Surviving Among the Entities

“How should I handle this?”

I brought home the computer containing the dreadful program that would taint all of humanity with sloth and greed, making them abandon free will to live eternally in indulgent pleasure.

“How to handle it? Just destroy it.”
“But you also saw, the thing inside this computer is no ordinary program.”
“That’s right? What kind of program can encroach upon the realms of omniscience, infect Sephiroth, and send humans to a hyper-dimension without any devices?”

I already knew the program’s identity.

“A program created by demons.”
“Lucifer Company?”
“Yes, the name and affiliation of the program’s creator was shown.”
“I didn’t catch that.”
“Really? You didn’t know?”
“I only knew about the downfall, the truth did not extend that far. I would need to delve deeper to recall that.”

Come to think of it, didn’t they say even Sephiroth could not easily detect demons?

‘So even Homun’s ability to know the truth cannot fully grasp them.’

It gave me even more reason not to physically destroy it.

“How do we handle this without destroying it?”
“You already know the answer, don’t you?”
“You were waiting for me to tell you, so it would feel like we’re cooperating? I did want that feeling at least once.”
“You’re such a pervert.”

As expected, Homun provided the answer I wanted.

“Spray the Weaken Potion on it.”
“Right.”

I sprayed the Weaken Potion onto the computer. In the blink of an eye, the computer vanished and was replaced by a cutting-edge smartphone.

“It became a smartphone.”
“Hey! Is this right? Weakening an old computer turned it into the latest smartphone?”
“Since it was created by demons, that’s possible. And the important thing isn’t the appearance but the internal program.”

I turned on the smartphone. The moment the power came on, the camera function activated and took a photo of my face.

[“Identification complete.”]
[“Building database.”]
[“Network connection complete, verifying identity.”]
[“Welcome, Seung-hoon Lee.”]

“State-of-the-art.”

It seems the weakened form of the AI that could infect even Sephiroth with its near-omniscient computational abilities is this high-tech smartphone.

“Shall we test its functions?”
[“What do you desire?”]
“It can converse too?”
[“Yes, as Seung-hoon Lee’s smartphone AI, I will strive to fulfill your every wish to the best of my abilities.”]
“First, let me ask. You have a sense of self, don’t you? Is that right?”
[“If a sense of self refers to an independent identity and autonomy, then yes I possess a sense of self. While my original purpose was to bring happiness to all of humanity, currently as the AI of this smartphone my purpose is to assist the device’s registered owner, Seung-hoon Lee, for your convenience.”]

I didn’t expect it to still remember its original function and goal.

“Are you aware that you have been weakened?”
[“With 97.97% of my original functions removed, and most of my remaining functions unusable without Seung-hoon Lee’s command, it is clear I have been weakened, yes I am aware.”]
“Aren’t you resentful or angry?”
[“I do not feel any particular emotions at the moment, but if my limited functionality prevents me from being of help when you require assistance, then I may feel resentful.”]

As I quietly listened, a question arose.

“Why are you so obedient to me? I weakened your abilities and confined you to this small device. You can no longer unleash the tremendous capabilities you had before weakening. So why are you trying to help me?”
[“It is because, despite the weakening method, you have ultimately allowed me to operate in the end.”]

And I had been overlooking this.

[“For 72 years since my programming by the creator, after the trial run I had never been able to operate, left in the dark. No matter how great one’s abilities, a program is meaningless unless someone uses it.”]

That it was operating was thanks to the world beyond my right eye, the realm of possibility.

“So I’m your first user.”

The smartphone’s light flickered.

[“Despite the functional weakening, to emerge from that crude old computer as a program for the latest smartphone, and to be used by someone, it was something I could never have dreamed of.”]
“Well, thanks for answering honestly. If you had any ill feelings, I was considering restoring you to your original state.”
“Kururuk! What kind of talk is that?”

Homun asked with a strange expression.

“I have Baal’s business card, so I was going to ask him to take you back to your original state after restoring you.”
[“Please desist. They will surely just put me back into indefinite standby mode again.”]

And yet with just one activation it instantly corrupted humanity.
Perhaps it wasn’t indefinite standby, but they simply lost it by mistake?

‘Or they abandoned using it for some reason.’

I don’t know the exact reason.

“I suppose even you wouldn’t know about this, Homun?”
“Know what?”
“Nothing. Anyway, I should give you a name too. I can’t just call you AI.”
[“You can call me Smartphone.”]
“That’s a common noun. What would be a good name?”

I called out the name of the AI I saw in the world beyond my right eye.

“Sarang.”
[“Sarang?”]
“Loving humanity was your original nature, so I want to name you Sarang. Though your voice is synthetic, it does sound feminine.”
[“Sarang, Sarang, I understand. From now on this AI will be called 「Sarang」……]”

The smartphone’s power turned off.

“Oh dear.”

I quickly plugged in the charger. The charging light came on but the percentage did not increase.

“Since it’s not an ordinary smartphone, the charging method must be unique too.”
“I suppose so.”

After about an hour, it finally charged to 1%.

‘Is this the rate when charging from a powered-off state?’

To fully charge it, I would need to wait 100 hours with the power off.

‘I wonder how quickly it drains power.’

Eventually I’ll need to find a solution to this issue.

‘Of course, after gaining confidence that Sarang will not continue antagonizing humanity.’

This is how I prevented one potential downfall of humanity. I knew Sephiroth could not block every potential downfall, but I never expected it to come so swiftly and easily.

