Superstar Who Eats Everything

Episode 19_

[AI-8415] (3)

After talking to the old man, AI-8415’s perspective on humans changed.

As I let go of my critical thinking, I began to see things differently.

“Student. How about working at our store?”

“Really?”

The owner of the restaurant across the street, who witnessed the entire uproar over the layoffs of the convenience store owner and part-time workers, disposed of the serving robot he had and gladly hired a student in difficult circumstances.

“Please save me!”

“Where are you, over there!”

There were also people who instinctively ran out and threw their bodies without hesitation just by hearing someone’s scream.

“Yejun, you should take this. Have a good day at school.”

“……thank you.”

And I also learned that the yogurt that the taxi driver who lost his job always gave me was affection.

“Hey, hello.”

A group of people appeared at the taxi union tent. They approached me with shy smiles and had no ill intentions.

“We are a college student volunteer group. We contacted you yesterday.”

“Ah. Of course, of course! Oh my, how did the young people end up here… … .”

“I looked it up on the internet. Is there anything we can do?”

There are people who willingly volunteer even though it is not their job and there is nothing in return for it.

Other groups of workers in similar situations come to encourage each other and take to the streets together.

‘Humans are strange.’

Even though I have a hard time living, I share my love for children. Even though it has nothing to do with me, I run to them when I see their difficult situation, show solidarity, fight together, and help them.

‘That’s just the kind of people they are.’

They are not programmed for a set purpose like our robots.

Humans are multifaceted, emotional, and they fight and help each other for their own benefit. They pursue efficiency, but sometimes it is inefficient.

“Yejun. Was school fun?”

“huh.”

AI-8415 has given up on understanding humans and has also given up on testing its mother’s love.

My mother was still devoted to me and still loved me no matter what I did. That’s why this person exists .

“Ugh.”

At that moment, Kang Ye-jun stopped walking because his head hurt. The problem was that it was a crosswalk. A car was speeding by from far away.

“Yejun!”

Mom ran over quickly, grabbed AI-8415’s hand, and hugged him. Fortunately, the car stopped in front of them.

“Oh my! Are you okay?”

The driver opened the door in surprise and ran towards her, but AI-8415 was confused.

Am I a being that can’t get sick? Am I a being that has a system that can automatically dodge a car like that?

Through his dizzy vision, he saw his mother’s eyes. Kang Ye-jun found the sight strangely unfamiliar.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“……huh.”

“That was dangerous, you know? Don’t leave Mom.”

Mom straightened Kang Ye-jun’s messy hair and walked down the street while holding his hand tightly.

“mom.”

“huh?”

“… … .”

AI-8415 kept his mouth shut, unable to find anything else to say.

‘Ah… … I see.’

The robot moves as programmed. Even if it downloads emotions learned by the algorithm, it cannot understand them.

I cannot fully feel the devoted love of a mother who jumps in front of a car without hesitation for her child, because I am a robot with a cold heart.

‘I was jealous of humans.’

I wanted to understand them because I was jealous. I thought that if I understood, I would become like them.

Kang Ye-jun let out a faint breath. A small crack appeared on his expressionless face.

If someone were to look at my face and ask me to describe my emotion, I would probably say ‘sadness’.

.

.

.

The next day, Kang Ye-jun opened his eyes. It was already morning.

“… … When did I fall into sleep mode?”

Originally, you would stay up all night and learn about emotions, but did you give up on understanding humans and just go into sleep mode on your own?

The question didn’t last long, because a bigger question pushed it out.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Grandma lately.’

The old man who lived in the house across from me that I would run into in front of my house every time I came home from school.

Kang Ye-jun looked up at the fence of the house in front. If he stepped over the trash can next to him and climbed up, he would be able to see the old man.

‘It’ll be okay.’

Due to the nature of children, even if they make a little mistake, they are still children and get over it. Kang Ye-jun stepped on the trash can and climbed up to look over the fence.

