Sample Translations
Myung Hoon Bae Hello, Artificial Existence E ng l i s h
Book Information
Hello, Artificial Existence (안녕,인공존재) Bookhouse Publishing corp. / 2010 / 27 p. / ISBN 9788956054605 For further information, please visit: http://library.klti.or.kr/node/772
This sample translation was produced with support from LTI Korea. Please contact the LTI Korea Library for further information. library@klti.or.kr
Hello, Artificial Existence Written by Bae Myung Hoon
the funeral of Doctor Shin Wu-jeong but couldn’t bring myself to make my introduction to you as you seemed too grief-stricken. I was hoping that there would be another chance for us to meet and it just so happened that there is an object that I need to get delivered to you. Dr. Shin Wu-jeong has left behind something for you. We discovered it while going through her belongings. My colleagues and I had a long discussion as to whether or not we should indeed give this product to you, which had to do with a special company project. We reached the conclusion that it is best that you get it. If it was Dr. Shin’s wish, then we believe it is only right that you should receive it. I am of the same opinion. I am well aware that you have a busy schedule but could you please take time out to visit us? If you let us know when you will be coming by, I will have the object ready and take care of all the procedures for your admittance. My Best Regards, Baek Seon-young The launching schedule was indefinitely postponed. A decisive defect was discovered 2 in the space shuttle, Energia.1 We might have to return the most crucial part to the factory in Russia. I was on standby but I had to finally withdraw from training and returned home. It was during this period that Shin Wu-jeong died. She had committed suicide. If she had willed it, she could have ended her life in a more efficient manner but she embraced death more resolutely by hanging herself. From time to time, I see her dangling in the air. It was death, full of existential weight.
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It was sunny on the day of her funeral. Although it was a little hot, the weather was quite pleasant with cool wind. I was reminded of the old times as I stood in the shade, watching familiar faces walk past me. The seashore where we raced across, screaming, with our faces white with sun cream. In the evening, I put sliced pieces of cucumber on her sunburned shoulder. It was the first trip we went on together. Afterward we had to make sure no one found out about it. With both of our faces all sunburned, we could not meet our mutual friends together on the same weekend for the fear of their suspecting us. We didn’t tell anyone, not because we were embarrassed but because it was our precious memory. I couldn’t help myself from recalling those times when I saw the people at the funeral. She was my first love, even though our romance didn’t last long. There were many people at the funeral. I marveled at how many people Shin Wujeong knew. If she had been alive, she would not have invited this many people for any occasion, be it sad or happy. After all, only ten guests were invited to her wedding. I was one of them but couldn’t make it. Although it ended up being delayed, I was on standby for my very first orbital flight. 1 The expendable launch section of the space shuttle Energia-Buran was developed in the Soviet Union. It is equivalent to the liquid fuel tank and the solid fuel propulsion system of the U.S. spacecraft, and Buran is the name of the orbiter. 3 Shin Wu-jeong later asked me, “You decided not to come, or were you unable to come? Because of you, I had one-tenth fewer guests from my side.” “But I did send you the wedding money, didn’t I?” “Glad you mentioned it. How could you just give only one hundred thousand won? It should’ve been a gift of at least a million. How very disappointing.” “You’re so shameless. For your next wedding I’ll give you a million.”
