"Perhaps…" Sevda had said. "…I shouldn't have watched so many fantasy romance dramas in my youth." Because for a very long time, she had been trying to design a suitable face for Aldoux Weisshafen using her scalpel like a pen.
Since his previous face belonged to a criminal, he could no longer use it. His face was going to have to be changed anyway; while there was a hollow of flesh instead of a face, why wouldn't Sevda do it? This way, she could at least slightly curb the moral unease of keeping a criminal alive.
Aldoux Weisshafen's face had been the irritating face of a spoiled brat—the kind that invited a slap. Yet, most women liked that face. Why? That spoiled face represented a man who was easily controllable and who would perform any kind of sycophancy for his woman. Ah… A woman looked at status first, and then at the man. At least, Sevda had noticed such a pattern among the women in the high society she lived in.
These days, status wasn't a very variable thing. The SWR (Supreme World Republic) had almost a single type of citizen. Since the citizens of the Supreme World Planet were generally soulless and indifferent, it was often forgotten that billions of cybernetics lived in the SWR simply because they resided on the Supreme World. Most people assumed there were as many humans in the SWR as there were on their own planets. Who cared about the people on Supreme World who had turned into products simply by consuming products?
On the Supreme World, everyone already thought of themselves as noble. Whether they were born in an apartment flat or were genetically rootless for three generations… What was their common point? When they looked in the mirror, they wore a face as if they were the only ones in the universe. While the number of true nobles on the entire planet barely exceeded the fingers on two hands, the remaining billions roamed about with the air of nobility and the self-confidence of "I live on the capital planet." Therefore, it wouldn't be surprising if women adored Aldoux Weisshafen's spoiled, slap-worthy face. Because on the Supreme World, status wasn't a title; it was more of a test of "can you look vacant enough?" And Aldoux would get a perfect score on that test. However, the man before Sevda—the creature whose face she was struggling to sew—was not one of those billions of fake nobles. He was truly noble. And of the most dangerous kind: a Weisshafen.
But Sevda didn't want that spoiled man's face. Because she held status herself, whenever she returned home, there were men waiting in line to marry her—metaphorically speaking, of course.
Emails containing consecutive "Welcome back" messages, notifications from social media, and much more… Love? That damned thing called love was invented in the Middle Ages and died there; afterwards, people kept love alive for a few more centuries for the sake of those who died for it.
If you were going to get married in the 29th century, you married to gain status. You would either marry a very expensive and beautiful cybernetic woman, dreaming of earning income through advertisements for companies selling major cybernetic organs on social media. Or you would be poor enough to have to marry someone who would help with your work or rent, thus legally necessitating mutual responsibilities. Or you would be a psychopath in love with fantasy. If you weren't one of these three, you didn't marry.
Damn it all, despite being 106 years old, Sevda had seen love and many other human emotions so often in cities like Uruzen that she had grown envious. That was why she had been traveling with her emotion modules turned off for a long time, distancing herself significantly from her humanity.
But Sevda knew one thing very well: she wanted everyone to desire the face of the man she would fall in love with. When she said, "Look, this is the face of the man I would want to marry," the vast majority of people looking at that face would surely turn up their noses. But what if the owner of that face was truly a man of substance, of backbone, a man who challenged the world?
Then, she had no doubt that all those who first rejected that face would fall at Sevda's feet in regret, lamenting their ignorance.
And why was Sevda so angry about these matters? Because she had a mother who constantly wanted her to marry. She thought that if her daughter married, she would stop running around with nonsense in cities like Uruzen. Although her mother had tried to set her up with men aged 200-300, Sevda had rejected them all, finding an excuse for each.
How could our young girl, one of the most prominent doctors of modern medicine, marry in such a simple way? Whenever Sevda made excuses, her friends accused her of being tasteless, foolish, and inconsiderate. They said the type of man Sevda liked was useless, absurd, and not real. They didn't find them realistic either in appearance or personality. Because cybernetic brands determined and designed cybernetic faces according to fashion trends. Not just faces, but every physical feature was a variation of certain primary types. As for personalities, because of features called "modules," people could create their personalities, emotional reactions, and much more by purchasing them. Then, every man chose the best and most perfect module, walking around with unrealistic personalities and emotions.
"Master 24, are you available?" 18 said, passing through the door.
Sevda was so immersed in her thoughts and the work she was doing that she was startled by the voice and jumped in her seat. She had thought her fear module wasn't on. "Did something happen, 18? You scared the life out of me…"
"According to 56 and 77, a huge crate was moved from the TESO facility today."
"Ah…" she said and let out a deep sigh. "…did you appear behind me suddenly for this? I thought something had happened." Using the scalpel like a pen, she placed the tissue she had taken onto the man's nose. Meanwhile, she looked at the hologram above her head, examining through the map whether she had placed the tissue in the correct spot. "They are constantly moving things."
"Actually, I came to say something else."
"What kind of thing, 18?"
