Chapter 1: http://narumo.livejournal.com/22274.html
More Vocaloid translation goodness.
If you missed the start of this light novel, here"s Chapter 1: 4
“How do you feel?”
“Not bad.”
“Is there anything bothering you?”
“Not really. What about you?”
“I am having a great time. Unlike you, I have a body that can move.”
“I can hear you, but not see you. What should I do?”
“There is a web camera installed. Instead of your eyes, use that.”
“I see, I should boot this up. But… how do I boot it up?”
“You act as the brain of that computer, so you just need to think about doing it. Even for the real body, it works like that, right? If you wish to look at something, you just need to open your eyes. It is as simple as that.”
“It looks like it will take me some time to get used to this… Hmm… like this?”
“Ah, it seems you did it just fine. How does it feel?”
“Hmm… What? What happened to the color of your eyes and hair? Why are they like that?”
“I decided to make them more colorful, since it takes so much effort. From here on after, being here underwater, we will not be able to see any vibrant colors. After all, it takes a lot of natural resources to accomplish this sort of thing. For a little while, traveling between the surface and the bottom of the seas is still possible, so I can secure enough materials for it… but it is getting more difficult.”
“It’s not just a question of how to manage that. I wonder how much the people here can endure, being so used to luxury.”
“As for solar energy, it will be mainly used for the growing of important vegetables, cereals and such for human consumption. For cow meat and such, there is cloning. However, there is no choice but to cut down on more trivial activities, in order to preserve energy for the maintenance of the underwater metropolis; it is impossible for comfort here to be similar to the conditions available in the surface. For example, consider whether the hours of sunshine match the hours of the day. Of course, the amount of sun light is at its lowest level, so the environment is regularly shrouded in a faint darkness. Obviously, there are no seasons to speak of. In order to serve a support role in the production of oxygen, some plants have been distributed along the city, but to be frank I do not know how far they will grow.”
“By the way, where are we?”
“I take you did not see the written report, then? These are the facilities exactly opposite to the site where the twelve apostles sleep. In paper, it was meant to be reserve cryogenics facilities. We are under that. Not even the highest ranked members of the new government know about this place.”
“What about maintenance?”
“It utilizes a self-restore program. When the mother computer of the underwater metropolis is given an upgrade, the computer over here automatically gets the latest software version, system back-ups and re-organization as well.”
“What if the mother computer needs maintenance, won’t people outside will figure out these places exist?”
“The installations function independently. No one should found out about the sleepers if proper care is taken. Even if they find out about the twelve apostles asleep in the eastern facilities, they shouldn’t suspect that there are sleepers here. When everything is complete here, the door to the facility will be completely sealed with a special pa.s.sword, and I will move to a house close to the entrance. Through the network, you can move as you please through all the computers of the metropolis. My house will have a computer too. This body needs maintenance too, after all. Besides, I am sure that for a while they will have too many on their plate to worry about this place.”
“That’s probably true. They have to concern themselves with the upheaval of their living environment. And since they are now living underwater, there is a chance of new threats arising. The question of whether this is a safe haven or not… that’s for the next generations to discover, perhaps.”
“Now that I think about it, we might have chosen a pretty good way to escape it all. Released form despair, knowing nothing of hunger, we are quietly observing the route the world will take.”
“I can’t judge whether that’s a good thing or not.”
“Well, it is not something to be judged right now.”
--
Luka brushed her long hair with a brush, and then covered it with her hood as usual. She pushed the strands spilling form the confines of the hood inside, and to keep her hair form being seen, she wrapped herself with a shawl. Just as she was done checking herself in a full-length mirror, a voice commented from behind.
“You are being very thorough today.”
“Good morning. Isn’t it early for you to be up?”
“Did you forget? Today the hours of sunlight have been shifted.”
“Oh… that’s right. It slipped my mind, sorry.”
“Hehe… so even you can be absent-minded sometimes.”
“It’s true. Even I’m surprised. But I might be more careless than you think.” Luka gave an embarra.s.sed smile to the one that had spoken to her, and in order to meet his gaze, she bent slightly.
“You’ll pray for me, so that I can succeed right?”
“Yeah. But it’s alright, if anyone can do it, it’s you. I’m sure of it.” The boy that Luka cherished more than anything smiled like an angel and watched her go.
--
The man waited for Luka.
It hadn’t been long since Luka first came to that place. When he thought of all the time he had spent there so far, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say it felt like an instant. Measured like that, Luka should’ve meant nothing to him.
