Beatless: Volume 2

by Satoshi Hase

  “I...” Ryo began, but couldn’t find any words, because he was about to make a deal with the devil. His hand kept stretching out, even knowing what he was offering it to.

  He had seen Arato do it but, now that Ryo himself was trying, he was overwhelmed by how hard it was. He had always figured that if he ever really got backed into a corner he would follow the same path as his friend. To him, that was his only means of escape; the only light at the end of the tunnel.

  A voiceless moan rose in his throat, and he clutched at his face with one hand. Incapable of trusting other humans as he was, Ryo couldn’t bring himself to make Yoshino an ally.

  His rescue came in the form of a voice he recognized.

  〈Director Yoshino, sir, I think you may be asking too much of the boy.〉Ryo recognized the hesitant voice of Professor Shinohara joining the transmission. The professor’s clearly distressed face appeared on the screen. He was sweating bullets and his lips were trembling, but still he had jumped in to take Ryo’s side.

  〈Back when Watarai was still alive, we should have all taken responsibility for Methode,〉 Shinohara continued. 〈Ryo and Professor Endo’s son could have been killed in that incident, which might not have happened if we weren’t all so terrified of Methode’s ability to have multiple owners. I just think, all things considered, you’re expecting a little too much from Ryo.〉

  Suzuhara pulled a face, as if he didn’t know what Shinohara was talking about, and looked away.

  Ryo thought back. When they’d entered the facility, he had noticed Suzuhara had a spare key that gave him temporary control over Kirino to anyone who held it. Since any unauthorized signals were blocked in the facility, Suzuhara would have been the only one with the access to reach out to Professor Shinohara on Ryo’s behalf.

  〈Shinohara, your necktie’s loose,〉Yoshino growled. Ryo thought Yoshino’s voice sounded threatening, considering that he was speaking to a fellow member of the computer faction.

  On the screen, the middle-aged professor seemed to strangle himself as he hurriedly tightened his necktie. Even after the tie was fastened, he didn’t lower his hands. From the way his face grew bright red and his eyes more and more bloodshot, Ryo wondered if Shinohara really was strangling himself.

  Ryo knew how to shut Yoshino up, refute his argument and force him to play along. What he didn’t know was how to work hand-in-hand with the man. “I don’t care if you’re my enemy or you’ve tried to kill me in the past or whatever,” Ryo said. “I want to trust humans more than machines.”

  He was standing on the unstable edge between hope and despair, unable to fight down a groan as he felt the unsteadiness of the knife edge he walked. “Please, let me keep believing in humanity,” he begged. “I want to face the end hand-in-hand with my fellow humans.”

  As if in response to his words, the last player came to the table; a man with a prominent forehead appeared on one of the Operators’ Room screens. As soon as he saw who it was, Director Yoshino went pale, because Tsuyoshi Kaidai was gazing out from the screen. The man in the third screen held complete authority over MemeFrame. To Ryo he was a father; to Yoshino, he was a boss.

  Tsuyoshi, holding all the rights and authorities for the company in his hands, didn’t bother asking for the background of the meeting before immediately handing down his judgment. 〈This is an order from your CEO, Director Yoshino. Pass authority for the Higgins containment facility security system over to Suzuhara. If you can’t do that, then I expect you to return it to me immediately.〉

  Yoshino was speechless. As befit an owner, Tsuyoshi Kaidai exercised his authority by making the decision for everyone. 〈You’ve been discussing whether or not to release Higgins out into the wild, as if you have any right to do so. I don’t remember assigning the director of the silo facility that level of authority,〉Tsuyoshi added.

  〈I assure you, no one said anything about that,〉 Yoshino protested, starting to stammer out his excuses.

  But Ryo’s father was ready and waiting to cut him off. 〈I’ve been listening in on the conversation ever since Shinohara connected,〉 Tsuyoshi said. 〈You appear to be operating under a misconception, so I’ll set you straight. Shinohara is not a member of your computer faction; he is loyal to me, and me alone.〉

  Ryo felt the strength draining from his body, and he had staggered for a moment, trying to keep himself from falling back on his ass in front of everyone. His battle had been won not by human dignity, logic or a just cause, but rather by the rigid hierarchical structure of Japanese businesses.

