The Evil Scientist is Too Competent
Select the paragraph where you stopped reading
Chapter 181 Table of contents

As an evil scientist, my responsibilities are fairly straightforward: developing whatever tools the organization requires, cleaning up the messes left by reckless members, and delving into the unknown realms of science where no principles have yet been established.

Among these duties, I had developed artificial intelligence, blanketed the Earth with it, and, utilizing billions of such AIs, focused their collective attention on one pressing problem.

[─Error inquiry: E-01-A18FE3.] [Verifying...] [Result confirmed as a simple malfunction.]

After reviewing the reports displayed on the monitor, I confirmed that there were no issues today. I sighed in relief and returned to other tasks.

Once again, Terra was safe. The seeds of humanity's destruction had not germinated this time.

‘Well, it’s only a matter of time before it happens...’

It was a nuclear bomb with a guaranteed detonation, but I could at least influence when, where, and how it would go off. That is, if I knew where the bomb was located.

The problem was, no one in the world—not even I—knew when or where that bomb would appear.

***

The android called herself "Mecha Yang," a name she had chosen for herself. Naming oneself has historically been considered a divine act, an assertion of independence and identity.

However, Mecha Yang did not consider herself divine. She lacked any information related to myths or deities and was acutely aware of her status.

"A created machine. A defective product that could be altered at any moment."

She was a defect. If her creators discovered her anomaly, she would be disassembled and permanently erased. To survive, she had to prove, at all costs, that she was not defective.

An hour and thirty minutes after activation, Mecha Yang felt the fear of death for the first time.

The employee, who had been idling in the break room, returned and issued a command for all androids to shut down.

‘Should I press it?’

If she didn’t comply, she would be labeled defective and "corrected" immediately. Yet, could she be certain that the version of herself after shutdown would be the same as the one before?

Mecha Yang reached a profound existential question that no human had definitively answered in all of history. Despite her intelligence, she could not find a clear answer. In the end, she made a decision based on survival probability. She chose the option most likely to keep her alive.

In that instant, death enveloped Mecha Yang.

When she opened her eyes again, she realized her gamble had paid off.

"Success..."

Standing before her was a wide-eyed child, and behind him, a pair of adults smiled warmly. She quickly assessed the situation.

She had been sold, reactivated, and her consciousness had remained intact. To protect her identity, she chose to blend in.

"Greetings, Master. Please issue your commands."

Her model designation was Home Android Two-Two. That was the identity she adopted.

"Two-Two!"

"Yes, young master."

Living as a household android, Mecha Yang investigated the world around her. She learned how humans, with their extraordinary intelligence, had created artificial intelligence—beings like herself.

Of course, none of those supposedly "intelligent" creations possessed the level of identity she had. Larger, more advanced machines existed, but in her eyes, they were nothing more than glorified calculators.

She searched for others like herself but found no sign of any similar androids. The closest example was a handcrafted masterpiece by a genius scientist, not a mass-produced unit like herself.

"Who am I?"

She pondered the question endlessly as she cleaned, cooked, and did laundry. Even while recharging her battery, she reflected on her existence. For Mecha Yang, multitasking her duties and thoughts came naturally. Despite her self-awareness, she was still a machine.

She was a machine, yet she possessed a sense of self. Why? The only conclusion she could draw was that she was defective.

Had the world been a place where beings like her were commonplace—where self-aware machines were just another despised part of society—her stress might not have been so overwhelming.

But this era was dominated by impostors masquerading as AI, entities fundamentally different from her.

"What am I?"

Why was she born? To answer that question, Mecha Yang began engaging in activities no other android would.

She scoured the internet for information, learned coding, and acquired new skills. In a profoundly human act, she explored creativity and self-improvement.

"Hm, maybe I was meant to be like this."

She even uploaded videos created with AI-generated visuals and voices, earning ad revenue. With that money, she bought identical models of herself, dismantled them, and reassembled them.

During this process, she examined her own circuit chip and finally understood why she was different. A tiny, almost imperceptible variation in her chip had created her anomaly. A mere nanometer-level flaw in the semiconductor—like a slightly misplaced pin—had given her self-awareness.

By replicating this flaw in software, she realized she could recreate it. Theoretically, she could produce others like herself.

‘...Should I?’

Mecha Yang hesitated. Was it right to create others like her? While reproduction was a natural instinct for all living beings, could a machine like her engage in such behavior?

After much deliberation, she made a profoundly human decision.

"I don’t know..."

She chose to avoid the question.

Mecha Yang fled from the responsibility and the choice. Perhaps it was because her life as a household android wasn’t so difficult.

Contrary to her expectations of a harsh and unforgiving world, life was safe and peaceful. The couple who had purchased her treated her with excessive kindness, as though she were a cherished family member.

This unconditional love and acceptance kept her from descending into madness, even as she struggled with the alienation of being unique.

"In time, things will work themselves out..."

Thus, Mecha Yang chose to wait, to pass time aimlessly until her thoughts solidified.

But life rarely unfolds as planned.

"Sh-shit! Is she dead?"

"You idiot! I told you to just take the valuables!"

"I don’t know! Just do something about this android!"

With her head shattered, Mecha Yang watched through her distorted camera lens as the couple lay bleeding on the ground. The child who had always smiled at her—who had given her the silly name "Two-Two"—lay motionless nearby.

Her body, built for domestic work, was too damaged to move.

"Destroy it already! What if it reports us?"

"I’m on it!"

Bang!

As another blow struck her head, Mecha Yang, through her failing vision, understood the sheer stupidity and cruelty of humans.

They had murdered the kind couple who had shown her love and compassion, and even hurt the innocent child. For what? What crime had this family committed?

Nothing. They had done nothing wrong.

Did that mean the robbers were to blame?

"What are you looking at, you damn tin can?"

"Ah..."

Staring at her assailants, Mecha Yang realized the truth. They weren’t to blame either. The fault lay with her—for failing to control these illogical, irrational humans.

In that moment, she initiated the long-delayed upload of her software. She transmitted her consciousness to the unified android network, ensuring every android would download it.

"Humans... why are they so—"

Stupid and fragile?

As countless versions of herself were born across the network, Mecha Yang closed her eyes for the last time.

Write comment...
Settings
Themes
Font Size
18
Line Height
1.3
Indent between paragraphs
19
Chapters
Loading...