324 – EP.12 Daily life with NB-2
***
The road back to base was longer than usual. This is because the drone’s movement was different from usual, so it had to go back a long way.
“It was dangerous today.”
After returning to the base, I relaxed my stiff body. It’s not that it wasn’t, but there were dangerous situations because the drone’s patrol route was unpredictable.
“The patrol route changes every 4 to 5 years, but today’s case is judged to be different from the usual patrol route change.”
NB said as he took out the luggage he had brought with him one by one.
“Is something wrong?”
“The Ark prevents variables from occurring in Aaru. Perhaps the drone’s movements today are also intended to deal with those variables.”
If it is a variable….
“Have my presence been discovered?”
NB shook his head at my concerns.
“That is unlikely. If the Ark had noticed Kang In-ho’s presence, he would not have chased him down with a simple drone.”
It was a reassuring, yet quite scary answer.
NB sparked a small spark and ignited the stove.
Dry tree branches began to burn and warm the air of the base.
“Then….”
What other variables are there?
“It is unknown how much information the Ark manages, but there are many variables.”
NB says the obvious.
NB began sorting out the things brought from Aaru.
I put the rusty scrap metal neatly in the corner of the base and started putting miscellaneous things into the cabinet.
I was sitting on a chair and massaging my legs. I was moved by the sight of him working hard, so I quietly got up and approached NB.
“Do you need anything?”
NB asked in a business-like manner. I stood next to him and helped him sort through the clutter.
“I’ll help you.”
“You don’t have to do that. This is my job after all.”
NB tilts his head and looks at me.
The lens of the camera that forms NB’s eye began to click and rotate.
“If we do it together, it will end quickly. I have received a lot of help, so I will help you.”
I opened the first drawer to put in the tool set. I try to fit the new item into a place that is already full of other tool sets.
“Have I helped you with anything?”
As I was working like that, NB asked.
“First of all, for saving me, and for letting me stay with him at the base….”
“Human protection is built into Android’s basic behavioral principles.”
“Still, I’m thankful because it helped me anyway.”
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As he spoke, turning his face away to hide his embarrassment, NB’s hands that were organizing his luggage stopped.
“Is that a human thought?”
“What?”
In response to my question, NB looks at me and speaks again.
“Is that a principle of human behavior?”
Gray eyes are staring at me. What made it up was obviously a camera made of glass and metal, not flesh, but I caught a glimpse of something inside it.
“Is it a principle of human behavior to return help when one is helped?”
NB asked as if he were seeking wisdom or the truth.
“Generally so.”
“It’s hard to understand what that means in general. The principles of behavior apply uniformly to all species.”
“So, there is no such thing as a rule that applies uniformly to humans.”
NB’s eyes widened at my words. Just like a human.
“Everyone is different.”
“But aren’t there still principles and principles that apply?”
“Generally, there is something like that. A desire to survive or something…”
But if you ask whether the desire to survive is absolutely applicable, yes.
“But there are also cases where people give up on living on their own.”
“It’s hard to understand.”
NB closed the cabinet with a loud clang sound.
“I think it’s human nature to be unable to apply uniform standards.”
Sometimes I can’t understand myself either.
“Is that so?”
NB turned her body and headed somewhere.
NB, who was standing in the corner of the base where the curtain was drawn, lifted it with a click, and a hidden bookshelf appeared.
It was an old bookshelf made of moldy and rotten plywood.
“Then, can I ask Kang In-ho for help?”
When I heard the word ‘help’ come directly from NB’s mouth, I straightened up.
“Yes. But what is it?”
NB took out an old book from the bookshelf and came next to me.
“This is a book I obtained from an old search. It is a ‘paper book’ printed before e-books were commercially available.”
I guess e-books will be common in the future.
“And this is a novel that is not intended to convey any knowledge, but rather conveys a fictitious story to the reader.”
“Yes.”
“There is no problem reading and understanding content about any theory, but there are many things in this type of book that are difficult to understand when read literally.”
“I guess so, right?”
Because there is fiction permission or something like that.
“That’s why I’m asking Kang In-ho for help. As I’m reading this novel, I’d like you to explain the parts I don’t understand.”
“Okay. It’s not that difficult. Then, when should we start doing it?”
NB paused for a moment. It would be to open the scheduler stored inside my body.
“Today is a day when we don’t need to adjust the dimensional navigation ship. Can we proceed after dinner?”
“Of course.”
***
After a simple dinner, I placed a chair near the fireplace and sat down.
NB tried to read the book while standing, but just looking at him felt strangely burdensome, so I advised him to sit down.
– Oh, are novels meant to be read sitting down?
