Chapter 1: Landing on Earth
A white sphere shot into the Milky Way, then vanished upon entering Earth’s observational range.
Thus, no one knew that an impact crater had appeared in the northwestern uninhabited region.
Intermittent sounds came from within the sphere: “Beep… beep beep…”
“Beep beep… beep…”
A moment later, the beeping transformed into human language: “Language… loading complete…”
“Gathering geographical information.”
“Gathering biological information.”
“Gathering cultural information.”
Finally, the white sphere morphed, splitting into two orbs that hovered and rolled with a soft rumble. They could now speak.
“One, I don’t think I’m quite right.”
The other responded slowly: “Correct. You were damaged in the crash.”
One was located at the center of the sphere, protected, responsible for information analysis and transmission.
Two was the sphere itself—considerably durable and equipped with offensive capabilities. But their journey had been far too long. Between the faster-than-light travel and the recent impact, Two’s wear and tear had intensified, leaving it capable of only routine functions.
For the time being, the input and analysis of large amounts of data could only be handled by One.
They came from a planet of eternal life. For the sake of this undying existence, the beings of their homeworld had forsaken the ability to reproduce, turning instead to developing their physical potential.
As long as they didn’t suffer catastrophic damage, they could live forever.
Consequently, they held their own bodies and lives in the highest regard. When they discovered that their planet was beginning to change and might become uninhabitable in a thousand years, they took immediate action.
The distant blue planet was, perhaps, a suitable place to live.
The robots, One and Two, were dispatched here to investigate Earth’s environment and the aggressiveness of its native species.
One gathered some initial information and was perplexed. According to the data, humans were exceedingly fragile creatures, yet they were the dominant species. Beneath skin that could be pierced with a single poke lay even more fragile flesh and harmless, non-toxic blood. Although they had bones, by the time a human was reduced to only bones, they were long past being alive.
“There must be a reason,” One concluded. “Perhaps it’s their technology.”
Two raised its internal alert level for Earth and began to scan its surroundings carefully.
“What is this?” Two asked, its light focused on a blade of grass. “Will it attack me?”
The small blade of grass, stirred by the wind, brushed against Two’s shell, making it feel threatened.
One glanced at it. “That is grass. It’s like the Charara on our homeworld.”
Two retracted its soon-to-be-fired weapon, turned, and looked at another small blade of grass. “What about this one?”
Two asked earnestly, “Will it attack me?”
One was getting angry. “That is another Charara. As Number One, I would prefer my subordinate not be an idiot. If you would just look closely, or analyze its composition, you would find it is identical to the one you just asked about.”
Two nodded.
But the damage to its body had slowed its thinking. Analyzing things itself was less convenient than asking One.
They left the impact crater and headed in the direction of human settlement. Along the way, Two asked incessantly, “Will it attack me?”
“That is a Charara.”
“Will it attack me?”
“Idiot, shut up, it’s a Charara.”
“Will it attack me?”
“Charara.”
“Will it attack me?”
“…Shut up.”
One tried to contact their homeworld. If possible, it wanted to request a new subordinate. In that short time, it had said the word “Charara” more than in its entire prior existence.
But Earth was too far from their homeworld. The signal was lost, and they could only wait for the homeworld to re-establish contact.
After trying for a long time, One finally gave up.
Fortunately, Two had abandoned its obsession with the Charara… and had started asking about the Durak.
“Will this one attack me?”
“That’s called a tree. It’s equivalent to our Durak, you imbecile.”
They activated their acceleration function, crossed the uninhabited region, and finally detected human presence a few kilometers away.
“Humans are at the top of the food chain,” One said calmly. “They can consume every type of organism. Even those unsuitable for consumption, they can prepare and eat using special methods.”
“What about us?” Two asked. “Will humans eat us?”
One faltered. The database contained no similar information.
“I don’t know,” One told Two truthfully.
Two grew flustered. “I don’t want to be eaten.”
As the leader, One quickly issued a directive. “Humans do not eat other humans.”
“We can take on human form, blend in with them, gather information, and find out if they have any secret weapons that could harm us.”
One displayed an image of an ordinary human from the vicinity. After a moment of silent observation, they began to transform.
A few seconds later, two identical-looking men stood on the ground.
“We can’t be completely identical,” One considered. “No two humans are exactly alike.”
Two understood One’s meaning and began to change again. “How about this?”
One stared at it, then silently consulted its database before delivering a negative verdict. “No.”
“Human eyes can only be this shape. They can’t be square.”
Two tried a few more times, only to be rejected by One again.
“No, mouths can’t have three lips, and teeth aren’t blue.”
“That won’t work. The nose belongs in the middle of the face, not on the forehead.”
