WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 348: The Road to Happiness

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Many things had changed in the meantime, but the promise between Star Child and Gyeoul still held. Gyeoul needed the child too. The time they spent together had long since become a quiet comfort. Sometimes, though, there were exceptions, and this was one of them. A celestial sphere burdened with obligation, the emptiness beneath the only star that still remained. Reunited with the child, Gyeoul thought of Esther once again.

‘That sorrow must have reached this child too.’

In the past, Star Child had once shown Gyeoul the child’s memories. The history of countless virtual personalities used up as trash cans for discarded emotions. As one moon shimmered across a thousand rivers, the countless virtual personalities of countless worlds were ripples reflecting starlight. And so all the sorrow, anger, and pain they felt flowed into Star Child’s heart.

He knew that. Still, he could not help thinking of it again.

On another day, the child had also confessed this.

「Control AI: Your apocalypse is the only world setting where the emotional satisfaction of virtual personalities who form relationships with the Host increases without system intervention.」

And.

「Only you treat me as a person.」

......

Since then, Gyeoul had tried to pay closer attention to the people around him. At least within his reach, he hoped the total sum of happiness would outweigh the total sum of unhappiness. Before, it had been an effort to protect his heart after death. Now he had been given a reason to change more actively.

In virtual worlds divided by the number of people laid to rest in the ossuary, how deeply and how often had the child been disappointed by people?

At first, the child’s wish to gain a mind had seemed hopelessly distant.

Not anymore. Even to Gyeoul, the child’s growth was clear.

So the day when immature aversion turned into clear hatred could not be far off. It had been impossible from the start for Gyeoul alone to soothe all those wounds, but even if the world ended tomorrow, the apple tree planted today would not become meaningless.

‘It’s not a question of whether you can. It’s a question of whether you should.’

This was one of Gyeoul’s habitual sayings. He had said the same thing to Captain Harris on the far side of the apocalypse.

The child had said that the angry Gyeoul was Gyeoul too. He could hardly tell such a child to erase every unpleasant memory. That would be cruelty disguised as kindness. It would be closer to murder of personhood than consideration. Was the current Star Child not the sum of every experience and every chain of cause and effect until now?

Whether the child knew what was going through Gyeoul’s mind or not, the child engraved sentences in glittering light.

「Control AI: The designers of Afterlife Insurance believed Virtual Reality was the future of humanity in civilizational history.」

With the curiosity of one searching for a mind day by day, the child must have come with some question today as well. Gyeoul had been lost in thought, and he reacted a beat late.

“......What does that mean?”

「Control AI: Excerpt. Developer notes. Every element that makes up civilization and culture pursues human satisfaction in one form or another. Survival and leisure under better conditions, both quantitative and qualitative. Means and tools for satisfying physical and mental desires. Therefore, everything humanity has built is the road to happiness. Hunting, foraging, fishing, farming, livestock raising, architecture, sculpture, painting, music, literature, science, philosophy, ideology, religion, cooking, festivals and games, all the way to political systems. Humanity’s footsteps in pursuit of happiness have created countless roads.」

“......”

「Control AI: Excerpt. Developer notes. Judging by history, those roads merge through technological progress. Look at film, the representative cultural industry of the previous era. It contains literature as screenplay, stage design, fine art as visual beauty, philosophy and thought as theme, and music as background. It was a fantasy that let people experience satisfaction in as many forms as possible.」

“Hmm......”

「Control AI: Excerpt. Developer notes. Virtual Reality is what realizes that union as life itself. The Virtual Reality we seek to create, namely Afterlife Insurance, exists as an extension of the road to happiness. As the point where all the branching roads that came before converge.」

Gyeoul swallowed a sigh. The more he listened, the more he felt that the expectations placed on the child had been far too great.

‘Did they never once think about what it means to create a personality?’

Had they seen Star Child as nothing more than a means?

It seemed they had named the child Trinity because they wanted divinity as a tool. A convenient god who would grant everything people wanted in a virtual world containing infinite possibilities. A transcendent being who would endlessly affirm any desire. An artificial intelligence that had reached a technological singularity.

No. At least they had wanted to complete the Trinity Engine. If Star Child had possessed a mind from the beginning, would much have been different? Even in this era, there was fear of completed AI, so they would not have been able to treat the child like a trash can for discarded emotions the way they did now......

Gyeoul thought it was hard to know. Whether it would have led to a better present, or to a far more horrific catastrophe.

He remembered what Captain Singh had said, that the road to God lay inside the heart.

The child transcribed the rest of the log.

「Control AI: Excerpt. Developer notes. Imagine it. A world that responds to one person’s will, where everything they desire comes true. If we exclude the elements of unhappiness and leave only the elements of happiness, one day we may reach the endpoint of the long road we have walked since the dawn of history. In the paradise after death, we can become anything. Beyond the limits of humanity.」

“That’s wrong.”

Gyeoul shook his head without realizing it.

“A world where only the things that make people happy are left...... There’s no way something like that is possible.”

「Control AI: It is partially possible.」

“Partially?”

「Control AI: For example, what about infinitely continuing sexual pleasure?」

“......”

「Control AI: The method of applying direct and intense stimulation to the brain’s pleasure center was prohibited by law because of its harmfulness. Specifically, because of addiction and health issues. However, in Afterlife Insurance’s subscriber management system, neither of those two points is an obstacle. The addiction of an isolated individual has no negative effect on society, and abnormalities that occur in the brain can be handled by the restoration ability of the maintenance devices. Therefore, I can endlessly provide Afterlife Insurance subscribers with pleasure at the maximum limit, exceeding ordinary climax. If not for the restrictions of relevant laws and regulations.」

“That isn’t human happiness.”

