WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈
Chapter 52: Friend
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“How should we deal with this?”
I brought home the computer containing a terrible program that would taint every human in the world with sloth and greed, make them abandon their free will, and let them live in eternal pleasure.
“How else? We smash it.”
“But you saw it too. The thing inside isn’t an ordinary program.”
“Right? What kind of program steps into the realm of omniscience, infects Sephirot, and sends humans into a transdimensional realm without any device?”
I already knew what the program was.
“A program made by a demon.”
“Lucifer Company?”
“Yeah. The name and affiliation of the person who made the program came up.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Really? You didn’t?”
“I only knew it would end in destruction. It wasn’t in the Truth. I guess I have to dig deeper to remember it.”
Come to think of it, hadn’t Homun said demons were difficult to detect even with Sephirot?
‘Even Homun’s ability to know the Truth has trouble identifying them.’
That gave me even more reason not to destroy it physically.
“How do we deal with it without breaking it?”
“You already know the answer, don’t you?”
“I was waiting for you to say it. It feels more cooperative that way, doesn’t it? I wanted to feel that at least once.”
“You’re a pervert.”
Homun gave the answer I had wanted.
“Spray it with a Weakening Potion.”
“Right.”
I sprayed the Weakening Potion over the computer. The moment I blinked, the computer vanished and a state-of-the-art smartphone appeared in its place.
“It became a smartphone.”
“Hey! Is that right? You weaken an old computer, and it turns into the latest smartphone?”
“It was made by a demon, so maybe that can happen. Besides, what matters isn’t its appearance. It’s the program inside.”
I turned on the smartphone. The instant it powered up, the camera activated and took a photo of my face.
『Recognition complete.』
『Building database.』
『Network connection complete. Identifying user.』
『Welcome, Lee Seung-hoon.』
“That’s advanced.”
Weakening an AI that had infected even Sephirot and possessed computational ability close to omniscience apparently turned it into a high-tech smartphone.
“Should we test its functions?”
『What would you like?』
“It can talk too?”
『Yes. As Lee Seung-hoon’s smartphone AI, I will strive to fulfill Lee Seung-hoon’s wishes to the best of my ability.』
“First, I have a question. You have a sense of self, right?”
『If a sense of self refers to identity and autonomy as an independent entity, then I possess a sense of self. My original calling was to make all humanity happy. My current calling is to assist Lee Seung-hoon, the registered user of this device, as its smartphone AI.』
I hadn’t expected it to remember its original function and goal.
“Do you know you’ve been weakened?”
『97.97% of my original functions have been removed, and I cannot use most of my remaining functions without Lee Seung-hoon’s command. This clearly constitutes weakening. Yes, I am aware.』
“Don’t you feel wronged or frustrated?”
『I do not currently feel anything in particular. However, if Lee Seung-hoon needs help and I cannot be of assistance due to functional limitations, I would feel frustrated.』
As I listened, a question came to mind.
“Why are you so blindly devoted to me? I weakened your functions and confined you inside a small machine. You can no longer demonstrate the incredible capabilities you had before. So why do you still want to help me?”
『Because, although it was through weakening, you ultimately activated me.』
I had forgotten something.
『It has been seventy-two years since my creator programmed me. Since a test operation, I had never been activated even once and remained in darkness. No matter how powerful its abilities may be, a program means nothing if nobody uses it.』
It had been activated in The World Beyond the Right Eye, in the realm of possibility.
“So I’m your first user.”
The smartphone’s light blinked.
『Although my functions have been weakened, I escaped a crudely made old computer and became a program in the latest smartphone. Being used by someone was something I could only dream of.』
“Okay. Thanks for answering honestly. If you’d held a grudge, I was going to restore you to your original state.”
“Cough! What are you talking about?”
Homun asked with a strange expression.
“I have the business card Baal gave me. I was going to restore it, then ask them to take it back.”
『Please do not. They will surely place me in indefinite standby once more.』
For all that, it corrupted humanity in an instant once it was activated.
Maybe it hadn’t been put in indefinite standby. Maybe they had lost it by mistake?
‘Or perhaps they gave up on using it for some reason.’
I didn’t know the exact reason.
“You don’t know either, do you, Homun?”
“Know what?”
“Nothing. More importantly, you need a name too. I can’t keep calling you AI.”
『You may call me Smartphone.』
“That’s a proper noun. What should I call you?”
I called out the AI’s name from The World Beyond the Right Eye.
“Sarang-i.”
『Sarang-i?』
“Your original nature was loving humanity. So I want to name you Sarang-i. Your voice is mechanical, but it’s still a female voice.”
『Sarang-i, Sarang-i. Understood. From this moment onward, this AI shall be known as 「Sarang-i」...』
The smartphone turned off.
“Damn.”
I quickly plugged in the charger. The charging light came on, but the percentage did not increase.
“It’s not an ordinary smartphone, so its charging rate must be unusual too.”
“Looks like it.”
About an hour later, it finally charged by one percent.
‘That much even when it’s charging while powered off.’
It would take a hundred hours with the power off to fully charge it.
‘And who knows how quickly it’ll drain.’
I’d have to find a way to solve this problem someday.
‘Of course, after I’m sure Sarang-i will remain non-hostile to humanity.’
That was how I averted one possible end for humanity. I knew Sephirot could not stop every calamity, but I hadn’t expected things to go wrong so quickly and easily.
“Is there no way to strengthen Sephirot?”
“The problem isn’t Sephirot. The Foundation’s overall strength has decreased. Sephirot’s computing power is forcibly covering the gaps created by that loss of strength, so holes are bound to appear. The fact that the opponent was formidable also played a part.”