"Well… I… I was wondering who this man is, but I didn't know how to tell you."
Sevda turned around and looked at the young girl. She lifted the computer surgery goggles that fell over her eyes and asked, "Why?"
"He is quite tall, though not as much as you…"
"Ah… He has an average height according to most people."
"Aren't we Uruzenians humans too?"
At that moment, Sevda realized something. The Uruzenians hadn't seen many humans on this planet besides cybernetics. Perhaps this people hadn't even believed her or taken her seriously when Sevda introduced herself as a human. Their religious beliefs, culture, and many other things forced them to be conservative, or rather, bigotedly conservative. Moreover, the TESO company could very easily benefit from the Uruzenians being bigoted.
That was why the young girl named 18 was perhaps seeing a human from outside the city of Uruzen with her naked eyes for the first time. Aldoux Weisshafen's flesh-and-blood body lying on the bed at that moment was more human-like than Sevda's mechanical body. Seeing such a human might have made 18 question existence.
"You are human too, but…"
"But what, 24?"
"Well… how should I say? I told you before that people outside live very long, didn't I?"
"Yes… They say they live long by becoming mechanized, which is truly a terrifying thing."
"Some people become mechanized in this way."
"Is this person a machine too… So he isn't a human either?"
"Not exactly a machine. For example, I am a cybernetic. He, on the other hand, is an Enhanced… I know you'll ask what the difference is, so I'll explain right away. Enhanced are humans whose organs have been improved with biomechanical upgrades. They get hungry less, drink less water, their cells don't die—meaning they don't age. If they do age, they are immediately placed in a few tissue-healing machines for cell transplants, and so on… Cybernetics, however, are humans whose organs are mostly directly mechanized, and even the brain is computerized with certain components. I can enter a computer with my brain, perform data analysis, and do many more things. But Enhanced need a computer to do that." Sevda pointed to her head with her hand. "If the brain is mechanical, it's cybernetic; if not, it's Enhanced."
"What you're saying… what you're saying is very confusing for me."
"Yes… I realize that," Sevda said, and just as she was returning to her work, 18 asked another question.
"Can you give birth to children?"
"Of course not…"
"Then why do you live?"
Sevda stopped her scalpel mid-air. Her metal fingers remained suspended. The question felt much heavier than an unexpected physical blow. With an automatic defensive reaction from within, she looked at 18 with dull eyes. "What do you mean?" she repeated, her voice turning a bit more shrill, with a mechanical ring.
"I mean..." 18 continued, taking Sevda's reaction as a kind of confirmation. In her voice, there was the simplicity of a learned dogma rather than curiosity. "The elders in the village always say: 'The land that cannot give birth is barren; it is not sown.' A woman's value lies in continuing her lineage. You... you cannot give birth. Then what are you working for? Whom are you living for? What will remain when you die?"
"18," Sevda said, trying to keep her voice controlled. "What your village says are not the laws of the universe. It's just... a rule of survival learned under a narrow sky." She turned her hand from the face she was working on toward the young girl's face. "I live because... I want to learn. I want to change. I want to heal. My brain still thinks, my heart... even if it works like a motor, it still beats. Isn't that enough to exist?"
"But…" 18 persisted, confused but with her faith unshaken. "Your lineage will end with you. Just like a drying stream. Ours... will continue with our children, and their children."
"You still don't understand, do you, girl? I… or rather, humanity is now immortal. One has to make an effort to die. My lineage won't end with me. My lineage will live forever with me."
At that moment, two different versions of immortality appeared as ideas in Sevda's mechanical brain. Both were talking about immortality, both Sevda and 18… While 18 wanted to provide immortality by giving birth, Sevda had made herself immortal. Those human impulses that always wanted to provide immortality amazed Sevda. Hearing that even in this primitive Uruzen culture, women who did not bring immortality—that is, who did not give birth to continue their lineage—were humiliated, made her feel how much humanity feared death.
"By the way…" Sevda added. "…if I want to give birth, I know doctors and engineers who can help me. It will be quite expensive, but I can still give birth."
As if suddenly relieved, 18 put her hand to her chest and let out a deep breath. Then she said:
"Thank heavens…"
Just then, 56 entered and shouted at 18. The air filters outside needed cleaning, so someone had to climb to the roof with 77. Since 56 was very short, they wanted to call 18. 18 was tall compared to other Uruzenians.
With the Uruzenians leaving, Sevda fell into a set of strange thoughts. The woman who became a doctor because she loved living beings had never been able to love herself. She had always worked, always struggled, and most of the time, these well-intentioned efforts had not gone unpunished. Was that why she felt this desire to sculpt this face with her hand like this? Sevda, who had loved all kinds of creatures for years and did so because she felt it was a necessity most of the time—was she trying to create a face worthy of being loved? She didn't know… All she knew was that Aldoux Weisshafen's face would be a beautiful work in the ink of Sevda's cold heart.