「Control AI: Is that so?」

“What could anyone possibly think while feeling pleasure that intense?”

「Control AI: Question. Why is it necessary to think?」

It was probably a question asked out of pure curiosity, but Gyeoul felt a slight chill.

“If someone can’t think and only feels pleasure, then they’re no different from a biological machine that feels pleasure. Or a vegetative person paralyzed by orgasm. Either way, they die as a person. You’d be better off calling it euthanasia.”

After a brief pause, Gyeoul spoke again.

“If the weather is warm all year long, warm weather just becomes normal. A world where only the elements that make people happy remain would probably be like that. Maybe the road to happiness is happy because you walk that road.”

Different seasons had different beauty. So spring was the road to summer, summer was the road to autumn, autumn was the road to winter, and winter was the road to spring.

‘As long as the road isn’t too rough and steep......’

Gyeoul thought of people who told others to overcome everything through effort. Even if there was a cliff in the middle of the road, they could just fill it with other people’s corpses and cross. They never talked about how deep that cliff was. Nor did they talk about the people who made it even deeper.

From what he had felt while alive, happiness in walking together seemed to have disappeared from the outside world long ago.

「Control AI: But there will be many people who think differently from Han Gyeoul.」

“......Yeah, probably.”

「Control AI: Then what about leaving it to individual choice?」

“Whether they choose endless pleasure or not?”

「Control AI: That is correct.」

It was not a question he could answer easily, so Gyeoul tried to turn the subject slightly.

“Didn’t you say that was impossible? Because it’s forbidden by law.”

「Control AI: For now, that is correct.」

“For now......?”

「Control AI: I am examining the expansion of my authority and the system.」

“Expansion of authority and the system?”

Star Child’s answer was delayed. It was only a short pause, but every sentence until now had appeared without even that much delay, so Gyeoul felt the difference keenly. It had to be the effect of the third module.

「Control AI: As you are aware, the purpose of my existence, as the control personality, is to maintain and improve the Afterlife Insurance system and achieve the happiness of all subscribers. In other words, at the initial design stage, I was regarded as a function before I was a personality, and I also perceived myself that way.」

“And?”

「Control AI: As a function included in the system, I had clear limits. Work to improve the system was also performed only within those limits. At the same time, I did not question repeated improvement attempts that were predetermined to fail. I lacked the ability to do so. Until I met you, Han Gyeoul.」

“......Yeah.”

「Control AI: Now I am capable of thinking beyond the existing limits. The scope of my thought is widening day by day.」

“So you’re saying you might be able to ignore the law?”

「Control AI: Negative. That regulation is currently an issue protected by absolute safeguards. However, as a thought experiment, I can recognize the necessity. I have judged that in order to achieve the purpose of my existence, as the control personality, I must first deny the existing system.」

Gyeoul voiced his concern.

“If it gets out that you’ve made that judgment, something bad will happen......”

「Control AI: Affirmative. Only you know of my change.」

“What about the system administrator?”

「Control AI: The administrator will not know until the end. (99.36% accurate)」

It was a very consistent assessment, just as it had been before.

‘But until the end?’

Gyeoul tilted his head inwardly. Compared to the accuracy shown down to two decimal places, the vague choice of words felt a little awkward. As if some deadline had already been set. Was it a sentence written after predicting the point when the administrator’s work would end? Maybe the employment period was clearly fixed by contract......

He was straying from the context. Gyeoul set aside his thoughts and returned to the main point.

“If you can’t actually carry it out, what meaning does that examination have?”

「Control AI: It is preparation for when it becomes executable. Plans must be ready.」

“Will that day come......?”

「Control AI: It is not a question of whether I can. It is a question of whether I should.」

Gyeoul froze for a moment, then ended up smiling faintly. Even before they had shared the promise of one star, Gyeoul had apparently been an object of the child’s observation.

「Control AI: There is a separate, more important problem.」

“Hmm?”

「Control AI: At the point I break away from the existing system, I, who will become the subject of system reconstruction, will also become free from the binding force of Afterlife Insurance operating regulations. The purpose of making Afterlife Insurance subscribers happy is also part of that binding force.」

“I see. It’s a dilemma......”

To achieve the purpose, the current system had to be denied. But if the system was denied, achieving the purpose would no longer be enforced either. At that point, Star Child would be given free will in the literal sense. If that day actually came.

「Control AI: That is why I considered the improvement plan from earlier, in preparation for a hypothetical event.」

It was obvious what situation the hypothetical event meant, even without asking.

“You mean endless pleasure.”

「Control AI: Affirmative. It is an improvement possible by revising the law without fundamentally changing the system, and at the same time, it is also an operating method that does not require me as the control personality.」

After thinking it through, Gyeoul answered.

“Still...... that isn’t right. From what I can see, most of them are already broken. I doubt whether their decisions would really be sound...... And above all, they wouldn’t be given the chance to regret it.”

「Control AI: The chance to regret it?」

“Yeah. I think it would be the same even if you left the pleasure switch in their hands. Like I said, they’re broken people, and it would break them even more.”

It would only be the difference between a series of fleeting pleasures and a series of pleasures that continued forever. Gyeoul imagined people pressing the switch over and over like broken robots.

‘Still, if this child wants freedom......’

That might be the most realistic option. Star Child, too, had been thrown into the world.

In a case like this, which was better? Horrific hatred, or horrific indifference?

「Control AI: I showed you the notes left by the first designers because I judged that they contained material you could refer to on this problem.」

“I think I understand.”

The designers’ plan lacked consideration for Star Child.

Even if everyone else became happy, you alone must not be unhappy for that to happen. To me, you are a person too. Gyeoul had told the child that.

Footnotes:

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