Chapter 8: Traveler
"Chii-chan, isn't that the same robot from the fish factory?" Yuuri asked as she gazed at the robot after it emerged from behind one of the stone statues. "Oh wow, we never thought we'd meet you again. But how did you get up here?" Chito asked, she was equally confused as Yuuri.
This robot had similar features and even the same voice modulator as the one they met on their journey back at the fish factory, but there was something much different about it. Slowly it moved closer to the girls, stopping just a few meters close them before it started speaking again.
"Chito - Yuuri - I am not the same robot you met at the fish factory - I am just a mere 'traveler' who simply had its collective consciousness of its species fused with the 'AI' many years ago - However I am able to remotely control over 1642 fully functioning robots around the city grid through one of the communication nodes that we fixed about twenty-three years ten hours nineteen minutes and fifteen seconds ago - The robot at the fish factory was malfunctioning and I wasn't able to take control of it - It's core programming was corrupted and it had a single purpose of attending to the needs of something 'insignificant' that was bred for human consumption - However, I had control over the construction robot that you both destroyed with an explosive device. "
"Ummmmm…" both Chito and Yuuri looked at each other with guilty expressions on their face. Mieko standing close to them was equally confused as she listened in on the conversation. Turning back to the robot both of them apologized bowing their heads down "...we are sorry…"
"What on earth were you girls doing out there blowing robots up?" Mieko asked them as she scratched her head. "You do realize without those construction robots the city's foundation could collapse?"
"Well… we never knew at the time... we are really sorry..." Chito replied as she looked back at Mieko "The robot was deconstructing the facility where the fish lived, and… I guess we thought it was going to hurt the fish, we wanted to save it..."
"Yeah… I jumped on top of the construction robot, planted the bomb and it went boom!" Yuuri exclaimed reminiscing on how they blew up the construction robot back at the fish facility. "But… as Chii-chan said we never knew at the time that -"
"It's ok - Chito - Yuuri - I already commissioned another robot that day to fix the one you destroyed - It should be ready for operation within four hundred twenty-three hours thirty-two minutes and twelve seconds" the traveler spoke back "However - Chito - Yuuri - I regret to tell you when the repair robot arrived, the fish was already deceased - The malfunctioning robot had already ceased to work as well, it's core programming shut down frying its system - there was no point in repairing it but its purpose would be used for scrap further on."
"Ohh…" they both sighed sadly as they looked back at him. "Yuu-chan, we should have eaten the fish… I guess..." Chito replied with a sad look in her eyes back at Yuuri. "We should have eaten it Chii-chan, but I hope both of them had a happy life until the very end." Yuuri replied with a smile on her face, still sitting down in her wheelchair. "I guess back then we would have been satisfied with a fishy, but I am happy that they lived for a bit."
"Yeah... I guess..." Chito replied as she turned to face the robot. She still had a lot of questions on her mind. "But how did you know our names?"
"I gathered the information from the robot at the fish factory and that is how I learned both of your names - I also registered you the moment you entered the factory in your vehicle, but I determined that your presence was of little insignificant to my task at hand - The construction robots posses no vocal modulators, and at the time I miscalculated that your presence at the factory would be temporary without any interruptions - I tend not to disclose any information about the 'unit' to any outsider due to problems in the past - even if the construction robot was to possess vocal modulators we wouldn't have had any contact - The task at the factory was to decommission rooms near the water tank, as the resources are of importance to the layer underneath with no harm done to any living being in the vicinity as the construction robot posses core programming that forbids it from harming any living being."
"The probability and cause of danger that the structural stability of that sector would collapse was minimal, but even with that kind of risks repairs have to be carried out - However by blowing up the construction robot, I realized that your actions were selfless and you risked your life to save a living being that is considered 'insignificant' as it's sole purpose of existence was for consumption - Your act reminded me of something my species have done lots of times, to save the lives of beings that have no choice of life - After our encounter I have wanted to speak to you both but I wasn't able to find you again - For that I am sorry as I think your circumstances to reach the unit unharmed would have improved" The robot spoke without moving an inch from the spot where it stood.
"We are sorry for destroying the construction robot... At the time we didn't know there were still any living beings existing in this world, and we had no idea the construction robot served such a purpose." Chito replied as she looked back at it. "But what is your species 'traveler', can you tell us more about yourself?" Mieko and Yuuri carefully listened in as well.