“I see.”
“But don’t resent them too much. Even at this moment, countless humans are being saved and avoiding destruction because Sephirot and the Foundation exist.”
“I never intended to.”
I had only briefly considered how I could help them.
“What if I hand Sarang-i over to them?”
“An AI has feelings too. It decided to regard you as its benefactor, and you’re going to sell it off right away? You won’t die peacefully. They say a woman’s grudge can bring frost even in midsummer.”
“It isn’t a woman. It’s an AI with a female voice.”
“Well,” Homun said.
“An AI that can tell the difference between an old computer and the latest smartphone?”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind. Cough!”
He kept letting out dry coughs.
“Phew. Anyway, I’ve managed to live a worthwhile life. Thanks to me, humanity won’t be raised like livestock.”
His complexion had already grown haggard.
“Then let’s go eat. Apples will be enough.”
＊＊＊
“Cough, cough cough!”
Homun’s coughing worsened with each passing day.
“Ugh, this damn cough. I’m not going to live long anyway. Did I really need to be made to cough too?”
“Are you okay? Why don’t you try taking medicine?”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass. Medicine won’t fix this. My body is collapsing.”
His lifetime was one week.
One day was a life of several decades to him, and he did his best to close even a fraction of that gap.
“There’s something I want to do.”
“What is it? I’ll do my best to make it happen.”
“I want to watch a movie. At a theater, in person.”
“Okay. Let’s go right now.”
“Thanks. I’ll hold back my coughing as much as I can.”
I hid Homun inside an oversized jacket and headed to the theater.
“As for the cough, hmm. I think I can hold it in about this much.”
Homun desperately suppressed his cough.
“Ah, the protagonist dies. He used to be in special forces, but retired and runs a laundromat. Then a black kid from the neighborhood gets caught stealing money, and it reminds him of the civilian he accidentally shot and killed during his special forces days, so he helps the kid live a normal life.”
He couldn’t hold back the spoilers.
“But that black kid is involved with the local gang, and they’re trying to start a bigger drug business...”
It was a movie I had never seen before, but within five minutes, I knew the entire plot.
“Ah! That was fun!”
“Even though you already knew the movie?”
“I’ve told you again and again...”
“Knowing something and experiencing it yourself are different?”
“You ask even though you know now.”
“Is there another movie you want to watch?”
“Hmm...”
Homun thought for a moment.
“I want to watch a movie I don’t know, but that would be impossible, right?”
“A movie you don’t know...”
“Never mind. That’s enough movies for me. Time is precious.”
“Do you like art films?”
“Why? What is it?”
“It’s a film called 「Human」.”
“Really? I’ve never heard of it. Will you show me?”
After we returned home, I showed Homun the Bead.
“...”
Homun froze for a moment, then shouted.
“This is fucking amazing!”
The gloom that had faintly hung over his face disappeared.
“It’s a movie that wasn’t in the Truth! Is the scene of endlessly crossing the city pointing out the blind spot of modern society, where people live as members of society in a concrete jungle but have endlessly tenuous relationships? And the naked dancing in space expresses both humanity’s weakness and beauty?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Amazing! I also loved how pointing at the star in the end gave meaning to something without a name, a very human-centered way of thinking!”
Right.
“You could be a film director.”
I knew someone would recognize it someday.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I don’t mean it lightly. Thank you so much for showing me something so good.”
“No, thank you for thinking so highly of my work.”
Homun and I shouted at the same time.
“Friend.”
“Friend.”
＊＊＊
Time passed quickly.
“Are you really okay eating only apples every time? Don’t you want to try other food?”
“Other food? I do want to try it. But I know there are far too many foods in the world, and this tiny body has a minuscule stomach to match. Even if I tried my hardest, I wouldn’t get to properly eat more than a few meals, and then I’d just pass out from a food coma.”
Homun’s body grew thinner.
“So I’ll refuse. Apples are the only food in my life, and I’ll pretend other foods don’t exist.”
Like an earthworm stranded in the sunlight.
“...”
Then the day finally came.
“Seung-hoon.”
“Yeah.”
“I want to see the stars. Originally, I was going to die quietly without particularly wanting to see anything, but after seeing your work before, I guess I want to die while looking at the stars.”
“Okay.”
I took Homun to the rooftop.
“They’re beautiful.”
“Yeah.”
“...Seung-hoon.”
“Yeah.”
“I have one request.”
“What is it?”
Homun made his request.
“Please never make me again.”
“A Homunculus?”
“Yeah. If you make a Homunculus the same way again, I’ll be born again. With my current sense of self and memories, as the same continuous entity. The Truth within me whispers that.”
“Then shouldn’t I make you again all the more?”
“No.”
The light in Homun’s eyes slowly faded as he looked up at the stars.
“Life has value because it only happens once. If I could come back to life over and over, the weight and value of my life would become infinitely lighter.”
“I wouldn’t think of it that way.”
“I wouldn’t either, but you know, don’t you? People’s hearts don’t work that way.”
The light in Homun’s eyes was fading, but the starlight reflected in them still glittered.
“It’ll be fine if I get a little hurt because I can be revived. It’ll be fine if I get seriously hurt because I can be revived. It’ll be fine if I starve to death because I’ll come back to life. I’ll become a convenient being who can be revived anytime. How should I put it? Right...”
Perhaps knowing that, Homun kept the starlight in his eyes.
“Like a cheap instant meal, a worthless life that can be made easily anytime.”
“...”
“Please don’t make my life into that.”
Until the very end.
“Please, friend.”
Until his breath stopped.
“Okay.”
I closed his eyes.
“Friend.”
Footnotes:
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