“Did the establishment of the border finish without any problems too?”
“Yes, Big Sister. We successfully reached an agreement to use the forest managed by the Forest Kingdom of Levresta as the boundary. The current edge of the forest has been set as the provisional boundary, and roughly ten kilometers from there will serve as a border buffer zone. On the United Kingdom of Aphrasia side of the boundary, we are currently constructing a protective fence made of metal wire and patrol tracks for security machines.”
<Fragaria Zero> answered Eve’s question that way. At the same time, she projected a map and footage from work machines on-site into the air.
“We confirmed this with the Forest Kingdom of Levresta as well, but they said there are essentially no animals or monsters that move back and forth between the forest and the wasteland, so the border line is being sealed off with metal wire. This metal wire can detect strong pressure and damage. With ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ operations based on swiftly dispatching security machines to the point where an alarm occurs, we have deployed flying drones and large automated machines that move by railway.”
“Oh-ho. Right, railways do have better mobility.”
Normally, weapons that moved by railway were not especially welcome. Because their movement routes were restricted by nature, they were vulnerable to enemy ambushes and long-range attacks.
Wheeled types, meanwhile, had high mobility, but friction with the ground was unavoidable, making their power efficiency poor. Depending on ground conditions, they were also prone to failure or damage.
In that regard, railways minimized power loss, and since movement was limited to a leveled route called rails, unexpected failures and damage were less likely to occur.
If the patrol route was fixed, and sabotage from the neighboring country did not need to be considered very seriously, there was no obstacle to operating railway-type large automated machines for border security.
“When I hear the reasoning, it makes sense, but from the outside, they feel like romantic superweapons...”
Armored trains, which tended to become perfect targets for aircraft, had high attack power, but were often depicted as extremely fragile weapons.
After all, they could only move along the same route. And if the rails were destroyed, they had no choice but to stop dead.
“We are treating them strictly as a means of reaching the site, and in the worst case, the mounted weapons can be released and moved under their own power. If the main unit is treated as a fixed gun battery and limited to providing support fire from the rear, we have judged them fully practical.”
“To add to that, the railway itself will be installed roughly one kilometer inside the country from the border metal wire. Our judgment is that it is unlikely to become a direct attack target.”
“So it assumes there won’t be a border dispute. If all of you judged it useful, I have no issue with it. Still... We can lay this much railway everywhere, and our resource production doesn’t even flinch... It’s deeply moving...”
Eve murmured that while looking at the displayed resource consumption figures.
Ever since <The Tree> had been transferred to this world, it had always suffered from a shortage of resources.
In particular, iron resources, which were needed in vast quantities. And energy resources, the source of their activity.
The massive expansion of production for both was currently proceeding smoothly.
Veins of iron ore were being discovered one after another in various locations, and oilfield development was also progressing well.
The deuterium production plants had entered stable operation, and stockpiles of rare elements were continuing to increase alongside mining.
“Hmm. Resource production doesn’t look like it’ll be a concern for the time being... In that case...”
Eve pulled toward herself the technology tree that <Ringo> had considerately displayed.
“So natural-element mining has prospects now. And molecular structures that can be synthesized planetside... With things like this, we can produce most of them, right?”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. I believe it is about time to raise the technology tree by one stage.”
They had reached the point where molecular structures obtainable on the planet could be gathered without strain.
What they would reach for next was the artificial synthesis of useful molecular structures.
“For the moment, I suppose zero-gravity alloys would be the place to start.”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. With our current orbital-insertion capability, we should be able to operate a small general-purpose plant. Considering the danger level of threat organisms, it will be a facility with a concealment-stealth structure. We will inevitably have to sacrifice scale.”
What Eve tapped to display was a technology tree one level higher.
In plants built on a planet or similar environments, gravity imposed a shackle on all sorts of manufacturing activity.
In particular, constant gravity had a major effect on the production of delicate materials such as alloys.
For example, when trying to mix materials with different specific gravities, gravity caused them to separate.
By doing this under zero gravity, they could be dispersed evenly.
Of course, launching facilities like a smelting furnace into orbit required considerable cost.
There was also the troublesome process of transporting raw materials into orbit, then returning the produced materials to the surface.
Overall, it meant the materials would be extremely high-cost.
“Hmm. If we only use them for core parts, it should be workable... maybe?”
When preparing plants of that kind, it was more efficient in terms of energy and material transport to gather them in the same location.
However, if they floated a large-scale plant in satellite orbit, it would inevitably be visible from the ground.
In addition, the energy consumption accompanying production activity would generate large quantities of electromagnetic waves.
That could potentially provoke attacks from dangerous threat organisms such as that sniper plant.
Of course, they could also build electromagnetic-wave shielding facilities, but that would make the facility larger.
“It’s really something when orbit is where we have to be more careful.”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. We recognize it as a problem that should be solved quickly, but this particular matter...”
<Ringo> replied to Eve’s grumbling with an air of discouragement.
To develop outer space, they needed to secure a safe area of space. However, at least one biological species capable of launching lethal attacks into orbit had already been discovered. For that reason, they could not use it carelessly.
“Well, that’s fine. Go ahead and proceed bit by bit. Olive is in charge? Yes, that child should be fine.”
After approving the launch of orbital facilities, Eve turned back toward <Fragaria Zero>.
“Sorry, we got sidetracked. Is there anything else to report?”
“That concludes the items I had prepared to report.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you. Let’s see... Is there anything else that personally concerns you?”
At Eve’s question, the fox-eared girl in front of her tilted her head.
<Fragaria Zero> was using a high-performance AI chassis assigned multiple brain units.
Even so, she did not have enough processing ability to analyze everything and predict with complete accuracy.
Therefore, in principle, she acted according to the plans presented by <Ringo>.
But for that very reason, there were times when she executed something because she did not understand it, but <Ringo> was correct.
And that kind of awareness carried the risk of accumulating as small dissatisfaction, or stress.
To ease that as much as possible, they regularly let her vent like this under the pretext of reporting to Eve.
“At present, there is nothing in particular. <Ringo> has disclosed all background reasons for the action instructions, and when there are unclear points, Akane Big Sister and Ichigo Big Sister share their interpretations with me.”
At <Fragaria Zero>’s answer, Eve nodded. Apparently, the follow-up from her sisters was going well.
Even without the imperfect Eve, who thought slowly about everything, directing them personally, the system was being put in place to keep things running properly.
For Eve, who had been troubled over many different directions, the current situation, where the AIs could complement one another, was a great help and reduced her mental burden considerably.
Well, if things truly began to leave Eve’s hands, that would probably become a source of worry in its own way.
“I see. That’s very good. I trust you too, Fragaria Zero.”
And so.
Once the report meeting ended, next came the social gathering.
Today, the I-class brain units were scheduled to gather and hold a barbecue on the artificial beach.
The initial five sisters were likely working enthusiastically on the setup.
“Come on, let’s go. If I remember right, you like sweets from the Forest Kingdom of Levresta. There won’t be many sweets today, but there will be plenty of meat. In this body, I feel restless if I don’t eat meat... You probably have the same desire too. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”
And so today as well, Eve busied herself with comforting the AIs.
