After the robots' little chat, the urge to inspect the excavation site suddenly flared up inside me. If the robots truly respected Ilya as their Queen, she must have been on the verge of achieving great things for the facility.
I threw an inflatable jacket over my back and exited through the corridor leading to the excavation area, finding myself inside a glass walkway... The path, illuminated by small light globes placed every few steps along the corners of the glass corridor, looked brand new. This path was quite wide, easily fitting eight people holding hands side by side. On the left side of this path, a lane had been cordoned off, and the message: "Cargo Area, Keep Out!" was constantly scrolling across the surface.
"Watch out!" a robot shouted, speeding towards me on a handcart, powered by the wheels beneath its feet. Red and yellow alarm lights flashed on its head, while a small horn continuously sounded, making a nuisance of itself. I reached out my hand and blocked the robot's path. The robot barely managed to stop, skidding on the floor to avoid hitting my hand.
"Where are you going?"
"To prepare food orders, sir..."
"What do you mean? Did you travel kilometers just to prepare food for the facility?"
"We still have some time before we can build a kitchen there, sir. According to our facility planning experts, it may take a few weeks to construct the kitchen. Besides, sir, with this path available, going back and forth for food is not very difficult."
"Who is the food for?"
"Ms. Velsil..."
"What is the food?"
"Duck à l'Orange..."
"Hmm... I was wondering where that damned Velsil was. Alright... you can continue your work."
The robot blasted its flashing light alarm on its head and plunged through the facility door. I continued walking along the glass corridor. "Clear the way... there are hungry people!"
The path I was on ended when it reached the excavation area. I hadn't expected the excavation site to be surrounded by an energy shield. This spot, located on the side of the mountain, probably had an energy shield installed to protect the excavation area from rolling and sliding soil fragments. I had thought of it, but hadn't bothered.
With the advent of the energy shield, metal barricades and all other obstacles had been removed, leaving a more refreshing, flat area. Even the excavation site elevator had been renewed; the rusty orange color was replaced by a milky white.
Ilya was gesturing and giving orders to a crowd of robots next to one particular robot. The robot swarms continued their work in response to those commands. The robot next to Ilya was a bit strange. It had its hands on its hips in a human manner, listening to Ilya and nodding as she spoke.
Just then, a robot at least four meters tall lifted a massive container coming from the excavation site elevator onto its back and began walking. I had to scrutinize the mechanical robot for a while to realize it was actually an advanced armor suit being worn by another robot. It seemed Ilya had built stronger bodies for robots to facilitate heavy lifting. But why a body and not a transportation line? Couldn't it be transported more easily with conveyors and cranes? She probably commissioned these robot bodies not just for transport, but also with a potential war in mind. Besides, very strong robot bodies could be used for different tasks.
Velsil was suspended from the ceiling by a rope, welding the shoulder of a three-meter robot that had arrived at the maintenance unit with a welding torch in her hand. The maintenance area was like a wooden shack.
"Ahem..." I coughed lightly.
Velsil stopped welding and barely managed to remove her welding goggles. "Aldoux." She was covered in dirt. Her arms, normally covered in fat, looked muscular from exertion. Despite being out of breath and looking extremely tired, she seemed cheerful. It was as if she was enjoying all this. She pushed herself back with her foot and, by pressing a button, rose toward the ceiling. She climbed onto the robot's shoulder and sat down. She put her hand on the robot's head while swinging her feet. "How are you?"
"You look quite busy..." I said, pointing to the swarm of robots waiting in line.
"Oh, you don't say?" she said, scratching the back of her neck. "Ilya is working us like slaves."
"When you say 'us'..."
"Goma is down helping with the excavation. Alora is the one who handles the robots' needs and planning..."
"Is that so? Despite working, you look quite happy. So, Queen Ilya satisfies you, huh?"
Velsil initially didn't understand my question. Then she just said: "Yes?"
"Thank you, Velsil. Let's keep working." Then I clenched my fist, trying to show unity. "We will work together, all of us!" I shouted towards the robots, but none of the robots cared about what I said. Some even looked far away and whistled.
As I slowly walked toward Ilya, I noticed that the robot next to Ilya started becoming even stranger. Ilya was far away, and it would be impossible for me to recognize her without her wings. So I expected whatever was next to her to look more and more like a robot as I approached... but that robot became more and more human. He was wearing a shirt and black, wrinkle-free trousers. His hands were in his pockets, and he was listening intently to what Ilya was saying. Could this... could this be a human?