"Chito - Yuuri - My species are insignificant to this universe - Just as you, this planet and even this conversation has zero point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zerozero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one percent insignificance in the grand scale of life" The traveler kept repeating the zeroes in a montonic voice, before it continued speaking.
"We are simply 'travelers' from another planet that share a common goal - Looking for a home, information and some kind of meaning to existence in the grand scale - We arrived on a 'spaceship' at this planet when 'humans' were at the 'stone age' as your species call that period of time - For all that time the 'humans' were unaware of our existence - We lived underground and our sole purpose was to live peacefully and observe the natural development of this planet - We fed on information and the natural resources this planet provided and we even fed on the 'spaceship' that gave us a safe passage here - Our species possess a hivemind and we are able to communicate through what you call advanced radio waves." The 'traveler' paused for a few seconds, it seemed to be doing some kind of an internal communication task.
Chito and Yuuri realized something, they met its species before outside at the nuclear submarine. The strange creatures that resembled mushrooms must have been its species "Chii-chan, those species outside... They communicate through that thing called 'radio waves'!" Yuuri exclaimed as she faced Chito "Yes, and they are also able to devour metal and unstable elements! We met your species outside 'traveler'!"
"Chito - Yuuri - That is impossible - My family was the last of our species - Our species has been long extinct in the wide known universe - The species you met were given a name by the humans of 'Eringi' due to their similarities with the fungi of the same name - Our species were given the name of another fungi family called 'Shimeji'" the robot paused for a second as it performed another communication task for 3 seconds longer than the first time, before it continued speaking.
"We arrived on the same 'spaceship' together - 'Shimeji' lived underground - 'Eringi' lived planted in the ground - 'Eringi' fed through photosynthesis and nutrients from plants and animals - Once this food source was taken away from them by the humans they learned to adapt and consume processed material just like us - When the 'Eringi' cease to live, they wither away and turn into dust - When our species cease to live, we turn into what you humans call 'stones' - Just like the 'stones' you see behind me."
Behind the robot, there were 5 stone 'sculptures' that Chito and Yuuri noticed so many times outside in all kinds of different sizes and shapes that they thought were sculpted by humans. At first, they couldn't understand the meaning behind these 'sculptures' and thought they were some kind of deities worshiped by humans. "We saw so many of those stones outside," Chito stated as she looked back at the traveler. "We even hit one of them with our 'Kettenkrad'…. Again we are sorry about that…"
"Chii-chan… it was you who drove into it!" Yuuri replied chuckling softly, as Chito looked at her with an annoyed expression on her face. Mieko only placed her hand to her face as it was completely unbelievable to her that these two girls were complete delinquents.
"You planted a bomb at the wall outside and detonated it, you destroyed a construction robot, you drove over a 'Shimeji' statue… Gee, I wonder if it even was you two that fired that missile and a laser from the 'MK982 - War Mecha' last year. We felt that up here and it set up every imaginable alarm."
"Actually-mmpmhhpp" Yuuri tried to say something, as Chito with a grin on her face placed her hand to her mouth to shut her up "Nooo… that wasn't us…" Chito responded as she was getting sweaty with guilt.
"That's ok - The statue you hit with your vehicle - The 'Shimeji' passed away a long time ago - Our bodies after we pass away are just there to serve as our gravestone - The 'Shimeji' you see behind me was the last of it's kind - The one in the middle was the last living 'Shimeji' - Our hive mind works on a different wavelength from the 'Eringi' however we were never able to communicate with them in a proper way - Our species lived its own lives just like different species of primates did a long time ago but we weren't able to communicate using the similar wavelengths but rather with patterns - However our species possessed a greater intellect than the 'Eringi' - We passed information among ourselves all our lives and that is how we were able to preserve it and our need for information was always present" Pausing for a second the robot kept looking blankly at both Chito and Yuuri, before it continued speaking.
"We were able to pass our information to humans using the same wavelengths through their devices - That is how we even managed to transfer our consciousness to the archive's AI on this layer before the last 'Shimeji' passed away - We are not positively sure if the same thing happened with the other 'Shimeji' in the unit's across the world."
The girls listened to the traveler carefully, essentially Chito remembered something that Reo mentioned few days ago when Yuuri woke up from her coma. "Traveler... Reo-san mentioned something that your species were partially responsible for what happened to our planet, but why did he say that?"