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“Crazy jerk.” Her husband was a nice and meek person. He didn’t say anything even after discovering his wife’s best friend had been her first love. I thought it was because he was an American. At that time, I believed all Americans were like him. On that day, Andy looked like he had almost lost his mind. He said he could not understand why his wife killed herself. He asked me if I had a clue. I replied how could I know when he didn’t know himself? “Well, yeah.” he responded faintly in Korean. Although he spoke Korean rather fluently, he read from a eulogy he had prepared beforehand. But he could not finish it for he could not hold back the tears. I did not cry. He cried in my place. Of course, it is just my thought that he cried for me instead. He had the right to cry. I didn’t have the right to shed more tears than Andy. When the funeral was almost over, I found his eulogy on the floor. I was going to return it to him but did not get around to it. … There is no one who is perfect. My wife was no exception. She was free-willed, fastidious, and indolent. When the world forced her to do something inappropriate, she made compromises. It wasn’t just once or twice that I saw her be that way. But I had 4 never once thought that my wife was in the wrong. If she made concessions, it wasn’t because my wife was slavish but because the world was preposterously out of whack. I didn’t doubt it once. My wife was such a person. My wife has left this world. She has terminated her own life. There were people who asked me if my wife had been behaving any differently recently. I don’t think that she had problems. If she was lonely then it isn’t her fault but ours. I am at fault. My wife was always right. The world was completely in the wrong. To me, my wife was like that. But then she is no longer
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here. I borrowed my wife’s car to go to Shin Wu-jeong’s research lab at her company. It was a place I was reluctant to visit because getting through the security was such a pain. “It was a hassle, wasn’t it? Security has become even more tight of late.” “I’ve been here before. Even then, admittance was as strict as the Center for Outer Space.” “Yes. But it’s become more so because of a recent accident. Thank you for making such an arduous trip. I know we should’ve paid you a visit but we asked you to come because it’s a very delicate matter,” Baek Seon-young apologized sincerely. “Don’t fret over it.” We got on the elevator and went down to the basement. “I’ve taken care of the transfer procedure already. You just have sign in a few places. There is an non-disclosure agreement, as you know…” “That I won’t sell it to a third party? Although I’ve no idea what I’m going to end up with.” “Yes.” 5 For me, Shin Wu-jeong was not someone whom I could involve in a business deal. Of course, Baek Seon-young knew that very well. “It’s Dr. Shin’s test product for her project.” “I thought so. Is it her posthumous work?” “Yes, it is.” “But why did she want to give it to me? What about her husband?” “I am not sure. We wouldn’t know since it’s a matter between the two of them. Dr. Shin has left me this message.” “Seon-young, I’ve finally finished working on this. I am pretty sure I’ve done a good job. But it’s very difficult to validate it. The quality control will be very challenging. Please ask Mr.
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Lee Gyeong-su at the Space Agency. You know who he is, right? My concubine.” I snickered, “Like hell I am.” Laughing, Baek Seon-young handed me a box the size of a pocket dictionary. “You know, she’s always kidding around. Here, this is it.” I took the box and opened it. Inside, there was a round stone that you could fit in your palm and a device that looked like a recharger. “What is this? I mean, what kind of product is it?” “It’s a new product, and its brand name is “Joyak.” As you can see, it has a double meaning; in other words, it’s a small stone, but it also can mean a promise.” “What does it do?” “Well, you see, there is a product manual, but it’s tricky to say what it does because it does not have any function. This project was not meant to be a functional item but rather an existential product. We haven’t been able to define the concept of this product at our company. 6 It’s a very complex thing.” It seemed too complicated to explain. I perused the manual. It read more like a philosophy book than a product manual. One word, in particular, caught my attention. The word, “existence.” I closed the manual and asked Baek Seon-young, “So then, what in the world did Shin Wujeong want me to prove?” Baek Seon-young just shrugged her shoulders. “She couldn’t possibly be asking to validate the ‘existence’”? I returned home. In my study, I had a number of products that Shin Wu-jeong had created. The first one was a computer without a monitor. I didn’t have any idea as to what Shin Wujeong’s company produced when I received the computer. I just thought that since the
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computer was the first thing she developed, she most likely worked for a computer company. I unwrapped the box to try the computer but couldn’t find the monitor anywhere. I called her. “You forgot the monitor.” “There is no monitor.” “I don’t have a computer at home. My wife can’t stand the computer or the television, so I don’t have a monitor to hook it up. If you want to get a product review, you should at least send me a used monitor.” “I know you don’t have a monitor at home. I am well aware that you two are sex fiends. The computer I gave you comes with no monitor. So, just plug in what you have there. You do need a speaker, though.” It was a strange machine. It was a computer that was like a radio. I could record my voice and do search on it. Of course the search results were read back to me by the computer. 7 Hence, there were many things I couldn’t do the search for and it was inconvenient in many ways. More than anything, it took too long. But the voice recognition function and the sound quality were excellent. The next day, I called Shin Wu-jeong again. “What the hell is this about?” “It’s my company’s most ambitious project of the year.” “Is it for the visually impaired?” “Nope.” “What’s it for then? Do you think something like this will sell?” “The marketing person at my company is a sales wiz. I’m sure she’ll do great.” The famously capable marketing person turned out to be Baek Seon-young, and this product became a huge hit that winter. Shin Wu-jeong continued to create similar products. Her company even presented her with a brand name for her object and it was called “Dull.” Her
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next hot item was a high-tech mobile phone that did not have any visual display. But it had a navigation tool that did not show a map but provided voice directions. If I asked for directions, it would sometimes give an annoying answer like, “Getting there is tricky.” Following it, she released a watch that did not tell you the exact time but said things like “It’s lunchtime soon.” The scale that did not tell the precise weight was a popular item, too. Whereas the competing companies tried to incorporate more appealing functions to their product, Shin Wu-jeong was working hard on reducing the number of seductive schemes. Then there was the mobile phone that just vibrated without making any sound. The brand name given to it was, “Wriggle Wriggle.” I could at least accept the items she mentioned because there are people in the world who like dumb things more than clever ones. But Shin Wu-jeong’s posthumous creation lacked completely the input and output device. “It just looks like an ordinary stone to me,” said my wife. 8 “Right? Or maybe it’s a toy.” “Yeah, it seems like mischief, especially since it’s Wu-jeong’s invention.” “But what about this plug? It’s an electronic product, after all.” “You’ve been fooled by her again. Nothing happens when you plug it in, right? It doesn’t make any sound or heat up.” “Something’s got to work. She said it exists.” There was again silence, for five minutes. My wife said, “You mean, if you plug it in, there is existence, if you unplug it, it disappears? Is that what “Existence” is about?” I couldn’t give any answer. But then who could give a clear response? I plugged in the artificial existence and was absorbed in the product manual all weekend.
