Jack and Avery are two highly intelligent robots, and their appearance is no different from that of ordinary people. In their long years of immortality, they met all kinds of people, and they had their own independent but somewhat internal stories. Let's read some stories.
This is a story that happened to Jack when he was on a mission to rescue the princess from a certain country. Because of the mission, Jack landed on the planet where the cannibal tribe "cut off" lived, and then happened to meet "cut off" Ruby.
Ruby, like her people, believes that cannibalism is sacred, and the person who is eaten lives with the person who eats him. Moreover, in the eyes of people in Fauchery, being eaten is the most valuable and least wasteful way to die. Ruby's mother ate Ruby's father, and Ruby who fell in love with Jack longed to eat Jack one day. Of course, she doesn't know what a robot is. She doesn't know that Jack can't eat. It can only be her unrequited love
Later, Jack was trapped in the ruins during his mission, without food and water for several days. In order to get close to real people, the robots made at that time also gave them a sense of hunger. Although eating is not necessary for robots, if they don't eat, they will be as hungry as humans. Jack was starving when Ruby found him. It will take Ruby a few days to see the rescue. Without knowing that Jack is a robot, Ruby resolutely cut off her left hand and threw it to Jack to satisfy her hunger.
Finally, both Jack and Princess were successfully rescued. Rescuers burned the forest in order to force out the terrorists who kidnapped the Princess. Ruby is still in the forest where she grew up. Finally, under Jack's coercion, the rescue helicopter flew back to look for Ruby, but because of the lack of fuel, Jack had to put down a rope ladder for Ruby to catch. But Ruby, who lost one hand, couldn't catch the rope ladder with one hand. At the last moment when she let go, Ruby just stared at Jack and kept asking, "Did you eat my left hand?"
For the Fujuri people who hunt for a living, losing a hand almost loses their hunting ability, which is directly related to their survival. So letting Jack eat that hand is tantamount to giving his life to someone else. That's why Ruby is so concerned about whether Jack ate his hand before he died.
No matter out of faith or love for Jack, Ruby takes it for granted that Jack ate himself. Just like she always eats birds and animals, if one day she needs to eat Jack, she will do it without thinking.
The theme of cannibalism is not uncommon, but the influence of "22XX" is the habit of the law of the jungle and the maximum utilization of resources. It's strange to think that we don't hesitate to eat meat and livestock, but we love some domestic pets.
In fact, it is a natural law that the creatures at the top of the food chain eat the creatures at the bottom of the food chain. If you have the most intention, you should eat them clean and don't waste them, and those "love" for pets is nothing more than a kind of "self-satisfaction" for human beings to meet their emotional needs. Just like some parents do "all for your own good" in the name of love, they are based on their own spiritual needs rather than the self-satisfaction of others. Once their "giving love" behavior is stopped, in fact, the most uncomfortable thing is themselves.
Therefore, the species at the top of the food chain never have any real attachment to the species at the bottom of the food chain, but only for their own physical or spiritual needs.
This truth, which should be taken for granted, is often blinded by the increasingly complex civilization and my "love" for other species. As usual, if you really love your pet, you should set it free and let it mate at will, instead of keeping it at home after sterilization. Even the protection of wild animals is based on the destruction of natural balance, which will endanger human beings. Why don't we protect those animals that are not endangered? Those livestock are also living in dire straits!
So there is no need to post romantic and emotional reasons, just as it is natural for Ruby to let Jack eat his own hands or fantasize about eating Jack himself one day.
The law of the jungle is the law of nature. Who has been gilding some behaviors of human society for thousands of years? Today, we almost forget the true colors of these rules.
Ellie once saved an 8-year-old boy, Kanai, on Adaline. This is also a planet where the law of the jungle prevails. Only one of the 10 children there will grow up to be an adult. They have to practice various survival and hunting skills since childhood to survive well.
However, the rescued Jin Jing is an alien of this race. His IQ is as high as 300, but he is weak and ill. In the doctor's words, a person's IQ of 300 is a deformity, and there will be other physical defects. After that, Kanagawa died in the hospital before 10.
However, the story is not over. Later, Avery happened to meet another talented boy James from Adalind. His IQ is as high as 300, but he is strong and shows no signs of illness. With thoughts of Kanai and suspicion of coincidence, Avery began to secretly observe James, and finally found out the truth: after Kanai's death, the researchers transplanted his brain to this man named James, so that Kanai's brain could continue to survive.
Ironically, this new body is the brother of the enemy who killed Kanai's parents. Because the two brothers look alike, Jin Jingyu's consciousness mistook this body for the enemy of that year, and every time he saw himself in the mirror, he wanted to commit suicide. ...
Finally, Ellie made clear the facts to Jin Jing, and also awakened Jin Jingqing's memory, and the two finally made friends. Later, James returned to his home planet to carry out construction work and was killed in an accidental fire. Then his brain was transplanted to another person to continue his unfinished business ... After several migrations, Avery finally couldn't find Kanai, but he always remembered this magical fate.
This story is very dull in Shimizu Reiko's many touching short stories. It is a story that continues Avery's thoughts and a child's residual memory. But why is it that such an ordinary story is still very moving after seeing it? Jin Jing, who has become James, remembered the scene of Avery again, which was very touching.