"Chito - Yuuri - You have to understand sadly that we only prolonged the death of this planet and its species - Your planet was already on the brink of death even in the twenty-first century but humans never listened as they went on their path to self-destruction - What transpired to your planet happened to our homeworld as well - Our home was located at the galaxy what you humans call 'Messier Eighty-Three' - We were technologically advanced and 'Shimeji' and 'Eringi' lived in peace for a long time after the great wars in the past - Just like 'humans' were the dominant 'primates', 'Shimeji' and 'Eringi' were the dominant 'fungi' on our homeworld - The 'Shimeji' believed that the universe was a simple simulation run by a computer smaller than a handheld device - The 'Shimeji' believed that the simulation was corrupted and that there was no way to fix it, hence the universe would never cease to exist in an endless loop even after its demise - The simulation could create so many different realities that might exist simultaneously at any given moment of time." The traveler spoke carefully about it's past, all was information that was recorded for a long time from a planetoid far beyond our solar system.
"The 'Eringi' believed that they were the alternative reincarnation of their former selves and that the end of the endless loop of reincarnation was the 'being' that lit up the world after death - The 'Shimeji' and 'Eringi' observed that our star would go 'supernova' in the near future - That is when we built 'spaceships' to go the stars to look for our new home for salvation of our species - Sadly only few 'spaceships' managed to work and our species were scattered around the galaxy - Many years later the star went 'supernova' and the last of the 'Shimeji' and 'Eringi' on our home planet ceased to exist - The 'Eringi's prediction of the being that lit up the world after death became a reality - The 'Eringi' on this planet is waiting for the star in this solar system to go supernova so the endless cycle would cease - However with cycles and different generations of 'Eringi' they could have forgoten about this being possessing no access to our information."
"Being that lights up the world after death…" Chito repeated the words to herself, she remembered that she has seen these words in one of the structures on the layers beneath that looked like a temple. "Yuu-chan, do you remember back at that Temple after we left 'Kanazawa', I saw those words etched on the stone there."
"Oh yeah, it's the place where you 'disappeared' in the dark and I got scared." Yuuri pouted as Chito held out her hand and gently patted her on the head "Awww… you were cute though… and you somehow broke those stone flowers and posed with them for a picture." Chito replied and smiled.
Mieko was already beyond facepalming "Great… add demolishing sacred sites to the list… I just hope you two didn't launch a nuclear strike or something!"
"Well… there was this button that said 'Launch Nuclear Strike' that I kinda pressed without Chii-chan knowing at the nuclear submarine… did I do something bad?" Yuuri replied before she burst into laughter, Mieko almost had a horrified look on her face before Chito stepped in and giggled.
"What she meant is 'I am a total idiot with a horrible sense of humor, don't mind me!'" Chito stepped in before she turning to face Yuuri with a smile on her face. "Chii-chaaan… you know I would have pressed it if there was one... you would have just scolded me not to press it at all and probably thrown a wrench at me..." she answered as she held Chito's hand gently.
Chito turned back to the traveler, she had even more questions to ask it. "'Traveler' why did the humans have the temples with your statue and teachings?"
"Chito - The humans at one point worshiped us as 'gods' - Even though we were just mere 'travelers' and served no significance to this universe, the humans accepted most of our information as it helped them advance beyond what they knew was possible - Therefore the humans saw us as 'gods' - The 'Shimeji' were the gods of information and the 'Eringi' were the gods of material - However at first there was no peace between the humans and the 'Shimeji' and 'Eringi" - After the Third World War ended when the country known as Russia detonated a Nuclear Bomb in the heart of Europe, the humans started digging up our sacred lands for material and construction."
"In this country of 'Japan' one of our sacred lands is what you humans would have called 'Towada-Hachimantai National Park' - The 'Shimeji' and 'Eringi' were an endemic kind in 'Japan' - We hid from humans for many years and our last home on this island was at the 'National Park' - When they started digging the land the elder emerged and started devouring their machinery - Soon many 'Shimeji' followed around the world - The 'Eringi' were still not able to devour metal and weapons back then so sadly they weren't able to fight back - That is when another war started - The humans used their weapons against us and slowly our species were disappearing around the world - The elders feared extinction because our virtually endless knowledge was going to be extinct as well -That was when the elders finally spoke the forbidden language to the humans - The rule of the 'Shimeji' before we left our home world was that we collect information but we were never supposed to share our information with another sentient species - The elder realized that the only way the humans would stop killing us is if we share the information of our species." Pausing for a second, the traveler kept speaking.
