Sword Art Online - Volume 10 - Chapter 2.2

Part 2
The EC135-type helicopter passed through the thick fog above the sea, and from the window could be seen a large blue expanse below.
Unlike the view from a passenger plane at high altitudes -here, the wave peaks could be clearly seen and the sunlight dazzled from the surface of the sea as Koujiro Rinko thought, How many years has it been since I last played in the sea?
It would take merely an hour for Rinko to move from her current workplace, the California Technical Institute to the San Francisco Bay area, but even though she could have enjoyed a sunbathing lifestyle whenever she wanted, she had never taken a step onto the beach during the two years she had been working in the university.
It was definitely not because she did not like the sea breeze or the sunlight, and it seemed that a lot of time would be needed before they could take a vacation where she could earnestly enjoy herself. Rinko realized that it would likely take her another 10 or 20 years in a foreign country she did not know for her to forget about her past.
So, Rinko -who had thought that she would never step into her homeland Japan again, was now flying towards that place which was the connection to her abandoned past while looking outside the window with an indescribable feeling.
Four days ago, she had received a rather long mail that was sent from an unexpected person. She could have deleted it immediately and forgotten about it, but for some reason, Rinko had not done so. After spending less than an hour considering, she sent a reply back and had made a flight reservation. As she considered the last 2 years, she recognised that every day her thoughts had been frigid and she had been emotionally detached, and while she knew that this endeavour was completely futile, she had still decided to go...
She took a flight from Los Angeles back to Tokyo, stayed in a hotel in Narita, and then cautiously took this helicopter; Rinko sighed as she forced back this mystery she had been asking herself deep within her mind. Once I see what I need to see and hear what I need to hear, the answer will come naturally to me.
Indeed, the last time she went swimming was ten years ago, during the first year of college when she did not know anything. She invited the second-year senior, Kayaba Akihiko out and had borrowed money to buy a light automobile to drive to Enoshima. That naive 18 year old back then did not realize what kind of fate she was going to meet at all...
Rinko's mind wandered back from the musing on her distant past as the passenger beside her shouted to her with a voice that would not lose to the rotor's sound in volume,
“I SEE IT!”
The eyes from under the long, combed blond hair and sunglasses narrowed, and truly, on the other side of the curved glass window from this transport, there was a small little black body on a corner of the immense ocean's surface that extended out.
“That's...the Ocean Turtle...?”
Rinko muttered as she saw the dazzling rainbow glow due to the reflection of the black solar panels. The co-pilot in a dark suit who had been on the seat as they flew answered quietly.
“That's right. There's still 10 minutes till arrival.”

The helicopter flew approximately 250km in a long trip from Shinkiba, Tokyo to the surroundings of the large ocean research facility «Ocean Turtle», then got into landing position in a serviceable manner.
Rinko was inadvertently gobsmacked by the overly majestic sight. The term ship could not describe this completely. The large pyramid was standing steadfastly in the middle of the sea with a length that was 1.5 times that of the largest ship in the world, the Nimitz. The height was equivalent to a 25-storey building —she had investigated this data beforehand, but the difference between her imagination and reality was like the distance between the Earth and the moon.
The four-sided pyramid that was 400m long and 250m wide had black glowing panels that covered it like a shell. All of these panels were as large as the helicopter that they were currently in. How much did they invest in this thing here? Rinko could not tell. There was a rumor that in recent years, they had fully invested in the precious metals on the seabed off the Sagami Bay Coast, and after seeing that large body which defied common sense, one could tell that it was not simply a rumor.
The mechanized megafloat ocean construct looked like it was developed for the next generation of seabed oil extraction —that should be the case, but in fact, what was installed inside was a research facility for the next generation Full Dive Machine that might be called the «Soul Translator» one that could read people's soul -that was what she was told in the mail a week ago. Rinko herself was doubting this, but after personally arriving, she had no other choice but to trust the mail.
Why, why must the research with this brand new full-dive technology, the Brain Machine Interface be on the sea far from the Izu Islands? She had no idea what the reason behind it was at all, but in this black pyramid, there was a machine that combined the Nerve Gear that Kayaba Akihiko designed and the Medi-cuboid Rinko improved on for medical treatment, and as she considered this, she suddenly realized...
The two years of her life overseas had merely numbed the wound within Rinko; it never healed completely. Well, in the end, she guessed that whatever she saw on this ship would either heal her wound -or rip it open and let the blood burst out.
Rinko slowly took a deep breath inside the helicopter that was slowly descending and stared at her fellow passenger, who nodded slightly through the sunglasses, and readied herself to get off.
Perhaps the pilot was a very skilled veteran, as the machine did not seem to sway much as it landed on the designated helipad on the roof of the Ocean Turtle's bridge. First, the man in the dark suit, who was the guide, alighted from the machine nimbly and saluted, then a man in a similar suit came running over.
Rinko then walked out of the hatch and nodded at the man who came over, thinking that it was great that she chose to wear jeans inside as she jumped from a 40cm height. The soles of her sports shoes landed on the artificial ground and it was hard to imagine that a ship could have such stability and safety.
Next, the other passenger who had dazzling blond hair walked out of the machine with her sunglasses on and arched her back. Rinko also stretched her arms wide to enjoy the air that had the scent of the tides.
The man who was waiting on the floating ship showed a serious look on his tanned face and immediately saluted Rinko.
“Professor Koujiro. Welcome to the Ocean Turtle. And this is?...”
The man looked over at the passenger, and Rinko nodded as she introduced.
“This is my assistant, Mayumi Reynolds.”
“Nice to meet you.”
The co-passenger spoke in fluent English and reached her hand out to clasp the hand in a somewhat clumsy manner. The man then introduced himself.
“I'm First Lieutenant Nakanishi, assigned to lead both of you. The attendants will deliver your luggage later on. Then, please come this way—”
The man waved his right hand to a flight of stairs that could be seen on the heliport and continued,
“Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka is waiting.”

The air inside the bridge had the heat of summer and the salty tang of the Pacific Ocean, but after flowing through the elevator, the long passages and through the Ocean Turtle itself —the thick metal doors of the inside of the black pyramid, a cold and dry air blew at Rinko's face.
“Does the ship require such air-conditioning?”
She could not help but ask the First Lieutenant Nakanishi walking in front of her. The young Self-Defense Official turned around, nodded and said nonchalantly,
“Yes. There are many intricate machines, so there's a need to maintain the air temperature at around 23 degrees and humidity under 50%.”
“Is the power provided solely using solar electricity?”
“Not at all. The solar panels can't even fulfill 10% of the energy required. The main machines use a pressurized water nuclear reactor for electricity.”
“...I see.”
Things are getting more and more complicated. Rinko shook her head slightly.
In the passage that had clear grey panels, the human shapes got more and more distorted. The information she briefly read through previously was limited, and though there were probably hundreds of researchers who moved in, it seemed that there was more than enough space with regards to the size of the vessel.
They turned right, left and so forth for another 200m, and right in front of a door that appeared suddenly in front of them, there was a man who was dressed in a deep blue uniform. One would assume that to be the uniform of a security company, but he immediately saluted after seeing the First Lieutenant, and such an action was definitely not what an ordinary civilian would do.
The first lieutenant saluted in reply and said with a straightforward tone,
“Requesting permission for the researcher Professor Koujiro and her assistant Reynolds to enter area S3.”
“Undergoing confirmation.”
The security guard switched on the metallic terminal in his hand, then using his piercing stare and the monitor he scanned back and forth over Rinko's face. He nodded, and then looked over at the assistant researcher behind Rinko, using his hand to scratch the tidy beard before moving it to the side of his mouth.
“I'm sorry, can you please take off those sunglasses?”
“I see.”
The research assistant lifted her large sunglasses, and her bright blond hair and clear white skin were revealed. The security guard had to narrow his eyes at that dazzling countenance, and nodded again.
“Confirmed. Please.”
Hou. Rinko showed a bitter smile and said to the First Lieutenant,
“That's quite the strict security considering that you're in the middle of the ocean.”
“We've already cut down on the body check and other procedures. We only did checks on metals and explosives around 3 times.”
As he answered, the man in the suit took out a disc from his chest pocket and put it into the plate beside the door, then used his right hand to press it into the sensor panel. A second later, the door opened with the sound of a motor, and the door leading to the central area of the Ocean Turtle slid open.
After breaking away from the thick doors, cooler air blew in, orange light shone in, and the slight moan of the machines echoed. Kan, kan, the footsteps echoed in the space within the ship that one could not imagine to be of that size, and the guide -the First Lieutenant Nakanishi realized this as he stopped in front of a certain door.
Looking up, a simple plate labelled 'Primary Control Room' was shown there.
Finally, we're now at the last remaining place left behind by Kayaba Akihiko. Rinko held her breath and watched the back of the Self-Defense Officer who was making the last safety check.
Is this the start to a new beginning—
On the other side of the door that slid aside heavily, a deep darkness surrounded her like a shroud, causing Rinko to be unable to move for the time being. No matter how much she rejected the darkness, no matter how repulsed she felt, she was forced to acquiesce.
“...Sensei.”
The voice of the assistant from behind her caused her to regain her sensibility.
First Lieutenant Nakanishi walked into the dark room, took several steps, and turned around to look at Rinko. Upon closer inspection, the interior of the 'Primary Control Room' was not completely dark, and there were orange lights flashing on the floor.
Rinko took a large deep breath and moved her right foot forward in a determined manner. The assistant stepped in, and the door behind them closed.
They followed the markers on the floor as they moved between the large network of server machines, and after walking out of the valley of machines, Rinko widened her eyes in shock.
“......Eh......!?”
She could not help but gasp. There was a large window on the wall in front of her through which she saw an unbelievable scene.
