episode_0320

***

“If you wish, I can give you directions to the center of Aaru.”

NB took his hand, as if he had said he would go right away.

“Bird, think about it.”

Kang In-ho put a lot of strength into his strong grip.

“Okay.”

It was carrying Kang In-ho, so he put the bag he was carrying on the ground.

NB began taking out miscellaneous items such as scrap metal and plastic one by one from his heavy hiking bag.

Vinyl that looks like a snack wrapper, a rusty gear wheel, and part of a broken plastic chair…

Kang In-ho couldn’t help but ask about the items that were somewhat different from what an android needed.

“There is a lot of this and that.”

“Yes, it’s useless right now, but I brought it with me thinking I might need it someday.”

“Aren’t you just bringing it with you?”

“Not really.”

NB opened the wooden chest placed inside the base.

The old hinge made an old screeching sound, showing off its presence.

NB boldly rummaged through it and pulled out something.

“Dry shampoo and body wash. When I acquired it, the usage was unclear, but I think Kang In-ho would need this.”

“Shampoo? Why suddenly… Ah, I need to take a shower.”

At NB’s emotionless gaze, he pulled on his top, not sure if it was a running shirt or a mat, and held it to his nose.

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

Kang In-ho took off the piece of cloth he was wearing and put shampoo and body wash on his head and body.

They made foam and made me feel refreshed, but strangely enough, it disappeared after a few rubs.

“You can wear these clothes.”

Collecting the dirty pieces of cloth he had thrown away, NB handed him clothes he had brought from somewhere.

It was a t-shirt and shorts.

“There are clothes too. How do you get these things? Doesn’t it look that old?”

“It’s because it’s a product that was recently made. Items necessary for humans, such as shampoo, clothes, and preserved food, are produced at a certain cycle and replaced with existing ones.”

“They say humans are extinct, but why do they make these things?”

“Because one day, humans will use it when they return. The production and replacement of goods are managed by the Ark.”

“That ark… it has a lot to do with it.”

“That’s right. As explained, the Ark governs all of Aaru. Everything in Aaru is connected to the intranet, and control of the intranet belongs to Ark.”

Kang In-ho, who changed into tight-fitting clothes, turned to face NB.

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 said.

– Growling

As if to break the serious mood, his stomach rumbled.

“Ask Kang In-ho. Do you need to eat?”

– Growling

As if answering NB’s question, my stomach cried once more.

“Yes.”

***

We picked up a lot of miscellaneous things, so of course we thought there would be preserved food, but NB said we needed to get food, so we headed to Aaru.

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

It was judged that it would be safer and more useful to follow NB than to remain at the base alone.

Although he didn’t know exactly what was threatening his safety.

“Do you really have to go this way?”

He asked as we passed a small path between tower-like piles of trash.

He clicked his tongue as he watched his new clothes become dirty again.

“You must enter Aaru through here to avoid surveillance cameras. You have to go to the right here.”

NB took a long stride forward, and Kang In-ho eagerly followed behind the inconsiderate guide.

It was quite difficult to keep up with the android with a boy’s gait.

“This is Aaru. Since it’s on the outskirts, there aren’t many patrol drones, but you must act according to my instructions.”

NB said as we passed a pile of trash and a small hole.

“Okay.”

He swallowed his saliva and nodded, feeling solemn for no reason.

“5 seconds later, move to the building in the 11 o’clock direction. You have to go at my own pace.”

Maybe it’s because it’s an Android, but NB’s instructions were quite specific.

As soon as the drone passed right in front, NB, who was hiding in the bushes, moved close behind the drone, and Kang In-ho followed behind NB.

“Go straight into the alley.”

As soon as we arrived at the building entrance, NB headed to the alley between the buildings.

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

“After passing here, you will come to a garbage dump. This is a place where products nearing their expiration date are mostly discarded, so you may be able to get preserved food.”

“No need for cooking utensils?”

“Already at the base.”

After passing through the hole, a huge pit filled with trash appeared. Drones were busy flying around and throwing something there.

“Can I bring those secretly?”

“No problem. Please follow me.”

NB crouched and headed toward the garbage dump, and Kang In-ho followed NB.

Arriving at the shadyest part of the dump, NB removed the cloth on the floor, revealing what looked like a huge wooden plank.

As NB lifted the wooden plank, there was the sound of some mechanism ticking.

“What is this?”

“A rail has been created right under the place where the drone throws trash. The trash they throw away will now come down here.”

“There is quite a distance? I managed to make it without getting caught.”

“I made it little by little, so it took about 30 years.”

“…It’s possible because it’s Android.”

While we were talking, waste materials came down the rail.

Kang In-ho’s eyes were rolling as he saw the endless stream of trash coming down.

While he was just waving his hands helplessly, NB picked up the preserved foods without hesitation.

“Considering the expiration date, I will return with only 5 days’ worth of food.”

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

“I will return to base.”

***

“But, is it because of me that you sneaked in and out of the city like this? To not show my existence to the Ark.”

On the way out of Aaru and back to base A-11, Kang In-ho asked NB who was ahead of him.

“That is also one of the reasons. I thought Kang In-ho didn’t want to be exposed to Ark. If you want to go to the Ark, like I said before…”

“No, no. I don’t want to go. But if that’s one reason, are there other reasons?”

“That’s right. The other reason is that I also shouldn’t be exposed to Ark.”

“Huh? Why?”

“As explained earlier, everything in Aaru is connected through the intranet. And the manager of the intranet is Ark.”

“Yes, I said so. The ark is Aaru and Aaru is the ark.”

“Put another way, everything connected to the intranet is governed by Aaru.”

“…domination?”

“The expression ‘dominance’ was used to facilitate understanding, but more accurately, it refers to deleting the thinking AI of an entity and directing the Ark directly.”

“I don’t understand. Can you explain with an example?”

“It is possible. The drone I saw at the garbage dump earlier is not driven by its own AI or pre-programmed process. The ark is being controlled in real time.”

“But, there were a lot of drones.”

“Yes, the Ark can control everything on Aaru’s intranet simultaneously. By moving hundreds of drones, you can monitor the city with surveillance cameras and manage factory equipment.”

“Well, is that possible? Don’t you want to get overloaded?”

“After the invention of superconductors, the problem of overload disappeared.”

“….So, you are not connected to the intranet.”

“That’s right. I am the only Android in Aaru that is not connected to the intranet.”

“Why? Is it an unreleased product?”

“That’s not true, at the time of the extinction of mankind, there were other undelivered products besides mine. The Human Preservation Protocol was implemented, and the Ark requested intranet connectivity from all things on Aaru. According to that request, other unshipped products were connected to the intranet.”

“But you didn’t do that. Was Android able to choose whether to connect to the intranet or not?”

“No. Although it is the Ark’s ‘request’, the request is coercive and cannot be refused.”

“But you are not connected to the intranet.”

“That’s right.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

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

“Huh?”

“I don’t know either. When the Ark’s request came, I just didn’t want to do it.”

The unexpected answer reminded him of the title of a movie he saw when he was very young.

‘Was it the Bicentennial Man….’