Matahari terbenam di Sierra III sebenarnya tidak jauh berbeda dari matahari terbenam di Bumi. Melihat matahari perlahan tenggelam di balik laut membuatku dan Mimi tersenyum.
“Waa…… Indah sekali! Eh? Apa bintang di Sistem Sierra memang berwarna seperti itu?”
“Oh, warnanya begitu karena fenomena yang disebut hamburan Rayleigh. Fenomena itu juga yang membuat langit berwarna biru pada siang hari. Kalau tidak salah, pengaruh atmosfer membuat lebih banyak cahaya biru tersaring pada siang hari. Saat sore tiba, jarak yang harus ditempuh cahaya matahari untuk melewati atmosfer makin panjang. Cahaya biru diserap oleh atmosfer, sehingga cahaya kemerahanlah yang sampai ke mata kita. Kurang lebih begitu. Pengetahuanku soal ini samar-samar, jadi belum tentu benar.”
“Oh, begitu! Hiro-sama pintar sekali.”
“Hahaha, tidak juga.”
Sebenarnya aku meniru tokoh utama anime dan novel ringan yang menyampaikan pengetahuan setengah matang kepada tokoh perempuan demi mendapat sedikit pujian. Aku juga tidak terlalu paham fisika. Malah, akan lebih tepat kalau kita bertanya kepada robot pelayan atau mencari jawabannya lewat terminal portabel.
Mimi duduk di pantai berpasir dan mulai menikmati matahari terbenam. Aku ikut duduk tepat di sampingnya. Sepertinya sudah lama sekali aku tidak duduk seperti ini sambil melihat matahari terbenam, sejak masih kecil.
“Sejak mulai berkelana melintasi galaksi bersama Hiro-sama, semuanya terasa seperti mimpi yang paling indah. Kalau kuceritakan pengalamanku kepada diriku yang setahun lalu, mungkin dia akan bertanya apakah aku sedang mengarang cerita untuk holo-novel.”
“Begitukah? Kurasa memang begitu. Kalau aku bisa menceritakan pengalamanku sekarang kepada diriku yang setahun lalu…… pasti dia akan menganggapku berkhayal.”
Begitu sadar semua ini benar-benar terjadi, mungkin dia akan mencekikku karena iri. Hahaha. Pasti dia bakal bilang, ‘Sial! Kau bisa bercinta sepuasnya dengan loli berdada besar seperti Mimi dan peri bertubuh ramping nan cantik seperti Elma! Aku iri sekali!’
“Setiap hari memang terasa seperti mimpi. Kadang-kadang, pikiran itu membuatku takut. Sesekali aku berpikir, jangan-jangan sebenarnya aku masih berada di blok ketiga, terus disiksa, dan semua yang kualami sekarang hanyalah khayalan yang kubuat agar tidak perlu menghadapi keadaan itu.”
“Tidak apa-apa. Kau tidak perlu memikirkan hal seperti itu lagi…… Sekarang kau benar-benar bersama aku dan Elma, jadi jangan khawatir, ya.”
“Terima kasih. Aku sangat menikmati hidupku sekarang dan merasa bahagia.”
“Sama-sama. Aku juga senang bisa bersamamu, Mimi.”
Kami saling pandang dan tersenyum. Tanpa terasa, matahari hampir sepenuhnya tenggelam di cakrawala. Langit masih agak terang, tetapi sebentar lagi akan gelap.
“Sudah mulai gelap. Kita kembali?”
“Ya.”
Aku berdiri dan mengulurkan tangan kepada Mimi. Dia menerima tanganku lalu ikut berdiri.
“Pegang tangan sepanjang jalan pulang, ya, Hiro-sama.”
“Baik.”
Mimi melepaskan tangan kanannya dari genggamanku, lalu mengulurkan tangan kirinya. Aku menggenggam tangannya lagi, dan kami mulai berjalan kembali ke pondok.
“Tangan Hiro-sama besar sekali!”
“Setidaknya lebih besar daripada tanganmu. Tapi tanganmu kecil dan lembut, Mimi.”
“Ehehe……”
Aku terus berjalan ke pondok bersama Mimi yang tersenyum bahagia. Robot pelayan mengikuti kami dari belakang dengan langkah tanpa suara. Rupanya robot pelayan di dimensi ini juga peka membaca suasana. Hebat juga.
“Selamat datang kembali. Bagaimana matahari terbenamnya?”
“Indah sekali!”
