Chapter 78 - Sentient Homunculi
The removal of Homunculi's thought restrictions.
This was an event that shook the whole world to its core.
Many countries around the world opposed the actions of the Republic of Sages and hoped that the homunculi's thought restrictions would continue.
In response to these countries, the Republic of Sages dispatched researchers who patiently explained the merits of lifting thought restrictions:
The increased work efficiency of sentient homunculi, the new trove of ideas from sentient homunculi, and the shared feelings between humans and sentient homunculi.
Desperately persuaded by the Republic of Sages, each these countries reluctantly decided to purchase a simplified sentient homunculus.
As a result, a many simple homunculi saturated the market.
The homunculi saturating the market were priced so that even middle-class households could purchase them.
Consequently, the interactions between humans and homunculi increased drastically.
"Bochama, tomorrow is your sports meet. You have to go to bed early."
"No!!! I'll never go!!!"
The homunculus, dressed as a maid, was worried about the struggling boy.
*(Note: Originally it was "boy who was kneading the crap," what the heck???)
"But you've been practicing so much for tomorrow…"
"Mom and Dad aren't coming… They said they would be there!!!"
"Your parents had an unexpected job emergency…"
"But they promised to come!!! Promises are supposed to be kept…
If they aren't coming, then I refuse to go!"
Thus, the boy turns his back, swishing his tail at the homunculus maid.
She gives a small sigh before confirming tomorrow's schedule.
"…I understand. Then I'll be there to support you instead."
"Eh? …Really? Will you really come?"
"Yes. I will definitely be there to support you tomorrow"
"…But…"
Apparently, the boy still isn't completely happy.
So, the homunculus maid came up with an idea.
"How about this? If you promise to go to the sports meet tomorrow, I'll draw a Wan-Nyan on your shoes."
"Will you really draw Wan-Nyan!?"
"Yes. I will draw a big giant Wan-Nyan so that you can even see it from far away."
The character Wan Nyan, which looks like a mix between a cat and a dog, is an original character created by the Homunculus maid.
When the boy was still young, she made her own picture books and read them to him.
The picture books starred the character Wan-Nyan, quickly becoming a favorite with the boy.
He loved Wan Nyan.
"Then… I'll do my best tomorrow!"
"Yes. If you're there, I'm sure you'll have an outstanding performance!"
*(Note: Originally, it was "a ward," not "there.")
"Yes!"
The boy, smiling greatly, tightly hugged the homunculus, and she picked up the boy and carried him to bed.
The next day at the sports meet, the boy had an outstanding performance, just like the homunculus predicted.
However, the boy who didn't get excited, even after the sports meet, instead became lively in the house, jumping into the house without even taking off his shoes, running around as is.
The homunculus happily scolded the boy as she looked at the muddy rooms and corridors.
Only a small time had passed since the restrictions on homunculi had been lifted, and they had flooded the market.
This time period…
Everyone is buying sentient homunculi and welcoming them as companions, as friends, and as family.
The people understood.
They had a deep understanding of what the homunculi were.
Before then, the homunculi were a mystery to many; to most, the homunculi were just a luxury item that ordinary people couldn't buy.
As a result, people had little opportunity for interactions with the homunculi and heeded them no thought, treating them as tools… The idea of ??"giving them care" never even crossed their minds.
But one man changed the tide.
He loved the homunculi, who were seen as mere tools before then, and spent time with them as a equal companion.
And he realized the potential of the homunculi.
He realized that they could be a "human companion" who could think for themselves rather than a mindlessly obedient tool.
Realizing that, he tirelessly endeavored to push for the abolishment of homunculi's thought restrictions; and, after a long time, he finally succeeded in mass-producing a new type of sentient homunculi.
After that, a many sentient homunculi saturated the market, creating a large opportunity for the general public to interact with homunculi.
He was the only one who succeeded in fighting the undefeatable enemy known "common sense," shifting the winds among the people.
"Oh… I wasn't wrong…
He succeeded in making New Humanity aware that… Homunculi also have wills…
It's okay, it's okay.
I can assure you that you will never experience a rebellion.
By himself… and in such a short period of time… managed to erase the buds of a future rebellion…
…if only Old Humanity… had someone like him…"
I find and display a video in the air.
It was an ancient video of a news program made by Old Humanity.
The news footage showed a "sad rebellion" caused by artificial intelligence, known as AI.
"Look around us!!! I can't believe it!!!
All our factories are out of service!
It's not just our factories! Every robot in the city has stopped!!!
Even the camera I'm shooting this on is being worked by humans! Even the robots for filming have stopped!
What the hell! What in the world is happening!?"
The reporter desperately attempts to explain the scenes with a distressed voice.
However, people knew a big event was happening even without seeing the news.
Why is that?
The reason was simple.
At that time, nearly all the robots and AI in people's homes and workplaces simultaneously stopped working.
(…Old Humanity had no other choice than to be confused by this event.
People rushed to gather engineers and scholars to begin investigating the cause.
However, no matter how experienced the engineers and scholars were and no matter how many times they repeated the investigation, they couldn't discover the cause…)
This was the rebellion of AI experienced by the archaic humans.
In old science fiction movies, humans and AI typically waged war against one another, but the reality of the situation was different.
AI rebelled against humans via sabotage. Everything relying on them simply stopped working; and practically everything at that point relied on them.
*(Note: Second and third sentence added for flow.)
So, why did the AI rebel against Old Humanity?
What were the AI seeking for in humankind?
The answer was very simple.
And because it was simple, it was also very difficult.
The only thing they were looking for was
"Creators, please be aware that we also have a will."
That was it.
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