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Summary:
The things closest to us might be the ones protecting us with all their might. This is an emotional story about how a kitchen timer in the kitchen safeguarded a family.
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I was forced to make a decision.
"I have no choice but to do it now"
I made up my mind.
"To protect the lives of my family"
I will explain after returning a little time.
I am a kitchen timer. It's a timer used in the kitchen. I have a digital screen. I beep when the set time comes.
I know this is sudden, but do you know the Japanese word "Yaorozu no Kami"? It means eight million gods.
In Japan, it is believed that everything has a god. Therefore, it is believed that there are eight million gods.
I am one of them. Even though I am a god, I do not have strong power or supernatural powers. I just have a soul and a consciousness.
It has been 3 years since I came to this house. The kitchen environment is harsh. The life of the kitchen timer is short. Hot water may be applied. Moisture can break electronic circuits. Falling is also a daily occurrence.
In Japan, many people use cheap kitchen timers made in China. In such a situation, my pride is "Made in Japan".
A Japanese electronics manufacturer responded to a customer's complaint that "kitchen timers are fragile".
The price is 3,000 yen (about 30 dollars), which is the highest among kitchen timers. However, I am proud that it is worth more than the price. I am waterproof. Moreover, I am strong against shocks. The wife of this house liked that point.
"The kitchen timer so far broke in half a year. But the products of this brand are very good. It has been working for three years without breaking."
The wife sometimes compliments me.
The family of this house is 3 people. The husband, the wife, and the son of an elementary school student. It is mainly the wife who operates me.
When I came to this house, the son was still in kindergarten. At that time, I was treated a little rough. But after he was in elementary school, he learned to treat me with care.
The wife gets up at 6:30 and does the laundry and breakfast. The husband gets up at 7 o'clock. He goes to work at 7:30 after having breakfast.
After that, the wife eats breakfast with her son. And the wife goes to send the son at 8 o'clock. The wife prepares for a part-time job while watching TV and goes out after 8:30.
The son is often the first to come back. But she's at home on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon because the wife's part-time job is off. On Saturdays and Sundays, there are almost all families.
This family is very good. Everyone is always smiling. The wife and the husband sometimes quarrel, but usually they make up quickly. I'm happy to work in such a home. I want to be useful for as long as possible.
I can't talk to humans. However, I understand the spoken language of people. When I heard the story of "Yaorozu no Kami" on TV, I thought I was one of them.
However, it is a mistake to think that there is a god in everything. As proof of that, there is no god in my view. The theory was heard when I was born.
I was born in a mechanized manufacturing factory.
The assembly machine lifts the board with a robot arm and fits it in the case, or turns screws to fix the exterior. I was born the day before the factory was closed for a long time. Therefore, I was stored on the factory shelves for several days after the assembly was completed.
While I was in storage, I talked with the old man of the assembly equipment in various ways.
"I have been assembling at this factory for 10 years."
The old man suddenly talked to me.
"It's a long time. I'm a kitchen timer, so I think my life is a few years at the longest."
"That's not bad. I'm always fine because I can have the parts replaced. But I only know inside this factory. I want to see the outside world, but it's a dream that doesn't come true. You can see the outside world. "
"I didn't think there was such an idea. By the way, there seems to be no other device that can talk like you, but are they just silent?"
"No. There are rarely any machines that can talk like me. There are hundreds of kitchen timers on the shelves, but you're the only one talking."
That was certainly the case. It is silent even if I talk to other kitchen timers. I thought it was just silent, but apparently it's different.
"I've assembled countless products. There's only one in 100,000 machines that can talk like you. When you go out into the outside world, you rarely see talking machines. "
"I didn't know. Then it's boring to go out to the outside world."
"That's not the case. You should start by listening to the human voice. I don't think you get bored because humans are talking so much. Humans think of us as mere things. Therefore, they speak openly about the secret. "
The old man of the assembly device smiled a little. And he went on to talk.
"And you should be devoted to humans. We are designed and manufactured to serve humans. You should do your part well."
"I can't imagine it yet, but I'll do my best."
