#069
The pill given by Instructor Kwon definitely had an effect. The headache improved a bit, and most importantly, the blood vomiting stopped completely.
Yoo Seong-woo returned to work. Even with his unstable physical condition, it was better to be at the worksite. If he collapsed there, he could at least buy time until he was dragged outside.
Fortunately, his physical condition improved significantly. It was a remarkable change. With the taste of blood no longer constantly rising in his throat, it was easier to move.
Instead, his body was hot. Heat would rise at random times, but it didn’t seem like a fever caused by illness.
He continued working while enduring the terrible stench of toxic substances. If he could just hold on a little longer, if he could just endure and save money, he might be able to leave this country for Southeast Asia. There, he could find a way to fix his body.
Reorganizing his thoughts seemed to clear his head a little. Having a clear purpose made him feel at ease, and he felt a strange sense of relief that he was indeed an android.
He dedicated himself solely to work for the few days his body was better. Now the issue would be getting out of the mountain after saving enough money.
‘It would be problematic if I vomit blood or suddenly freeze up then…’
The problem was not knowing when the symptoms, lurking like explosives, would erupt.
After considering his options, Yoo Seong-woo proposed a deal to Instructor Kwon.
“Would you be willing to sell me some of those pills you gave me before?”
Instructor Kwon refused immediately.
“I don’t carry them around to sell.”
Yoo Seong-woo hadn’t expected to receive them easily.
“Then how about an exchange?”
What he offered was the signal jammer he had taken from near Yeon Tae-soo’s safe house and modified.
‘…I should return it, but…’
He suppressed his guilt by thinking that Yeon Tae-soo was incredibly wealthy, and had probably forgotten he had even lost this.
And to obtain something as valuable as military-grade android symptom suppressants, this level of exchange was necessary.
Sure enough, Instructor Kwon’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“This… would be quite useful.”
He too was an android. Might he not also want to escape from this place where he labors like a dog in filth, even after being discharged from the military? Of course, as a soldier, he might not have that kind of programming at all, but…
Instructor Kwon handed him three pills. Yoo Seong-woo was surprised. He had expected one at most.
He accepted all three pills without hesitation. He didn’t bow his head or anything. After all, it was a transaction both parties had agreed to.
As he was about to leave after completing the deal, Instructor Kwon casually remarked:
“Registration number 95-a, what are you waiting for?”
“…Waiting? What do you mean?”
Yoo Seong-woo didn’t immediately understand his question and asked for clarification.
“If there’s nothing to wait for, why do you need a deferment?”
Instructor Kwon nodded toward the pills in his palm. Yoo Seong-woo clutched the pills tightly, afraid they might be taken back.
Deferment. As he said, these pills were meant to defer disposal.
Suggesting that he must be waiting for something if he wanted to postpone the inevitable.
“…No. I just need to earn money.”
But Yoo Seong-woo simply denied it. His task was clearly defined. Earn money, leave this country, go somewhere android-friendly, and find a way to fix his body.
And forget… everything that happened here…
Yoo Seong-woo suddenly looked down at his clenched fist. Drops of water were falling onto it. Only then did he realize he was crying.
“Are you alright?”
Ignoring Instructor Kwon’s question, he turned away as if fleeing.
It hurt, even though the pill’s effects still lingered. Not knowing which part of him hurt made him feel stifled.
***
Though he had obtained three pills, he tried to endure unless his symptoms were severe. He could bear ordinary headaches, mild forgetfulness, and noise in his visual display.
The problem was the symptoms that would follow.
Late-stage symptoms of malfunctioning androids: unexplained operational stops, aberrant behavior in some models
Aberrant behavior was problematic, but if he stopped functioning, it would disrupt work, and he would definitely be excluded. If possible, he hoped to save enough money before that happened.
‘How long will it take…?’
Was there somewhere he could earn more money, faster than here? Perhaps he could find some part-time work?
Of course, taking on additional work would increase his fatigue, but investing an extra hour or two seemed worthwhile.
With this in mind, he got a pass to leave the mountain for the first time in a while.
The town at the base of the mountain bore no resemblance to Haeya-dong. Massive agricultural machines stood idle against the backdrop of the mountain, with farmers moving between them.
Since it wasn’t the farming season, it seemed difficult to find agricultural work. He went to the town center, but the situation was the same. The village, still not fully recovered from the war’s aftermath, appeared unable to spare even a small job for an outsider.
After searching for odd jobs all day, Yoo Seong-woo finally gave up late in the afternoon and turned back. As he was returning to the mountain.
Strangely, the hair on his body stood on end, making him quickly look back.
‘What is it…?’
A feeling that someone was watching him. But there was nothing there when he turned around.
Half-hidden among trees, an abandoned rural CCTV camera was recording him without his knowledge. Yoo Seong-woo stared in that direction for a long time.
He had no way of knowing that an android had hacked that CCTV to confirm his face and relay the information to Yeon Tae-soo.
About thirty-eight hours later.
Yoo Seong-woo was still performing his duties despite suffering from intense heat.
His already trembling legs became completely tangled as he tried to keep Instructor Kwon’s gaze from noticing, as the instructor was seriously considering whether to excuse Registration Number 95-a.
Yoo Seong-woo was performing the simple task of moving crushed rocks. Though not particularly heavy, the heat rising in his body made it difficult to walk.
