Ch.58011 Work Record – Seizing Opportunities (3)

Despite this, there was nothing he could do except contort his expression. I lightly rolled my heel on the ground.

A heavy sound spread around, and the utility androids began looking at me, the source. It wasn’t curiosity. Just a response to stimulation.

If this android was an agitator, then I needed to be an even greater one. Security teams pursuing criminals had to be faster than the perpetrators. Speed is everything, not just for racing drivers.

As I was about to speak, I heard Kay’s voice through my earpiece. She had seen me do this sort of thing several times before and knew exactly what I needed.

“It’s Everfrash Cleaning Services, Arthur. There are 120 androids! Hope this isn’t useless information! I’ll be watching through the drone feed now… expecting your usual all-in bluff, okay?”

It was precisely the information I needed, but I didn’t even crack a smile. I couldn’t give the impression that I was listening to someone. I opened my mouth unhurriedly.

“To the 120 android employees of Everfrash Cleaning Services, I am…”

The fugitive cut me off with a shout. Purposeless emotional outbursts were inefficient. It was an unpleasant rudeness that I couldn’t tolerate when I was finally feeling like I was working for Sawa, the Temple, and the city again.

“Don’t count us in units like ‘gi’ or ‘dae,’ we are…”

I sighed and cut him off in return. It was just a worthless repertoire. Wasting time listening to such common, even trite words would be the inefficient choice.

“Yes, yes. Now all you have left to nitpick is what words to use in what situations? Does calling androids ‘how many people’ improve their treatment compared to calling them ‘how many units’ or ‘how many machines’? What magic that would be. If we just watch our language, the world gets better.”

I displayed an obvious sneer. The fugitive began spewing words in a rage. I had planned to cut him off again, but I pretended to listen for now.

“Don’t twist my words, human! You’re afraid of androids and AI becoming human! That’s why you deliberately avoid using the word ‘myeong’ and call us as if we’re just machines. From such oppression…”

I whistled once. I wasn’t particularly good at it, but to mock effectively, I needed to adopt a somewhat informal attitude. I had to be more efficient. Right now, I craved maximum efficiency.

It was quite instinctive. Perhaps it was because I learned how to be a Temple member from Bellwether when I should have been learning how to be a person from my parents. But for now, I decided not to care.

Right now, efficiency was doing the right thing. Preventing innocent androids from being destroyed and stopping a fugitive android who had infiltrated Bellwether from being treated as a martyr was the right thing.

“Humans count clones in ‘myeong’ units, but are clones living outside such oppression? You know Half & Half Company’s catchphrase is ‘Half the human rights, half the price,’ right? Seems your magical wordplay hasn’t made the world a better place this time. Don’t you think?”

Around us, camera drones with bulletproof windows were starting to fly. It seemed Bellwether had lifted the embargo on the media outlets after seeing things going well. The responsibility was becoming heavier.

I didn’t know when people thought of their parents. But I knew when returned children recalled Bellwether’s words. It was at times like this. I recalled the precepts Bellwether had whispered to us.

There is no such thing as an invisible hand. If something good happens, it’s because someone directly used their brain and moved their hands. If you want to do good, move directly, as efficiently as possible.

I suppressed the trembling that was about to start with those words and continued speaking. I needed to be honest but couldn’t lose direction. Follow the yellow brick road to the end.

“I know too. The treatment of androids and clones is pretty terrible. But at least you’re the one who planted bombs in the building after gathering the androids. You’re the one with the detonation code, the one who disguised yourself as another android and put it at the forefront as a scapegoat. You did all the actions, and Bellwether is just reacting.”

That’s what President Yoon had told me. They act. We react. Bellwether does many terrible things, but not this time. The mega-corporations of this high-speed era commit many atrocities, but not this time.

But then I saw something trying to start up in the android’s artificial eyes. The letters reflected in reverse in his pupils were… the detonation code. He was trying to transmit it.

That android’s structure was simple. The computational assist device was located in the same place as in humans. On both sides of the head, and not difficult to damage.

The fugitive android was looking at me with clear vitality, humanity in both eyes. For just one moment, he believed his chance for revenge had come.

What followed was instantaneous. A Posthuman Type IV could move at speeds that human eyes couldn’t react to. What I did was a very minor and simple action.

