Human
"Thank you for coming in a situation where there might be a killing going on."
"No, it's more dangerous to act alone."
"I guess it’s better to stay with as many people as possible."
"I thought comrades had to get along with each other in order to survive."
Gathered in the cafeteria were myself, Shōta, Minami, Mr. Nabeshima, Ms. Shinjō, Hiroyuki, Tsutomu and…
"I'm sorry, who are you, again? I haven’t seen you when we looked around the classrooms last night."
I saw a young man leaning against a wall in the cafeteria a short distance away from us.
At first glance he appears to be an ordinary middle school student with a studious face, but his eyes are cold, sharp, and intimidating to his opponents, as if he were reaping prey.
"Me? I’m Okisada Shibata. A middle school student."
"He is in G8-1 and there is a rumor that he's the smartest eighth grader in the school."
Tsutomu, who was nearby, whispered to me.
"Have you revived?"
"Yes. Originally I’m not good at playing sports. I thought I had fooled the AI, but they caught me in the end."
"But I'm glad you came back to life. As long as you're alive, you can have lots of fun."
Shōta approached and held out his hand.
"You might be right."
Okisada answered bluntly and looked away from Shōta.
"Anyway, it seems like this is everyone."
I took the initiative to move the conversation forward.
"So? What are you going to do, a high school student? We're all here because we heard your broadcast, and that broadcast was played in the school building. How are we supposed to protect ourselves in this situation where the enemy could attack us at any moment?"
Okisada's tone was strong and somewhat relaxed.
"You are right. We had to move somewhere quickly. But if the opponent clones know that the eight of us are gathered here, I don't think they will come here right away. I think they will come attack us after gathering allies. Otherwise, there's even a chance we'll turn back on it."
"I see. For my understanding, I don't know if robots have human-like feelings such as fear of dying. I thought they were just killing machines that follow orders faithfully."
"There is some possibility of that. We don’t know the truth at this moment. You can't take any action unless you believe something to be true as a premise."
"Hahaha! You are very optimistic. If you keep thinking in your own favor like that, we're all going to die here."
At that moment the middle school students and teachers present stepped back from around me.
"Wait! I'm an idiot so I don't really know what Shūhei and you are talking about, but Shūhei has stuck to his ideas and survived so far. He saved us so many times. He doesn't deserve to be told what to do by someone who has been alone all this time and lost the game once."
Minami, who was behind me, jumped in front of me and competed with the snake-eyed Okisada.
"Well, there is no point in fighting among each other. In this team we have adults, we have Shōta, the ace of the baseball team, and Hiroyuki, who is an all-around sportsman. You have a better chance of survival if we all stick together than if you wander around alone, right? Okisada."
Mr. Nabeshima urged everyone to calm down and take seats in the cafeteria. He is truly a teacher, keeping the students under control.
"But do we really have to kill each other now?"
Tsutomu asked, turning his head down.
"I mean that's the only way to live."
Hiroyuki replied.
"Why is everyone so calm?"
"I’m not calm. But if I don't act a little cool, my mind won't be able to handle it."
Mr. Nabeshima joined their conversation.
"I was about to commit suicide, if Mr. Nabeshima didn’t stop me."
Ms. Shinjō placed her hand on Tsutomu's shoulder.
"I don't know, but when I realize I'm not alone, I feel like I can survive."
"Besides, what's more, if you're alive, you can eat a lot of food!"
Shōta interrupted their conversation.
"Humph, that's just like a coward running away from reality."
Apparently, Okisada is quite skilled at getting on people's nerves.
"Hey, Okisada. When you trample on our hopes like that, it seems like to us that you're the coward kid who keeps running away and cannot accept the truth.
Mr. Nabeshima smiled at him, but his face reminded me of rage trapped in tranquility.
"Why are you all pretend to be righteous? All of us have killed at least one person directly, if not indirectly, at this point in time. We're all in the same boat."
Suddenly Okisada's hem was pulled and he was sent flying backwards.