Suasana hati Mimi tetap baik bahkan setelah kami kembali ke pondok. Eh, apa tidak sebaiknya kau melepaskan tanganku sekarang, Nona?
“Syukurlah, Mimi-san. Makan malam sebentar lagi akan dihidangkan. Silakan cuci tangan dan bersiaplah. Tangan yang terkena kotoran dan pasir sebaiknya dicuci.”
“Baik.”
Mendengar ucapan Chris, Mimi melepaskan tanganku dengan sedikit enggan. Bantuan yang bagus, Chris. Mimi dan aku mencuci tangan seperti yang disarankan Chris. Saat kami tiba di ruang makan, makan malam sudah dihidangkan. Tadi siang kami makan hidangan laut, tetapi untuk makan malam ini hidangan daging menjadi menu utama.
“Ngomong-ngomong, setelah pelajaran sejarah tentang kemunculan AI canggih masa kini tadi, kalian berdua, Elma dan Chris, sepertinya masih ingin mengatakan sesuatu. Ada apa?”
“Seperti yang kukatakan tadi, tidak ada yang perlu kutambahkan. Pada akhirnya, Kekaisaran berhasil hidup berdampingan dengan AI otonom dan berkembang pesat. Tidak lebih, tidak kurang.”
Elma mengangkat bahu sambil memotong steiknya dengan pisau. Sementara itu, Chris masih menunjukkan ekspresi yang sulit ditebak.
“Bukan berarti aku tidak punya pendapat sendiri, tetapi seperti kata Elma-san, hasil akhirnya memang membawa kemakmuran yang dinikmati Kekaisaran sekarang. Kaisar saat ini beserta para pengikut tepercayanya, yang telah dianugerahi gelar kebangsawanan, memegang kendali penuh atas Kekaisaran. Kekaisaran sekarang memang menghadapi sejumlah masalah, tetapi tak bisa dimungkiri bahwa negeri ini juga sangat makmur……”
Meski Chris berkata begitu, aku bisa merasakan perasaannya campur aduk. Kalau harus menebak, mungkin ia merasa bahwa makhluk organik tampak memerintah seluruh Kekaisaran, tetapi kenyataannya sangat dipengaruhi AI otonom dari balik layar. Kekaisaran sekarang tidak berubah menjadi masyarakat kaku dan serba diatur, tempat semua orang berkata bahwa kebahagiaan adalah hak istimewa atau semacamnya. Selama berada di sini, aku tidak merasa ada yang janggal. Tapi mungkin aku tidak menyadarinya karena pada akhirnya aku berasal dari dimensi lain? Bagaimanapun, selain korupsi dan masalah sejenisnya, aku tidak merasakan kejanggalan berarti dalam masyarakat Kekaisaran.
“Yah, sebagai orang luar sepertiku, aku belum melihat sesuatu yang terasa janggal. Tapi menurutku, negeri ini jelas punya masalahnya sendiri. Meski begitu, AI tidak sepenuhnya mengatur masyarakat. Jadi, keadaan sekarang, ketika kedua pihak berusaha menjaga jarak yang pantas agar tidak menimbulkan gesekan, menurutku justru keseimbangan yang ideal.”
Kurang lebih seperti diawasi dewa mekanis yang bisa menggunakan wewenangnya sesuka hati kalau terjadi sesuatu yang dianggapnya sebagai keadaan darurat. Membayangkan dewa mekanis semacam itu mengamuk lalu mulai membantai orang memang mengerikan. Namun, kalau semua orang terus memikirkan kemungkinan buruk itu, kecemasan dan kecurigaan tidak akan ada habisnya.
Tentu saja, aku sadar bisa berpendapat seperti ini karena punya kemampuan sebagai tentara bayaran dan Krishna sebagai sandaran yang bisa diandalkan. Bagi orang seperti Mimi, Kekaisaran mungkin bukan negeri yang begitu baik. Bagaimanapun, Kekaisaran tidak melakukan apa pun untuk membantu Mimi saat dia terpuruk dalam keputusasaan. Utopia tempat semua orang bahagia dan puas hanyalah konsep yang bisa kita impikan.
“Hiro-sama tidak terlalu khawatir terhadap AI otonom, ya?”
“Yah, aku lebih penasaran daripada takut. Mungkin ini sudah mendarah daging karena negara tempatku dibesarkan.”
Aku dibesarkan di tempat kepercayaan bahwa segala sesuatu memiliki roh cukup umum. Bukankah akan menarik kalau benda-benda kesayangan kita punya kepribadian sendiri? Apa istilahnya dalam bahasa Inggris? Animisme?
