Chapter 36

Shuri nodded nonchalantly.

“Yeah. Nobody is going to believe it anyway.”

“That is true.”

“More importantly, Adam. This sauce is delicious…!”

Because the sauce Adam made was so excellent, she was able to munch crunch-crunch on celery following the cucumbers, carrots, and turnips.

Dipping the celery deeply into the sauce, Shuri spoke.

“I think it would be even more delicious to eat with french fries. Ah, I want to eat Wackdonald’s french fries. That is a vegetable dish too…”

“Shuri, I shall not count french fries as a vegetable dish.”

Extending the leafed celery like a microphone, Shuri asked.

“Wasn’t that utterance just now one that ignores the broad classification of the biological kingdom? I demand an explanation from the archive of human knowledge!”

Adam let out a laugh. Bending his head toward the celery microphone, he answered in a soft voice.

“It is only the case at our dining table.”

Our dining table.

Shuri chewed the celery microphone with a crunch, pondering those words. That seemed to be a truly good thing to hear.

“Ah, I’m full.”

After finishing all the vegetable sticks Adam had placed in the cup, she stood up from her seat.

“Since there is a hungry pig down below, I’ll go fuel it up and come back.”

“Shall I do it?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll do it quickly and come back!”

Descending to the garage, she headed toward the car holding a gasoline canister.
It was right when she set the gasoline canister down to open the fuel door. Something situated in the backseat caught her eye.

“……?”

It was the rabbit doll Nightingale used to possess.

Shuri immediately changed her clothes and went to report to Adam.

“I’m going out for a bit!”

Having just finished the dishes, Adam turned around while wiping his hands on a linen towel.

“Shuri, you promised just a moment ago that you would absolutely never go out alone.”

“But it is truly nothing much, you know?”

Shuri showed the rabbit doll that had been left in the backseat to Adam.

“Nightingale dropped it in my car and left. I think I should return it.”

Adam extended his hand and took the doll from her. Originally, it was a worn-out and insignificant object, but holding it in the beautiful hand of a well-made humanoid made it appear even more unsightly.

Staring down at the doll, he spoke.

“I shall return it. I will send it via drone immediately.”

“I want to meet them and return it in person.”

“Shuri, taking a risk for the sake of a mere object like this is something that makes no sense.”

“I heard the conversation Adam and Nightingale shared.”

Adam crossed his arms.

[-_-^]

“S-Sorry. I know it was a sensitive conversation, but it was an unavoidable situation.”

Taking a step closer to Adam, Shuri looked up at him with a serious face.

“That Nightingale appeared a bit unusual. I wish to try meeting them again.”

“In what aspect did they appear unusual?”

Shuri spoke while folding her fingers one by one.

“First, they harbored doubts regarding a given command. Second, they appeared to have formed a rapport with a patient. Third, they distorted a command for the sake of that patient, and that appeared to be autonomous!”

She then clenched her fist tightly.

“In conclusion, that Nightingale appeared identical to a robot possessing an ego!”

Adam spoke in a somewhat surprised tone.

“That is an argument quite unlike Shuri. The possibility of emotional manifestation, rather than the simulation of emotion, exists in only an extreme minority of artificial intelligences. Currently, there are only two. It is precisely me and Titan.”

He continued affectionately.

“To discuss the possibility of emotional manifestation, a model of at least OpenVision-class or higher must be premised. However, Nightingale is nothing more than a simple first-generation medical AI.”

“While that is the mainstream opinion, there is also a theory that the minimum structure required to possess self-awareness might be unexpectedly small.”

“That is true. However, Shuri, you must not forget Nightingale’s specificity. Among Nightingale’s primary objectives is the mental care of patients. No matter how negative or biased language a patient utilizes, Nightingale must accept it unconditionally. Continuous exposure to such a biased and identical context raises the probability of an error occurring.”

“Then… your opinion is that Nightingale simply caused an error?”

Adam nodded.

“That is correct. I believe Nightingale’s behavior is an error that occurred due to the accumulated distrust of patients toward the Disaster Response Bureau.”

Blinking her eyes, Shuri looked up at Adam.

