"You were created here?" Rudy asked with a surprised look on his face.
"Yes, but this continent is not even half its original size anymore. It got drifted with the sea. Still, I am happy to see this place again. I should have never left this place… but I had to.
I was powerless at that time. I didn't have the technology or strength to save this Dynasty from collapse. But as they say… all things must come to an end one day… let it be good or bad."
"So you must have seen various civilizations in this Dynasty. Did you serve them all?" he asked calmly. "Since you said that the artificial humans were meant to be better than humans in every aspect. But the main purpose they created for artificial humans is that they could use them as slaves."
Lu Bela shook her head and responded, "As you know, not all artificial humans were born perfect. Those with even a minor defect were thrown away or sold at very cheap prices with no warranty on them.
The perfect artificial humans were made slaves, while the defective ones lived independent lives in freedom."
She scoffed softly with a wry smile on her face and continued, "Makes you wonder if it was better to be defective as that was the way to gain freedom."
"Did they perform a check-up before installing cores into their bodies?" Rudy asked curiously.
"Yes, they performed three checks. I could tell you everything in detail, but we don't have time for that, right?" Lu Bela asked with a cheeky smirk on her face.
"Oh! So that's how you smirk. I have never seen reactions on your face, so you seemed like a puppet doll, but now you are very much alive. You should smile more often, you look cute."
"Hmm~ Just so you know, your cheesy remarks won't work on me. We, artificial humans, can't fall in love with anyone."
"I wasn't trying to make a move on you. That was my genuine remark. You don't have to laugh for me or others. Laugh for yourself."
After a brief pause, Rudy increased his voice and looked into Lu Bela's eyes before continuing, "Why do you try to find a reason to live and exist? Live for yourself. Why do you want to die so badly? Live for yourself.
I don't know how old you are, but all your life, all you have done is to exist for a reason. Those reasons might have changed, but your desire to die never joined. You are an artificial human with no soul.
If you die… you will die. You will cease to exist. Completely. Poof! Gone. Don't you find that scary?"
He asked with a gentle smile on his face.
"You would understand my pain if you had suffered what I had suffered. I have lived for so long that I no longer find joy in living. For what reason should I exist? I have seen countless civilizations meet their end.
Back then, when it was the era of peace, everything was fine. The inventions were for the greater good of the world and to its people. After the 'Great Collapse' , humans never went back to what they were before.
All the knowledge and inventions were lost and forgotten. The lowest point of the humanity I witnessed was their actions were dumber than the animals. They lived like monkeys.
It was as though they had gone to the beginning of time, and everything had started again. They didn't know the meaning of peace and killed other humans to eat them and survive.
They fought using stones— the stone Age— which continued for thousands of years. Then came the bronze age, and that's when humanity had started to use their brains again.
They made homes and weapons. After that, they evolved faster than they devolved. Then came eras, bringing revolution to the age of humanity. However, they achieved nothing by themselves.
We were artificial humans who lived secluded from them because we had decided to never interact with them again. We helped them evolve."
She looked at Rudy and asked, "Why do you think the world revolutionized and evolved so much in the past five hundred years than it did in a million others? Surely, it's not like humans suddenly became smart and began inventing unimaginable things one after another."
"Then?"
"They are using the lost knowledge acquired from us artificial humans. It started when some civilizations began exploring the world and found us. They were bewildered by seeing our advanced technology—which we had created with our knowledge and power.
They asked us to help them, so we did. Since our purpose was to make human lives better and easier, we agreed to help them. We taught them how to farm, build, create medicines, and find cures for diseases.
Those were the three things one needed to survive, but they wanted more. The artificial humans were ranked by the material and the process of their creation. Naturally, the higher ranked among us had their ego get the best of them.
They taught humans everything they knew. Until they realized what they had done and regretted their decision, but that was too late. Since the humans had learned everything they wanted, they started exterminating us.
Weapons and machines. Humans used that to get rid of us. Of course, there were more good humans than evil ones, and they came for our aid. Our leader had given them a journal containing the blueprints and knowledge of the lost civilization.
Humans invented everything based on it. Everything that exists in today's era existed long before. Surely, there are lots of mysteries in this world that even your scientists can't solve, right?"
She asked with a knowing look on her face.
"Well… yes. Some ancient monuments are beyond human's comprehension."
"Those are the remains of the lost ancient civilization. You would be surprised to know that the 'Journal' still exists, and they have only invented 30% of what the book contains. Even after all these years, they can't fathom that knowledge."
Lu Bela pointed her finger at something below them and said, "Take me there. I want to show you something."
