Ch.909. Question.

# 09. Questions

“Wow, another message really came! It seems like they’re coming steadily now, about one every 30 minutes.”

Once the Controller started communicating, it began delivering messages to me periodically.

Though there’s still a significant one-day gap, so the conversation doesn’t flow naturally.

But for someone like me who’s been thirsting for any trace of humanity, even these messages are nothing but a blessing.

“When they say ‘[I can’t see anything]’, I wonder if they sent that when the snowfall got heavy yesterday. It really was impossible to see even a foot ahead.”

While it’s disappointing that we can’t exchange information and chat in real-time, there are some good points too.

Like now, when I try to figure out the context behind messages that aren’t clear from words alone.

It feels like solving a puzzle that suddenly appeared in a world where there was absolutely nothing to do.

Of course, it’s not as fun as exchanging information in real-time and sharing thoughts… but in this reality, having anything to distract myself with is a blessing.

“Come to think of it… if there’s about a day’s difference, why didn’t I get any messages until now?”

Daily life in this snow-covered city follows an inevitable routine.

When the sun sets, the entire city becomes so dark you can’t walk without a flashlight, so I find shelter early.

After spending the night there, I get up around dawn and head out to the streets.

So if there really is a “one day” gap… I should have been receiving these messages as soon as I woke up, at 30-minute intervals.

But the drone stayed silent all morning and afternoon, only starting to deliver the accumulated messages sequentially when evening came.

And that only started after I complained about why no messages were coming.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t it send a message this morning too when I was grumbling about the silent drone…?”

Maybe the drone has some kind of voice recognition function that only delivers stored messages when I speak to it?

Thinking this possibility wasn’t completely out of the question, I immediately started saying all sorts of things to the drone.

Stupid tin can that doesn’t even send messages regularly. I’ll die of loneliness if I don’t get a message right now. Things like that.

“…Guess that’s not it.”

But regardless of what I said, the drone just kept sending messages at regular intervals, and nothing special happened.

“It must have been my imagination. Of course, unless there’s a person inhabiting the drone, it wouldn’t send or withhold messages based on what I say.”

Logically speaking, it’s more reasonable to assume that connection instability or technical issues cause messages to arrive in clusters or sporadically.

But with all the strange things happening these past few days, I unconsciously jumped to far-fetched conclusions.

“By the way… I wonder if people watching the video thought I was suddenly calling something a ‘stupid tin can’ and saying ‘I’ll die of loneliness’ out of nowhere?”

Just a moment ago I was laughing and chatting, and then suddenly… yeah, I definitely would have looked mentally unstable.

“It’s not entirely wrong, but… it’s a bit embarrassing. I don’t know how you see me, but I’m perfectly sane. I swear to God!”

I hurriedly denied my previous behavior to clear up any potential misunderstandings.

Some say that strong denial is affirmation, but if you reverse that logic, affirmation also contains denial.

Such a person would live anxiously in their own distrust, unable to believe any person or information in this world.

I hope the people watching my video aren’t such unstable individuals, and I denied my strange behavior with all my might.

“…By the way, this isn’t really being controlled by a person, right?”

But while I was earnestly explaining the situation…

The drone that had been filming me started moving slightly up and down while circling around me.

It seems like it’s teasing me… that’s just my imagination, right?

“[Wow, that scared me!] I don’t need to think deeply about when this message was left yesterday. It’s from when I first entered the house to sleep last night, right? I’ll bet a week’s worth of canned food on it… no, thinking about it, a week’s worth is too much. Let’s say seven cans. And you can give me mint pineapple flavor, right?”

Like yesterday, I found a relatively undamaged house near the superstore, picked the lock, and went inside.

It was exhausting and difficult to wrap the house owner who had ended their life in a different way than yesterday in a blanket and clean the dirty floor.

But despite that, a smile never left my face.

Because even in the darkness, the Controller’s screen was glowing blue.

“Ugh, I don’t think I’ve ever smiled or talked this much before. Especially since becoming this body. My cheeks and throat hurt like hell… but I still don’t want to turn off the drone. I have so many questions for you. I guarantee they’re more important and numerous than your questions like ‘What is that mint-pineapple-rosé flavored chicken canned food?'”

Just like yesterday, I turn on the heater and crouch in front of the faint light to take out tonight’s dinner.

It’s ham from a can that I’ve been saving for a special occasion, to celebrate when something good happens.

Just slightly opening the lid makes my mouth water. I place the can on the fire and take out paper and pencil from my bag.

“From now on, I’m going to ask you several questions. I don’t expect to get the answers I want right away, so I hope you’ll remember the questions I’m asking now and answer them later, even if it’s much later.”

Since learning that other people besides me are alive in this world, I’ve been curious about many things.

But saying such things while wandering the streets or rummaging through corpses wouldn’t be taken seriously by people.

So I wanted to create a situation where we could have a serious conversation.

“First of all, where do you live? And do you all live together? It doesn’t seem like you’re anywhere near here.”

