A was appointed to be the third Bio-Roid handler. Although this was the first time handling them exclusively, they had previously lived with the Bio-Roids in the hangar engineering team for life education.
The goal wasn’t to teach specific skills or specialized education, but rather to socialize through daily living, so there was no need to feel undue responsibility.
When A handled the Bio-Roids, their approach was to show the everyday routine without disrupting the Bio-Roids’ memories too much, based on their own experiences.
Bio-Roid life education was about learning how to interact with others in daily life, not necessarily about living while being taught something.
Roy, a soldier in the 54th Air Corps, was born just a few years ago to investigate the inhabitants of an invaded planet and had lived with the 54th Air Corps’ Hangar 1 Engineering Team when he was a Bio-Roid.
During that time, A acted as usual, and Roy wasn’t significantly influenced by these interactions.
“Roy.”
After work, A met Roy at the cafeteria. They exchanged greetings.
Seated across from Roy, A started eating, and A called him softly.
“Yes? What is it, Senior?”
Roy, who was eating, looked up from his tray when A called him, even though there was no particular reason to do so.
“I have one question.”
“Sure, ask me anything.”
A was still bothered by what the Bio-Roid ATi had said after returning from a mission. This Bio-Roid regarded itself as disposable. It was a type A hadn’t encountered before in previous Bio-Roid life educations.
Moreover, Roy was the type who cherished his body, valuing it more than considering it disposable, so A didn’t worry much about it.
“Do any Bio-Roids consider their lives as disposable?”
“Why? Is my junior like that?”
Roy, despite being a veteran Bio-Roid, seemed to want ATi to treat him as a senior, but A’s influence made ATi treat Roy more like a peer rather than a senior.
Roy consistently treated ATi as a junior, which made A feel like trying to force mismatched parts together.
“No. I’m a bit surprised since I’ve never seen such a thing before.”
“It’s not uncommon, though.”
A was surprised by Roy’s calm response. A hadn’t expected Roy, who cherished himself, to speak so matter-of-factly.
“But it’s not like all Bio-Roids think that way. Their memories shape their environment significantly. For example, I value my life above all else, as you know.”
Roy’s point was that, like humans, Bio-Roids varied based on their models and experiences. The impact of the first model’s environment shaped subsequent Bio-Roids’ values.
Though Bio-Roids might not take their lives lightly, some understood they could be replaced at any time before becoming irreparable.
This was common among Bio-Roids, and since Roy and A were individual units with entity names and numbers, changing their core beliefs wasn’t necessary.
A didn’t think they could change others’ preconceptions anyway.
In the dark room, A was sleeping deeply under the covers when someone entered and lifted the covers, waking A abruptly.
“Senior, you’re late.”
ATi stood motionless, watching A lying on the floor, and A sighed.
“Why?”
“The roll call is over. I came to wake you because you overslept again.”
“Ugh!”
Hearing ATi, A pulled the covers back and got up.
“Look, Seira didn’t come to wake me up.”
“Yes.”
“What did I say yesterday?”
“You said to rest well today.”
“So, what does that mean?”
“I’m not sure.”
It was ATi’s first day off since joining the 54th Air Corps. A explained the concept of a day off to ATi, who had no idea what it meant.
“Day off means you don’t have any work today.”
“…So, who will do the hangar work?”
“The team members will.”
“And who will do your job?”
“The team members… So a day off means resting, and on my rest day, other people will do my job.”
Understanding the concept, ATi nodded.
But then, ATi frowned and looked puzzled.
“What about me?”
“…Rest.”
There was no need for ATi to follow A on rest days. Even if they were in charge of life education, everyone needed rest.
However, ATi had no concept of “rest.” Hearing A say “rest,” ATi showed no reaction.
Seeing ATi’s blank look, A realized the situation.
“It’s a day when you do nothing. You must have had days like this before.”
“…I have the concept of rest in my memory.”
A didn’t need to explain further. ATi had experienced rest before changing to a new unit number.
“Just stay in your room, watch TV, or daydream. There’s no need to do anything special.”
