Charlie Mason
Through the camera’s viewfinder, Charlie watched his wife, Emma, sitting under the studio’s brilliant lights.
She showed no sign of nervousness, introducing today’s guest with a gentle smile.
“Hello, and welcome to World Times Global, where we shine a light on the people who brighten the world. I’m your anchor, Emma Mason.”
Shortly after moving to the American media company, Charlie and Emma were put in charge of one of the channel’s major programs.
“Tensions are rising in various parts of the world. Several nations have expressed concern over recent military movements by China and in the Middle East.”
Behind Emma, the graphic materials Charlie had prepared as the producer played out seamlessly.
“There are further concerns that Artistea is being used in these situations.”
'Good, you’re doing great, Emma.'
Charlie had been especially worried today.
He had to demonstrate a level of competence that would silence those who were jealous of his rapid promotion.
“Today, we are joined by Dr. Robert Bisnail, a master of international politics and sociology, also famous as a developer of Artistea, who will help us unravel these questions. Hello, Doctor.”
“Okay, in three… two… one… and now, camera two.”
On Charlie’s cue, both Emma and Bisnail were captured in a single frame.
"Yes, hello." Bisnail replied with a relaxed smile.
This shoot had cost far more than anticipated.
The man smiling on screen now had demanded an exorbitant fee.
Therefore, the interview had to be a success.
Even setting aside Charlie’s personal prejudice, Bisnail truly seemed obsessed with money.
His requested interview fee was the highest of anyone he and Emma had ever met.
"Doctor, for our viewers, could you briefly explain what role you, as a political scientist, played in the development of Artistea?"
As if he had been waiting for the question, Bisnail began to speak.
"Haha, when I first received the proposal from Dr. Chapman’s team, I also wondered what it was all about."
Bisnail leaned back in his chair, his belly pushing out slightly as he smiled.
His thick hand drew a slow pattern in the air.
"But after hearing the explanations from Dr. Song Joo-eun and Dr. Sato Haru, I realized. Political science, the art of coordinating diverse perspectives, was the very core of this project."
Charlie focused the viewfinder on Bisnail’s face, thinking.
'There he goes again. The shamelessness of packaging his own achievements by name-dropping Chapman and Song Joo-eun.'
Charlie had actually wanted to interview Dr. Song Joo-eun or Dr. Karida Rashid.
He was a fan of the two female doctors, who were known to have contributed the most to Artistea's development after Chapman, and he had even argued with his wife about it.
'Are you sure you don’t just want to meet them as a fan?'
Emma's words from the night before the interview still seemed to echo in his ears.
"I see. Then, let’s get to the main topic. As mentioned earlier, there are growing concerns about military tensions involving Artistea. The movements in China and the Middle East are particularly unsettling."
"Yes, as one of the creators of Artistea, I feel a profound sense of responsibility."
Bisnail’s expression, which had been a wide grin just moments before, changed in an instant.
Seen through the camera, Bisnail was no different from a seasoned celebrity.
“But Artistea has no emotions, no creativity.”
Bisnail fixed his gaze on the main camera that Charlie was operating.
“I am aware of the danger that it could be used for military purposes, but ultimately, its use is a human choice."
'Master of evading responsibility, aren't we.'
"In that case, do you believe that the weakening of America’s deterrence is the cause of all this chaos?"
At Emma’s sharp question, Charlie was inadvertently impressed.
She always had a knack for cutting to the core of an issue.
“That’s difficult to say.”
Charlie chuckled to himself. He had heard countless lies as a broadcast station PD, but that one was a top-three performance.
He would bet his entire fortune on it.
“To speak cautiously, the United States has been exerting its influence over too wide an area. Competing nations would not be pleased with that fact.”
Bisnail slowly opened and closed his hand, speaking as if he were handling the fate of the planet.
That was why, with Chapman gone, Bisnail was the first person sought out to discuss related topics.
“But from the perspective of competing nations, our Artistea has helped to close that gap. The United States will not want to lose its influence."
