Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 588: Section 404: Mechanical Mind (Part 4)_2

Chapter 588: Section 404: Mechanical Mind (Part 4)_2

Then it jumped down from the long table and headed to a corner, completely ignoring the room’s three-dimensional holographic image, and squeezed through a gap in the cover plate.

......

Melo watched a pair of mechanical legs pass by the corridor from the ventilation duct, then it poked its head out, following the automaton that had led its master before. It crawled out into the corridor, staying behind it, hiding in its blind spot as it turned, and then slipping into the cover plate before it completed its turn.

After traversing a long passage, Melo entered a room filled with mechanical bodies. From its open mouth, it retrieved a cylindrical container and placed it in the corner.

Without any attachment, it crawled into another cover plate on the opposite side; Melo knew there were many other places it still needed to go.

......

Lorrin emerged from the ceiling’s ventilation duct cover plate, gazing at the huge automated factory below. It opened its mouth, and Milani peeked out to share the view with Malin.

Quickly, Milani noticed that its master had interrupted the sharing ritual. Its small head didn’t understand what had happened but still withdrew back into the passage that Lorrin had crafted. Then, Lorrin descended from the ceiling, silently circumventing the working automatons. It noticed the shells hooked onto the moving belts.

Eventually, driven by the thought of serving Malin, it crawled into the corner’s ventilation duct.

......

Malin’s heart remained unsettled for a long time; sharing the vision with Milani had shocked him deeply.

"Jason, what is that?"

"That is the nourishment factory. This place used to be one of the nine core sanctuaries, responsible for creating and preserving the finest genetic genes. These people are the sanctuary’s management tier. The shells in the nourishment factory have been specially made without brains. They exist to produce genetic genes, to obtain the finest fragments of the genetic sequence. After the shells age, they are discarded like this."

"...Why not directly create the finest genetic sequences through artificial repair?" Malin was very puzzled because, rather than leaving it to fate, it seemed better to manufacture them directly, at least that way it wouldn’t be so inhumane.

"The Europeans have always been like this, always committing noble evils, but Mr. Zhang said that if one day their generation could emerge from the deep sea, they would need to do this, it’s a necessary evil."

"No, this isn’t a necessary evil..." Malin shook his head. Although the battle scenes on TV were fascinating, Malin still didn’t think there was anything right about it: "Just because the shells don’t have brains, can you naively consider this justice?"

"I think the same, but Mr. Zhang didn’t allow me to destroy it all at that time. But you agree, don’t you, Mr. Malin?" Jason said this, causing Malin to pause: "Do you still have the laws within you?"

"Yes, Asimov’s Four Laws." Jason replied.

Malin fell silent for a moment: "But you want to kill them."

"Mr. Malin, might you reconsider Asimov’s Four Laws, if you please?" Jason answered very calmly.

Malin recalled—firstly, the Zeroth Law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

Secondly, the First Law, a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this conflicts with the Zeroth Law.

Thirdly, the Second Law, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the Zeroth or First Law.

Fourth, the third law: a machine must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.

"Jason, you say those shells don’t have brains, so they’re not human, right?"

"Yes, they are just flesh, but in another block, some children are being hatched. Their brains are being implanted with chips, and they will be deployed in the Kaha Fort area as war orphans, with the goal of entering your orphanage."

"That’s my senior brother’s work, and I’m also puzzled as to why you are so angry. Implanting chips in the children’s brains isn’t meant to kill them, is it?" Malin still couldn’t think of an answer.

"Mr. Malin, those children can only live six to ten years," Jason revealed the answer.

Malin fell silent, and the young man sitting on the bed finally held his head with a sigh: "I see."

"Those children should not have been born. My laws tell me that I must protect the overall interests of humanity from harm, but the children they are preparing this time are already the third batch. From the first two batches, many children have already died... Mr. Zhang told me I shouldn’t destroy all this, but my laws tell me that I must destroy it all, for in their pursuit of personal gain, they have harmed too many innocents."

"...I understand, we will put an end to this, but after it’s over... I want to preserve this sanctuary. I want these children to live here. They came into this world, and they should live free of worries... The outside world is too dangerous. Let them live here, grow, until they pass..."

At this point, Malin looked at the TV... Why is there such cruelty among adults in this world, willing to sacrifice everything for their own benefit, even children.

"Yes, Mr. Malin, but... why do you always dote on children so much?" Jason asked a question.

Malin sighed: "I... I always wanted a child."

In his previous life, Malin didn’t have children. He lived a lonely life until his forties and ended up in this world, where, combined, he had been for nearly fifty years.

"...Sorry for bringing back sad memories," Jason apologized.

"You are apologizing now, you really are becoming more and more like a person, Jason."

"No, Mr. Malin, I am merely poorly imitating, while you, you are the real humans."

Malin smiled, somewhat surprised at the young man with the youthful appearance, who sighed upon hearing all of today’s news: "Jason, I just want to make things a little better for the kids. I just feel that those who cannot protect themselves might need a helping hand from me... In the eyes of some, I must seem like a very selfish person, because all I want is to make the world turn according to my wishes, always thinking about protecting the vulnerable, always wanting everyone to find happiness. I know very well that some things can’t satisfy all, some things are inherently imperfect."

"Mr. Malin, please don’t blame yourself."

"Blame... No, I’m not blaming myself, or rather I am indeed, because I’m still too weak to create a world where every good deed gets rewarded as I would wish. It all stems from my weakness, Jason... It’s not the evildoers that I despise, for there will always be people who do evil; it’s my lack of power to bury every one of them that I loathe, it’s that I don’t have the strength to redeem this planet under my feet. So, I must work harder. I seek power not to become something, but to save something. I will do my best to save all that is worth saving."

Saying this, Malin’s face no longer showed sorrow. He leaned back on the large pillow at the head of the bed, staring at the pale ceiling: "Jason, you’ll help me, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Malin, please trust me. I will help you accomplish this great feat."

"To you, it might be a great feat, but to me, it is merely the fulfillment of a small wish of mine. Jason, when I was very young, an old lady told me that everyone born into this world has their own mission... Now, I feel that Fate has sent me back eight thousand years to... continue the fight." Malin said, leaning on the cushion and humming a tune.

It was in four-four time.

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