NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32
Genji and Miss Somezaki are together now.
It’s clear that he fell deeply for that girl from the very first day of school, but he just wouldn’t admit it.
Back then, this pure-hearted virgin even loudly defended himself, saying he “never thought about having a romance on the island.” Now, just over four months later, he’s hit a home run and even privately committed to the young lady.
Hmph, the good boy. He seemed so honest and straightforward, but who knew he had such skills in charming a girl.
What’s more surprising is Miss Somezaki.
In everyone’s eyes, this girl known as “Her Holiness” was aloof and rarely smiled, an untouchable ice queen.
And those unfavorable rumors about her and her fiancé had once made many teachers and students at the institute highly wary of her.
“She really looks dangerous, emitting coldness from her whole being. She wouldn’t really be doing dirty work for that cold-blooded, murderous ‘Divine Descendant,’ would she?”
One day, as Mei and I saw that girl near the Ancestor Wall, I couldn’t help but sigh quietly.
However, Mei shook her head unconvinced:
“She’s just a middle schooler, don’t think so badly of her. We haven’t seen her do anything bad. Besides, didn’t I look cold before I started dating Kazu? Maybe she’s like me, just unsociable because of an unhappy childhood.”
“How did you figure that out? Are you interested in psychology as well as linguistics?” I joked.
“It’s not that complicated, just a woman’s intuition. Besides, I’ve seen her feeding and petting cats near the Ancestor Wall, and the cats really like her.”
“But Hitler liked dogs too. Being kind to animals doesn’t really prove anything.”
“Kazu, really! Anyway, I think we shouldn’t make assumptions about people we don’t know.”
Mei said that whenever she saw that girl, she felt as if she were standing on the bank of a desolate, frozen river, surrounded by endless white, with only the girl’s distant, aloof figure visible.
“That child locks herself in frost, silent and lonely.”
Such an emotional statement, I’ve never believed in “intuition.” If saying those rumors are unfounded assumptions, then Mei’s deduction is equally groundless.
Though I thought this, I didn’t argue, just smiled:
“Let it be. She’s going to marry into a wealthy family. Let’s not worry about her for nothing.”
Mei and I, one with a seriously ill family member unable to afford treatment, the other orphaned, barely have the strength to survive, let alone worry about the affairs of the Divine Descendant family.
But I didn’t expect Mei’s guess to be right.
Miss Somezaki’s background, no, the entire Divine Descendant family’s situation, was worse than we thought.
Now, in front of the person she likes, her smile is like a warm spring day, all the coldness gone.
This ice mountain has finally melted into a river of spring water, which is good, but I still have my concerns.
After all, this “Miss Somezaki” is just a love-type bionic robot, unable to have children. Will she and Genji regret this in the future? Will it cause a rift between them?
Moreover, a robot will be scrapped after its service life, only maintained by rebuilding its body and inputting memories.
This leads to the paradox of Theseus’ Ship: Is the rebuilt bionic person still the original one?
Or, looking further back, can a bionic person truly replace the original Miss Somezaki? Does this violate AI ethics?
Remember, “she” was once troubled by this question, leading to severe confusion about her own identity. Fortunately, Takuya wiped part of her memory and fabricated a false experience. “Miss Somezaki” thought she was still alive, just turned into a cyborg by the research team after losing too much blood.
2.
Takuya once asked me if I wanted a Mei-shaped bionic person, but I refused.
First, I don’t have Mei’s cells and memories. Even if I did, a bionic person can only mimic and learn a real person’s behavior and thought patterns, and is not the original Mei. If the situation turned out like the first episode of the second season of “Black Mirror,” it wouldn’t be good for me, her, or “her.”
【”Black Mirror” S02 E01 description on Douban: After losing her boyfriend Ash in a car accident, Martha uses Ash’s social media information to create an AI version of him. At first, Martha can only hear the synthesized voice of Ash through her phone, but soon, that voice tells her there’s a way for Ash to “truly” return to her side.】
Of course, I’m not blaming Genji or belittling “Miss Somezaki.”
Genji lost his
mother and grandparents at a young age, and his father wasn’t around. Just as he was developing feelings for the girl he secretly loved, she tragically died.
Transferring an unfinished love affair to a bionic person is understandable.
Moreover, this “Miss Somezaki” indeed helped a lot, quickly pulling Genji out of his pain. Otherwise, he might have continued to indulge in drugs, unable to recover.
Well, it seems that guy isn’t as weak and introverted as before. Perhaps that’s the power of love.
Sigh, I hope they can be together for a long time.
3.
Takuya advised me not to get so entangled in so-called “ethics.”
“For instance, in Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World,’ humans are bred in test tubes without the need for natural reproduction. Thus, ‘mother’ and ‘father’ become foul language, and ‘promiscuity’ becomes the trend of the times.
“Productive forces determine production relations, the economic base determines the superstructure, social existence determines social consciousness. Shin should understand this, right? Maybe one day in the future, what you consider an ethical problem won’t be a problem anymore.”
“I understand the logic, but isn’t ‘Brave New World’ a negative example?”
Takuya spread his hands and shrugged:
“Alright, alright, let’s take ourselves as an example. Who still cares about the pre-war ethics and morality? Saying ‘loyalty to the emperor and love of the country,’ to hell with ‘a hundred million shattered jewels’! A country that makes its people die for it can just be destroyed.”
We both laughed heartily. As we laughed, tears streamed down our faces.
I miss Mei.