Vivy’s consciousness was reliving the events on Sunrise. Leclerc, one of the hotel AIs Vivy had worked with, had been destroyed by Elizabeth after she snuck onto the space station. Her head had been twisted clean off. The Elizabeth here and now obviously didn’t remember any of that, but it felt like part of the cycle of karma.
“It’s one way of neutralizing an AI immediately. It’s mandatory learning for people in Toak, so—”
“We can carry out surprise attacks like this,” Kakitani finished as she came out from behind the armored truck.
One of the four AIs Deneb had been leading stood there peacefully, its neck bent and broken. The other three had been subdued by Onodera and the rest of Toak.
“They were careful about scans at the front gate to prevent this sort of thing from happening…but they were at a disadvantage since they were dealing with a galaxy-class AI like myself,” said Matsumoto.
The next moment, the external false covering on the back of the armored truck peeled off, revealing another armored truck covered in lots of cube-shaped parts. Their presence had been hidden with high-class active camouflage to make a powerful disguise that could fool all the sensors. Kakitani and the others had been riding in that truck to sneak into Kingdom.
“While Vivy and Elizabeth were drawing their attention, you destroyed their advance scout… Dearie me! My knowledge was meant to prevent terrorism, not carry it out,” Matsumoto joked.
“Stop with the unnecessary chatter. How’s your progress?” Vivy asked.
“Wonderful. First, I went ahead and made these five broken AIs look like they’re living life to the fullest. Our intrusion should stay secret for the time being.”
Matsumoto’s quick work was obviously helpful, but Toak was equally worthy of praise for subduing the AIs with their brilliant skills. It was safe to say they’d overcome the first hurdle of breaking into the kingdom.
“It’s also a big help that we could get the management AI at the beginning,” Vivy said.
“Right? This means we’re way closer to our goal of taking over the control room.” Elizabeth shot her a happy wink as she patted Deneb’s listless, silent frame on the back.
Before Vivy could agree with her, Matsumoto said, “I’ve done a sweep inside that management AI, and I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”
“You don’t hear that phrase much outside of old movies. Which is best to hear first?” asked Kakitani.
“When it comes from Matsumoto, the bad news is usually really bad. We should start with that so we can quickly think of a solution,” Vivy suggested.
“You can just feel our one-hundred-year partnership,” Matsumoto said. “But actually, the good news and the bad news are sort of two sides of the same coin, so I’ll just do them together. Firstly, this AI, Deneb, is indeed a management AI with a key to Kingdom’s control room.” His cube parts fell from the armored truck and cobbled together, forming his large frame as he explained.
Kakitani shut one eye. “Sounds positive enough. It’s a good omen; we got what we wanted. What’s the problem?”
“One key isn’t enough. There are three in total. There’s Deneb, and there are two other management AIs somewhere in the kingdom.”
“Deneb and two other control AIs…”
“The Summer Triangle,” Onodera said, and everyone whirled on him in surprise. Annoyed by the sudden attention, he said, “What? If you’re saying there’re three of them, and the first is Deneb, then the other two are Altair and Vega… It’s not that weird to think of the Summer Triangle. None of you ever look up at the night sky?”
“The conclusion isn’t the weird part. It’s just surprising that it’s coming out of your mouth,” Elizabeth said.
“My son liked the stars.” That was the only explanation Onodera gave before he looked away. No one asked any more of him, not even those who had looked at him teasingly.
Vivy understood. Onodera’s son was probably the reason he was in Toak.
“I have the utmost respect for your erudition, Mister Onodera. You are absolutely correct,” Matsumoto said. “The two remaining management AIs in the facility are Altair and Vega, both of whom are operating within the kingdom. Altair in particular is pretty far away.”
“Looks like we’ve used up our luck. We’ve got less than two hours left… No time to drag this out,” Kakitani said.
The facility was vast and filled with enemies. They didn’t want to take the risk of splitting their forces, but if caution meant humanity’s end, then they had to consider it an important factor in reaching the correct answer, even if it was reckless.
“If we can secure the other keys and seize the control room, we’ll have a chance of taking over Kingdom,” Matsumoto said. “I want to avoid making enemies of every AI in this kingdom of steel before we manage that.”
“At that point, it’ll be electronic warfare. We attack the remaining two management AIs and take the keys before our enemy realizes something is wrong. Teams will be—”
“Matsumoto and I will go to Altair, the further one,” Vivy said, beating Kakitani to the punch even though the woman was the one in command. Kakitani looked at her, trying to figure out what Vivy was really thinking. Vivy looked back into Kakitani’s dark eyes and added, “If Matsumoto and I are on our own, we can deceive other AIs even if we’re discovered. We also don’t know how Toak fights, and there’s a high probability we won’t be able to coordinate effectively in combat with you.”
“Guess so. I’m happy stepping down from another clumsy co-op battle like the one in that papier-mâché castle.”
“It’s called the Princess Palace.” Vivy compulsively corrected Kakitani’s mocking statement.
As the two glared at each other, Elizabeth stepped in between them and said, “Now, now. I think that’s a good team split. Means the professor’s with us, right?”
“It would be much appreciated if we could leave him in your care,” Matsumoto said. “You’ll have more people, making you better suited for guard duty. I’ll send one of my components with you as well. Put it to good use slipping past security.”
“I feel like I’m being treated as some dangerous cargo…” Professor Matsumoto grumbled as he stepped timidly from the armored truck. He wasn’t a fighter, but he was indispensable for achieving their goal. They would have to steal the two keys and take over the control room while also protecting him.
“No arguments here. Don’t screw it up,” Kakitani said.
“I don’t understand your reason for looking down on us. Vivy and I have a hundred years’ worth of experience.”
“Well, it is less than fourteen days of working together,” Vivy tacked on.
“You did not have to add that part!” Matsumoto snapped, enunciating every word. Vivy shut her mouth.
Then, as he said he would, Matsumoto detached one cube and left it with Professor Matsumoto. This way, they could communicate easily with the Toak team.