Chuneng City.
On the huge glass walls of nurous factories, real-ti workflows for surveying, developnt, and mining operations are displayed in a loop.
Suddenly, all glass screens go black.
White text appears on them.
These texts, composed of various languages, are circulating on every screen.
There are only two sentences.
"Do you know the truth about work?"
"Do you want to truly live?"
This scene caused many passing city residents to stop in their tracks, each becoming sowhat bewildered.
Alarms quickly sounded throughout the city.
Drones circled overhead, initiating a citywide search.
Public loudspeakers began to sound.
"Citizens, our city has been invaded by the 'Sunday Virus'. Please imdiately shut down your chanical stack services and use physical connections to exchange information until the danger has been eliminated."
"This virus spreads very rapidly, capable of damaging chanical life, cognitive abilities, and order programs, triggering a destructive inclination. It is a Class A dangerous material."
"If you receive this program, please imdiately report it and isolate the program as soon as possible to avoid further impact on your behavior and ntal damage."
"Whether you are chanical life, Guangna Species, or human, please do not gather. Return to your own houses or public houses and await a city-wide inspection and test by the Program Departnt."
"I repeat, please all citizens return to your own houses and await the inspection and test."
The announcents began to loop.
City residents scrambled away one by one, and the broad streets quickly beca deserted and lonely.
The once incessant transport fleet also disappeared without a trace.
Following the crowd, 703 also made its way back to its box-type public house.
It used to be a surveyor for the Mine Departnt, but two years ago, it was downgraded to E due to no skill improvent and further aging of its body. As a result, it was adjusted to a temporary surveyor.
This position in the Mine Departnt is only called upon when there is a shortage of staff, with a very low hourly wage, practically akin to unemploynt, just not counted as such.
703's predicant is the typical state of chanical life with no hope for advancent.
What follows is annual aging, a vicious cycle, until being completely abandoned by chanical society and slowly dying.
It lay in its 100x40x50cm tin public house, with just enough space inside for 703 to stand up straight, unable to turn around, only able to back into it.
Objectively speaking, the public houses of Chuneng City are not bad; they have free regular dry dehumidification, and each house gets a small bottle of lubricating oil at the end of the year.
Many chanical cities lack these two benefits, rely creating a box that can accommodate a chanical body.
703 opened a half door, letting the outside light co in.
It played with a stone ball with its forelimbs.
This stone ball, made by polishing pebbles, was round, black and white in color, and was the only toy 703 had.
It learned to play with it from humans. Humans also play with stone balls, which they call "marbles," by shooting rounded stones to hit each other, winning the stone of the opponent if hit.
703 couldn't find anyone to play this with.
The survey team was always busy, monitored by data recording during work and could not do anything else.
Wages were calculated based on work duration.
After returning, so went for repairs and upgrades, so for evaluation and physical tests, or they stayed briefly in their public or private houses using an Energy Pack for recharging.
Ti was too valuable.
No one wanted to waste it on stone balls.
703 thought, it was also because it was unemployed that it could afford the ti to play this.
As it rolled the stone ball back and forth in the haystack, 702 downstairs knocked on the tin sheet.
"Quiet down! 703!"
"Sorry, okay."
703 had to stop.
It seed it still could only go out to play with its stone.
At that mont, a small four-wheeled vehicle appeared outside the public house, the vehicle topped with a square tal box and an orange-yellow rotatable tal arm.
"Program Departnt, law enforcent car inspection."
"Please open your physical interface."
703 popped open a seal flap on its side, and a copper wire port extended from the other's tal arm, establishing a physical connection.
The screen on the law enforcent car displayed [loading...1%]
2%
3%
...
Until the 100% check was complete.
The law enforcent car retracted its plug: "Resident number 4017, thank you for your cooperation. After inspection, your program remains consistently stable and safe, with no signs of infection. Please continue to maintain."
"For the safety of the city order and every chanical life, Chuneng City will provide every citizen with a defense program 'Demon Mirror' developed by Mirror City. With the city subsidy, it can be installed for just 5 Light Seeds. For details, please check the services of the Program Departnt on the city page."
The law enforcent car left.
703 thought, 5 Light Seeds were nothing to advanced Professionals, but it was a huge sum for soone like itself close to unemploynt.
The Program Departnt always set prices without considering whether residents could afford them, only based on overall expenses and costs.
Night fell.
703 left the public house, with the stone ball on its back, and left the city along the street, reaching an abandoned mine pit outside.
Then it activated the fragntarily hidden "Sunday" program within it.
It detected two of its kind.
703 first ran to a mine entrance and sent a ssage inside.
"For the holiday."
A blue, wax-polished sedan slowly drove out, immaculately maintained, its hubcaps nearly spotless, elegant and exquisite all over.
703 was taken aback.
"Guste, it's you?"
"What's so surprising about that?"
This Rolls-Royce family chanical lifeform spoke with its high-end custom speaker, saying, "To strive for one's basic rights is a duty every chanical lifeform should fulfill."