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The manual is as follows. This product was designed and engineered according to Descartes’ “Methodological Skepticism.” Rene Descartes (1596–1650) was a French mathematician who was the first modern philosopher to extract existence in a systematic way, “Cogito ergo sum.” He was not by any means the first man to succeed in extracting existence. But the reason why Descartes is important is that he has left behind not only the record in a modern form of the method he used to extract the existence but he also has realized a method of application for the extracted existence. The engineering of Methodological Skepticism begins with its doubt about the accuracy of each of the sensory organs. The sensory organs, which receive the input of signals such as light, sound, touch, and whatnot from outside, evolved in such a way as to be somewhat flawed. That is because they have to re-invent in the human 9 mind a comprehensive domain called the “world” that in actuality doesn’t exist from all the individual sensory input that are independent of each other. Consequently, in order to arrive at the true existence, all the devices that were devised for the expansion of human sensory organs must be cut off. (The state of non-activity when it is plugged in does not indicate a defect in the device.) By repeatedly conducting Descartes’ method of existence extraction through the Dubito™ circuit, that is, a circuit of skepticism, this product extracts a pure form of the final existence called the Cogito™. As a result of the Skepticism Circuit action, all the virtual images that were made inside the product by the external stimuli are completely negated, and as this infinite doubt is repeated, only the doubting virtual ego, which does nothing but doubt, remains. Soon after, when the doubting ego arrives at the logical conclusion of doubting its own ego, the Cogito™ is created. (This occurs anywhere between five to six minutes after
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being plugged in and continues.) While I was doing research at the Space Agency library, I wrote an e-mail to Baek Seonyoung when this product manual came to my mind. Dear Ms. Baek, I hope you are well. I spent all weekend, going over the assignment that Doctor Shin has left me and I have some questions I would like to ask you. Do you know if Dr. Shin has contacted a publishing company by any chance? If that is the case, then the mystery is resolved. This manual reads like an excellent philosophy book. In fact, it is better than any of the products Dr. Shin has come up with, which leads me to believe that her original intention 10 was to have a philosophy book published. That being the case, don’t you think, this product was meant as a freebie for the book? Please find out. Lee Gyeong-su I received a reply from Baek Seon-young the following day. Dear Mr. Lee Gyeong-su, I have not found any evidence as such. In the interim, our research team has discovered that the Dubito™ circuit has been applied to the item in question. As you are fully aware, the information concerning the circuit is confidential… (omitted) This meant it wasn’t mere mischief. I am not sure but it looked like the Dubito™ circuit was a technology that required an enormous budget. You could tell by how the company treated the product. It seemed as though they wanted me to validate something, like the fact that Shin Wu-jeong, who was lonely and deep in despair, was not wasting her last days, fooling around with an utterly useless item at the expense of the company. Going by her usual behavior, it was a plausible, if not probable, story. Putting aside the incredible task of validating the existence, I had to probe into Shin Wu-jeong’s mind if I wanted at least to find out if the
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device was indeed properly made. I had to now comprehend the existence of someone who no longer existed in this world. “Do you view me as a child?” “Yep, you are. A child disguised as a middle-aged woman.” I decided to return to the very beginning. I recalled the first word out of my mouth 11 when I heard the news that Shin Wu-jeong had ended her own life. “Why?” But no one gave me an answer to my question. I invited Andy over for dinner. Thank goodness, he was doing better than I would’ve thought. He talked calmly about several speculations as to why his wife committed suicide. “The biggest reason was because of you, Gyeong-su. Weren’t you two having an affair? Then one day you told her it was over. That you couldn’t take it anymore.” “Yeah, right. What else?” “She might’ve been manic depressive.” “Wu-jeong? Manic depressive?” “Yeah, she got treatment for it.” “Really? I didn’t know. But still, that doesn’t mean you’re going to kill yourself.” “I know what you mean. That’s not what I am trying to say but I didn’t know she went to a clinic. She didn’t tell me.” “You also didn’t know she bought a luxury designer bag when she got a bonus. She usually doesn’t tell you those things.” “But you knew about it.” I was at a loss as to what to say. Andy waved his hand and said, “That’s not what I wanted to say, but I can’t think of any other reason. She earned a lot and had no debt. It’s not like she
