Chapter 4

Translated by SkyTL Edited by SkyTL

Chapter 4: Green

The immigrant ship Astoria is simply a huge cylindrical space colony with a rocket attached to it, and the centrifugal force generated by rotating the cylindrical part in a circular motion is used as artificial gravity.

In the modern age, miniaturized artificial gravity generators have already been put to practical use and are even installed in our mid-sized spacecraft, Eos. However, unfortunately, it is difficult to make them large enough for a colony, and they are not energy efficient.

For this reason, large space colonies still use primitive and classical mechanics based on centrifugal force, and Astoria is no exception.

Astoria is still inertial, moving toward the edge of outer space at six percent of the speed of light.

However, this huge, battered spaceship no longer has the means to slow down to six percent of the speed of light. In other words, it is no longer possible to settle down in some star system and try to procure materials and fuel.

Also, although the ships were originally loaded with a large amount of fuel, it was by no means unlimited. If the hydrogen fuel for power generation ran out, or if the power generation system failed before the fuel was used up, or if for some other reason a critical function was lost, this boxy world would die a complete death.

It was a strange sight. This world was a dead world where humans had already perished.

In such a dead world, only robots are quietly living towards their promised complete death, as if they were remnants of the human world.

I walked through the ship, feeling strangely sentimental.

The ceiling was not very high here, as was the passage, and the whole place felt cramped.

Many space colonies in the solar system have huge mirrors inside cylinders to take advantage of the sun’s rays. Since the sun, the mother yellow dwarf star, radiates energy every day, there is no way not to take advantage of it.

However, with this ship navigating through dark space with no light source in the vicinity of a few light-years, it makes no sense to have a “sky” to let in sunlight. Therefore, in order to effectively utilize volume as floor space, the inside of the cylinder is stacked like a wafer or a giant Baumkuchen. In other words, the inside of the colony is like a thick underground city.

Despite the fact that all the passages up to this point were brightly lit, for some reason, I felt like I was in some sort of catacomb on Earth that I had read about in a book.

The girls led me to the guest house in Astoria, where I sat at the dining room table. It’s a small dining room, but it feels quite spacious for the three of us, the two girls, me, and Riza standing behind me.

“Oh, look at that, Lacey. Our dinner today is ‘green’. I love greens.”

“Thomas-san said it was special today.”

The robots – or was it simulants – the girls were talking happily about something.

While I waited here, the two girls went off to do something and came back with some white boxes in what looked like a small wagon. Charlotte opened a few of those boxes and took a peek, and the cheer she raised was the one I heard earlier.

I was kind of curious, so I asked the girls.

“What’s green?”

“It’s food. There are several kinds, but green is the best treat.”

Charlotte replied happily and placed another white box, which seemed to be made of plastic and a bottle in front of me. Apparently, this was enough for one person.

I glanced at Riza, and she gave a small, silent shrug of her shoulders. We’ll be staying in a guesthouse in Astoria during our stay, but we’ve also made sure that we can use the food factory in Eos. Fortunately, although there had been an accident, the food factory was safe.

As I was thinking about this, I suddenly noticed something strange: a white box for three people.

“…Are you guys going to eat them too?”

“Yes, of course. We’re hungry too, you know. In Earth’s customs, is it rude for a robot to eat with a human?”

“No, it isn’t. Let’s eat together.”

I smile and shake my head as Charlotte tilts her head, looking a little worried. She follows suit and smiles as well.

These simulants were robots made of biological parts, but they seemed to be closer to humans than I had thought. Robots that can function by eating the same food as humans are quite rare on earth, let alone in the world of fiction. Converting miscellaneous organic matter into energy efficiently is a surprisingly tedious and difficult task.

I was going to investigate how close they are to humans, but I was getting a little curious.

The robot closest to me, Riza, looks like a perfect human girl, but inside she is a power-driven artificial being. Of course, it doesn’t eat human food, and its built-in, ultra-dense rechargeable battery has to be recharged every few days. Ever since mankind acquired electricity, it has not yet surrendered its position as the most convenient energy source for mankind.

Comparing the girls with Riza, it seemed to me that there was a fundamental difference.