Let's imagine their mentality here. Kanai, who watched his parents die in front of him at the age of eight, once regarded Avery as the only reliance. Avery, who has been neither old nor dead for more than 200 years, has seen enough of the human beings around him leaving one by one, so he takes every opportunity very seriously. They are eager to be similar to each other because they want to grasp their connection with the world.
Loneliness is the most inevitable torture in the world. Even people with independent personalities sometimes feel lonely. I don't know if it is out of human social instinct (robots are also made on the basis of human beings), so far it is difficult to explain why loneliness, a factor that doesn't hurt the body and limbs, can hurt the conscious subject so much.
Avery, a robot with high performance in all aspects, obviously looks down on Jin Jing, a kid who can't even survive independently, but it is Jin Jing's unique attachment to him that moves Avery. As long as he thinks that someone in this world can't live without himself, he will feel how much he is needed. This feeling of being needed will in turn prove its existence value. So Avery, who had been wondering about the meaning of existence, found comfort in the dependence in the golden well.
In our daily life, many people find satisfaction because of work and family needs. If a person is lonely for a long time, he will doubt his existence, but if his existence can become the help of others, he can explain his existence. On the surface, many people complain about how hard the work is and how heavy the family burden is, but if they really strip away the needs of others, he will fall into endless doubts and uncertainties like Avery. ...
Many social forms that have naturally existed around us for a long time have a long process of formation, and there must be internal reasons for gradually forming the state you see today.
The stories of Jack and Avery are not always told separately, and they also overlap. How did Ellie know Jack? This is what Ellie is looking for.
Jack's appearance was originally made according to a man named Tianlong, who was Avery's first master. As a robot, Avery fell in love with his master Tianlong 230 years ago and committed suicide once after Tianlong married someone else, but the high-performance Avery didn't die so easily. It was an attempted suicide. Later, Tianlong died. He committed suicide again and failed. Later, Ellie fell into an endless cycle of habitual suicide, committing suicide again and again, but she couldn't die again and again. ...
It was not until one day that he learned that there was a robot that looked like a dragon that he desperately found Jack. Of course, Jack is not a dragon, but looks the same, but because of this, Avery likes Jack easily. At the same time, Jack has a substitute for his first love-Louise. Jack also fell in love with human beings 170 years ago, but human beings will eventually die. Later, Jack met Louise who was very similar to his first love. It happened that Louise liked him, too, so she naturally became a couple and lived together.
So Ellie's intervention formed a very wonderful triangle relationship.
Later, Jack took Avery to Perth Miwa, 230 light years away. Because the image of the earth will not reach that planet until 230 years later, we can see the situation of the earth 230 years ago through the remnants of light and shadow. As a result, just looking at the image of Tianlong alive, Ellie was moved to tears. ...
Yes, this is a love story.
In fact, the relationship between Jack and Louise is unstable, otherwise there is no room for others to intervene. Jack regards Louise as a substitute for his first love, which is naturally not a healthy motivation, and robots and people can't last long. However, Louise dedicated herself to Jack, even though she knew he was a robot. She even used the frozen sperm of Tianlong for artificial insemination in The Evolution of Angels, just to give birth to a child who looks like Jack.
The same unconditional love was also paid by Avery. He committed suicide many times after the death of Tianlong until he met Jack who looked like Tianlong.
Jack didn't get his first love, Ellie didn't get Tianlong, and Louise didn't get Jack in the end. This pile of emotional entanglements actually tells a story, which is called "responsive".
If all the love in the world is that I love you and you just love me, what is the sadness and sadness? Isn't it because when I love you, you don't love me too much, so there are all kinds of heart abuse?
Compared with other girl cartoons of Baiquan Society, Shimizu Reiko's story is more cold, but it is also the true face of many loves. Not so good. Just because I love you deeply, you have to take care of my feelings. In this world, you don't even deal a good card, so you turn around and walk around.
And this desire exists not only in love, but also in the communication between relatives and friends, and in the demand for all kinds of things. When you look at a job, people don't necessarily look at you; You took part in a selection, but they washed you out in the first round; You fancy an item, but its high price refuses to condescend ... There are too many things in this world that you can't get. No matter how hard you try, even if you kneel down and ask for it, you can't get it, and there will be no dramatic reversal.
It's just that every time I think about it, some people are used to it and won't cry for their parents, while others need Shimizu Reiko to pour cold water on it: What's so melodramatic about your little grievance? That's the way things are in the world. In fact, in the end, the dependence of Jack and Avery is only the second best choice. Jack still lost his first love, and Avery didn't get Tianlong. Although it sounds cruel, it is normal. On the other hand, if someone likes you so much that you want to die and tries to kidnap you morally, you will be embarrassed.
Some people say that Shimizu Reiko's works belong to soft science fiction. Once linked with science fiction, the story will inevitably become tough. However, Time Jun felt that this statement was untenable. There are many people who promote love under the signboard of science fiction, and works that do not necessarily incorporate science fiction elements must be "tough". Shimizu's early "Son of the Moon" is the best example. In fact, it is an out-and-out love story in a science fiction coat.
So Shimizu Reiko's indifference has nothing to do with science fiction, but she did it on purpose. Even if she is allowed to write stories in soft science fiction today, she will keep this tone.