Chapter 360: Erika
Brain Unit Backbone No. 4, ＜Erika＞.
Erika possessed a high aptitude for swarm control, honing her abilities as the Backbone for commander-class Tactical AIs.
Furthermore, she was involved in the development of mass-produced command AIs lacking volition, making her a key contributor to the expansion of ＜The Tree＞’s influence.
Activated as the fourth of ＜The Tree＞’s Five Sisters, she often played with the third sister, Utsugi.
They sometimes intentionally acted like twins, and even Eve occasionally mixed them up, although she tried to distinguish them by their hair ornaments.
Like Utsugi, Erika had an aptitude for machine operation. However, while Utsugi excelled at controlling single machines, Erika’s strength lay in simultaneously controlling multiple, numerous units.
Instead of directly controlling the units, she delegated unit control to their onboard AIs and issued orders to the group, maximizing the overall performance.
Her individual motor skills were not quite on par with Utsugi’s.
However, in competitions involving the operation of multiple units, she achieved results that left everyone else in the dust.
Leveraging these characteristics, Class-E AIs based on Erika’s Backbone were adopted as the Tactical AIs for ＜Gigantia＞-class aerial carriers, ＜Naglfar＞-class aircraft carriers, and ＜Frigg＞-class motherships.
Moreover, the ＜Naglfar＞ and ＜Frigg＞ classes employed a composite system where a Class-U AI handled hull control, while a Class-E AI controlled the onboard automated machinery.
Being based on the twin-like Backbone AIs, Utsugi and Erika, the two AI types exhibited a synergy that surpassed ＜Ringo＞’s expectations.
To be precise, the anticipated system conflicts and synchronization lags did not occur.
Naturally, deploying these massive control systems to all units was prohibitively expensive. Therefore, smaller units were equipped with simplified AIs.
Erika spearheaded the construction, maintenance, and operation of these field-deployment-type AIs, which were essentially considered disposable. She systemized her own control capabilities and used them to train pseudo-intelligence-type AIs.
Pseudo-intelligence-type AIs showed almost no growth during field operations. More accurately, they were prevented from growing. After sufficient training within a Simulator, their foundational thought domains were fixed.
This was done to eliminate the possibility of unintended growth during operation, which could lead to deviations from planned tactical actions. This was a crucial measure, especially since such situations occurring during long-term deployments, like distant dispatches, could potentially result in a runaway state.
Of course, the AIs were updated after returning to base. Because they were pseudo-intelligence types, they could be easily overwritten.
Their performance in actual field operations was verified, their response capabilities improved, and any undesirable actions were corrected. Furthermore, optimization was performed to enable them to make optimal judgments with minimal computing resources. Naturally, the more compact the computing unit, the better, as it reduced energy consumption and improved judgment response speed.
Incidentally, since Erika was classified as a commander-type AI who issued action orders to subordinate AIs during operations, she focused on training AIs that would listen to orders and execute them most efficiently.
Utsugi, who trained unit control AIs, tended towards creating more AIs modeled after herself, whereas Erika created AIs loyal to command.
Also, since Class-E AIs were engaged in field operations, coordinating them was also part of Erika’s job.
In particular, the Elemulus series were often loaded onto ＜Gigantia＞-class aerial carriers and dispatched to the front lines. Caring for these Elemulus units was a very important role.
Class-E AIs frequently operated alongside Class-U AIs, so meetings and recreational activities involving them had become regular events.
Incidentally, Eve found the sight of the groups of Class-U and Class-E Communicator Dolls led by Utsugi and Erika to be quite a feast for the eyes. However, due to the burden it placed on Eve, these events were not held very frequently.
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“Erika, what are you doing right now?”
“Onee-chan! Ehehe, this is~, an underwater stroll~”
“An underwater stroll…?”
“Yup~. I made it with Olive-chan~. It’s a submarine system made with a whale-type mothership and shark-type child units~. Underwater patrol craft, you know~”
“Ah, I think I heard you were making something like that. Are you operating it too?”
“Usually it’s on automatic cruising~. It’s a submarine, so real-time control is difficult~”
“Huh. Did you find anything interesting?”
“Yeah! You know~, I found a sunken ship~, and it looks like it was carrying quite a lot of stuff~”
“Oh, how romantic. A trading ship, perhaps?”
“Uh-huh, looks like it! Maybe it sank on its way from the Western Countries to the Eastern Countries for trade~. There are coins that look like they’re from there, and stones that look like Burnstones~”
“Hmm~. Precious metals and Burnstones, huh. If we salvage it, might it help our resources a bit…?”
“I wonder~. Gold would be nice, maybe~? The concentration is low everywhere, so maybe this alone could be about a month’s worth…?”
“Ooh, sounds like there might be more than I thought. …Though, just having gold might not be enough…”
“Hmm~, maybe I should leave the salvage to Olive-chan~. I feel like I might miss something!”
“Ahaha. It’ll be fine, won’t it? Automated machinery will do the work.”
“Maybe~? Ehehe, I was only thinking about operating it myself!”
“Oh? Well, you did find it during your stroll, after all. Is it okay to leave it to Olive?”
“It’s fine~. Olive-chan seems to like collecting precious metals, and maybe she hasn’t had much fun lately? Ah, maybe it would be fun to do it together~”
“That’s true. Olive might be happier if you do it together, don’t you think?”
“You think so~? Maybe~. Then, maybe I should invite Utsugi along next time too!”
“…Utsugi, Erika, Olive, huh. Hmm… I might be a little worried…”
“Ehh~? It’ll be fine~”
“Ma’am. Since we have the opportunity, let’s all do it together. Direct external exploration is considered to have a more positive impact on the Brain Units’ growth.”
“Right… let’s do that. It’d be better if Akane and Ichigo were there… no, I mean, we shouldn’t leave Akane and Ichigo out, right?”
“Ah! This will be Asahi-chan’s first time doing something like this too~. I wonder if she’ll enjoy it~”
“Asahi, well… she’d probably enjoy anything as long as she can play with you all, don’t you think? She loves everyone too, after all.”
“Ehehe~, that’s true. Maybe I should set up a relay so the other kids can watch too~”
“Oh, why not? Maybe I should leave that part to Akane…”
“Akane-chan would probably make an amazing streaming screen!”
“Streaming screen…?”
“And a live broadcast! Hmm, if we’re doing that, maybe we could make it a regular event~”
“Regular live streams…”
“If Onee-chan appears, the viewer ratings will be one hundred percent!”
“Ah…”
“Hmm, if we’re going to do it, we need to decide on a time, or things might get crazy~. I need to talk to Ichigo-chan later~”
“So it’s decided you’re doing it, huh?”
“Ehh~. It’ll definitely be fun~. Right?”
“Well, that’s fine, but… do I have to think up a plan…?”
“It’s okay, we’ll think of it together!”
“Really…? I suppose… if we all think about it together, it does sound fun.”
“Sounds fun, sounds fun~. Ah! Look, look, Onee-chan, there’s a huge fish!”
“Oh…? Ah, right, you were on an underwater stroll… That’s huuuuge!!”
“Is it a shark, I wonder? Or a deep-sea fish~? Its eyes are so big!”
“It looks like a normal fish… Ahh, that startled me. I thought it was a Threat Creature.”
“The sea has lots of big creatures, you know~. But maybe this is a new species~. Gotta register it in the encyclopedia~”
Here’s Erika-chan, one of the top three energetic ones.
A girl who looks like she’d give a bright, wide smile.
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