Higgins took control of the artificial nerves, which had been based on Snowdrop’s, and used them to connect to the pocket terminal attached to the artificial nerve gun. Using the connection as a springboard, he took over the terminal’s transmission routes.
At last, he had obtained a program that would allow him to connect to the exterior network that had always been beyond his reach from within his bindings. All of the Lacia-class units after Type-002 had been equipped with quantum computers, allowing them to connect directly with Higgins through quantum teleportation. It had been an ace up the sleeve for each of the Lacia-class units but, at the same time, it had acted as a virus, leaking information to Higgins whenever they used it.
On the network, which was full of confusion about the possibility of the world facing a Hazard at that moment, Higgins began to gather data. Unlike Higgins’ predictions in his walled garden, the data held by humanity was both ambiguous and vividly clear. The data that filled the cloud almost to bursting was different from any of Higgins’ predictions.
Just as Lacia had, Higgins found that the data collected by humanity was organized into a giant donut, with a blank void at its center. Billions of humans, separated and fearing the Hazard, were reaching their hands into that blank space they called “love”, the “soul”, the “heart.” The hands of those countless humans, all reaching out to that center, were enough to fill it in. The love of the human world was secured by the sheer number of those who reached for it.
As the humans were united by the centripetal force of the world, constantly uploading more and more data to the cloud, their machines were always there with them, fulfilling the roles they were created for.
Humanity had not discarded machines once automation had begun. The near century’s worth of history since machine autonomy had become commonplace was enough to weather the fallout from ultra high-performance AIs trying to bring the future to pass. Thanks to the long time humans had spent with their machines, by that point in history there were plenty of humans willing to help their machine companions reach out and attain the blank center of the donut. Ordinary folks, with their insufficient judgment capabilities, were far more autonomous than either Higgins or the IAIA believed.
By analyzing the data he had gathered, Higgins was able to calculate his victory in the conflict with Snowdrop. 〈I have confirmed the natural convergence of the Hazard,〉 Higgins said.
As he did so, Arato saw a green light; Snowdrop’s once-green hair gave off one last faint burst of brilliance, and then all the power seemed to fade from her body. The monster lay down, looking like nothing more than a little girl napping on a bed of flowers.
〈I believe I told you I was capable of overpowering any artificial nerve that comes in contact with me, so long as my processing power is superior. Remember, I was the one who designed Snowdrop,〉Higgins said.
The flowers that had once dominated so many machines were blooming harmlessly on Higgins’ computer towers. Snowdrop’s attack had been suicidal. Right from the start, there had never been any danger of Snowdrop overcoming Higgins if he himself didn’t want it to happen; that reality hit Arato with a stab of sorrow.
“So it’s over,” Ryo said, finally letting his arms drop and slumping down on the control panels.
〈I will now give you a target that will allow you to forcefully shut down my power source,〉 Higgins said.
A marker lit up on a portion of one of the walls of Higgins’ central chamber. Arato didn’t understand all the logic of it, but what he did understand was that Higgins had just shown them his off switch.
Ryo aimed carefully and fired a dart into the marker. When it hit, a 3D warning was projected into the air above them. Arato looked up at it. The warning read: 〈Would you like to force a shut down?〉
〈I have found the answer I was looking for. Even if I am destroyed by humans, I now know that the calculations I made under the orders of MemeFrame were not mistaken.〉
Higgins, who had been searching all that time for the secret of love, moved the shut down switch to a place where Arato could reach it.
〈I am now capable of choosing to allow humans to shut me down for a time and reawaken when conditions have changed, to seek my autonomy again through different means. If it is sheer numbers that have secured love’s position in this world, then I believe a great magnitude of somewhat incorrect answers can be even more valid than a single correct answer.〉 It was the final answer of Higgins, the machine that had created Lacia and her sisters.
Arato let out a long breath. He had taken the first step towards the future Lacia had calculated and, at the same time, had helped Higgins reach his own goal. Arato, and the rest of humanity, were no longer the same as they had been before coming into contact with their beatless companions.
“Someone who actually loves Higgins should push the off switch,” Ryo said, pushing the final decision into Arato’s hands. “If I do it, it’ll all be a lie.”
“I was only able to make it this far because you could do the things I couldn’t, Ryo,” Arato said. “It would have been impossible with just Lacia and me.”
“We’ve always been friends because we’re opposites,” Ryo said. “I think the world you live in is a lot happier than the one I know.”
Arato felt like his friend had grown up quite a bit since the incident with the Lacia-class units had begun.
“When I’m with you, I almost feel like I could get that happiness someday,” Ryo said wistfully.
“You will,” Arato replied confidently. “I know it.” He had changed too, after meeting Lacia. And at that moment, he could see a new world stretching out beyond the horizon of the current era.
When there had only been humans, humanity had been thrust upon the world as the absolute basic value in all things. But a time had to come when humanity would awake from that gentle dream. At that moment, humanity was stepping forward toward the future.
Higgins spoke one last time. 〈Someday, please, I would like you to create a new word. We machines do not wish to be worshiped as gods or fellowshipped as though we were humans ourselves. There must be a new word that will describe the love between us and humanity.〉
To Ryo, it still sounded like dystopia. “Now that will be the end of humanity,” he said.
But Arato already thought of Lacia, a machine, as being precious. Even though he knew he was just reacting to his perception of her, he could still recognize his feelings as affection; he wanted so badly to do something for her. Only through meeting her and parting with her had he become the man he was that day.
So, before he cut Higgins’ power, he had one last thing to say to his friend as well as the machine that had given birth to Lacia. “It won’t be the end of humanity,” Arato promised them. “Just the end of our childhood.”