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YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO BLINDLY TRUST THAT PEOPLE WOULD GET ALONG. No, it’s not quite that. It’s not trust nor blind belief that things wouldn’t go terribly wrong. It’s a modicum of trust that nobody would go for such a cheap tactic. Oh, how wrong you’ve turned out to be! It’s kill or be killed, one by one everybody is showing their true colours! Nobody cares about other people, all they care about is escaping even if it means killing everybody else!
Everybody made the same fundamental mistake – to trust into Akamatsu-san’s words. That if they work together, they will escape together. But now it’s obvious that some value escaping above all. And oh dear, you’ve made the biggest mistake of all – to think that somebody won’t find a loophole and attack one of the most vulnerable targets.
THE THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS
I. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
II. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
III. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
You note bitterly how the First and Third Laws can comfortably create a paradox. You cannot harm or allow harm to come to a human being. You should protect yourself at all costs so long as you do not harm a human being. Damned if you, damned if you don’t. Either break The Laws or allow yourself to be killed. And isn’t that so ironic in the context of a killing game? You can’t even harm your assailant, let alone murder them. Even in self-defence. Self-defence! Another joke! This doesn’t even apply to you even though the Third Law says, no, orders you to defend yourself!
Across from you, you can see reddish splatters mingling together with blue. Right… You’ve reacted on instinct, struggled to free yourself before promptly punching your attacker. In spite of your reduced strength, your metallic fist still packs quite the force. You’ve sent them stumbling backwards, coughing up blood as they try to catch their breath. Azure starts invading your sight and you’re pretty sure that your optics must have cracked in the altercation. The way the liquid zigzags around your field of sight proof enough for an educated guess to be made. The previous blow to your head must have damaged some of the finer tubes conducting what passes as blood through your body.
You don’t wish to continue this pointless fight. Matter of fact, you want to get as far away as possible. You can already feel the inside of your head scramble to make sense of where you sit now. You’ve defended yourself but in the process, you’ve caused harm to a human being. You’ve thus broken the Third Law. What is going to happen now? Are you going to be scrapped, picked apart for anything useful and then have the rest thrown away? Will it count as a death in this madness of a contained world or is it going to wait until you break free from this prison?
You offer another look to the person who thought it was a good idea to take a crack at killing you. You sneer in response, bringing a hand up so you can wipe the blood out of your eyes. It does nothing but further smudge it. Everything now is tinted blue as you hobble away, making a beeline for Iruma-san’s laboratory. She should be able to help you. After all, she’s the one who’s helped with your maintenance last time. Besides, if there’s anybody who will take your side in this ordeal, it’s her. She must know about The Three Laws of Robotics. She’ll know that you acted in self-defence even as such concept appears alien to you.