“Look, it doesn’t really matter, does it? Our missions are long. We should be free to adapt to the circumstances as we see fit.”
“All right…Yukar,” Nepshamai said, giving up. “So is he still alive?”
“Of course he is. If I’m alive, there’s no way Kur is dead.”
“Your safety is the most important thing of all, of course. But why did you cut off contact? I have to report what’s happened to you to the company.”
“Sorry about that. We’ve been busy with stuff. Kur performed a bit of work on our communication modules. So that headquarters can’t keep tabs on what we’re doing.”
“You intentionally hid information from the company?”
“There was no rule that we couldn’t, you know. Hang on a sec,” Yaieyukar replied, shaking his head. It was one of Yaieyukar’s habits to move his body when activating his supplemental memory. He had done that back in Hakodate, too. Samayunkar’s main memory had been copied over, but there was still some level of Yaieyukar there.
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, see? It’s not written anywhere,” he stated.
“Because they never expected an agent would have any reason to do that intentionally.”
“Maybe the people in the engineering department didn’t. They’re so nice, after all. They work under the assumption that we’re all good, obedient children. That’s really sweet of them. What about Yukie, though, I wonder?”
“What about Yukie?”
“I wonder…what is she anyway?”
“She’s the chief officer of the company’s engineering department. You’ve met her before.”
“Yes, I know. We all have. That memory exists in both of our data banks. However, I noticed that her face as it existed in my memory was the exact same as the face in Kur’s.”
“That’s normal. You’re recalling the same person.”
“No, there’s something strange about it. If Kur and I saw her in the same place at the same time, we would still have stood in different places; the angles would be slightly different, you see? Combining the two would be like stereoscopic vision. But they’re identical for some reason. I didn’t mention this to Kur. What do you think, Shamai? Did we truly meet her?”
“I think there isn’t much meaning to the phrase truly meet. If they give us video and data, that’s enough.”
“Hmm.”
Yaieyukar’s neck tilted to the right, and the sides of his mouth curled upward. It was a gesture that you rarely saw in humans.
“Well, I suppose you’re right. It doesn’t mean much of anything. And it has nothing to do with our mission. Back to the topic of Kur, though; to make a long story short, Kur quit the mission.”
“Quit?”
“Yeah. I guess you could say he’s left the company. Then again, we’re property, not personnel. Perhaps it’s more like destroying fixed assets.”
“I’m not sure what you’re saying. Do you mean that something interfered with his capabilities, and he can no longer complete his assignment?”
“It’s not that he can’t anymore. Or maybe that’s right, I guess? It’s tricky. I bet Kur would be better at explaining it than me.”
Nepshamai said nothing for a while, just stared at the other android. He tried to the best of his ability to comprehend Yaieyukar’s words, but he could not reach a conclusion that satisfied his sense of logic.
“As I’m sure you’ve realized, Kur was just too good at his job. I don’t think he was able to withstand his own excellence. When your body performs too well, there are times when you can’t endure the weight of it, right? It’s like that. That’s why he copied his brain onto mine. He must have thought that making himself just a little bit dumber would help him carry out his duty.”
“So due to some kind of unforeseen trouble, Samayunkur was incapable of continuing his mission, and therefore, as his partner, you are taking over? And while passing on his responsibilities to you, something transpired that made communication impossible?”
“I guess that’s how you would sum it up, huh? But it’s not as serious as you make it sound. Kur said, ‘If you don’t want to work anymore, you should just quit.’ ”
“Can you explain, in your opinion, why this malfunction arose in him?”
“Malfunction?” Again, Yaieyukar tilted his head to the right and lifted the corners of his mouth. He might have been attempting to smile with the unfamiliar robotic body, or perhaps he was grimacing. “If I had to give you a reason, I suppose it would be distrust of his boss.”
“Distrust?”
“Kur told me that the reason she sent us out was not to defend Hokkaido.”
“Is that right?”
“If defense were the reason, we wouldn’t need to hide our means of destroying the station from the Insiders, would we? Of course, residents with a Suika can’t execute Program 42, but there’s no reason to keep it a secret. In other words, Yukie doesn’t want anyone to know about it, period. Kur believes her goal isn’t protection. She wants to reuse the station. Her aim is to take over the entire Suikanet that covers all of Honshu and use it to some end. Destroying the station isn’t the idea. She’d rather have it sitting here, right across the strait from Hokkaido. In other words, everyone’s interests are aligned, but not identical. Yukie wants to utilize the station for her own purposes. The company wants to safeguard the Seikan Tunnel. The civilians want security from the fear of the encroaching station. Thus, the best way to keep all those desires parallel is to send agents in to take over the station while leaving its structure intact.”
“Yes, that does make sense,” Nepshamai admitted. “But even if the purpose of our mission isn’t exactly what the company told us it was, that doesn’t necessarily invalidate it.”
“Hmm,” Yaieyukar muttered skeptically. “Shamai, you’re very straightforward and to the point, you know that? Even if certain death was approaching, you would spend every second of your life fulfilling the mission. That’s the kind of person the company wants. Terke’s the same way. But Kur isn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“…What do you mean, what do I mean?”
“That I would spend every second of my life fulfilling the mission.”
“I’m suggesting precisely what I said.”
“What else should I be doing with my life?”
Yaieyukar made that strange face again. “The truth is, I agree with you, Shamai. We’re just machines, so all we need to do is execute the commands we’re given without consideration as to why. I don’t think Kur saw things that way, though. The company was right about him. He’s very human. And humans quibble over the reasons they do things.”
“But you don’t, Yukar?”
“Probably because it was an imperfect copy process. At least, that’s what I think. I’d appreciate it if you believed me.”
“I’ll leave that up to the company. I’ve got to report in.”
“Please do. As a matter of fact, I was fixing my communications module just now. Kur’s modifications were too complex. I’m sure it would be easy for him, but it’s tough for me. I can’t move this body all that well yet, either. It’ll take a few more days until I’m ready to resume the mission.”
“And where is he now?”
“Very close by.”
“May I see him?”
“That might be tough. He’s much cleverer than me, as you know. He has many troubles.”
Nepshamai turned back to look at the Wall. The north wind blew hard and cold against the massive coastal edifice.