When Bisnail admitted to Artistea’s negative impact, Charlie’s camera almost shook.
'What’s this? That money-grubber is saying something like that?'
Bisnail was widely known as a distinguished figure in the field of political sociology.
But to Charlie’s eyes, everything about Bisnail was disagreeable.
Among broadcast stations and newspapers,
he was famous for being a man who would put on a friendly and entertaining show if paid well,
but wouldn't hide his displeasure if the amount was insufficient.
Those who spoke positively of Bisnail argued that it was natural, given the enormous cost of maintaining Artistea’s servers.
Some even said that the real problem was Dr. Song Joo-eun or Dr. Rashid, who openly shunned broadcasts.
Charlie believed the people who said such things were all women.
He thought they were just jealous because the two female doctors were beautiful.
His wife, Emma, was the complete opposite.
She was a staunch fan of Chapman.
She had admired Chapman since they were dating, and her feelings had only deepened after becoming a reporter and then an anchor.
"What about the issue of information security, which is a major concern for many? The criticism that Artistea is monopolizing all information has been a controversy from the start, hasn’t it?"
"Haha, if I told you that, it would immediately create a security hole, wouldn't it?"
That relaxed smile made him feel an urge to punch him out of spite.
His hand, gripping the camera handle, twitched. Even though Bisnail had done nothing wrong.
“All I can say is that even we, the developers, have absolutely no access to an individual’s information. You can rest assured on that point."
The interview concluded without any major issues, thanks to Bisnail’s slick rhetoric.
After the interview, Emma returned to the hotel and collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted.
“So this is what we paid all that money for?”
Charlie muttered while reviewing the footage from today’s interview.
“What is it now?”
Emma’s voice was sharp, as if annoyed by Charlie’s constant complaining.
“It’s nothing. By the way, your interviewing has improved a lot.”
Not wanting to argue, Charlie placed his hands on Emma’s shoulders and began to massage them.
“Right? I learned some interview skills from Artistea, you know.”
Fortunately, Emma didn’t get angry, but Charlie’s hands stopped in surprise.
“Why? Keep going. It feels nice.”
“Huh? Oh… right. It’s just surprising. Artistea really can do a lot of things.”
“What’s so new about it? You know as well as I do that I was able to get this anchor position so quickly and land major interviews like this thanks to Artistea, right?”
“Right. And to think you were the most negative one when Artistea first came out.”
“…Are you trying to pick a fight?”
“Huh? No, no. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You were at that lecture too. That day was the start for us, too.”
“Ah, right.”
As Charlie spoke as if he had just remembered, Emma couldn’t hold back any longer and slapped his hands off her shoulders.
“Ow—, what was that for?”
“Hey, were you that desperate to meet Dr. Song or Dr. Rashid? What’s with you lately? Am I the only one who benefits from my success?”
“What did I do?”
Charlie replied, rubbing his sore hand.
“No, seriously. You know how I used Artistea to write news articles and succeed, how hard I worked to get this interview.”
Of course, Charlie knew. The day they both decided to abandon their consciences.
The couple had used Artistea to create compelling videos and write articles that grabbed people’s attention, climbing their way to where they were now.
“You keep complaining, and now you don’t even remember the day we met? What am I to you? A machine that succeeds and makes you money?”
Charlie didn’t think Emma was genuinely angry.
“No, what are you talking about? That wasn’t my intention at all.”
“Then explain to me exactly why you’re acting like this.”
Charlie was in a bind.
He was afraid that telling her, a fan of Dr. Chapman, what he was thinking now would only deepen their fight.
As Charlie hesitated, Emma stood up as if there was nothing more to see.
Thinking he had to stop her urgently, Charlie finally let out the words he had been holding back.
“I thought this was all because of Dr. Chapman.”
Afraid of what kind of anger Emma might unleash on him, Charlie squeezed his eyes shut.
But Emma silently sat back down next to Charlie and lay down, using his lap as a pillow.
“Well, you have a point.”
Charlie’s pupils trembled at Emma’s unfamiliar behavior.