Ada orang-orang di industri tertentu yang tidak hanya memberi kepribadian kepada hewan, tetapi juga kepada sistem operasi komputer, fenomena alam, dan konsep abstrak lainnya. Bahkan, mereka melakukan hal yang sama kepada dewa-dewa dari negeri lain dan sejumlah dewa jahat populer yang bisa mengikis poin SAN hanya dengan menatapnya.
“Negara tempatmu dibesarkan?”
Elma memiringkan kepala, penasaran.
“Agak sulit dijelaskan. Begini… Di negaraku, banyak orang percaya bahwa segala sesuatu memiliki roh, termasuk mesin. Roh bisa bersemayam dalam pakaian, peralatan makan, rumah, kapal, dan apa saja. Karena itulah orang-orang punya kebiasaan menghargai semua barang milik mereka.”
“Hm… Semacam ajaran yang menganjurkan penerimaan terhadap segala sesuatu, ya. Terdengar sangat lapang hati.”
“Cara berpikir yang indah. Benar-benar indah.”
Terminal bulat milik Miro yang terparkir di sudut ruangan tiba-tiba berkilau lalu melontarkan komentar itu. Entah kenapa, rasanya pandangannya terhadapku mendadak menjadi lebih baik.
“Yah, bagaimana mengatakannya? Daripada terus saling waspada, menurutku kedua pihak lebih baik mencari cara untuk hidup berdampingan. Kalau tidak bisa saling memahami dan bekerja sama, hasilnya hanya akan berupa konflik.”
“Pihak yang tidak bisa diajak saling memahami……”
“Ya. Seperti bajak laut dan paman Chris.”
“Fufu. Jadi menurutmu, pamanku sama saja dengan bajak laut keji itu?”
“Di mataku, memang sama saja.”
Toh, keduanya akan menyerang kami dengan niat membunuh yang jelas.
Tapi bagaimana dengan rekaman pertempuran melawan pasukan pribadi paman Chris itu? Pihak mereka yang lebih dulu menggunakan pengadang, jadi menurutku tindakan kami termasuk pembelaan diri yang sah. Mereka juga menembak lebih dulu dan menyerang kami habis-habisan. Lagipula, kami sudah menghabisi mereka semua, jadi tak ada yang tersisa untuk menyalahkanku karena membunuh orang-orang itu. Kurasa tak perlu dipikirkan lagi. Kalian menyerang kami, jadi jangan mengeluh kalau akhirnya berubah menjadi debu antariksa.
“Besok kita mau apa? Karena kita sudah membeli pakaian renang, kupikir kita bisa mencobanya dan berenang.”
“Boleh juga. Ayo bersenang-senang di laut.”
“Terjun langsung ke air sebanyak itu…… Jujur saja, rasanya agak menakutkan.”
“Tidak perlu takut, Mimi-san. Air itu bukan air tawar. Itu air laut, jadi rasanya asin.”
“Air laut asin?”
Chris dan Mimi mulai membicarakan laut. Dari percakapan mereka, tampaknya laut di sini tidak berbeda dari laut yang kukenal di Bumi. Tapi ada kemungkinan besar makhluk laut di planet ini sama sekali berbeda dari yang kukenal. Apa ada putri duyung di sini? Putri duyung alien. Tapi putri duyung dalam dongeng jelas lebih baik daripada bertemu makhluk yang mirip Penghuni Kedalaman……
Aku memikirkan hal-hal konyol seperti itu sambil makan malam, lalu segera tidur untuk bersiap menghadapi hari esok.
Eh? Apa aku akan langsung tidur begitu saja? Yah, masih ada Chris, jadi kami memang tidak bisa melakukan hal seperti itu sekarang.
Sesekali menahan diri juga tidak ada salahnya. Besok aku akan disuguhi pemandangan yang luar biasa. Hehehe.
The sunset on Sierra III wasn’t really all that different from the sunset on Earth. The sight of the sun slowly sinking down the sea put smiles on both my and Mimi’s lips.
“Waa…… It looks wonderful! Huh? Did the Sierra system’s star really have that color?”
“Oh, it just turns out like that because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. It’s also the reason why the sky is blue in daytime. If I remember correctly, due to the influence of the atmosphere, there is a lot more blue light that gets filtered during the daytime. When evening comes, the distance the light coming from the sun needs to cover in order to pass through the atmosphere is gradually lengthened. The blue light gets absorbed by the atmosphere, and the result of that is reddish light being the one that reaches the eyes. It’s roughly something like that. It’s just some vague knowledge I have, so it might not actually be accurate.”
