Ame no Hi no Iris

Chapter 4 - Letters Part 3

August 16 'Oval Times' Column Excerpt

Modern Robotics 35 'The End of a Certain Robot.'

It happened on the morning of August 10.

At the Venus Fountain Plaza in front of the Oval Station, a man who was smoking a circlet cigarette to pass time while waiting for a train saw a strange scene.

A robot was collapsed in front of the goddess statue.

If that's all, it would be just a small matter, but the strangeness of this time lies in what the robot did.

The collapsed robot had only its upper torso, its lower body seemed to have been bombed away. Only its head and its right arm was connected to its body.

However, the robot crawled forward by extending its only arm, dragging its body forward , passing by the main street of the commercial street to reach the side of the goddess statue. It used about ten minutes to crawl a distance of a hundred meters or so, and it placed an item at the foot of the goddess statue when it reached the center of the fountain. It was a silver cigarette case. After that, the robot proceeded to mutter to the goddess statue as though it was in conversation with the statue. Probably because it used up its battery, it stopped.

After learning about this incident, I recalled the lecture that the prestigious Professor Umbrella who was the authority in robotic engineering who died in an accident last May. Professor pointed out that robot having 'hallucinations' might be one of the signs that happen when they go on a rampage. It might be a hallucination that was born from the robot's strong wish to search for its beloved owner.

After Professor passed away, though there weren't any evidence that could prove this hypothetical theory, I still felt interested in Professor's theory. Did the robot that appeared at the fountain plaza see hallucinations during its last moments as well? If Professor Umbrella is still alive, I would really feel like asking for her opinion. ……

(Omitted)

According to the results that I've inquired form the Robots Management Department of the Oval branch, the remains of the robot had already been disposed as scrap metal.

(Writer- Karen Cloudy)