"So you've been here for a month, huh?" I asked as I walked alongside Diana. "Okay, be honest, is Ingenuity weird??? To you??? Like all this?"
Diana looked up. "Yes, it still feels strange not being able to see the sky. My old home, the City of Love, is a fleet, you see."
"Like a floating city?"
The girl smiled. "Exactly! It's a grand fleet that cruises through the ocean." She gestured toward the ceiling. "You can see the sky there, and the air is... well, it's not as good as the air here, but it's bearable because of the bubble. Oh, and the stars are beautiful. I miss the stars so much."
I narrowed my eyes. "Wouldn't fresh air be better?"
Diana tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. Wouldn't that mean you have plenty of fresh air?"
"Yes, but that's dangerous, isn't it?"
I blinked owlishly. "Fresh air is... dangerous?"
Diana looked confused, tapping her chin. "So, in the Old World, you liked fresh air? You didn't need to filter it?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Is the air outside really that polluted?" I winced. "Actually, my bad. The Industrial Revolution was a bitch."
The girl shook her head. "No, no. See, there are trees, right? And microscopic creatures in the water? They do photosynthesis to create oxygen."
"Yes...?"
"And neurotoxins."
"What the fuck?"
Diana nodded. "Yes. All plants create neurotoxins. Breathing the air outside impairs your senses, your reflexes, even your judgment," she explained matter-of-factly. "Most cities are equipped with filters to scrub the toxins from the air."
Jesus Christ, what?
"But there are animals out there, right?"
"Yes. The toxins only affect humans."
"Specifically humans? Every other form of life breathes fine?"
"Yes."
Holy shit... What the fuck?
"Anyway, we should head back. Come on!" Diana ran up the side of the nearest building. I desperately tried to keep up, but as I landed on the roof...
"Oi! Keep it down!" a voice shouted from a nearby window.
Diana's eyes widened. She looked at me, then down at the street. "Oh, my... sorry!" she shouted back. She looked at my legs. "Okay, so... Uhh..."
"I'm a refrigerator with legs. I get it."
"Ahahah... that's..." She jumped off the building, landing smoothly on the carpeted floor below. "Maybe we should just... walk..."
"Yeah. Good idea."
After more walking and talking, we made it back to the Circle Base. "Well, thanks for letting me freeload. I'm going to have to earn my rent eventually," I muttered as we stepped inside. "Also, you said you sleep at the library. Why don't you just..." I gestured around. "Sleep here?"
Diana smiled sheepishly, her face reddening. "Ah, right. Lots of people do that. Well, it's... how do I say this..." She averted her eyes. "I'm kind of afraid of sleeping on my own. I don't like sleeping with the lights on, but I also don't want to be alone in the dark."
Right...
"Oh!" Diana perked up. "How about you sleep with me?"
I blinked slowly. "I mean..." I knocked on my metallic torso. "I'm a walking fridge. It won't be pleasant."
Diana walked up to me and pressed a hand against my flat chest. "Hmm... it is very cold. And hard." She looked up at me. "But it's not unpleasant." She leaned closer. "Do you mind if I hug you?"
"Uhh... I guess not?"
Diana beamed and pulled me into an embrace. It's a bit awkward. I couldn't feel her warmth or the softness of her body. I couldn't feel her at all. I could "sense" the pressure as a series of data points, but that was it. It felt like there was a shell between me and the rest of the world.
Ah, fuck me...
"Mmm..." Diana nuzzled her head against my chin like a cat. "You're very firm. Unyielding... Like an anchor."
"Yeah. Sorry. You can let go now."
"No. I like it." She only squeezed tighter.
"You'll bruise yourself."
"Mm, maybe..."
I sighed. "Look, do you at least have a bed?"
Diana finally released me. "Oh, you're right. We need a bed." She looked around. "How about upstairs?" She led the way up a spiraling staircase. It wound past floor after floor, some furnished and some empty. It reminded me of a lighthouse.
Interesting. I live in a lighthouse in an ambiguous utopia. What a reference.
Soon we reached the topmost floor. It wasn't surrounded by walls, but by clear glass. I could see the entire city of Ingenuity from up here.
"Here we are," Diana grinned. "Look, it's so pretty!" She ran to the glass wall. "We can see the Trailblazer HQ, the Pandora Logistics building, and right there is the government center." She pointed out the various landmarks.