“I see! You sure are knowledgeable, Hiro-sama.”
“Hahaha, not so much, really.”
I actually took a page from those anime and LN protagonists who relay half-cocked knowledge to the heroine in order to earn some brownie points. I’m not really all that into physics anyway. In fact, it would be more accurate if we just asked the maidroid or search using our portable terminals.
Mimi sat down on the sandy beach and started watching the sunset. I also followed suit and sat right next to her. I haven’t watched the sunset like this apart from when I was just a kid huh.
“Since I’ve begun travelling across the galaxy with you Hiro-sama, everything’s been just like the most wonderful dream. If I told my experiences to the me from a year ago, the me from that time would probably just ask me if I was telling her a made up plot from some sort of holo novel.”
“Is that so? I guess that’s about right, huh. If I also got the opportunity to tell the me from a year ago about my current experiences…… I’m sure he’ll just say I’m totally delusional.”
And once he realizes it’s all true, I bet he’ll just strangle me in jealousy, haha. Bet he’ll say something like ‘Dammit! You get to go at it with a big breasted loli like Mimi and a slender and beautiful elf like Elma as much as you want! I’m utterly jealous here!’
“Every day really is like a dream. That thought scares me sometimes. I sometimes think that, in reality, I’m still in the third block, being abused, and everything I’m experiencing now is just a delusion I came up with to turn my eyes away from my situation.”
“It’s alright. You don’t have to think about things like that anymore…… You’re really together with me and Elma right now, so don’t you worry, okay.”
“Thank you. I really enjoy my current life and am very happy.”
“You’re welcome. I also enjoy being with you, Mimi.”
The two of us exchanged glances and smiled at each other. And before we noticed it, the sun had almost completely vanished from the horizon. There was still some brightness left, but it’ll be dark soon.
“It’s turned dark already. Shall we go back?”
“Yes.”
I stood up and offered my hand to Mimi. Mimi took my hand and stood up as well.
“Let’s hold hands while walking back, Hiro-sama.”
“Ou.”
Mimi released her right hand from my grip and offered her left. I took her hand in mine again, and we started walking back to the lodge.
“Hiro-sama’s hand sure is big!”
“It’s bigger than yours, at least. But your hand sure is small and soft, Mimi.”
“Ehehe……”
I continued walking back to the lodge with the happily smiling Mimi. The maidroid continued following after us from behind with silent footsteps. So the maid robots in this dimension can read the mood just fine huh. How impressive.
“Welcome back. How was the sunset?”
“It was wonderful!”
Mimi kept her good mood even after we got back to the lodge. Uh, isn’t it about time to let go of my hand, young lady?
“Good for you, Mimi-san. The dinner should be arriving soon, so please wash your hands and get ready. It is recommended to wash hands that have been in contact with dirt and sand after all.”
“Understood.”
After hearing Chris’ words, Mimi let go of my hand with a little bit of reluctance. Nice assist, Chris. Mimi and I washed our hands just as Chris suggested. When the two of us got to the dining area, dinner was already served. It was seafood dishes for lunch, but it looks like meat dishes were the main entrees for dinner.
“That reminds me, Elma and Chris looked like you both had something to say after that history lesson about the advent of today’s advanced AI. What’s up?”
“Just like I said earlier, I have nothing to add to the subject. In the end, the Empire got along with autonomous AIs, and is developing well as a result. Nothing more and nothing less.”
Elma shrugged as she used her knife to cut up her steak. Chris, on the other hand… still had that peculiar expression on her face.
“It’s not like I don’t have my own thoughts about the matter, but just as Elma-san said, the end result did bring about the current prosperity of the Empire. The current emperor as well as his trusted vassals who have been granted nobility titles by him have the Empire firmly within their rule. The current Empire does have to deal with a number of problems at present, but can also definitely be said to be prosperous to a large extent……”
Even as Chris said that, I can’t help but notice her complicated feelings about the matter. If I had to guess, it might be something like the organic life forms ruling the entire Empire at the surface, but are largely influenced by the autonomous AI from behind the scenes. It doesn’t look like the current Empire turned out to be a rigid, regulated society where everybody says that happiness is a privilege or anything like that, so… I haven’t really felt anything was out of place during my stay here. But maybe I just couldn’t notice because I’m ultimately from another dimension? In any case, I can’t feel any noticeable sense of incongruity from Imperial society beside the usual corruption and stuff.
