Ch.7676. Perhaps.

76.

Human choices shape one’s identity.

That’s why when faced with situations where one cannot choose for themselves, they easily feel threatened and powerless.

“I’ll lead the way, so please follow me slowly.”

“Okay…”

Though I agreed to follow the Robot who asked me to come along.

The Robot’s massive hand gripping Alexander’s door was clearly telling me that if I didn’t follow, it would destroy it.

Most robots cannot harm humans. But there are always exceptions to every rule.

Even without being security robots specifically designed to subdue criminals according to the law for the stability of human society.

The fundamental principle that “robots cannot harm humanity” leaves too much room for autonomous interpretation due to its broad scope, creating countless opportunities for exploitation.

For me, Alexander is essential for survival—its damage could cause fatal problems in my life.

But if the robot interprets on its own, or if someone controlling it inputs:

“That Snowmobile is just a simple vehicle, and damaging its door won’t cause any harm to humans”—what then?

This is a clear contradiction. Isn’t economic or emotional damage just as real as physical harm?

But robots programmed with such commands don’t recognize the contradiction. After all, robot principles also include following human orders.

Even in my time, when robots capable of following human commands (though not quite artificial intelligence) were becoming available to civilians, incidents caused by such “misinterpretations” were not uncommon.

Of course, humans—who never tolerate threats to their position—probably wouldn’t have left such robot vulnerabilities unaddressed.

Having seen and heard about such things, I simply couldn’t firmly refuse the Robot’s instructions.

“Whew—walking in this weather is something I haven’t done in ages.”

The blizzard is raging so fiercely that visibility is less than a meter, making even my own shadow invisible.

In this weather, not only walking but even standing still is difficult, but fortunately, the large Robot is moving against the wind direction, making it less challenging than I expected.

Following the Robot, who had changed its body to bright orange to ensure I wouldn’t lose sight of it, I fell into deep thought.

“…I guess it’s not a security robot, right?”

So far, the Robot hasn’t told me what kind of robot it is.

Even when I asked, it just stiffly introduced itself as a common, ordinary robot.

“Probably not! It looks too cute to be a security robot. And it’s relatively small too.”

“You call that small?”

If a robot twice the size of an average person is considered small, how big are the large ones?

Oh. Come to think of it, when I was moving along the factory rails, I saw numerous robotic arms assembling robots larger than most buildings.

Compared to those robots, the one before me was indeed small and cute.

“And cute? Do you also judge others by their appearance?”

“Of course! Do you know how much information can be inferred through visual observation? I don’t make subjective judgments about good or bad based on appearance or get fixated on that, but I definitely observe.”

“So ‘cuteness’ isn’t a subjective element?”

“Hey, there was a saying long ago: ‘Cuteness is justice!’ So even robots like us can say something is cute.”

“What are you talking about?”

When we look at something to perceive its aesthetic impression, we become more objective.

Just as seemingly free-flowing music has combinations of notes that sound pleasant and others that feel unpleasant.

The sensations felt when observing something stem from pure perception that isn’t heavily bound by causality.

From that perspective, the Robot’s words weren’t entirely wrong.

Whether “cute” is truly an appropriate objective expression is debatable… but if it meant appearing non-threatening, I could somewhat agree.

Despite the pressure felt from its large size, its overall shape was quite round and soft.

“I suppose it might look harmless from about 100 meters away.”

Well, if it were a security robot, it wouldn’t have left me this free… so I decided to trust it for now.

“Recalculating route.”

It seems even advanced robots can lose their way in blizzards severe enough to cause whiteouts.

First saying to go this way, then that way.

With nothing visible but snow, and the Robot repeatedly stopping to change direction, I began to doubt its condition.

“By the way, why are you so afraid of security robots, Mori?”

Since our guide who told us to follow because it was a short distance had lost its way, we who were following had only two options left.

Shivering in the cold, or making pointless small talk.

The Robot apparently preferred chatting with me as I trembled from the cold.

…Somehow it seems to be talking to me more frequently since the drone stopped working. I didn’t mind.

“Security robots, huh.”

The Robot’s face—or rather, the round face displayed on its screen—was full of question marks.

Should I consider that reading an expression, or understanding meaning through text?

Finding it somewhat amusing, I spoke up.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’ve done quite a few things.”