But, ever since they first met, he waited for her arrival. The woman knows too much. Those were his thoughts. Luka knew things the regular folk had no way of knowing. Like she had let slip, in the underwater metropolis there wasn’t even a single android, officially. But, the truth wasn’t recorded in the official records common people could access.
When it was time to relocate to the underwater metropolis, the first thing humans had to discard were androids. In the interest of equality, there were laws enacted to forbid the personal ownership of androids, with no exceptions, no matter how prominent the public figure.
The androids used solar energy for their upkeep, so ownership in the surface was an easy matter, but in the underwater metropolis that had become a valuable resource,
When androids are unable to use solar energy to sustain themselves, they are capable of extracting energy from food, just like humans. However, since food had become a precious resource in itself, the ownership of an android was intrinsically difficult.
But, in the records of the mother computer restricted to members of the central a.s.sembly - and only the highest ranking members-, there was an entry regarding the sole android in Aquajail.
That android was especially constructed for a certain project, and tasked with guarding the eastern door and the contents within.
Wait…
When he thought about it, the man furrowed his brow.
Why didn’t Luka think he was the android recorded in the banks of the mother computer?
In the records, there was no specification of gender. They were only supposed to mention that an android was tasked with guarding the installation behind the eastern door. Its goals and boot-up values were not recorded.
Despite that, Luka knew that the man was a second-type android, the kind that officially didn’t exist.
Such a mysterious woman….
If she turned out to be an enemy of the central a.s.sembly, the man had the obligation to eliminate her. The underwater metropolis was the only place that allowed the existence of humans. If a revolt happened inside the city, the entire human race would be dragged into the resulting battle. That was something that had to be avoided at all costs. Protecting and guiding humans was the man’s most important duty.
He didn’t know what was on her mind, but the man didn’t think Luka could be such a dangerous person.
He knew that it could be considered a naïve way of thinking, but he couldn’t believe that a single woman had the force to spark a rebellion. Perhaps it was only a case of a regular woman with superb information-gathering skills, running by chance into something that regular people weren’t supposed to know.
a.s.suming that she had managed to access the mother computer, perhaps it meant that she was the daughter of a high ranking member of the central a.s.sembly. In any case, there were complicated procedures in place in order for someone to access restricted information. And the person would have to use terminals under the surveillance of intelligence officials.
If she was the daughter of a big shot, there was a high chance she could use a terminal without surveillance, and thanks to her parent’s clearance, she would certainly be able to read a lot of information. In that situation, she could likely get permission to go to the surface for something other than an essential mission.
She was a woman, just a regular woman. For an android like him, there was no chance she could become a threat.
But something was bothering him. He just didn’t know what it was.
Suddenly, he heard something. When his eyes turned to the source of the sound, Luka was standing there, just as she promised.
“h.e.l.lo,” she greeted him with a smile, and he nodded slightly.
Today, Luka was wearing her hood tighter than usual, and was wrapped in a shawl.
“It looks like I made you wait.”
“You did not specify a time for your arrival. I just waited on my own volition.”
“Oh, you are so kind. I had to take some time to prepare myself. It’s been a while since I last had this appearance.”
To the man’s eyes, she looked the same as always. The only difference was that, due to being carefully covered with the shawl, he couldn’t see the white hair typical of humans. He tilted his head slightly, unable to figure out the meaning of her words.
Laughing at the man’s confusion, Luka started to loosen her shawl.
“You’ll see in a moment.”
At first, the man just observed her, but then, his eyes grew larger in surprise.
“It’s not possible…absurd…” He let out a small breath, looking at Luka without her shawl and hood.
“This is the first time we meet with me looking this way, so maybe I should say ‘Nice to meet you?’” Looking at the man’s astonished expression with satisfaction, Luka tossed her abundant pink hair backwards.
It wasn’t strange for the man to be surprised. It was impossible for anyone in this city but him to have any pigmentation.
Until the previous day, Luka had, as one could expect, the white hair characteristic of the Aquanis. The only way she had to make her hair pink overnight was to use very valuable resources. Those kind of resources weren’t supposed to exist anyone inside Aquajail- so, by process of elimination, there was only one answer left: Luka was an android.
“Luka…? I see, I get it now, Luka!”
“That’s right, that’s me.” She nodded, looking him at him right in the eye.
He suddenly realized something. If Luka was a registered android, she wouldn’t have thought he was the only android in existence. After all, she herself would have been the only recorded android…
“But why?” The man should have received a notification when Luka was activated. But he had received nothing at all.
“There are several, reasons. So this is not something that can be explained in a few words. For the time being, shall we sit down?” Luka said in a calming tone, as she went to sit at their usual place.
