"This is a serious establishment," said the 11-year-old Uruzen girl, holding a hologram notebook larger than herself. "Therefore, adhering to the rules is of utmost importance," she added in her high-pitched voice.
Azrak restrained himself from bursting into laughter upon seeing the girl, who wasn't even a meter tall due to vitamin deficiency but was wearing a serious business suit. Hikmar touched his friend's shoulder and said, "Do not be deceived by any game played by these demons who do their best to make the corporation look sweet."
As they walked down the corridor led by the little girl, Azrak whispered to the wise man beside him, "I don't look kindly on them employing children anyway."
"Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows that TESO employs child labor," Hikmar said in a muffled tone. He walked with confidence, his staff thumping against the floor. Since the factory entrance, they hadn't encountered a single moving walkway or elevator. It was suspicious that this part of the factory was so devoid of technology. It was as if Labiba didn't want anything electronic to be present at this point. "But TESO argues that they employ children in good jobs and with the children's consent. The SWR (Supreme World Republic) attempted to open an investigation into this situation, but TESO constantly caused different scandals to delay the inquiries. Especially since they have an old friendship with Evoke Systems, a partner in the government, the SWR didn't want to press too hard."
"But it really does look like they aren't employing children in bad jobs."
They began to climb the metal stairs. Hikmar lagged a bit behind while climbing.
The walls consisted of two colors. A white line passed through the middle of these two colors. This wall-painting style revived that cold and suffocating atmosphere of the ancient schools of the old world. Especially the colors... Dark green on top, lime green on the bottom.
Since the old man struggled while climbing the stairs, he reached out toward the wall. When his metal fingers brushed the wall and saw the plaster falling off like a blizzard, he shot a glance at Azrak as if to show the anger he felt toward such cheapness.
"Has something happened, masters?" the young girl asked.
"No..." Hikmar said. "...we may continue on our way."
As someone who had spent more than centuries in poor lands, Hikmar could sense the scent of ill intent born from poverty. He advanced a few steps quickly and caught up with Azrak, who was waiting for him.
"You..." Hikmar said. "...you said you didn't think the children were working in bad jobs, didn't you? You saw a small, sweet girl holding a hologram, and just as Labiba intended, you were easily convinced, young man. During your years of being a Relic Hunter, you have truly distanced yourself from people and humanity." Hikmar's words were those of a predator, yet his tone was that of a calm scholar. "Robots are industrious, simple beings, but humans are cunning creatures. The nature of robots commands them to exist for themselves. The nature of humans commands that others must perish for them to exist. This is how humanity survived and evolved on that wild planet called the old world. Would you like me to tell you an anecdote from a slice of life I encountered on CLAUDIS III?"
"No..." Azrak said. "...I am not in the mood to listen to a life story full of life lessons right now. Could you please get to the point, Scholar Hikmar?"
Hikmar walked with quick steps and suddenly appeared behind the young girl. His mechanical body had transformed him from an old wise man into a terrifying monster in seconds, granting him speed, agility, and power. While holding his robe with his third arm so it wouldn't fall, he gripped the girl's wrist firmly with his free metal hand.
The girl only let out a small cry of pain, and then tried to tuck her head into her oversized shirt like a frightened ostrich.
Hikmar tore the sleeve of the girl's shirt. Then, with heavy steps, he came beside Azrak to show the girl's exposed arm.
"Do you see?" he said, pointing to the young girl's arm. "Ah... what is the world if not a miracle where small signs lead to great prophecies?"
"What was I supposed to see?"
"While the girl was walking, she was constantly supporting her left arm. She never used this arm. Especially while holding that giant hologram..." Hikmar could barely keep the saliva in his mouth as he spoke. But do not think this saliva was from a man's madness. It was more from his wisdom. Therefore, Azrak viewed the saliva dripping from the man as a blessing flowing from a fountain of scholarship. This saliva flowed with the pleasure of discovering something. "...this arm was definitely not applying any force. The girl is excessively timid; she was cautious while greeting us. Who would choose a timid little girl to welcome two important men?"
Hikmar released the girl's arm and stood tall with pride, as if he had won a victory.
"I don't see a problem with the girl's arm," Azrak said. The little girl, suppressed many times by the corporation, perhaps felt the fear of death in her body, but the most she could do was weep silently. This situation reinforced Hikmar's concerns.
Hikmar wiped the girl's tear with his finger and pushed her forward with his hand. The girl decided to continue showing them the way as if nothing had happened.
"You don't see a problem? Ah... most people cannot see what you can see with those eyes of yours, drenched in ancient alien technology, Azrak. But you, as a human, cannot see the pains of a human child. I wonder if, while trying to see inside machines, you forgot how to see inside people?"
"There is no such thing as 'human' left, Hikmar."
"Haha... is that so? Where did you get this original idea from, Azrak? Would you care to enlighten me?" He said the word "original" with emphasis and a mocking tone.
"Humanity has been taken under control by cables, mechanisms, and many other things. Even I—how much of a human am I? My sense of pity is a module... my joy can be switched on and off with a button. My ethical values depend on the TV series I watch, and for me, there is no god. Neither a god who understands me nor one who could have created me..."
"You've been a Relic Hunter for hundreds of years and you still say there is no god?" Hikmar said. "Despite seeing thousands of miracles..."
"Miracles?" Azrak said, and added, pointing to his eye, "This device can show me the inside of what you call miracles. They were alien technologies and consisted only of mechanics. I wouldn't have expected a Cyoh Priest like you to say such a thing."