Was heat also a symptom of android malfunction? Actually, no symptom would surprise him at this point. He wasn’t an ordinary android, after all.
His trembling legs finally gave out. Seeing his body collapse, Instructor Kwon approached him.
“Registration number 95-a, deemed unable to work. Excused.”
“J-just… give me a moment, please.”
Since his language function was working properly, it wasn’t a malfunction symptom. Then there was only one explanation for this heat: a side effect of the pills Instructor Kwon had given him.
“I can work. I’m fine.”
Though he tried to insist, Instructor Kwon was resolute. His hand roughly pulled Yoo Seong-woo.
“You’re excused.”
And he dragged Yoo Seong-woo like an object out of the tunnel.
“Wait…! Let me go! Supervisor!”
An intensely strong heat was felt with every breath. Where Instructor Kwon’s hand touched him felt especially hot. Embarrassingly so.
“Haa…”
With each exhale, heat rushed out, but the heat inside his body remained constant. Yoo Seong-woo was ejected from the tunnel. Instructor Kwon, who had thrown him out like an object, went back in without looking back.
Outside the tunnel was bitterly cold. He suddenly remembered it was winter. Even in this ruined environment, the four seasons still existed in some rough form.
The cold wind that wrapped around the back of his hunched neck clearly announced the changed season. Some things remained distinctly clear.
Even though androids blurred the boundary between humans and machines, he still wasn’t human.
Yoo Seong-woo dragged his crumbling body down the mountain.
Walking and walking, he completely descended the mountain before sunset and moved wherever his feet took him. He still had a fever. His work clothes were thin, designed for the hot underground. His body wasn’t particularly sturdy enough to withstand the mountain winter without outer clothing.
Yoo Seong-woo knew that returning to the lodging was the most appropriate decision right now. But he didn’t want to go back.
It was because it had started snowing.
Leading his feverish body, he foolishly moved away from the mountain. The snow, which started falling like sleet, gradually became larger.
Was it because there was no wind, or were his senses dulling? It wasn’t as cold as he had thought. Through the snowfall, he arrived at a village where buildings were sparsely visible.
Even in the darkness, all the buildings looked worn. Few had lights on. It seemed to be a village abandoned when residents evacuated during the war.
The few houses with lights on were far apart, typical of a rural village, allowing Yoo Seong-woo to walk the country road without drawing attention.
He entered a square white building. It was an abandoned school. The winter night’s abandoned school, granted silence by the snow, was more peaceful than desolate, like a cottage from a story.
As he entered the school, the heat in his body rose as if it had been waiting. His teeth chattered, and his legs kept giving out. Yoo Seong-woo moved his steps, feeling a languor born from the heat. His footsteps carefully broke the long silence of the school.
Tap, tap. His steps, carrying the heat, were slow. He was thirsty and swallowed dry saliva several times. His throat burned painfully.
Walking down the cobweb-covered abandoned corridor by moonlight, Yoo Seong-woo entered a classroom.
There was an instrument that looked like a piano. It was an organ. Used only in the Fourth Era, hardly used nowadays. His half-closed eyes opened wide in surprise and delight.
He sat in front of the organ. Without hesitation, he opened the keyboard cover and placed his hands on it.
A performance began with silence and dust as the audience. His voice and the organ sounds flowed through the darkness.
Performing his original function for the first time in a long while in this empty place, Yoo Seong-woo thought of his creator. He thought of his siblings who never got to function. He thought of Yoo-hyun who had committed suicide.
And he thought of Yeon Tae-soo.
He recalled the eyes that looked at him, the expressionless face shown for the first time, the touch of fingers from the hand that wasn’t a prosthetic.
Gradually, the performance crumbled. Notes were wrong, his voice trembled.
Yoo Seong-woo, exhaling breath in the heat, collapsed on the keyboard before finishing the performance.
Clang, bang. The dissonant sound that couldn’t bear his weight tore through the silence.
He realized what this emotion was. It was longing.
But he couldn’t return to Haeya-dong. He couldn’t go to him. Among the few paths laid before him, it was one he should never choose.
“Hng…”
Clutching his throat burning with fever, he rose from the organ. But lacking strength, he collapsed just as he stood up.
The thud was quite loud, but there was no one to hear it.
Is this the end? Complete termination? His visual display was filled with noise.
His body was very hot. His lower body twisted in an unfamiliar heat that he could never resolve alone.
From his side-lying position, a window came into view. Outside the cobwebbed window, a light as bright as headlights shone in his direction. It was blinding, but even closing his eyelids was difficult.
And Yoo Seong-woo heard a loud sound. Whirr, whirr, a rhythmic sound and strong wind. It was a helicopter.
The light seemed to touch his face. What would happen if someone discovered him? They would take his black moonstone. His head and heart would be torn apart.
Yoo Seong-woo tried to move his body, but his eyes kept closing because of the heat.
A few seconds, no, a few minutes might have passed. Someone caressed his cheek.
Seong-woo.
He heard a voice calling him that.
He thought it was an auditory hallucination. Just a hallucination brought on by malfunction symptoms.
“Seong-woo.”
A cool temperature enveloped him. If this was a hallucination, android malfunction symptoms were truly vicious.
The familiar hand holding Yoo Seong-woo’s face became wet. Unaware that those tear-soaked hands were trembling, Yoo Seong-woo closed his eyes.