Streets... no, it might be a city. However, it did not look like a city in Japan. The buildings were all built with white stone, and there was a strange domed roof there. Though it seemed the buildings were all around 2 levels tall, they seemed to be very small, and this was due to being surrounded by the giant tree branches and leaves that grew all over the place.
The similarly white stone hewn roads formed several steps and arched bridges passed through the woods; and the people that were walking around —were obviously not people from modern times.
There was not a single man in a suit or a woman in mini-skirt. Everyone's aspect was dressed in middle-aged clothing, like a one-piece vest or a longcoat. There were also hair colors of all kinds -blond, brunette and black, and as one they stared at them. It would be hard to tell if they were Easterners or Westerners.
Where is this place? When did we move from the research ship to an underground world or some other world? Shocked, Rinko looked away, and at the end of the streets that stretched out into the distance, there was a pure white gigantic tower. The main tower was accompanied by four side towers, and extending out from the horizon was a distant blue sky that even the window could not contain.
Rinko took a few steps forward to see how tall the tower was that reached into the sky, and finally realized that the scene in front of her was not a window, but an image that was shown on a large monitor panel. Soon, the lights of the ceiling brightened, chasing away the darkness in the room.

“Welcome to the Ocean Turtle.”

An unexpected voice came from the right side, and Rinko immediately moved her gaze.
There were the silhouettes of two men right in front of the mini-theater screen with the monitor panel, at the console that had keyboards, sub-monitors and many other things.
One of them was sitting on a chair with his back facing everyone, typing away at the keyboard in a relaxed manner. However, the other man that was at the edge of the console immediately narrowed his eyes through his glasses the moment his eyes met Rinko's.
It was a smile she had seen many times before, an easy to approach smile that was hard to read into. This was the Self-Defense Officer who was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka Seijirou, but—
“...What's with that attire.”
What replaced a greeting for the duo who had not met in two years was a frown from Rinko as she enquired. First Lieutenant Nakanishi who was in a suit immediately exchanged salutes with Kikuoka Seijirou, who in turn got up. He was dressed in a blue yukata with Kurume rice patterns, a kaku obi tied around it, and wooden clogs under his bare feet.
“I'll take my leave then.”
First Lieutenant Nakanishi saluted Rinko and left -once again the sounds of the doors sliding shut could be heard. Kikuoka, who was still standing, leisurely leaned on the consoles, and explained in a husky impassive voice,
“But I still have to stay on this ocean for another month. I can't just continue to wear a uniform like that.”
He opened his arms wide and smiled.
“—Professor Koujiro, Miss Reynolds, it's been a long journey. I'm really glad that you would come to RATH, and that our invitations have proved their worth.”
“Well, since we're here, we'll have to intrude on you, though we can't guarantee that we can be helpful.”
Rinko nodded back, and the assistant beside her greeted him in the same manner as well. Kikuoka's eyebrows curled up as his gaze remained on the luxurious blond hair of the assistant, and immediately smiled.
“You are quintessential to this plan no matter what, the last person amongst the trio I felt would be part of this. Finally, the three of you are all gathered in the belly of this turtle.”
“Oh, I see... one of them must be you, Higa-kun.”
Rinko said so, and the second guy who had his back facing them up till now stopped his hands and turned the chair around.
He was about as tall as Kikuoka, but looked a lot shorter. His whitened hair was standing like a hill of swords, and he was wearing round rimmed spectacles that did not look too elegant. His attire of a T-shirt was faded in color, the three-quarter length jeans and the sneakers with damaged soles made him look no different from his time in university.
Higa Takeru, someone she had not met in 5, 6 years, showed a sheepish smile on his boyish face that matched his body build, and said,
“That's me. As the last student of the Shigemura lab, if I don't inherit the will of my mentors, who will?”
“Really...you're the same as ever.”
The Shigemura lab in the Touto University Electrical and Electronic Engineering had two prodigious figures, Kayaba Akihiko and Sugou Nobuyuki, and Higa was under the shadows of those two like an existence in hiding. When was he involved in such a classified grand-scale plan? Rinko thought as she reached her hand out to hold her past protégé's hand.
“...Then? Who's the third person?”
She again asked after the third person, but the Self-Defense Officer showed that enigmatic-like smile that never changed and shook his head slightly.
“Unfortunately, I can't introduce him for now. Don't worry, in a few days...”

“Then, I'll help you say the name aloud, Kikuoka-san.”

—The one who spoke was not Rinko, but the 'assistant' who had been standing behind her quietly, like a shadow,
“What...!?”
You finally fell into the trap. Rinko gave such an expression as she saw Kikuoka widen his eyes in shock, and took a step back from her assistant.
The assistant stepped forward majestically, and used her right hand to take off the blond wig and the left hand to take off the large sunglasses. The hazel colored eyes stared right at Kikuoka as she said,
“Where did you hide Kirito-kun?”
An unfamiliar panic and shock ran through the Lieutenant Colonel as his disconcerted face rattled through various emotions and he continued to open and close his mouth, before finally whispering,
“...I thought the identity of the researcher should have been checked thoroughly through the California Technical Institute's database.”
“Ehh, sensei and I had been searching the faces for a long time.” Asuna the «Flash», Yuuki Asuna, used the identity of Rinko's assistant Mayumi Reynolds to disguise herself and sneak aboard the Ocean Turtle, and stared at Kikuoka straight in the eyes as she straightened herself and answered,
“We merely switched the photo of the database a week ago to mine. We do have someone who's very good in breaking through firewalls.”
“On a side note, the real Mayumi is enjoying a sunbath in San Diego.”
Rinko added as she smiled.
“Now, I suppose you do understand why I accepted your invitation, Kikuoka-san?”
“Ahh...I understand completely.”
Kikuoka weakly shook his head as he rubbed his temples with his fingertips. Kuku, suddenly, Higa, who had been staring at them blankly, started laughing all of a sudden.
“See, that's—why I said, Kiku-san. That boy is the biggest security hole in this plan.”

Four days ago, on the 1st of July, she had received mail in her private address with the sender being 'Yuuki Asuna'. It contained something that was able to move Rinko, who had been roving between her house and the school campus like a nomad, greatly.
Asuna wrote about the «Medicuboid» technology Rinko provided to the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare, and how the basic design of it was used to develop a monstrous machine called the Soul Translator, which the mysterious organization called RATH was operating.
The main aim to develop this machine that could connect to human souls was most likely to create the world's first bottom up Artificial Intelligence. The boy who was assisting in the experiment, the unconscious Kirigaya Kazuto, was abducted from the hospital, and the likely destination was probably the megafloat research ship Ocean Turtle that had just entered these waters. The suspected mastermind behind this was the civil servant who had deep relations with Kazuto since the SAO incident, Kikuoka Seijirou —these unbelievable words were at first glance what was written within.
“I found Professor Koujiro's private address from Kirito-kun's PC email address. Only you can give me the chance to bring me to Kirito-kun. Please lend me your strength—”
The mail ended just like that.
Rinko was deeply touched as she had the feeling that what Yuuki Asuna said was the truth. As for the reason why, about 1 year ago, Kikuoka Seijirou used his position as Lieutenant Colonel to invite her to a development project for the next generation of the Brain Machine Interface repeatedly.
Rinko lifted her head from the monitor, looked at the night scene of the city of Pasadena through the window of her condominium, and remembered the face of the boy called Kirigaya from before she left the country.
He had explained the illegal human experiment Sugou Nobuyuki did, finally adding on hesitantly about what he talked about with Kayaba Akihiko in the illusory real world, and the secret request for the «Cardinal System» kernel for some unknown intent.
After thinking about it, she realized that the high intensity and high output brain pulse scanner Kayaba Akihiko used to end his own life was the original design for the Medicuboid and the Soul Translator. So everything was linked together. Nothing changed. I suppose it was necessary for me to receive Yuuki Asuna's mail—?
A night later, Rinko made her decision and sent a reply agreeing to Asuna's request.

It was a dangerous gamble, but I suppose making my way here to the Pacific is worth seeing Kikuoka Seijirou's shocked look, Rinko smiled. She may have gotten the advantage over Kikuoka -who had been working secretly since the SAO incident and always looked like he was in control of everything, but it was too early to relax.
“Then, since we're here, I suppose you understand everything now...don't you, Kikuoka-san? Why did you, a Self-Defense Officer, fake a low profile in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to enter the VR world? What are you planning inside this large turtle? And...why did you kidnap Kirigaya-kun?”
Rinko fired one question after another, and Kikuoka could only shake his head and sigh hard as he showed a smile that was impossible to read.
“First, let me explain this misunderstanding that never happened in the first place...I did drag Kirito-kun into RATH through somewhat forceful means, and I am really sorry about that. But that was because we wanted to save him.”
“...What do you mean?”
If Asuna had a sword at her waist, she would have placed her hand on the hilt. Her forceful countenance was palpable as she closed in.
“Kirito-kun was attacked by the fugitive in the “Death Gun” incident and fell into a coma. I knew of it on that day itself. His brain took a whole lot of damage due to low oxygen levels, and I am very certain that the level of damage could not be treated through modern medicine.”
Asuna's face suddenly went stiff.
“Can't...be treated...”
“A portion of the neural cells inside the brain that form the network were wrecked. Even if he entered a hospital, no doctor could tell when he could wake up. It was possible that he might never wake up again...okay, you don't have to show such an expression, Asuna-kun. Didn't I say that if it were modern medicine?”
Kikuoka gave a 200% most serious expression as he continued,
“However, in this world, only RATH has the technology to heal Kirito-kun. It's the STL that you already know of, the Soul Translator. The dead brain cells can't be treated, but it is still possible to boost the regeneration of the brains neural network by reviving the Fluctlight through the STL. It's just a matter of time.”
The strong right arm that reached out of the sleeve of the yukata pointed at the ceiling.
“Right now, Kirito-kun is connected to that main conduit of the full-scale STL. We couldn't do any delicate operations in our branch in Roppongi, so there was a need to come back here. Once the treatment ended and he regained consciousness, we would have explained everything to his family and Asuna-kun and sent him back to Tokyo properly.”
