be different for politicians who directly affect people’s lives.

“Look at that! Who else would be crazy enough to mix cows, sheep, and pigs in this world but you?!”

“I-I did submit a report like that, but I never wanted it to take that form!”

But now, humanity in the 21st century has been able to glimpse the future in a limited way.

What should have been experienced and evaluated by future generations can now be indirectly confirmed and experienced. The genetically modified animals created as a way to escape the apocalypse were an example of this.

“What?! You want to sponsor our project?!”

Projects aimed at escaping the apocalypse were conducted quite secretly considering the potential social chaos, but they weren’t completely hidden behind a veil.

It was only natural that enormous funds were needed to carry out and research projects spanning hundreds of years, starting with the Ark.

The only way to secure such funding was through support from government bodies, scientific groups, or so-called “higher-ups.”

However, aside from not knowing when results would come, there weren’t many eccentrics willing to support projects that had become so outlandish they could be called delusions, challenging the century’s greatest problem of escaping a predetermined future.

Only the “Ark” project, confirmed through Mori and the Robot’s words, received sponsorship from some business people on the condition that they would secure places for themselves or their descendants.

Other projects occasionally attracted interest, but since the future was so uncertain, most interest didn’t go beyond curiosity.

But the technology that could survive even after the apocalypse, gradually revealed as Mori traveled through the unknown world, strongly captured people’s interest.

It was an investment based on seeing completed technology and feeling its potential, and at the same time, an expression of curiosity.

“This was definitely… a country in civil war.”

But just as the world isn’t filled with pure intentions, many people approached with impure motives.

If one could create life and control its nature at will, it could also be used as a weapon of war.

“…*gulp*”

The obvious intentions, and the treatment of created beings seen through Mori’s videos.

Rationally thinking, such dangerous technology should be discarded even now.

But there’s no one who can always make rational choices.

Especially scientists, those eccentrics who are willing to accept some sacrifices to realize their ideals.

“If we put some ethical safeguards in place… wouldn’t it be okay?”

Even knowing there’s a high possibility of problems arising somewhere, one’s heart becomes tempted.

This was inevitable for scientists who are nothing without the desire for advancement, and as humans.

──And such issues weren’t happening in secret either.

[Doesn’t this car logo look really familiar???]

Objects and buildings made entirely in the Ark don’t have brand names.

But buildings constructed during the Ark’s creation process or items brought in from the outside world occasionally retained their brand names.

Of course, since enough time had passed for most 21st century brands to disappear, most logos were unrecognizable even when present.

Very rarely, by coincidence upon coincidence, some brands that existed in the 21st century continued to exist until Mori’s time.

[Domestic XXX brand ‘A reliable investment’ stock price soaring… drawing attention.]

Rumors circulated that many company CEOs were desperately hoping their company logos would appear on products in Mori’s videos.

[These guys changed their logo too lol]

[Doesn’t this company name look familiar?]

Similarly, many companies named themselves after brands that didn’t exist yet or imitated logos they saw in Mori’s videos.

*

“What’s going on? The broadcast only went off three hours ago, why is it back on?!”

“Find out everything that happened and what research they were trying to do!”

As reality began to change the future and the future began to change reality, the time it took to exchange videos and messages also changed constantly.

Some days it was half a day, other days it was a quarter day. Some days it was much shorter.

“They came up with a technology to separate chicken bones and meat in one go?! What if it’s used as a weapon of war!”

“What?! That’s impossible!”

Naturally, those observing the apocalypse became sensitive to when the videos would turn on.

What happened in between could have grown like a butterfly effect and hastened the apocalypse!

[Yaaawn… I fell asleep on the steering wheel, and now my back hurts….]

“…It looks like she just woke up from sleeping?”

“Ah….”

But mostly, they say it was just Mori waking up for some reason after falling asleep.