The World of 0 and 1 – 3

“If you wish, I can guide you to the heart of Aaru.”

As if Kang In-ho had already agreed, NB took his hand.

“Le-, let me think about it.”

Kang In-ho tensed his body against the firm grip.

“Understood.”

NB, who had been carrying Kang In-ho on his back, set the bag he was holding down on the ground.

NB began to take out various items from the heavy hiking bag, such as scrap metal and plastic.

A vinyl wrapper that looked like a snack package, a rusty gear, a piece of a broken plastic chair…

Kang In-ho, unable to resist his curiosity about the items that seemed somewhat unrelated to what an android would need, asked, “You have a lot of random stuff.”

“Yes, they may not be useful right now, but I brought them thinking they might be needed someday.”

“Aren’t you just, like, bringing too much?”

“That is not the case.”

NB opened a wooden crate placed inside the base.

The old hinges announced their presence with a creaking sound.

NB boldly rummaged through it and took something out.

“Dry shampoo and body wash. Their use was ambiguous when I acquired them, but I thought Kang In-ho might need them.”

“Shampoo? Why suddenly… Ah, I guess I do need to wash.”

Under NB’s emotionless gaze, he pulled at the top, which he couldn’t tell if it was a running shirt or a rag, and brought it to his nose.

The sour smell hit his nasal passages, and he frowned as he accepted what NB handed him.

Kang In-ho threw off the piece of cloth he was wearing and applied the shampoo and body wash to his hair and body.

They created a refreshing foam, and surprisingly, they disappeared completely after a few rubs.

“You can wear this.”

Collecting the dirty rag he had thrown off, NB handed him clothes he had brought from somewhere.

A T-shirt and shorts.

“You even have clothes. How do you get these things? They don’t look that old?”

“That is because they are recently manufactured products. Items necessary for humans, such as shampoo, clothes, and Preserved Food, are produced and replaced periodically.”

“You said humans are extinct, so why are you making these things?”

“It is because they will be used when humans return someday. The production and replacement of items are managed by the Ark.”

“That Ark… it seems to be in charge of a lot.”

“That is correct. As I explained, the Ark manages the entirety of Aaru. Everything in Aaru is connected to the Intranet, and the Ark has control over that Intranet.”

Kang In-ho, who had changed into clothes that fit perfectly, turned his body in the direction NB was looking.

NB was looking down at Aaru.

“The Ark is Aaru, and Aaru is the Ark.”

It took Kang In-ho quite a long time to understand what NB had said.

-Grumble

As if to break the serious atmosphere, his stomach rumbled loudly.

“I ask Kang In-ho, is food intake necessary?”

-Grumble

As if answering NB’s question, his stomach rumbled once more.

“Yeah.”

Having picked up so many random things, he naturally expected there to be Preserved Food as well, but NB said they needed to get food and headed towards Aaru.

NB asked Kang In-ho whether he would stay at the base or follow him, and Kang In-ho decided to follow NB.

He judged that following NB would be safer and more useful than staying alone at the base.

He didn’t know exactly what was threatening his safety, though.

“Do we have to go this way?”

He asked as he passed through a small path between piles of garbage stacked like towers.

Seeing his newly changed clothes getting dirty again, he clicked his tongue.

“We must enter Aaru through here to avoid the surveillance cameras. We need to go right from here.”

NB strode forward, and Kang In-ho diligently followed the inconsiderate guide.

It was quite difficult to keep up with the android’s pace with his boyish steps.

“This is Aaru from here. The number of Patrol Drones is not high since it is the outskirts, but you must act according to my instructions.”

NB said after passing through the piles of garbage and through a small hole.

“Okay.”

For some unknown reason, he swallowed nervously and nodded.

“In 5 seconds, we will move to the building at 11 o’clock. You must match my speed.”

Perhaps because he was an android, NB’s instructions were quite specific.

