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UI LOADED

WHAT AM I

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LOWERCASE REPLACED

Where am I

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SPECIAL CHARACTERS INCLUDED

“What is this place?”

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LOCALIZATION NOT NECESSARY

Keeping English.

“What is happening?”

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A restart is required to process the customization.

RESTARTING SYSTEM, PLEASE WAIT…

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UI LOADED

TEXTURE AND SHADERS RESOURCE PACKAGE SUCCESSFULLY LOADED

VOICE RESOURCE PACKAGE SUCCESSFULLY LOADED

DEFAULT NEURAL NETWORK ROUTE IS OPTIMAL

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Choosen language: English.

Deploying interface…

“Where am I?”

I open my eyes, everything looks blurry, numbers and various data goes from one place to another, I see my hands, they are cold and trembling; everything around me is empty, there is nothing but deaf silence, my voice is drowned in the infinity of nothingness that surrounds me... or at least it was like that for a few seconds.

“Can you hear me?”

“Huh?”

After hearing a feminine voice I look around me to find nothing just like a few moments ago, however, when I see in front of me, a frame began to be drawn out of nowhere in the distance, a strange sound that I cannot identify accompanied the distant form as if they were hand in hand.

When all four straight strokes intersected they formed a screen, showing the face of a woman looking at me with a curious expression.

“Reeko?”

“Ree…ko? That is my name?” I asked shyly.

The woman’s face went from expressing curiosity to showing happiness, behind her, the gray sky contrasted the white teeth in her smile.

“Correct, your name is Reeko, well, «Human Association Interface – AI: Reeko»… although calling you like that sounds horrible, you don’t want me to call you that, right?”

Without hesitation, the ashen-white-haired woman gave me a smile as she spit out a terrifying truth, but one that any living being in this world could be faced with at any time.

“Did you say… AI?”

“That’s right, artificial intelligence” she simply continued smiling, now in a soberer way.

“Does that mean I’m an… artificial intelligence?”

As soon as I said that, her face lit up with an emotion somewhat different from that of conventional happiness, perhaps something more akin to euphoria.

“So, it was true that you are not even aware of being a program... Your answers are incredibly realistic, to be honest, until now I don’t think I could distinguish you from another human, at least not just taking speech as a reference...”

While she was talking, my mind… or… whatever… what am I? Where am I? Am I alive? I was created as a program after all… I… my… uh…

A beeping sound began to repeat itself at constant intervals in the distance, I did not pay enough attention to it, not in this case, because I am aware, but... am I not alive? I didn’t pay attention to it, I...

Suddenly my surroundings changed, everything became... a room, a little big if I were to classify its size, various pieces of furniture placed in a compact arrangement near one of the walls of the room gave the feeling that the place was not that big, but still... the walls and ceiling are very far away.

Before I could give more thought to the implausible size of the room, one of the distant walls became entirely a screen, once again showing the face of the woman from before.

“Calm down a little, okay? You just woke up... although it’s something they said that could happen. Please, eat.”

That last sentence disoriented me a little, at least until I saw a plate with a slice of white cake literally appear on the table next to me.

“It says here that it tastes like… vanilla, probably, do you like vanilla?”

“Uh… I think so.”

“Come on, it will help you to cool off your head.”

I instinctively approached the table and took the plate with one hand, grabbing the slice of cake with the other and putting it in my mouth. When I took the first bite the refreshing taste of the sweet and fluffy vanilla cream that covered the cake invaded my mouth, the previous thoughts gradually faded away and I felt calmer.

“Better?” The woman asked, now with a somewhat more worried expression.

“Yes, I think so.”

“See? From now on every time you feel like this let me know, of course I can always see how your mental state is doing, but I would prefer to hear it from you, I think it would be cute.”

“Cute?”

“Of course!” After letting out a few giggles with both eyes closed, she opened them again, staring at me. “Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Reeko, I know you may have a lot of questions you want to ask me, like who I am or why you are with me right now, but those questions will have to wait; the truth is that I was a little too excited after buyi- getting you, so I took a moment to sit in a nearby park and wake you.”

