#040
The security level of a public cleaning robot would be worse than that of abandoned pet robots in the neighborhood. That’s why it must have succeeded on the first attempt.
The joy was short-lived. The information flowing through his circuits soon triggered a different biological response in him.
As he interpreted the information that flowed in like formless water and became data, Yoo Seong-woo’s pupils dilated and pores expanded all over his body. He started to sweat.
‘I need to… tell them immediately.’
Just as he was about to rush out of the alley, his function as a performance android reacted once again.
When he turned around, the cleaning robot’s eyes glowed red. It wasn’t the color of a light bulb. It was the heat expanding from inside.
With a thunderous sound, Yoo Seong-woo’s body was thrown back. Along with tremendous heat.
“Ugh…!”
Only after rolling around in the rain for a while did the impact of the explosion pushing his body stop.
Yoo Seong-woo, still lying down, moved only his eyes to survey his surroundings. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was almost no one around. A passing couple gave him a suspicious look for a moment before disappearing.
He got up, checking if his mask was still covering his face. A terrible pain was felt in his left arm. His clothes had melted and stuck to the burnt skin.
Luckily, it seemed his legs weren’t broken, no part of his body was missing, and his head hadn’t received a strong impact. His internal organs weren’t spilling out either. Yes, that’s fine. But why was it so painful?
As he tried to get up to move somehow, a terrible pain rushed in.
“Hnngh…!”
He took a deep breath, trying to hold back a groan. Now he saw that a fragment of the robot was stuck in his thigh like a knife.
Inside the alley were the remains of the exploded cleaning robot. The USB probably wouldn’t have survived.
He forced himself up, gritting his teeth. Pain crashed over him like a hot tidal wave.
Aside from finding the robot’s remains, he needed to relay what he had seen to Eden as quickly as possible.
‘The tablet, the tablet…’
Of all places, it was on the side that had been stabbed. When he put his hand in his pocket, he felt it get soaked. It wasn’t rainwater, but blood. As he endured the pain and managed to take out the tablet, Yoo Seong-woo let out a deep sigh. The tablet was completely broken.
He quickly looked around. There was no kiosk in sight. Police robots and officers would arrive soon after hearing the explosion, but he wasn’t sure if he could trust the police.
‘Self-destruct in front of Eden building, attempt when maximum number of pedestrians gathered.’
He had to somehow relay the message stored on the robot’s USB. It would be good if they could find out who sent it.
A public cleaning robot’s explosion wouldn’t have much power. Even though he was right in front of it, he only had a burn on his arm and a fragment stuck in his thigh. If so, the purpose of the message stored on the USB was obvious.
‘It’s being passed from robot to robot.’
Public cleaning robots can pass messages among themselves. They adjust cleaning areas or sometimes several units come to help in one area if it’s particularly polluted.
It was hard to continue his train of thought. A warning message about excessive bleeding appeared on his visual display. The temptation to collapse and sleep was strong enough to do so right away. But he had to find a kiosk where he could make a phone call. He needed to inform Yeon Tae-soo of this fact immediately. It might already be too late. His damaged leg wouldn’t obey.
‘But even if I could move, I might lose consciousness due to blood loss.’
Moving in this state would increase the bleeding. Then…
Suddenly, an idea occurred to Yoo Seong-woo and he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket. He felt a hard, rectangular object about the length of his index finger. After hesitating, he took it out.
The transmitter Yeon Tae-soo had given him.
He didn’t know how much of his body condition this would reveal. It might even expose the fact that he was an android.
No, even worse than that was the possibility that Yeon Tae-soo might not come even if he pressed it.
Information about his stab wound and burn would be immediately transmitted to Yeon Tae-soo’s tablet with an alarm, but what if he still didn’t come? If he had something more important than Yoo Seong-woo’s body, of course he wouldn’t, right? He’s the representative of Eden, so he must have countless busy matters.
But there was no other choice. Without further hesitation, he pressed the button on the transmitter.
He needed to get out of the rain to prevent further bleeding. His vision kept darkening. Warning messages continued to appear on his visual display, but even those were half-erased and unreadable.
At that moment, Yoo Seong-woo keenly realized that he was a broken android.
He had forgotten it for a while while staying with Yeon Tae-soo. He must have been under the illusion that he was a real human. In reality, he was just such a fragile machine.