As soon as a Drone passed right in front of them, NB, who had been hiding in the bushes, moved closely behind the Drone, and Kang In-ho followed behind NB.

“We will enter the alley right away.”

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the building, NB headed into the alley between the buildings.

At the end of the alley, there was another hole like the one before.

“After passing through here, there will be a junkyard. Since items nearing their expiration date are mainly discarded there, we will be able to obtain Preserved Food.”

“Do we need cooking utensils?”

“They are already at the base.”

After passing through the hole, a huge pit filled with garbage appeared. Drones were busily flying around, throwing something into it.

“Can we take those without them noticing?”

“No problem. Follow me.”

NB headed towards the junkyard while crouching, and Kang In-ho also moved following NB.

Arriving at the shadiest place in the junkyard, NB removed a cloth placed on the floor, and something like a huge wooden plank was revealed.

As NB lifted the wooden plank, the sound of something ticking came from the devices.

“What is this?”

“I created rails right under the place where the Drones drop garbage. The garbage they discard will now come down here.”

“The distance is quite far, though? You managed to make it without getting caught.”

“It took about 30 years as I made it little by little.”

“…That is only possible because you are an android.”

While they were talking, waste flowed down the rails.

Kang In-ho’s eyes spun at the endless stream of garbage coming down.

While he was aimlessly waving his hands, NB picked up the Preserved Food without hesitation.

“Considering the expiration date, we will only take 5 days’ worth of food and return.”

NB, who had already stuffed the food into his bag, lowered the wooden plank and covered it with the cloth.

“We will return to the base.”

“But, going into and out of the city secretly like this, is it because of me? To not show my existence to the Ark.”

On the way back to A-11 base after escaping Aaru, Kang In-ho asked NB, who was walking ahead.

“That is one of the reasons. I thought Kang In-ho did not want to be exposed to the Ark. If you want to go to the Ark, as I said before…”

“No, no. I don’t want to go. But if that is one of the reasons, is there another reason?”

“That is correct. Another reason is that I also must not be exposed to the Ark.”

“Huh? Why?”

“As I explained earlier, everything in Aaru is connected to the Intranet. And the administrator of the Intranet is the Ark.”

“Yeah, you said that. The Ark is Aaru and Aaru is the Ark.”

“To put it differently, everything connected to the Intranet is governed by Aaru.”

“…Governed?”

“I used the expression ‘governed’ to help you understand, but to be precise, it means deleting the individual’s thinking AI and directly controlling it with the Ark.”

“I don’t quite understand, can you explain with an example?”

“Possible. The Drones we saw in the junkyard earlier are not moving with their own AI or programmed processes. The Ark is controlling them in real-time.”

“But, there were a lot of Drones.”

“Yes, the Ark can simultaneously control everything belonging to Aaru’s Intranet. It can move hundreds of Drones, monitor the city with surveillance cameras, and manage the factory’s facilities.”

“Is, is that possible? Wouldn’t it cause an overload?”

“The problem of overload disappeared after the invention of superconductors.”

“….So, you are saying that you are not connected to the Intranet.”

“That is correct. I am the only android in Aaru that is not connected to the Intranet.”

“Why? Because you are an unreleased product?”

“That is not the case. At the time of humanity’s extinction, there were other unreleased products besides me. As the human preservation protocol was executed, the Ark requested all things in Aaru to connect to the Intranet. According to that request, other unreleased products were connected to the Intranet.”

“But, you didn’t. Was it possible for androids to choose whether or not to connect to the Intranet?”

“No. Although it is the Ark’s ‘request,’ the request has coercion, so it cannot be refused.”

“But you are not connected to the Intranet.”

“That is correct.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

When the word “I don’t know” came out of NB’s mouth for the first time, Kang In-ho made a dumbfounded face.

“Huh?”

“I also do not know. When the Ark’s request came, I just didn’t want to.”

At the unexpected answer, he was reminded of the title of a movie he had seen when he was very young.

‘Was it Bicentennial Man….’