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received a blackmail from anyone or that we had a quarrel at home. So then, why was she so lonely? I don’t get it. I just don’t. What made her so lonely that she did not think twice about it till the moment she hanged herself? Shin Wu-jeong did not talk to me about this. Maybe it was something she didn’t want to talk about with me. Okay, all right. But I thought she’d tell you at least. Except she didn’t. That means she didn’t tell anyone.” “Why would she tell me something she wouldn’t say to you?” I asked. Instead of 12 Andy, my wife answered, “You really don’t know why?” Andy nodded and grinned at my wife. “What are you two talking about?” I couldn’t figure out if they were sincere or joking. Andy went back home late that night. I studied the product manual until very late in my study. The Cognito™ that is extracted in its purest conclusive state through the Dubito™ circuit can be subject to damage or transmutation if it is exposed to any kind of visual display or voice signal that was devised for the purpose of expanding human sensory organs; therefore the output unit is provided with this product. (The device does not have a problem even if it looks like it is not turned on when plugged in.) What it meant was that nothing could be printed out. Because the product itself could break. But how could another person know about it if nothing gets printed out? “Putting aside other matters, do you think something like this would really sell?” This is how Shin Wu-jeong would have replied, “It’s my company’s most ambitious project of the year.” But if it was a device designed not to deliver anything to anyone, how could I possibly prove an existence that is extracted from this device? Why did she make such a task my responsibility? How was I able to do something that others were unable to prove? If I had such ability, then why didn’t it apply to Shin Wu-jeong?
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In silence I looked at the stone with its electric plug. How could an existence be conveyed to another existence? I tapped on the stone. There was no reaction. “If you’re existence, then I must be the Buddha,” I told the stone, which did not respond. 13 Use of the Cogito™ A number of theologians in the Middle Ages in Europe were able to prove the existence of God by applying the epistemological existence extracted from the doubting ego. Cogito™, which could very well be used for this process, is a very pure form of existence. A muchimproved Dubito™ line of skepticism circuit, which will be developed in less than half a century, will help this process. Some thinkers from certain parts of India, China, and other parts of Asia—as recorded in many places in history—attest to the fact that through an empirical method, at the moment the existence encounters itself in a specific form, there is an explosive awareness that transcends all the rules and limitations of the universe. The Cogito™ is a pure definitive raw material for existence that could be applied, with a high compatibility, to an experiment for an East Asian engineering of existence. Three days later, I got my flight schedule. “I wish you’d take a break this time,” my wife implored with a worried look. “That would be nice but who knows when I’ll get my next chance.” “But…” “But this is my job. You know that.” A week later, I went to the Space Agency. The flight was scheduled for seven months later. But considering how launching always got delayed, I would probably have to wait at least ten months. My wife was loaded with work and did not come with me. I was also incredibly busy
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14 with training and my duties. Occasionally she visited me on the weekends but for the most part, I was by myself. I took “Existence” with me to my room but unplugged it and put it out of sight on the weekends my wife came. I wasn’t really trying to hide it but my wife, who discovered it stashed away in the corner of the room, said: “Looks like this thing here probably takes up a primo spot on the living room table when I am not here. Have I ever said anything bothersome to you, two? Do you think only the two of you know what true friendship is about and that people are so narrow-minded that we don’t understand you? That isn’t true. We liked the way you were. So don’t go around trying to hide it. It looks more suspicious.” “Who do you mean, by us two?” “You and that thing, the incarnation of Wu-jeong.” “Nonsense. It isn’t anything like that. I have it here because they’ve asked me to prove something.” “In any event.” I could not for the life of me prove the “Existence.” I could not fathom it. Existence was something that could be conveyed by a dialogue, looking into its eye, and not through locking up its door and not saying anything. As the days passed, that’s all I could think of. “What I am supposed to do? How can you not be lonely when you refuse to talk? If only you had reached out to me, you wouldn’t have been so desperately lonely. Fool. You think you are so great. So, so great, aren’t you. You were ailing because you were afraid of “Existence,” getting hurt. How can we, the survivors, live, when you die in such a lofty manner?” I would occasionally sit on the sofa in the living room and speak to the stone that was plugged in. The stone was silent.
