Chapter 103 – Enforcement
A few days before the Bloodtech expedition.
Najadine, a police officer in training, is an impressive beauty with her healthy brown skin, curly black hair, and blue eyes like those of a Siamese cat.
She is also a Muslim who was strangled by instructor Hartman while receiving training while wearing a hijab.
Although his religious beliefs are at an average level, he grew up obeying his strict father in an extremely patriarchal society.
It was not because she had no self-esteem, but because she admired her father’s responsibility and ability to support a family of seven on his own.
My father never showed me a smile. But whenever she came home from work, I would run to her bare feet and see her to greet her, and she would always stroke her head with her thick hands.
I liked the smell of oil and hard calluses on her hands.
Sometimes she could smell fresh wounds and blood, which was sad.
Therefore, he tried to understand his father’s traditions and duties even though he did not 100% agree with them.
That’s why Najadine stood up when she found out about her caning sentence on Shelter News.
Najadine hesitated for a moment, remembering Hartman’s anger, but she made up her mind and went to find him.
“This is a formal petition to the leadership. “Please suspend the flogging.”
She said in front of Hartman. This is because during her training, she had to go through the instructor in charge of even the slightest case.
Although it was only for a moment, she regretted saying that I, Jardine, had said it for no reason.
This is because Hartman, taking off his sunglasses, ran like a gust of wind and hit his face right in front of his nose.
[Grunt.]
And growled like an animal.
[You are crazy! How dare you oppose the divine ruling?]
“No! Instructor!”
I, Jardine, fell straight down with her answer. Because Hartman’s iron finger was pointing to the ground.
[The court’s decision is not as simple as extending a loan at the library. This is the cost of my time. Perform 40 push-ups!]
“Do it!”
Najadine immediately performed push-ups.
After a long period of forced diet control and physical training, her body was like that of a fitness model.
Nevertheless, it is not an easy task as Hartman requires a viciously straight posture.
[Weather.]
“Get up!”
She immediately stood up and stood at attention.
Her breathing was heavy, and her disheveled hair stuck to her sweaty forehead and cheeks. But her blue eyes are alive and shining.
[Is the person being flogged your friend?]
“No! “I am a complete stranger!”
Although she was from the Middle East like Jardine and I, she was a woman I had never spoken to.
[But why are you trying to protect me? You ruined my great record!]
Hartman was the only instructor among the instructors who recorded zero suggestions. But that record was broken because of Najadeen.
It is unclear whether Echo-Hartman, who was merely a clone, was proud of such records or simply cited them to crave Najadine.
“Not for her! “This is for the shelter and the manager!”
I, Jardine, respected her mother as much as her father.
This is because making a family of 7 people run away as one unit without lifting a stick is not something anyone can do.
My father was strong like an old tree and protected from wind and rain, but without my mother, he would wither and die.
Her mother’s teachings led Najadine to act recklessly.
“If the chieftain is going to war and blood is flowing in the house, bad luck abounds in the future. “I sincerely request that Taehyung be executed after his safe return.”
Hartman, who had been quiet for a moment, opened his mouth.
[Are you telling me to believe in such superstitions and report to command? Speak correctly! What kind of plan is this? Are you protecting us because we are fellow Muslims?]
In Hartman’s logical structure, superstition had no value.
“If you have any doubts, I will also receive the same amount of corporal punishment! Instead, please just pass on my request to postpone the execution of the punishment! “No blood should be shed at home before going to battle!”
Najadine’s facial expressions and voice, analyzed by Hartman, confirmed that she was telling her truth.
Loyalty.
This is the most beautiful virtue of a robot. It was also Hartman’s first creed, which became the basis of his personality.
Superstition.
This is an unacceptable value for a robot. Likewise, it was also a value that Hartman hated, which became the basis of his personality.
However, as loyalty and superstition came together, even Eco-Hartman could not throw them away.