"Then I must say you know nothing about the Cyoh Katum religion, dear young man," Hikmar said, zealously interrupting Azrak. "Our god is the very embodiment of relentless, wearing, and transformative progress. Engineers are our leaders, mechanization is our goal, and the future is the technological breakthrough we dream of. My god, Cyoh, is an idea, and I have seen this idea many times among the alien ruins on TerraGorh. TerraGorh, contrary to your thoughts, reinforced my devotion to Cyoh. It saddens me deeply that you lost your god among those ruins."
"No need to be sad, priest..." Azrak said. "...I never had a god to lose in the first place."
"Ah... I feel sorry for you because you suffer the agony of the void that being godless leaves in the heart. But this girl has likely suffered a great deal due to the flaws this godlessness has birthed in our age. Probably thousands, even hundreds of thousands of these children are working on the factory's production line, risking their lives. This little girl must have been sent here to greet us because she lost the ability to use her arm... You didn't quite understand, but let me tell you. Her arm was broken and was welded—set—a bit incorrectly."
"How did you realize?"
"Arms that lift excessive weight usually break at the joints. I gripped her arm just as she was trying to move her joint, and at that moment, she tensed up in pain. I'd like to say that even though I have metal fingers, they are quite sensitive. Additionally, while running my hand along her arm, I noticed an angular difference. Her arm was a few millimeters lower than it should normally be. The broken arm hadn't been set back in place perfectly."
"You are truly incredible, Hikmar. I'm amazed how you can do all this without your health module..."
"Modules are nothing more than the books of the old age turned into pills, dear young man. They too contain the experiences of man and the discoveries of human science. Nothing more... Contrary to what people think, they are not a need or a necessity. That's why I preferred to use the books of the old age for wisdom. Isn't it funny that while man has centuries, he tries to take information like a pill through a few modules?"
"It doesn't count... humans are immortal, but the desire for laziness or taking the easy way out is woven into their genetics. Furthermore, even if I say there is no god, the new god of humans is logic itself. Logic commands man not to do something slowly when it can be done quickly and properly. Centuries ago, humans were swallowed by nature many times simply because they delayed things."
"But doesn't what you say contradict the laziness woven into human genetics? Isn't it contradictory for humans to be both lazy and impatient?"
"Yes, there is a contradiction here, but that is exactly how it should be. Humans are not robots. They have no creator and emerged as a result of a series of fortunes. Evolution has tried to both destroy them many times and create them many times. In the end, it turned them into a creature full of such contradictions."
"Then one must read..." Hikmar said with a smile. Azrak couldn't make sense of the pride in Hikmar and asked:
"What do you mean, Hikmar?"
"If man is a contradictory being, it is in his nature. Therefore, to learn, the brain must struggle with contradictions. Contradiction is the fuel of man."
"So..."
"To be able to learn something by reading or watching requires many stages. One must understand the word, understand the word within the context of the sentence, understand the sentence, understand the sentence according to the context of the paragraph, understand the paragraph according to the context of the book, understand the book according to the literary genre, and understand the literary genre in the context of literature. The word we know while reading might contradict the sentence. He who solves that contradiction learns the new meaning of the word. A paragraph might not fit the literary genre of the book it's in, but that contradiction also teaches something new. If the sentence doesn't fit the paragraph, this contradiction must be solved, and thus the brain must develop once more. Contradiction... puzzle... mind and game..."
"I... I had never thought of it that way."
"Likely so..." Hikmar said. "As for the module... A module is software that gives information to the brain via a cable. It gives you the information of something directly. When you go to a health robot with a complaint, the information it gives you is not pulled from context, but information coming from the module. It cannot interpret, it cannot persuade, or it cannot feel."
"But there are robots that establish context, and we call them artificial intelligence."
"Yes... well, one must ask you this, dear Azrak..."
"I'm all ears, Scholar Priest Hikmar."
"How is artificial intelligence fed? With modules containing pure information or with data open to interpretation? I am a citizen of CLAUDIS I, Azrak. Emperor Claudis was treacherously murdered just because he made an artificial intelligence that could even scare the SWR. You cannot know artificial intelligence better than I and my people do, and let me give the answer to the question I asked you myself. If artificial intelligence is fed with modules, it memorizes and becomes an information box that is useless for anything. It wouldn't be different from the internet... But if an artificial intelligence knows words, understands sentences, can pull and interpret texts from context, makes mistakes and learns from its mistakes, and most importantly, struggles at a cognitive level, then it can be a quality artificial intelligence."
"Ah, Hikmar... you are definitely more knowledgeable on this subject. As you are on most subjects..."
Their sinister walk seemed to have come to an end. The girl pointed to a door with her hologram. The door showed an office with massive windows. The girl stepped aside out of fear of something suddenly exiting the door. The thing that came out of the door was a middle-aged Uruzen man with a bullet hole in his head. He was being carried by robots that had gripped his arms. As Azrak and Hikmar stepped aside, they were passing between the two men when Hikmar stopped the robots with a hand gesture.
He looked at the Uruzen with the bullet hole in his head, whose head was still bleeding. The disarray of the man's clothes somehow disturbed Hikmar. While straightening the man's collar, Hikmar asked the following question: "When our girl said 'this is a serious establishment,' I wonder if she was trying to say 'this is an establishment devoid of happiness and peace'?"