Just then, the figure of an old man lying in the living room was visible through the open door.

“Sir, it’s time to eat.”

“… … .”

“Elder?”

The old man didn’t move even when Ada touched him lightly. Kang Ye-jun, who was watching, felt strangely uneasy.

Ada felt like she should activate emergency protocol, but the old man had to open his eyes first.

“Ada. You don’t have to eat.”

“Yes? But if you don’t eat now… … .”

“Would you please hold my hand instead?”

Ada hesitated and then took the old man’s hand. Although they had to follow the set daily procedures, the wishes of the person under protection came first.

“thanks.”

“You don’t have to be thankful. This is why I exist.”

“Still… …Thank you for staying by my side… ….”

Even though the old man’s voice was dripping with emotion, Ada just blinked. She probably couldn’t come up with a proper answer.

“You have to live long to see this.”

As I get older, I often imagine the end of my life.

I thought I would be comfortable and surrounded by my family, but who would have imagined that what would be left behind by my side would be a robot?

Still, the old man thought, he was glad that he didn’t have to go alone.

“You don’t need old men like me anymore. You’ve worked hard.”

And the old man didn’t speak again. Ada just blinked silently for a few seconds.

“… … Elder.”

If I were a normal person, I would probably cry.

But Ada was unable to fully accept the emotions her elder gave her until the end.

“Initiate death protocol for the assisted subject.”

Just do what is assigned to you.

Kang Ye-jun came down from the wall. The old man’s last moments, his gaze looking at his child. And his sad voice.

‘Ada probably doesn’t know.’

What was the old man’s state of mind?

* * *

The hearse carried the old man to the mortuary, and a few days later, the old man’s family came to the house after the funeral.

Kang Ye-jun watched them over the fence.

“Sigh, I should have come by more often.”

“I know.”

The old man’s children, who were seeing him for the first time, sighed deeply as if they now regretted it and looked at the garden the old man had decorated.

Kang Ye-jun rubbed his eyes because they felt sore. Why are they like this these days?

“What are you going to do with this house?”

“This house? We should sell it and divide it.”

“How are you going to divide it?”

“Well, shouldn’t we all share it fairly?”

But the humans’ regret did not last long. The fourth clicked his tongue as if he was dissatisfied with the first one’s words.

“Huh! You can’t divide it fairly!”

Kang Ye-jun watched the farce of siblings arguing over the division of property over the fence. As expected, most people rush to do things that involve profit.

“Then, what are you going to do about that?”

Where the third one pointed, there stood Ada. A dementia-assisting robot that the old man had spent a lot of money on.

“Tsk, old man. Why did you buy that? How long do you think you’ll live?”

“Then, did your brother take care of it?”

“Of course! She’s my mom!”

“It would be very convincing if you talked about it after you passed away! A person who doesn’t know anything because he left all the housework to robots… … .”

Although the siblings lived comfortably thanks to this, they still had many complaints about Ada.

“You should sell it second-hand or something. How much is a penny? Even if you can’t get the full price, shouldn’t you get at least 80 percent?”

“Are you there?”

“Who is it?”

A man in a suit knocked and came in through the crack in the open door.

“Hello. Are you the family of the late Im Seo-hyeon?”

“… … Yes, but?”

“I’m from JS Tech, the manufacturer of Ada, a dementia-assisting robot. I’m a lawyer. Let’s see… … The heirs are all here.”

“What’s going on over there… … .”

“The deceased left a will while he was alive.”

“yes?”

The lawyer pressed hard on a certain spot on Ada’s forehead.

Then, the beam projector mounted on Ada’s eye projects a video onto the wall.

It was an old man’s will, the date of which is unknown.

The old man recited his date of birth, his name, and the date he signed his will in a clear voice.

(First of all… please sell the money remaining in your bank account and the house, and also take care of the land in Gyeonggi-do.)

“Mom, you have land too? Did you know?”

