Episode 1. Preface

I am the manager of a coffee shop. I'm 42 years old, but I don't have a wife. Therefore, I have no children. In this mega city of Tokyo, this is not uncommon nowadays. The management of the coffee shop is not so bad. Perhaps it's because of the declining birth rate and aging population over the years, but the age of the regular customers is high. Well, I'm not complaining because I'm also playing a part in the decline of the birth rate.

"Manager~. What are you mumbling about?　　It's already closing time."

Nana Okawa's disapproving voice brought me back to my senses. She works part-time at the Cofe. She's a bit of a nag, but she works hard and crisply. Recently, in order to solve the labor shortage and reduce labor costs, many of these jobs are done by androids. But even the old androids are very expensive. I don't have anything to do with this.

"All right, let's close up. There are no customers."

The number of customers today was not good. It's the same as always. I sighed and unlocked the door to my apartment. I threw the bento I bought at the convenience store into the microwave, took a can of beer out of the refrigerator, and headed for the living room. I sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV. There was news footage on the screen. There was a pile-up on the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway, a lawsuit due to medical mistakes, and the same old stuff. I drank a beer and went to get bento from the microwave, and when I came back, "Today's Topics" was on.

Apparently, there's a new type of android on the market these days, one that uses photosynthesis to generate energy like a plant. With the energy stored during the day, it can operate at night. As long as they had sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, they were expected to be a new type of android that did not need to be replenished with energy.

But there was a problem. They are injected with a labor program in the factory before they are shipped. At first, they work well. But after a while, they stop working. Since they can generate energy on their own, they don't have the idea of working to earn their living. That's why they are injected with labor programs, but one day they realize that they don't need to work at all. Then they run away from their owners. Even if they are recovered and re-injected with the program, they still follow the same path. There are even stray androids that have become vagrants on the streets. It's a strange world.

That night, I had an unusual dream. In my dream, I was in a forest. I was surprised and deeply relieved to see that the forest was still there.

"I was surprised and deeply relieved."

I muttered to myself, and then I woke up.