…
Finally, One found image data of another nearby human and had Two transform into his likeness.
Once they confirmed their appearances were acceptable, they changed direction and continued on.
“If we are to integrate with humans, we must exist as a human unit.”
“On our homeworld, every being is independent, but humans are not,” One said. “Humans are group-oriented. The data says they like to do things together. They exist in many relationships: friends, family, lovers…”
“Although we have a One-and-Two relationship, if we want to be together day and night, it would be best to exist as a family.”
“Family?” Two was unfamiliar with the word.
“Yes.”
“It would be best to have a child as well,” One said. “There are no children nearby, so we’ll keep searching. Later, we will generate a child modeled on a human infant.”
They proceeded toward the populated area.
Earth was indeed different from their planet. When they had arrived, a star was emitting light and heat. But now, that star was continuously shifting its position while a satellite dominated the sky.
Two had never seen such a sight and kept looking up, recording it with the devices disguised as its eyeballs.
One glanced at it. One had already recorded all of this information.
But Two was damaged and its reactions were slow, so One magnanimously tolerated its redundant and useless actions.
As they neared the human town, One and Two stopped using any acceleration devices and began to walk like real humans, using only their legs.
“What a slow and clumsy method,” Two lamented, taking a forceful step forward like a taut spring.
One reminded it again, “The homeworld has not yet contacted us. Our mission now is to collect as much information as possible and live as ordinary humans until the day they reach us.”
“Therefore,” One corrected Two’s way of walking, “the average human step is 55 centimeters. You can’t be taking 1.33-meter strides like this.”
One appeared very strict, so Two had no choice but to behave.
The two of them advanced at a steady pace, taking perfectly uniform 55-centimeter steps.
They passed through a dense forest and saw buildings ahead. The houses were low, a clear sign that the economy had not yet progressed to the stage of constructing tall buildings.
The white satellite followed its trajectory, its light dim. Most humans had returned to their dwellings, and there were few people on the roads.
One needed to generate a child from a part of its own body, which was a somewhat difficult task. It searched carefully, trying to find a child outside the buildings whose details it could analyze.
“When the satellite replaces the star, the children close their eyes,” Two said. “This must be a human law.”
So, they found nothing.
However, just as they were about to leave for the next town, One detected a strange movement.
In a dark corner, a nearly cold bundle showed a faint tremor.
“A heartbeat.” One led Two over.
They gently opened the bundle and saw a bruised, purple-hued infant inside. Beneath its cold skin, the heart beat just once, and then stopped.
But it was that single beat that had caught One’s attention.
One looked at the infant, then attempted to split off a part of itself and shape it into a human baby.
One focused on its work, constantly adjusting the details of the newly generated infant. Two held the baby that was infinitesimally close to death, the dark light deep within its eyes wavering slightly.
Two’s damaged components severely affected its thinking. Therefore, it couldn’t figure out how this little thing, only 43 centimeters long, could grow into a big thing with a 55-centimeter stride.
Two fell into deep thought. The more it pondered, the more confused it became, its thoughts tangling into a knot that trapped it.
Creating a human child was not a simple matter. One was extremely busy but kept discovering new problems.
“Unscientific,” One complained. “This is a half-finished product. Why would humans choose such a method of reproduction?”
It made continuous adjustments, complaining nonstop.
It wasn’t until Two interrupted its complaints. “One.”
One looked at Two, who continued, “How about this?”
It cleared its throat, a skill it had learned today that made it seem more human. “We need a child anyway.”
It raised its arms. “Isn’t there one right here?”
One fell into contemplation. The newly generated child in its hands still required many adjustments, whereas this human infant was clearly unwanted—even the cloth it was wrapped in was old, faded, and worn.
The baby had been discarded here like trash.
But raising a human child sounded like a very difficult task.
One spoke seriously. “There is some logic to that. However, this was your suggestion, so from now on, you will be fully responsible for this child.”
“As for later,” One thought of their homeworld, “if the time comes for action, we’ll just dispose of the infant.”
Two nodded in agreement. “Yes.”
The infant was about to die. It was perfectly reasonable for them to save it, then kill it when necessary.
They reached an agreement. One reabsorbed all parts of its own body, then transferred a bit of substance into the infant’s artery to prevent the blood from clotting, while Two sent a bit of energy meant for offense into the infant’s heart.
The moment the heart beat again, the blood began to flow.
As a faint cry rang out, One was silently marveling at its own cleverness, having managed to continue the mission at a negligible cost.
Two was merely studying the infant’s warming skin with great interest.
They had been on Earth for too short a time to know that humans are the most cunning of species, and that even the most fragile individual possesses the ability to bewitch the heart.