Superstar Who Eats Everything

Episode 20_

[AI-8415] (4)

Breathing is the first thing a human does after being born.

“Huh! Gasp… … !”

Kang Ye-jun, who had been holding his breath intentionally, takes a deep breath.

As if he had learned something he shouldn’t have known, as if he had realized a truth he had tried so hard to hide.

She was breathing with a groan in between, and it sounded like a baby crying loudly right after birth.

“Ugh… … .”

He takes another deep breath, and lets it out in a shaky breath, as if he can’t control his overwhelming emotions.

The eyes of ‘Mom’, who was watching his change, shine, like the plastic eyes of an inorganic object.

‘It wasn’t a virus, huh?’

If he was a robot, he had to move according to the given commands. His purpose was to stabilize his mother’s emotions, not to be curious about humans or to show interest in the old man in the house next door.

As humans, we naturally need to sleep. If we stay up all night for several days, our cognitive abilities decline and it becomes difficult to control our bodies.

My eyes suddenly felt heavy and I had a headache, and I fell asleep without even setting the sleep mode…

‘Was I originally human? How?’

This is not a virus.

The premise is wrong. Kang Ye-jun is not a robot, and he is not AI-8415.

His facial expressions also changed from moment to moment as his emotions fluctuated. As if his robot self and human self were clashing, Kang Ye-jun’s complexity was conveyed without him saying a word.

“Yejun. Take your time. Don’t rush things.”

“……omg!”

‘Mom’ held Kang Ye-jun’s hand and calmed him down as he hyperventilated. The hand that touched him was so cold.

Suddenly, the scene changes to show someone’s hands typing on a keyboard.

The words written on the monitor were speaking directly to Kang Ye-jun through his mother.

“Yejun.”

“Yejun.”

Kang Ye-jun’s expression distorted, then turned expressionless, and then distorted again.

Memories of the past come back to him, accompanied by a crackling sound effect as his expression changes.

A mother and son walking down the street, holding hands affectionately. And a self-driving car that crashed into the sidewalk due to a GPS error. A mother who sacrificed herself by pushing her child.

“It’s time to wake up from this dream.”

“It’s time to wake up from this dream.”

Kang Ye-jun looked shocked as if he had been hit hard, but soon relaxed his breathing.

A tear welled up in one of his eyes and flowed down like a painting.

“Can you do well without Mom from now on?”

The expression on Yeo-Jun’s face as he slowly turns back to ‘human’ in AI-8415 convinced the viewers even without him saying a line or explaining anything.

“mom.”

And, a word that is full of emotions different from those of AI-8415.

A heavy sound was delivered that would make the heart of any mother with children thump.

“Is Mom already dead?”

“okay.”

Kang Ye-jun wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face with his sleeve. The child who had escaped from AI-8415’s ego was no different from any other ordinary child.

“What should I do now?”

“You have to break out of your frame.”

‘Mom’ pointed to the front door with her finger. Kang Ye-jun hesitated.

“I, I’m scared.”

“Still, we have to move forward.”

The hard gaze seemed to say, ‘You know this is fake, right?’

Kang Ye-jun, who had returned to being fully human, stood up straight, though he was staggering.

“You can do it.”

After walking a few steps, he looked back again. The mother gave her son some final words of encouragement.

“I love you.”

Soon, a sound of something falling was heard.

Kang Ye-jun opened the door without looking back. A familiar figure was standing in front of the front door with his arms spread out.

“Yejun.”

“dad.”

“Come here. Come to Daddy.”

Kang Ye-jun cried in his father’s arms. A robot manufacturing company employee passed by the two.

Then, he approaches the fallen ‘Mom’ and retrieves her.

Kang Ye-jun turned his head. The image of his mother, whose battery had run out, overlapped with someone else’s.

With my real mother, who saved herself and was hit by a car and fell to the cold ground.

* * *

“The sixth subject, name is Kang Ye-jun. He is 8 years old.”

“Are you a kid again?”

“yes.”

People focused on the screen of the beam projector. They were researchers studying a mental illness called ‘robot disease’ caused by rapid technological advancement.

“Is it because they were greatly influenced by childcare robots during their infancy?”

“I think that’s the biggest reason. Ninety-five percent of the young subjects grew up with robot caregivers during their infancy. Their parents were busy working.”

“I mean, I’ve said this many times before, that excessive reliance on robots is not good.”

“That’s why I’m going to raise my child myself, without using a childcare robot.”

It wasn’t a formal presentation, so some of the researchers had a light conversation.

‘Robot disease’ was a new mental illness in which people thought they were robots.

This is a disease that mainly affects people who spent their infancy and childhood with a childcare robot as their primary caregiver rather than their parents.

“Yejun had a higher IQ than other children. He had good observation skills and good behavior. That’s why his symptoms were more severe than those of other subjects.”

People who have experienced overwhelming sadness and shock often recall the robots they used to see in their childhood, who were unharmed and always the same no matter how much they yelled at, hit, or cursed at them.

I was enduring this hardship and suffering, but I thought, “Wouldn’t it be even more suffering if I became a robot?” and this caused me to develop ‘robot disease’.

“What are the triggers of the disease?”

“I witnessed my mother’s death with my own eyes. You know the incident two months ago? When the electronic devices malfunctioned due to a solar flare, and when the self-driving car crossed the sidewalk.”