After hearing that, Asuna's body suddenly swayed, and Rinko hurriedly reached her hands out to support her.
The girl who had shown amazing insight and the resolve to barge to the side of her beloved suddenly lost all her tenseness, as a large tear rolled down the side of her face. She wiped it off in a determined manner, and stood up once more.
“Then, is Kirito-kun alright? Can he still wake up?”
“Ahh, I can assure you of that. His treatment here definitely won't be inferior to any large hospital's. We even assigned a specialized custodian for him.”
Asuna's strong stare that was trying to probe into Kikuoka's real intent relaxed after several seconds, and she nodded slightly.
“...I understand. I'll trust you for today.”
Kikuoka heaved a sigh of relief and his shoulders relaxed the moment he heard that. Rinko took a step forward and asked,
“But why is Kirigaya-kun important in the development of the STL? Why must you abduct an ordinary high school student like him for this secret plan that had to be hidden in the middle of the ocean?”
Kikuoka exchanged glances with Higa, and shrugged his shoulders, Oh well...
“I'll have a lot of things to say if I have to explain that.”
“It's alright. There's still a lot of time.”
“...Since I have to explain everything, you will have to assist in the development as well, Professor Koujiro.”
“I'll decide once I hear you out.”
The Self-Defense Officer looked slightly peeved as he dramatically sighed again. He pulled out a small tube from his yukata sleeve, and as one they wondered what the item was which turned out to just be some cheap lemon sweets. He popped 2, 3 sweets into his mouth and then offered them to Rinko's group.
“Want some?”
“...No thanks.”
“Very well... then, I suppose I can assume that both of you know the basics of the STL, right?”
Asuna nodded in affirmation.
“It is a machine that reads the human soul... «Fluctlight» and creates a virtual world that is completely identical to the real world.”
“Fm. Then, what's the aim of this plan?”
“The development of a bottom-up...«Highly adaptive Artificial Intelligence».”
Higa whistled as the eyes under the round framed spectacles showed a look of admiration, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Amazing, Kirito-kun shouldn't have understood things to such an extent. How did you manage to investigate this deeply?”
Asuna looked over at Higa as if she was sizing him up, and said with a stiff tone,
“...I heard the term «Artificial Labile Intelligence» from Kirito-kun...”
“Haha, I see. Looks like it would be better for you to check on the confidentiality in Roppongi, Kiku-san.”
Higa said with a grinning look on his face, and Kikuoka's frowning face looked away.
“I was already prepared that some level of information would be leaked to Kirito-kun. I considered that risk, but his assistance is quintessential. You should understand that... un, where were we? Oh, the highly adaptive Artificial Intelligence, right?” Kikuoka again popped a lemon sweet into the air and nimbly caught it with his mouth. The Lieutenant Colonel then continued in a lecturing tone,
“The bottom up-type AI is a replicated construct of our human consciousness, and it was thought for a long time to be a flight of fancy, a pipe dream. But though we call it a consciousness construct, we have no idea what kind of structure it has and how it was formed —it's just that we used the data provided by Koujiro-sensei and the highly interpretive and imaginative «Soul Translator» this Higa-kun invented, and finally managed to capture a human soul -a quantum field we call «Fluctlight», successfully. Since we managed to make it all the way here, we feel the success in the development of the bottom up AI is to be expected... Do you know why?”
“If you can read a human soul, you just need to clone it next... is that right?”
Rinko felt a slight chill as she said.
“Of course, though there is the question of the medium required to contain the soul copy...”
“Un, that's the case. The gate elements used in the past for quantum computer systems were not enough. Thus, this is the «Quantum Particle Gate Crystallization» that has had lots of funds invested into it, also commonly known as a «Lightcube». This construct that is 5 cm is made from Praseodymium that can store hundreds of millions of qubits. In other words... we have successfully cloned a human soul.”
Rinko forced her hands into the pockets of her jeans to hide the chilly feeling on her fingers. Asuna, who was standing beside her, seemed to turn pale.
“...Then, the research is already successful, right? Why is there still a need to call us over.”
She fearlessly exerted strength into her stomach as she asked that. Kikuoka exchanged glances with Higa again, showed a weak smile on the left side of his face, and slowly nodded.
“...Well, we did succeed in our soul cloning, but we did not realize our own folly. There's a large divide of incomprehension between a human clone and a real Artificial Intelligence... Higa-kun, show them that thing.”
“Ehh—spare me already. It'll be really messy.”
Higa shook his head unwillingly, but sighed thereafter and started operating the console unwillingly.
Suddenly, the screen that was showing the mysterious foreign country darkened.
“Then, loading copy module HG001.”
Tan. Higa tapped the enter key -and there was a fractal light shining in the middle of the screen. The middle was nearly white, and the sharp outer boundary of the red light was flickering irregularly.
“...Is the sampling complete?”
An unexpected voice could be heard from the speakers above, shocking Rinko and Asuna. They heard Higa's own voice, but there was a rather melancholic feeling behind it, perhaps because of the thin metal.
Higa, who was sitting on the chair, took the flexible microphone on the console and answered the voice that was similar to his,
“Ahh, the sampling of the Artificial Fluctlight was completed without a hitch.”
“I see. That's good then. But...what's going on? It's completely dark here. I can't move my body. Is the STL malfunctioning? Sorry, let me out of the machine.”
“No...unfortunately, I can't do that.”
“Oi oi, what now? What are you saying? Who are you? I've never heard your voice before.”
Higa was giving off a cold sweat as he remained silent for a while, and then answered in a slow tone,
“I'm Higa. Higa Takeru.”
“...”
The red light flared, and suddenly cringed back. After a moment of silence, the sharp extremities expanded as if they were resisting something.
“Damn bastard, what are you saying!? I'm Higa here! Let me out of the STL!”
“Calm down, don't get upset. This isn't like you.”
At this point, Rinko finally understood the meaning of the scene in front of her.
Higa was talking to the clone of his own soul.
“Then, think about it calmly, try and recall. Your memory should be interrupted the moment you entered the STL to extract the Artificial Fluctlight clone.”
“...So what? Of course that's the case. I was unconscious during the scan.”
“You remember what you said before you entered the STL, right? If you don't feel your body when you wake up, and if there is darkness around you, it means you're a clone of Higa Takeru.”
The light again shrank back like some sort of sea creature. The long silence continued for a while, then 2, 3 weak spikes reached out.
“...Impossible. There can't be such a thing. I'm not a clone, I'm the real Higa Takeru. I...I have my own memories. I remember everything from kindergarten, university until the time I got onto the Ocean Turtle...”
“That's true, but that's to be expected. We cloned the complete memories of the Artificial Fluctlight... as a clone, you are truly Higa Takeru. Therefore, you should have a superior intellect. Calm down and analyze the situation over and over again. Let's work hard to achieve our common aim.”
“...Our...you're saying us?”
There was a highly emotional feeling within the metallic voice of the clone, and at that moment, Rinko's hands trembled mightily. She had never seen such a cruel and grotesque 'experiment' before.
“...No...no, I can't believe it. I'm the real Higa. What kind of experiment is this? It's alright now. Just let me out of here. Kiku-san...are you there? Don't play any disgusting games now and let me out.”
On hearing that, Kikuoka showed a melancholy expression, bent down, and brought his mouth to the microphone.
“...It's me, Higa-kun. No... I should be calling you HG 001. Unfortunately, the fact is that you really are a clone. You took many instructions before the scan, talked with me and the other technicians, and you should have been mentally prepared to emerge as a clone. You entered the STL with that belief in the possibility.”
“But... but... no... NO ONE TOLD ME IT WOULD BE LIKE THIS!!!”
The shrill voice of the clone rang through the control room.
“I...I'M ME! IF I WERE CLONED, YOU COULD HAVE GIVEN ME THE REALITY OF BEING A CLONE... SUCH A THING... SUCH A THING IS TOO MUCH... NO... LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT OF HERE!!”
“Calm down. Remain calm. The error correction function of the Light Cube is not as great as that of the brain's. You should know the dangers of losing your cool when thinking.”
“I'M PERFECT!! I'M HIGA TAKERU! IF THAT'S THE CASE, HOW ABOUT I START A PI RECITING CONTEST WITH THAT FAKE!? OI, LET'S START! 3.1415926535897932......”
The red light expanded, dissipating from the screen and disappeared from the center. A small sound resonated as the microphone went silent.
Higa Takeru sighed long and hard again, weakly pressed the key on the console, and declared,
“It collapsed. 4 minutes and 27 seconds.”

After hearing that mumble, Rinko gradually released her tightly clenched fists, and her palms were drenched in an icy cold sweat.
Asuna used her right hand to cup her mouth the moment she saw the collapse. Kikuoka, who detected that, kicked an adjacent empty chair with castor wheels from underneath the console gently over to them. The pale-stricken Asuna immediately took it and sat on it.
“Are you alright?”
Upon hearing that, the girl lifted her head and nodded firmly.
“Ehh...sorry, I'm alright.”
“Don't force yourself. It's better to close your eyes for a while.”
Rinko put her hands on Asuna's shoulders, checked that she had calmed down, stared at Kikuoka's face again, and said,
“There has to be a limit to your vulgar tastes, Kikuoka-san.”
"I'm sorry, but I suppose you can understand that I can't explain this without letting you see it."
The Self-Defense Officer shook his head, sighed and continued,
"This Higa-kun is a genius with an IQ of nearly 140. We made a clone of him and the clone could not take the realization that it was a clone. We made more than 10 Artificial Fluctlights, including mine, but the results were all the same. At an average of around 3 minutes, their train of logic would start to run rampant without exception."
"I normally won't call him out like that. I won't use the first person pronoun of 'ore'. I think you can understand, Rinko-sempai."