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15 That is how time passed. The launching of the Energia-Buran, which was going to carry me out of the atmosphere, was already delayed five times. Meanwhile, NASA has permanently disposed of the old space shuttles, such as the Atlantis and Discovery. The Korean government, as well other several countries, tried hard to buy the technology, albeit obsolete, but NASA was adamantly against it. The lesson they learned from the disasters of the Challenger and Columbia was clear. The old space shuttles were not safe. They will never sell it. No matter who piloted it, if it was used repeatedly, then another accident was inevitable. Thus, the Korean government purchased another space shuttle. It was the Energia-Buran, a Soviet-made shuttle that succeeded in an unmanned flight just once and never made it back out to Outer Space. But my wife was worried about it. “How can you trust a Russian space shuttle?” “It was made in the Soviet Union.” “Are you saying there’s no need to worry? Don’t you realize how long ago the Soviet Union disappeared? It’s ancient.” “It’s newer than the Atlantis.” “You told me the Americans are no longer flying it because it’s dangerous.” “Buran is better than the American shuttle. Because of a reduced budget the Americans could not execute their original plan and overused the shuttle to get their money’s worth, which led to the catastrophe. The Soviet Union, on the contrary, was competing in the arms race with the Americans and poured unlimited money into something that they hadn’t even decided what it was going to be used for.” To tell the truth, I wasn’t so sure myself. But still, I couldn’t skip the flight. As it stood, it was difficult to make even a single annual launching with just one space shuttle. If I missed the chance this time, who knows how many years I would have to wait for my next
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16 chance. It was an opportunity that I might never get again. “In any event.” “What do you mean, in any event? What about me, if anything happened to you?” I didn’t say anything and she stopped arguing. My wife returned home on Sunday afternoon. She was going to remain at the Space Agency until the day of launching. But when it got delayed once more, she gave up her vacation and had to go back to Seoul. When I came back to my room after finishing the training at night, I plugged in the stone and studied the manual. Shin Wu-jeong did not leave behind a suicide note. From time to time, it felt as though the manual was her final testament. If only I could decipher it, I thought I could understand her death or her loneliness. Caution Cogito™ could cause a massive explosion of Existence. The explosion of Existence is a phenomenon of an explosion of a highly-concentrated Cogito™ that was produced out of a 1 in a 15,000,000 chance in the process of the Dubito™ circuit simulation; yet, it is only a hypothetical and theoretical occurrence but it has the possibility of being proved in the future through experimentation. This phenomenon occurs when in the two aforementioned processes (verification of a deity and awareness) of the two applications, the pure state of the Cogito™ reaches a critical point and disappears without affecting the external condition in any way. This phenomenon is possible as a result of the highly pure state of the Cogito™ and thereby isolated from any external stimuli; thus, it is not a natural and obvious state in which the object in its solid state has been transformed to a gaseous object but 17 demonstrates an untainted phenomenon of ceasing to exist, whereby part of an object, despite
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its miniscule amount, does not leave any residual substance or energy but disappears altogether. At this point, a subtle break point in the cause and effect relationship takes place in the outer covering of the Cogito™. The surrounding universe will suddenly contract toward this subtle cause and effect break point and in the briefest time that cannot be measured, a colossal explosion will occur. The explosive magnitude of Existence that could occur with this product can be the same, and because a proportional relationship between the pure state of Cogito™ and the possibility of explosion has been observed, the Cogito™ that occurred as a result of repeated use for over seventy-seven days could explode at a chance as high as about a 1 to 51 ratio. This is the part where I think death is alluded to. Therefore, I read it over and over again, at least thirty times. At first I couldn’t understand what it said but after reading it about thirty times, it seemed to make a slight sense. But I still couldn’t figure out if what she said was a joke or the truth. “You are truly a mad scientist.” “Thanks.” It was three weeks prior to the launching. The schedule went along quite smoothly. It would be delayed again in the case it was unavoidable but it looked like this time it was a certainty. The whole organization was on the move under the premise that there would be no more delay. Then one morning, I called Baek Seon-young. “I have a request.” 18 “Is it about our product?” “Yes.” I asked Baek Seon-young, who is in charge of marketing, to make a specific agreement with