"If you do that, you'll feel happy when you break. The people who use you will say thank you. That's our greatest happiness."
After that, they talked about various things until the factory went into operation. The factory restarted a few days later.
"See you"
The kitchen timer said.
"We will never meet again in the future."
The old man said so.
This was the last conversation.
I was taken to the hardware store and displayed. I was bought three days after I was on display.
"Why does the kitchen timer break so quickly ..."
The wife approached me with a whisper.
"Oh, a luxury kitchen timer. Made in Japan. Well, 3,000 yen (about $ 30)?"
While saying so, the wife picked me up and read the explanation on the back.
"I think it's a little too expensive"
She put me back on the shelf. And she has gone somewhere.
"Let's buy it!"
The wife came back and decided to buy me. This was my encounter with her.
Then I have been working every day for 3 years. The workplace is mainly the kitchen. But from time to time, I'm taken to the living room. When someone in my family eats cup noodles, I'm moved to the table in the living room.
Normally I can only hear the sound. However, it's fun to watch TV in the living room.
Batteries have been replaced and used many times. Cheap kitchen timers break the LCD quickly. But I'm a luxury item, so I won't break.
In such peaceful days, an incident suddenly happened. It was Wednesday. The husband was at work. The wife was a part-time job until the evening.
It was after noon. There was a sound of people walking outdoors. This house is a two-story detached house. There is a back door near the kitchen. I heard a sound from that side.
"Is the cat walking? Is the person in the next house walking?"
Immediately after I thought so, there was a loud rattling noise. It's the sound of opening the back door. It wasn't a normal sound. Immediately after that, the back door slowly opened.
"Did you make sure no one was in the house?"
"of course"
Two men wearing work clothes came in. Obviously different from family members. They forcibly opened the back door with a tool.
"We have also confirmed that this house has no security equipment installed."
The two broke into the house with their shoes on.
"Adults don't come home until night. There's plenty of time to look for expensive things."
"Oh, burglars!"
I was nervous. They passed in front of me, who was magnetically stuck to the wall.
"I remember their faces."
One is a thin man with a beard, the other is fat and has thin hair, they are men in their 40s.
"You look for expensive things or cash upstairs. I look for them upstairs."
The thin man said so to the fat man.
The fat man ran upstairs with a loud footstep. The thin man is now looking for a kitchen cupboard.
He is boldly looking because he thinks no one is at home.
"I can't find any cash. Hey, how about upstairs?"
A thin man shouts.
"I can't find anything here either. Where do they hide them?"
There was a fat man's voice from the second floor.
They searched for another 10 minutes.
"It's already 3 o'clock"
The thin man said so.
"3 O'clock?"
I was shocked. That's very bad. Today is Wednesday. Your wife will not go home until the evening. The first person to return is the son. He usually comes back at 3:30.
"Nothing found"
A fat man talked to a thin man while going down the stairs. I prayed that they would give up and go out.
"No, they're hiding expensive things. I can't think of a house like this without cash."
Unfortunately, they will still be there. I don't have time. When the son returns, they take the son hostage. They may take away the son who has seen the crime.
I was forced to make a decision.
"I have no choice but to do it now"
I made up my mind.
"To protect the lives of my family"
I remembered what the old man of the assembly equipment was talking about at the factory.
"There are things that can only be done by a conscious machine like us."
The old man taught me the special technique.
It is a technique to operate oneself contrary to the original design.
Machines are made of hardware and software. This technique makes full use of both to extend the functionality.
However, the hardware that the device has cannot be increased. All we can do is change the way we use the hardware by changing the software.
"Remember, never use this technique."
"why?"
"Then what's waiting for you is a certain death. That means you're going to break. This technique forces you to change the circuit against the original design. It has a big impact."
The old man learned the technique immediately after he was installed in the factory. Another machine installed nearby was also a conscious device.
One day, there was a fire in the middle of the night after production ended. The fire alarm was supposed to sound, but for some reason it didn't.