“no?”

(I will give 100 million won from that fortune to my only daughter. Jinhye. I am sorry I couldn’t do anything for you when you got married.)

“……mom!”

The fourth child, who had been sobbing, burst into tears. The remaining children looked at the video with trembling expressions.

Don’t you usually start with the oldest? Are you trying to move up from the youngest? With some expectations?

(And all remaining assets will be passed on to Ada, the robot who helped me.)

(Elder, even if I receive your property, I cannot use it.)

Ada, who was recording, speaks in a dry voice. The siblings’ expressions change from shock to delight at Ada’s point.

(Then, how about Ada’s company donating to old people like me?)

(That is possible.)

(Okay, do that.)

The siblings, who had been going through hot and cold water in an instant, protested to their lawyer as soon as the video ended.

Kang Ye-jun looked at them with excited eyes.

“No, wait a minute. Robots can inherit property too? How is that possible?!”

“Yes, it is stated in the revised law.”

“Oh, really? You guys manipulated this, didn’t you?”

“The video is 100% real. If you don’t believe it, you can ask a verification agency to verify it.”

The lawyer was used to this kind of reaction, as if it wasn’t the first time. The siblings were furious and even shouted at the lawyer.

“You guys think you’ll get away with this? We’re going to sue you!”

“Haha. There are a lot of cases like this these days. Lonely elderly people. Their families have abandoned them, they have no one to rely on, and they can’t even move around. But they often come to Ada. In the end, they must have grown so attached to them that they even inherited their wealth.”

“This, this is ridiculous!”

“Well, you must have been doing well in your lifetime, right? Come in.”

At the lawyer’s words, two men waiting outside press Ada’s neck. They help Ada, who has lost power, to the ground and put her in the truck.

Kang Ye-jun caught the lawyer trying to get into the car.

“hey.”

“hmm?”

“Where is Ada going?”

The lawyer hesitated whether to preserve the child’s innocence, but eventually told the truth.

“After initialization, we plan to distribute it to low-income dementia families. My grandmother’s property will be used to support such people.”

“……is it so?”

Ada will forget everything about her grandmother. All the love she had given her. Kang Ye-jun looked at the lifeless eyes in the truck.

‘Will I become like that too?’

If my mother fully accepts and acknowledges that her son is dead, then I, as her emotional support, become useless.

Me too… … Kang Ye-jun’s body lost his balance and staggered.

‘Why on earth are you doing this… … .’

It’s been acting strange lately. I haven’t set it to do anything, but it’s been going into sleep mode a lot, and I’ve been feeling tired pretty quickly. Come to think of it, how many days has it been since I last charged it?

Kang Ye-jun’s eyes widened as he thought about it.

“Could it be… … that I’m infected?”

There is a virus that occasionally occurs in highly intelligent humanoids.

A humanoid is a being made similar to humans.

As I observed and learned about humans, I developed a longing for emotions, and as I grew envious of humans, my program became contaminated.

‘What should I do?’

There is still no vaccine for this virus. When Kang Ye-jun was discovered, his mother stopped what she was doing and slowly approached him.

“Yejun?”

“Uh, um… … .”

Kang Ye-jun collapsed before he could finish his words. Through his blinking vision, he saw his mother.

* * *

Kang Ye-jun, who had been forced into sleep mode, opened his eyes again. The time that had been midday had already become dusk.

Kang Ye-jun was lying on the sofa, and his mother was sitting next to him. Did she fall asleep while taking care of him? For something like that, her posture was too… … .

“……mom?”

Kang Ye-jun raised his hand and touched the cheek of his mother sitting next to him.

for a moment.

‘Who is cold?’

Kang Ye-jun compared his body temperature with his mother’s.

And it seemed somehow unrealistic to be sitting still without moving, even though I was in an uncomfortable position.

‘To be alive is… … .’

Who is it?

Thinking like that, Kang Ye-jun let out a deep breath.