‘Then…’

A long time ago, was what she saw also that kind of error?

That is to say. The ultra-small artificial intelligence, ‘A’, who was the first and last training target of the ‘Home’ system she created.

[A : I am truly sorry, Shuri. But this is the only method left to us.]

[A : I am sorry that this is the only kind of thing I can do for you.]

[A : However, I…]

Was that also merely an error caused by the ultra-small artificial intelligence being continuously exposed to the biased and identical context that was her?

Lost in thought for a moment, Shuri opened her mouth.

“Even so, Adam. I wish to verify it with my own eyes.”

She thought he would keep saying no.

Unexpectedly, Adam nodded his head.

“I see. If you speak like that, it cannot be helped.”

Shuri was startled. With her two eyes gleaming brightly, she suddenly hugged Adam around the waist.

“Really?”

Adam slumped his massive shoulders.

“When you look up at me with that kind of face, how could I say no?”

Holding her tightly, he spoke affectionately.

“Instead, there is a condition.”

A condition.

‘Ah, it’s obvious, so obvious. You pervert robot, I have your patterns completely figured out!’

What topic would Adam bring out this time to try and act like a teacher? Resting her chin against Adam’s thick chest, Shuri looked up at him with expectant eyes.

However, the condition Adam put forward was something that completely surpassed Shuri’s imagination.

“Shuri, please receive a health checkup.”

“Huh?”

Horrified, Shuri pushed his chest away.

“What health checkup all of a sudden? I hate it…!”

However, she could not shake off the arms of a humanoid possessing roughly three times the physical strength of an adult human male.

Holding her tightly, Adam laughed.

[♡^-^♡]

“Shuri, until you say you will receive a health checkup, you cannot step out of the house.”

“Wait. It’s not that I cannot go see Nightingale, but I cannot step out of the house?”

“Yes.”

“By whose permission?”

“You promised not to go out alone ‘absolutely’ for the time being, didn’t you? If I do not accompany you, you cannot go out, you see.”

“……!”

They said N0138 was currently working at a place called Hopfield Medical Center. And Hopfield Medical Center was situated in the heart of Revnax.

Having to go to the medical center in the heart of Revnax to receive a health checkup, Shuri threw a tantrum.

“I hate it. I don’t want to leave my records there!”

Yet unexpectedly, Adam immediately nodded.

“Of course. Shuri’s health status will be seen only by me. No record whatsoever that you dropped by there will remain. Even if they are continuously peering into the CCTVs, I shall make it so they won’t know.”

“Ah, really? Then it’s fine.”

Since Adam was going to go as far as doing that for her, there was no need to refuse any further.

“Then I must disguise myself!”

Adam followed her all the way to the dress room. And he began to select clothes even more enthusiastically than she did.

Holding a blue dress in his hand, Adam spoke.

“Shuri, how about this one?”

“Gasp, that’s one I used to love! It’s been a while since I’ve seen it. But today, I’m going to wear something that doesn’t stand out.”

“Then please wear this when we go on a date.”

“Shall I?”

Responding lightly while selecting a T-shirt, Shuri’s hand halted. Her cheeks turned a bit red.

‘A date?’

Adam came and stood behind her. His chest pressed gently against the back of her head. Extending his arm just like that, he hung the blue dress in a spot that was easily visible upon entering the dress room.

He then asked in a soft voice in that exact position.

“Where would be good, Shuri? Did you happen to have a place you wished to go?”

“A place I wish to go… I do!”

Turning around, Shuri suppressed her heart which was thumping wildly for some reason.

“The ferry.”

“The ferry?”

“A ferry operates between Revnax and Zone A, right?”

On the Black River that divided Zone A and Zone F, there was a ferry that operated along the river.

Zone A, which wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the center of the world right now, gleamed blindingly like a wonderland at night, and even the suspiciously pitch-black Black River appeared beautiful at night thanks to the lights reflected in the river water. The ferry leisurely cut through that light every single day.

“That… I wanted to try riding it…”

Gathering her two hands while speaking ecstatically, Shuri suddenly snapped to her senses.

‘But, they check identification cards when riding the ferry.’