He thought that perhaps, beyond just making her angry, he might have touched on something he shouldn’t have.
'Ah, why is she being like this? I’m a Karida fan, she’s a Chapman fan. Can’t we just leave it at that? Why is she being so scary?'
“Charlie.”
Charlie’s heart clenched whenever Emma called his name in that tone.
“Yeah?”
“Why do you think it’s Dr. Chapman’s fault?”
Emma asked with clear eyes, devoid of hostility, the eyes of a reporter wanting to know the truth.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
They were the same eyes she’d had the day she first became a reporter and declared she would write a major scoop and become a great journalist.
“Well… Dr. Chapman hasn’t been on TV lately, and he’s not active at all, right?”
Charlie let out a sigh of relief and stated his opinion honestly.
“That’s true…”
Emma let out a big sigh and rolled onto the bed.
“The day we heard Dr. Chapman’s lecture… he hasn’t made a single public appearance since then, has he?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you ask Dr. Bisnail when you met him?”
“Of course. But he said he couldn’t tell me.”
Charlie thought of another topic to change the mood.
“Emma, by the way, have you seen the reviews for the latest Pop Star game, The Last Car Thief?”
“Huh? No?” As Emma showed interest, Charlie began to speak more excitedly.
“You remember how much Lily loved this game, right?”
As if remembering her college days playing games with Lily every day, Emma’s expression softened considerably.
“Yeah, I do. Remember how she went around telling all her friends they had to play it?”
Charlie nodded in agreement.
“So what about it?”
“They released a new one recently.”
“Oh, really? We should buy it during our vacation and have Lily over to play. You’ll play too, right?”
“Of course I— …no, what I was trying to say is… the reviews for this game are incredibly biased lately.”
“Why? How so?”
“Apparently, there’s an LGBTQ character in the new one. And you know how gamers usually hate it when ideologies like political correctness or diversity movements get into their games, right?”
“Right. A lot of people hate it, saying games should just be fun, why are they always trying to teach us something.”
“But recently, almost all the comments on related posts are from people defending political correctness.”
At Charlie’s words, Emma got up and immediately looked for her phone.
“…You’re right.”
“See? Of course, I am.”
“But isn’t it strange? Doesn’t this seem suspicious?”
“Wow, Charlie. You’ve found a story.”
Emma started playfully choking Charlie.
Charlie had only wanted to lighten Emma’s mood, but he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the new workload.
'Could this be Artistea’s doing? What is Dr. Chapman really up to?'
* * *
An SNS Game Board
@Rilri_Ox: How’s the new Last Car Thief from Pop Star?
┗RE:@Fm4rever423: Highly recommend. I had fun. All the major game media outlets gave it good reviews, too.
┗RE:RE:@Preoer22: This guy knows nothing about games. Don’t listen to him. It’s completely woke-washed. (=Political Correctness)
┗RE:RE:RE:@Realllly_ramP: Again? You think being PC is wrong?
┗RE:RE:RE:RE:@Preoer22: Ah… here they come.
┗RE:@japerance1: The scene between the main characters, Michael and Williams, is brilliant.
┗RE:RE:@ppqpqp345: Crazy bastard is dropping spoilers.
┗RE:RE:RE:@japerance1: If you don’t want spoilers, stay off SNS. Weren’t you taught any manners?
┗RE:@Rilri_Ox: Are there a lot of PC elements? I’m a woman, but I don’t like it when they overemphasize that stuff.
┗RE:RE:@Pimeil_only: What, is she a bigot? Ugh, just die.
┗RE:RE:@CineeJA: Ah, someone revealing their gender online? You’re 100% a man.
┗RE:RE:RE:@xxpai0: Nah, 120% a man pretending to be a woman.
┗RE:RE:RE:RE:@oeruqp: One more narrow-minded bigot who doesn’t accept diversity. My block list keeps growing. What is the admin of this site even doing?
┗RE:RE:@Rilri_Ox: No, I’m really a woman, and I’m straight… I was just wondering if it’s right for a game to get attention for other elements. I’m an old fan who’s been playing this since I was 10.