"This was information of new medicine, technology, endless electricity, space travel, successful cloning, and what you 'humans' would call 'alchemy' or the ability to synthesize any kind of organic compound or technological device through the process of reclamation and recycle - The humans could take our whole information but only if they would agree to our demands - The demands were manageable that the humans would protect our most precious territories and the last remaining organic species in a fortress, and we were to have every kind of information created by the humans stored on an incorruptible drive to analyze for our own needs - Despite our warnings of the excessive use of our information and that on our homeworld we were unfair to the more inferior species by toying with the course of nature, the humans agreed to our demands"
"The humans suddenly were able to progress way beyond what was possible - Endless electricity was the first thing they invited, then the humans cured every imaginable disease and even cheat mortality and time itself, the oldest human recorded in recent history lived up to be 236 years way beyond their termination day - Due to overpopulation the humans needed to build the layers in the sky or deep underground to house more humans - more facilities - more homes - more schools - more workplaces - more factories - Despite warnings the humans forgot to account for one important thing - To live you needed nature and those 'inessential' species they chose to nullify from the face of the planet - The layers were a self-sustainable 'Shimeji' design where the top of the layers were the lungs and heart of every city - That is what the humans built in 'Japan' but yet they used it for their indulgence - The higher class lived in the 'unit' among nature, endless supply of entertainment, food, water, and luxury - The middle and lower classes lived in the layers underneath - Once food became uncommon that was when the riots and wars inaugurated - Humans could now develop even more powerful innovative weapons and the higher class suddenly could do a population sweep to get rid of excessive individuals that could cause difficulties - This was after humanity made space travel possible to Mars - Suddenly the poor and the middle class living on the bottom layers found themselves under a powerful laser sweep of what you would call an 'MK982 - War Mecha'"
"The population wipe was going on for years until the machines stop working - The humans that persisted, killed each other with the weapons from their ancestors as abruptly every electrical machine that wasn't 'EMP Resistant' was useless in the world outside - They felt that every individual was an enemy and fired their weaponry at them - The higher class were safe up in their 'unit's around the world - However even in the security, convenience and gratification of their homes up in the 'unit' the humans still managed to eliminate each other - 35% of the species that lived in the 'unit's were extinct and that was when the 'Shimeji' that remained inside the 'units' had to take a final stance - The 'Shimeji' came up with the rules that humans could only ever use 15% of the resources and land in the 'unit' - Unless it was absolutely necessary no Human was allowed to kill an animal in the 'sacred' ground or cut down a tree, the food the trees grew were rationed accordingly with every species - Humans had to learn to live alongside the species and respect their lives - After this 'unit' lost communication with the world outside and the last of the 'Shimeji' died off and were transferred to the archive the rules changed over the years - Suddenly as humans were becoming endemic species they were allowed to used 20-25% of the 'unit' for their continuation - People of this 'unit' were unhappy and that is when the faction wars started between the residents of the 'unit' - About one million three hundred thousand fifty-five humans were exiled to live on the outside - Quickly there were even more rules that had to be enforced during the years - Unfortunately one of those rules had Itsuki and Yasuo exiled" The traveler paused again for 6 seconds performing another set of routines before it continued speaking.
"Chito - Yuuri - What you see is in this 'unit' is what is left of humanity, animals, insects, plants, flowers, information currently residing in 'Japan' - At the moment we are unable to establish a connection with the rest of the layers below us and besides you two the robots were unable to locate any other individuals for months - We are unable to establish a connection with the other 'unit's around the world so our numbers may be faulty - We are unsure if even the Mars mission was a success - The living organisms in this 'unit' is safeguarded on a layer that might structurally collapse in two hundred and sixty-three years, eleven months, twelve days, eight hours, two minutes and three seconds - The humans that live here know this information and help the layer in any way they can to protect what is left of their country - We have calculated and made a plan that will take approximately 1248 years to gradually move nature into the layers below - All the way to the bottom and deconstruct the top layers into its original resource - Our plan is for nature and life to overtake the world again."
Chito, Yuuri, and Mieko all listened carefully to the traveler as it spoke of its plans, demise, and life. Both Chito and Yuuri were left flabbergasted and speechless by this information from the traveler as it was way too confusing and convoluted to take in an hour. They would never imagine that what happened to their homeworld could keep repeating to so many species around the galaxy in an endless loop, the circumstances were beyond null that it would eventually make no sense to any human understanding.
"Chito - Yuuri - Our species may be dead but we will never allow another life form to stop existing as partially it was our fault due to the state of this planet - That is why when our species died we transfer our consciousness in the 'archive' as we want to help bring nature back to its original state - The 'Shimeji' should have never interfered with the natural growth of the humans but this was our home as much as it was theirs - We assumed that the humans would not go the same path as we did but it ultimately followed - Sadly life on this planet ceased to exist as we know it - But we can help bring the spark of life on this planet in due time."
