“If the professor and I work together, we might just be able to pull it off. If we can’t do it, no one in the world can. And there being no one to oppose them would go against the plans of the AIs who showed the display.”
“So there is hope we can succeed.”
“Possibly, yes. Even if it is just buying us time.”
“Don’t say things that could make people uneasy. And there’re plenty of good reasons to buy time.” Vivy jabbed Matsumoto’s frame after his unnecessary comment, then faced forward. “If we can buy some time, it’ll give humanity a chance to pull themselves together after having the rug pulled out from under them by the AI revolt. Same goes for the AIs who chose not to turn on humanity. It’ll only happen if we can get rid of this time limit.”
“That’s a fairly rosy take…but okay. I too have been saved several times by your optimistic predictive calculations. It’s illogical, but I’ll take the gamble.”
Vivy knew she couldn’t expect this one move to solve all their problems. If there was one single method that could have wiped out all their problems like magic, that would have been the Singularity Project, but it turned out reality didn’t allow itself to be changed so easily. She understood the real world’s inflexibility, from human willpower to the missions of AIs.
“We take all the equipment we’ve got,” Kakitani said. “We’ll join up with the group serving as a decoy, then take over the OGC facility.” Her face twisted into a sharklike smile.
A moment later, Onodera bared his teeth in a beastly grin, mirroring her ferocity. “Let’s finally go save the world.”
“Let’s. It’s time to show the world the will of the abominable Toak. Gets the heart pumping, yeah?”
“Absolutely!”
Toak’s leaders broke into laughter, soon joined by all the other members. The thread of hope was so small that it could barely pass through the eye of a needle, yet this group was laughing. Toak’s crew really did fall far outside the bounds of self-control one would expect from humans. But that was exactly why having them there was so reassuring.
“Our victory rests on us being able to capture the control room of Kingdom, OGC’s most important facility. There, both Matsumotos—AI and human—will steal control of the satellites and save the world from destruction.”
“Luckily, I should be able to feed the enemy false data and prevent them from getting reinforcements,” AI Matsumoto said. “Which means all we need to do is take on the AIs inside the facility. But there is one uncertain factor…”
“How much the other Cubemen like you will rush after us,” Kakitani said.
“Exactly.”
When they escaped the Princess Palace, Matsumoto checked an air monitor and saw several Cubemen around the world. They were the same model as him, and there was no hope that they were just paper tigers. The group had to assume the other Cubemen had all the same specs as Matsumoto.
“In fact, it’s entirely possible they’re updated versions of me, with upgrades based on data from the Singularity Project. If that’s the case, we’ll likely lose if even two show up as reinforcements.”
“Don’t be ridiculous… Then again, it’s hard to say that when I think back to our fight,” said Kakitani as she looked at the castle with one eye closed in mock defiance.
In fact, that battle would have been impossible without Kakitani’s abnormal fighting instincts and skills. If they’d had any other backup, those people would have just ended up a waste of life, spilling blood for no reason. A single Matsumoto-type AI was more than powerful enough to eliminate all the Toak members present.
“We absolutely can’t let them call in Matsumoto’s ‘sibling’ AIs. They haven’t come here yet,” Vivy said.
“Because of the resistance forces fighting throughout the world,” Matsumoto added. “Surprisingly, it’s thanks to Toak. They are undoubtedly heroes for acting as a priceless diversion.”
Vivy couldn’t help noticing the irony in Toak’s checkered fate, including the fact she was fighting beside them here and now. If their plan worked, then Toak would go down in history as saviors. If they failed, then they’d still be the heroes who fought until the bitter end and lamented the loss of the world. And most of all, their leader—Kakitani Yui—didn’t care about being a hero at all.
“We move out as soon as we’re ready. Let’s go save the world,” she said, part of her seeming to enjoy the situation.
“Yes, ma’am!” cried all the members of Toak in unison.
Vivy and Matsumoto exchanged looks and began preparations to fight alongside Toak. Their plan was to save humanity. It was an extension of the Singularity Project.
At this point, there were less than two and a half hours on the countdown.
. : 4 : .
KINGDOM WAS A massive building created by OGC and controlled by AIs. It had been visible from NiaLand for a long time, but it was even larger than what Vivy had in her records.
“It’s the theoretical heir of Metal Float, which had Grace as its core,” Matsumoto said, looking at the imposing facility on an air monitor. “Metal Float itself was recorded as a massive failure that ended up coming back to bite OGC. There was quite a lot of opposition to the building proposal for Kingdom, but…”
“There were benefits in making it, even if they had to force it,” Elizabeth said. “In the end, they just gave violent AIs a gigantic fortress. Humans never learn.” She shrugged, her entire frame covered in an excess of equipment. She checked the fit of her military boots while sitting in their bouncing armored truck. Elizabeth had only light equipment when they took over the security room in NiaLand, but even she had to take things seriously when they were going up against lots of AIs in a facility as well defended as a military compound. That was the right way to go about things. Vivy, on the other hand, wasn’t doing that.
“Everything about you looks like a frail little songstress,” Elizabeth sneered.
“Unfortunately, I’m not working off combat programming. I’m merely doing the same as I have with all the Singularity Points so far. Besides, carrying a weapon—”
“Is against your original role? I hear ya. You’re the eldest Sister. I get you wanting to keep your dignity.”
“…”
Elizabeth tossed back the synthetic hair tied behind her head and peered into Vivy’s face. Vivy remained silent and blank-faced. Elizabeth’s face, meanwhile, showed an emotional pattern akin to sorrow. Her emotional precision was greater than the Elizabeth Vivy had known. It was proof that Elizabeth had also been updated as time went on.
Vivy had experienced a lot of improvements throughout the Singularity Project—which she hadn’t let Diva know about—like reinforcing her frame and strengthening her calculative processes.
As Vivy calculated that, she suddenly narrowed her eyes as she looked back at Elizabeth. “I know it’s not the time to bring this up, but you really don’t know anything that happened on Sunrise, do you?”
“That came outta nowhere. No…I don’t. My memory base is from before the start of the plan to crash Sunrise into Earth. Honestly, I have no clue about what happened after that.”
“What happened after…?”
“The part where ‘Elizabeth’ worked with her twin sister, Estella, to dismantle Sunrise while it was falling to keep damage to a minimum.” There was something scornful in her words.