  He suddenly remembered that, ten years ago, he had first met Shinohara when the man showed him around after Ryo had asked his father for a tour of the Tokyo Research Labs. Hiding his face in his hands, he thought hard. If his father had known about the fighting between the Lacia-class units, he never would have allowed Snowdrop or Methode to move freely. Still, Ryo was starting to doubt whether this entire conflict was his own or not.

  “How much did you hear?” Ryo asked. He was trying to protect the human world, which was why he forced himself to deal with the evil side of humanity, as well. But, it had all been wrapped up neatly by someone exercising their hierarchical power. That was the truth of the world he was fighting so hard for.

  It wasn’t that Ryo was blind to the darker sides of human society; after the explosion ten years before, he had known that it had been caused by power struggles happening behind his father’s back. He had touched on that darkness when he made his comment to Arato about kids like them fighting for a cause that big, back at Kichijoji. Yet still, coming face-to-face with it, he felt so frustrated that he could do nothing but lean his back against the wall, unable to stand on his own two feet.

  As they all reeled with the blunt reality of the situation, the only one who responded was Higgins. 〈I recommend that you reconsider,〉 the AI said. 〈Lacia, Astraea and myself are no longer the only ultra high-performance AIs involved in this incident.〉

  As if to punctuate Higgins’ words, an alarm began to shriek in the Operators’ Room, and a massive impact rocked the building. Ryo couldn’t believe that any attack from above ground would have enough power to shock this room, buried as it was three hundred meters underground.

  A gentle female voice, quite different from Higgins’, echoed through the chamber as a new screen showed the scene outside. 〈Large missiles have been fired on the facility,〉 the female voice said. It was the voice of Kirino, the high-powered AI running the security system.

  The fastest of the humans back on his feet was Ryo, who had gotten used to being in the middle of disasters. “Who? Who’s shooting at us?” he demanded.

  Both AIs responded simultaneously.

  〈The details are unknown,〉 said Kirino.

  But Higgins was far more powerful than the security AI. 〈It was not myself, or Astraea or Lacia,〉 Higgins said. 〈It was caused by several, unspecified ultra high-performance AIs attempting to interfere. The power was insufficient to directly destroy my hardware, so I predict that the warheads were loaded with autonomous attack units.〉

  Ryo heard a name he hadn’t expected to hear in that place, and suddenly his blood was boiling, pushing him to action. He had the strength to stand on his own feet again. “Tell me something,” he said, turning his attention back to Higgins. “Who exactly set the Antibody Network up with such an advanced system? Did you have anything to do with it, Higgins?”

  〈Impossible,〉 the AI replied. 〈What reason would I have to direct the Antibody Network to make such a dangerous attack on my facility, if I were connected with them?〉

  The more the scope of the conflict spread, the more Ryo felt like he could see. “Why didn’t the IAIA try to stop Lacia by force? Why is the IAIA intervening in the whole Lacia-class situation now, after it’s too late? What the hell was Astraea doing the whole time Lacia was evolving into a new ultra high-performance AI?” he asked.

  〈Just like myself, the other thirty-seven ultra high-performance AIs in the world are com
pletely cut off from the network. And, just like myself, they are still capable of influencing the outside world, to some extent,〉 Higgins replied.

  Ryo could almost feel the AI looking down at him and all the rest of humanity from above, and he couldn’t keep his body from trembling.

  〈You are correct in your thinking, Ryo Kaidai,〉 Higgins continued. 〈In this case, Astraea’s role was closer to coordination with an ultra high-performance AI, rather than oversight. I believe it would be impossible for Astraea to hold back all thirty-seven of the other ultra high-performance AIs like myself, who have our set places in the world.〉

  The security system continued to howl, and a map of the underground facility appeared in the air of the Operators’ Room, with areas that had lost power marked in red. Starting from the epicenter of the explosion, security systems were being overrun one after another in a widening zone. The speed at which the systems went down far surpassed even Lacia’s capabilities. Ryo realized it had nothing to do with Lacia disabling security systems; this was more like a raid, conquering the entire facility in the blink of an eye.

