When he first met Jo Sehui, he naturally assumed she would be hostile.
Some might think this was an absurd misunderstanding.
But he had more than enough empirical basis for it.
Nearly everyone he had encountered up to that point had been hostile.
The two leading Awakened leaders, and even Sergeant Kwon Noeul, had attacked him, had they not?
In that sense, Jo Sehui completely shattered his accumulated experience.
She was the first human to approach him with goodwill.
Even the manner of it was dizzying.
"Um, can I just call you Alpha? Q3 is the latest body that isn't even commercially released yet, so even if you're old, you're not even two years old, right? You're way younger than me."
"Hm…! I do not mind, but people around us will feel uncomfortable."
"Mm-hm. True enough. Touching Alpha is under special orders from the Chairman of the Hunter Association, so we should at least preserve appearances, right?"
Jo Sehui grasped the situation with remarkable speed.
If there was one thing she had misunderstood, it was that he had not been operational for two years, but closer to eighty years….
There was no need to bother pointing that out.
"Then Alpha-si! How about that? It's casual enough, but still polite."
"…Do as you please."
"Don't be so stiff. You can just call me Sehui comfortably!"
"Hm… Fine, Sehui."
"Nice. Ahahaha!"
Jo Sehui laughed, lightly patting his arm as if she were delighted by something.
He wished to describe her appearance, but hoped it would be understood why he could not.
He did not possess much of a concept regarding human beauty or ugliness.
Jo Sehui's blemish-free skin and symmetrical features seemed to meet general standards of beauty.
She was about 160 centimeters tall, with a rather small frame.
According to information he had recently acquired, this type was one people were likely to find attractive as the opposite sex.
"Uh…? Wow…!"
She absentmindedly placed a hand on his arm, then widened her eyes and began fiddling with it.
"Your arm is hard but soft at the same time…! Is this what a man's arm is like? I've never really touched a real man's arm before… But why are you wearing something like this?"
He was wearing a black combat suit, like an unpatterned military uniform.
In ordinary times it might have been shunned as reeking of military surplus, but this was the post-apocalypse.
The combat suit provided considerable defensive power and had many pockets, making it convenient.
It could be called a must-have item everyone wanted, a trendsetting outfit.
"The Chairman of the Hunter Association gave it to me. People looked at the previous one strangely."
For reference, the Chief of Staff of the Army from the Reserve Forces had offered him a military uniform.
He had declined, as that seemed inappropriate.
Kwon Noeul, however, had been unable to refuse.
"What did you wear before that?"
"Clothing referred to as a suit."
"Eh… It sounds like it would suit you. But what I mean is, Alpha-si, your body itself is stronger and capable of self-repair. Is there really any need to wear clothes at all?"
"…Wearing clothes is a basic aspect of being human."
"Bu— you'd be fine walking around naked. Being android-like is enough. A design that aims for a human appearance while pursuing practicality. That's aesthetics."
Jo Sehui puffed out her lips.
He felt a slight sense of incongruity at her reaction.
'…Her conversational patterns differ from those of the humans I have encountered so far.'
A person who, having immersed herself in a specific subject, reacted differently from ordinary people.
In other words….
"Sehui, are you that sort of thing? An otaku?"
"Otaku?! I'm someone who made it all the way to a doctoral program in android engineering!"
"So an android otaku, then?"
"Ugh… well, fine. I am an otaku. But I don't like being called an otaku!"
"??"
It felt like a line of questioning where responding at all would be a loss.
In any case, hearing this much made everything clear.
"In other words, you came because you were interested in me, an android."
"Yeah… The lab got blown up, all the androids got infected so we couldn't even touch them… and then I heard the Association was cooperating with an android! So I came to see!"
"I see… So then. Are you satisfied?"
"The best! A cutting-edge body that's not even on the market, and you can talk and everything… Oh, right, what were you doing here?"
"I was reading a book."
"A book? A book… Oh."
Only then did Jo Sehui notice the books piled up around them.
He had seen information stating that this type of person developed extremely narrow awareness when focused on something—perhaps it was true.
About 95% of her expression was filled with 'bewilderment.'
"But why… are you reading books at a time like this?"
"Precisely because it is a time like this. I cannot access online big data like earlier AIs. I judged that my knowledge, judgment, and interpersonal skills were severely lacking."
"You think you're lacking…? There's an AI that thinks like that?"
"To achieve my destiny, that is necessary."
He deliberately used a somewhat abstract and emotional word.
Jo Sehui looked as though she had been struck on the back of the head.