“Well, in the eyes of a complete outsider like me, I haven’t really noticed anything that’s felt out of place, but I do think this country definitely does have its fair share of problems. But, in any case, it isn’t like the AI are completely regulating society or anything like that. So the current state of affairs where both sides are trying to maintain an appropriate distance to avoid causing friction is sort of an ideal balance, don’t you think?”
Well, it’s something like being watched over by a mechanical god that can exercise its authority freely in the event of anything it feels as an emergency huh. Certainly, the thought of such a mechanical god going crazy and starting to slaughter people is quite terrifying. But they’ll be no end to worrying and paranoia if people always minded that grim possibility.
Well, I do acknowledge that the reason I can have an opinion like this is because of my skill as a mercenary and having a reassuring safety net in the form of Krishna though. In the eyes of someone like Mimi, the Empire probably isn’t all that good a country. The Empire didn’t do anything to help Mimi when she fell down to despair after all. A utopia where everyone is happy and content can only exist as a concept and one can only dream about such a thing.
“You don’t really feel any apprehension toward autonomous AI, don’t you, Hiro-sama?”
“Well, I’m more curious about them than afraid. Well, it might just be in my blood due to the country I was born in.”
I’ve been raised in a place where the concept of divinity residing in all things is prevalent after all. Wouldn’t it be neat if one’s favorite items had distinct personalities of their own? What did they call it in English? Animism?
There are guys in a certain industry who not only assigned distinct personalities to animals, but even computer OS, natural phenomena, and other intangible concepts after all. Heck, they even did the same thing for foreign divinity and certain popular evil gods who shave away at people’s SAN points just by looking at them.
“The country you were born in?”
Elma tilted her head in curiosity.
“It’s kinda difficult to explain. Let’s see… Uh, it’s kind of widely accepted in my country that divinity resides in all things, including machines. They can reside in clothes, tableware, houses, ships, and just about anything and everything you can think of. That’s why there’s this mentality of treasuring all the things one owns.”
“Hmm… It’s sort of like a doctrine that preaches universal acceptance huh. It feels quite magnanimous.”
“It’s a wonderful way of thinking. Yes, truly wonderful.”
Miro’s spherical terminal parked in the corner started sparkling as it suddenly made such a comment. Somehow, I felt like it’s impression of me turned more favorable for some reason.
“Well, how should I put it? Uh, instead of being constantly wary of each other, I think it’s more constructive for both sides to try and look for ways to walk together. If they can’t bring themselves to see eye to eye and cooperate, the only outcome would be conflict after all.”
“Opponents you can’t see eye to eye with…”
“Yep. Just like pirates and Chris’ uncle.”
“Fufu. So my uncle is just the same as those despicable pirates, is he?”
“Well, they’re both the same in my eyes.”
They will both attack us with clear murderous intent after all.
But what should we do about the battle recordings of that fight with Chris’ uncle’s private soldiers? Well, that side used an interdictor first, so I think our actions constitute legitimate self defense. And there’s the fact that they fired first and attacked us without holding back as well. In the first place, we wiped them all out, so there’s no one left who can heap blame on me for killing those guys. Well, I guess it’s not worth worrying about after all. You attacked us, so don’t complain about turning into space dust.
“What’ll we do tomorrow? Since we already bought swimsuits, I was thinking of trying them out and going for a swim.”
“Sounds good. Let’s all have fun in the sea.”
“Plunging headfirst into all that water…… It’s kinda scary honestly.”
“There’s no need to be afraid, Mimi-san. That water isn’t fresh water after all. It’s sea water, so it’s salty.”
“Sea water is salty?”
Chris and Mimi began talking about the sea. Judging from their discussion, it looks like the sea here is no different from what I’m used to back on Earth. But there’s a pretty good chance that the sea creatures on this planet are completely different from the sea creatures I’m familiar with though. I wonder if there are mermaids here? Alien mermaids. But fantasy mermaids are definitely better than encountering something akin to the Deep Ones……
I mulled over silly things like that while eating dinner, and quickly went to sleep afterward in preparation for tomorrow.
Eh? Am I just going to head straight to bed like this? Well, there’s Chris to consider, so we really can’t do anything like that right now.
I think it’s good to abstain every once in a while. I’m gonna be treated to a wonderful sight tomorrow anyway. Hehehe.
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