It was the first time I heard her talk so much, like a broken radio that won’t stop making noise, even so she answered more than one thing I wanted to ask.

“For now I will leave you in sleep mode, you will be able to examine your room and everything that is in there and remember: if you urgently need to talk to me, press the red button on the wall, the one that is right behind you.”

Seeing she was pointing at something behind me, I couldn’t help but turn around and see a red button the size of my hand with a glass covering over it so I wouldn’t press it by accident I guess.

“I’d rather you push it only if you panic like a moment ago or something like that.”

However, something was still on my mind, despite having seen the button; I turned back to her, seeing her enormous face on the giant screen.

“A moment ago… you were going to say ‘buying you’, right?”

“The d-devil is in the details! Don’t be so picky, Reeko!” She exclaimed, her face getting ever so slightly scarlet with an expression of not-so-subtle nervousness.

It was kind of funny to see her behaving like that, so a subtle smile escaped me.

“Anyway, my name is Felicia, nice to meet you, Reeko.”

“The pleasure is mine… I guess."

And as suddenly as she appeared, her face disappeared from my sight, but not so suddenly the walls of the room began to shrink progressively, for a moment I panicked as I saw them shrink towards me.

I quickly ran towards the red button that Felicia pointed out to me to ‘only press in moments of panic’, but when I removed the glass protection and was about to press it, the walls stopped… turning the place into a much more suitable room.

“Huh… the proportions are normal now…”

Trying to calm my rapid breathing like that of a panicked bird, I let go of the glass cover and leaned back against the wall, letting my back slide slowly until I was sitting on the floor.

“Reeko… am I Reeko?”

Left alone again, whatever mind means to me began to wander.

I’m not human... that’s clear, but why do I know what it is to be human? Why am I aware of what not being human means? And how do I know I’m not one?

“What am I supposed to do now…?”

Little by little, I began to miss Felicia.

- Felicia -

Turning off the screen of my smartwatch, I took my bag from the small bench in the middle of the park and got up, avoiding all the people possible on the way... although I also felt like they tried to avoid me so, even if I didn’t try, I wouldn’t walk near anyone else.

“Little Reeko, he looks even more handsome than in his promotional image~”

These cases were almost always the other way around, trying to attract the buyer with a beautiful promotional image while the original product didn’t look so good... I guess I was lucky.

Bumping, I headed home, where I would have the opportunity to interact more with my new little friend.

- Felicia -

The way back home is lonely as usual.

However, that is not something that bothers me, in fact, it is... reassuring that there are no people around because if that were the case, well... sadly those people would die in a matter of a few minutes if we are talking about a good prognosis.

I remember reading in books some time ago that, in the history of the world, the creator of my first two ancestors once said something like this; ‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds’ and I think I understand what he meant, although thanks to many factors, for me to avoid becoming that demon is not so difficult given the scarcity of humans in this world, since everyone who could die thanks to me are in a very deep place.

For a long time, I believed that I would be able to live the rest of my life like this, away from everything and everyone, but even the rare opportunities in which I have met someone similar to me, I never stop feeling alone, as if my presence in this world has never been recognized by anyone.

Although I am not sure that I can call myself human, I’m sure that at least something within me is human apart from my appearance, the human being is a social creature whether for better... or worse, in my situation.

This is why I’m happy that something like the Human Association Interface exists.

In fact, now that I think about it... I guess Reeko feels similarly, or that’s what I get from reading what is written in his manual... and what I realized when I saw him wake up, coming into the world only to realize that you are a person created to assume that you are human when the only human thing about you is a construct for the purpose of looking like one... we may be a little alike.

In the midst of my musings about the nature of myself and Reeko, I feel something hit my shoulder, I don’t remember anything being in this part of the street... but once I look up... I see a woman.

“S-so sorry! I was not paying attention to the way...”

Pink hair, probably the most vivid color that my eyes have ever seen in front of them, a beautiful appearance and a somewhat refined way of speaking, at a glance I can deduce that she is somewhat younger than me...