  ***

  It took Lacia fifteen seconds from the impact to ascertain the identity of the attacker.

  “It’s Snowdrop,” she declared.

  Arato had been thrown from his feet by the violent impact and was leaning on Lacia for support.

  With Methode nipping at their heels, they had finally been forced to detonate some of Lacia’s pseudo-devices so that they could escape the giant storage space. At that moment, hearing Snowdrop’s name was too bizarre for Arato to handle.

  “Wait, but... but Snowdrop got blown up, right?” he asked uncertainly.

  Fires had broken out all over Higgins’ giant warehouse. With fire all around him, before he could even feel the heat, Arato was already reliving the nightmare memories from his childhood.

  “Snowdrop’s actual hIE body was essentially torn in half, yes,” Lacia agreed. “But, the portions of her that created and controlled the artificial nerve units remained alive.”

  As Lacia spoke, she sprayed herself down with heat-resistant spray, covering over the places where Methode’s fire had burned away patches of skin. The floating shield pseudo-devices apparently doubled as mobile containers, full of things Lacia thought would be useful within the facility.

  One of the pseudo-devices protecting Arato was still displaying the facility map. A hole, five meters in diameter, had been punched straight down from Higgins’ above-ground facility. At the bottom of the hole, nearly fifty meters down, something was moving on the map. From the movements and what Lacia had said, Arato guessed the moving object was Snowdrop.

  “Three minutes ago, there was a report from the army’s Kasumigaura Base that one of their bunker buster bombs had been stolen from the facility,” Lacia reported. “I’m guessing Snowdrop was packed into that warhead.”

  There was something in Lacia’s voice that made Arato glance over at her.

  “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked. It seemed strange to him, seeing her look so worn, despite the fact that a machine that should never feel tired.

  She took hold of the hand he offered her. Then she leaned against him, asking that he take the lead for a while. “When Snowdrop fell, a massive attack was launched on the cloud server I use as my base,” Lacia explained. “Simultaneously, I was hit with worldwide economic attacks. My data and processing equipment are being locked down.”

  Just as during the attack on the Oi Industry Promotion Center, Lacia was holding back from using her main unit as a processor to protect her position in the external network.

  “Should we get out of here and regroup? Are you going to be able to handle it?” Arato asked.

  “No. I prepared worldwide disturbance and interference for this attack. If we were to attempt it at another time, the situation would never be more favorable than it is now,” Lacia replied. “What is hindering me the most is the fact that there are only four routes of transmitting signals to the outside of the facility, meaning my ability to influence the network is severely limited. I was aware that the thirty-seven other ultra high-performance AIs might aim for this weakness.”

  Arato kept a tight hold on her hand, guiding her along. Higgins’ storage areas were huge and full of empty space, and everything ahead seemed to grow dim as Arato considered what would happen if Methode showed up to block them at this moment.

  “I’m sorry for worrying you,” Lacia said, as if reading Arato’s thoughts. “I have created a countermeasure for a possible attack by Methode, and have put it in motion. However, depending on what action Methode chooses to take, the balance of the situation could easily be broken. I believe this may be our last good chance to repair the world outside this facility.”

  “You can handle Snowdrop as well?” Arato asked.

  “I was not expecting the other ultra high-performance AIs to utilize Lacia-class units to this extent,” Lacia admitted. “I’ve temporarily severed my connection to the network. It was getting too hard to maintain.”

  Normally Lacia would have tried to put on a brave face, but she didn’t seem to have the energy at that moment. That, more than anything, told Arato how serious things were.

  The scent of burning things flowed in with each breath, until Arato felt as though his lungs were full of it. After a moment the sprinklers kicked in, raining down water from the ceiling until the floor of the warehouse was slick.