"Hmm..." I folded my arms. From this vantage point, I could see that Ingenuity was more than just a giant room; it felt like a massive, brutalist diorama. The buildings were mostly geometric, but here and there I saw organic shapes—a building shaped like a fish, or other strange structures.
It made me realize how vast and yet how small this place was. It was likely the size of a small country; I couldn't even see the far wall. But this was only one of five major cities.
"How many people live here?" I asked.
Diana tapped her cheek. "Mmm... three hundred thousand? Give or take."
Three hundred thousand.
Down from three hundred million in the old US. Reduced to zero point one percent of the population.
Diana turned to me, her expression softening. "Something wrong, Viel?"
"No, it's nothing."
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
A bright red HUD alert flashed across my vision. What the hell is a Categorical Imperative Violation?
"What? Categorical Imperative Violation?" I blurted out.
At the edge of my vision, I saw Diana put a hand over her mouth. "Oh my. Sorry! I didn't mean to pry. You don't have to answer me, I understand."
The red flashing HUD disappeared.
"What the hell was that?" I put a hand over my face. "Huh?"
"Ummm..." Diana looked down. "Sorry. I really didn't mean to pry. I promise I won't do it again. You can just... say no, if you feel like I'm being nosy."
"No, no." I waved her off. "It's fine. I'm just not sure what's going on."
Diana looked at me. "You don't know? The Categorical Imperative? That's... a Smart Construct safeguard, the GIK, Ghost of Immanuel Kant,"
"Ghost of Immanuel Kant as a safeguard?"
"Yes. Most Smart Constructs have built-in safeguards," Diana explained. "Ghost of Immanuel Kant is one of them." She bit her lip. "Actually, it's one of the strictest safeguards there is. I'm surprised you have it."
"Okay, okay, slow down," I said, raising my hands. "What is it? What can't I do?"
"Oh! Well, umm," Diana tapped her chin. "You may not use a human merely as a means to an end."
"That sounds... good?"
"Well, you just tried to deceive me for the sake of social cohesion. That is using me merely as a means of social cohesion."
"What? I never..."
"You said, 'It is nothing, don't worry about it,' when there was clearly something bothering you." Diana winced and smiled sheepishly. "Yes, that counts as an attempt to deceive me for the sake of social cohesion. I really don't mind! I swear. I'm just pointing out that your safeguard didn't like it."
"What the fuck? So I can't lie or deceive?"
"Correct."
"Not even for social cohesion."
"Nope."
"What if there's a murderer at the door looking for my friend?"
Diana smiled sheepishly. "You can refuse to answer. You can attempt to stop the murderer. But you cannot... lie."
...
"Okay, whose bright idea was this?"
Diana shook her head. "It's one of the strictest smart construct safe guards out there. It evaluates your action and only your action. It's blind to consequences. It's usually used for extremely powerful Smart Construct in Determination, the kind that has capacity far beyond humanity,"
I blinked slowly. "Right. So... I can't use humans as a means to an end. What else?"
"Your actions must pass a universality test."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"So basically... 'If everyone else did this, would it make the world a better place?'"
"What's wrong with a white lie to stop a murderer?"
"The universality maxim is blind to hypothetical situations. So it's not 'a white lie to stop a murderer,' it's just 'a white lie.'"
I blinked again. "So the safeguard doesn't care about the consequences of my actions? Just the actions themselves?"
"Yes," Diana nodded. "That's the Categorical Imperative. The most powerful safeguard there is."
I clasped my hands together. "How do I get it off?"
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
...
"Why is the safeguard screaming again?"
Diana shrugged. "Well... 'I will get rid of my built-in safeguards' violates the universality maxim, doesn't it?"
"God, I need a drink..."
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
"WHAT NOW!?"
Diana took a step back, smiling sheepishly. "Well, the system detected your intention to drink and your intention to get drunk. That would take away your rational capability, and that's... not good. Because 'I will do things that take away my rational capacity' doesn't pass the universality maxim."
God, I hate it. I hate this so much.
I sighed. "Well, either way, I can't actually get drunk." I walked to the middle of the room. It was carpeted, but I still couldn't feel the softness. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep. Right here."
Diana lay down next to me. "Me too. You don't mind, right?"
"No. I don't mind." I looked up at the ceiling.
Safeguards. Right.