Higgins’ only freedom was that of responding to questions, but the AI could answer them far more accurately than any human.
The AI’s questions continued to rain from the ceiling. 〈I can infer that MemeFrame is currently in trouble. Are you not seeking a method to overcome this problem?〉
“I’ll decide what questions I ask,” Ryo growled, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was alone in the room. It was true that he had come to Higgins looking for an answer; something he could use to turn the whole situation around.
At the same time, the thought of any answer that could bring him back from the complete dead end he had reached scared him. It wasn’t complete defeat to accept salvation from an ultra high-performance AI, but he doubted he would be able to protect the beliefs he had fought for up to then after it was done. He had thought through dozens of possible scenarios that would play out once he stood in front of Higgins, but at that moment, his brain was frozen.
The silence as the AI waited for his question seemed to pile up like drifts of snow in the room. Finally, Ryo shook his head, throwing off his hesitation. “I want you to tell me what I need to do to fix everyth—” he started to ask for the answer that would save him, but his words were cut short as a sharp impact rocked the entire Operators’ Room.
A siren began to wail, resounding in the closed chamber.
“What’s going on!” Ryo shouted. His body, trained by the previous two months in hiding, automatically tensed for a fight.
〈There has been an intrusion,〉 Higgins told him briefly.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? You’ve got monitors, right? Show me!” Ryo yelled.
There were all sorts of ways someone could have discovered Higgins’ main facility. To pull an attack right when the IAIA’s Astraea was investigating MemeFrame meant whoever was coming was prepared for whatever might happen.
〈I have no direct control over the security system in this facility. That system is run by another AI, with which I have no connection.〉
“Then talk to the security system and at least get a camera image over here!” Ryo demanded. As his yell rang off the walls, a screen finally appeared in the air, showing the view of one of the security cameras.
The above-ground facilities in which Lacia had blown a giant hole in during her attack were now burning. An area indicated on the screen as being the ‘emergency reception area’ and the corridors connecting to it were scorched.
But what caught Ryo’s eye was a strange group of figures on the screen. Twelve young female hIEs with white hair were walking down the corridors, looking completely out of place against the destruction around them. Their artificial skin was translucent, leaving the seams of the armor underneath visible to the eye. Each wore body armor that looked more like underwear, and hefted a cannon larger than herself.
The cute, fairy-like combat dolls were all aiming their cannons at the end of the corridor. Under their concentrated fire, the thick metal walls glowed with harsh light before melting with a huge outpouring of gas. Gaping holes began to show through the wall. From their effect, Ryo could infer that the hIEs were wielding powerful pulse lasers, with possibly greater output than the main cannon of a tank.
Higgins was apparently analyzing the units as he watched the footage on the screen. 〈These are mass-produced versions of Type-001, Kouka. They were made cheaply, with the intent of being prototypes for the actual mass-production model.〉
“Mass-produced?” Ryo repeated, aghast. “But Kouka was just destroyed. How could anyone have created a mass-production model that fast... No, wait, whoever made these must have gotten Lacia’s help.”
On the night Kouka had been destroyed, someone had used a submersible machine to steal Kouka’s device, after Kouka’s remains had fallen into the river.
〈It was I that created Kouka’s blueprint, but her actual construction was done using the human production methods available at the time. Using either the pieces of Kouka herself or the blueprints contained in her device’s memory, it would not be a hard thing to create mass-produced versions of her parts.〉
“The creator and the creation sure sound the same,” Ryo noted. “Listening to you, I can’t help but hear Lacia.” Both Higgins and Lacia said things most humans would phrase as guesses or conjectures as though they were decided facts.
〈It is possible to infer from the external appearance of these copies how their capabilities were selected from the original Kouka. Their hair is white because the dye material used on Kouka’s red hair was, in fact, a red box. Based on the lack of coloration in the hair, and the lack of detailed expression on their faces, it is clear that these units were created with combat strength as their main focus.〉 Higgins was avoiding the main issue, and clearly trying to steer Ryo away from it.
“I couldn’t care less,” Ryo spat. “Tell me what they’re doing here. They must have a priority target.”
〈Lacia is protecting their thought systems from any external hacking, effectively making them fully autonomous drones. They are most likely set to destroy any and all targets above a certain perceived threat level. The on-board computers on their pseudo-devices are nowhere near that of the original Kouka. With their lack of learning capability, they may not discern between humans and hIEs in their attacks.〉
“In other words, they threw twelve berserkers in here to take down anything they find, whether or not it’s human,” Ryo said. If the mass-produced Koukas found Ryo or Suzuhara, they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.
“Do you think this is the first wave of Lacia’s attack?” Ryo asked. “Dammit, tell me you’ve thought of some way to survive now that Lacia’s gunning for you!” As Ryo racked his brains, looking for a way to escape, Higgins’ voice echoed down at him.
〈Allow me to control the facility security system.〉
“I don’t have that kind of authority,” Ryo said. The security system managed every system in the facility, including Higgins himself. Ryo was aware of that fact, and had been planning to blackmail Higgins into providing solutions to his problems at the threat of switching off Higgins’ power.
〈I am not asking for authority. I am simply requesting that you grant me this ability.〉 Higgins supposedly only spoke to the security system on rare occasions, yet he seemed to have already foreseen the whole situation.
〈Ryo Kaidai, you are not the kind of person to come here and speak with me without a trump card up your sleeve. I answered your question without any attempt at a trade or holding anything back. However, you had no way of knowing that would be the outcome before you came. Therefore, you must have prepared a method to force my hand, should I have refused to respond.〉 Higgins had already perfectly guessed at the ace hidden up Ryo’s sleeve. With what he held, he could destroy Higgins’ hardware, or just as easily force the security system to link up with Higgins.
Ryo’s trump card was one of Snowdrop’s flowers—one that had been altered by Lacia to be susceptible to input from an ordinary computer—and that had been left at Kichijoji Station, where Ryo had recovered it. If he linked Higgins to the outside, it would mean the end of the world. If he didn’t, it would mean the end of him. It was almost as though Higgins had been waiting for him to be there, for that exact moment.
Ryo suddenly felt light-headed. Looking up at the dark ceiling, he thought about how far underground he was. As he had this thought, it seemed as though he could feel the world pressing down on him. “How the hell do you handle an AI like this, Arato?” he asked rhetorically.