A Body for Thirty Days: S-62B and the Rule Jaeho Can No Longer Ignore | NOV-HUM Ep. 2 Part 2

NOV-HUM · EPISODE 2 OF 25 · PART 2 OF 2

A Body for Thirty Days — Part II

Jaeho spoke to the screen.

“If I buy it, I should be able to use what I bought.”

No response.

He spoke a little louder.

“I’m buying the body too.”

The same sentence remained on the screen.

OPERATION OF AN AUTHENTICATED CORE OUTSIDE ITS REGISTERED BODY IS PROHIBITED.

Jaeho pressed his lips together. Yes, he was buying it. Though technically, the auction was not even over yet.

More importantly, what was attached to the core was not just a part number.

Maintenance records.
Work records.
Accident liability.
A settlement account.

Everything someone had done under the number S-62B was tied together inside it.

Jaeho pictured the core in its sealed case. Suddenly he felt uncomfortable.

It was easier if he told himself none of it mattered to a machine. A machine did not know who it was. It would not get angry because someone had taken its identity.

Thinking that made things a little easier.

Jaeho looked back down at the screen.

“Right. What would you know?”

The words left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He pressed the acknowledgment box.

I ACKNOWLEDGE THE ABOVE RESTRICTIONS.

A check mark appeared.

Jaeho stared at it for a moment.

One door had just closed.
He could no longer say he had not known.

The auction-closing alert arrived shortly before noon.

Jaeho was sitting on a plastic chair near the warehouse dispatch counter. S-62B was still lying in the same place. Until the auction was finalized, he was not allowed to touch it.

The current bid rose on his terminal. It was slightly higher than his own.

“Oh, come on.”

He leaned his head back. It would be ridiculous to come all this way and lose it now.

No.

Maybe losing it would be better.

The emergency loan he had applied for the night before had been approved early that morning. A security interest had been placed against his right to recover the rental deposit, and the money was already in his account.

If he did not spend it, he could still turn back.

Life would be difficult. But he would not be breaking any rules.

Jaeho raised his bid.

A warning appeared.

HIGH-RISK EXPENDITURE RELATIVE TO CURRENT LIQUID ASSETS.

“You too?”

He pressed CONFIRM.

His bid increased.

20 seconds.
17.
12.

Another bidder raised the price.

Jaeho bit his lip. He entered a new amount. This time his finger did not move immediately.

His own name appeared at the top of the screen.

Buyer Authentication: Jaeho Yoon

Below it was the item being auctioned.

Asset ID: S-62B

There was no connection marker between the two lines.

Buyer.
Asset.

Jaeho stared at them.

For now, Jaeho Yoon was buying S-62B. That was all.

He was not S-62B.

Not yet.

6 seconds remaining.

Jaeho increased his bid.

CONFIRM.

The screen froze.

For a moment it went black.

Then a new message appeared.

HIGHEST BIDDER CONFIRMED

Jaeho’s shoulders dropped slightly. He smiled.

“Got it.”

The smile lasted only a moment.

The next screen opened immediately.

FINAL PURCHASE APPROVAL
PURCHASE PRICE AND TRANSFER DEPOSIT REQUIRED.

The smile disappeared from Jaeho’s face.

The transfer deposit was larger than he had expected.

“They charge this separately?”

The attendant beside him answered.

“Part of it comes back after registration transfer is complete.”

“Part?”

“After settlement fees and inspection costs.”

“Buying a machine comes with more fees than a wedding.”

This time, the attendant laughed.

“At least you won’t be paying it a salary.”

Jaeho almost laughed too.

Then stopped.

He remembered the words from the interview room yesterday.

Insurance.
Rest.
Liability costs.

He looked at the payment amount again.

It was a lot of money. But he had already done the math.

If he could work for two months.
If he could make it through three.
If he could pay down some of the debt.

Then he could start looking for a human job again.

Just for a while.

He only needed to borrow a number for a little while.

Jaeho pressed PAY.

DO YOU AGREE TO USE ADDITIONAL CREDIT?

CONFIRM.

BEGIN REGISTRATION TRANSFER?

CONFIRM.

A full inspection date was assigned automatically.

Thirty days from today.

Jaeho leaned closer to the screen.

“Why so soon?”

“Legacy assets only get a thirty-day grace period,” the attendant said.

“Do they have to inspect the body that day?”

The attendant looked at him.

“The body?”

“The physical inspection.”

“Yes. Core, body, sensor matching. Unless there’s a special exemption.”

“And before then?”

“You can operate it under the transfer-grace authorization.”

Jaeho’s expression changed.

The attendant added, without any particular emphasis,

“But you saw the restriction earlier, right? You can’t operate the core outside the registered body.”

Jaeho said nothing.

A final confirmation button waited on the screen.

He could still cancel. He would lose some fees, but not everything.

A full inspection in one month.

Body and core.
Sensor matching.

Jaeho looked toward S-62B at the back of the warehouse.

That body could not work. He had known that from the moment he saw it.

Which meant there were really only two choices.

Give up.

Or use another body.

Jaeho looked down at his hand.

An old scar crossed the back of it, left from a steel edge that had cut him during a delivery job. He had worked for thirty-three years with that hand.

As a person, he had been told those years made him expensive.

For S-62B, the same amount of time made it valuable.

Jaeho murmured,

“Just let me borrow your place for a while.”

He was not sure who he was saying it to.

He pressed CONFIRM.

The terminal gave a short tone.

PURCHASE FINALIZED

Then a new number appeared at the bottom of the screen.

TRANSFER GRACE PERIOD: D-30

The attendant brought over the sealed case.

“I’ll transfer the core to you first.”

Jaeho held out both hands. The black core was placed in his palms.

It was heavier than he had expected.

“This thing is that important?”

“For the older models, it’s practically an ID card.”

Jaeho looked down at the core.

A tiny indicator light on one side came on faintly, then went out. A moment later it came on again.

Slowly.

Jaeho gave the light no meaning.

It was a normal power indicator.

Nothing more.

The number continued to glow on the screen.

D-30

Thirty days.

Jaeho closed his hand around the core.

Until yesterday, he had been afraid of losing money.

That was different now.

The money was already gone.

Something larger had begun.

Thirty days from now, someone would have to verify that this core was connected to its original body.

And Jaeho already knew something else.

Before that day arrived, he would have to find another way.

The S-62B core blinked faintly once more in his palm.

On the terminal, the countdown had begun.

D-30.