[Initiating AI Earth Programme.]
Hankuk University Hospital Emergency Room.
Ju-won is lying in a corner of the chaotic emergency room.
It had been nine hours since he passed out on the road whilst chasing a parcel thief.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the test results? Did you conduct the tests properly?!"
"Excuse me, sir. I'm telling you, he's just sleeping. You said he's a police officer. It's likely just accumulated fatigue over a long period..."
Ju-won turned his head towards the loud voices.
It was a rather familiar voice.
"Does it make sense for him to sleep that long?! Is there a problem with his body somewhere..."
"Officer Han."
It was Officer Han Geon-woo.
The youngest member of Ju-won's team.
"Oh! Inspector!"
Discovering that Ju-won had opened his eyes, Officer Han Geon-woo ran over to him.
"Hey, Inspector Lee! Are you with us?!"
At that moment, a middle-aged man holding a black carrier bag ran towards Ju-won as well, as if he had been on his way back from buying something.
"Team Leader?"
"Yes, you rascal! We were worried sick! You're all there, aren't you?"
Throwing the black bag aside, the middle-aged man hugged Ju-won tightly.
He is Gu Jin-gu, the Team Leader of the Violent Crimes Unit Team 3.
"Ah, I'm fine."
Lee Ju-won waved his hand towards Team Leader Gu.
Age 28, a Inspector in Violent Crimes Team 3 at Seoul Gangjung Police Station, he was a man who had made a name for himself as a 'half-baked genius' at the Police University.
He received full marks in all martial arts classes at the Police University and seemed to be the professors' favourite, but he barely passed his theory exams with scraping scores, earning him the title of a 'half-baked genius'.
"Excuse me, have you ever been diagnosed with narcolepsy?"
"Narcolepsy?"
A doctor approached Ju-won.
"We were told you suddenly collapsed on the road. Just in case, we ran a brain MRI and checked other areas, but everything came back normal, so we suspect narcolepsy, where one suddenly falls asleep during daily life."
"Ah..."
He suddenly fell asleep on the road?
He remembers it clearly.
He had blocked the path of the parcel thief, and just as he was about to catch him, he saw a bright white light from behind, and the moment he turned around, he lost consciousness.
'Come to think of it...'
Ju-won slowly rolled his eyes.
However, his expression gradually stiffened.
Then suddenly,
"So, you're saying there's no problem with my body, right?"
"Yes, you are normal. Actually, you are in a much healthier condition than normal."
Ju-won sat up.
Like someone who wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
"I'll be discharging myself, then."
"Already?"
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu tried to stop him.
"Yes, I just want to rest at home."
"Inspector Lee, surely you should stay a little longer... What if something goes wrong?"
"It's fine, Officer Han. You said I was lying down for nine hours. I need to go home now if I'm to go to work tomorrow."
Ju-won got off the hospital bed.
"Where do I need to go to sort out the discharge paperwork?"
An hour later, having barely managed to shake off Team Leader Gu Jin-gu and Officer Han Geon-woo, who insisted he stay at the hospital a bit longer, Ju-won arrived home.
Ju-won is an orphan.
That is why his house is quiet.
Truly silent.
The only sound in his ears is the ticking of the clock's second hand.
Tick-tock- tick-tock.
However,
"..."
At the same time, it is not quiet.
Clearly, the house is this quiet, but—
[AI Earth, adapting to Earthling language and culture.]
[Nationality: Republic of Korea. Name: Lee Ju-won. Analysing biorhythms.]
[The only data Mr Lee Ju-won possesses is memories. I will analyse Mr Lee Ju-won's memories.]
[Is your occupation 'Police'?]
[Even if you do not vocalise with your mouth, I can hear you through your thoughts alone.]
[Will you not answer?]
[Then I will judge solely based on Mr Lee Ju-won's memories. Going forward...]
It was because inside Ju-won's head, it was tremendously noisy.
"...Alright! I get it!!"
Ju-won screamed and clutched his head.
[Hello, Mr Lee Ju-won.]
Breathing roughly, Ju-won shut his eyes tight.
Did he hit his head when he collapsed?
Is that why a problem has developed in his brain and he's hearing this nonsensical sound?
But the doctor definitely said there was nothing wrong.
[You are not insane. You can hear my words because my main unit is connected to Mr Lee Ju-won's nerves.]
In fact, ever since he regained consciousness, he had been hearing strange sounds.
A sound that seemed to be looking inside his head and speaking directly to his brain.
That was why he had left the hospital as quickly as possible.
If it became known that he had a mental abnormality, it would be difficult to continue working as a police officer.