"'Destiny' is like… one of the words least suited to an AI… Alpha-si, you're not an ordinary AI, are you?"
"What is an ordinary AI?"
"Hooa… Alright. I've decided!"
"?"
"Alpha-si, can I live here with you?"
Jo Sehui stepped in close, looking up at him as she spoke.
What was this supposed to mean?
She wanted to live at his place?
"…Here, you say?"
"Yeah. I'll take care of food and sleeping myself. What do you think? It's fine, right?"
His Quantum Brain calculated the pros and cons of this proposal in a brief span of time.
Thinking about it, it was a good opportunity.
His current task was to build communication skills with humans.
There was no reason to refuse someone who voluntarily offered continuous experience.
"Very well."
"Yes! Just wait a moment—I'll bring my moving stuff!"
And thus began the strange cohabitation between Jo Sehui, a female android fanatic and former graduate student, and himself, Standard-Alpha.
*
I do not know what you were expecting—
but the cohabitation between Jo Sehui and him was far removed from anything human lovers might do.
To begin with, what couple lived together in a library?
In other words, they were in the process of creating a new paradigm of cohabitation.
"I can just sleep here!"
Jo Sehui claimed one section of the lounge as her quarters.
She seemed quite satisfied.
It was fairly spacious for a single person.
In his case, a bedroom was unnecessary.
"Androids have to sleep too, don't they?"
"I can rotate the functions of my body and let them rest in shifts even during normal operation. A complete dormant state is unnecessary."
"I see…."
Resting her chin on her hand, Jo Sehui pondered for a moment before speaking.
"But you don't need that level of efficiency in everyday life. You just have to operate for the same amount of time as a human. I heard that in the military they require continuous operation without rest… So you really are military-spec, Alpha-si?"
"Whether I am military-spec or not, even I do not know. I have not been assigned to any affiliation."
"Is that so… Under the
According to the
The two categories were strictly distinguished because they were taxed differently.
In truth, the method of distinction was simple.
A personal-use android had to be under 185 centimeters in height and under 120 kilograms in weight.
His body also met this standard for personal use.
"In my opinion, Alpha-si's body is… something like this. A military unit that wants to look like personal-use."
"It is irrelevant. Why concern yourself with such matters in the first place?"
"It's important. Military units have entirely different algorithms. If you compare it to a person, it's like having a completely different way of thinking."
"Hm… You have never seen a military android in person, have you?"
"Of course not. I'm a civilian."
"Good. Let us meet this so-called military unit."
"…Huh?"
He closed the book and stood up.
Taking the bewildered Jo Sehui with him, he headed out.
Their destination was Yongsan District.
In the past, it had been the place that handled this nation's military power.
In Yongsan District of Seoul stood the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea.
It also housed the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
and it had been the very place from which Korea's armed forces were commanded in full.
"So this is the headquarters of the Korean military?"
"Yes."
"The building's huge. But the military… isn't here?"
"Of course you cannot station an army in the middle of Seoul. …Though I hear there was one in the past."
According to available data,
there had once been a United States Forces Korea base in Yongsan, but after its relocation, no combat unit had been stationed there.
"There were no troops, but a security unit had been deployed. Then, when androids were introduced into the military, they were trial-deployed as sentries."
"…Those must be them."
Jo Sehui pointed to the small booths installed on either side of the main gate of the Ministry of National Defense,
and to the two androids standing in front of them.
They were around two meters tall, their heads shaped not like human faces but like steel helmets.
"Only… two?"
"There are four in total. The other two are at the rear gate."
"Eek… They're looking this way."
"It is fine. As long as we do not approach too closely."
"W-wha—! Why are you saying that while walking closer…!"
Jo Sehui clung tightly to him, her legs trembling.
As they neared the main gate, the grounds of the Ministry of National Defense became visible through the bars.
At the sight within, Jo Sehui let out a horrified cry.
"Oh my god… that…!"
Corpses were piled up inside the gate.
More than a year had already passed since their deaths, and much of the bodies had been reduced to skeletons.
Even in an era where corpses were common, the sight was quite shocking.
Of course, it was not shocking to him,
but to most people who saw it.
"Wow… That's awful… They still haven't recovered the bodies…."
"Because of those sentries."
"Hunters and reservists wipe out androids on sight… so why did they leave those alone?"
"They are military units. Their combat capability is on a different level. Moreover, if left alone, they do not come outside. It is more disadvantageous to provoke them."
"Then why are we doing something disadvantageous?"