The girls also placed the box on the table and sat down, arranging it so that it formed an equilateral triangle on the round table.

“Come on, Lyle, eat up.”

A happy Charlotte urged me to open the white box containing the greens.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting more or less.

When I opened the box, I found a porridge-like sludge full of small translucent white grains, a green paste-like substance, and an uncolored, colorless jelly bean-like substance.

What could this be?

I couldn’t hide my confusion and asked Charlotte for help. She didn’t seem to notice my gaze at all, however, and her eyes lit up as she picked up the plastic spoon.

I had no choice but to apply the universal etiquette I had learned back home, which should be applicable no matter what culture you are invited to eat in.

In other words, I waited for the simulant girls to start eating and decided to mimic them.

I decided to observe the way Lacey ate. I could have used either of them as a reference, but somehow I thought Lacey was better behaved. It wasn’t personal.

She scooped out a spoonful of the green paste, and placed it on top of the white porridge, mixing it lightly before bringing it to her mouth. Apparently, that’s how it’s supposed to be eaten.

I imitated her, mixing the green paste into the white porridge, and boldly popped it into my mouth with a spoon.

“…?”

The white porridge part is slightly salty, while the green paste has a strange taste of bitterness and sweetness. It’s also barely crunchy.

What is it? It’s not that it tastes bad. But… It doesn’t taste good either. The mysterious jelly bean-like food had almost no taste.

Suddenly, I looked at the girls and saw that they were happily bringing the mysterious food to their mouths. Charlotte clearly had a big smile on her face, and Lacey, who had been as expressionless as a ceramic statue ever since she met me, seemed to have softened her eyes a little. Perhaps there is a difference in taste between the simulant girls and me as a human being.

However, that would make my future diet a bit difficult. I may have to eat this every day for the rest of my stay here.

No, wait, a question crossed my mind. Come to think of it, the nutritional needs of me as a human being and the nutritional needs of the girls are not necessarily the same.

I’m sure Ira. The management system of Astoria will follow her first principles and stop anything that would harm my health as a human, but I’m not entirely sure about that either. It’s also possible that I’m lacking in the nutrition I need.

“Riza.”

I held up my hand and called for Riza, who was a short distance away.

“Can you take this home and check it out for me?”

“Okay, sure.”

Riza did as she was told and pulled out a thumb-sized sample collection case made of ceramic.

At the sight of us, the two simulants opened their eyes in surprise.

“Hey, there’s nothing weird in there. We have a strict first principle, and we don’t feed Lyle anything dangerous.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you, people. It’s just that simulants and humans don’t always eat the same food, so I thought I’d ask Riza to check on nutritional status and such.”

“Huh…?”

Charlotte looked somewhat unconvinced. Lacey looks at us in silence.

I wonder if they’re really robots at all. They seem to be applying the three principles of robotics, but Charlotte is emotional and human-like, while Lacey is slow to react.

The meal went on in a delicate atmosphere.

By the way, there was water in the plastic bottles distributed with the ration boxes. The water was slightly sweet and sour, with what seemed to be citric acid and a sweetener added. Surprisingly, this might have been the most normal taste.

By the end of the meal, Charlotte was in a better mood, and Lacey was, well, as iron-fisted as ever.

Charlotte asked me what I thought of the meal, to which I gave a vague nod.

To be honest, if this really was the best thing, I’d ever eat here, it would be pretty depressing. From my taste buds, I can tell you that the food plant in Eos can make much better food than this.

Giving Charlotte a curt smile, I quickly calculated the situation and the power situation in Eos in my head gave a small beckon to Riza, asking in a whisper.

“Food plant, there’s enough for three people, not just me, okay?”

“It’s fine.”

“It doesn’t have to be anything too grand, just some random sweet pie that you can make for me.”

“I understand.”

They said that the menu was the best food for the simulants. It would be uncomfortable if I were to eat Eos food because it didn’t suit my taste, even though I had been offered such food. I’d like to take this in a non-confrontational direction somehow.

Of course, if that were the case, all I would have to do is order them to do it. It’s ridiculous for a human to ask a robot what it looks like.

I knew that, but somehow I didn’t want to see their faces clouded now.

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