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the Space Agency. It was to include the commemorative events of the late great scientist, Shin Wu-jeong, so as to be part of my duty. The Space Agency lavished money on the heroine. It magnanimously modified my duties for the funding. It was to bring Dr. Shin Wu-jeong’s posthumous work to Space, and it was an event that could achieve significant promotional effects for both parties. “It brings me to tears, see my tears. You want to bring it to Outer Space?” my wife said when she heard my story. She was being somewhat sarcastic but she wasn’t really being mean-spirited. “But you’ve done the right thing. If you are so grieved about it, then you should at least bid her a formal farewell,” my wife offered me a superfluous explanation. I met Baek Seon-young two days before the launching. “Are you also going to just let go of it?” “Is that what you think? What is your company going to do?” “We’re going to pull the plug. It’s hard to do a performance test of the product, and we are not sure how we can commodify it, not to mention our failure to find any commodity value for it.” “You’ve held onto it quite a long time, though.” “Yes, but everyone’s agreed on letting it go. Frankly speaking, up to the present we’ve made enough off of Dr. Shin. We were honestly hoping that you would find out something, but don’t worry about it. We are no philosophers and it’s no easy task to prove a being that we are not sure if it exists or not. From now on, you must just concentrate on your own work.” 19 “Of course. But this is the solution I’ve come up with. That we send it off in style. We all had the same experience since Dr. Shin left us. That an existence is something that we are not quite aware of when it’s there but once it’s gone its absence becomes conspicuous and it
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begins to dawn on us what was really there may have been about. So if we toss that thing into Outer Space, then we’ll find out what it really was.” “You’re right.” The engineers were attaching small solar panels to the stone. Wishing that the circuit of skepticism will continue to work by itself in the universe; that Existence will last inside it for a long, long time. “My incorrigible friend, did you kill yourself just to teach me this? Wouldn’t it have been better if you simply told me?” “You don’t think I didn’t tell you? You just can’t remember. Besides, it’s not something that can be conveyed by word.” My wife called me on the day of the launching. It was Saturday. She did not come to the Space Agency. She said she was too nervous to watch it. We didn’t have a television or a computer at home. Hence, if there were bad news, then she wouldn’t hear about it right away. “Have a safe orbit. And give me a call when you get there.” “You be sure to answer the phone even if it’s late.” “We’ll see.” Two hours later, I boarded Buran. The mission control room gave a “Go” sign. Then the manual controls were transferred to the flight pilot. The countdown began and shortly after the Energia-Buran was ignited. There was a great explosive sound but the Energia-Buran disappeared from the surface of Earth at a speed that sound could not match. The people on the outside might not understand but the process of launching the 20 rocket to its destination is not about ascending but racing at a designated speed. Soon after the external tank was jettisoned from the Energia, the main body. Buran went into orbit at Mach 25. For about a day until the Buran was at the precise orbit, the pilot did not leave the
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cockpit. When we were going past the U.S.A. defense satellite, the pilot turned Buran this and that way so that pictures of the outside could be taken from all angles. The results showed that no damage was incurred during the launch. “Launching was a success.” The pilot heaved a sigh of relief. We could see Earth outside the window. A biologist, who was my age and for whom this was his first trip to Space, could not take his eyes off from the window. But shortly, he was suffering from nausea. I felt nauseated also but recovered right before I had to be on my duty and crossed to the lab module. “I never knew Earth was such a nauseous planet,” said the biologist. It took me three days for me to complete two of the five missions assigned to me. The other missions were much more simple and a lot more attention was given to it. It was discharging Shin Wu-jeong’s posthumous work to Outer Space. I turned on the plug connected to Existence. After five minutes, a pure existence was created. But there was no way of finding out if the device was working properly or not. I had read in an article that only the plug that was on the device was the sole proof of Existence. Of course that wasn’t true. Even that couldn’t be the evidence of Existence. When the news of the event was announced, there were already people selling a replica of Shin Wu-jeong’s posthumous work. Baek Seon-young seemed rather at a loss as to what to do. “I didn’t want to leave it up to Nature, but there’s nothing we can do because it’s out of our hands. Let’s see, let us just proceed in our own way.” The camera rotated. The co-pilot took pictures of Existence and me, by means of the camera attached to his helmet. The video was instantly delivered to TV broadcasting on Earth. 21 The stone that contained Existence was connected to the solar panel and small projection equipment. Existence was affixed to a little launching device connected to the lab module of
