| Drone | |
August 25, 2015
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| In this society, technology was high but it didn't mean that all people lived pleasant lives, and even, sometimes, technology made some things unusual. A guy in a suit, in his late 40s, was standing on the top of the cliff. He looked hesitant but he took off his shoes and stepped one step closer to the edge. He closed his eyes. In the distance, he heard a bird humming. It was a pleasant day. Maybe a little too nice to commit suicide. He thought. A humming sound was approaching him. It sounded somewhat mechanical. He opened his eyes. He was startled because, in front of him, there was a man in his 30s floating, who was wearing sportswear and was holding a helicopter shaped machine, a drone. The man stepped back. He wondered if it was a new type of sports. Or, a soldier who would invade this country? If so, he wanted the man to shoot him, it could save him time. The floating man said, "This is SHT2045, I'm a humanoid. I was sent from the government. I'll support you." The guy remembered that he read recently in a newspaper that the government
The guy said, "What do you mean 'support'? Will you pay my debt instead of me?" The humanoid said, "Before replying, can I land next to you? Flying uses a lot of battery, and besides, it's a little noisy." He said, "As you like." The humanoid landed near him and laid the drone on the ground. Seeing closer, the guy couldn't find any proof of a humanoid, it looked just like a human being. He had never seen humanoids in person. He asked, "Are you really a humanoid?" The humanoid offered his hand. He stepped back. "No, no. If I reach out my hand, you will grab my hand and take me to the police station or something like that." The humanoid said, "I won't do that. I just wanted to show you the texture of my skin and temperature, not warm. You can't see any difference from the outside, though." The guy said, "Ok, but I don't want to touch you anyways. By the way where are you from? How did you know I'm doing this? Is the government always following all of us?" The humanoid replied, "When your car started to head towards the mountain, which has a famous cliff for committing suicide, our supercomputers started to follow you. I was sent from the base of XXX city." The XXX city was the next city over, not so far from this place. Maybe each big city has this type of machine. The guy remembered. "So, will you pay my debt instead of me?" The humanoid said, "Sorry, but we can't pay your debt. But, we can introduce lawyers, counselors, psychiatrists… " The man got mad, "Every time the government is like this. They only introduce something. It's just evading their responsibility." The humanoid said nothing. The guy said, "I got it. Do you feel a sense of joy or sorrow? You don't have feelings, right?" The humanoid said nothing. "If you were a human being and failed to rescue someone who died, you would have a sense of remorse, it might torture you. So, the government thought about machines. Machines don't hurt. The government doesn't lose anything. This is a smart idea." The humanoid said nothing. "Ok, it's time. Thank you for giving me an interesting show. This must be a good souvenir to hell." "Wait!" The humanoid said, "If you dive, I could follow you." The man asked, "You have wings or something?" The humanoid looked at the drone beside of him. The guy suddenly stepped ahead and kicked the drone off the cliff. After several seconds some broken sounds occurred. He said, "I thought you were much smarter." The humanoid said nothing. "I fully enjoyed that. You seem to have feelings somehow. You don't need to regret. This is not your fault." Then he jumped. He felt nothing. He already must have lost sanity. Dropping, he wondered how the humanoid would react after his death. But, he didn't need to wonder. The humanoid jumped, following him down and caught him, and covered all his body using its limbs. The man felt as if he was guarded by some firm and safe thing; it was a weird feeling. Soon, they hit the ground, and he lost consciousness. After a while, he opened his eyes. He was able to get up. Miraculously, he wasn't injured. The humanoid's half body was buried in the ground. Its eyes were opened but its functions were stopped. From various parts of its body, various bunches of cords dangled out. The cords were imitating blood vessels, through the silicon skins you can see them look like genuine blood vessels. They were incredibly well-made. "But … why do engineers need to make these elaborate human vessel-like cords? Nobody cares about their vessels." "But…" he thought, "In the first place, why do people want humanoids to resemble human beings? Do they want us to feel intimate feelings for them? But, they are just machines. Or, do they pursue some kind of ideal human being? Not like me, who is weak, failed a lot, hurt others…" He looked at the humanoid. Its face looked like it was smiling at him. He realized that he completely lost his will to commit suicide. He put the humanoid on his shoulder. It was not as heavy as he had expected. He started to walk. He had to go to XXX city. |
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*ridicule :to make people laugh at someone in an unkind way (C)
*in person :If you do something in person, you go somewhere to do it yourself (C)
*evade :to avoid something or someone, especially in a dishonest way (C)
*dangle :to hang loosely, or to hold something so that it hangs loosely (C)
*remorse :the feeling that you are sorry for something bad that you have done (C)