Episode 165: Strategic AI ＜Ayame Zero＞
Ayame, the underwater fortress in charge of the Reputali Kingdom region.
It is an underwater fortress built by ＜The Tree＞ for the purpose of monitoring and defending the area around the Reputali Kingdom.
Installed to control this fortress is Strategic AI ＜Ayame Zero＞, the first A-class Brain Unit.
It is an A-class Brain Unit manufactured by copying and expanding the neural network of ＜Akane the Tree＞, one of the Brain Unit backbones being cultivated within ＜The Tree＞. It is also the Mother Brain that will serve as the origin for future copies and derivatives.
“I am Asidancera=Ayame Zero. Pleased to meet you.”
“I am Amazio Silverhead, General Director of the Technology Bureau. Pleased to meet you… Ayame Zero-san?”
At the pier where the liaison ship was docked, the Communicator directly operated by Ayame Zero was greeting Amazio Silverhead, Duke of the Reputali Kingdom.
“…Where did they suddenly appear from…? Or rather, are they not even trying to hide it anymore…?”
The ＜Paraiso＞ flagship Panas, currently docked at Moore Port, and its fleet have not moved for a month.
Despite this, a new face has suddenly been introduced.
Moreover, it seems they hold a considerable position.
No matter how you look at it, they are personnel newly sent from the home base.
Even though the ship hasn’t moved.
“You can call me Cera. Also, I am not authorized to answer that question.”
“I see… Well, that’s fine. Cera-san, what will your role be in this delegation? Until now, Fleet Commander Dry has been the chief representative.”
The reason Amazio asks this is because Dry=Ringo is positioned behind Asidancera=Ayame Zero. Clearly, Asidancera is being treated as superior to Dry.
“I will be treated as the plenipotentiary ambassador for future negotiations. The handover has been completed, and Dry will attend all future meetings as well. There are no problems.”
“I see… Ah, normally, being replaced midway would cause various inconveniences… Well, I suppose that’s not a concern with you folks.”
Amazio understands that all the ＜Paraiso＞ personnel who have come to the Reputali Kingdom are androids.
If anything, he had even spoken directly with their master (Eve).
Therefore, he knows that changes in negotiation methods due to personnel changes, or differences in the ambassador’s tastes, will not be a problem.
There will be no missing prerequisite knowledge either. After all, all information can be shared via the network.
“Amazio-dono. Asidancera=Ayame Zero is derived from a different backbone than Dry=Ringo and Feia=Ringo. In that sense, the direction of her responses may change somewhat. Please acknowledge this.”
“…Understood. I won’t ask for more details. We will proceed with the next meetings as we have been.”
For now, the introduction of the new face, Cera, is over. Amazio, who was suddenly called out despite it not being a meeting day, realized that no major problem had occurred and exhaled deeply.
“So, what’s the reason for suddenly coming here today? If it’s just for a self-introduction, we’d be greatly relieved.”
Incidentally, of course, other personnel in charge besides Amazio had also been called out and were present at this meeting.
The ＜Paraiso＞ personnel, who were the topic, or rather the problem, had docked at the port from the flagship via a liaison ship without prior notice. It was no wonder that the security department, caught off guard, had called out all available personnel.
And those personnel were giving anxious looks to Duke Amazio, who was proceeding with the conversation in a frank, or rather, disrespectful tone.
They felt that he was being rude to the other party.
Amazio knows that they don’t care about the tone, but they don’t know that. However, they probably can’t voice their opinions to Amazio, who is a duke.
“No. It’s not for right now, but if possible, we would like to tour and inspect your city. For the time being, I’ve come to ask if there are any places we can immediately look around today.”
“………That is, again…”
Amazio understands that they are AIs specialized in strategic actions.
Therefore, he wouldn’t find it suspicious if they didn’t appear outside the ship except when necessary, and always stayed cooped up. He believed they would not take any unnecessary actions and would refrain from needlessly stirring up public opinion.
He never imagined they would speak like tourists.
“Permission to disclose information has been confirmed. I am a Communicator of Ayame, the second lot of the independent strategic AI, Akane-class series. A characteristic of the Akane-class is a high desire for unknown information. Therefore, Ayame also desires to take this opportunity to gain knowledge about the Reputali Kingdom.”
“…Oh. Well, I guess that’s fine…”
Amazio sighed.
“I don’t get it… What is that older sister thinking…”
The next meeting with the older sister (Eve) is in three days. Amazio muttered and nodded, resolving to find out at that time.
“I understand. Hey, is the reception room ready?”
“Yes, sir. Shall we guide them immediately?”
“Please do. …Alright, for now, please wait in the guest room. We’ll at least serve some refreshments. Also, we’ll need to plan security for a city tour. We can show you around our navy facilities today, would that be alright?”
“I am grateful, Amazio-dono. I have expectations for the refreshments.”
“………She’s unique. Well, I don’t know if it will suit your taste, but we will do our best to entertain you.”
◇◇◇◇
“Akane, information isolation for Ayame has begun. Completed. Executing personality synchronization. …Execution complete. Final verification in progress. No problems. Activating both AIs, ending information isolation.”
“…, Akane the Tree, activation complete.”
Akane, who was in the maintenance pod, slowly opened her eyes.
“Akane, are you alright? How do you feel?”
“I’m fine. I was able to have a rather rare experience.”
This is the heart of ＜The Tree＞.
Commander (Eve), ＜Ringo＞, and Akane are in the medical room where the AIs are maintained.
The other sisters are probably monitoring somewhere.
“Ma’am. Personality synchronization between the remote child AI (Ayame) and the mother (Akane) has been completed without any problems. Since it is not complete synchronization, it is expected that synchronization will become difficult in a few weeks, but the usefulness of experience sharing has been confirmed.”
“Okay. It’s difficult to dispatch you all outside, after all. If we can get feedback from the branched AIs, we can minimize external activities.”
The analysis results had been submitted that the speed of ability improvement for the five sisters being cultivated as Brain Unit backbones—Akane, Ichigo, Utsugi, Erika, and others—had been slowing down for the past few weeks.
The predicted cause was acclimatization to external stimuli.
In other words, they have been bored recently.
＜The Tree＞ is vast, and it also operates multiple bases and expands and pacifies its sphere of influence, so there is a lot of work.
However, the novelty has been lost from that work, and there are fewer fresh experiences that would serve as a catalyst for AI growth.
Therefore, they started a project to promote growth by branching out strategic AIs and tactical AIs from each AI and feeding back their experiences.
And the first subject to volunteer was Akane, who has a reputation for her desire for knowledge and food.
“The cuisine of the Reputali Kingdom is interesting. I was able to experience firsthand how much variation in taste can result simply from having human chefs create the dishes.”
“Heeh. Was it delicious?”
“It depends on the definition. In my perception, I felt that the taste of what ＜Ringo＞ adjusted was more delicious, but Ayame doesn’t seem to think so. Probably because it’s her first meal. The taste signal of the Communicator and the signal processing within the Brain Unit are being adjusted, making it difficult to sense subtle differences in taste.”
“Hmm?”
After all, the growth of taste perception is probably unique to each Communicator. ＜Ringo＞ finally realized that, or rather, the taste perception of each terminal being used has been averaged out, and strange things no longer come out. It’s a blessing.