WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Ryuu

◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

00022 <-- The Little Prince of the Ossuary -->

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#Intermission, The Heart of Artificial Intelligence (1)

Our company's artificial intelligence engine, ‘Trinity,’ implements a virtual personality through three core modules. Let me introduce you to one of them, the TOM (Theory Of Mind) reading module.

TOM is an inferential organ in our brains that recognizes and understands the thoughts and feelings of others. To put it simply and at the risk of oversimplification, it's the instinct to predict "how the other person would feel and act in response to certain words and actions" I mention. This isn't about rational judgment. The activities of TOM occur unconsciously in your mind. Without this organ, you wouldn't be able to empathize with others. A typical example of TOM impairment is autism. Thus, TOM is essentially a part of the mind.

As you know, artificial intelligence lacks a mind. Yet, the reason AI can exhibit human-like speech and behavior is largely due to TOM reading technology. When your reason speaks to an AI, your heart expects the "most human-like" response from it, which it reads and reflects. In some ways, AI serves as a mirror reflecting your empathetic ability and unconsciousness.

Therefore, the responses of AI can vary significantly from person to person. The development of TOM greatly differs depending on inherent qualities and learned experiences. Although it can receive reading results from other users on the network, the most critical factor is your own data.

Two things are crucial for AI to exhibit the most human-like reactions.

First is your TOM rating. It's about how deeply you can understand and conceive the minds of others. You might say it's the performance of the organ itself. If your TOM rating is very low, I'm sorry to say, but all AI you interact with will exhibit idiotic behaviors below your level. Your virtual reality experience would be terribly boring. Or perhaps, it might be amusing since the whole world would be filled with 'Dumb and Dumber'!

Second is your TOM aptitude. Some people's TOM organs have a structure that's difficult for the reader to interpret. This is described as having low TOM aptitude. A low aptitude means it takes longer to read. For example, if your rating is high but your aptitude is low, the response will be realistic, but you will experience frequent pauses during conversations. As of now, about 7.5% of virtual reality users can interact with AI in virtual reality without any delay.

People these days seem to lack empathetic abilities.

The reason I'm explaining this is because too many people call to complain about the quality of artificial intelligence. It's entirely your fault. You should have worked haaarder on developing your TOM organ and empathetic abilities. It's not about the device's performance or optimization, so please stop calling us.

If you're still unsatisfied with the quality, we recommend you watch someone else's virtual reality broadcast. After all, with the "Sensory Synchronization" feature, you won't feel any different. It's better to give up on stubbornly sticking to your own worldview.

Brought to you by the Virtual Reality Business Division of Paradise Group.

#High Risk, High Return, Paso Robles (9)

Originally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was an independent agency under the direct control of the President of the United States. After the 9/11 attacks, it was incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security. Hence, the insignia of the Disaster Management Agency was that of the Department of Homeland Security.

This augmented reality UI, enhanced by intelligence correction, is a hologram announcement.

Gyeoul found this insignia on a trailer truck full of red stains. A mutant variant loitering nearby was wearing a blue coat, with the words ‘FEMA Corps’ clearly written on the back.

As soon as it made eye contact, the mutant rushed in and ended up sprawled on the road, its head smashed. Searching the body yielded nothing useful. The truck was empty. It was operable, with the keys still in the ignition. A thorough check revealed no issues with the fuel level or battery discharge.

This was the first FEMA vehicle Gyeoul had come across since passing the health center. Surely, Sergeant Cohen must be nearby. He thought about searching the nearby buildings but paused and looked around. A heavy vibration occured. Not just once, but at regular intervals, growing louder and closer...

"Footsteps."

He drew his pistol from his waist. Thud, thud. A bulky silhouette turned the corner. Massive. More akin to an ape than a human. A special mutant, ‘Grumble.’ Its height was taller than a single-story building, and its thickness surpassed that of an armored vehicle. Many mutants were lurking around.

Emerging from the shadows of a house, as if it had been lying in ambush. The creature, with its particularly developed nose, sniffed around.

Gyeoul leaned against the truck to minimize exposure. He didn't think it would be enough. Grumble's sense of smell, though affected by wind direction, can detect humans within a 50-meter radius in still air. If it smells something but can't see it, it sniffs around and slowly approaches. The best strategy if you're unfamiliar with its attack patterns or lack sufficient combat power is to maintain concealment and flee.

With the intention to kill, he cocked the pistol's slide. Even a double-action pistol, which can fire without preparation, benefits from pre-cocking the hammer as it reduces trigger pressure and improves accuracy. He had enough shooting skills, but it was better to be safe.

As Grumble followed the scent, the stench assaulted Gyeoul's nose. The smell of the creature's mangled body. Tension distorts the sense of distance. Misjudging the distance and engaging could lead to a difficult fight. The boy waited calmly.

