56th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards Fiction Commendation Award: Aeon
Cover of sci-fi short story collection which includes Choi Hee-ra's "Aeon" / Courtesy of Jaeum & Moeum Publishing
Written by Choi Hee-ra
Translated by Adelle Wee Xing Min
“It’s time to Conclude, Doctor Hanseol,” the humanoid enunciated every word.
“I know. Too much time has passed, hasn’t it?” I nodded.
Even after they refused to get the Infinity 3 chip implanted into their brains and were revealed to have been involved in anti-government demonstrations, some people remained Unconcluded for a long time for unknown reasons. I didn’t know what to make of my situation either. An act of consideration, maybe? Or had they resolved to use me as a test subject? Or perhaps both?
“I’ve gotten too old, too. I’m already past eighty.” I smiled faintly.
The humanoid gave me a sad expression. “He told me to let you take as much time as you require. I will come again tomorrow.” During Infinity 3’s initial launch, I did everything I could to muster inner peace. I picked up meditation, a technique that was popular last century, to quell my anger, and tried my best to understand the world that was defined by rules and regulations; humanity that had, in a sense, achieved immortality; an age in which crime was almost nonexistent, but the need to work hard for the sake of others was consequently lost. Several times, I almost booked an appointment to have an Infinity 3 chip implanted into my brain like the government had urged, only to decide against it. Later on, I constantly tried to prove how foolish an idea it was to rely on such a device to optimise the brain. But now that I can put all of this behind me, I feel at ease.
It was almost never referred to in this way anymore, but Infinity 3 in its initial stage was nicknamed the ‘Ethical Brain’. It was an expression that emphasised how Infinity 3 manipulated the brain’s interneuronal connections to strengthen its ability to make ethical judgements and regulate emotion. The effects were immediate. Cases of violence and abuse dropped significantly, and patients with bipolar disorder experienced shorter or alleviated manic episodes. However, the total number of patients with depression only decreased slightly, and neither the symptoms nor the number of recent diagnoses improved significantly. Moreover, after a majority of the human population equipped themselves with the Infinity 3 chip, hardly any innovative artworks or inventions were created. People seemed to grow increasingly obsessed with the standards of socially accepted behaviour. It wasn’t clear if that was because of the Infinity 3 surgical procedure, because those who didn’t get the chip were categorised as potential criminals, or because of rumours that the chips had a built-in surveillance function.
I recently acquired information that he would be personally researching the brains of the Concluded. This meant that it had been decided that Infinity 3 needed an upgrade. He must have also realised that society’s vitality was withering with each passing day.
The research methodology was as such. Stop the heart while the subject is in REM sleep, then scan the brain and convert the subject’s lifetime memories into data. Examining the extracted memories won’t be as clear as watching a movie, but it’ll be possible to track the flow of emotions. Brains that have been scanned will be destroyed, and their owners will be categorised as Concluded.
I can imagine it. Him using tweezers to lift the folds and wrinkles of my brain, nudging and poking the hippocampus. Things wouldn’t go exactly as I imagined, but it would be horrendous nonetheless. A decision I made half a century ago planted the seed that created our current world. I wonder what kind of future my soon-to-be Concluded brain would bring. Whatever that may be, I cannot let him have it.
After my visitor left, I opened the drawer of my table and took out a gun. I spent quite a sum of money trying to get my hands on this outdated weapon. I prayed for my brain to be blasted into bits, and pressed it firmly against my temple. In this final moment, my mind naturally brought me back to the first time I met him fifty years ago.
*
A child’s hologram hovered dimly above the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened the moment Alice spoke.
“You two have a good time.”
Keeping a cheeky smile on her lips, Alice left the consultation room.
“Hi. You must be Aeon. You can sit there.”
The child sat himself down obediently into the chair I was pointing at. The round back of his head was reflected in the toy-rabbit-shaped mirror hanging on the wall behind the chair. I
tried my best to wear a gentle expression as I looked at him. His dark blue eyes stared straight into mine.
“Hello, Doctor.”
Aeon’s voice was pure, his pronunciation articulate. It sounded so clear that it was almost a pity it would soon change due to puberty.
“Yes, it’s really nice to meet you. I’m guessing Infinity’s at home?”
“Infi. That’s how I call her.”
My face in the mirror softened even more.
“I see. You must be more comfortable calling her that. Well done. What was it like when you first met her? Was it awkward?”
“They were like fireworks.”
Aeon said it felt like fireworks were going off in the robot’s eyes. Were Infinity 2’s eyes red, by any chance? In many instances, we had given robots nonhuman attributes so that people wouldn’t find them repulsive and to avoid confusing them with humans. We had even launched multiple versions that looked different, even though they all had the same functions. But it was strange for a humanoid in charge of childcare to have red eyes. I had seen Infinity 2 only twice in its last stage of testing. It was a kind of double-blind study.
“Who did you see fireworks with?” I asked as if it were no big deal.
“My mum.” The child also replied nonchalantly.
Aeon vividly remembered the first and last time he ever saw fireworks alone with his mother. According to medical records, he thought of the fireworks on the banks of the Han River even when he was getting caned by his father. His description of his body hurting like fireworks bursting left a deep impression on me.