Let me summarize what I’ve done while wandering this world.

Breaking and entering, theft. Property damage and corpse desecration.

Even with just these, I could be considered worse than most criminals, and I even caused an explosion in the Tower—arguably the most important structure in the Ark.

Judging purely by right and wrong, I’ve committed enough crimes to warrant being wanted as a first-class criminal.

“But you didn’t want to commit those acts, Mori.”

“That’s true.”

Still, it would be terribly unfair to be dragged away by robots to prison or executed for those reasons.

If there were other living people, it might be different, but how exactly am I supposed to legally obtain the clothes, food, and shelter necessary for survival in a city where no one else remains?

“Still—legally and morally, I’ve done wrong, so I’d rather not encounter them if possible.”

“That’s certainly true. Other robots might understand and let it go, but those security robots can be quite strict.”

Human laws were created on the premise that humans can interact with each other in a properly functioning society.

That means they’ve become worthless now that most city functions have stopped and only one living human remains.

However, security robots generally prioritize the application of law over the causality of incidents.

As advanced as the world has become—even if they have the intelligence to observe the world and judge situations themselves—they would likely view me quite unfavorably.

“If a security robot shows up and tries to take me away, will you stop it?”

“Me?! Do you know how scary and strong those guys are? They’re huge and they shoot guns!”

“…Shouldn’t you at least say you’ll protect me, even if it’s just empty words?”

I wasn’t expecting the Robot to sacrifice itself, but I didn’t expect it to refuse for such practical reasons either.

I thought we were close friends. So you’d abandon me immediately when faced with a major threat.

Feeling somewhat hurt, I hung my head, which made the Robot wave its arms with a panicked expression.

“I never said I wouldn’t! I just thought resolving things through conversation later would be better than immediately confronting them. Besides, what could I possibly do without any weapons?”

“Can’t you use some kind of electrical attack?”

“I can’t! Not all robots can shoot electricity. Even if I could, it wouldn’t work on other robots! Could you win in a fair fistfight against an athlete if someone told you to?”

“An athlete…”

I imagined myself facing an athlete. Having a giant robot right in front of me made it easier to visualize.

Could I win against someone who had trained their body their entire life?

I looked down at my hands. Though the rough skin didn’t look particularly delicate, it couldn’t be called well-trained either.

“Absolutely not.”

I quickly concluded that I couldn’t win even if the opponent offered to take a hundred hits before starting.

“What about hacking? Aren’t you good at that?”

When facing an opponent with exceptional abilities, there’s no need to confront them on their terms. Didn’t David defeat Goliath with a sling rather than his fists?

“I might manage if they were standing still, but try that on a fully functioning robot and I’d immediately become scrap metal.”

But this didn’t seem like a good idea either.

Just as humans created tools and set traps to overcome beasts they couldn’t defeat with strength alone, technique means little in the face of overwhelming physical superiority.

“I guess I can only hope not to encounter any.”

“Well—even if they’re strict, they’re not completely unreasonable. It should be fine. Probably.”

Probably.

The sweetest yet most irresponsible word in the world.

Hope would be a similar word.

Despite following the large Robot for quite some time, there was no building in sight that resembled a police station.

It definitely said it was close, but how much further did we need to walk?

As I was about to ask the Robot how much further while patting my thighs that were starting to ache, it suddenly stopped.

“You can wait here.”

“Here? This is the middle of nowhere.”

There was nothing at the spot where the Robot had stopped. It wasn’t that the weather was obscuring our view—it truly was an empty field with no buildings in sight.

Could it be malfunctioning?

It wouldn’t be surprising if it had malfunctioned, having gone without maintenance for so long.

But if a malfunctioning robot had truly led me to some strange place, that would be a serious problem. I didn’t know the way back.

“Are you sure this is right? Haven’t we come to the wrong place?”

I hadn’t even brought my bag because it was supposed to be close. This meant I couldn’t even build a snow shelter if necessary.

Panicking, I patted the Robot’s back as it bent down. It was a moment when my fear of the cold surpassed my fear of the Robot.

But regardless of my patting, the Robot remained bent over, silently searching for something.

As I took another step closer, wondering what it was looking for as it moved its hands buried in the snow—

Thud.

“What?!”

The Robot turned something invisible, and the ground I was standing on began to sink downward.