If people were living near this city where I am, the city wouldn’t be maintained in this state.

They might not clean up the corpses scattered on the ground, but they would have taken the food and items left in stores, including the superstore.

“You’re not living on the opposite side of the Earth, are you? If that’s the case, I wouldn’t know how to find you. Could I eventually reach you if I loaded food onto a sled and followed the undersea tunnel all the way…?”

If the undersea tunnels connecting continents are still intact, it wouldn’t be physically impossible.

The problem is how long it would take to cross the ocean without any vehicles.

Spending years alone in an undersea tunnel without a single point of light… even someone like me who’s used to living alone would find that impossible.

And there’s no way the batteries for flashlights or drones would last that long…

“Let’s think about this problem later. I can’t find the undersea tunnel anyway since I don’t even know where I am right now.”

Setting aside negative thoughts that offer no answers no matter how much I imagine, I ask questions that I find enjoyable, writing them down on paper.

“Is the place where you live habitable? Do you have proper electricity and water supply? I hope it’s at least an environment where animals like pigs or cows can live. I sometimes want to eat real meat grilled on a pan, not just the meat flavor added to these canned foods.”

The ham from the can smells so wonderful it brings tears to my eyes, but it can’t compare to the smell of real meat being grilled or various other foods.

I wanted to taste the foods of the past, which now only remain as memories of happiness from eating.

“By the way… messages like [Terrible] or [Scary] suggest you’re not used to scenes like this.”

Here, you can find terrible weapons that can kill someone with just the flick of a finger more easily than finding food.

But judging from the messages I receive, the people behind the drone don’t seem familiar with such scenery.

“It seems the place where you live is at least much more peaceful than this city.”

Living alone in a world that harbors its own cruelties and horrors wherever you go, I’ve become accustomed to negative emotions.

Terrible, disgusting, scary. How long has it been since those emotions faded?

My fantasies about the world beyond the drone grow with these pure reactions that someone like me couldn’t produce. Hope swells alongside them.

“Maybe only this city, this country ended up like this, and people are still living in civilization elsewhere.”

If I could get there, could I live a normal life again?

Just last week, I tried to erase this dream from my mind several times, thinking it was an unattainable dream, a vain hope.

Can I believe that I might reach it now?

“Ahem, alright. I’ll stop my questions here for today. I’m a bit tired, and if I send too many questions at once, you might get confused too.”

I rub my stinging eyes with my wrist and place my hand on the Controller’s power button.

“Today, tomorrow, and beyond. I hope you’ll send messages after watching my video, even if they’re meaningless. Thank you.”

With those final words, I press the button.

With a beep, the drone slowly descends.

“…If I could have my way, I’d keep it on even while I sleep.”

But the battery wouldn’t last if I did that.

The battery that had four bars this morning was already down to one bar.

“Right, you need to eat to move too.”

Neither machines nor people can function properly without eating.

If I overwork it and it breaks down, that would be troublesome… I should keep my greed in check.

“It’s fortunate there’s a charger though.”

Thankfully, the house that had this drone’s blueprints and parts also had a portable battery.

Without it, my heart would have sunk each time the drone’s battery decreased by one bar.

Finding a charger for this drone in a world where machines were powered without wires or batteries would have been like finding a needle in a haystack.

If I couldn’t charge the drone and lost connection with people, I might have stopped moving forward, thinking someone might come looking for me.

“I hope the sun comes out at least once in the next few days.”

After confirming that the drone and Controller were charging well, I sighed in relief and looked up at the sky through the window.

Even portable batteries need to store energy before they can feed others, and currently, the only way I could charge the battery was through the small solar panel attached to it.

The efficiency of producing electricity would be higher compared to panels used in the distant past, so I’m not too worried, but that’s only if the sun is out.

“When was the last time the sun came out?”

Hoping it would come out while I could still charge the drone and Controller, I place the drone on my leg.

“The more I think about it, the more amazing it is. How can this connect me with people?”

I mutter while wiping off the moisture that formed from flying through the cold city.

This drone, which looks like it could only be used for personal hobbies.

Not only does it still work perfectly after decades or centuries, but it connects me with people who live who-knows-where, even when broadcasting equipment has stopped working. It’s simply amazing.

No matter how I think about it, it’s nothing short of a miracle.

The sudden urge to enter a collapsing building that I would have normally passed by.

Finding this drone among the many objects there, it all felt like a miracle.

Or perhaps, destiny.

“Yawn…”

Destiny and miracles.

If such things really exist, who determines them?

As I finished wiping off the moisture while thinking about such random thoughts, sleepiness suddenly washed over me.

Right, I did move around a lot today.

In this state where I can’t eat or rest properly, sleep was the only way to relieve fatigue and replenish energy.

So I decided to go to sleep right away and lay down on the floor, using my outer clothes as a blanket.

And before falling asleep, I prayed earnestly with my hands clasped.

That I would be able to talk with them tomorrow too.