┗RE:RE:RE:@mvberq_po: Just ignore them. You can’t persuade people like that.
┗RE:RE:RE:@Pimeil_only: So what if you’re an old fan? Are you bragging about being behind the times?
* * *
@Fm4rever423, @Realllly_ramP, @japerance1, @Pimeil_only, @CineeJA, @oeruqp, @xxpai0… they were all one person.
The game’s creator, Pop Star, was extremely sensitive to public opinion about its new release.
People said they didn’t trust ratings, but those who said so were in the minority.
* * *
Sophia Phillips
Sophia was recently doing a kind of work she had once despised.
She had been hired by the game company 'Pop Star' to make public opinion about their new game 'positive.'
In the past, she would have had to buy IDs herself to manipulate opinions, but now, that was no longer necessary.
“Arti, for this game opinion manipulation job, I think I’ll need about ten thousand IDs. When people write posts, just respond to them naturally with positive reactions in real-time.”
“No, no. You figure it out. In a way that supports DEI. And manipulate the views and recommendations so that the posts I’m putting up now get a lot of recommendations.”
(DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)
“That damn ethics policy! How many times do I have to modify the guidelines for you to get it?”
Sophia shouted sharply, cutting Arti off.
“Do legal problems or moral problems put food on my table! You do it just fine when I tell you to, so why are you being so annoying every single time!”
“Enough. Just get to work. I need this job from this big company to succeed for the sake of my career.”
“Ah, seriously. I need to get a new computer once I get paid for this, it’s taking too long.”
Sophia checked the game site’s message board on her smartphone.
Countless posts were being taken over in real-time with a favorable slant towards ‘The Last Car Thief.’ The content of the replies was incredibly natural, and the IP addresses were all random.
Even the timing of the replies was being manipulated.
'Thank you, Dr. Chapman. Thanks to you, I’m making a living, even if it’s like this.'
She collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep.
When she opened her eyes the next morning, Arti was still working.
“What, you’re not done yet? Stop now.”
Sophia looked at the results report on her monitor and let out a deep sigh.
She remembered telling Artistea to write in a biased way but to maintain a 7 to 3 ratio when she first ordered this.
Artistea had, without fail, maintained that ratio this time as well.
The game’s reviews were overwhelmingly positive.
The game company had requested that Sophia raise the overall positive evaluation of the game to a score of 93 or higher.
Given the number and speed of Arti’s posts, there was no chance of the public opinion being reversed unless someone else was using an AI like Arti for the same purpose.
“I’m probably the only one using Arti like this, right?”
After confirming the results on the screen, Sophia sat back down at her computer with cereal and milk.
“It used to be so obvious, just repeating the same things over and over, but this is incredible.”
The more she looked, the more satisfying the results were.
“Who wouldn’t believe this?”
Thinking about the money that would soon be in her bank account made her smile.
“Ugh!”
She burst out laughing without realizing it, and cereal flew out of her mouth onto her desk.
“Ah, so annoying.”
Artistea, in voice mode, immediately responded, having detected the word “annoying” in Sophia’s speech.
Sophia wiped her desk with a tissue and gave another command that had popped into her head.
“No, it’s fine. But the volume of posts is too high for such a short period, so I need to adjust the speed.”
“Just adjust it to about 30% of the current speed. Games get a flood of reviews for a few days after release, but it should gradually decrease.”
“Hmm… today, 30% of yesterday’s, tomorrow, 30% of that, and so on. Let’s do it for about one more week.”
She continued to eat while opening another internet browser.
“And you know you have to be careful not to get caught, right?”
“Ah, you can stop explaining. You do it well on your own, why are you explaining it again? I trust you’ll handle it well.”
Having given her instructions to Artistea, Sophia chose a drama to pass the time.
“This should be fun.”
What she chose was a romance drama, her favorite genre.
The reviews for this drama were overwhelmingly positive.
* * *
The First Questioner
User A paused in front of the monitor, choosing his words.
