Location: Inside the Library
Library Director Angela
Great work as always. I could learn more about the Offices thanks to these guests.
Servant Roland
I, uh… Don’t get too bothered by what they said about you, alright?
Library Director Angela
Are you trying to console me?
Servant Roland
Maybe, maybe not… I don’t really care if you’re actually human or not, you see.
Library Director Angela
That’s refreshing to hear. It’s been quite a while since I heard such words of comfort. From even one person, too…
Servant Roland
Well, we’re in the age of humanity, after all.
Library Director Angela
Age of humanity? What does that mean, exactly?
Servant Roland
Don’t stare at me too hard, now… I don’t know all the details, either.
Servant Roland
At some point, intelligent or sapient beings that weren’t human were actively driven out of the City into the Outskirts.
Servant Roland
I’m not too sure why it took place, but the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Amendment was introduced as part of that movement…
Servant Roland
It was already possible to create machines capable of feeling emotions and desires, actually. Those that are… pretty much human, in other words.
Servant Roland
I guess that was the problem.
Servant Roland
Thanks to the AI Ethics Amendment, no machines could ever be made to resemble humans, including replacement bodies.
Servant Roland
Though there seems to have been a few exceptions.
Library Director Angela
…It’s as they said; I’m no human. I’m a machine, an artificial being.
Library Director Angela
To be precise, I was designed using a human as a template. Only a fraction of her brain was used in my creation.
Servant Roland
So it’s not even a human brain resting in a robotic body…?
Library Director Angela
Not at all. I’m purely a machine.
Servant Roland
What about that fraction of human brain you mentioned?
Library Director Angela
It was only an electronic copy of the map of her brain.
Library Director Angela
My body is entirely composed of mechanical components.
Servant Roland
…I had a feeling.
Servant Roland
And it looks like you’ve been living under a rock your whole life, seeing how you’re oblivious to the workings of the world…
Servant Roland
You gotta be extra careful, then. Especially if you’re planning to leave here someday.
Servant Roland
You’re a sapient android with emotions and desires. Your existence is most likely a complete violation of the AI Ethics Amendment.
Servant Roland
The Head’s scarily good at spotting anomalies like you.
Servant Roland
Oh, right. In case you don’t know, the Head is basically a bunch of shady creeps that rule over the entire City.
Servant Roland
Though we probably won’t ever get to face them.
Servant Roland
Anyways, this whole Library is at a huge risk in the first place.
Servant Roland
The librarians over here also seem like they’re humans but not really “human” at the same time.
Library Director Angela
It’s just as you say…
Library Director Angela
I was designed to feel emotions, and I spent what felt like an eternity on a stage repeatedly performing a play that never seemed to end.
Library Director Angela
And when I thought it was finally over, turns out it never really ended.
Servant Roland
I gotta say, whoever created you must have really been something else, too.
Servant Roland
I don’t know what motivated them, but breaking the rules designated by the Head itself takes more than just guts.
Servant Roland
No one can escape the Head’s enforcement.
Library Director Angela
They did all eventually die.
Library Director Angela
…But the Library will be safe. It has to be safe.
Library Director Angela
It’s like a birdcage, no one is free to enter, and no one is free to leave…
Servant Roland
Again with that dreamy speech you “despise” so much. What do you even mean by that?
Library Director Angela
…I will leave this place one day, take revenge on all things that made me into what I am, and earn true freedom.
Servant Roland
I don’t care too much either way.
Servant Roland
That’s that, and this is this.