This stubborn artificial intelligence suffered and suffered like a program caught in an infinite loop, and eventually gave up on its loyalty.
Maybe this is the difference between human Hartman and eco-Hartman.
Najadine’s plea was relayed to her command. And it was accepted.
* * *
The next day after completing the Bloodtech expedition.
Puck!
A stick hit the soles of brown feet.
“Ahh!”
A light hitting sound echoes, contrary to the painful groan.
The woman who climbs onto her punishment platform, kneels down and exposes her bare feet, is a woman sentenced to the punishment constant of 15 lashes by the old ruling of Artemis.
Puck!
The stick digs into the dented arch of the sole.
“Ahh!”
The woman moaned as each blow was executed.
She covered her mouth with both hands, but it kept leaking through the gap. The soles of her brown feet trembled.
Puck!
“Evil!”
Her feet started shaking and are now jumping around. Her kneeling position was maintained, but her toes were lifted and lowered repeatedly.
“Huh!”
The execution stopped for a moment in the fourth room. Because there was a risk of injuring her subject’s toes.
This 20-year-old Middle Eastern woman was in so much pain that she bent her soles and wiggled her toes.
Her strength was so great that the soles of her feet became wrinkled, as if she had been underwater for a long time.
The executioner robot holding the stick waited patiently.
“Ha… Ha.”
The woman, breathing heavily, straightened her feet. Her feet tremble due to residual pain and fear.
Puck!
“Ugh!”
The kneeling position was maintained, but the soles of the feet in the air were struggling back and forth.
The sole of the left foot goes up and rubs against the sole of the right foot, then the sole of the right foot goes up and presses on it, and then the sole of the left foot goes up on top of it again.
Two brown, heated bare feet take turns rubbing each other. He tried to shake off the pain somehow.
But this time, the execution robot did not wait.
The moment when the soles of the feet are exactly parallel while staring at the two feet crossing each other with eagle eyes.
Poop!
“Aaaaak!”
Executed.
The woman on her knees on the corporal punishment platform was half broken.
She sat down next to her and continued to massage the soles of her feet with the hand that was covering her mouth.
The execution robot stopped and waited for the hand to be removed. The implementation of corporal punishment is not even halfway done yet.
[If you wish, you can change to another part here.]
The robot said.
“Huh.”
The woman had tears in her eyes.
The soles of my feet had turned bright red, like the day I smuggled myself into Korea and worked on my feet all day at the factory.
[Do you want to change?]
The robot asked again.
“Oh, no.”
She answered. She was more afraid of getting hit in other areas.
“Just a little… Just give me a little time.”
While answering, she continued to massage the soles of her feet.
Still, she thought it was fortunate that it ended like this compared to the mistakes she had made.
* * *
“I thought it was just a superstition, but now I saw it again.”
Seyoung said.
“I wish they would call it a jinx rather than a superstition. People who roll around on site are quite concerned.”
There are all kinds of jinxes, from the U.S. Marine Corps’ charms to a pitcher who doesn’t wash his hands after throwing a ball on game day, and even a batter who walks onto the field wearing his wife’s panties.
‘Blood must not be shed at home before going to battle.’
Najadine’s suggestion seemed plausible.
If you’re risking your life, even trivial things don’t bother you.
Sailors who lost morale because the champagne bottle didn’t break at the launch ceremony.
I lost all the soldiers I took on this Bloodtech expedition, and almost ended up in the netherworld, but in the end, I was able to return safely.
Maybe it ended at that point because I really didn’t see any blood before departure. Well, in terms of results, it’s a negative story.
“Taehyung, I can definitely feel that the world has changed.”
Seyoung said.
“Because most of the laws used by Korea do not apply here. The only officially written regulations are labor rules and security rules. The rest operates close to natural law.”
“Is an appropriate ruling possible with that alone?”
“You don’t need a cow knife to kill a chicken.”