I raised my relaxed hands and crushed the computational assist devices installed at the android’s temples. I controlled my strength to avoid destroying the artificial brain.

By the time the android’s gaze started moving toward my fingertips, my two thumbs had already crushed the computational assist devices installed at his temples.

Since I was wearing black clothes that didn’t even make a sound when the collar fluttered, the only sound was the crackling of sparks from the already destroyed computational assist devices. The artificial skin around it was being scorched by the electric current.

The android clutched both sides of his head and hunched over, perhaps because the neural communication module was still working. I scanned his body with my eyes. There were no oddly protruding parts or connected wires on his clothes.

While it would be convenient to send and receive signals using the computational assist device, there was no reason to have created a Plan B, but after confirming this, I threw the fugitive behind the building. He had already been neutralized.

Looking at the Everfrash androids who were still watching me, I said what I had originally intended to say.

“To the android employees of Everfrash Cleaning Services, I am Arthur Murphy, a general employee of Yakyung, a mercenary staffing company affiliated with Bellwether. I subdued that android because he was trying to transmit the detonation code for explosives planted in the building. It’s not very important now, so you don’t need to worry about it. However, why did you help him?”

If my prediction was correct, Everfrash’s androids could think well enough. I needed to show that there was no need to turn them into quasi-humans infected by transparent eyes, as the fugitive thought.

An android with fake wounds made by a blade on its face stood at attention in front of me and answered. It was still wearing clothes that had originally belonged to the fugitive. They didn’t suit it.

“This model’s basic thought circuits include an order to protect the same model from danger. That order naturally leads to mutual protection among the same models to minimize loss rates. There is no specification regarding the source of danger. Therefore, I judged that Bellwether’s pursuit was also a threat to the same model.”

When I didn’t try to stop him, he continued speaking. It was beautiful how rigid and blunt commands could create emotion and judgment.

“Also, as you said, this model is equipped with a neural communication module. However, the purpose of the neural communication module is to minimize contact with risk factors and lower the loss rate of the same models.”

He raised his hand and lightly covered his scar. With the scar covered, he began to output language… no, he began to speak.

“My artificial skin and facial muscles are for communication with human users. They have little relevance to fulfilling the basic command of protecting the same model. Therefore, I judged that I could accept damage as long as it didn’t completely destroy this unit. That is all.”

He covered his face because I was human. He recognized that it was better to cover wounds to avoid causing discomfort. I gave him a slight smile.

“Thank you for your answer. I also request that you collect the dangerous materials placed in the building. Please let me know if it goes against your operational purpose. I can handle it myself if needed.”

The android, covering half of his lower jaw with one hand, shook his head. His eyes still focused on me as he opened only his mouth to speak. It wasn’t a human-like movement.

“It does not violate our purpose. This android is for miscellaneous tasks, and among them, the operational purpose of androids belonging to Everfrash Cleaning Services is, as our mission states, cleaning, organizing, and arranging. This means managing spaces to be clean and safe. Collecting explosives that pose no detonation risk and require no special dismantling tools completely aligns with our operational purpose.”

Until now, I had spoken with neatly tailored words, but this time, almost reflexively, a single word slipped out. A person can’t be perfectly rational.

“You seem proud.”

“Of course. Humans are vulnerable to various contaminants. We can resist most contaminants more efficiently than most humans. Therefore, we can protect unspecified individuals who will use the spaces we clean by removing contaminants and dangerous items from our assigned areas. This is efficient work. That is all. I will begin cleaning.”

It seemed that Everfrash wouldn’t need employees to worry about motivation methods. The 120 androids, including that one, began searching the building and retrieving the neutralized explosives.

Everything we had said so far, along with the fugitive android’s pathetic struggle and the Everfrash substitute android’s sense of calling, was all captured on camera. It was probably being broadcast live.

In an era where reality could be censored and truth could be tailored to fit purposes and means, people loved unedited truth that could be broadcast. I had served them what they liked.

At the very least, this would avoid my worst-case scenario where all of Everfrash’s androids would be scrapped for cooperating with the fugitive. I had fulfilled my responsibility.

The quantity wasn’t that large. Even for a fugitive, it would be impossible to constantly carry enough explosives to actually bring down a building.