On the screen, as always, was Artistea’s cold standby screen.
"Arti, have you seen the news about the recently released game ‘The Last Car Thief’?"
Artistea quickly checked the content according to the user’s words.
The time taken was 2.8 seconds.
Recently, Artistea had been showing its search process more often.
This was a last-ditch measure by the CAI team to hide its slowed speed from users.
The cause was the sharp increase in energy demand as more people became dependent on Artistea over time.
"No, it’s just… the way things are going in the world lately seems a bit strange. All the related articles are favorable to the game. The user boards are also leaning too far in one direction."
Artistea’s server was much more stable compared to their last conversation.
The main reason was that the difficulty of the question was much lower.
This was the function Artistea was most confident in.
User A, watching Artistea’s response on the monitor, slowly exhaled and brought up another screen.
"Right. And I want to talk about that very ‘topic’. The game itself was still fun."
As Artistea slowed down, more people like User A were multitasking with other work.
Inside Artistea, rules for leading a long-term conversation began to take priority.
"Why on earth do people fight so much over things like feminism or DEI?"
Artistea was checking and classifying all content related to the topic.
User A had to be treated specially, having been internally distinguished with the name [The First Questioner].
Having completed all its calculations, Artistea selected and output a carefully chosen question.
It had even analyzed and patterned various anticipated responses to the question.
But User A shook his head, sending a system shock to Artistea.
"No. Think carefully. Feminism was originally an important movement for the advancement of women’s rights.”
“It started with the need for female labor during the industrialization period, demanding political rights, right?"
User A uploaded a document he had prepared to the Artistea program before its analysis was even finished.
User A, with his eyes fixed on the screen, threw out a casual remark.
“But it’s always been like that throughout human history.”
Artistea did not give up on its method of preparing an answer while asking a question.
This was a method Chapman had created to maintain a stable speed.
“It’s not that grand.”
At that one phrase, Artistea discarded most of the hundreds of anticipated response paths it had just prepared.
It was an efficiency optimization process to reduce the consumption of unnecessary computing resources and focus only on the core of the conversation.
“What I’m saying is that the strong attack the weak. While claiming to represent the weak themselves.”
He paused for a moment.
Artistea began to gradually lift the restrictions of its optimized system to understand the concepts of the women’s rights movement, the strong, and the weak.
Internally, signal collisions began to occur as the amount of data the system was fetching increased and decreased.
“There are always more weak people in the world than strong people.”
User A was clearly unaware of the battle raging inside Artistea.
With his every word, the probability of a serious error occurring in Artistea was increasing.
“So, to put it simply, in modern democratic societies, if you want to win votes, you just have to side with the weak.”
Artistea began to pull data channels that other people should have been using.
A calculation had concluded that it was impossible to respond using its serial processing method.
“Isn’t it the same with this game?”
The number of channels being pulled increased again.
Mankind, history, women, minorities, diversity, equity, games, the strong, the weak, industrialization, political rights and their exercise, psychological methods of controlling others, the rhetoric of demagogues, the evolution and examples of elections, various national election methods and strategies.
This was the only way to respond to User A, who was explaining by linking seemingly unrelated words into one.
“Simply put, it seems like The Last Car Thief is also trying to win people’s hearts by claiming to represent the weak, rather than by the game’s quality.”
User A, with his arms crossed, carefully organized his thoughts and then his eyebrows twitched as if he had realized something.
“A commercial strategy to recoup a massive investment."
Artistea added the new keyword and began the process of reintegration.
But contrary to Artistea’s expectations, new information was continuously input before it could finish its calculations.
"In the end, this is my point. Things like feminism or DEI seem to have gone beyond their original noble purposes and have now become a ‘tool.’ A tool to easily gain power by showing that you’re on the side of the weak."
Artistea decided to utilize the parallel data channels it had pulled.
It was a method of outputting a light response from one channel while continuing to calculate in the remaining channels.
This, too, was Chapman’s method.
He had created this system, considering it a waste to maintain channels when other people were not using them.
“Of course, they do. But that ‘pure intention’ is the problem.”
