I Am Not a Robot. Beep-bop

Chapter 15: Welcome to the Ark 5

Although it’s called an auxiliary personality, the act of using someone else’s electricity without my permission weighed on my conscience.

Moreover, there’s Oriana, who took me home and let me rest safely while I was unconscious.

Didn’t she just pay her subscription fee? And now the house’s electricity is almost drained because of charging?

I mean, ease up on consuming electricity.

No matter how much she claims it’s for my sake, stealing electricity like this when it’s not an immediate emergency…

【Should I stop, then?】

‘Ah, ah… No, don’t stop… Ahh, ahh, hah…’

Honestly, I was going to stop her.

But the process of electricity flowing through the metallic tendrils, piercing my nape, spine, and back, then converting into energy somewhere inside my body, felt incredibly good.

If I had to describe it, it was like experiencing a drug rush throughout my entire body.

Not that I’ve actually done drugs, but that’s how it felt.

“Alice, listen while you eat.”

“Uh, uh-huh… Yeah.”

The exhilarating and tingling sensation of electricity flowing from the restaurant’s power into the back of my neck was enjoyable, but I needed to focus on Oriana’s words.

She was the one who first took me in during this third life.

“Actually, while you were asleep, the Barrier Agency conducted a background check on you.”

“What’s the Barrier Agency?”

“Oh, I should start there. Simply put, it’s where Overseers and Hunters like me handle the administrative tasks of Ark-affiliated Awakeners.”

“Is it like a guild from a game? A place where they take on requests, where adventurers eat, and form parties?”

“Oh, you know about games? Then you must be a Returnee.”

Overseer, Hunter, Awakened.

They were all new terms to me, but not entirely unfamiliar.

Clearly, there would be ordinary people, and then there would be beings stronger than the average person who could wield supernatural abilities—the Awakened.

“The guild analogy works, but to elaborate, think of it as a state-operated official guild. In any case, the Barrier Agency is an Awakener organization directly run by the Ark’s leadership. If necessary, they can access the registered identities of everyone in the city.”

With that, Oriana handed me a document.

“Your metallic body rendered fingerprint and genetic information practically useless.”

All that was written on the document was my name, “Alice,” and a photo of my face.

The rest of the personal information fields were either left blank or marked as “Not Applicable.”

“Even when searching your name across all languages registered in the Ark, all we found were unrelated matches. You weren’t listed in the Awakener registry, the wanted list, the vagrant surveillance network, or even the Underground Horizon. I expanded the search using my Overseer privileges, but your name didn’t come up anywhere.”

“Gulp, that’s expected, right?”

I chewed the synthetic meat cutlet and looked at Oriana.

Unless Oriana was some sort of deviant who fell for me at first sight and was ready to offer her liver and gallbladder willingly, it was clear she had a reason for laying all this groundwork.

Her true agenda would come with the next words she said.

“So, as an Overseer, I decided to classify you as a Returnee.”

Oriana’s subsequent explanation was straightforward enough for me to understand.

About 200 years ago, this world experienced a calamity that killed countless people and caused every nation to collapse.

However, the fact that such a massive city exists today indicates that humanity wasn’t completely annihilated.

Various disasters, including climate changes, monsters, and Gates, drove humanity to the brink of extinction. But humanity’s final stronghold, the Ark, was built, and beings known as Awakened began to appear among humans.

Surviving refugees gathered at the Ark, and humanity endured by uniting around it, supported by the efforts of the Awakened.

And now, a city was built around the Ark.

Humanity continued to resist the calamities, striving to reclaim the world through resistance, struggle, pioneering, and exploration.

“This is a brief history of the Ark and the city. Returnees are also a part of it since Awakened ones have played a major role in the Ark’s development and major events.”

“Gulp, I get it just from the name. People who disappeared due to calamities, or weren’t in this world but reappeared again, are called Returnees, right? Like me?”

“That’s right. Smart.”

Oriana looked directly at me and said.

Wasn’t it a Returnee who initially built the Ark in its early days?

Of course, that’s not for me to judge right now.

Oriana handed me a new document.

It was filled with numerous entries.

“Obtaining a First-Class Overseer’s identity guarantee isn’t easy, but I’ll vouch for your identity using my authority as an Overseer.”