I handed Seyoung one of the two cups of black coffee brought by the serving robot. She nodded and accepted it politely.
“As of pre-war standards, there were countries that partially introduced AI judges.”
“You mean Singapore.”
Seyoung answered right away. It’s just like her.
“That’s right. In Singapore, AI judges are in charge of light-level legal disputes, such as collision accidents where no one was injured.”
“That’s right. Using a black box, we mechanically judged speed, location, signals, and brake timing to calculate the number of people at fault. “Certainly, machines will be more accurate and fair than humans.”
Seyoung nodded.
“These are exactly the kinds of conflicts that arise while living here. Simple!”
Shelter life is a repetition of similar routines, interests, and problems.
“Because no interest groups or companies are located here. No one drives a car, and no money is exchanged. “No labor laws, no taxes, no voting.”
Seyoung’s face trembles cutely after taking a sip. She seems like the type who can’t drink bitter things.
“In this situation, even if there are complicated legal provisions, it is just a waste of time. “That is an appropriate way to govern people with different levels of power and wealth over a wide territory.”
This place is closer to a very large extended family. What is needed in places like this is not positive law.
“So you follow natural law. “Things that are not unofficial, but are considered right to do.”
Anyone who starts a fire outside a designated area or leaves the area while operating equipment that generates heat will be severely punished.
All kinds of actions that do not contribute to circulation, such as strikes, sabotage, and sedition, are also punishable. Please note that agitation also includes union formation.
There is no need for written provisions to punish these things in the shelter.
‘How much harm did the wrongdoer’s actions cause to the maintenance and order of the city?’
That is the law. To be exact, it is the law of disaster situations.
“If that’s the case, isn’t there a risk that the sentence will be different for the same crime?”
“It’s no different just because it’s the past. Even if they make the same mistake, some people get house arrest and others get jail time.”
Seyoung just blinked as if she was at a loss for words.
It is not for nothing that the phrase “Innocent hereditary” And “Guilty without prior knowledge” Has been coined. Although it may include gender or skin color.
“I understand the concern about the possibility of punishment being carried out in a brutal manner. Because fairness is important.”
Seyoung is a moral and fair woman who can live without the law. To that extent, she is more obsessed with written regulations.
“That’s why Artemis is stepping forward. It can’t be 100% perfect. But I don’t know how to deal with crime and punishment more fairly and rationally than what she does.”
A being who has complete knowledge of all information in the city and is not personally tied to the residents.
A being that makes decisions based on facts, logic, and simulation.
That is Artemis.
“In the current situation, there is no time or reason to follow positive law. It would be a different story if the formal residents had moved in safely.”
Seyoung, who had been listening silently, bowed her head to me.
“Thank you. I thought it was rude to ask questions like this about a subject that was completely cared for. However, he answered everything kindly…”
Depending on the person, it may feel that way. You’re yelling at me when I ask you why.
“I want you, who will work as a middle manager in the future, to understand this place better. Given your personality, I think a system without standards like Carl would be stressful. Right?”
Seyoung nodded her head carefully.
“You don’t have to worry about that part. The only work you have to do will be 100% related to the written labor rules or security rules.”
I stroked Seyoung’s head.
“A born class president should be asked to do work worthy of a class president.”
She looked somehow happy.
After that we talked a lot. Not only about what will happen in the future, but also about when we were in each other’s society.
She listened with interest to me about my deployment and the various battles and expeditions I experienced after the disaster.
In particular, in the part where military supplies were stolen and information was traded with local gangs, both fists were clenched and eyes were shining.
Because she has lived as a model student, she seems to have a strong curiosity and interest in deviations.
If so, there are plenty of items prepared. Because I was a fairly flexible soldier.
“Ahahahaha!”
After about 30 minutes, I was able to see Seyoung laughing loudly for the first time.
She was happy, even wiping away her tears, and had a smile on her face when Rose came.
It was the first time I saw Seyoung’s happy face.