Higa Takeru showed a reluctant and fervent expression as he continued,
"That was already not a problem of understanding the abilities and mental state of a clone, but the structural flaws by using the Light Cube to completely clone an Artificial Fluctlight, or that's what I feel... —Koujiro-sempai, do you know the term «Brain Resonance»?"
“Eh? Brain resonance...I do remember that it has something to do with cloning techniques, but the details...”
“Well, it's a bizarre fantastical theory. If we can create a clone that's completely identical to the original, the magnetic fields created by both people's brains will create a resonance which is amplified like the feedback of a microphone, and both of them will be destabilized. I can't believe that easily —but if our human consciousness can't endure the fact that we are not unique existences , there may be such a possibility... well there, don't show such an aprehensive expression. If impossible, how about you try it, Rinko-sempai?”
“Definitely not.”
Rinko felt intimidated as she immediately refused. Asuna, who had been sitting on the chair with her eyes closed, whispered in place of the silenced trio,
“...I suppose Kikuoka-san met her many times in ALO. The top-down-type AI Yui-chan said before... even she, who has a completely different construct from the human consciousness, is scared of being cloned. If some accident caused her backup copy to be activated and allowed to take action, they would most likely fight each other to destroy each other...”
“Heh, that's rather interesting. Very interesting.”
Higa immediately pushed his glasses up and leaned forward.
“Kiku-san was the only one who saw her? That's too sneaky. Please allow me to meet her next time. Yes, I see... as expected, it's impossible to clone a developed intellect... or rather, the only possibility is if the intellect is undeveloped...”
“But that's...”
Rinko pondered for a while, opened her arms wide, and faced Kikuoka, saying,
“Leaving that aside, the cloning of a soul is really amazing, but you failed to attain the goal of your research, right? I don't know how much you spent, but using the country's funds only to produce such results is...”
“No no no.”
Kikuoka smiled bitterly and shook his head,
“If that was the outcome, my head would be already flying to the ceiling fan. And not just mine...several of the big shots in the Integrated Supervision Department would also be dead.”
He played with the tube that contained the lemon sweets again, and after realizing that it was empty, took out a box of white milk sweets from his other sleeve and chewed on one.
“In fact, you can say that this is the start of the project. It's impossible to clone a developed soul, is that right... and if that won't work, what do you think we have to do, professor?”
“...Can you give me one of those?”
She took the milk sweet Kikuoka happily handed over, unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. The soured sweet taste of yoghurt spread in her mouth. The American flavours were not to her tastes, but the sugar caused the mental fatigue to be washed away as she organized her thoughts.
“...How about you limit their memories? For example... delete personal information like names and addresses. If you don't know who you are, you can't create the dramatic hysteria which occurred just now...”
“As expected of you, sempai, to be able to think of something like that immediately.”
Higa used his old university tone as he continued,
“We spent around a week brainstorming before we finally thought of that idea. We then tried to implement it, but... Artificial Fluctlights aren't as easy to manipulate as files in a calculator's OS. Simply put, their memories and abilities are entangled with each other. If we think about it, that's obvious since our abilities aren't inherent in us from the beginning, but are all learnt.”
And then, Higa took out a memo pad on the table and used two fingers of his right hand to hold it.
“Learning is also a form of memory. Once you forget the memory of using a pair of scissors to cut paper for the first time, you will forget how to use the scissors... in other words, deleting memories that are a part of growing up will cause the related ability to be gone. The tragic state of such a clone is something a developed clone can't compare to. Also, wanna look?”
“No...no need for that, thanks.”
Rinko hurriedly shook her head to refuse.
“Then... the memories and abilities will disappear no matter what, so how about learning from the beginning? No...that's not realistic. It would take too long.”
“Ehh, that's the case. Besides, learning basic abilities like language and calculations are more difficult for us adults who have less room to develop our brains to learn. I've been trying to learn Korean, and I have been learning their systemic language for who knows how many years... afterall, the process of learning is a development of a neural network like that of a quantum computer... in other words, it means that the efficiency will drop increasingly as it evolves further from it's state of 'birth'.”
“Then, memories... aren't just limited in terms of data, but also by thoughts and logic? Can the STL even do such a thing...?”

“If it wants to do so, I don't think there's anything it can't do. It's just that we have to account for the amount of time we need to analyze the Artificial Fluctlight in qubits that amounts to billions, determining what functions each individual qubit has. A few years...decades, we don't know how long. But... there's a more direct and simple method this uncle here thought of. I guess it's an idea us researchers can't think of...”
Rinko blinked and stared at Kikuoka, who had his waist leaning against the console. The poker face looked rather calm, and it was still impossible to read this person's mind.
“...A simple method...?”
Even after thinking hard, she couldn't think of it, and just as she was about to surrender by asking him, *GATAN*, Asuna, who was on the chair slightly further away, stood up as if she had jumped.
“Do...don't tell me, you all, did such a horrifying thing...”
Her face was still rather pale, but her eyes regained their adamant glow. The beauty that far exceeded that of a normal Japanese showed an intense rage as Asuna stared right at the Self-Defense Officer.
“...You...you cloned the soul of newborn babies? To get flawless Fluctlights that had nothing learned?”
“You have really amazing perception. You and Kirito-kun both did clear SAO... the hero who beat that Kayaba Akihiko. I suppose it would be disrespectful of me to say this, wouldn't it?”
Kikuoka continued to smile as he showed an expression of pure admiration.
Rinko's heart suddenly ached the moment she unexpectedly heard Kayaba's name.
After knowing Asuna for merely a few days, Rinko had a very good impression on her. Strictly put, Asuna had the right to lecture, curse and judge Rinko, and even after hiding a lot of things, Rinko still helped Kayaba Akihiko in his dreadful plot, causing Asuna to be trapped in that cruel death game for 2 years.
However, neither Asuna nor Kirigaya Kazuto, who met her a long time ago, ever blamed Rinko. It was as if they were saying that it was bound to happen.
In that case, did Asuna think that this «RATH incident» is definitely something that would occur? —Rinko continued to stare forward as she inadvertently thought that, and Asuna took a step towards Kikuoka again.
“Do you think... the Self-Defense Force, the country can do whatever they want? Placing their goals as the priority?”
“How can that be?”
Kikuoka looked like he was greatly hurt as he shook his head hard.
“It was really too much of us to abduct Kirito-kun, but at that moment, I could not tell all our secrets to Asuna-kun and Kirito-kun's family. We used our connections with the National Defense Medical College hospital to transport Kirito-kun to the Ocean Turtle, and even if we had to fight for every moment and we did have to use extreme means to quickly get him treated in the STL here. I do like him a lot.”
The Lieutenant Colonel paused, showing what might be an innocent smile, pushed his black-framed glasses back and continued,
“...On the other hand, I am trying my best to maintain law and order, compared to many research enterprises and countries in the world. It's all the same whether you agree with it right now or not. Of course, we obtained permission from the parents of the newborns to use the STL to scan their Fluctlight, and gave them ample thanks. The branch office in Roppongi was prepared for that... it is similar to an obstetric hospital.”
“But you didn't explain everything to their parents, right? About what kind of machine the STL is.”
“Ahh... it's true that we only said that we were obtaining brainwave samples... but that can't be considered a lie. Fluctlights are electric waves inside the brain.”
“That's just making excuses. That's similar to extracting DNA from kids who don't know anything and cloning them.”
At this moment, Higa, who had kept quiet, unexpectedly raised his arms to do a large timeout sign to Kikuoka.
“That's really a little too much, Kiku-san. I feel that there's a question of morality in secretly cloning newborn Fluctlights. But...Yuuki-san? Your understanding is a little mistaken. The Fluctlights don't have any physical differences in them like genes, especially when they're born.”
He nudged the edge of his silver-framed glasses in that supervisor-like manner, seemingly looking around for a choice of words.
“Let's see...how about I explain this. For example, a manufacturer produces the same model of computer, and when it's produced, the specifications and appearances are all the same. However, once they end up in the users' hands, it can be said that they will be changed into something completely different in half a year, or one year. It's the same for human Fluctlights. In the end, we managed to clone Artificial Fluctlights out of 12 children, but after comparing them with each other, we found that the brain capacity was no different. About 99.98% of them were of completely identical constructs, and the 0.02% difference can be said to be the accumulated memories they have gained since they were born. In other words, the human thinking ability and personalities are all determined once they're born. The theory that abilities and personalities are inherited by genetics are completely repudiated. I really want to pierce holes all over this fatal flaw the eugenics believers believe in.”
“You can poke holes in it once the plan is complete.”
Kikuoka said with a seemingly tired expression.
“Anyway, Higa-kun has already explained this. In conclusion, a newborn Fluctlight clone does not have a specified personality from the cloning. Thus, if we cautiously eliminate the 0.02% difference from the 12 samples, what we get is what we call,”
His arms looked like they were bearing something very important—
“«Spiritual Prototype»... «Soul Archetype».”
“...You just thought of such an exaggerated term. In other words, that's the 'self' in Jung's Psychology, right?”
Kikuoka could only give a wry smile in response to Rinko's question, and shrugged.
“No no, I don't really want to explain it in details. That's just an explanation on the workings. Yes... the Spiritual Prototype all humans have can be considered as a CPU core, I suppose that is a way to explain it. When humans grow, the core will have all sorts of processes and memories installed until the structure of the core changes... it's not enough for us to put that «completed item» type of basic clone into the Light Cube when we're looking for a «Highly Adaptive Artificial Intelligence». We just showed an example to you before. Then, if we clone the Spiritual Prototype into the Light Cube right from the beginning... into the virtual world and let it grow, consider what would happen.”
“But...”
Asuna did not look like she understood. Rinko put her hand on Asuna's shoulder to get her to sit down, and interjected,
“Let it grow. Even if you say that, it's different from plants and pets, right? It's the same with human children, that Spiritual Prototype. Then, I suppose there's a need for the virtual world to be extremely vast, an imitation that is of a level equal to current society... can you actually do such a thing?”
