Before she could, though, Kakitani cut in. “This one old-model AI is the result. We can’t bring back the people who died. What a great modern AI researcher you are.”
“Don’t call me that, please. It makes me uncomfortable. How does a young person like you know a quote from an old magazine article written about me when I was in my twenties?”
“All documents related to AIs have been digitized and archived. Who do you think we are?” Kakitani crossed her arms, and Matsumoto’s expression soured.
Vivy gave up on adding to what Matsumoto had said earlier and adjusted her priority ratings to what they should be focusing on.
There was the explanation for Elizabeth, Toak’s status, and—
“We don’t exactly got time to go around the room sharing life stories, do we?” Onodera said. “And I don’t want to have an AI hanging around in my home for too long. Let’s hurry this up.”
“I find that surprising,” Vivy remarked. “I didn’t think you’d care about keeping things moving in these circumstances.”
“From where I’m sitting, it’s more surprising they let someone as blunt as you work in a theme park. Don’t open your mouth when you don’t need to. I hate you—no, I loathe you, AI.”
Onodera’s expression was steely and etched deeply with anger, so Vivy refrained from saying anything more. To be fair, the fact that she was there at all meant she was an important person in the current situation.
Kakitani was probably the glue that kept all these Toak members together. Onodera assembled whoever sought to act. Matsumoto was in charge of providing the intellect and keeping things friendly. That role was definitely suited to the person who had developed Vivy’s partner, the AI Matsumoto.
“First off, I think I should finish answering Diva’s question,” said Elizabeth. “Yes, I am Elizabeth, one of the Sisters…superficially, anyway. It’s just memories. Everything internal, from my skeletal frame to my positronic brain, makes me a different unit. History is right: The original Elizabeth burned up in the atmosphere.”
“In other words, you’re a replicated unit with Elizabeth’s memories?” Vivy asked.
“Yep. I’m a backup my previous master, Kakitani Yugo, made before we started the Sunrise plan. Obviously, I’m not the same unit as the original Elizabeth…but if I’m told to act like the original, then I will. Being an AI means I can do that, right?” Elizabeth brought a hand to her generous bosom and flashed a broad smile.
Vivy nodded. “Yes, it does.”
An AI’s positronic brain was the mechanism that gave birth to what could be considered an AI’s individuality, and it couldn’t be swapped out. While it was possible to make backups of an AI as they functioned, you couldn’t duplicate any single AI in the strictest sense. All you could do was make a new AI and install the previous AI’s memories into it. The same thing had happened with the AI that had received Kakitani Yugo’s human memories.
Even now, Vivy wasn’t certain if that had been a result of his desire to settle things with her or if there had been some other intention behind his actions.
“Master hated AIs. That’s why he was in Toak, after all. Right?”
“Whether he hated them or not, he was concerned about what AIs were capable of. And—”
“It was the right move,” Onodera interjected, his fists clenched and his voice resolute. “What’s happening in the world now proves it. We’re the ones who kept sounding the alarm, and now all we can do is handle what nobody else was ready for.”
“…”
Kakitani closed her eyes when he said that, and Elizabeth closed one eye. It seemed like there was something else going on, but Vivy didn’t know what it could be.
Like Vivy, Matsumoto wasn’t up to speed on the happenings within Toak, so he raised his hand and asked, “What’s this about?” He looked at the three of them in turn. “Give it a rest and explain yourselves. Besides, I’m already questioning why Kakitani-kun risked everything to find me even though there was a low probability I had survived. What happened?”
“Just putting it out there, but I was against that,” Onodera said. “I know you’re important, Professor, but it was too dangerous and too low a chance of success. And if anything happened, then our grand leader would be gone.”
“She snuck out of the hideout on her own, leaving nothing but an old-fashioned letter,” added Elizabeth, as both she and Onodera shot looks of protest at Kakitani.
Kakitani weathered those looks with a cool expression of her own. “Something left in a digital medium could have been used against me. I was just trying to show some consideration in good Toak fashion.”
Onodera snorted. “This woman really thinks that was showing some consideration? You think like a gorilla.”
“Wait, that’s not right,” Elizabeth said. “Onodera, you’re probably thinking what Kakitani did was dumb and barbaric, which is why you chose a gorilla, but gorillas are actually one of the most intelligent mammals. They’re also known for their hygiene and—”
“I don’t give a crap about gorillas. I’m a human. Let’s focus,” Kakitani said, neatly denying she was a gorilla while also urging the discussion on.
Elizabeth bristled at having been interrupted. “Well, you know what? There’s only one reason Yui took the risk to go save you, Professor Matsumoto. Something happened, and we think we need your expertise.”