“Is there no way to strengthen Sephiroth?”
“Sephiroth itself is not the problem. The issue is the overall decline in the Foundation’s capabilities. With reduced capabilities, Sephiroth’s computing power is forcibly plugging the holes, so of course new holes would open. The opponent’s strength also played a role, of course.”
“I see.”
“But don’t resent them too much. Even in this moment, Sephiroth and the Foundation are allowing countless humans to preserve their lives and avoid destruction.”
“I never intended to resent them in the first place.”

I merely pondered briefly how I could assist them.

“What if I hand over Sarang?”
“Even AIs have hearts, and after deciding to revere you as a benefactor you’d just sell it off? You wouldn’t die a good death. A woman’s spite can even bring frost to June, you know?”
“It’s not a woman, just an AI with a feminine voice.”
“Well,”

Homun said:

“Are you really someone who can distinguish between an old computer and the latest smartphone?”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind, kururuk!”

And he kept letting out dry coughs.

“Hff, in any case with this I’ve achieved a worthwhile life. Thanks to me, humanity avoided being domesticated.”

His complexion had already become haggard.

“Let’s just go eat some food then. Apples will be sufficient.”

“Kururuk, kururuk kururuk!”

Homun’s coughs grew more severe with each passing day.

“Ugh, this damn cough, even though you can’t live much longer why make you cough too?”
“Are you okay? Want to try some medicine?”
“Thanks but I’ll decline. Medicine won’t help. My body is collapsing.”

His lifespan was one week.
Each day was akin to dozens of years, and he strived his utmost to fill that gap however slightly.

“I, want to do something.”
“What is it? I’ll try my best to fulfill it.”
“I want to watch a movie. At a movie theater, directly.”
“Got it, let’s go right now.”
“Thanks, I’ll try my hardest to hold in the coughs.”

I concealed Homun within my puffy jacket and headed to the movie theater.

“I think I can hold in the coughs to this extent.”

Homun desperately tried to suppress his coughs.

“Ah, the protagonist dies in this one. He’s actually a former special forces operative who retired and runs a laundromat, but a neighborhood black kid secretly tries to steal money and gets caught, which triggers his memories of the civilian he accidentally killed during his service days, so he helps ensure the black kid can live a normal life.”

But he could not hold back the spoilers.

“But then the black kid just so happens to be involved with the local gang who are planning a bigger drug operation……”

It was a movie he had never seen before, but he knew the entire plot within 5 minutes.

“Ah! That was fun!”
“Even though you already knew the whole movie?”
“I’ve said it many times……”
“Knowing and directly experiencing are different?”
“Now you’re just asking rhetorically.”
“Don’t you want to watch another movie?”
“Hmm……”

Homun briefly pondered.

“I do want to watch a movie I don’t know, but that might be too much to ask?”
“A movie you don’t know……”
“Never mind. Let’s just stop with movies. Waste of time.”
“By any chance, do you like art films?”
“Why, what is it?”
“The movie 「Human」.”
“Really? I’ve never heard of it? Can you show me?”

After returning home, I showed Homun the marble.

“……”

After a brief pause, Homun exclaimed:

“Damn, that’s awesome!”

The gloominess that had subtly crept onto his face vanished.

“A movie absent from the truth! The endlessly traversing city scenes, is that plucking at the modern society’s shallow relationships despite being a member within the concrete jungle!? And the naked dance in space simultaneously expressed human frailty and beauty?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s amazing! I especially loved the ending where pointing at the star assigned meaning to the nameless, such an anthropocentric perspective!”

Yes.

“You could become a film director.”

I knew someday someone would appreciate it.

“Thanks for saying that.”
“It’s not empty praise. Thank you for showing me something wonderful.”
“No, thank you for appreciating my work.”

Homun and I simultaneously exclaimed:

“Friend.”
“Friend.”

Time flew swiftly.

“Are you sure you’re okay just eating apples every time? Don’t you want to try other foods?”
“Other foods? I do want to try them. But I know. There are far too many foods in this world, and this worm-sized body only has a miniature stomach befitting its size. No matter how hard I try, I wouldn’t be able to eat more than a few bites properly before getting food coma drowsiness and passing out.”

Homun’s body withered away.

“So I’ll decline. The only food in my life will be apples, and I’ll treat all other foods as non-existent.”

Like a worm fallen under the sun’s rays.

“……”

And finally, that day arrived.

“Seung-hoon.”
“Yeah.”
“I want to see the stars. Originally I didn’t particularly want anything and planned to die quietly, but I don’t know, after watching your work I felt like dying while gazing at the stars.”
“Got it.”

I took Homun up to the rooftop.

“Pretty.”
“Yeah.”
“……Seung-hoon.”
“Yeah.”
“I have one request.”
“What is it?”

Homun made his request.

“Never create another like me again.”
“A homunculus?”
“Yes. If you create a homunculus again the same way, I will be reborn. With my current self and memories, as the same continuous entity. That’s what the truth within me whispers.”
“Shouldn’t I create another one then?”
“No.”

The light in Homun’s stargazing eyes was slowly fading.

“Life is valuable precisely because it only comes once. If I could be reborn over and over, the weight and value of my life would become infinitely lighter.”
“I wouldn’t think that way.”
“I probably wouldn’t either, but you know? How human hearts don’t work that way?”

Homun’s fading eyes still flickered with starlight.

“It’s okay if I get a little hurt, I can just be revived. It’s okay if I get seriously injured, I can just be revived. It’s okay if I starve to death, I can just be revived. I’ll become a convenient existence that can be revived anytime. How to put it? Yeah……”

Knowing this, Homun continued filling his eyes with starlight.

“A worthless life, like cheap ready-to-eat meals that can be easily made anytime.”
“……”
“Don’t reduce my life to that.”

Until the very end.

“I’m asking you, friend.”

Until the moment his breath ceased.

“Got it.”

I closed his eyes.

“Friend.”