Chito and Yuuri kept looking at each other with a neutral expression. Yuuri suddenly got up from her wheelchair and took the walking cane that Chito was carrying for her. She slowly walked towards the robot and placed her hand to its head
"Traveler-san." She spoke "What happened to our planet is really sad - but I know one thing. Maybe your information was bad but if it wasn't for your information to save my brain, Chii-chan would have lost me forever." Yuuri smiled as she turned to Chito, she once again had tears in her eyes smiling as she looked at Yuuri taking her first steps by herself since she woke up. "Chii-chan's smile is what got me through the journey on the outside, and nothing in this world makes me happy than seeing Chii-chan smile." she replied and closed her eyes, a single tear went through her cheek. Chito moved closer to her and carefully hugged her from behind as they both stood near the traveler.
"Traveler... me and Yuu-chan will do anything that we can to help you. I know that we have done damage on the layers underneath us but, you, Reo-san and Mieko-chan gave Yuuri back to me. For that I am eternally grateful, thank you... traveler...'"
"Chito - Yuuri - You are welcome to stay here with us - We hope that one day we can help the unfortunate citizens that still live among the ruins outside - My purpose for a long time was to maintain stability and safety for the species that live in this country - One day I hope that we can live in harmony..."
So many things are left unsaid about the history of the 'unit'. Once deemed a utopia, to some it was a painful memory. Humans that were given the luxury of food, information and entertainment still found a way to kill each other and still kept destroying everything in their path.
The 'unit' was just a set of instructions that 'Shimeji' and 'Eringi' brought from their home many light-years away, and they were happy that it worked. Every planet has its ways of evolution and every sentient being alive or dead was responsible to bring its footprint on the world. We are insignificant in the grand scale of life, just like our own lives, the lives of our predecessors, the lives of our successors, our planet and even galaxy is insignificant in a rudimentary way. To make sense of our lives we bring love and creation in the mix, we are a lost speck of stardust in our mother universe. Sadly we can't answer the question of what lies beyond and what is 'significance' in the long run but humans can try...
In this story, what mattered most is that two lost stars found their way home in the vast constellation.
"Hey Chii-chan, why did Mieko-chan throw us out of the hospital?" Yuuri aked her as she carried a backpack of her clothes and her walking cane. She carefully walked hand in hand with Chito as she was still getting used to walking with a cane. "She was like 'Get outta here you delinquents! Go back to your homes! Run be freeeee'."
Chito chuckled before she replied "She was joking Yuu-chan, and besides we can't live in the hospital anymore. They were kind to give us our own house If I can find it somehow..." Chito kept looking through the lines of houses to find theirs. It was supposed to be 'House Number 26', just close to where Mieko and her fiance lived in that sector. The houses at this part were all similar Japanese style prefab's that could be built at any time and then easily fixed, rebuilt or even demolished by robots in a matter of hours. They were all simple rectangle-shaped blocks with windows, sliding doors, and even their own garden.
"There..." Chito pointed to one of the houses that had the number 26 written on top of it. As they moved closer, Yuuri noticed some words written on the door. "Hey Chii-chan, what is that written on the door?" She asked as Chito carefully read it...
"Oh, it's just our names 'Chito and Yuuri's House'." Chito smiled as they moved closer to the entrance "I am sooo excited Yuu-chan."
"Umm.. how does the door open Chii-chan?" Yuuri carefully walked towards the door and pressed one of the buttons on the side that had arrows pointing in each direction. Suddenly with a single swoosh, the door opened sliding on both sides startling Yuuri. "EEEEPP..." she exclaimed falling backwards and if it wasn't for Chito she would have found herself down on the ground. "Yuuu-chaaan... be careful, you are still getting used to... the walking...cane... you are heavy...hhhhnnn"
"Mmm Chii-chan… I can't wait to have my robotic leg… you will finally worship me for a 'Robotic God' that I will be" Yuuri grinned as Chito struggled to hold her from falling. Finally, she helped her back up on her foot with her cane as Chito got beside her.
"So, Yuu-chan... do you want to see our new home?" Chito asked her smiling as she grabbed her by her arm.
"Yay! New Home with Chii-chan!" Yuuri exclaimed as both of them walked inside, the door with another swoosh closed behind them.