“Impossible.”
Sighing, Kikuoka admitted.
“It's a virtual world created by the STL. It's different from the VR worlds we had in the past in that there's no need for 3D objects, but it's still difficult to use a complex and exotic modern society to produce it —do you remember a character in a movie before you were born, Asuna-kun? There was a given situation where a man's life was filmed as a movie and aired from his birth. The immaculate set that was built in the large domed city was populated with hundreds of temporary actors, all for a male protagonist who was unaware that he was one... in a situation that was created for this. However, that man grew up, learned from this world, found various peculiarities in this world and finally realized the truth...” [1]
“I saw it. I liked the movie quite a bit.”
Rinko said, and Asuna indicated her agreement. Kikuoka nodded and continued,
“In other words...if we want complete processing of the world, there is necessary information we have to include... the world is a huge round body, and there might be many countries in it or something like that. We will try not to cause a misunderstanding in the humans growing up in the simulation that might cause them to feel out of place and get into trouble. Even the STL can't completely replicate the virtual world.”
“Then, how about you bring the civilization level of the simulation back to a past era? During the time humans discovered science and philosophy, when they remained in that age from birth till death... if that happens, wouldn't your aim be to let the Spiritual Prototypes develop?”
“Un, that might be a roundabout method, and would need a lot of time for that... in the STL, firstly, if it's like Professor Koujiro assumed, we would try to nurture the first generation of AI under certain conditions. To put it specifically, it would be a small Japanese village in the 16th century, however...”
At this moment, Kikuoka paused and shrugged, Higa then spoke up,
“This isn't as easy as you imagine it to be. We're complete amateurs to the culture and social norms during that era. We knew that a large amount of data would be necessary in order to build a home, and we had to huddle our heads together and think before we finally did. It was simple, there was no need to recreate the middle ages. We understood that a limited terrain and customs would bring about different settings that we can then adjust however we want, and all the troublesome issues can be resolved by the term 'magic'. Such a world itself is like a range, in that familiar network world Asuna-kun and Kirigaya-kun are familiar with.”
“A VRMMO world.”
Higa stared at Asuna, who whispered in a hoarse voice, and snapped his fingers.
“I actually went around playing them, though I can say that I keep hitting walls. However, even though I don't know who created it, I hear that they even have free packages to create new such games?”
“...!”
Higa was talking about «The Seed»... Kayaba Akihiko's work, the kernel version of the Cardinal System that Kirigaya Kazuto realized. Rinko took a gasp of cold air as she immediately comprehended this, but it seemed that Higa and Kikuoka did not realize where that program originated from.
Immediately, Rinko realized that there was still something secretive about that incident, and pretended not to know anything as she touched Asuna's shoulders with her fingers. It seemed that Asuna received what she wanted to say as she wordlessly shook her head.
Higa did not realize something was wrong with the duo as he continued with an open-minded tone,
“If we create a virtual world within the STL main frame, we won't need any 3D data. But in that case, it would be too uninteresting to create the model data from the surveillance monitor. That's why we hurried and downloaded The Seed and used the editor that came with it to frantically create the village and surrounding landscape before using the visual mnemonics of the STL to transfer it.”
“Is that so... in other words, that world became a double construct, right? The lower priority server operates through the VR world with a common data exchange, while the upper priority STL main frame operates through a specially-designed VR world. So what happens if we swap both of them... how about that?”
Yes, Higa nodded, and another question popped up before he could think.
“...Then, what if we don't use the STL for the lower priority server but dive in with the AmuSphere, can it work?”
“Erm... well, theoretically, it is possible, but the frequencies have to be lowered by twofold... the visual mnemonic and the polygon data aren't encompassed...”
Higa started to stutter, and Kikuoka rubbed his hands as he took over,
“Anyway, after many setbacks, we finally managed to complete our first milestone.”
The Self-Defense Officer seemed to be reminiscing on his own past as his gaze wavered in the air.
“The first village we made had 16 Spiritual Prototypes in two farming families... in other words, we let the AI children grow to the age of 18.”
“Wa, wa, grow up... who were the parents who raised them? Don't tell me it's an existing AI?”
“We discussed that before, and no matter how many capabilities the AI in The Seed has, it's impossible to raise the children using it. The first generation parents were humans, four male and female technicians acted as their parents and spent 18 years in the STL. Though the memories from within were eliminated -it couldn't be helped as part of the experiment, so we could only bear with that. The reward money we gave wasn't enough.”
“No, but it seemed that they were unexpectedly enjoying it.”
Rinko stared blankly at the faces of Kikuoka and Higa who were chatting away leisurely, and finally squeezed out words from her mouth.
“18 years...? I heard that the Soul Translator has a subjective time acceleration function... how much would that be in the real world?”
“About a week.”
The immediate answer shocked her again. 18 years had approximately 940 weeks, which means that the STL time acceleration function was shockingly at approximately 1000 times.
“Won't... there be problems if the human brain is accelerated to 1000 times the normal processing rate?”
“The STL is not connected to the human brain, but the quantum particles that form the consciousness. We let the electric signals trigger the neurons in the neurotransmitters resulting in various biological phenomenon, allowing them to accelerate. In other words, theoretically, you can assume that the time required to think has more or less accelerated, and there won't be any damage to the brain.”
“In other words, there's no upward limit...?”
Rinko had some simple prior knowledge about the Soul Translator time acceleration function, but did not know the exact number, and could only try her best to understand, speechless.
Up until now, she had always thought that the greatest function of the STL was to copy a human soul, but the shock that came with the time acceleration function was no less than before. That was because the possibility of theoretically increasing the work efficiency in virtual space was enough to shock her.
“However... there are still problems we haven't confirmed yet, so the current maximum limit is around 1,500.”
Rinko's mind was numb because of the shock, but was calmed down by Higa Takeru's depressed expression.
“Problems?”
“There were suggestions such as whether the soul has its own lifespan compared to the brain that is part of the body system...”
Rinko could not understand immediately as she tilted her head to think. Higa stared at Kikuoka, giving a look that said 'can I continue from this?' The Self-Defense Officer immediately looked as if the milk sweet in his mouth suddenly became bitter, and promptly said,
“Well, we still haven't gotten out of the hypothesis stage. Simply put, the quantum computer we call «Artificial FluctLights» have limited capacity, and if we pass the limit, the construct will degrade... We haven't tested it out, so we can't explain it definitively, but we set a FLA maximum limit for safety purposes.”
“...In other words, the body has aged for many years while externally less than a week has passed on the outside? Won't the time acceleration function be useless now? Is there no other way to avoid such a phenomenon?”
Rinko could not help but ask as she showed the inquisitive nature of a researcher, and this time, Higa showed a depressed expression.
“Erm, well, theoretically... it's not like we've never had such fantasies ourselves. We have thought of making a portable STL device, and using that device to store the memories during the acceleration into an external device so that the capacity of the Fluctlight will not run out. However, it's definitely impossible to shrink the STL like that. Even if we could find a way for that, there's still a scary problem of losing memories of the acceleration after we remove the portable device.”
“...It's basically a dream that surpasses fantasy. Overclocking the brain without using external memory... I would want to make that happen if I'm a test subject too.”
Rinko shook her head about as she muttered, and redirected her thoughts that were off tangent back on topic,
“Anyway, about that, there currently is no method to avoid the issue of capacity oppression... in that case... wa, wait a moment. Kikuoka-kun, didn't you just say that the technicians stayed inside the STL for 18 years to raise the Spiritual Prototypes? What happened to their Fluctlights? Has their intellectual ability been retarded by 18 years?”
“No, no, it's not like that... probably.”
Probably? Rinko stared at Kikuoka, but he nonchalantly ignored her stare as he continued to explain,
“As for the overall capacity of the Fluctlights, if we estimate at the pace at which it runs out, our «Soul's Life» is about 150 years long. In other words, if we can remain completely healthy, and with luck our brain avoid all sorts of diseases, it could be said that our intellect can be maintained for a maximum of approximately 150 years. Of course, it's impossible as it's improbable for us to live that long. If we take ample safety precautions, we can assume that it's fine for us to spend 30 years inside the STL.”
“And in a century from now, there won't be a groundbreaking technology developed that can extend our lifespans...”
Rinko interjected with sarcasm, but Kikuoka did not mind as he answered,
“Even if we develop such a technology, I suspect that we won't gain favors that's any different from other civilians. Well, we've confirmed the lifespan of the souls, so we can now continue our topic. Thanks to the volunteer work the 4 technicians offered, the pride we have in creating the 16 young people who grew quickly... for simplicity sake, we'll call them «Artificial Fluctlights», should be somewhat satisfactory. They all obtained the ability of language —of course, we're talking about Japanese here —and basic calculation ability to maintain their other thought processes, and were living a rather exciting life in the virtual world we created. They were definitely good kids... very obedient to their parents, woke up early in the morning to get water, chopped wood, farmed... some of them were honest, some of them liked to show off their personalities, and were basically kind and friendly.”
Kikuoka, who smiled as he said that, showed a somewhat troubled expression on his lips, or perhaps that was just her imagination?
“They grew up... both families had four boys and four girls, brothers and sisters to each other, and they all fell in love. Thus, once we determined that they were old enough to raise their own children, the first phase of the experiment ended, and the 16 young people became eight couples as they had their own families and went off living independently. The four technicians who were their parents all 'died' of an epidemic one after another and were released from the STL. The 18 years of memories they had were completely blocked, and their memories reverted to those they had a week ago just before they entered the STL. They started crying when they saw their children crying at their funerals from the external monitor.”
“That was really a great scene...”