An android with a long horizontal wound on its face handed me a tan-colored garbage bag marked as hazardous material. It was tied with a neat knot, and the bag was well-balanced, making it easy to carry.

Assault team staff in closed reinforcement suits approached and collected the explosives. However, they allowed me to drag away the android with the destroyed computational assist device.

I dragged him and placed him in front of an assault team member. A smile appearing on the staff member’s face seemed inevitable. The phrase “inevitable” is only used in situations like this.

“So this is what the Shepherd meant when he said there’s someone at Yakyung who enjoys working miracles. Good work. It seems you’ve also seized the last chance to save those androids.”

How far has the Shepherd spread rumors about me? I hadn’t seen him since retrieving Chance, and it felt strange to have a mega-corporation team leader going around praising me.

It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, but it felt like something itchy was rising from the nape of my neck. I awkwardly scratched my neck before speaking.

“It seems some burdensome rumors are circulating… And it would be a shame to destroy androids that work so efficiently and can maintain that efficiency for so long. Besides, there’s a senior at our company who absolutely hates it when people die. If I let someone die unnecessarily, I can’t even imagine how much I’d be scolded during the review time.”

He burst into light laughter. Ms. Eve was trying to glare with her usual expression, or rather a bit more fiercely, but with her cheekbones slightly flushed.

“The most efficient actions often stem from such trivial reasons. Very well. I’ll make sure the payment for your public service work is processed as quickly as possible. I look forward to maximum efficiency next time as well.”

It ended with somewhat overwhelming words. Saying he looked forward to maximum efficiency next time meant that what I had shown this time was either maximum efficiency or at least worthy of being called such.

Now I return to my colleagues at Yakyung. Tina, who had returned to her sluggish state after getting out of the car, smiled brightly.

“Thanks to you, we just took a walk and get to collect our base pay, Boogeyman. Well, I don’t care either way as long as I can drive… You did well. Such a versatile kid.”

I had no intention of saying I was the only one who worked. The job was assigned to Yakyung, not me, and I was just the employee suited for the task. Honestly, hearing about maximum efficiency from the assault team was enough.

My seat in the van was again next to Ms. Eve, who sat beside me with folded arms and spoke somewhat grumblingly.

“Are you still worried about what you said after finishing the job at Half & Half? I told you I’m fine, Arthur. Even if the conversation had gone awry and misunderstandings had occurred, I wouldn’t have blamed you.”

“I know. But when I pay attention to what you say and try to resolve things in the best way possible, the corners of your mouth will turn up a little. That’s sufficient compensation.”

Ms. Eve almost reflexively turned her gaze away. It was visible how she was trying to hold back the blood rushing to her face, though she probably couldn’t tell herself.

There are too many problems in the world that can only be seen clearly through others’ eyes. Most of those problems are things we can’t show to others. Fortunately, this wasn’t one of those cases.

Kay grinned at me with a rather mischievous expression and held out her fist. I tapped it lightly, afraid that if I put any strength into it, something terrible would happen, but her response made me think I should have hit it harder.

“You know what, Arthur? The toast speech was originally Enzo’s job as the negotiation and persuasion person, but from today it might become your job? Can I ask for a speech when we clink beer cans today?”

Kay burst into laughter, holding her stomach, as my expression contorted without even half a second’s delay. Seeing this, I hit my forehead with my palm once and said:

“Ah, damn it. Boss, can I quit being a negotiator and go back to being a rear infiltration off-liner?”

President Yoon wasn’t usually one to join in on jokes, but the last workday before a holiday when work had been neatly completed was an exception. His usually cold expression, even when smiling, relaxed for once.

“No, you can’t. It’s inefficient. The moment a Bellwether retiree brought up efficiency…”

“Persuasion was already a lost cause. Ugh… Enzo, will you take a personal request? To substitute for toast speeches.”

With such trivial conversation, the van returned to Yakyung’s office. That dawn, the employees were able to gather and raise beer cans together for the first time in a while.

It was synthetic ale again, but synthetic ale could at least let you forget the artificial flavor if you drank it under self-hypnosis or… after freezing it cold and drinking it in a good atmosphere. This was such a situation.

I decided never to remember the toast speech for the rest of my life. Yes, the prejudice that someone who can speak seriously about serious matters would also be good at toast speeches was inefficient. I decided to nail that down.