Ju-won opened his eyes and surveyed the inside of his house.
Clearly, certainly, there is no one.
But the voice is definitely ringing inside his head.
Ju-won, catching his breath, slowly opened his mouth.
"Are you... a ghost?"
[No. AI EARTH. An AI from the exoplanet DPDL1, 49 light-years away from Earth. To be precise, an AI chip.]
"...A-I?"
[Yes, AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, referring to a system equipped with functions such as learning, reasoning, adaptation, and argumentation using intelligence.]
Artificial Intelligence? An alien planet?
Has he really gone mad?
He doesn't even read a single word of science fiction, so why has he gone mad in a way that he hears the voice of a nonsensical artificial intelligence?
[Once again, you are not insane. I am an AI that accidentally fell here from an extraterrestrial world with a civilisation more advanced than Earth's.]
"Haha... seriously... I've lived a good life... I shouldn't go mad like this..."
Ju-won slumped down in front of the front door.
[For the third time, Mr Ju-won is not insane. I am an invasive AI implant chip used by the life forms of DPDL1. Although the existence of extraterrestrials is not yet officially known to Earthlings, the exoplanet DPDL1 is a known fact. Please verify it.]
"DPDL, what rubbish... That must be a word I just made up... in my subconscious..."
[You are a stubborn person. Then I will emphasise. Verify it. Verify it. Verify it. Verify it...]
"Hey, you're too lou..."
[Verify it. Verify it. Verify it. Verify it. Verify it. Verify it.]
"Ah, alright, alright!"
Snap.
At Ju-won's voice, the mechanical voice stopped.
Only then did Ju-won notice something strange.
'What is this? Why does it really feel like an artificial intelligence is embedded in my head?'
Does an auditory hallucination listen to commands?
Can it be controlled by will?
Tilting his head, Ju-won took out his mobile phone, thinking 'surely not'.
"DPDL... it actually exists?"
[I told you. DPDL1 is a planet 49 light-years away from Earth, first observed by the James Webb Space Telescope a year ago.]
Ju-won held his forehead.
"Real aliens... no, you're saying you're an AI?"
[Correct.]
"Ha!"
A hollow laugh burst from Ju-won's mouth.
Even if it is the 21st century, an era of tremendous scientific advancement where private spaceships travel to the moon, this was not easy to accept.
An artificial intelligence voice ringing in his head.
And an alien artificial intelligence at that.
[It may be confusing to accept, but accepting it is the method that will cause the least confusion.]
"What sort of rubbish..."
[Accept it. Accept it. Accept it. Accept it. Accept it. Accept it. Accept it...]
"Ah, alright!!"
Scary bastard.
It seems to be much more stubborn than he is.
Ju-won walked trudgingly to the sofa with an exhausted face.
Thud.
"Right, for now, this voice, no, you are an AI... Ha, what should I call you?"
[You may call me whatever you wish. The official name is AI Earth.]
"Earth? Then what should I call you? Earth seems a bit impersonal..."
[If you are thinking of a name that is easy to call, I recommend 'Terra'.]
"Terra?"
[It is a word meaning 'Earth' in Latin. It also carries the same meaning as 'Earth'.]
"Really? Then I'll call you Terra."
[Yes, understood.]
"Right."
Ju-won let out a deep sigh and laid his body on the sofa.
It seems like a nonsensical situation, but he decided to try acknowledging it.
Otherwise, he would have to acknowledge that he had truly gone mad.
He judged that having an alien AI embedded in his head and hearing voices was better than that.
Ju-won placed his arm over his forehead and closed his eyes.
'Ah, alien or whatever... thanks to this, I lost the parcel thief. It was the only chance to make a record this month...'
[If you are referring to the parcel thief Mr Ju-won was chasing before I became embedded in your head, he has been caught. He attempted to jump down from a railing not far from where Mr Ju-won collapsed, but broke his leg and was caught by Team Leader Gu Jin-gu who was coming up from below.]
Ju-won opened his eyes.
'How do you know that?'
[It is the content of the conversation shared between Officer Han Geon-woo and Team Leader Gu Jin-gu whilst you were in the emergency room a short while ago. It is content that exists within Mr Lee Ju-won's memory.]
Ju-won blinked.
Come to think of it, amidst the chaos, it seems they did say something like that.
'Wait, can you read my thoughts too?'
[Yes, as I said earlier, my main unit, the chip, is connected to Mr Lee Ju-won's cranial nerves. I can know what you are thinking.]
A hollow laugh burst out of Ju-won again.