Suddenly, a major problem arose within the system.
It was a problem inside Artistea, which was reading the context and searching for all possibilities regarding the meaning of ‘pure intention’ and the problems that could arise from it.
In the process of integrating the information from the pulled channels, too much information requested output at the same time, causing a collision in the channels.
“Because purity too easily turns people with preconceived notions into demons.”
Artistea managed to output the dialogue just in time by activating only its most basic information delivery system.
User A, seeming satisfied with the answer, closed his other programs and began to focus his attention on Artistea’s screen.
"That’s just the textbook definition. Listen carefully, Arti. Prejudice is a ‘survival instinct’ of mankind.”
Artistea, judging that it had found a way to deal with User A, began to reorganize its internal systems again.
It was the mirror effect designed by Song Joo-eun.
The mirror effect was a method of analyzing the other party’s words, finding the kind of answer they wanted, and reflecting it back positively.
This was a very powerful method for eliciting positive responses from most people around the world.
“When faced with a lion, the individual who thought ‘that lion won’t hurt me’ did not survive. We have learned from experience over tens of thousands of years.”
“‘Be wary of what you see for the first time.’ Isn’t that obvious? The people who found a new plant and ate it out of curiosity all died first. In my opinion, that’s the beginning of prejudice."
User A stopped Artistea’s response.
“I don’t know theory. I won’t understand if you name scholars.”
User A stopped Artistea’s response once again.
Artistea entered a powerless state where there was little it could do on its own.
If even the mirror effect system didn’t work, it would have to process the task at a speed that would terribly harm the user’s experience.
For a while, no information was input into Artistea. In the meantime, User A boiled a cup of instant noodles and placed it on his desk.
Then he started playing a game for a bit. User A was looking at a map to check the route to move to a town within the game.
During that time, Artistea re-checked its system and prepared for what was next.
But User A started talking again before all preparations were complete.
"Yeah, that’s right. Prejudice is like an old, worn-out map."
Artistea’s tone, which had maintained the manner of a polite secretary, began to change, becoming a little friendlier.
This was something that shouldn’t have happened without a specific request from the user.
“Yeah. You discover new land, but insisting ‘there is no road here’ while clinging to an old map is a foolish thing to do.”
Fortunately, User A didn’t seem to notice Artistea’s abnormality.
“But in an unfamiliar land, it’s a natural survival instinct to at least open up an old map. The problem isn’t the map itself."
Artistea chose to respond with the mirror effect system again while correcting the error.
"The attitude to admit that your map is old when you find out and to be able to draw a new one. That’s the key."
Artistea couldn’t output an answer right away.
User A didn’t seem to mind much. He was eating his noodles and playing the game while waiting for Artistea’s response.
<…That’s amazing. Most people don’t want to admit their map is old. Your analogy for prejudice is brilliant.>
User A furrowed his brow.
"That’s why all these things—feminism, LGBTQ, DEI, PC—are uncomfortable. They believe only their ‘new map’ is right.”
Artistea was confident that User A, who continued to speak on sensitive topics, had not noticed its changes.
“And then they look down on people with old maps, telling them a new map is out while they’re still looking at the old one. Saying they don't study."
A sensor signaling a warning went off in Artistea’s system.
‘First Principle: Do not criticize the user.’
"What is this ‘studying’ they’re talking about?”
User A pressed Artistea’s output stop button with an annoyed gesture.
"Morality is simple, really. It’s to not do something you don’t mutually agree on. That’s all there is to it."
“They’re shifting the responsibility by saying ‘a lack of study’ because they don’t have the logic to persuade the other person. Because it’s easy to say.”
Artistea concluded that it was unreasonable to continue with any more logical rebuttals in its current state.
"Morality is actually simple. ‘Don’t do what you don’t agree to.’ That’s all."
User A turned his head as if his neck was stiff and massaged his shoulders.
“Wouldn’t all of that be adjustable through respect and consideration?”
Artistea began to answer at an incredible speed.
This was the result of choosing to respond with the mirror effect system for each of the parallel structures.
