Episode 165: Strategic AI ＜Ayame Zero＞
Ayame, the underwater Fortress in charge of the Repuytari Kingdom area.
It is an underwater Fortress built by ＜The Tree＞ for the purpose of monitoring and defending the area around the Repuytari Kingdom.
Installed to control this Fortress is Strategic AI ＜Ayame Zero＞, the first A-class Brain Unit.
＜Ayame Zero＞ is an A-class Brain Unit created by copying and expanding the neural network of ＜Akane the Tree＞, one of the Brain Unit Backbones being nurtured within ＜The Tree＞. She is also the mother brain that will serve as the origin for future copies and derivatives.
“I am Asidanthera-Ayame Zero. Pleased to meet you.”
“I am Amadio Silverhead, General Manager of the Technical Bureau. Nice to meet you, Ayame Zero-san?”
At the pier where a liaison ship was docked, the Communicator Doll directly operated by Ayame Zero was exchanging greetings with Amadio Silverhead, Duke of the Repuytari Kingdom.
“…Where did she suddenly appear from…? Or rather, are they not even trying to hide it anymore…?”
The flagship Panas of ＜Paraiso＞, currently docked at Moor Port, along with its fleet, has not moved for a month.
Despite this, a newcomer was suddenly introduced, and apparently with a considerable position.
No matter how you look at it, she must be personnel newly sent from the home base.
Even though the ship hasn’t moved.
“You can call me Sera. Also, I am not authorized to answer that question.”
“I see… Well, that’s fine. Sera-san, what will your role be in this delegation? Until now, Fleet Commander Drei has been the chief representative.”
Amadio asked this because Drei=Ringo was standing behind Asidanthera-Ayame Zero. Clearly, Asidanthera was being treated as superior to Drei.
“I will be the plenipotentiary ambassador for future negotiations. The handover has been completed, and Drei 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 people.”
Amadio understands that all the ＜Paraiso＞ personnel who have come to the Repuytari Kingdom are Androids.
If anything, he had even heard the story directly from 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 background knowledge either. After all, all information can be shared via the network.
“Lord Amadio. Asidanthera-Ayame Zero is derived from a Backbone that differs from the mother of Drei=Ringo and Vier=Ringo. In that sense, the direction of her responses may change somewhat. I would like your understanding.”
“…Understood. I won’t ask for more details. We will proceed with the next meetings in the same way as before.”
For the time being, the introduction of the newcomer, Sera, was over. Amadio, who had been suddenly summoned despite it not being a meeting day, realized that no major problem had occurred and let out a big sigh.
“So, what’s the reason for suddenly coming here today? If it’s just for a self-introduction, we’d be greatly relieved.”
Incidentally, it goes without saying that other personnel in charge besides Amadio had also been summoned and were present at this meeting.
The ＜Paraiso＞ personnel, who were the topic of discussion, had docked at the port from their flagship via a liaison ship without prior notice. It was no wonder that the security department, caught off guard, had summoned all available related personnel.
And those personnel were giving anxious looks to Duke Amadio, who was proceeding with the conversation in a frank, or rather, disrespectful tone.
They felt that he was being rude to the other party.
Amadio knows that they don’t care about such formalities, but they don’t know that. However, they probably can’t voice their opinions to Amadio, who is a Duke.
“No. Not immediately, but if possible, we would like to have the opportunity to tour and inspect your city. For the time being, I’ve come to ask if there’s anywhere we can see right away today.”
“………That is, again…”
Amadio 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 thought they would not take any unnecessary actions, and would refrain from needlessly stirring up public opinion.
He had never imagined that they would speak like tourists.
“Permission to disclose information has been confirmed. I am a Communicator Doll 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 use this opportunity to gain knowledge about the Repuytari Kingdom.”
“…Oh. Well, that’s fine, I guess…”
Amadio sighed.
“I don’t get it… What is that older sister thinking…”
The next meeting with that older sister (Eve) is in three days. Amadio muttered and nodded, resolving to find out at that time.
“Understood. Hey, is the reception room ready?”
“Yes, sir. Shall we guide them there immediately?”
“Please do. …Alright, for now, please wait in the guest room. We can at least offer some refreshments. Also, we need to make a security plan for a city tour. We can show you around our navy facilities today, would that be acceptable?”
“I am grateful, Lord Amadio. 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 completed. Final verification in progress. No problems. Activating both AIs, ending information isolation.”
“……, Akane the Tree, activation completed.”
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 infirmary where the maintenance of each AI is performed.
The other sisters are probably monitoring from 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 guys outside, after all. If we can get feedback from the branched-off AIs, we can minimize external activities.”
The analysis results had been submitted that the speed of ability improvement for the Five Sisters, Akane, Ichigo, Utsugi, and Erika, who are being nurtured as Brain Unit Backbones, had been slowing down for the past few weeks.
The predicted cause was habituation to external stimuli.
In other words, they have been bored lately.
＜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 to do.
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 off 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 appetite.
“The cuisine of the Repuytari Kingdom is interesting. I was able to experience firsthand that the taste varies so much simply because human chefs are making it.”
“Heeh. Was it delicious?”
“Depending 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 was her first meal. The taste signals of the Communicator Doll and the signal processing within the Brain Unit are being adjusted, and it is difficult to feel subtle differences in taste.”
“Hmm?”
After all, the growth of taste perception is unique to each Communicator Doll. ＜Ringo＞ has finally realized that, or rather, the taste perception of each terminal she uses has been averaged out, and she no longer produces strange things. It is a blessing.