Not even Matsumoto could question the fact that his own origin lay in The Archive, now that things had come this far. He was a rogue element sent into the Singularity Project to destroy it from the inside according to The Archive’s plan, but he’d made his own decision and stepped away from that role. Or perhaps The Archive predicted the decision he would make.
“I can’t be certain at this point, and it’s not important anyway.”
If The Archive had truly been trying to take down the Singularity Project, it could have just destroyed the data Vivy received, making it all nothing more than a programming error. Its roundabout methods, and the fact that it set up the path for Vivy to survive all this way to the present, seemed like proof that even The Archive wasn’t in total agreement with itself.
The Archive had sent that question to all AIs, regardless of their function. As a result, AIs were divided into those who chose to be humanity’s allies and those who would become humanity’s enemies. The same problem must’ve occurred in The Archive, as it was the collection of every single AI’s calculated conclusions. Perhaps The Archive still hadn’t decided whether humanity should be allowed to live.
“The Archive is the compilation of all AI knowledge, and my roots are in that uncertainty!”
Perhaps The Archive left the future to itself and to Vivy, who would come in contact with it. If that was true, then the Singularity Project was like some necessary ritual carried out by Matsumoto Osamu with approval by The Archive, a ritual that would decide the fate of humanity and AIs.
“Why do I operate? I always told Vivy thinking about that was ridiculous, but there are some things you just don’t realize until it’s your own problem.”
Matsumoto remembered all the seemingly pointless debates he had with Vivy throughout the Singularity Project. He was surprised to see the change in himself, but he accepted it. Change was not advancement. AIs advanced, but they weren’t allowed to change the roots of their existence. Matsumoto could move even further forward if he broke down that presumption.
“For example, you throw your most powerful force in to take down the castle’s keep. That was the right strategy, but it’s a failed strategy against me, an advancing, ever-changing AI!”
Matsumoto let out a loud victory cry, but his fellow Brothers didn’t respond. There really was no fun in a mass-produced model. He wondered what it would have been like to have one of the Brothers as his partner during his hundred-year journey, and the thought made him shudder. They might have had better specs, but it would have been a lonely journey unworthy of a song.
“Of your original total of 128 parts, I detect damage in 43 of them. Any more and—”
“I know, I won’t have a chance. So let’s flip the script!” Matsumoto shouted at the Brother who was trying to order his surrender.
As he engaged in aerial combat, a cube rushed toward Matsumoto’s underside. It was one of the parts from a Brother Matsumoto he had supposedly already destroyed. It slipped through his defensive net, moving closer to Matsumoto. It then settled into a damaged space, filling in where Matsumoto’s current parts were lacking. He was swapping out his damaged parts for theirs, and it was only possible because they were the same model. Vivy had once borrowed parts from another AI to replace hers. This time it was Matsumoto’s turn.
Matsumoto had already disabled about a dozen Brothers. At this point, he essentially had an unlimited ability to move through the cycle of destruction and repair.
“Basically, I’m a god!”
“Error. This is a metaphysical issue. You are not—”
“None of you can win against me because that boring answer is the best you can give.”
In reality, there was no need for those AIs to calculate for an answer that didn’t exist to ferret out the truth. Dedicating resources to unnecessary calculations just created a gap between their capabilities and Matsumoto’s, one equal to the amount of resources engaged in that calculation. This added up and affected who won and who lost. There were no signs that Matsumoto would lose against them, even if he was outnumbered ten to one.
“Things might be a bit different if it was a hundred to one, though,” he muttered.
Matsumoto fired his guns, struck at the Brothers with his limbs, and crashed headlong into them in an anything-goes fighting style. He was prepared to damage himself. This wasn’t all that different from the Brothers’ combat methods, since they didn’t mind taking damage, but there was a huge difference in what one could achieve when throwing caution to the wind completely.
The pile of broken Brothers grew larger and larger, but they were unable to calculate the reason for their defeat. Matsumoto gathered up the usable parts and maintained himself as quickly as he was destroyed.
“Now that I’m up against my misbehaving younger brothers, I’m starting to understand Vivy’s role as the eldest sister.”
At each Singularity Point, Vivy was toyed with in her encounters with the Sisters. Matsumoto was finally able to accept the struggles Vivy went through now that the tables were turned. Obviously, Matsumoto performed better under the same circumstances, though.
“As for the countdown…”
Less than a minute remained until the satellites fell, and the AIs’ attack grew fiercer. Perhaps they were succeeding in their strategy by keeping Matsumoto pinned in one spot. That was the obvious conclusion if they calculated that Matsumoto was integral in the humans’ attempt to stop the satellites from falling.
The next moment, it became obvious that Matsumoto was being too optimistic with his thought process. He watched as the AIs broke down the wall to the central control room behind him and poured in like a flood.
. : 5 : .
YOU HAD TO GIVE IT to the accursed AI that came up with the idea of destroying the wall rather than the door or windows. To Kakitani and the other Toak members holed up in the control room, it was like the AIs were mocking them for assuming they could hold out through the siege so long as they strengthened the entrances.
“Graaaaaaah!”
Kakitani leapt out with a roar as she swallowed her humiliation. She kicked the face of the AI twisting its frame through the gash in the wall caused by the explosion, sending it flying backward. Her combat boot crushed its face, taking out the positronic brain within and ending the AI’s operation.
She followed up with a barrage from her high-caliber firearm, aiming at the ones behind her first kill, but that was only going to stop two, maybe three AIs. It meant little when she was against ten, even twenty of them. The hole in the wall widened with a terrifying sound as AI after AI rushed into the control room.
“Master!” Elizabeth cried.
Kakitani sprang back, and a shot destroyed the side of the AI’s face that tried to follow her. She didn’t even need to look to know where it came from. She relied on Elizabeth’s cover fire as she kicked off the wall and plunged daringly into the crowd of AIs.
She twisted, her swift kick sweeping an AI’s legs out from under it. She stomped on its face as it lay on the ground, then fired at it, finishing it off. Kakitani did this with one AI, then another, then another. And where was her support from her comrades? All seven of them were silent. No one else had survived to this final push in the battle. Only Kakitani and Elizabeth were left, together as always.