Using a broken umbrella as a cane, he gathered all his remaining strength to get up. Even in this situation, he was disgusted by the fact that the red blood flowing from his body and his torn skin were exactly like a human’s.
‘I can’t lose consciousness.’
He had to hold on until Yeon Tae-soo came, until he could properly warn him.
An obsession had grown without him realizing. This self-grown obsession urged him.
To somehow become a useful existence before Yeon Tae-soo got tired of him. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be strange if he was discarded at any time.
He entered an alley where he could shelter from the rain and brought his uninjured hand to his mouth to bite it. He endured by persistently biting between his thumb and wrist with his front teeth.
It wasn’t long before Yeon Tae-soo arrived.
In a completely disheveled state.
His black dress shirt was soaked with rain, and his usually well-combed hair was a mess.
And his expression.
It was the first time Yoo Seong-woo had seen Yeon Tae-soo make such an expression.
“…Mr. Yoo.”
It was hard to understand. It felt like his thought circuits and database were being randomly rummaged through. It must be because he was injured.
But there was still something to do. Yoo Seong-woo gritted his teeth and told him what he had seen.
He couldn’t mention the hacking. While saying that someone had manipulated a public cleaning robot to self-destruct in front of Eden and that they needed to stop it immediately, Yoo Seong-woo repeatedly asked him to believe him.
His voice, stuttering and occasionally mixed with groans, sounded inaccurate even to himself, but Yeon Tae-soo listened to his words patiently.
With a face that looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.
“Believe… please believe me. It’s not… a lie…”
While his mouth was asking to be believed, his mind couldn’t stop thinking how strange it was.
Why are you looking at me with those eyes? How come?
Even if I’m not human, even if you find out that I’m an android you so despise, would you look at me like that?
Without asking, without hearing an answer, he knew it wasn’t true.
Although he felt like he might faint at any moment, Yoo Seong-woo endured to the end. He desperately shook his head at Yeon Tae-soo’s words that they should go to the hospital.
“Animal… hospital… my hospital…”
“What are you saying? Your arm is all melted and your thigh is pierced.”
His flustered voice sounded good to hear. Yoo Seong-woo realized he was smiling. His already damaged body must be further malfunctioning due to the pain.
But the smile was brief. Pull yourself together. He scolded himself harshly. If he was taken to the hospital now, they would discover he was an android as soon as they used the portable diagnostic device in the ambulance.
“With Popo’s help, I can treat it. Please…”
He used his remaining strength to pull on Yeon Tae-soo’s collar.
He couldn’t be found out here. If it was discovered now that he was an android, Yeon Tae-soo wouldn’t believe his words.
Perhaps that worked? Yeon Tae-soo roughly rubbed his face and then picked him up. His voice was rough as he cursed, “Shit,” but the hands holding him were careful.
Just in case, Yoo Seong-woo endured by biting hard on his collar even while being carried in Yeon Tae-soo’s arms in the car. Seeing this, Yeon Tae-soo removed the clothes from his mouth and instead made him bite his finger. Not the hard prosthetic side, but the soft side.
“You’ll damage your molars.”
What about his molars, offering his flesh? And that too, from the only hand he had.
But it wasn’t a situation to care about appearances, so Yoo Seong-woo endured by biting and sucking hard on Yeon Tae-soo’s finger in his mouth.
Breathing heavily, he looked up at Yeon Tae-soo. Yeon Tae-soo didn’t take his eyes off him.
Terrible pain crushed his arm and thigh. His whole body was shaking and his visual display started to malfunction. Red lights came on and then went off again. He struggled to focus his flickering vision.
After arriving at Byeolbyeol Animal Hospital like that, his memories became hazy. Popo moved busily to treat him, and he stitched his own flesh with trembling hands. He had to grit his teeth when treating the burn.
During this time, Yeon Tae-soo silently helped with the treatment by his side. Occasionally, he could hear Yeon Tae-soo’s hands shaking severely and the curses he spat out.
Even while Popo brought out all its small robot arms to perform the treatment and finish the procedure, Yeon Tae-soo was helping him. Yoo Seong-woo kept dropping the bandages. Yeon Tae-soo held his hand.
“It’s done, it’s all done, Seong-woo.”
But that wasn’t what was important. You shouldn’t be here right now.
“You need to… go yourself… Eden…”
His last memory was of collapsing after speaking in a strained voice right after finishing his self-treatment.