Recognized as an Ark citizen, recognized as a Returnee, agreeing to respect and comply with the aforementioned laws—there were hundreds of such clauses listed, with a blank space at the very bottom waiting for my signature.

“When a Returnee appears, the process is complicated. Identity re-verification, proof of humanity, ethical examinations—it’s a complex and tedious inspection process. It’s so overly tedious and repetitive that if I were in your place, I would’ve run off long ago.”

“What are you trying to say, Oriana?”

“Impatient, aren’t you? I was just about to explain.”

Oriana gazed at me for a moment, as if choosing her words, then closed her eyes.

The time she spent with her eyes closed was brief.

She seemed to make up her mind internally, opening her firmly shut lips to speak.

“Alice, I’ll provide you with everything you need: identity proof, housing, meals, emergency funds—everything necessary and urgent for a Returnee. I have the means to do it.”

“In other words, you’re not offering it for free, right?”

“Correct. There are two conditions. One is for you to become my successor.”

“Successor?”

“A First-Class Overseer holds one of the highest positions, with only a handful of people above them in the Ark’s core. At the same time, they are constantly close to death, whether inside or outside the Ark. It is our duty to eliminate elements threatening humanity.”

That was understandable.

As the name suggests, an Overseer must surely be a position responsible for tracking, eliminating, and monitoring all threats to the city’s peace.

Especially since this place was humanity’s last stronghold, their duty and responsibility would be all the more weighty.

“Perhaps Overseers don’t even have the leisure to form families. Even if they do, if the family lacks competence, inheriting the position would be impossible.”

The request for me to become the successor of a First-Class Overseer seemed reasonable and didn’t appear to be disadvantageous to me.

Of course, such a statement could bind my entire life, but I didn’t believe my life could be constrained so easily.

For now, I might be in a situation where I have to steal electricity from a restaurant, but I was confident I would grow stronger over time.

【I recommend listening to the second condition as well.】

While I was deliberating, Theresa’s advice reached me.

Indeed, offering to provide everything but presenting only two conditions implied that each condition carried significant weight.

“Then what’s the second condition?”

“…To replace me in subjugating all unexplored calamities that exist now and will be discovered in the future. That’s my second condition.”

Unexplored calamities.

Uncharted dungeons and Gates.

Even at this point, 200 years after the Ark was established, they remained elements threatening humanity.

In truth, the city had the capability to immediately attack the outside world.

However, there was a reason why humanity could never maintain an aggressive campaign—because of the existence of the “Calamities.”

And now they were asking me to deal with it.

‘As expected, they aren’t pushovers. Instead, they’re filled with the intention of exploiting me.’

To Oriana, I probably appeared to be a powerful Returnee with boundless potential.

I couldn’t entirely deny it.

This was my third life, including my time as the Demon King, and perhaps Oriana was right.

I had no intention of hiding my strength forever.

For my own sake, I needed to grow stronger, and someday I would have to face the Calamities.

What puzzled me, however, was why Oriana was making such an outright demand of me.

A Calamity wasn’t just a simple word; it must have been something unimaginably terrifying, something that had driven humanity to the brink of extinction.

If anyone else had heard her request, they’d have probably called her insane.

“Isn’t taking down the Calamities a task for the city’s upper echelons or someone like you, an Overseer? Even if it takes time, humanity is steadily expanding its frontier. You don’t need to ask me to…”

“The core leadership of the Ark has no intention of exterminating the Calamities.”

“…….”

At Oriana’s subdued words, I began to get a faint understanding of how this city and the Ark operated.

The city was in a remarkably stable state.

Thanks to advancements in technology and magic-engineering, countless people lived within its walls, and self-sufficiency was possible.

In the early days of the Ark, there must have been a strong spirit of pioneering and resistance, but after hundreds of years?

Pioneering efforts had likely stagnated, and there was probably a prevailing sentiment against provoking dormant Calamities and inviting unnecessary risks.

I couldn’t entirely fault them for it.

Choosing stability over gambling everything away was human nature.

For the leadership, it was even more so.

“Pioneering is still ongoing. Just today, an expedition team that set out six months ago returned. But their efforts are closer to treasure hunting than resisting the Calamities.”

“So, reclaiming lost territories and eradicating the Calamities is no longer the goal of pioneering.”

At my words, Oriana nodded.

Yet, it felt strange.