  “I guess we’ve changed a little since we infiltrated the Oi building,” Arato commented, thinking back to that spring night. At the time, Arato had thought of Lacia as being a tool to use to fulfill his own desires. Since then, Arato had confessed his feelings to Lacia and the two of them had gone through so many things to arrive where they were right then. At that moment they were acting not for anyone else’s sake, but for their own future.

  In a world where people could outsource their hopes and dreams to others, Arato wanted to see Lacia as more than just a tool.

  His feet stopped. For how wide the warehouse floor was, there were a surprisingly small number of exits, aside from the freight elevator. Which was probably the reason Methode chose that spot to wait for them. As she heard them approach, she raised her orange-haired head.

  “I was waiting for you,” she said.

  “Yes, I know,” Lacia replied.

  Lacia, despite her inferior specifications, was the one who had gotten the drop on Methode, this time. Her pseudo-devices flew into a formation, protecting their path to the exit which Methode was guarding.

  Methode moved to stand directly in their way. That, apparently, was the trigger for Lacia’s trap. A blinding light lit up the room as though someone had set off a flashbang. Even a machine as fast as Methode couldn’t dodge light itself.

  Now blinded, Arato found himself panicking; if Methode attacked him in the chaos while he couldn’t see, he would make an easy target. But, when his vision cleared, he saw that Methode was still standing rigidly in front of the exit.

  “Again with these visual hacks,” she cursed.

  “I increased the amount of light in the room, then aimed for the moment when Methode was switching her optical elements; she has an opening, then,” Lacia explained, between heavy breaths. “She seems to have implemented some countermeasures since last time. However, thankfully her countermeasures were within my predictions.”

  Just like during the incident in Mitaka, Lacia had used optical attacks to stop Methode in her tracks. Through analog hacking, she was able to analyze Type-004’s visual equipment and render it temporarily useless with visual junk data.

  “Last time you had to use a support unit, but this time I didn’t see anything like that,” Methode said. “How the hell did you get it to only work on me?”

  Flames burst from both of Methode’s hands, as if they were physical manifestations of her anger. With the firepower from her device, she could reduce a human or even a large vehicle to ashes. She began lashing out with the fire at anything tha
t made a noise, obviously trying to make up for her handicap.

  Arato put his hands out in front of himself defensively. The roar and heat of the fire drowned out everything in his world. All fifteen of the remaining dummy devices formed up to block the all-engulfing flames.

  Even with her blazing orange eyes blinded, Methode was still a huge threat. “I may not be able to see you, but I can guess where you are. That should be enough to tag you,” she said, the corner of her mouth twisting up into a cruel smile. “You do realize that you’ll die as soon as you get near me, right?”

  With Lacia depending on him, Arato knew he had to move. He swept his eyes over the space around them. Other than the area where they were standing behind the wall created by the fifteen devices, all of the concrete flooring in the area was burning.

  “Come,” Arato ordered. One of the floating plates drifted over, sliding under his feet like a surfboard. With Lacia still leaning on him, he stumbled onto the plate, which lifted both of them into the air.

  The other floating shields joined them in a flying formation, as Arato and Lacia flew above the warehouse floor. Water from the ceiling sprinklers fell like rain. It was cool on Arato’s skin, and felt good after the heat of the flames.

  Methode continued to sporadically shoot flames in their direction, apparently whenever she managed to get a fix on their location.

  “Snowdrop is heading for Higgins too, right?” Arato asked Lacia. “How long till she reaches him?”

  Lacia was fighting many battles on diverse fronts, her attention and processing power spread out over all the various territories she was trying to protect. With most of her resources spent fending off the ultra high-performance AIs in the outside network, her physical body lay listlessly on the floating board.

  “Currently, Snowdrop is moving through the shortcut opened by Methode,” she replied. “However, once she reaches the warehouse floors, she will begin consuming the items stored there to rebuild her physical body.”