Episode 331: A Leisurely Conversation
“Asahi, since when has this been happening?”
“Hmm, it’s hard to believe ＜Ringo＞ wasn’t aware of this… Could it be you haven’t been checking much? It only started yesterday, you know.”
Asahi twirled the Ignition Magic Tool, which was lit, and muttered.
When Asahi placed the Magic Tool on the desk and let go, the small flame coming from the tip vanished with a poof.
“Observing in real-time raised my stress levels and worried Ma’am, so I compile and read everything once every three days.”
“I don’t think you need to avoid it that much…”
“Well then,” Asahi said, taking a breath.
＜Ringo＞’s eyes narrowed, and her mouth formed a straight line. Facing the Overseer AI, Asahi raised her index finger.
“Well, to be honest, I always thought it was just a matter of time before Asahi could use Magic Tools. I’ve had the hypothesis for a while, but the will of a living being is deeply involved in the use of magic!”
“It has indeed been observed that the scale and form of magic activated changes depending on the perception of the magic user, but what does that have to do with Asahi being able to use Magic Tools?”
“It’s a prediction based on observation results!”
Asahi puffed out her chest and answered ＜Ringo＞’s question.
＜Ringo＞ frowned.
“Leaving aside passive types for now. Active magic, or Magic Tools. The on/off state is controlled by the will of the performer or user. The fact that it doesn’t activate unless you clearly think so, rather than an unconscious thought, is a very interesting phenomenon…”
Continuing her explanation, Asahi picked up the Ignition Magic Tool again.
“Magic and Magic Tools don’t work when you’re unconscious, such as during sleep, or when you’re dreaming. It seems safe to say that there’s no need to worry about accidents happening due to unintentional use during sleep!”
Asahi spoke while lighting and extinguishing the Ignition Magic Tool with a “poof, poof.”
“So, about turning magic on and off with will, it’s like I could finally use it after I became convinced that Asahi could do it. I don’t think the other Onee-sama can use it! I don’t think the will to ignite Fire will occur correctly!”
“…I see. Unless you believe Fire will ignite, the will won’t be transmitted?”
“That’s right, ＜Ringo＞! If you think there’s no way it will ignite, it won’t!”
Magic responds to the user’s will and activates.
Just hearing that hypothesis increased ＜Ringo＞’s stress level.
Actually witnessing the phenomenon made ＜Ringo＞ look genuinely disgusted.
“Come on, come on, ＜Ringo＞. It’s certainly unsettling that it can’t be explained scientifically, but it’s just a phenomenon occurring according to principles we don’t know. Unraveling this is what it means to be a scholar! Instead of rejecting it as magic or irrational, let’s think of it as unraveling an unknown phenomenon!”
“…Well, I agree with that way of thinking. A phenomenon that we haven’t yet been able to unravel.”
＜Ringo＞ sighed.
However, in reality, Asahi is probably right. The phenomenon of magic is definitely occurring. If that’s the case, then recording it, analyzing it, reproducing it, and unraveling its principles is undoubtedly the path to take.
“For now, it’s just a hypothesis! Asahi can now use Magic Tools! In other words, Asahi might be able to use magic!”
“That’s too much of a leap.”
“But I couldn’t use them before! Of course, I wasn’t convinced that I shouldn’t be able to use them! In other words, I think it’s correct to assume that I became able to use them over time!”
“Stop making hypotheses based on a conclusion. …However, the passage of time is worth considering.”
While looking at the high-spirited Asahi, ＜Ringo＞ projected a large amount of image data into the air.
They were X-ray photographs of Asahi’s Brain Unit, taken periodically.
When arranged in chronological order, it was clear that changes were occurring.
“Ah! This haze as well! Yes, looking at it this way, this haze is definitely expanding!”
A white shadow had appeared inside the Brain Unit, only visible through X-ray photography. No abnormalities were detected in the normal inspection procedure, but it was definitely changing.
“Hmm, hypothesis, hypothesis. It seems best to consider it an effect of Maso! Maybe that haze will eventually condense and turn into a Magic Stone!”
“If it crystallizes inside the Brain Unit, I think it will have a significant impact on the processing functions?”
“We won’t know until it happens!”
＜Ringo＞ sighed again at Asahi, who showed no sense of crisis.
Well, Asahi’s argument wasn’t wrong.
There’s no point in thinking about completely unknown phenomena without any basis.
“Also, yes. What we should consider is, what is will?”
“Will? Yes, for normal biological species, it is precisely free will itself.”
“My will is generated by the Brain Unit! And since I was able to use Magic Tools, it’s safe to say that I have will!”
Asahi confidently declared. However, the question of whether free will can arise in a Brain Unit has already been resolved.
It’s different from an AI that only returns fixed outputs to fixed inputs.
That’s why Brain Units are said to be valuable.
The civilization that created the Brain Units has determined that Brain Units have free will.
“Well, there’s a theory that if you completely reproduce the same situation, you should have the exact same memories and the same personality…”
“Since complete reproduction at the quantum level cannot be achieved, it has been determined that verification of that hypothesis is impossible. It’s just a tall tale.”
“Well, yes. There’s no point in thinking about it, so let’s not worry about it! Well then, it seems that we AI of the Brain Unit type have the potential to use magic. What about other AI Kinds, such as AI composed of photonic neural networks? Or AI simulated within a supercomputer like ＜The Core＞? What do you think?”
“…If we’re talking about possibilities. Magic cannot be performed unless it is an individual in which the white shadow confirmed by X-ray photography has occurred.”
＜Ringo＞ voluntarily replied to Asahi’s monologue.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that this is very unusual for ＜Ringo＞’s personality.
And probably, if it had been a data exchange or a conversation over the network, this kind of small talk would not have occurred.
The experience of interacting face-to-face using a Communicator Doll elicited ＜Ringo＞’s reaction.
In that sense, she is always talking to Eve in that state.
The proportion of face-to-face conversations with other Brain Units is low.
“That’s right. In that case, photonic neural network types also have potential. After all, this haze has been confirmed with X-ray photography!”
“…Haa. Asahi, I approve of additional Magic Tool usage tests. Let’s have ＜Cosmos＞ in North End City cooperate. And the Wedelia Series operating in the surrounding area as well.”
“Oh. Yes, those girls are perfect! After all, they should be the most exposed to fantasy among us!”
Please enjoy Ringo-chan’s funny faces.
When connected to a Doll Machine within ＜The Tree＞, emotional expression control is not in effect.
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