All the Robots are Sad

Just wait, some day we'll teach robots how to lie, and then where will you be? Actually, considering Gesicht there is a robot, a robot cop no less, I'm curious what he would think of an artificial intelligence that could lie.

The 6th volume of Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka's Pluto starts to tie some of the threads of the mystery together. The identity of the robot that's been destroying all the other, most powerful and advanced A.I.s in the world is revealed, as well as the apparent identity of its creator (although I feel like there's still one more surprise reveal about that guy to come in the remaining two volumes.) Gesicht confronts the creature, but refuses to kill him. He has his own problems resurfacing, and even having escaped the big showdown, that doesn't mean he's safe.

This volume is more effective at making me sad than any of the ones before it. It's a lot of characters that wanted to do the right thing, and were in turn exploited by people who only cared about their own ends. Gesicht's mind was tampered with by people who decided he was too valuable an asset to lose. Sahad's hope of bringing life to the deserts of his country was cast aside for his father's desire for revenge. I especially like how his father describes himself as having lost "everything", when one of his sons is standing right there in front of him.

But even the people who might proclaim to argue for laws protecting the rights of robots don't really believe in the concept. The destruction of all these advanced artificial intelligences is due to their involvement in that war, but given what we've learned, I have to wonder how much authority over their own actions they had? Enough that one of them, Epsilon, refused to be involved. Was a pacifist and stuck to it. But it seems clear they were sent in by humans who regarded them as simply efficient tools to accomplish a task.

The title I gave the post isn't a joke. Urasawa spends a lot of panels on characters being sad. People crying. People looking at the ground sadly. People looking confused and betrayed. Gesicht, his wife Helena, Professor Tenma, Sahad, one of Sahad's friends in Amsterdam, Professor Hoffman, Epsilon. People keep dying. Everyone's efforts to stop all the death are in vain. Gesicht's act of mercy - or is it just him following his programming - doesn't mean he's shown any mercy in return.