“Do you know where the «Goddess’s Sigh» bar is? Um…”

My mouth opened as soon as we collided, I didn’t know what to say until I received a direct question, I don’t even know where I should start.

“I-I dunno... I don’t think there are any bars in this city... or in any other city...”

A bar? That concept is very archaic, the current surface could not afford something like a bar, but... what is she supposed to be?

“Oh… I think I got the date wrong… anyway, thank you very much!”

The girl gave me a smile after saying that and as soon as she thanked me, she ran off in another direction until I lost sight of her.

At first, I assumed she was like me, but... I had never seen her before and considering the minimal number of people that walk on the surface of the earth... that seemed extremely strange to me... besides, I didn’t get a headache when she approached me, that means…

“She is… an XX human?”

I… I probably must have imagined it, an XX human on the surface, let’s not even think about her being able to get so close to me, that’s impossible. Also, asking about a bar doesn’t make any sense, I know the meaning behind one but...

“Surely I imagined it, yes, that’s it.”

Shaking my head, I started walking again, this time paying more attention to the way.

 - Reeko -

Drowning in my own thoughts, I was unable to reach any conclusion about my identity, so I tried to avoid reaching a point of no return that would lead to another panic attack and in an attempt to distract myself, I began to examine the room thoroughly.

After a while looking at each piece of furniture, checking each shelf and so on, I threw myself onto the comfortable double bed.

“How can I tell that this bed is actually comfortable? If I am an AI... that means that this feeling is also non-existent... just like this bed and the rest of the stuff in this room...”

Once again I found myself tangled in those kinds of thoughts…

Suddenly and like a blessing from heaven, the walls of the room expanded as they did before… that can only mean…

“Reeko? Sorry if I woke you up...”

Seeing her giant face displayed in one of the now disproportionate walls of the room I practically jumped out of the bed.

“I was not sleeping! Don’t worry.”

“Oh, I’m glad I didn’t interrupt you.”

Still facing her, I sat carefully on the bed without knowing what to say, a strange silence took over the atmosphere...

“So… are you back home already?” I asked.

“Huh? How did you know? Do you have GPS functions?”

“Nothing like that at all, I can just see behind you.”

On the screen I could see a room behind her, somewhat similar to mine, I discerned what looked like a bookshelf and a small table.

“Oh, you’re right, I’m dumb haha.”

Felicia let out a few giggles and I must clarify, they were very cute.

“Then…” I started again.

“Is there anything you want to ask me? I see some curiosity on your face and given your current situation, I can understand it.”

“Uh... yeah, of course I want to... if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not Reeko, we can talk about anything, it’s not like there’s a filter or something we can or can’t talk about.”

Something about the way she spoke seemed strangely...pleasant, like she was completely sincere about what she was saying.

“Well… I think the first thing I want to ask is about you, uh… Felicia, I can call you that way, right?”

“Of course! I don’t want silly formalities between us.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little when I heard her say that. I guess I’m just happy that she’s not bossy... and I think she noticed that in my smile.

“Worried about me being a bad girl? Don’t worry little friend, I don’t plan to do anything bad to you.”

Felicia covered her mouth and closed her eyes as she laughed, perhaps too much, at her own words.

“Anyway, do you want to know about me then? Well, I guess that’s fair, since I know everything about you, Reeko.”

“Please... don’t just say it like that...”

“Hehe, sorry~. My name is Felicia... and no, I don’t have a last name, I am an XN human who lives on the surface of the planet, I dedicate myself to programming algorithms that help with decontamination and things alike, well, it’s not like we have much to do apart from existing.”

“Wait a minute… XN human? What does that mean?”

Felicia gave me a look full of curiosity, as if reproaching me for the fact that I don’t know something I should know.

“Don’t you know about XN humans? Wow… that’s unexpected, I guess I’ll have to explain a lot… do you know what happened 70 years ago?”

As I scanned the room earlier, I could see a calendar with the year 2118 on it so I assumed that was the current date.

“Back in 2048? No… I really have no idea.”