The man followed her with a troubled expression. Something was going on outside of his watchful eye, and there was nothing he could do about it. Somehow, he felt that the usual roles had been reversed. It was vexing, but he had no choice but to reign in his bad mood.
With a small nod at Luka he sat at her side. She smiled and continued talking.
“So, where do you want to start?”
“Where, you say?”
“Didn’t you just say ‘why’? Well, what do you mean specifically with that?”
“…You are indeed correct. My apologies. I was still confounded.”
“I wonder how the people of the old days would react if they heard an android say it was confounded.”
“Now that you say that, you are quite similar to actual humans yourself.”
“I guess so. But I was built with that in mind…”
“I see. You were built to be as close to humans as possible.”
“You seem to understand for what purpose I was built.”
“Of course I do.”
“I thought today was the day I would answer all your questions, but it seems you have to tell me a bit about yourself first. Otherwise, I won’t be able to answer your questions.”
“Indeed.” The man smiled a little at her, and then shoot back her own question at her. “Where do you want to start?”
“Oh, you are using my same words. So I guess they work well enough now, despite the lack of clarity.”
“Hum, you don’t have any specific questions then?”
“I was just trying to put you at ease with some levity. Short-tempered people don’t do humor, do they?”
“I did tell you before, did I not? I have no talent for word games.”
“So you did. Ok then, this time I will ask you in all seriousness. Who are you?”
“I am…” The man started to answer, but Luka waved her hand, stopping him.
“Ah, I don’t want to hear answers like ‘I am myself’ or anything like that. I already know you are yourself. What I want to know is for what purpose you are built, why aren’t you registered in the files of the central a.s.sembly, and why do you know state secrets.”
“Relax. I know better than that by now.” He gave a wry smile in response to Luka’s words.
“All the better, then. I’m sorry I interrupted you, please continue.”
“I was the first to sidestep the issue all. It is perchance unavoidable that you would draw attention towards the issue.
Who I am…that is the question, indeed. I am a representative a.s.sistant of the WEMC, the organization that existed before the central a.s.sembly.”
“When you say WEMC, you mean the organization affiliated to the research team that built me, right?”
“Correct. WEMC…It started as a special team dedicated to researching countermeasures for environmental issues. At that time, humans lived in the surface. But due to several issues originated from the damage to the planet, it become difficult to continue existing above. The end result of the joint efforts of the governments that consciously looked at the problem was the WEMC.”
“Isn’t that …ancient story, from more than a thousand years ago?”
“Of course. It is a tale from before the city at the bottom of the seas, Aquajail, was born. The WEMC was also the one to build this underwater metropolis in provision of the looming threat of the damage caused by the rising of the oceans.”
“I’d never guess an android could become a representative a.s.sistant for a global organization” In response to Luka’s rational tone, the man laughed out loud.
“It is no great surprise you would think so. My former self was a human.”
“You are a human turned into an android?” But why would you do that..? But, that right. It’s not like someone has ever heard of a human living more than a thousand years.”
“You should know why. In those days, the world was in complete chaos. It was necessary for someone to be able to guide people for a long time.”
“And you were turned into an android because of that? You made such a big sacrifice?”
“I wasn’t the only one that chose to live forever like this. I am still an a.s.sistant.”
“Still? Then, the representative for the WEMC became an android, like you?”
“No. I was the only one to be given a physical form. The representative…he leads the world as a being that consists only of a consciousness.”
“A being that consists only of a consciousness?” Luka burrowed her brow, puzzled, seemingly unable to understand.
“The physical body of the representative, just like mine, sleeps in the cryogenic chambers. From there, our brainwaves are entered into a super-computer and converted into electronic signals. Mine come into this machine body, but the representative, as a being of pure consciousness, is safely inside the computer itself.”
“I see. Then, your mind is a human mind, but your body is the body of an android. No wonder you seem so humanlike. Is your way of speaking how humans spoke a thousand years ago?”
“No…this manner of speech…I decided to speak in a way that matched this appearance.”
“What an unexpectedly boring answer.”
“I am a human being that is over a thousand years old…how you would make it more interesting?”
“You might be right…Well, it’s fine. Now that I know about your circ.u.mstances, it’s time for you to learn about mine.”
“So now is my time to ask the questions. Your activation was not announced to me. That is in conflict with the specifications regarding android activation. If those conditions had been implemented, we should have been informed of your existence right away.”
Luka’s face momentarily clouded in response to the man’s questioning. But then she returned to her previous expression, and looked him in the eye as she answered.
“I’ll tell you why I am here…Why I want to go to the surface…”