“Oh my… … Are you the victim of the incident where the mother pushed her child to death?”

“yes.”

The license plate number of the self-driving car that hit the mother and son was ‘□□□ 8415’

“At some point, Yejun started referring to himself as ‘AI-8415.’ He firmly believed that he was a real humanoid, and he didn’t go to school or sleep. The boy’s father, who couldn’t stand it any longer, requested help from our research institute.”

“What is the current status?”

“Fortunately, the current Yejun, that is, AI-8415, is very interested in humans.”

“But I guess there is a defense mechanism. So, how are you going to treat this child?”

It was fortunate that Kang Ye-jun did not suffer from a severe case of robotics disease, where he had no interest in humans and acted like a robot.

The psychiatrist, who was called Mr. Lee, pushed up his glasses.

“I’m thinking of adapting it to the play for now. He firmly believes that he is a robot, so if I tell him the truth right away, he won’t believe me.”

So the solution we came up with was to reverse the roles. We created a humanoid that looked exactly like the mother and made her believe that she was an emotional stability robot.

Fortunately, AI-8415 was interested in humans, so there was hope.

“I referred to Professor Park’s thesis. He presented a theory that if we become more interested in humans, envious of humans, and develop the desire to become human, then the ‘robot disease’ will naturally be cured.”

“yes.”

“In addition, by making ‘Mom’ feel alienated, she will gradually realize that she is human.”

.

.

.

When Kang Ye-jun left the house where he had memories with his mother and was held in his father’s arms, Researcher A tapped Researcher B on the shoulder.

“Hey, rookie. Was the last one good?”

“yes?”

“I said I love you. Wow, I guess she’s young, so she’s very emotional.”

“That, that is… … .”

Researcher B, who had been mumbling quietly, “I didn’t type that in,” shut his mouth tightly when he felt a presence behind him.

This project is led by Dr. Lee, a psychiatrist, and his research team.

The monitor screen that filled the wall showed Kang Ye-jun riding in the car with his father.

“Professor, was the research successful?”

“It’s not a complete success.”

A mother does not unconditionally embrace her child. She scolds her child when he misbehaves or causes an accident. Kang Ye-jun’s biological mother was similar to an ordinary mother when she was alive.

‘Mom’ didn’t do that. She only showed a well-organized and loving appearance.

At first, it seemed like everything was going according to plan, as AI-8415, who was secretly dissatisfied, began to question and test her ‘mother’s’ blind devotion and love.

“The variables are the grandmother and Ada from the house across the street?”

“Yes. The change was so drastic that I almost hyperventilated.”

As you observe humans, become envious of them, and wish to become human, you will gradually overcome the ‘robot disease’ and realize that you are human.

Here, the presence of the old man in the house across the street and Ada became the medium that brought him back to reality abruptly.

“I guess I unconsciously projected the relationship between the old lady next door and Ada onto myself.”

He must have felt the difference between himself and Ada, who was a real robot, or he might have unconsciously projected himself onto the old man in the house next door who was obsessed with the robot.

Kang Ye-jun himself also had feelings for the ‘mother’ robot.

Or maybe it was the anxiety that if she came to her senses, her ‘mother’ would also be dragged off to the manufacturing company like Ada.

“There are too many variables like this.”

“Shall we try a similar situation for the next subject?”

“Let’s do that.”

Despite the ambiguous success, the researchers’ expressions were bright. After all, the child with such difficult circumstances was successfully treated.

“But I was worried that Yejun would be shocked because it was so sudden, but fortunately, it seems like there weren’t any major changes.”

“There is a risk of recurrence.”

“That’s right. I think I need to start trauma treatment right away… … .”

The one-act play [AI-8415] ends with the researchers’ voices growing distant as they discuss future countermeasures.

* * *

Choi Hae-na, who had been watching the original broadcast at Ko Seung-geon’s house until the last episode, let out an exclamation. In her hand was a tissue that had been used to wipe away tears and snot.

“… … Huh.”

When I thought about it, it was strange. Like the mother not scolding her child for doing something dangerous but only checking on her child’s safety, or the mother serving food to her child but not showing herself eating at all, or the mother strictly adhering to the set time.

“Hmm, I was wondering how this would end.”

Now that I know everything about the old man in the house across the street patting Kang Ye-jun and saying that he was pitiful, I feel it differently.

Since she was living in the house across the street, she must have known about the incident where the mother sacrificed herself for her child. She must have felt pity for the child who believed himself to be a robot due to the shock.

“I just thought it would end with AI-8415 becoming more and more human after seeing various aspects of humans.”

If that were the case, it would have been too boring and there would have been too many similar creations, so it wouldn’t have been made into a video, Choi Hae-na continued.

“So when I saw the virus bait, I thought, is this a tragic ending where he tries to become human but gets returned to the manufacturer?”

“That’s right. I twisted that into ‘robot disease’. In fact, Kang Ye-jun is not a robot. The first 1 and 2 episodes were actually a MacGuffin to explain ‘robot disease’.”

“That’s bold.”

Choi Hae-na was silent for a moment. The twist at the end further maximized the lingering feeling.

“But, Woojun’s acting is really… … .”

What stood out the most was Yeo-Jun Woo’s acting, which portrayed the clash between AI-8415 and Ye-Jun Kang’s ego.

Choi Hae-na looked at Ko Seung-geon with a proud expression.

“There was a reason I told you to watch your breathing.”