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the freight section and was waiting for the launching signal. The pilot took over the duty of the mission control panel, to make it look like it was by the book. Once the mission control panel gave the ready sign, the co-pilot opened the freight section. Through the open door, the universe poured in. “All connections are clear.” “The solar panel test is clear.” “The gas projection device is clear.” “The expected circuit drive is clear (No meteorites are visible).” Everything was clear. “Go ahead with the launching?” the co-pilot asked. The pilot took his time to reply. “Not yet. How about a word?” “What?” “What kind of person was Dr. Shin Wu-jeong? I heard you two had a special relationship.” The co-pilot turned the camera to my face. With my finger, I pointed at myself and asked: “You want me to say something?” “This is a live broadcast. You are being heard, right now.” I shut my mouth. I thought over what I should say and spoke again. “She was a special person. She was the type who demanded a million won as her wedding gift. I only gave her one hundred thousand won, though. I did promise her one million for her second wedding. Oops, her husband might be listening.” “Goodness, you must be careful when we go back to Earth. Let’s see, now. What is 22 the object that we are going to send off to Outer Space? “It’s Dr. Shin Wu-jeong’s posthumous work. According to her memo, it is a device that can extract an existence.”
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“Like an artificial intelligence?” “No. It said ‘artificial existence,’ and a great engineer of our time made it. You can view this as a genuine object of art. It is absolutely useless.” “An existence, eh? It’s lonely by birth, then?” “Yes. It was born solitary.” “It’s not just us born lonely, I guess. Let’s see, can we now send out this lonely artificial being to Outer Space?” “Yes.” “So then, the mission controller will give the go-ahead. The command order will be transferred to the discharge controller.” The authority to press the discharge button was given to me. Without even a countdown, I pressed the button. From the external camera, I could see the gas spurting out from the projection device attached to Existence. With a great speed, Existence flew across the Universe, and passed the far side of Earth. “I pray that stone will be reborn as a little star in the Universe,” said the pilot. Vacantly, I gazed at Outer Space. I thought I had sent off Existence far away to the Universe, but the remnant of it entered deep inside of me. As I had expected, Existence left a big hole where it had been. I was astonished by how big this hole was. “Don’t you think you’ve proved yourself? With a hole this big?” “You idiot, how are you going to show that hole to anyone when it’s something that’s inside of you.” “I see. Does that mean my existence is bigger than this hole I have?” I asked Shin 23 Wu-jeong who dug deeper inside of me. Time passed very quietly. I completed all five missions given to me and quietly helped the
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others with their duties. Two days later, all the tasks for this Buran mission were done. The pilot turned the Buran upside down and released all the remaining fuel to reduce the speed. As its speed decreased, the Buran began to gradually descend to the Earth. The pilot turned Buran over again and braced for the penetration of the atmosphere. Outside the window, I could see the current of blazing red air, like a flame. The air does not flow alongside the fuselage. Buran squashed the whole atmosphere with the bottom of its airframe. The speed with which it was descending to the ground was still greater than that of the sound, but it gradually slowed down. The atmosphere pressed down by the pressure emitted a tremendous amount of radiation that got shunted to the side of the wing. “Hey, Gyeong-su, Gyeong-su!” “What?” “To commemorate the thirty-seventh day of our relationship…” “So what?” “Grant me a wish.” “No way. The number of days hold no meaning for me.” I recalled those thoughtless days of mine. If not the thirty-seventh day wish, then I at least have granted her last wish. Or that’s what I wanted to believe. But did Shin Wu-jeong actually want to go out to Outer Space? I couldn’t be certain. “I’m not sure if that’s what you would have asked of me but that’s one thing no one else but I could’ve done for you.” 24 “Good job. That’s good enough for me.” Buran was fast approaching the ground. And its speed slowed down to the pace the world could bear. When it reached close to the speed the runway could control, a parachute opened up at the back. Shortly, Buran had come to a complete stop on the ground.