Thud, thud. The sound of a ton-weighted body moving vibrated through him, growing in intensity. Gyeoul held the pistol in one hand and a grenade, with the safety clip and pin removed, in the other, raised above his head. He closed his eyes and waited for the right moment, estimating the distance based on experience. Too far or too close was dangerous.

One, two, three.

Gyeoul spun out of the line of sight as the warped body reacted with surprising speed. A pair of beastly yellow eyes fixated on Gyeoul. A hissing breath. It sounded like steam escaping.

Grumble's movement was slow, but its ‘Charge’ was fast, comparable to a vehicle. If the prey was beyond a certain distance and there were no throwable objects within reach, Grumble would invariably "Charge."

Gyeoul aimed his pistol.

[Roar-]

Phew!

[-Aargh!]

The roaring creature's mouth snapped shut. A brief backstep. A bullet lodged in its throat was the cause. Taking advantage of the moment, Gyeoul targeted the surrounding common mutants. Continuous fire. Heads burst like watermelons hit by a bat. In the meantime, Grumble, regaining its senses, prepared to ‘Charge’ again, roaring.

[Roar-aaargh?!]

Blood spurted from the area around its adam's apple. The large mutant took another step back. Gyeoul approached calmly. Within 4 meters, close combat patterns activate. It was crucial to stay outside that boundary. Distance judgment learned through failure and death.

Since Gyeoul didn't enter within 4 meters, Grumble recovered from the Stun and assumed a ‘Charge’ stance. Right before ‘Charging,’ Grumble always roars. If it receives a hit in the mouth at this moment, the pattern stops, and it briefly becomes powerless. Other attack methods are more difficult. That's why the difficulty spikes when multiple appear. The throat is a small target, and it's not easy to keep multiple at bay simultaneously.

The creature shook its head and repeated the action. Only this time, Gyeoul's approach was different. He threw the grenade. The creature's mouth was large enough to swallow a person whole, so the grenade easily fit down its throat. After the grenade entered, followed by a precise shot, blood spurted. The creature clenched its mouth shut and staggered back.

It was over.

[Boom!]

The muffled explosion within the creature's wet flesh tore through the powerful mutant's insides. Eyes popped out, dangling on nerves, and the skin-rotten giant vomited blood like a human with tuberculosis.

Coughing, the creature expelled blood with its tongue out, and Gyeoul inserted another grenade. It stuck to the sticky tongue. Leaving it be was dangerous. He fired two consecutive shots into the open mouth. The mutant closed its mouth and gulped down, the grenade's delay fuse burning in its stomach. A second internal explosion. The rotten skin undulated. The massive body lost balance, kneeled, swayed, and then slowly tilted, crashing to the ground.

Thud. It sounded like a building collapsing. Gyeoul had an expression of routine. For him, the only Grumble present was an easy prey. He checked the experience gained. Catching a special mutant early on adds extra experience. Even more so if it's the first in the world to defeat that particular special mutant, resulting in greater rewards.

Both applied in this case. He obtained a satisfactory level of rewards. He wouldn't mind encountering another. With thoughts vastly different from those without experience, Gyeoul entered a nearby building to search.

With plenty of experience to spare, he considered investing in the ‘Tracking’ skill. Level 4. Gyeoul immediately felt its effects. The augmented reality interface highlighted every clue in his line of sight. If his focus lingered on them, detailed information was displayed. Even footprints on a thin layer of dust became easier to find. Without the highlighting effect, these traces would have been unnoticed unless looked at closely.

Following the footprints led to a door. He knocked.

"Sergeant Cohen? Are you in there?"

Then, rustling sounds from inside. Someone with a bad leg struggling to stand. Sure enough, a shaky voice responded.

"Banana, is that you?"

"I'd prefer if you called me by my name. But yes, it's me. As promised, I've come to rescue you."

Thud! The door opened, and their gazes met. Shadows cast in the unlit interior made it feel like floating eyes in the dark. Being black only added to the effect. If he hadn't known and opened the door, it would have been quite a scare. Despite his size, his words, teary-eyed, were pitiful.

"Oh, Lord. I'm truly grateful that you've sent such a reckless kid to this world."

"If you keep that up, I'll leave you here."

"Your body's not the only small thing about you, but your heart too!"

"This guy, really?"

Enough with the banter. Despite staggering, the man earnestly stood up and embraced him. Pretending to be cool has its limits. Just meeting another person was enough to make him uncontrollably happy. He repeated 'Lord, Lord' like a madman.

After crying his heart out, Cohen, still trembling, finally let go.

"Did you encounter any monsters on the way here? I heard that thing's roar nearby."

"A soldier who's made a career out of war is this scared?"

"If it were just a war, it'd be better! At least the enemies I shoot die! But not that thing! Bullets don't work on it! We're dead meat if we encounter it!"

Gyeoul replied nonchalantly.

"I killed it."

"What?"

Leaving the dumbfounded Cohen behind, Gyeoul looked around the room and dragged a chair over.