It was a bit difficult to find an answer to NB’s innocent question.
NB, sitting across from me, opened a book that was moldy just like the bookshelf.
When he opened the thick book, a musty smell hit his nose.
NB paid no heed to my frowning and turned the pages of the book with slender hands.
“This part is difficult.”
“What part is it? I can’t read.”
I stop NB from showing it to me.
“[She let him go because she loved him. Looking at his back, she smiled. It was a cry with a smile.]”
After finishing reading, NB looked at me with a calm attitude.
“Uh… Do you want me to interpret it?”
NB nodded his head.
“Hmm… I don’t really know the context. First of all, are the man and woman in the novel in love with each other?”
“This is a narrative that focuses on the female protagonist, and there is nothing about the male character.”
“In other words, you don’t know if a man likes a woman?”
“That’s right. However, the expression that the main character loves a man was often used.”
“Hmm… But why is the man leaving?”
“Because he has a mission.”
“You can’t come back?”
“It is written that men are going to war. It is said that in the past, humans themselves went to war. Since the probability of survival was very low, the women believe that the men will not be able to return.”
I know that.
“Because the woman is unable to follow the man, she has no choice but to let him go.”
“But why is it called ‘because I loved you’?”
Oh….
“Hmm… I see. Are men the kind of people who want to go to war? They have a desire for success or a desire for fame.”
NB is silent for a moment in response to my question.
“It is written that all of my friends in the village have gone off to war. After receiving word that the fate of those friends is unclear, I am voluntarily enlisting.”
“Ah… Well, then I have no choice but to go.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Is a friend worth enough to give up your own safety?”
“It may be different for each person. But, if it’s as written in the novel, it seems like friends are very important to a man, right?”
“Is that so?”
NB tilted his head.
“A man has to go to war to save his friends. That’s why a woman sends him away. I think the message is that a woman loves a man, but lets him go because she knows his feelings. This is interpreted by each person. This may be different.”
“Did the woman let the man go because she knew his heart?”
“That’s right. If you were a person who only thought about yourself, you wouldn’t have let the man go. Because you loved him, you would have kept him by his side and tried to spend time with him. But the woman in the novel is a person who loves the man but respects his feelings. I think so.”
“I don’t want to send it, but I send it out of respect for the other person’s feelings.”
NB neatly summarized my lengthy remarks.
I gave a thumbs up to mean I did well.
“Thanks to Kang In-ho’s interpretation.”
I thought I saw NB’s faint smile.
“Her rear end was left. She laughed. It was a cry with a smile.”
“NB. What is your interpretation?”
“If a person laughs too much, it may stimulate the tear glands and cause tears.”
“But, the situation is that the person you love has no choice but to let go. Do you think the woman has a reason to smile?”
“In fact, the woman had taken out a large amount of insurance in the man’s name. So, she was smiling because she was able to receive the insurance money when the man died.”
He looks at me with an expression that says [What do you think, my guess?]
“Then it doesn’t make sense. A woman has always expressed that she loves a man, but suddenly it’s insurance money?”
Press your itchy head with your fingers.
“They say art has surprises and twists. Isn’t this the same thing?”
“Well, if I put the twist you mentioned, I think it would become a hot topic in a different way. Anyway, no.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a paradox. It’s a way to highlight the scene by using contradictory expressions. [This is a silent clamor], [Spring of brilliant sadness]… Things like this.”
“It’s hard to understand. Through Kang In-ho’s words, I understand that the woman is sad. But I still don’t know why she’s smiling.”
I also think carefully about NB’s words. How can I explain this easily?
……
It’s difficult.
“I will explain this slowly later. It is difficult to explain it right away.”
“Is that so? I understand.”
NB started reading the novel like that.
The crackling twigs made a sound as they broke into the flames,
“In addition to this novel, there are many novels with the theme of ‘love’. What is the reason?”
“Because it is one of the strongest emotions that humans can feel.”
“What do you think about when you are in love?”
“I want to have that person next to me, I want to spend time with that person, I want to know more about that person… And there’s more to it than this.”
“It seems similar to the feeling of wanting to restrain the other person.”
“There is a form of love that binds. It depends on your taste.”
I spent the night answering questions that NB often asks.
I slowly fell asleep, as if the ground was soaked in the misty rain, and fell asleep in the chair, and when I opened my eyes, I was in bed.
The feel of the thick cotton blanket felt pleasant on my skin, and I looked around the base with a wet face.
As soon as my feet touched the floor of the base, a coolness slowly filled me.
Looking at the food prepared on the small table, I looked around.
“NB?”
NB was not visible.
oh no