I quickened my steps. As I ran towards Ilya, who was waiting at the elevator, the robots looked at me as if I were a strange creature. Their faces were full of disgust, as if I were no longer their master.
Finally, I yelled, "Ilya! How are you!"
Ilya turned around in surprise when she heard my voice, and the man next to her also turned to face me. Short hair combed back like an officer's hair in old American films, with neatly trimmed sides... A clean-shaven face with visible cheekbones... That perfect man, handsome, young, dynamic, and intelligent-looking... He smiled as he looked at me. His chest muscles were visible under his shirt.
"How's it going, Aldoux?" the cybernetic man said. I could see the electricity circulating in his eyes. He extended his hand to me. "Forgive my visit!"
"Brother..." I said, shaking his hand. The man had serious strength. "Pardon me... Inspector Varden... Welcome. What brings you here?"
"Well..." he said, pointing to Ilya. Ilya looked as if she had been primped up. Not much was left of her serious, makeup-free appearance. She must have applied pencil to her eyebrows because they looked fuller. Her skin glowed slightly. Her lips were plumper than they had been. Her makeup didn't look like makeup... it wasn't too obvious, which was what a man would love the most. Ilya was still wearing that elegant uniform. "...Ms. Ilya wanted to show me the excavation site."
"F*ck the excavation site!" I said. "What the hell are you doing on this planet? How did you get here?"
"Inspector Varden..." Ilya interjected. She frowned, seemingly bothered by my cursing, and motioned towards my brother with her eyes. "...you must be excited because your brother has arrived. He saw the recent increase in the amount of resources reinforced from this planet and has honored us by visiting our planet."
"Ah..." my brother said and kissed Ilya's hand. "...this woman's kindness is killing me. Kindness was something that hadn't been seen in the seriousness of the Institution for a very long time!" He emphasized "kindness" and fixed his gaze on me. "...especially something that is rarely found where Aldoux is concerned."
"Brother..." I drew out the word and pointed to the corner. "...could we talk in that corner?"
"Sure... Of course... If it's not too rude to you, Ms. Ilya, may we excuse ourselves?"
"The permission is yours."
"Thank you."
I pulled my brother into the rocks near the mountain side of the excavation area and asked, "What was that just now?"
"What was what?"
"Your coming here, flirting with Ilya, and..."
"Did my flirting with Ilya bother you?"
"Your flirting with Ilya didn't bother me, brother. Your coming here without permission and flirting with Ilya the first moment I saw you bothered me. Besides... you admit you're flirting with Ilya?"
"She's an amazing woman!" my brother said with great enthusiasm. "Despite being a cybernetic, I don't remember another woman who's pumped me up this much. The woman is a genius... She managed to run the facility above expectations, despite a leader like you. Even my boss, Helmar Voss, was surprised when he saw the numbers in the meeting. He hadn't expected the figures to change this much in just a few days. In fact, would you believe it? Something great happened."
"What happened?"
"In front of all those inspectors, Helmar Voss scolded me, saying, 'If you could produce these figures, why didn't you produce them until now?'"
"Is that damned thing supposed to be a good thing?"
"You wouldn't understand. It was a scolding to be proud of. Helmar Voss doesn't just scold those he doesn't value."
"What does the strangeness of your Institutional dynamics have to do with you coming here?"
"Helmar Voss would have sent me to inspect this place eventually. So what did I do? I came myself before he could send me. To get into his good graces... I'll create a report and leave. I tried to notify you, but according to Ilya, you were busy setting up a satellite on another planet. That's why I couldn't inform you. Ilya should have informed you, but she probably didn't want to because she saw you were tired. We assumed you would lie down and rest for a few days."
"I wasn't tired enough to rest for a few days."
"I think you had psychological fatigue. I don't know how you can be psychologically broken while setting up a satellite," he said with a mocking tone.
"Eh... Let's just say we had some work misfortune. How did you manage to get here so early?"
"Helmar Voss's wife bought a satellite near a planet close to here. It was a planet she had promised her daughter-in-law in their marriage contract. Just think, it's been 53 years since his son got married, but she could only keep that promise to her daughter-in-law now. Everything in the damned galaxy is starting to get very expensive."