Okisada did not even have time to take a passive stance and slammed vigorously into the wall of the cafeteria.
"You've been yammering on. Very annoying! We don't stay here because we want to. How can all of us be okay with our friends dying in front of us? Think about how we all feel! Food will taste bad."
Shōta chewed the snacks in his hand with all his might.
"Damn, you all treat me like I'm the only bad guy."
"Here they come."
Minami, who was sitting next to Shōta, pointed toward the doorway of the cafeteria.
"You guys are…"
There were "us" with no emotions. I don't find any big differences between us on surface. The only difference was that they were not dressed in tattered, blood and mud-stained clothes like us. They were dressed like aristocrats.
"We were waiting for you."
I stepped forward and extended my hand to the group of faceless robots.
The clones, on the other hand, simply stared at me with cold eyes.
I had very mixed feelings. I wonder if the clones that were killed by us in the first experiment and have been hostile to us in the subsequent experiments will accept us…
Besides, if we join forces, we will surely become "murderers". Clones do not have a heart, so as long as we give them orders, they will mercilessly take human lives. Then we'll never have a normal life again. We will no longer be able to walk together or even stand on the sidelines under the same blue sky with those who live in peace.
"I was waiting for you."
As I was looking at the clones with confusion, a small back appeared in front of me.
"I'll get right to the point, but our lives are on the line here. You robots will just have to do as I say. First of all, if we rush into the enemy with such a large group, we will be annihilated in the worst case when we are caught by surprise or pincer attack. But, we have sixteen of us right now. So I'm thinking of forming another small group within this team. Well, let's say we are equally divided into groups of four here. Two clones and two humans, each with the same guy, of course. That way, even if one group is wiped out, there is a good chance that someone else will survive. See? Isn’t this a great idea?"
"Are you serious?"
"You want us to kill the opponents?"
"And you want us to survive even we sacrifice others?"
Okisada found himself under fire from those around him, but he refused to back down.
"Haha, Mr. Nabeshima, that’s a stupid question. Survive "even" we sacrifice others? No, we are willing to sacrifice each other when the time comes. Who is it that keeps us alive? I'm sure it's thanks to all the people who have died so far. Do you want me to say more? If you don't want to live at the expense of your comrades, so why are you alive right now? If you didn't want them to die, you should have sacrificed yourself instead, right? We humans are afraid to die! Am I right?"
Okisada laughed out victoriously.
"What? What's with those eyes, huh? I'm the voice of you guys. I'm just being honest and revealing the feelings that are sealed deep down inside of you. This is the nature of humans. I don't give a shit if you guys are righteous or not. Human beings are all the same. It is whether your feelings were kept inside or prominent on the surface. That being said, you two-faced bastards are way more creepy than me. Look, we all think we're the strongest creature in the universe. Why is that? Because we have a wisdom that is never equalled by other animals. Using our wisdom, we have tamed all manner of ferocious and gigantic animals. But there is still an unknown world out there that we don't know about. All those creatures out there probably think of us humans as nothing more than flies, right? You guys are too arrogant! You guys are a frog in a well does not know the ocean."
Okisada's voice became louder and raspier as he continued.
"The royalty, who know only a small part of such a world, and who have only been climbing low walls while getting along with each other on the surface and talking about peace, freedom, and hope, will start kicking each other down when they are in danger of dying. This would be so ugly to other animals that they don’t want to see you. We've already killed a bunch of people, we're felons, you know? We don't have to put on an act anymore. After all this time, the survivors can have our self-centered meaning of "hope". We are the ones who say confidently that as long as I am alive and have aspirations for the future, that's all that matters. Then, now is the time to show our true humanity in such a life-threatening situation."
When Okisada finished speaking, he laughed and took a deep breath to make himself feel relaxed.
Everyone present just stood there in stunned silence without making any comment.
Not a single person objected.
Is this the true human…?
Who am I really?
Why do we insist on making ourselves kings of this world?
Why "sacrifice" others for the sake of it?
Why does everyone hate the word "equality"?
Why, WHY…
