“There are no functional problems, but there were some unclear points in Asahi’s diagnostic results. This is the report.”
Commander Eve and <Ringo> switched the command room into confidentiality mode and faced each other.
In confidentiality mode, at least with the authority held by the six sisters, neither entering the room nor viewing information would be possible.
“Let’s hear it. The fact that <Ringo> hasn’t taken any action means it isn’t that bad, right?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. At minimum, there are no suspicious points in the diagnostic contents. Responses across all tests were within standard values, and no psychological problems were confirmed. The logs also confirm that backups are being obtained normally.”
At <Ringo>’s answer, Eve tilted the head.
At least, the diagnostic machine was judging that Asahi had no issues.
Did <Ringo> have information beyond what the diagnostic machine had collected? But even if that were the case, that information should have been linked to the diagnostic machine immediately.
“As part of the inspection records, an internal scan of the Brain Unit was performed using X-rays. The information obtainable by this test is limited, and also unclear, so the diagnostic machine does not use it in its judgment.”
While explaining that, <Ringo> projected a three-dimensional structural diagram from the X-ray scan.
“Every time Asahi ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) returns, we have recorded it. It is something like a growth record.”
Then <Ringo> changed the display along a time series.
And as it did, it became clear that inside the three Brain Units that made up Asahi, white shadows had appeared—and those shadows were gradually growing larger.
“This white shadow: the cause of occurrence is unknown. It does not affect the Brain Unit’s function itself. Sensor values show no abnormalities. Internal chemical substance concentrations show no abnormalities. Personality is as it is, but there are no problems with computation performance either.”
“Did you need to comment on personality?”
“However, we verified the backup data, and it appears that information related to this white shadow is not recorded. Full reproduction would become a personality copy, so we could not analyze it completely, but based on partial simulation results, we concluded that this state does not reproduce.”
At <Ringo>’s report, Eve fell silent in thought.
Inside Asahi’s brain, an un-analyzable region was forming. Normally, if pseudo-biological cells stopped functioning, those cells would be promptly broken down and removed, and surrounding cells would divide and proliferate to restore the area. The same should apply even to a Brain Unit.
If so, it could be judged that it was not a failure.
It was possible that an abnormality had occurred in the regeneration function, but since there were no issues in sensor values across the board, that possibility was extremely low.
Even if something had visibly changed enough to be obvious, if it still functioned normally, it would not be diagnosed as abnormal.
“We cannot, realistically, disassemble the Brain Unit. Regarding this white shadow, it will require observation over time.”
“Hnn... If this were not this world, it would be an important case that gets sent to specialized facilities, but...”
Big Sis Eve sighed.
The subject was Asahi. The air reeked of unreasonable fantasy.
“Are there no similar problems in other Brain Units?”
“There are no problems occurring in the individuals inside <The Tree>, but the others have not been investigated. We will conduct investigations immediately.”
Because there had been no need until now, precision inspection facilities for Brain Units had not been installed on the northern-continent side. Considering future handling for Asahi’s observation, it seemed better to build such a facility into some base.
“Right. For now, let’s build the equipment at Fortress No. 2 Black Iron. That place has the strongest defenses.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.”
As instructed, <Ringo> sent out orders to build the equipment at Fortress No. 2 Black Iron.
It would likely be completed in three days.
For the moment, this would be enough to handle Asahi’s mysterious symptom.
“And also—this is a normal reaction, so it is not a problem, but adhesion in Asahi’s spinal nerve system is progressing.”
“Adhesion?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Some pseudo-biological cells in the spinal nerve system that connects the Brain Unit and the doll-machine communicator are adhering. This is a reaction that occurs from continuing to use the same chassis, so in normal operation it is not a problem.”
The chassis Asahi used was a general-purpose doll-machine communicator that had been modified into a dedicated unit. Continued use strengthened the connection with the Brain Unit; eventually, nerve-cell fusion progressed, and it became integrated.
The benefit was simple: faster reaction speed. On the software side, some processing could be delegated to the chassis, reducing the computational load on the Brain Unit.
The downside was that it would become impossible to detach the Brain Unit by itself. And damage feedback from chassis breakage would be injected directly.
If Asahi’s body were damaged, that feedback signal could place a heavy load on the Brain Unit.
At worst, it could even cause functional shutdown.
“Well... it can’t be helped. Swapping the chassis to prevent it would be the wrong move, and for the others it’s only a matter of time, right?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. We will notify Asahi, and warn Asahi to be even more careful.”
“...Yeah. Right. Warnings matter.”
◇◇◇◇
In the central district of Holy Capital Staritsa, the capital of the Prava Divine Kingdom, a gigantic cathedral stood.
Deep in the back of the great hall at its center, it was enshrined.
At a glance, it looked like a gray slab.
About 4 meters tall and 1.3 meters wide—originally, it had probably been a clean rectangular solid. Weathering had rounded the edges slightly, and chips had formed here and there.
But the holy text carved into its surface remained clearly intact.
“...”
A winged insect—about the size of a palm—stared at it without moving.
The holy text carved into the monument’s surface.
Like a mosaic, it would look horribly abstract and mysterious to someone who knew nothing.
But this was not a simple picture.
It was a data storage medium carved with compressed data composed of 0 and 1.
Because it prioritized preservation above all else, the amount of information was very small, but given that it was a stone monument, it could retain its shape for hundreds of years.
Insects gathered.
Winged insects—spiders—quietly assembled into the cathedral, surrounding the monument.
“...”
And then—
A single crow landed on the cathedral roof.
In that instant—
A bell rang out.
Persistently, again and again, again and again.
The resident priests came running into the cathedral in a panic.
The bell was an intruder-detection alarm. It was a simple magical tool that rang when it captured something with awareness inside its warning range, but as a security tool it was extremely effective.
The priests stopped the magical tool’s operation—naturally, because if they entered as-is, it would continue to ring—and surrounded the holy chamber deep behind the great hall.
The bell had come from the magical tool monitoring that holy chamber.
Among the priests, the one most used to violence slowly opened the holy chamber’s door.
A quick sweep was enough to confirm everything inside. The room existed only to protect the monument from wind and rain and keep it out of unworthy eyes. It was not a very large room.
No one was there.
Multiple people entered from the door.
The monument was sacred, but it was not absolutely inviolable. There were no signs of an intruder on the ceiling.
Then the only place left was behind the monument, on the far side from the entrance.
One person, maintaining caution, slowly circled the monument.
“...A spider?”
And—
Behind the monument, a single spider with a torso about the size of a fist lay toppled over.
◇◇◇◇
‘...’
Strategic AI <Iris> considered.
While sending the obtained information to the data cleanser, <Iris> analyzed.
Binary data carved into a monument installed in the core of the Prava Divine Kingdom.
Compressed, encrypted electronic data—but the compression method was a known one. It could be expanded immediately.
The contents of the data itself were not much.
Handling of it would be decided by <Ringo>’s analysis. It was not something <Iris> needed to think about.
The problem was that the alarm had activated.
What, exactly, had it reacted to?
A spider-type bot had been left behind as a dummy, but no further information could be collected. The cause was unknown, and investigation needed to continue.
For additional information gathering, <Iris> decided to release more reconnaissance bots.
