She was talking about Estella and Elizabeth’s story. The only people who knew the truth were Vivy and Matsumoto, who had been there, and Kakitani Yugo, who was no longer in this world. It was understandable Elizabeth wouldn’t believe it, since she had no one to tell her it was the truth. Actually, it was the natural interpretation for her. Elizabeth’s last act on Sunrise was abrupt, like she had a change of heart. She didn’t know what calculations Elizabeth did to end up working alongside Estella, helping to dismantle the space station.
Any hope Elizabeth had of knowing the truth burned up in the atmosphere along with her positronic brain and her twin sister, leaving not a shred behind.
Vivy also didn’t know what Elizabeth was really thinking or what the twins had talked about in their final moments. But, in the end, the two AIs had joined their voices together in song. That had been salvation for Vivy.
“What do you think about Elizabeth?” Vivy asked.
“Weird way of saying it, Vivy. I am Elizabeth.”
Vivy looked straight into Elizabeth’s eyes. “That’s not a suitable answer.”
Elizabeth fell silent, her fingers fiddling with the gun in her lap.
Right then, only the three AIs—Vivy, Matsumoto, and Elizabeth—were riding in the armored truck toward their destination. It was normal for an AI system to drive these trucks, but the automated system was off, and Matsumoto was operating it. There were no humans in the vehicle, like Kakitani, Onodera, or the professor, because they decided the AIs would be best suited for the first assault on Kingdom. Which was also why Vivy could talk to Elizabeth without worrying about Kakitani or the others listening, including about topics that would draw scowls from the Toak members if they heard.
“I’ve wanted to talk to you about this since we met. You may have carried on Elizabeth’s memories, but—”
“I’m not one of the Sisters? Well, that’s cold of you, Sis.”
“…”
“I’m joking. My frame’s actually nothing like the Sisters’. They used something totally different from the original Elizabeth’s frame. The only thing that’s the same is the skin.”
Elizabeth looked up and brushed back her hair as she answered. Vivy didn’t catch any particular distress in Elizabeth’s tone, but she did sense something forced in her voice.
As a songstress, Vivy had the ability to load her voice with tones that would sway human hearts. That was a standard function built into all her sister AIs. This Elizabeth didn’t have that. It was accidental proof that she had a frame whose purpose differed from that of a songstress frame.
“At the root of it, I’m not the AI called Elizabeth, but I wasn’t given a different name either. Even the individuality in my positronic brain was molded in reference to Elizabeth’s memories. So…who am I?”
“Well…”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re long past any cutesy times where I could worry about how I define myself. I’m Elizabeth. I’m the AI who wants to be her, who’s acting like her.”
“…”
“Even if I’m not the same as the original, I run calculations so I can be the same as her. And I’m proud of myself for doing such a perfect imitation that humans can’t tell us apart. Besides, it’s not like there are any humans now who still remember that Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth waved a hand and cocked her head. That somewhat sarcastic smile, the narrowed eyes—it was all the same as what Vivy remembered of Elizabeth. She wasn’t lying; this Elizabeth was a perfect copy. Vivy didn’t know if that was a good thing or a sad thing.
“Don’t ask me if I’m fine with it. Obviously I am.”
“Elizabeth…”
“Exactly. I am Elizabeth. I’m nothing but that, nobody but that. Being needed for something is an AI’s joy, and I’m needed. It’d be dumb to complain about it. If you ask me, the AIs going crazy have got something wrong with their heads.”
There was no uncertainty in what she said, which was proof she had gotten past any issues with her identity long ago. While so many AIs were losing their path because of the question from The Archive, Elizabeth was here, having defined herself long ago with an answer from which she’d never wavered.
That answer was to belong to Toak, a group that hated AIs, and carry out her mission even if she was alienated from the group.
“Why does Kakitani keep you at her side?” Vivy asked.
The question shifted focus from Elizabeth to Kakitani Yui, the person who kept Elizabeth with her. Vivy could expect such behavior from Elizabeth, but she couldn’t fathom Kakitani’s thought processes. Thinking about it, her grandfather—Kakitani Yugo—had also kept Elizabeth with him. He had a clear goal of using Elizabeth for the Sunrise plan, which ended in failure when she ignored what he wanted and made sure he got out alive even though he was supposed to die along with Sunrise.
“Did she…have a plan that used you like her grandfather did?”
Half a century had passed since the Sun-Crash Incident, and Elizabeth had nearly faded from memory. What could she be used for? Was it so important that Kakitani would choose to keep an AI she was meant to hate as her companion?
“Hm, I wonder.” Elizabeth looked away, shaking her head. Still avoiding Vivy’s eyes, she added, “I don’t know why Master keeps me with her. She really does hate AIs. It was really bad when she was in her rebellious phase…although there’s no real proof her rebellious phase ever ended.”
“You’re the one who trained her, though, aren’t you?”
“’Cause she ordered me to. Honestly, she’s probably still alive because of that training. Even I didn’t think that gorilla would ever grow up.” Elizabeth smiled ruefully and looked at her palm.
There were probably all sorts of memories about Kakitani Yui running through her consciousness. An AI’s positronic brain could immediately bring back all memories, meaning Elizabeth could remember Kakitani when she first knew her as a young child all the way to the grown woman she was now. That proved she never put her memories of Kakitani Yui in The Archive to hold on to.
“They want me to be Elizabeth, so I decided I’m going to be Elizabeth. Then, being with her on top of that…well, that’s what I want.”
“It’s what you want?”
“Y’know, like how you made your song. My thing won’t leave behind any traces, though. If it’s special for an AI to have desires, then my desire is special. And it definitely wouldn’t have gone anywhere if I didn’t become Elizabeth. Thinking about it that way, you folks probably are special.”
The “you folks” Elizabeth mentioned probably referred to the Sisters, like Vivy. In all likelihood, there was something special about the Sisters. They were connected to every single Singularity Point and had collectively had a huge impact on both human and AI history.
“Makes me really curious about you being a piece of Diva,” Elizabeth went on. “You sure that’s not what you really wanna ask me about?”
“…”