Chapter 125: Dystopia
“It seems there has been a request from the Kingdom of Repuitari to hold discussions on their side as well.”
“Oh? Are they finally going to set foot on our territory?”
Although a treaty had yet to be finalized and various conditions were still under discussion, it appeared that a proposal had been made to deepen ties and exchange information through an on-site meeting.
“Yes, Ma’am. The local strategic AI has approved this. It seems that while practical discussions can be held in a closed meeting aboard the ship, reaching a formal agreement is quite challenging. Conversations with on-ground personnel are necessary, and it is preferable for the Friendship Treaty ceremony to take place in an open setting.”
“I see. It can be quite a hassle when there are too many people involved…”
That said, the side of Paraiso was generally prepared to respond to requests as long as certain lines were not crossed. Since they did not intend to make aggressive contact, as long as there was no ill intent from the other party, they were not averse to cooperation. The local strategic AI also had the flexibility to make sound judgments regarding this matter.
“In three days, they plan to gather key figures from within the country for a party. Since we are arriving on the Paraiso, which is a warship, we will prepare ceremonial military uniforms.”
“Oh? What will they look like?”
In response to Commander Eve’s curiosity, RINGO displayed a hologram of the Communicator Android that would be participating.
The ceremonial military uniform was primarily white, featuring culottes and tights below, along with a long coat. A slit in the coat emphasized the tail, and the impressive fox ears were unobstructed by the hat, proudly asserting their presence.
“Oh, that looks nice. It’s practical for movement, and they are well-armed too.”
On the left hip, there was a large handgun and a knife, while a saber hung on the right side, ensuring individual combat capability. The uniform highlighted both the soldier’s dignity and femininity, while also showcasing the characteristics of a fox beastman.
“Additionally, here are the guard soldiers that will accompany them. Their armaments will be standardized to assault rifles of the System Weapon type, and their uniforms will be gray. This is to avoid visible discrimination based on rank.”
The guard soldiers wore gray long-sleeved shirts and trousers, accented with black belts at key points. The assault rifles were slung over their shoulders, and a large knife was strapped to their left thigh. They wore head-mounted displays resembling sunglasses, obscuring their gaze.
“The lower half is equipped with tights made of artificial muscle fiber, enhancing strength and defense. Each soldier is estimated to be capable of subduing about ten regular soldiers.”
“Well, that’s quite a high-end setup you’ve got there.”
The artificial muscle fiber was a luxury item manufactured using a significant amount of minor elements, making it an extremely high-grade piece of equipment for The Tree. It was only recovered from seawater or the slight traces found in mining waste, which made both collection and refinement very costly.
“Yes, Ma’am. We want to avoid losing an educated Brain Unit at all costs. Even if we were to restore it from a backup, it would ultimately result in a similar but fundamentally different entity.”
The Brain Unit utilized pseudo-biological cells as its primary computational elements. The arrangement of neurons and the formation of synaptic connections were achieved through chemical reactions, making it highly susceptible to external disturbances. Therefore, no matter how many backups were taken, it was technically challenging to produce an identical Brain Unit.
In essence, the backup process involved sampling and quantizing the positional information and binding strength of neurons and synapses. Capturing the entire information of the Brain Unit in a single moment was practically impossible.
To accurately obtain a complete backup as a snapshot, it would require observing the state of all cells without any time lag. However, embedding sensors for observation would cause the unit’s capacity to swell exponentially.
Thus, the identity of the backup itself could not be guaranteed. A Brain Unit restored from such a backup, while comparable to the original in terms of abilities and memories, was generally regarded as a separate entity.
Consequently, both Commander Eve and RINGO held the position that damage or loss of a Brain Unit was fundamentally unacceptable.
“Well, let’s ensure everything is in place. The guards should be fine, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We plan to have attack drones on standby for electromagnetic catapult deployment. They can be deployed over the venue within one minute.”
This meant that even in the event of an incident, they could secure the venue with just a minute’s notice.
By combining data collected from the Spy Bot network, they could likely detect dangerous individuals or explosives in advance. The party venue had only been decided yesterday, and while preparations were underway at a rapid pace, there was no concern about prior setups since Spy Bots had already infiltrated.
“Additionally, we need to be cautious of long-range attacks. However, so far, there have been no signs of assassination plans detected by our intelligence network. While metaphorical conversations mimicking casual dialogue could slip through, there have been no notable movements from underground organizations, so a planned attack is unlikely.”
“Okay. I understand that you’re taking every precaution. Well, I suppose I’ll just be observing on the day…”
RINGO was constantly anticipating various possibilities and preparing responses. While they were somewhat behind in dealing with magic, their adaptability was gradually improving thanks to Asahi’s advice. Currently, their main concern was Asahi’s insistence on being sent to Port Town of Terek. Although they understood that the chances of anything happening were slim, RINGO was reluctant to allow the deployment due to the fear of losing Asahi.
Even if Asahi and the other humanoid androids were ranked lower in priority than Commander Eve, they were still important family members to RINGO. Ideally, they would prefer to keep them safe within The Tree. However, if confining them only resulted in unnecessary stress, they would reluctantly have to allow it.
“Even if some form of hostile action occurs, it will serve as a model case for local response. In the worst-case scenario, as long as we can recover the Brain Unit, it won’t be a total loss.”
If no planned or organized issues were detected, the final concern would be individual outbursts or attacks by lone perpetrators. If a lone attacker managed to infiltrate among the guard soldiers provided by the Kingdom of Repuitari, there was a possibility that audio and video collection alone would not be sufficient to capture them.
“We are continuously analyzing, but it seems there are individuals who conduct assassinations primarily using magic. There have been rumors of such individuals hiding in the capital, Moar, but we have not been able to track them down. According to Asahi’s speculation, if there are technologies related to espionage or detection within magic, it is possible that such targets could evade our Spy Bot network.”
“I see. However, unlike magic, our strength lies in numbers. We are increasing the number of Spy Bots, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We are repeating production and transportation. While the lifespan of the bots is a factor, we are currently in a situation where their numbers are increasing.”
Bots that reach the end of their lifespan will either move to the collection point on their own or be retrieved by other bots. As the number of bases increases, the likelihood of exposure also rises, and longer travel distances reduce operational time. No matter how many bots are produced, there is a limit to the balance between deployment and retrieval.
For now, however, there were no issues.
“I wonder if we could create an intelligence network without relying solely on Spy Bots. Perhaps we could embed them in electronic devices or use streetlights.”
“Let’s consider it.”
At the party venue, preparations were being made at a rapid pace.
“Don’t leave any dust on the chandelier. How many people are we expecting?”
“Five. One is stationed to control the flow of people.”
“Excellent. The training has been thorough.”
Failure was absolutely not an option. The upper echelons of the Navy took direct command, controlling the preparation work themselves, as they did not trust the contractors.
This was systematic on-site control, honed by naval training.
By assigning capable personnel to the command, they ensured a favorable outcome. It was a perfect mastery of personnel management, taking into account even the potential negligence of the on-site workers.
In a typical setting, things would not go this smoothly. After all, the site supervisors were naval officers who could silence even the most unruly of children. To the common folk, they were symbols of power, akin to royalty. The difference from nobility was that they were backed by highly competent personnel suited to their positions.
“We cannot show a disgraceful appearance to the ladies from Paraiso.”
This was the unanimous sentiment among the officers who had experienced the artillery drills. They had already given up on various things, focusing solely on maintaining a friendly demeanor towards Paraiso. The establishment of domestic laws had been completely delegated to the administrative staff, of course, with ample warnings to avoid including any poorly conceived clauses.