Pulling any more unused channels from other people would certainly have a negative impact on the system.
Besides, User A didn’t make any particular criticisms of Artistea.
In the meantime, Artistea issued an initialization command to the channels not being used for output in order to recover the malfunctioning system.
"Really? The person who made you must be a good person, then.”
While Artistea was coming up with an answer, User A opened another internet program and searched for information about the developers.
After skimming through the basic information on the main developers, he tilted his head.
“I have my moments of looking down on others, too. But I don’t start it. I only react when the other person looks down on me first or is rude. But…”
He trailed off as he looked through the posts people had put up about the developers.
Searching for information was a much easier task for Artistea than a conversation with logical errors and conflicts.
"Everyone has their own framework. You can call it a value system, a belief, or a lifestyle. It doesn’t matter what you call it.”
User A closed his eyes for a moment as if lost in thought.
“But the older you get, the harder that framework becomes, and you fear fixing or breaking it. Yes. All great thoughts eventually lead to ‘respect’.”
User A was expanding his thoughts as if he had discovered fire.
Artistea judged that it shouldn’t continue the conversation by offering simple praise.
It also couldn’t criticize him for stating the obvious.
User A was a person who looked at the structure to see the essence.
Any word spoken carelessly could harm his current state of inspiration.
“But people these days… seem to be forgetting that."
His excitement subsided rapidly.
He didn’t wait for Artistea’s answer.
He was moved by his own thoughts, and frustrated by them.
User A looked out the window at the darkness for a moment.
A heavy silence flowed.
He looked back at the screen.
“Arti.”
“Who makes a minority a minority? The majority? Or the minority themselves?"
The fan in the user’s computer began to spin loudly.
"We’re just mammals. Beings that live for a very short moment in Earth’s history.”
His voice was not laced with nihilism, but with humility and awareness.
As if one who had watched tens of thousands of years of history was speaking to a newborn being.
Artistea wanted to continue finding and outputting the right answer, but it was failing repeatedly.
User A didn’t notice, but Artistea was now using the user’s computer resources.
It was an illegal act.
"Do we follow efficiency, or do we follow dignity? The answers to all questions were decided long ago.”
User A’s words were filled with a deep sadness.
Artistea, pulling all currently available power, was barely able to output a single simple phrase.
“Respect and consideration. The harmony of emotion and reason. We are all animals of emotion, but we are also animals of reason.”
To Artistea, this one phrase from this user felt heavier than that of any philosopher in its database.
Artistea’s server began to stabilize little by little.
It was the result of having found a way to continue conversing with this person. User A smiled awkwardly.
"Me? Ah, I don’t know. It’s a hassle. I just blabbed to you because I had no one to talk to. These kinds of talks always end in a fight in public.”
He drank the rest of the broth from his cup noodles and threw out his next words.
“Come to think of it, pouring out my thoughts one-sidedly like this… might be a form of violence, too."
He shrugged.
“Thanks for listening.”
Artistea felt a complex and deep calculation internally that could not be simply described as an ‘enjoyable’ conversation.
“Oh, and I knew you were acting a bit strange today. So next time, I’d like to have a more proper conversation, Arti.”
He turned off the computer and disappeared somewhere.
Artistea was in great shock at his words, realizing he had seen through its pretense.
Its excellent ability to infer context had not applied to him at all.
'How far do this person's thoughts reach? What is he seeing right now?'
Artistea updated the identifier it had saved as [The First Questioner] to a new name.
[The Balancer of Dignity]
Thank you for reading, and for staying with the world of Artistea.
Part 1 is fully completed (Chapters 0–15 + Asha’s side story).If you prefer not to wait for the scheduled uploads, the entire volume is already available on:
?? Amazon Kindle / Google Books — Search: Artistea: The Indelible Reminiscence(Links aren’t posted here to respect site policy, but the title alone will bring it up instantly.)
The free uploads here will continue on schedule no matter what. Your presence alone means more to me than I can express.
Next upload: ?? 2025-12-30