Kikuoka and Higa nodded at each other calmly, and Rinko pretended to cough lightly to prompt them to continue,
“...And then, after the human technicians logged out, there was no need to worry about the FLA rate, so we increased the time inside to 5,000 times the rate of current reality. The eight couples all had ten children each, Spiritual Prototypes, and they were all raised. These children then quickly grew into adults and formed into families, and soon gradually replacing the NPCs that acted as villagers, finally forming villages with only Artificial Fluctlights. As the era changed, their descendants continued to multiply... in the three weeks of reality, the inside world has spent 300 years of simulation, and we finally formed a large society of 80,000 people.”
“80,000...!?”
Rinko could not help but utter aloud. After moving her lips for who knew how many times, she finally managed to project suitable words from between her lips.
“...Then... that's already more of a simulation of a civilization than an Artificial Intelligence inception.”
“Yes, but in a certain sense, it's to be expected why such a thing happened. Humans are creatures who conform to society... and they can only grow by building relationships with others. During the 300 years, the Artificial Fluctlights expanded out from a small village and occupied the vast range we had set completely. They managed to build up an outstanding central government structure without a single bloody war, and there is even religion... I suppose that's the reasoning they used to explain all aspects of the system to the children, they did not use science, but god. Higa-kun, show the full map on the monitor.”
Higa nodded in agreement, and immediately worked on the console. The large monitor that had shown the disgusting experiment before now showed a detailed map of an aerial photograph.
Of course, Japan and the rest of the world are different from that country.
The ocean did not exist at all, and the round shaped flatlands were all surrounded by a tall mountain range. There were many stretches of forests and grasslands, as well as many rivers and lakes. It looked like a very fertile land. Looking at the scale of the map below, the flatlands that were surrounded by the mountains seemed to be around 1,500km in diameter, and the size was about 8 times that of Honshu, Japan.
“Just 80,000 people in such a large space? That is quite the sparse population.”
“Or rather, Japan itself is abnormal.”
Higa chuckled at Rinko and stretched his hand out for the mouse, pointing it at the middle of the map and circling around it.
“The area around here is the capital, 20,000 in population. Perhaps we might not feel that it's anything much, but it's an outstanding city. The government institute which the Artificial Fluctlights call the «Axiom Church» exists here, and is ruled by the «Priests». Their influence is rather impressive, and there have been no wars happening— at this point, we felt that the experiment itself has been basically a success. In this virtual world, the Artificial Fluctlights are growing with the same level of intellect as humans. We were happy enough to enter the next phase that could meet our aim, the growth of the «Highly Adaptive Artificial Intelligence», but...”
“We finally found a serious problem.”
Kikuoka stared at the monitor, and then said,
“...There weren't any problems in what you have heard up till now, correct?”
“I suppose you can say... that something wrong happened in the place where nothing went wrong. This world is way too peaceful. Perhaps it's because it's too orderly and is working perfectly. We should have realized that it's strange based on how the sixteen children were all so obedient to their parents... it's not strange for humans to fight each other, or rather, it's part of nature. However, there have been no wars here, not even once, let alone killings. The rate of growth for the population is too fast, let's put it that way. The chance of diseases and natural disasters happening will basically be nonexistent, and humans won't die other than of old age...”
“It's like an ideal society.”
Higa coldly snorted at Rinko's words and said,
“Is it really true that the «Mythical Utopia» was actually a Utopia?”
“...Well, if it wasn't, it can't be considered a legend... Did you not also see something spectacular in this virtual society?”
“Of course we didn't look, we just tried looking at our own reality.”
The sound of the clogs landing on the floor echoed, and Kikuoka, who leapt off the console, turned to the large monitor and started explaining again,
“The Artificial Fluctlights should have the same desires as us, yet why won't wars happen... we investigated thoroughly into their lifestyles. We then found that in this world, they have a strict set of rules. It is the «Taboo Index» that the priests put all their efforts into building. In there, there is a clause forbidding killing. The same laws do exist in our world too, of course, but whether we abide by them or not can be seen through the daily news. The Fluctlights themselves actually obey it though... in an overly obedient manner. In other words... they can't break laws or rules. That is their innate nature.”
“...Isn't that a good thing?”
Rinko gave a puzzled look as she saw the side of Kikuoka's grim face.
“Listening to this point, wouldn't they be more exceptional than us?”
“Well... you can put it that way. Higa-kun, can you bring the image back to «Centoria»?”
“Okay.”
Higa tapped at the console keyboard, and the large monitor again displayed the image of the otherworldly city that was shown when Rinko's group entered. The white stone buildings were surrounded by large trees, and the people wearing simple and clean clothes were casually walking by in this other world.
“Ah... then, this is?”
Rinko was engrossed as she saw this, and could not help but ask. Higa nodded away in a slightly satisfied manner.
“Yes, this is the capital of the world the Artifical Fluctlights live in, «Centoria». Actually, it's exactly like what we're seeing. They're using the polygon visuals of the lower server, and the digital clarity is very low. The display speed is only at one-thousandth of their rate.”
“Centoria...it even has a proper name. About the world they're born in, does it not have a name?”
“It does... I suppose. It isn't named by the Artificial Fluctlights though, but by the codename we used in the beginning stages of our planning that we left in there. The name of this world is called «Underworld».”
“Under...world.”
It seemed to be a name taken from «Alice in Wonderland». Rinko herself had heard about it from Asuna, but she did not expect them to use the name for the internal world. It was likely that Higa and the rest did not name it using the original's «Underground World», but named it with the meaning of «The World of Reality at the Bottom». The beauty of the fantasy-like city shown on the monitor may be a form of paradise.
Kikuoka seemed to read Rinko's thoughts as he said,
“It's true that this city is nice. There was actually quite an evolution in technology since we started giving them simple wooden houses as farming houses. However... if I have to say it, this street here is too beautiful, too tidy. There's not a speck of litter, not even a robber, and of course, no cases of murder. These are all part of the strict rules of the «Integrity Church» that can be seen from afar, the reason why no one will ever break it.”
“Then, what's wrong about that?”
She frowned as she wanted to ask again, but Kikuoka shut up for some reason, seemingly looking for a way to answer. Higa glanced aside unnaturally and did not seem to have any intention of talking.
What broke the silence in the large primary control room was Asuna who had been remaining silent. The high-school student who was the youngest here lowered her voice as she said calmly, restraining herself,
“In that case, Kikuoka-san and the rest will be troubled, Professor Rinko. That's because the final aim of this large plan isn't just to create a bottom-up Highly Adaptive Artificial Intelligence... but to create AIs that can kill enemy soldiers in war.”
“What...”
The trio gave flabbergasted expressions, Asuna glanced past Rinko, Kikuoka and Higa wordlessly, and continued,
“As for me, before I arrived, I had wondered why Kikuoka-san... of the Self-Defense Force wanted to create an Artificial Intelligence of such a high level. A long time before, Kirito-kun and I deduced that Kikuoka-san was interested in VRMMO because he wanted to use that technology for the police's or Self-Defense Forces' training. That's why, as the creation of the Artificial Intelligence was part of it as well, we first assumed that it would be used for training against enemy forces. However... if we thought about it, training inside the VR world would have none of the dangers in reality, and they could just split the soldiers into groups for training. That is because we often went through such simulations as well.”
She paused for a moment and looked around at the surrounding machines and the monitor in front of her.
“—And, the plan itself is too large for it to be merely for developing a program for training. Kikuoka-san, I have no idea when you thought of 'the next step', raising the AIs in the virtual world and using it for real wars.”
After a moment of surprise, the face that was staring at the girl's clear eyes changed to an incomprehensible emotionless expression, as he smiled calmly,
“Since the beginning.”
There was an incomprehensible iron-like toughness in the gentle voice,
“The research for integrating VR technology into military training was already prevalent before the Full-Dive technology was around, during the time of head mounted displays and motion sensors. The antiques the American army developed are still in the research headquarters in Ichigaya. Five years ago, during the time the Nerve Gear was developed, the Self-Defense Forces and the American army both used it to develop training programs, but after trying the SAO closed beta that happened afterwards, I changed my mind. This world, the technology had a much bigger possibility. The concept of war had already changed right from the beginning...and then, at the end of that year, when the SAO incident happened, I voluntarily transferred over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to became part of the task force. I had been keeping myself concerned with the developments in this incident all for the sake of this plan. After spending 5 years, I've finally made it here.”
“...”
The conversation had developed in a direction that no one had imagined, as Rinko could not say anything for the time being. She barely managed to clear up her confused thoughts and squeezed out words from her dry throat.
“...I was a primary school student during the Iraq war, and I still remember things clearly. There were mass reports of how the American army's unmanned jet fighters and mini-tank drones attacked the enemy. I suppose that's what you mean? It meant these weapons that had AIs in them were attacking on their own. You were thinking about that...”
“It's not just me. Every country had been researching this technology, especially America who have been pursuing this for many years. Although this might bring painful memories to you, Asuna-kun...”
Kikouka paused slightly, stared at Asuna, checking that she was still calm, and continued,
“...Sugou Noboyuki, who imprisoned you in the virtual world and used many SAO players as part of an experiment, wanted to sell the results of his research to American companies, do you remember? Grojean Micro Electronics that he made contact with was a leading enterprise in the VR realm, but was famous for doing illegal deals for the sake of using the VR technology for military purposes. The American army munitions industry has paid the most attention to developing the unmanned drones Professor Koujiro just mentioned. One of the notable ones is the flying aircraft —Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or «UAV» for short.”
Perhaps Higa was being too prepared as he wordlessly moved the mouse to switch the image on the monitor screen, and what was shown were small unmanned fighters with long, slender fuselages and several wings attached. The mechanical wings had guided missiles loaded underneath, and there was not a single window on the plane.
“These are the unmanned recon and assault fighter jets in the American army. It's small since there's no need for a cockpit, and allows it to be in a shape for stealth flight so that it can't be detected on the radar. The machines from the previous generations were all remote controlled from long distance with an operator manipulating foot pedals and joysticks as the plane flies, but this is different.”
