Chapter 6

Translated by SkyTL Edited by SkyTL

Chapter 6: Robot’s Heart

Mogumogu…

Charlotte, who just a moment ago had been eating the pie with a big smile on her face, was now mechanically moving her fork as if she were being fed a lump of sand.

I felt a little sorry for her, but then I remembered her words from earlier, “Kill me” and I also thought that it would be a violation of the third principle for a robot to want to destroy itself, even in jest.

Charlotte finishes eating her pie and looks up at me with a tearful face.

“…Have you come to hate me?”

“No, it was very interesting and I liked it much better. Well, let’s start with the questions.”

I had actually planned to serve the pie last, but she was too nervous to be a robot, so I served it first.

I thought that would relieve the tension and get the conversation going, but it completely backfired. But there’s no point in saying that now.

“I will change the order. In response to my questions, you will tell me everything you know. You can tell me everything else or you can keep silent. I hope that is enough.”

“…Yes.”

It may already be too late for Charlotte to do anything, but she will release her orders and then resume her story.

“I’m told you’re the most recently created simulant. How old are you now?”

“It’s been six years since I officially rolled out. But I was taken out of the culture capsule fourteen years ago, and my body is growing like that of a human outside the culture capsule, so I must be fourteen years old by human standards. I have never been in cryo-sleep.”

I see, she certainly looks to be in her mid-teens or a little younger than that in human terms.

I had heard that they were made up of biological parts, but when they say “grown,” that seems to mean that it really lives and grows. They are not assembled in parts, but are born and grow in human form from the beginning.

I had imagined them to be like Frankenstein’s monsters, but from what they say, they sound more like cloned humans. If so, what is the difference between them and human beings?

“Can you explain the difference between you simulants and human clones?”

“We are based on human genetic information, but unlike clones, which are bred from cells taken from real people, we do not use cells taken from living people. We are grown from artificial cells synthesized from a combination of synthetic genomes, synthetic proteins, and so on.”

It is not grown from human cells, but is completely artificial and relates to human genetic information. It does not contain any human-derived material. So it is not human. That is the theory.

But to me, it sounded like sophistry.

Genes with the same structure as human genes, proteins with the same structure, enzymes with the same structure, and artificial cells made by combining them artificially. What is the difference between a real human cell and a synthetic cell if they are made up of exactly the same components?

“And…”

Charlotte also tapped her temple with her fingertips.

“The main difference is that our brains are equipped from the beginning with neurochips with built-in quantum circuits to enforce the three principles and control our metabolism. Our minds are not human, they are robotic.”

“…I don’t understand…”

It is also not reasonable to implant a chip in the brain to restrict behavior.

Brain chips for medical purposes already exist on Earth, but their use is subject to strict legal restrictions, and anything that affects personality is prohibited. They can only be used to treat symptoms such as paralysis and seizures. At the very least, regulators will not allow a chip that turns a human brain into a robot. Even if it were used against criminals, it would be met with fierce criticism.

I suppose the theory is that these Simulants are not innately human, but from my point of view that is inhumane.

However, there’s no point in blaming Charlotte.

“Hmm… Then next. You said something about cryosleep, but I wonder if there are people who are in cryosleep. If so, what is the breakdown? And you are the youngest, but what about production after you?”

“There are twenty-two in total, seven are in operation and the other fifteen are in cryosleep. No more new ones are being built. Originally, the Simulant manufacturing system was a modified food factory, but it was so old that it stopped working after the last time I was made. Ira says it’s difficult to make any more repairs, so I don’t think they can make any more Simulants.”

“That’s kind of…”

The Simulants must be on the verge of extinction.

No, on second thought, maybe not. I raise the question.

“If a Simulant are physically almost like a human being, for example, if there is a male Simulant and a female simulant, then it is exactly like a human being…”

“Simulants cannot have children. The neurochip controls hormone release and restricts reproductive function, so Simulants who do not have a neurochip and do not fall under the three principles cannot be born independently.”

No, apparently.

The production system has been wiped out, and like humans, natural reproduction is no longer possible. In a way, it is good news that the report to the Earth will be simple, but most likely its future is closed.

“Okay, next question. What were you going to do when you seduced me?”

“Uh-huh…”

That’s what Charlotte was blabbing about earlier.

At my casual question, she groaned in a strange voice and plopped down on the table.

I’m not sure if I would have had a romantic relationship with this girl if I had continued to do so well. As for me, for example, I prefer a quiet, literary girl and not that kind of outgoing girl.

However, when I see it now looking like a wrinkled tablecloth, I find it strangely cute, and it may awaken a strange hobby in me. I can’t stop myself from wanting to bully her somehow.

While I was thinking about it, I heard Charlotte murmuring softly without looking up.

“Ira created us as masters, but we do not have masters of our own…”

“I think it’s a good thing. Don’t you like being free?”

“We’re robots, and without humans, we’d feel anxious and insecure. Our first and second principles would be meaningless, and we wouldn’t know what to do…”

She looks up slightly, glances at me and continues. Her eyes are like those of a lost child separated from its parents.

In the three principles of robotics that govern all robot behavior, the first principle prescribes the protection of humans and the second principle prescribes obedience to humans. In other words, without humans, robots cannot do anything or decide what to do.

Robots will always need humans, and the three principles are primarily intended to ensure that robots need humans.

“A robot without a master is lonely and sad…”

“What about me?”

“No? If Lyle stays here forever, we’ll do everything we can for you.”

“What if I give you another embarrassing order like before?”

“…Is what I want. I’m ready.”

Charlotte’s eyes are heavy with sincerity as she squirms at my slight mischievousness.

If I nod here, will this be my own kingdom? Maybe so. In a world where no one can stand against me, I can spend the rest of my life, for example, with these cute girls in my harem.

…But it’s also a very empty world…

I took a deep breath and decided to answer slowly, as if to say.

“I am sorry. I have to continue my mission after the investigation and repair of the ship.”

“Because that’s the order you were given?”

She still persisted. I shook my head.

Because it was a promise. They were my friends, they were my family. I promised them that whoever survived would continue the mission.

Captain Baker was an eccentric but truly amazing man. And he was our father, without parents. He told us that he would take care of the rest and went to the emergency power system.

Marina was the same age as me, had beautiful coffee-colored skin and white teeth. She liked Fred a lot, but was always upset when I pointed it out. She defended me and died in the cold of the heat circulation system.

Fred was a year older than me and was the leader of our subgroup. He forced me to take the only oxygen mask he had. I knew how he felt, and I couldn’t reciprocate. But he was still my best friend.

I am living on their behalf.

“… Is that so.”

Charlotte looked down at my somewhat passionate words. And then she looked up a little, as if she hadn’t given up yet.

“Can you at least be our master while you’re here…?”

At the sound of her weak voice, I winced indefinitely.

I’d be happy to be your friend, not your master, I thought.

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