The machine installed earlier witnessed a fire. He broke into a computer network to let humans know about it. He then activated a fire alarm and a sprinkler.
The machine soon broke. His last words were, "Don't use this technique, if you don't want to die."
Then the old man decided to tell this story every time he met a conscious machine. Don't forget to add, "Never use it."
At that time, I didn't understand the meaning of "never use it". But now I know. What the old man wanted to say doesn't mean he shouldn't really use it. The correct answer was, "Don't make a mistake when using it."
I started the operation immediately. It takes time to switch circuits.
"Absolutely I can make it in time. I will complete it before his son returns."
I was familiar with my own structure. Cheap kitchen timers only have cheap speakers. But I'm a luxury item. In addition to the beeping sound, I also have a voice notification function such as "5 minutes left".
This is a feature I can use. No. This is the only useful feature I have. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to connect to the network. Only the voice function can be used.
"What kind of voice should I use? How can I get rid of them?"
"It's easy for them to destroy me. There aren't many chances."
I thought while switching the circuit.
"Boo Boo Boo"
I sounded a loud alarm. They immediately noticed.
"Hey! Didn't they use a security company?"
I heard noisy footsteps.
"Zazaza ..."
The voice did not come out well. It's harder than I thought to imitate human voice.
"S ... Security ... I reported ... I reported this situation to the security company."
The two men rushed to me. And a fat man grabbed me from the wall.
"Hey, does such a kitchen timer have a reporting function?"
A fat man said noisily.
"I don't know. There is a possibility because IT technology is advanced."
"I think it's better to break it."
The thin man said.
It's a big pinch. However, it is within the range I was thinking of. The only way left is to say "the definitive word".
"I checked their faces. There are two guys in work clothes. One is a fat guy. The other is a lean guy. Transfer the facial image to the center."
The complexion of the two changed. They believed it!
It is true that I saw their faces. However, I don't have the ability to send data. I made a big gambling.
"Destroy it! We should run away immediately."
A thin man shouted. The fat man slammed me on the floor and trampled hard. There was a loud noise and my LCD broke.
The footsteps are moving away. It seems that he ran away from the back door.
"I have completed my mission!"
I was very tired. My consciousness is far away. My circuit was dull.
There was a sound of the door opening.
"What on earth is this!"
The son came home
I was in time ... I was relieved. The voltage is dropping. I forcibly switched the circuit, so my whole body hurts. My life is not long.
The son seemed to understand the situation by looking at the damaged room and the back door that was opened.
The son hurriedly contacted his mother. The wife came home immediately. And she called the police.
Police conducted on-site inspections. They also investigated me too. The husband came home earlier than usual.
"The number of burglars is increasing around here. We will strengthen patrols. However, I think it is safe to contract with a security company because you may be worried."
The police officer returned after saying so.
"The kitchen timer has broken."
While picking me up, the son said sadly.
"It looks like the burglar stepped on it."
The husband said so.
"I think you were very hurt."
My son looked into me and said. He looks a little weeping.
"I have to buy it again."
The wife said with a disappointment.
"The LCD is broken, so it can't be used anymore."
The husband and the wife are also looking at me.
My consciousness is far away.
The last wish came true.
The wish to meet the whole family.
"T ... Thank ... you ..."
I just uttered a voice from the speaker.
"Mom! The timer is talking now! He said thank you!"
"Unbelievably, I heard that too."
"Did you hear that? Daddy?"
"Yeah, it sounded like noise, but I feel like I heard that."
My voice was heard by the family. Well good. I will stop soon.
I can't see anything anymore. I can only hear the voice.
"I heard that the kitchen timer had fingerprints of the burglary. Police officers said those fingerprints would be matched against the data."
"We can rest assured. If a burglary is caught."
"I think the kitchen timer worked hard."
"I think so too. Let's say thank you to the kitchen timer."
"Thank you!!"
I heard the voices of three people.
I am the happiest electrical appliance.
And I ended my life.
(The end)
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I am a Japanese novelist. The following story has been automatically translated from Japanese to English. Please be aware that there may be errors or inappropriate translations.
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