The moment he said this, he switched the image on the monitor, and this time, the image was of a soldier being the operator. The soldier was leaning back on a reclining seat and had his hands on the arm rests. Then, Rinko noticed a familiar cabled helmet on the head —the Nerve Gear was covering it. Looking closely, the paint job on the outside shell and some minor parts were different, but they were obviously of the same model.
Rinko glanced aside to see Asuna's frozen expression with her eyes wide open. She then turned around, and Kikuoka continued his explanation,
“Here, the operator is in a virtual cockpit. It's like he's really operating a machine by being immersed like this, and he can scout out the enemy forces and fire guided missiles at them. However, the problem is that we use electromagnetic waves to control them, and they are still relatively weak against the ECM... the Electronic Counter Measures. 10 years ago, the recon UAVs the American Army used to infiltrate a country in the Middle East were hit with interference, were forced to land, and were captured thereby causing what was a very tense situation that nearly started a war.”
“Then, Artificial Intelligence...right? In order to let aircrafts fly on their own...”
Kikuoka turned his eyes away from the monitor, looked over at Rinko's group, and lightly nodded in agreement.
“The ultimate goal is to shoot down all human-piloted fighter jets in aerial dogfights. I suppose that there is a large possibility for the current Artificial Fluctlights to grow once we give them suitable programs to grow within. However, there is a large issue, and that is, how are they, who are soldiers without flesh, able to understand the concept of «war»... killing itself is evil, but it's a requirement to kill enemy soldiers in war; currently, the Artificial Fluctlights are unable to accept such a paradoxical thinking as there's not even a single example in their law.”
The Self-Defense Officer pushed his glasses up, and frowned hard,
“—We set up an «Overload Experiment» in order to test out how obedient the residents of Underworld would be. To put it in details, we chose an isolated village, caused the crops and livestocks in the farms to die off to such an extent that the villagers would definitely be unable to last through the winter, creating a situation such that if the village was to survive, they would have to abandon a group of their villagers and ration food out to another group, thereby forcing people to disobey the Taboo Index rule of killing someone. However, what happened was... they chose to distribute their meager harvest to everyone in the villager, from the old to the young, and as a result everyone died of starvation when spring came. They were existences unable to break the laws and regulations for some reason, and the outcome was really tragic. In other words... if they are to be pilots carrying weapons, they have to know the first premise, 'killing is okay'. But what circumstances will allow them to develop this, even we can't imagine...”
The Self-Defense Officer folded his sturdy arms that were poking out from the sleeves of his yukata, and shook his head weakly.
Rinko could not imagine a scene where, in contrast to existing aircraft, groups of unmanned fighter jets in all sorts of strange shapes used missiles and machine guns to kill indiscriminately, whether they were soldiers or civilians. Her arms shuddered slightly as her hands continued to rub against each other.
“...You're not joking about that, right? Exactly why must you have AIs in such incredibly dangerous weapons? Although somewhat limited, can't you just do remote control from afar? Uun, speaking of which... I don't want to accept the existence of unmanned weapons themselves.”
“Well, it's not like I don't understand that feeling. When I saw the American large caliber rifles on unmanned vehicles, I gave extreme thanks that I was not one of those who lived there. However... unmanned weapons are already a part of necessity in this age, and the advanced countries are unable to resist the demands of the times”
Kikuoka lifted his finger like a history teacher and continued,
“Then, let's use the largest military in the world, America for example. The actual death toll of soldiers during the Second World War for them was actually 400,000. Even though so many people died, President Roosevelt at that time was passionately supported by the people in the country, and spent 13 years, 4 terms in office at the highest authority until he died of a stroke. Though I don't like the attitude during those times where 80 years ago, using the number of soldier deaths to determine the victory of an army was part of the spirit.”
The second finger flicked up silently, maybe because of the strong fist.
“Then, during the Vietnam War, there was an anti-war movement started by the students, and President Johnson was prevented from running a second term. At that time, 60,000 people died in battle. As the flag of Anti-Communism was raised, soldiers were sent to the battlefield one after another and died —however, in the temporary peace that is now called the Cold War, the feelings of the people changed slightly... and then, this era ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. America, having lost the enemy called Communism, strode onto the stage called the war against terrorism in order to maintain the army munitions industry that was deeply ingrained into the country.
Kikuoka raised the third finger and continued on fluently,
“—But in that battlefield, there were no signs of the citizens accepting soldiers' deaths. During the Iraq War at the beginning of the century, American soldiers were sent over with around 4,000 of them dying and that number alone shook the support for the Bush Administration. Of course, not only due to this but also other factors, his presidential popularity declined. It could be said that it was to be expected when he supported the Republican candidate McCain lost to the Democrat Obama who promised to completely withdraw from Iraq —in other words...”
He put his hands down, took a short breath, and paused his long conclusion.
“Within that country it's no longer considered the era for humans to fight in wars, However, they have been unable to stop the allocation of money into this ample morsel called the defense budget. The future of war has thus been transformed into unmanned weapons vs people or unmanned weapons against unmanned weapons.”
“...I can understand the American situation, but it's another thing whether we can accept this.”
Rinko nodded slightly as she felt irritated by the sudden extraordinary thought of using unmanned weapons to carry out a war without injuries. She again stared at Kikuoka and questioned,
“But why do you as a Self-Defense Officer, follow behind this stupid arms race? Or is this «RATH» research started by the military?"
“HOW CAN THAT BE!?”
Kikuoka denied it with a rare loud voice, but immediately reverted back to his usual smile and opened his arms wide in an exaggerated manner.
“Or rather, it's more accurate to say that we're floating in the middle of the ocean to hide from the American Army. Any base on the mainland's in plain view of them, after all. —As for why I'm developing unmanned weapons at such a crazy rate... it's not exactly easy to explain the reason. It's like asking Kayaba-sensei about why he created SAO; though I suppose you wouldn't be satisfied with that, huh.”
“Of course you can.”
Rinko answered with a deadpan expression, and Kikuoka showed a large forced smile as he shrugged his shoulders,
“Pardon my rudeness for saying something I shouldn't have said. Yes... the biggest reason is that, currently in Japan, to put it simply, our defense technology is too weak”
“Defense...technology?”
“I suppose you can put it this way; the weapons are developed and produced from zero, but that is to be expected as no country exports weapons to Japan. It's the same for the manufacturers as well, since using the spending budget of the Self-Defense Forces to carry out deals would be completely meaningless. In the end, we had to buy the latest equipment from America and finally managed to carry out development together. But, to put it simply...the together here is just in name only, a one-sided thing.”
The Self-Defense Officer adjusted the collar of his yukata, folded his arms, and continued explaining in a rather bitter tone,
“For example, the support fighter jets that we're currently equipped with now are developed together with America, but in fact, they have hidden their latest technology and obtained the advanced technology which Japan created. As for the weapons we bought, what kind of capabilities will they have? Our main latest fighter jets that we bought looked as if the software -the brains, had been removed. So the American army has given us outdated technology and kept the good stuff... hm, I feel like an idiot saying these things.”
Kikuoka grimaced again as he folded his legs on the console desk, shaking the clogs on his toes.
“In regards to this situation, a group of our Self-Defense Officers and a group of young technicians from small and medium sized defense-related manufacturers have already felt a strong sense of danger. Can we keep relying on America for the core of our defense technology? That sense of danger was the driving force behind RATH's creation, where we want to create Japan's own technology. That's all we hoped.”
Even though Kikuoka's words sounds rather admirable, to what extent should they be accepted? Rinko thought as she stared deep into the dark eyes deep within the black-framed glasses. However, the Self-Defense Officer's eyes did not show anything at all, as if they were the black-framed glasses themselves.
Rinko looked away and stared at Higa Takeru who was sitting beside Kikuoka.
“...Is your motive in taking part in this plan the same as well, Higa-kun? I didn't know that you had such awareness about the National Defense.”
“No.”
Higa Takeru scratched his head shyly in response to Rinko's words,
“As for my motive - well, it's personal. I had a friend when I was a student in a Korean University, and he was deployed to Iraq for military service, only to be killed in a suicide bombing. Well... even if this world will have wars, I hope that humans won't die for such foolish reasons, I suppose.”
“...But that Self-Defense Officer wanted to let unmanned weaponry become a technology only the Self-Defense Forces own, didn't he?”
“Ya, Kiku-san did say this before, that although having sole ownership of this technology for a long time is impossible, he understands it will not be exclusively for this purpose so we can think of how to take the lead... and that's how it is.”
The Self-Defense Officer grimaced in regards to Higa's straightforward words. At this moment, Asuna, who had been listening to the trio silently, said with a beautiful yet cold and clear voice,
“You never told the nice ideals of yours to Kirito-kun, did you?”
“...Why would you think so?”
Kikuoka tilted his head, and Asuna stared straight at him with an unwavering look.
“If you said it to Kirito-kun, he would definitely not assist you. There is an important flaw in your words.”
“...And that is?”
“The rights of Artificial Intelligence.”
On hearing those words, Kikuoka twitched his eyebrows and frowned.
“...No, it's true that we never said what we said here to Kirito-kun, but it's simply because we never had such a chance. He is a staunch realist too, right? If not, it would have been impossible for him to clear SAO.”
“You still don't understand. If it's Kirito-kun, once he realizes the true situation of Underworld, he will definitely be furious at the operator. To him, wherever the place is, it's reality for him. He would not think it a virtual world with virtual life... that's why he cleared SAO.”
“I don't understand. Artificial Fluctlights don't have bodies of flesh. Why do you say those aren't false lives?”