"The woman bought a planet!"
"A planet? More like a planet-let... Just a very small satellite... Anyway, what was I saying? The woman was going to visit this planet with her daughter-in-law for a day. They were going to talk to planetary designers and sculptors for the planet, which would be shaped according to the daughter-in-law's wishes. I took the opportunity to say I wanted to use that passage. We landed on that planet through a wormhole tear with Helmar Voss's personal passage. It took me about two days to get here from that planet. Ah... I came on one of Helmar Voss's wife's spacecraft. I will leave it back on the planet and return via the passage."
"You came through the damned passage?" I asked, surprised. "I've never been able to get into one of those."
"It doesn't feel much different from a hyper-jump. Just, since only you pass through instead of a spaceship, the rift is smaller and you go faster."
"Is it safe then?"
"It should be safe... Even Director Voss uses it."
"I read quite a few news reports online about them not being safe."
"You shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet," my brother said, coughing. "You damned kid! Why are you stressing me out for no reason? Even if I hyper-jump from here with a spaceship, it would take more than a month to get to the Supreme World Republic..."
"I thought the inspectors' ships were faster."
"It would take you at least two years to come and go with your facility ship," my brother said, pointing to the ship with his hand. "I hope you don't have to return with that ship."
I proudly clasped my hands. "After what Ilya has done, I feel like I'll be staying on this planet for a long time."
"Yes..." my brother said, nodding his head. "...Ilya really is a miraculous woman. I can understand why you created them. They are kind, honest, beautiful, and most importantly, they harbor no ill will." He ran his hand through his hair, combing it back. "I haven't seen a genuinely good-natured person in a long time, Aldoux. Everyone at the Institution is trying to trip up someone else; no one trusts anyone. I'm tired and fed up with the fake smiles and all the other lies. I wish there was something honest in my life..." he said, looking at Ilya. Ilya slapped one of the robots on its metal head and shouted at it to work.
"Wait... were you seriously hitting on Ilya?" I asked in surprise.
"Look..." he said, letting out a deep sigh. "I struggled for 68 years to become an inspector in this damned life. Now, I'm struggling to hold onto my inspector position. Sometimes, when you return home, you might want to be greeted honestly. Someone who understands your effort, who can help you..."
My mouth hung wide open. "You... you're serious."
He gave me two sincere punches on the chest, and then firmly grasped my shoulder. "Or brother... was there something between you and Ilya? If there was, just tell me."
"No, brother..."
"Then I want to tell you this. My thoughts are complicated... and this complication doesn't seem to be going away for a long time."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm thinking of using my annual leave here, Aldoux. I'll stay with you for a few weeks." He put his hand on his hip and surveyed the surroundings for a while. "There seems to be a lot of work to be done here." Then he looked at Ilya. "The lady is quite busy. I'd like to help her. I don't know how correct it is for me, a cybernetic, to say this, but it's help straight from the heart."
"You're going to use your annual leave here?" I asked in astonishment. "Are you sure?"
"Ah... would you rather I turn off my cybernetic sensors and go hit the town like the other inspectors? Some inspectors spend time with their families," he said, and then added. "You know, you're not the only man who has no family to return to, who has been ostracized by his family. So, if I evaluate my options, perhaps a vacation here might appeal to me." Then he tapped my chest with the back of his hand.
"You'll like it too..." my brother said. "My staying here will make your work a lot easier. We'll whip this facility into shape with Ilya in a few days. I'm going to show Helmar Voss a report that'll make him feel like he's just seen a stiff cybernetic d*ck!" He let out a small laugh.
"I'm so lucky..." I said with a weary tone.
"Yes... you absolutely are. You were always like that, Aldoux."
My brother was about to leave, so I grabbed his shoulder and turned him back towards me. "What did you say?" I asked. "How was I always?"
My brother, surprised by my harshness, smiled. "Lucky..." he said, shrugging his shoulders. "...you always get yourself into trouble, and whenever you're in the worst moment of your life, you constantly find someone to step in and rescue you from that moment."
After letting go of my brother's shoulders, I stood still for a while. Staring into the rocks, I contemplated my life. If my life was like this, it was nothing more than a tragedy. Thinking about it, even this facility was doing better without me. Muttering that I needed to think about this some more, I headed back to the facility without saying goodbye to anyone.