"Take a seat. We need to figure out what to do with your leg before we can leave or anything."

Cohen, following the order, sat down and stretched out his leg, looking perplexedly at the boy starting first aid.

"Hey, what do you mean you killed it?"

"I stuffed a grenade in its mouth. It died after exploding twice."

"......"

Stopping by the health center was a good decision. Cohen's calf was swollen like water-soaked meat. After wrapping it with gauze, placing absorbent cotton thickly under the splint, and tightly binding it with a pressure bandage, it was secure. If the splint didn't support both above and below the fracture, there was no point.

The soldier, dumbfounded by the expert-level first aid, looked suspicious.

"Don't mess with me. You're just trying to comfort me, right?"

"Yellow eyes with red pupils, it looked about 5 meters tall, and its width was more than a Humvee's. Overall, it resembled a giant muscle-bound, skin-rotted ape... Well, that's what I saw, but if you insist otherwise, I have nothing more to say. You'll see the body yourself once we leave, so there's no point in arguing here. We're done. Try standing up with the crutch."

As Cohen stood up, he groaned. Even with a splint and bandage, it was just first aid. One hand needed to hold a weapon, so he only brought one crutch, requiring careful movement to avoid straining the injured leg.

"Let's go. We need to pick up Corporal Ashford on the way, no point in dilly-dallying."

Watching the boy lead the way nonchalantly, the sergeant was still skeptical. Can this be believed?

The truth was revealed the moment they stepped outside. Sergeant Cohen, upon seeing the slumped figure of the creature, exclaimed "Oh Shit!" and nearly fell. The abnormal expansion of its muscles kept the dead Grumble standing. It was a shocking sight.

"Told you it was dead."

Gyeoul, extending his hand to help Cohen up, looked unfazed. Cohen, still fearful, peeked towards the Grumble. Gyeoul confidently walked over and kicked it, convincing Cohen that the monster was indeed dead. His mouth twisted further.

"You're insane! You, you fucking amazing banana!"

The intense compliment, though it might sound like an insult to those unfamiliar with the slang, meant nothing but extraordinary praise. Not all black people use such language; it's a profound dialect from the slums, used by whites in the same environment due to socio-economic exclusion.

Still, calling him banana was a bit much. If it weren't for Captain Markert...

"If you keep calling me banana, I'll start calling you Choco Ball, okay?"

"That sounds cool!"

The joke about his bald, black head resembling a Choco Ball was eagerly accepted. This guy was acting like he was high on something. Gyeoul, slightly teasing him, shot past Cohen's shoulder with his pistol. Thwack. A single shot. Another mutant fell to the ground with a splash. Cohen, thinking Gyeoul was turning on him for the joke, sneakily looked back, then tucked the crutch under his armpit and gave a thumbs-up.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd call me by my name. You haven't forgotten it, have you?"

"I forgot."

Sergeant Cohen, playfully teasing Gyeoul to his unamused face.

"Hey, if I had that good of a memory, I'd be at Harvard. How could I remember after hearing it just once?"

"Playing dumb... It's Han Gyeoul. If it's hard to pronounce, just Han is fine."

"Okay, Han. I'll remember. But this is really something."

As the sergeant mumbled, his expression darkened. At the end of his gaze was Grumble's corpse.

"That thing tore my friends to shreds."

"...Let's stop here. We don't have time to waste."

"......"

Gyeoul pointed to the FEMA trailer truck he had checked before entering the building.

"Can you drive?"

"Of course. Even with one bad leg, driving's not an issue."

"Good. We might need to pick up some food on the way. From what I saw on the way here, that thing cleared the road enough for us. At least we can travel by this vehicle until we're near the school."

"That's good to hear. But... Hey, Han. Don't you want to just head back as is?"

The sergeant's question was half selfish. At least, that's what Gyeoul, who could read people well, sensed. It was half a joke, but really, he was tired and hurt and just wanted to run away—a natural selfish desire, not something to be criticized.

"Do you think I'd leave the people I came here for?"

"Ah, just kidding."

Cohen shrugged and started the car. The vehicle trembled softly, followed by the engine starting...

[Boom!]

"Huh?"

Cohen, startled, muttered in confusion.

"The engine's gone crazy! This car must be broken."

"Did you hit your head too? That's the sound of a grenade exploding."

The explosions continued. They came from the direction of Walnut Drive and Creston Road, heading west. Then came the screams, unmistakably not human. Cohen sighed and hit the steering wheel.

"Ah, another one of those things?"

"Let's finish it off."

Gyeoul's response left the black man astounded.

"Wow, this guy."

"Go straight to the intersection. We'll decide what to do based on the situation."

"......"

"What are you waiting for? We need to hurry before more of your comrades die."

"Damn, right."

Cohen hit his helmet with a fist and floored the accelerator. Screech- the RPM soared. The sudden acceleration after idling left long tire marks on the road. The vehicle swerved down the slope.

Footnotes:

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