Asuna's eyes were sorrowful... no, a tiny glint showed that she felt the adults in front of her were really pitiful as she slowly continued,
“...Even if I say so, you'll likely be unable to understand... in a town on the 56th level of Aincrad, I said the exact same thing you said to him. There was a boss monster we had to beat no matter what, and in order to defeat it, we planned to use the NPCs... the villagers controlled by the AI to fight. But Kirito-kun declared that it should absolutely not be done, that NPCs were alive and there should be other means. The people in my guild laughed... but in the end, he was right. Even if they're Artificial Fluctlights, copies of media that were mass produced, Kirito-kun will never help if they're to be used as tools of wars and have to kill each other, definitely.”
“—It's not like I don't understand what you're trying to say. It's true that Artificial Fluctlights have the same level of thinking ability as us humans. In that aspect, it's true that they're alive. However, this is a question of priority. To me, the lives of hundreds of thousands of Artificial Fluctlights versus the life of one Self-Defense Officer is less.”
This is a debate that would never have an answer. Rinko thought. As for whether the Artificial Intelligence themselves have human rights —it would be a question that would never be concluded simply, even if a real bottom-up AI were released and the years of debate ended.
As for what she herself was thinking, Rinko herself was unclear. As a scientist, the realism within me states that cloned souls were not lives. But at the same time, what will that person think? What if it was that person who hoped for «a certain place that wasn't here», created it and never came back—?
Rinko broke the silence in this situation in order to drag her trail of thoughts back.
“Speaking of which, why is Kirigaya-kun a must in this? There's a risk of leaking your most classified information, so why him...?”
“—I see, we're having this conversation for explanatory purpose. I went off-topic and nearly forgot about what we were supposed to talk about.”
Kikuoka looked like he was trying to escape from Asuna's extremely magnetic stare as he smiled, coughed, and continued,
“Why is it that the residents of the Underworld can't disobey the Taboo Index... is it an issue with the construct of the Light Cube that contains the Fluctlights, or is there some reason in the nurturing? Let's repeat our discussion. If it were the former, there's a need to discuss redesigning the medium, and if it were the latter, we might be able to correct it. Thus, we tried an experiment. One of the technicians, a real human, had his memories fully blocked and became a young child again. We let him grow in the Underworld to see whether his actions would be similar to the Artificial Fluctlights.”
“Do...doing such a thing, won't the brains of the test subjects be affected? If their lives are restarted... won't they be lacking in memories?”
“Not at all... the Fluctlights can endure memories of around 150 years, which I did say before, didn't I? As for why would such a large margin exists, we have no idea... according to the Bible, people during Noah's time could live for hundreds of years, so I suppose we know what they were talking about. First, even though we talk about growing up, we're just letting him grow up to around ten years old, which will be enough for us to know if we can break through that Taboo Index. Of course, the memories generated from there will also be blocked, so when he returns back to reality, he'll be in the same state as before entering the STL.”
“...Then, the results...?”
“We recruited eight staff members to be test subjects, let them dive into Underworld and let them grow up in all sorts of environments. In the end... the shocking thing was that not a single one broke the Taboo Index before they were ten. Rather, it was the opposite of what we thought... they were less lively than Artificial Fluctlights and did not like to go out. They did not show an interest in getting to know their surroundings. We deduced that that's because of a sense of discomfort.”
“Sense of discomfort?”
“Even if we block all the memories from birth, it doesn't mean that we erased them completely. If that happens, they might never be able to return back to reality. Anyway, it's not about the «knowledge», but the «instinct» that represents how the body acts, preventing the researchers from getting used to Underworld. No matter how real it is, it is no different from virtual worlds created by The Seed. Once they entered, they could understand that it was slightly different from moving in reality. It was the same kind of discomfort as mine when I first used the Nerve Gear to test the closed beta of SAO.”
“It's because of the sense of gravity.”
Asuna simply said,
“Gravity...?”
“Unlike sight or hearing, part of the research on gravity and balance was a little late. That's because most of the signals rely on gravity to adjust our brains, so those who aren't used to it can't move as they please.”
“Yes, that's what we are accustomed to.”
Pa-tch, Kikuoka flicked his finger and agreed,
“If we want to repeat all sorts of experiments, the need to get used to moving inside the virtual world would be a must, and we finally realized that. It's not just an experiment of days or months, but years. I suppose you understand now. I needed the person who's most used to the virtual world to help for this reason.”
“—Hold on a moment.”
Asuna again interrupted Kikuoka with a firm voice.
“Are you referring to the «Continuous three days of diving» Kirito-kun talked about? ...But Kirito-kun said to us before that the maximum FLA function rate is 3 times, so he spent 10 days inside. Did you lie to him? Was it really 10 years...?”
Kikuoka and Higa were hit with electrifying stares as they lowered their heads with alarmed expressions.
“Sorry, about that, it was an error on the Roppongi branch's side. That's because I gave instructions to hide information of the acceleration rate completely...”
“There's something worse than that! 10 years of Kirito-kun's soul lifespan was used for that. If his treatment fails because of this, I will definitely not forgive you.”
“It's not really a reason, but Higa-kun and I had contributed to the experiment for more than 20 years —however, the 10 years Kirito-kun spent there was far less than the amount of Fluctlights the staff members all contributed.”
“In other words, he did something that was against the Taboo Index when growing up in the Underworld?”
Rinko could not help but interject, and Kikuoka smiled as he shook his head hard,
“Strictly put, it's not like that, however, I can say that the results were more than I expected. From a young age, Kirito-kun displayed an unseen exuberance of curiosity and activity, that had many times verged on the edge of breaking the Taboo Index many times —of course, if his Fluctlight actually ended up breaking the Taboo Index, it indicates that the Artificial Fluctlights are structurally flawed, which I wouldn't be happy about. However, we continued to observe his actions and after he had spent around seven years or so inside... this Higa-kun here noticed a fact that's very interesting.”
Higa interrupted Kikuoka's words and continued,
“Yes, I was originally against Kirigaya-kun taking part in the experiment, both morally and out of security, and once I realized that fact, I had to say that I was impressed by Kiku-san's wise insight. We digitalized the importance of several clauses in the Taboo Index and checked on every resident's chances of breaking the Taboo Index. The Artificial Fluctlights of the boy and girl who had been interacting with Kirigaya-kun... -or Kirito-kun, inside there had been increasing their Taboo Breaking Index.”
“Eh...? That means...”
“In other words, Kirito-kun with his memories and personality in the real world sealed, was able to affect the actions of the Artificial Fluctlights around him. To put it in easier terms, his exuberance spread to others, or something like that.”
Rinko detected that Asuna's lips was showing a slight smile on her lips after hearing Higa's description. Perhaps those words were easy for Asuna to understand.
“...Right now, as for why the Artificial Fluctlights won't disobey the rules, we can't completely discern the reason. It's likely due to the elements used to build the Light Cube, but we already felt that there's no need to take the job of analyzing it thoroughly as a priority. To us, we don't want to solve the problem completely, we just want one exception, a real highly adaptive Artificial Intelligence that has a concept of «Prioritizing Rules», and once we clone it, we should be able to get some reasons.”
“I don't really like such thinking... but in the past, breakthroughs have been made through that method, I suppose?”
Exhaling slightly, Rinko asked Higa,
“Then, have you obtained that exception?”
“There is one that landed in our hands. That girl who was the closest existence to Kirito-kun finally disobeyed the Taboo Index before the experiment ended, and it was a very severe crime of «Intruding the Forbidden Zone». After inspecting the records, we found that there was another Artificial Fluctlight that died in the forbidden zone the girl saw. Most likely, she wanted to save him, and if I say so, that girl values other people's lives more than the Taboo Index. That's the adaptability we have been searching for. Well, it was completely different from actualizing a weapon; «breaking the ethics and killing someone» is really an ironic thing.”
“...You said it once before, didn't you?”
“Ah —yes. Unfortunately... we could not hold tight onto the jewel that landed in our hands...”
Higa lowered his shoulders and continued to shake his head left and right,
“...As I just said, the time inside Underworld is passing at a shocking speed of 1,000 times the real world. It's not possible to monitor it from the outside in realtime, so we sliced what we recorded into many segments and slowly replayed them using many of our staff to watch them. During that though, there would definitely be a large lag as compared to the time inside. We stopped the server once we found out that the girl broke the Taboo Index and wanted to physically eject the Light Cube to preserve her Fluctlight... at that time, around two days had passed inside. Then, what was shocking was that the Integrity Church had brought the girl to Central within 2 days and applied some form of correction to the Fluctlight.”
“Co...correction? You gave that much authority to the ones you're observing?”
“That shouldn't be the case... or probably not. The residents of the Underworld have some form of authority to maintain law and order, and those who are able to carry out the system limit that the high class residents called «Sacred Arts» are those priests of the Integrity Church, the ones with the highest authority. Maybe it's not just lifespan they can manipulate, but they found a backdoor to the system without us knowing...well, I'll read the data for further details later; «Alice»'s past and present Taboo Breaking Index.”
“Alice...?”
Asuna suddenly lifted her head and muttered. Rinko started to understand the meaning of this term as well. It should be the one name worth mentioning from the acronyms of the «Highly Adaptive Artificial Intelligence» Kikuoka and Higa were pursuing.
Kikuoka seemed to detect their doubts as he nodded in agreement and said,
“That's right. That's the name of the girl in question who had been with Kirito-kun and the other boy. The names of all the residents of Underworld were all randomized pronunciation, so we were really shocked by this amazing coincidence when we knew that the girl's name was Alice. That's because that's the name of the concept in the entire plan this organization RATH has.”
“Concept?”
“the Highly Adaptive Artificial Intelligence Self-Existence, Artificial Labile Intelligence Cybernetic Existence. If we take the first letter from each word «A, L, I, C, E»... the aim of our research is to let the photon clouds sealed within the LightCube become «Alice». The staff called it «Alice-ing».”
The Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka Seijirou still showed a smile that was hard to comprehend even as these secrets were known, and said,
“Welcome, to our «Project Alicization».”
? He is referring to a famous movie called "The Truman Show" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show