Getting up, A scratched themselves and headed to the living room.
“It seems we’re going to miss our holiday. Come here.”
Still thinking about the concept of rest, ATi followed A’s voice to the living room.
A was lying on the sofa with a blanket, turning on the TV with the remote.
“Don’t get your hopes up about spending the day off with me.”
Bending their legs to make space, A gestured for ATi to sit down. ATi sat at the end of the sofa where A was half-reclined, and soon focused on the TV showing a drama.
In the drama, a gray-haired woman protagonist and a black-haired man protagonist were shown, and ATi, unfamiliar with the story, watched both A and the TV.
A’s eyes remained fixed on the TV, and their expression changed slightly with each scene.
“What’s happening?”
ATi asked, looking at A, who was lying down, and A was curious.
“Do you know what TV is?”
“Yes, I know.”
“The actors perform according to a script, and the TV broadcasts it.”
ATi pondered for a moment, then fell silent, processing the new information.
“Creating a specific story, sharing it through media, and evoking various emotions—is that right?”
“That’s correct.”
A’s firm response made ATi’s eyebrows rise slightly, a sign of satisfaction.
“Why is she crying?”
In the drama, the female protagonist was crying while trying to hold onto the male protagonist, whom she couldn’t accept losing.
Finding it difficult to explain the entire plot, A gave ATi a brief explanation.
“The man and woman are enemies, and the man is monitoring her. But they grew closer and became a couple. Then, she found out about his true identity, causing problems.”
ATi quickly understood the flow and returned to watching the TV.
“Do you find this interesting?”
Surprised, A looked back at ATi, who was genuinely curious.
“Well, I watch it out of boredom rather than enjoyment.”
A chuckled.
“Honestly, I still can’t understand why someone would fall in love with their surveillance target. Oh, and I also watch it because the actress is pretty.”
“Is she pretty?”
“Everyone has different tastes, but I think she is.”
Listening silently, ATi continued to watch the TV. A did the same, and after watching a couple of dramas, A’s stomach growled.
“I’m hungry. Did you eat breakfast?”
“No, I came straight here because you weren’t here.”
Although A usually slept later than meal times, not having breakfast wasn’t a big deal. Still, A felt bad that ATi might think they skipped breakfast because of them, so they stood up.
“Let’s go eat.”
“Okay.”
ATi frowned momentarily upon seeing A change into casual clothes, but A didn’t pay much attention and left the room with ATi.
As they headed toward the dining hall, they ran into Seira.
“Are you going to eat?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought you’d stay in your room on your day off, but… What happened?”
Seira, noticing A’s presence behind them, shifted her gaze downward and met ATi’s eyes.
“Why is she here?”
“I woke her up by mistake, and we ended up watching a drama. We’re hungry, so we’re going to eat.”
Understanding the situation, Seira’s eyebrows twitched, and ATi continued to stare at Seira.
“From now on, I’ll wake up Senior, so Seira doesn’t need to come.”
“What’s going on here?”
Trying to hide her frustration, Seira forced a smile, but her narrowed eyes and twitching eyebrows betrayed her.
“Let’s just eat instead of fighting.”
Not wanting to get involved in a fight, A intervened and led them to the dining hall.
Walking side by side with A and Seira, A decided to bring up a topic that had been bothering them.
“But, ATi, you mentioned last time that Bio-Roids can be replaced at any time.”
“Yes.”
Surprised by the sudden mention of a past conversation, Seira listened intently, curious about ATi’s thoughts.
“Who told you that?”
“The record keeper, Valtor.”
“Oh, that guy… So that’s what he said.”
Valtor, the Bio-Roid record keeper, had given ATi the impression that they were replaceable. This negative encounter before ATi joined the 54th Air Corps had influenced ATi’s understanding.
A almost blurted out a curse but stopped when they noticed ATi’s gaze, changing the subject.
“Don’t do pointless things later.”
Seira, worried about A’s possible future actions due to their negative impression of Valtor, cautioned A, who responded dismissively, urging them to hurry to the dining hall.