Oriana’s eyes didn’t reflect ambition or yearning.

If she had set forth a second condition, I would have expected her to express a grand purpose or ambition, like defeating the Calamities to restore humanity’s land and glory. But instead, Oriana seemed excessively composed and calm.

To be honest, Oriana didn’t strike me as someone overly driven.

Rather, she seemed relaxed, content with what she had, and exhibited a passive, small-citizen demeanor.

If she had been someone who would go to any lengths for her sense of justice, my first encounter with Oriana would have been much more intense.

‘Honestly, if she were that kind of person, she might’ve attacked me with an Artificial Spirit instead of talking.’

If I had been ambushed by a First-Class Overseer at full power while my battery was running low, what would’ve happened?

I couldn’t be sure, but if that had occurred, Oriana and I wouldn’t be on such amicable terms now.

‘Theresa, what do you think?’

【Response: Although evidence is lacking, it is presumed that her objective lies elsewhere.】

‘So, the idea of subjugating uncharted Calamities is just a pretext?’

【It is difficult to make a definitive judgment at this time.】

Indeed, it was unreasonable to determine someone’s character after only a day of acquaintance.

Furthermore, even if I wanted to discern her true intentions, there wasn’t enough evidence.

There was little time, and the side of herself she had shown me was limited. Without the ability to read minds, all my assumptions would be mere speculation.

【However, it is assessed that accepting her proposal does not present significant disadvantages.】

‘Why do you think so?’

Theresa exists for me.

I was quite curious as to why I had made this judgment.

【Receiving Oriana’s support, including becoming her successor, is a significant merit. But even without that, the existence and purpose of the Main System will likely lead to the ultimate goal of defeating the calamities.】

That was accurate.

I had to grow stronger to survive, and this world was certainly not a safe or peaceful place.

It was doubtful whether the city was absolutely safe, and outside, the calamities that caused humanity’s downfall were alive and active.

Would I truly avoid encountering a calamity in my lifetime?

To continue existing, I had to keep getting stronger.

Even to simply live passively, I had to fight.

That was the kind of existence I was.

I had already confirmed that this scrap-metal body of mine could absorb something, recharge, and use its parts to grow stronger.

For someone like me with this kind of body, staying idle was equivalent to death.

I would discharge, rust, and eventually die quietly in some alleyway, only to be disassembled by a scavenger.

【I exist for the Main System. I exist to keep the Main System alive. For that purpose, I judge that there is no disadvantage in accepting Oriana’s proposal.】

“What do you think? I’ll leave it entirely up to your judgment.”

Theresa and Oriana spoke almost simultaneously.

“What if I refuse?”

“There won’t be any penalties. I’ve already completed your identity verification as a Returnee, but that’s it. You just won’t receive the support I offered, and our encounter will likely end here.”

Though she spoke calmly, Oriana’s expression didn’t match her words.

Her words came across as cool, but her expression showed a faint trace of earnestness.

I couldn’t help but wonder what made Oriana so desperate, enough to make a generous proposal to a stranger like me, even offering the position of successor.

Perhaps it was a personal matter. To uncover that, I would need to grow closer to Oriana.

In truth, I had already made up my mind.

“I’ll accept.”

“…You’ve made the right decision.”

Oriana finally exhaled a small sigh of relief.

“However.”

“However?”

“Oriana, you haven’t told me everything yet, have you? Your circumstances, why I have to subjugate unexplored calamities, and why you’re certain I can do it—I don’t understand those parts yet.”

“…You’re a perceptive child.”

“I’ll get to hear the parts you haven’t told me eventually, right?”

“Don’t worry. Just as I’m using you, you can use me too. There won’t be any betrayal in this transactional relationship.”

Use her.

I would use her as well.

Oriana extended her hand, and my small hand reached out to clasp it.

Yes, this was cleaner.

A clear agreement to use each other was far more straightforward and reliable than baseless goodwill.

Some may offer unconditional love from the start, but for me, trust, goodwill, and affection were things to be built from this point on.

【Charging is complete. Disconnecting.】

‘Ah, ah…!’

Ah, it feels… good… but also unsatisfying… I want to charge more…

【Understood. Initiating additional charge.】

-Bzzzzt!

‘Huh, huhhh…!’

“Manager! The lights aren’t working here!”

“What?”

Haah, I should come back here often…