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Dear Mr. Lee Gyeong-su, I watched your broadcast with much attention and interest. But if possible, refrain from going on the Internet. If you already did, please do not get upset. I think you were a little too nervous. I have turned in the project budget this afternoon. Your broadcasting was a big help for the board to put behind the memory of Dr. Shin. They seem to think it had a great promotional effect for our company products. I would like to let you know that I’ll be working at a new job, starting next month. Once I am settled in, I’ll be sure to send you my business card. You won’t mind if we stay in touch? Please do not worry about me as I am not being let go; I am moving on to a better job. Thanks to Dr. Shin, I was happy. She always came to me with the strangest item and asked me to sell it. There were countless times when I despaired over what she brought me but once they hit the market, everyone bought it. As a marketing person, I had thought the market had long ago become schlock. But when I saw people open their wallets for preposterous products that Dr. Shin had come up with, I began to think otherwise. How on earth did she know that people wanted something like that? That is why I also had high hopes for her last item. Because no matter what, I didn’t think that would sell at all. At any event, I want to inform you that the business deal I had talked to you about has come to a neat closure, and I thank you very much for it. 25 Best Regards, Baek Seon-young I went into a recovery phase. My body and heart had become weak. By and by, my body seemed to get regenerated, then my heart also began to fill up the emptiness. My wife gave me some news.
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“Andy is seeing someone.” “Good for him.” “Yeah.” Unlike my first trip to Space, it was much more difficult for me to recover. I felt like I couldn’t go in orbit anymore. Either I would become washed-out or the Energia-Buran might fall apart. Perhaps it was better that I work on the ground shift instead. But then, once I get healthy again, I might want to go up to Outer Space again. The Buran might explode in the middle of launching, although I would hope that it wouldn’t happen while I am in it. Time passed. Could Existence still be turned on? As there was no way of finding out it, I did not bother to devise a plan in which I could look into it from the very beginning. Of course, there is a way of tracing the approximate whereabouts of its flight. But it wasn’t possible to know if it actually existed there or not. I picked up the manual for the first time in a long time. What was left in the Universe was fake, anyway. It’s like bait and fish. Isn’t the manual that Shin Wu-jeong wrote the most interesting artwork? “I’ve done all that I could. I’m not your husband, you know.” “Oh, all right. All right.” 26 *Product Care This product is easy to handle and does not require special care. This product exists on its own and to activate, maintain or prove its existence, a secure electrical supply is all that is necessary. Wipe the dust off. One day after eighty-four days after the landing of Buran, Existence with the solar panel around itself was lost in thought as it was flying toward the Earth’s orbital revolution. “I doubt. I think. Therefore, I exist. I doubt. I think. Therefore, I exist. I doubt. Therefore, I
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exist. I think. I exist. I doubt. I exist. I doubt. I doubt. I exist. I doubt. I exist. I exist.” As days passed, Existence became more pure. It doubted more than it thought, and the more it doubted the more it existed. “Exist. Exist. Exist. Exist. Exist. Exist.” Doubt and thought intervened in the interim but the overwhelming existence rushed in and clearly obliterated doubt and thought. Then existence repeated itself for close to three hours. After that, for five hours, then later for twenty-eight hours, existence went on. Right then, according to the predictable ratio, an error occurred. In between the continuous “Exist, exist, exist…” a predicted error entered in. There was a gap. A space where nothing took place. At that moment, there wasn’t anything happening. It was only natural. Even though the electrical power was steadily supplied, it was a moment where existence did not exist. Because Existence was not connected to the outside, it could not find a replacement that could fill the empty space. In accordance with the curse of a flawless Dubito™ circuit, Existence had reached a dead end of cause and effect. 27 “I do not exist.” Then, Existence disappeared. The surrounding space nudged itself into the vacant space where Existence had disappeared. It was a minute movement but the Universe could not tolerate that small vacuum. From the human perspective, massive time and space got distorted in an instant. Around that time, I had erased all of Shin Wu-jeong that was inside of me. It was the same for the Artificial Existence. I heard the news from my wife. “There was a great explosion in the Universe.” “Where in the Universe? There are always great explosions in the Universe. Its beginning
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started with a big bang.” “No, it took place in our solar system.” “What?” Several minutes after the error of Existence took place a great explosion the size of the Saturn was observed only from the Earth. It was the explosion of Existence. At the moment of its complete disappearance from the Universe, Existence, without anyone’s help, had proved itself.
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