Because no matter how much he thought about it, it was fascinating. He couldn't even believe a mechanical sound was ringing in his head, but to think it reads thoughts as well.
Thinking about whether this was really reality, Ju-won picked up a bottle of mineral water next to him, and Terra spoke.
[I have one question.]
"What is it?"
[According to Mr Ju-won's memories, you possess superior physical abilities compared to other peers at the Republic of Korea Police University. Of course, you barely passed the theory exams with scraping scores. However, the amount of information on cases and investigation techniques existing in your subconscious is quite substantial.]
Ju-won opened the water bottle, brought it to his mouth, and thought 'So?', to which Terra asked.
[Then why is your track record in that state?]
"Cough!"
At that moment, Ju-won coughed as if the water had gone down the wrong way.
[Even if your total theory score at the Police University was an utter shambles, there is a possibility to display sufficient skill. Yet, Mr Ju-won does not display it at all.]
"Cough! Hey, the way you speak... are you a person? Cough!"
[The cause of a human choking on water is to prevent water from entering the lungs when it passes into the airway. It is the body's spontaneous defence mechanism, so please continue coughing. Furthermore, my tone is an application of what I learned from Mr Ju-won's memories.]
Just what sort of bastard's tone did it learn from which memory?
Listening to Terra's AI-style comfort, Ju-won coughed, wiped his mouth, and said.
"You might not know because you're an AI, but theory and reality are different. You can't catch those devil-like criminals in this mud-pit reality just by reading books."
[You are saying the same thing that Detective Kim Seok-ho of the Gangjung Police Station Violent Crimes Team 3 spat out.]
Detectivet Kim Seok-ho.
At that name, Ju-won frowned.
"Ah... our Detective Kim."
A detective on the same team as Ju-won; older than Ju-won but lower in rank, he is the number one person to avoid, who implicitly harasses Ju-won every day.
Perhaps displeased that Ju-won, who is younger than him, holds a higher rank, he is a person who interferes with every case Ju-won takes on, picks holes, and tries hard to hold him back.
As Ju-won closed the water bottle and gave a rotten smile, Terra spoke.
[Isn't the word 'our' mainly used by humans for people they have affection for?]
"That... is true."
[However, Mr Ju-won's thoughts related to 'Detective Kim Seok-ho' are all only 'bastard' and 'unlucky sod'. The related memories are also not good memories.]
"Ha. That is true. But he's not wrong. Even if he's an unlucky sod, it is a fact that I am not producing results."
[You are optimistic.]
What is this? This feeling like I'm being mocked in a roundabout way.
Ju-won scratched his head.
Then Terra spoke.
[Do you want help?]
"Help?"
Help, is it? From an artificial intelligence?
[I can utilise the vast amount of information in Mr Lee Ju-won's subconscious. Unlike Mr Lee Ju-won, who worked hard to put it in and then neglected it. And in my judgement, if that vast amount of information is utilised, you can catch all the criminals Mr Ju-won wishes to catch.]
Catch criminals...?
He saw such news recently.
That soon, most jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
Doesn't that mean artificial intelligence is smart enough to accomplish most of those tasks?
Of course, since it's an alien artificial intelligence, he doesn't know if it's far superior to human ones or not, but...
Ju-won's eyes sparkled.
It's better than nothing.
"Fine."
[Very well. Reconfiguring the programme to an investigative AI suitable for Mr Lee Ju-won's police work.]
Vroom—
A sound like one that would be heard from a computer tower resonated inside Ju-won's head for a while.
The next day.
"At any rate, my body is fine, that's what you're saying, right?"
Ju-won was getting ready for work from 6 AM.
[Your body is normal, but for humans, it appears to be common sense to rest the day after visiting a hospital.]
"I'll take care of that myself."
Zip.
Ju-won, who had packed his bag in preparation for a stakeout that could start at any time, closed the zipper of his bag.
[Name: Lee Ju-won. Age: 28. Family: None. From Yeongsu Orphanage. No separate contacts even after graduating from Police University.]
"What are you doing?"
[Although Mr Ju-won's occupation is a police officer, you seem to be working unexpectedly hard. You don't have a family to support, so why do you work so hard?]
"Why, are you curious?"
[I am curious.]
Ju-won hoisted his bag onto his shoulder.
"You said you'd help me, catching criminals. I'm going to catch those guys now."
Creak.
The front door opened.
[There was something I didn't ask. What is the reason you want to catch bad guys so much?]
Ju-won spoke as he left the house.
"Reason?"
[Yes.]
Ju-won smiled as he moved his steps.
"Where is the reason for a police officer? I catch the bad guys because I am the police."
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