121: Why were artificial humans created?

"Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome. Next time, though, it'd be great if you brought work with you. Ah, I mean, not from you personally, but from someone else."

"Ah, well, if the opportunity arises."

After finishing our conversation, we stepped out of the room as if nothing had happened, returned the key to the convenience store clerk, and left the shop.

After we left the store, I kept an eye on the police station through the main unit for a while... Hmm, someone's illegally infiltrated it—just one person, but definitely not legitimate.

He was apprehended by the shopkeeper who'd just been talking to me.

Something's off about this Imperial Army Intelligence Unit—either their training's poor or their initial response was suspiciously illegal. Definitely a shady character...

"Vee. We've already caught one person."

"Wha—really...?"

"...Could it be a criminal organization rather than an intelligence unit?"

"Either way, they're definitely low-level."

For now, report to Vilijaniura.

Everyone's confused, but they actually did catch someone...

"By the way, Sata. The person earlier mentioned you were a 'contemporary'—what does that mean?"

"Ah, it can only mean artificial humans manufactured at the same time. I'm sorry to say, I don't recognize their face or name. I'm rather unusual, so I didn't have much interaction with my contemporaries."

"I see."

Regardless, I answered Vilijaniura's question.

Well, the only thing I can say about them is that they were manufactured in the same year as me, educated and deployed as ordinary androids—unlike me, a cosmic monster—and despite their five-year employment period having ended, they chose not to leave Seiryo Corporation but instead opted to work as a clerk at a police station outpost.

Well, considering he’s completed five years of service at headquarters, is in good health, has been assigned to a department that’s practically the face of the company, and effortlessly subdues anyone who recklessly crosses him, he’s definitely one of the more outstanding individuals among his peers.

"Does Satou ring any bells?"

"Not really. To be honest, I’m not good at remembering faces or names, and artificial humans all kind of look the same anyway."

"But they seem to know about Satā-sama."

"I was special, that's all. From my perspective, they're just someone a little closer than others—nothing more. Calling them siblings wouldn't make sense, given how many artificial humans Seiryō Corporation has created."

Besides, I don't care about whether I was better or worse than my peers.

After all, I'm a cosmic monster.

Truly one of a kind—completely in a class of my own.

"Shall I go buy dinner ingredients? I get the feeling we'll find some nice ones."

"Indeed. Let's do that. Note it down."

"Yes. Here is the ship's inventory record, Master Sata."

"Much appreciated."

There are no more plans for today.

If I were on a colony like this, normally I'd just pop into a casual restaurant for dinner, buy a bento, or eat in my hotel room... but for some reason, the food here—especially the ingredients sold in shops—seems to be of remarkably high quality.

This chicken meat, for instance, looks like it could provide a very good source of protein.

Yeah, I'll pick some up.

"Um, going back a bit, why exactly is Seiryō Corporation making artificial humans? I can't really see how a company that does mod inspections and development would need that."

"Well, simply put, there are times when we need to use human wave tactics."

As I compared the cabbages, I answered Joharisu's question.

"Human wave tactics, huh?"

The employees at Seiryō Corporation are certainly skilled, but they don't have infinite stamina, resources, or time. That's precisely why mod inspections can't always be resolved through theory and calculations alone. Human labor is unavoidable. If it were just a matter of testing around a hundred patterns at one minute each, that'd be fine—but trying to do it for 100,000 or 200,000 patterns? Impossible.

"That's... true enough, sir."

Still, this is a public space, after all.

It'd be wiser to avoid such gory topics.

For instance, a colleague who died suddenly after a minor but catastrophic incident caused his body to vanish halfway—things like that.

Yeah, sure, Seiryō Corporation is indeed a white-collar company, but that's only in a legal sense. If you look closely at the nature of their work, there are plenty of dark, blood-stained aspects, and those dark parts aren't something society can afford to eliminate.

That's why Seiryō Corporation was granted permission to create artificial humans.

They needed personnel capable of performing dangerous tasks that could cost lives—tasks that required human flexibility but at a low cost.

Although I'm a space monster and thus kept my distance, I'll never grow fond of the stench emanating from that department.

Still, Seiryō Corporation is ultimately on the white side of things.

The reason the employment period is set at five years is due to imperial law, but at Seiryō Corporation, they provide adequate training within those five years, give sufficient compensation once the period ends, and then allow individuals to live as ordinary human beings.

As for that department, the number of researchers who truly enjoy their work... could probably be counted on one hand.

Even if there were some risky situations or dangerous experiments, they seemed to always prioritize safety equipment and careful planning. Besides, the mod that Seiryō Corporation had constantly deployed across the entire colony was already that kind of thing... Yeah, definitely a white hat.

At the very least, compared to companies that went bankrupt after exploiting artificial humans as cheap labor, or criminals who sold artificial humans as gourmet delicacies, or space pirates who used artificially created humans as combat units after erasing their self-awareness—Seiryō Corporation was infinitely cleaner.

"Sat? "

"Hm? Ah, I was just lost in thought."

"Is that so? If there's no problem, then it's fine..."

I must have been lost in thought a bit too long.

For now, I'll just buy the higher-quality cabbage.

"Um... did I ask something weird?"

"Artificial humans are inevitably seen as a dirty subject within the empire. It's not something that naturally comes up in conversation, but it's not exactly kept secret either. If you're interested, it might be worth looking into."

"Ugh... I'll check it out when I'm mentally ready."

The conversation between Joharisu and Memokushi, murmuring quietly... well, I'll just pretend I didn't hear.

I'm not exactly involved, after all.

"Let's boil napa cabbage and chicken together for dinner—this'll serve as both soup and the main dish."

"That sounds... delicious."

"Glug glug."

Yeah, but right now, it's dinner time.

I'll do my best to make it tasty.