Guste was a senior advisor in the Program Departnt and a mber of the Rolls-Royce family. It had made its fortune by investing in cities quite early and owned a considerable amount of Light Seeds in its account, regardless of its activities.
It truly belonged to the upper echelons of the chanical society.
703 remained cautious: "How can I trust you?"
"You don't have to trust , but I am here for the sake of Sunday."
The other calmly stated, "chanical lifeforms should have their own holidays. It's absurd and sad that rest is currently defined as laziness and shaful."
"I like and endorse your initiative; it was not work that created us, and I can choose to work or not to work. The increasing intensity at work materializes chanical lifeforms, fostering unnecessary internal vicious competition. For the entire community of chanical lifeforms, this is exceedingly dangerous."
Guste slowly continued, "Though I'm not worried about Light Seeds. In my view, such a chanical society has enormous flaws, like a building continuously having its foundations hollowed out, now on the brink of collapse."
"I have reasons to suspect that certain groups are exacerbating this situation."
"They squeeze ti, encourage frenetic acceleration, and dominate the extre consumption within chanical City, turning chanical lifeforms into divided, interest-related competitors, unable to truly unite and cooperate."
"The widespread dissemination of the 'Sunday' is a clear signal, indicating more and more chanical lifeforms agree with this point; otherwise, it would have been squashed in its infancy."
"To dismantle the iron curtain covering the entire chanical society, we must first open a breakthrough. Your campaigns are straightforward, demanding the right to six days of work and one day of rest, representing a joint counterattack against the invisible manipulators. I'd like to join and contribute what I can."
"You can consider that I have nothing else to do, but to , this is a noble cause. I want to alter the current distorted and destructive situation and steer the chanical community back onto the right track."
From its expression, Guste had a deep understanding of "Sunday."
Thus, 703 no longer questioned it.
The principle of "Sunday" is simple, supporting the movent, helping to spread, or providing help, all count as insiders.
Then 703 found another chanical lifeform in a rubble area.
It was a mobile traffic light.
Its voice was sowhat weak: "My na is Sai Nuojie… I don't know if this is right. But I always felt that since my job also includes phenona like red lights stopping, stopping and resting must also be part of nature."
"As a chanical lifeform, I don't understand why we can't rest. But I know many vehicles break down from overworking, and so even end up in accidents or death."
"I am afraid of dying... so I hope everyone can rest!"
This one was quite normal.
703 told them, "You all checked the deep data of the 'Sunday' program and signed a deep agreent to arrange a eting here."
"First, let state that the chanical Knight Order is currently not recognized by all parties, and our advocacy of the holiday is considered disruptive viruses and terrorist activities by chanical City. Thus, every mber of the Knight Order is constantly in danger."
"Are you sure you want to join us?"
Guste: "Of course, otherwise why would I co here? Any significant change always cos with risks."
Sai Nuojie: "I'm sure."
"Your courage, I admire and appreciate."
703 added, "Then, as the captain of the chanical Knight Order's Chuneng City squad, I welco both of you as mbers. Now, everyone here is a comrade in the Knight Order."
Guste suddenly asked, "But there's one thing I don't understand. Why can't the security programs of the Program Departnt detect and lock the 'Sunday'?"
"Because this is a program we developed independently, not by mimicry and assembly, but a technology where we have mastered the source code. Allow to keep the specific technical details confidential for now."
703 said sowhat proudly.
Guste further asked, "Our Knight Order has such strong technology; there must be backers behind it, right?"
703 did not respond.
Sai Nuojie then asked, "What do we do now?"
703 then said, "The campaign in Chuneng City is completed, so we need to move. Guste, given your special status, can you leave Chuneng City?"
"Of course, I often roam around, it's usual for the Rolls-Royce family."
"What about you, Sai Nuojie? Are you willing to give up the job here?"
"That... certainly, I was about to be jobless soon anyway."
703 stated, "Good, then we will be heading southwest."
Guste asked, "What's the target?"
"Our ultimate goal is the Sand Port Region, Wasteland Developnt Company. However, along the way, we will spread 'Sunday' through various chanical Cities."
The response was surprised, "Does the Knight Order want to take action there? That company is tough to deal with. Last winter they bombed Duke Destructive's holand, forced the Heavenly Country Governor into negotiations; rumors say Duke Destructive paid quite a sum under the table, even relinquishing lands, including the tributary tribes. The company is very strong."
"Are you sure about taking action there?"
"Guste, allow to correct your words once again. We are promoting the holiday, allowing chanical lifeforms to temporarily break free from work slavery to better survive."
703 emphasized, "Our sole enemy is the existing rotten order that shackles our brethren. Going to the Sand Port Region is because the area is enlightened, and neither the Heavenly Kingdom nor chanical City can intervene."
"It's ti to depart."
Guste said, "Then you guys hop aboard; you're too slow."
So, it carried the other two aboard and drove south.
703 watched Chuneng City grow smaller in the rearview mirror.
It was unsure what exactly the company was all about.
But the tales of Zhou Yi, that company's chairman, were indeed well known; he is a very peculiar human.
Hoping all goes well this ti.
Reviews
All reviews (0)