She placed a briefcase on the table in the middle of the room as she spoke, carefully undid the clasps, and pulled out a laptop. It was quite an old model, probably used as part of their counterintelligence strategy. If they had used old systems up until now, many of them would have seen lapses in support. To technology that had advanced so far, this computer would be like a legacy object.
Once the computer booted up, Elizabeth turned the screen toward the others. “Look.”
Vivy and Matsumoto were at a loss for words when they saw what was on the screen.
The blank, blue desktop screen displayed a simple number that decreased with every second: a countdown. Right now, there were around 28,000 seconds remaining.
“Twenty-eight thousand seconds… It appears to be a countdown, with approximately eight hours left. What is this for?” Matsumoto asked.
Kakitani was the one to explain. “Right after the AIs began attacking humans, every digital device in the world showed this number. It started with twelve hours, but four hours have already passed. We don’t know much more than that.”
Onodera exchanged a glance with Kakitani, then said, “Considering how things are now, I doubt anything good’s gonna happen when it hits zero.”
They didn’t know exactly what it was for, but Vivy agreed with their evaluation. The AIs had revolted against humanity, and now they were showing humanity a countdown. The words final war flitted through Vivy’s consciousness. The AIs had already gone wild, threatening humanity’s existence. It was easy to imagine the scale of their attack once that countdown reached zero. She wasn’t certain what kind of attack the AIs would launch, though.
While she made her calculations, she noticed a change in Matsumoto as he watched the screen. “Professor Matsumoto?” she prompted.
His eyes narrowed, and he kept quiet for a time. The professor’s gaze resonated with more purpose than she’d ever seen, and his expression was taut and grim. It was the face of a researcher concerned for humanity’s future.
Matsumoto soon returned to his normal self, forgetting the slight relief he’d felt when he encountered Vivy. At least, that was what Vivy thought upon seeing such a drastic change.
“Okay, I understand why you came to get me,” he said at last. “In short, you want me to figure out the purpose of the countdown.”
“That’s right,” Kakitani replied. “With the situation being what it is, it’s not feasible to have Elizabeth do the hacking. Every AI in the world turned on humanity at the same time. There’s a chance they’ll hijack Elizabeth too.”
“Hurts me to admit it, but I can’t say it’s impossible,” Elizabeth said. “And saying this wounds me too, but…you’re better than me in this area, Professor.”
Matsumoto didn’t hesitate to agree with Elizabeth’s statement. “Yes, I may well be.”
What they said was so extreme it caused a momentary whiteout in Vivy’s consciousness. The exchange was far too odd. Programming wasn’t Matsumoto’s primary field of expertise, yet they were saying his abilities were better than Elizabeth’s—an AI’s?
Onodera sneered at Vivy. “You look just like a surprised human. It pisses me off.”
“Do you agree with them, Onodera?”
“If you’re asking me if the professor is scarier than an AI, then yeah, I’d say he is. That’s why it makes sense for Kakitani to go risking her life to save him. But I’ll keep pointing out how dumb it was to go alone.”
Kakitani clicked her tongue at the jab, but now Vivy understood. The woman had gone to save Matsumoto so he could unravel the mystery of this countdown. And Matsumoto Osamu was the only person in the world they could rely on if they were trying to avoid using AIs.
Matsumoto clenched his fists. “That means the Singularity Project did accomplish something: Vivy saved me.”
“I mean, if it weren’t for the project in the first place, you wouldn’t have gone off on your own and wound up in danger,” Elizabeth muttered.
Only Vivy—who knew both the original history and the modified history—knew what Elizabeth said was wrong. Even in the original history, when there had been no modifications to the Singularity Points, Matsumoto still started the Singularity Project and made contact with Diva. There was no situation in which the Singularity Project didn’t exist.
“We don’t have much time,” said Matsumoto. “I want to get right to working out this countdown if possible, but…”
“I want to keep our enemy from finding this hideout’s location if things go south,” said Kakitani. “And we’ll need to establish a path of retreat if Matsumoto’s going to make a digital attack on them.” She glanced at Onodera.
“All right, then.” He tapped his stubbly chin with his fingers. “We’re looking for a place that’s still got decent equipment. Somewhere without much security, maybe a facility that’s not considered too important. Then we factor in travel time from our base…and there’s only one spot that fits the bill.”
“Where’s that?”
“NiaLand.”
Vivy’s eyes opened wide at that name.
Onodera shot her a sideways glance, then confirmed his choice with the rest of the group. “NiaLand’s the place. It’s the best location for us to achieve our goals.”