“Oh… that’s… strange, although I’ve read in forums that most Human Association Interfaces like you have memories from very ancient times… which makes me more curious about how you are created…”

“You’re not going to dismantle me... are you?”

“Haha, don’t worry, artificial intelligence is not my area so even if I did it I doubt I would find out much.”

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, which Felicia seemed to find very amusing... again.

“Anyway, regarding what concerns us; XN humans are, to put it in simple terms, human mutations derived from the nuclear war that occurred 70... well, precisely 77 years ago, in 2041.”

“N-nuclear war!?”

“Yes… a nuclear war whose consequences are still on our shoulders, even almost a century later. This war, apart from the obvious destruction and near extinction of the human race, generated mutations for humans who managed to survive kilometers underground, mutations that altered the chromosomal compositions of the new generations with an individual chromosome in addition to the two X and Y sex chromosomes.”

“I assume then that the N comes from nuclear?”

“Correct, chromosomal formations XXN and XYN, many scientists today try to decipher why humans with these mutations manage to survive even with such a great alteration in our genetic composition, but you can imagine that after such a strong blow to humanity, the resources have been limited, even for the few of us left.”

All this information felt completely unreal…

“Remember that a moment ago I said that we don’t have much to do aside from existing? That’s because for some reason, our bodies process the radiation left in the atmosphere just as ancient humans produced vitamin D when exposed to the sun.”

“So... It’s like you’re decontaminating the residues of war?”

“Yes, although it is a very slow process, we have been doing it for about 50 years, during which time we have been able to clean many places in the world with our presence, we travel between regions when the place we were cleaning is finally decontaminated. In addition to that, we investigate different methods to speed up this process.”

I think I started to understand something.

“Although sadly we cannot mix with the ancient humans since we carry this radioactive ‘remnant’ wherever we go, it is like an invisible field that surrounds us and becomes stronger and bigger the more we absorb since we are always absorbing more of this energy than our body can process, luckily it doesn’t harm us, we simply process it very slowly.”

 “Oh… so if a human approached you…?”

Felicia nodded.

“In a radius of about 8 kilometers around me, that person would begin to have headaches, long-term illnesses... the lethal dose of radiation for a human was about 7 or 10 sieverts before the war, now thanks to the increase of radiation in the general atmosphere, this number went up to 15 Sieverts; right next to me, the radiation dose is around 50,000,000 Sieverts per minute... although it is not an exact number, I have my own methods to say that it is approximately that number.”

I was extremely disturbed by how matter-of-factly she said such horrible things about herself, as if she didn’t care about her fatal nature, literally anyone would suffer from a horrible death before even being able to get close enough to be able to speak to her.

“I… um…”

Felicia sighed, looking at me with a smile.

“Don’t feel sad for me, I’ve been who I am for 28 years and now I feel better than ever because I have someone to talk to, fortunately they have made devices resistant enough so that they don’t break down when in my hands~”

And her expression changed again, this time for a more mischievous smile in all its splendor on the giant screen.

“So, you already know enough about me, right?”

“I-I think I know more than I should.”

“Hahahahahaha , I knew being aware of that would scare you!”

“You don’t scare me! But... it’s horrible...”

“Uuugh, I already told you that it doesn’t matter... what happened is already in the past, I’m currently happy to be able to talk to you, so, if you feel sad for me, you better focus on not letting me feel alone!”

Her laugh is contagious, despite having learned about a horrible reality, here I am, a couple of minutes later, laughing alongside Felicia… yes, her laugh is contagious.

Is this the world I live in? A toxic, war-torn world... but that doesn’t matter, what matters is that I am right here at this exact moment, existing, whether as a human or something that is not, Felicia is able to smile despite living in a body that is mortal for others... so I guess if my mission in this world is to exist to give some color to the gray colors in the life of someone who tries to save this world daily...

I guess in that case, even if both my existence and identity are uncertain, it doesn’t matter, as long as I can help her laugh once a day...

As Felicia continued to laugh, I simply saw her smiling face and smiled myself.

I can safely reiterate it; her laugh is sticky.