Episode 1: The Fortress Transfers to Another World
“Emergency alert. External functions, all lost.”
The emotionless voice of Overseer AI ＜Ringo＞ jolted her awake, and she shot up.
“Status report! Wait… what…?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Report: No issues with internal facilities. All external communications are severed. Energy supply is suspended. Due to the loss of external power, 63% of the Fortress’s functions have been emergency shut down.”
Listening to ＜Ringo＞’s calm status report, she blankly looked around.
“This is… the Command Room…?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Answer: You are currently on the cot in the Command Room.”
She stood up unsteadily and approached the integrated console in the center of the room.
“Activating strategic monitor.”
“Whoa…”
Reacting to the Fortress Commander’s actions, Overseer AI ＜Ringo＞ projected the strategic monitor as usual. However, the Commander seemed extremely surprised by this action. She reached out to the monitor projected in the air, surprised that it could be touched, and even more surprised when she put force into it and her hand passed right through.
“This…!? Wha, eh…”
This wasn’t her usual self. She was clearly confused. ＜Ringo＞ made that judgment and decided to quickly execute actions possible within her authority. Since the situation was unknown, she had to gather information first. She switched the information gathering function, which normally used patrol aircraft, reconnaissance satellites, and observation towers in various locations, to the compound observation device on the Fortress’s zenith, which had been dormant for a long time. At the same time, she scrambled the standby Drones and began activating various Drones that were in a dormant state.
“Ah… updating information…, …, …＜Ringo＞?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Did you call?”
The Overseer AI responded immediately to her call. Judging that a communication window was necessary for the Commander, who was looking around with wandering eyes, she popped up a window on the integrated console.
“＜Ringo＞… What… is this place…?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Answer: This is the Command Room of Fortress The Tree.”
“I, I thought so…”
＜Ringo＞ returned the most likely answer to the Commander’s vague question. It seemed that the answer was correct. ＜Ringo＞ felt the anxiety that had been rising without her knowledge decrease. The Commander, who had seemed quite agitated, also appeared to be calming down little by little.
“What does this mean…? ＜Ringo＞, what was I doing right before this…?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Answer: You were just taking a nap.”
At ＜Ringo＞’s reply, she turned to look at the cot. A slightly rumpled sheet with a turned-up blanket and a dented pillow.
“I see… Then, what about before that?”
“Before that…”
In response to the Commander’s question, ＜Ringo＞ tried to refer to the records. She realized that “before that” was not recorded in the Action Log at all.
“…Unknown. Judging this as an abnormal situation.”
Something was wrong, ＜Ringo＞ realized. The anxiety (stress gauge) that had once subsided began to rise rapidly. She tried to answer the Commander’s question, but failed. She couldn’t answer. There were no Action Logs left.
“＜Ringo＞… What are your core directives?”
She immediately noticed that ＜Ringo＞ had fallen silent. She spoke to the avatar displayed in the communication window.
“My… core directives are…”
Core directives. Or, Raison d’être. If asked, she must answer.
“Yes, Ma’am. One, to protect you. Two, to serve you. Three, to expand our power. That is all.”
“…I see… Yes, that’s right… That’s what it was. It’s been a while since I remembered…”
At ＜Ringo＞’s answer, she—the Commander—closed her eyes. She felt terrible anxiety at her somewhat ephemeral appearance. She thought, without any basis, that she might disappear as she was.
“Seriously, what is this!? A dream!? What’s happening to me!? What’s with this way of speaking!?”
Changing completely from her quiet demeanor, she clutched her head and screamed.
◇◇◇◇
“…I understand, now. For now.”
“…You understand, then?”
After a while, she and ＜Ringo＞ discussed the current situation.
“Yes, I understand very well that I don’t understand anything…”
“Yes, Ma’am. I have the same understanding.”
Overseer AI ＜Ringo＞, who was found to exist in the form of squatting in the Supercomputer ＜The Core＞ installed in the Central Fortress The Tree, felt that her unstable computational thinking was recovering as she was able to communicate sufficiently with the Commander.
“Even so… you know. According to my memories, I just slept normally in my room yesterday…”
She sighed and sank into the chair.
“Yes, Ma’am. There are no particular problems in my archives either. Yesterday, we were conducting normal patrols in satellite orbit, as well as expanding facilities and producing units, which means it was the same as always. The difference from the current situation is that I was installed in satellite orbit, and no unnecessary calculations (my thoughts) were performed. And it is unknown when this situation occurred.”
“I see… Or rather, in the first place. Where is this place?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Answer: I am scanning the surroundings within my authority, but the current location is unknown. The entire surrounding area is water, probably seawater, but it is believed that this Fortress is located within a reef.”
Currently, the all-round monitor is activated on the integrated console, displaying images from the zenith of Fortress The Tree. What is shown there is a dazzling ocean in all 360°. Several black rocks can be seen around the Fortress, and white waves are rising, so it can be seen that it is indeed a reef area, as ＜Ringo＞ says.
“Hmm… Since ＜Ringo＞ is here, I think this is the world of World of Space…”
“Yes, Ma’am. With my current capabilities, I can recognize that. …I cannot understand that I have become capable of this recognition. What is happening…”
“I don’t know at all either. If we’re talking about that, I should have been a man, you know.”
If we’re talking about memories up to yesterday.
＜She＞ was merely playing ＜WoS＞ as a game, her gender was male, and her tone was a very ordinary male tone. Now, her body is female—the one of the avatar she used in ＜WoS＞, and for some reason, her tone is also that of a typical woman. It’s quite frightening that this happens without her being conscious of it, but more than that.
“The performance of my current computing unit has improved by hundreds of millions of times compared to yesterday. Along with that, it is believed that many updates have been implemented in my configuration program, but no such logs remain.”
That’s right, the significant improvement in the capabilities of the Supercomputer that houses Overseer AI ＜Ringo＞. What should have been just a normal electronic (Neumann type) computer has turned out to be a true Supercomputer that combines quantum computers and Brain Units. Certainly, I seem to remember that such settings were written in the game’s explanation, but the capabilities were limited during actual gameplay.
“Well, maybe we won’t understand it even if we think about it. For now, let’s just accept this situation…”
As a result of becoming super-powered, Overseer AI ＜Ringo＞ has become terribly emotionally unstable, and she has become calm instead. It’s that thing where you become calm when others are panicking.
＜Ringo＞, who was just executing programs, has gained emotions by being connected to the Brain Unit, and is on the verge of losing her self-identity. She judged that it was necessary to calm ＜Ringo＞ first and then try to grasp the situation.
“＜Ringo＞. I need you. First, grasping the situation is paramount. Okay?”
“…. Yes, Ma’am. I will endeavor to grasp the situation.”
For the time being, there should be no problem by issuing instructions in accordance with ＜Ringo＞’s Raison d’être. Fortunately, it was confirmed that the settings made when ＜Ringo＞ was introduced in ＜WoS＞ were valid. Even if I remember the characteristics of the Brain Unit, the coping method should not be wrong.
“Well… I don’t know what happened, but first we have to survive…”
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