“But aren’t you copying it now?”
“Yes, I am. That’s why it’s a question of what’s going to take longer— renewing the whole system and exposing all the data, or adjusting all the information and copying it to traffic media.”
Putting their hands in the system would probably guarantee a better quality of work. But there was a problem. If they altered the mainframe, all of the information stored in there would, for a moment, be exposed. Information about children under ten wasn’t given to the police, and beyond that, there was no small amount of top secret information the details of which couldn’t be publicized collected on the mainframe. In addition, once the system had been altered, it took as long to return it to its original state. Shizue was no expert, but she knew enough to know that a serious mix-up during that brief moment of exposure wouldn’t be unheard of.
Data leaks from everywhere. That much was determined in the 2030s. Copyright and trademarks, privacy…None of it was protected by ethics or morals. If you wanted to protect something, never save it as electronic data.
Ultimately, people depended on things.
There were supposedly old people who had homes packed full of paperwork from the past, but was that how it was all going to end?
People needed concrete objects.
“The police just decided it would cause too many problems, so they want to put everything on discs,” Shizue said, as it was too complicated to explain the rest.
“I don’t know about that,” Kunugi replied, unimpressed. “That seems…oh I don’t know. I’m not good with words. I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” Shizue replied.
The truth didn’t bother her.
Things like words were good when communicating something. The issue was that the words actually had to say something. Shizue’s problem was that there were so many idiots who didn’t. Saying something politely didn’t make it all right either. Things like vocal tone were displayed on-screen through things like typeface, but that had nothing to do with meaning.
Kunugi had no doubt heard things about Shizue from either that guy Ishida or the area policemen near Yokota.
I bet they told him I’m a frigid bitch.
“As you can tell, I’m an awkward cop, plus, I was at the police academy before the turn of the century, so I’m from the old century in every way. So you see, with young people like yourself…There I go again. That’s harassing language isn’t it. Well, unlike those of you who were born this century, I’m totally inept with current technology.”
“I’m no specialist either.”
“I’m sure. But still, when I was young, old men my age didn’t even know what a computer was. I was often asked what they were for. But I didn’t know how to answer. All I could say was that it could be used for anything. But if it can do everything, then you need it to be efficient before you can understand it. It was simple. When I became a cop, the Internet and the something something revolution still caused a commotion.”
“Was that wrong?”
“Wrong?”
“Computers were viewed strangely for too long,” Shizue said. “Clearly the excessive illusions about computer technology wrought confusion at one point, and society thereafter attempted to adapt midcourse, and these thoughts overflow in this generation of people who can’t let go of their outmoded ideas.”
“Our generation,” Kunugi said.
Shizue pointed at the edge of the keyboard with her index finger.
“You think too hard about this everyday technology. You still believe computers can do everything. These are all programmed machines. They can only do a set number of things.”
“I’m sure that’s right, but is that all?”
“Of course. It goes without saying scissors are good for cutting paper, but you can’t use scissors to suture paper. Similarly, the best accounting software can’t make music. Computers are nothing more than calculators. It’s a system built to do the math necessary to accomplish a task. If humans were able to do several calculations at once there’d be no need for computers. No matter how grand the calculation, nothing but cutlery can cut paper.”
Kunugi’s lips creased at the corners. Hmm, he muttered.
“What I mean is, those old men from when you were young were already right on about the purposes of computers.” Shizue spoke as calmly as she could, then returned her gaze to the screen. It was more settling.
The download status bar gave no sign of movement. Only 10 percent of the work was finished. This would take at least another half hour.
More specifically, it would be another 1,820 seconds.
Shizue just had to sit there and silently wait.
It was that kind of work.
And Kunugi’s job was to watch Shizue sit there and silently wait. Otherwise there was no point in him being here. Cooperation was a pretext. There was no need for two people to do this very basic work.
She could think of only one reason this boring old man who had no data-mining knowledge or technology was sitting next to her. To make sure Shizue didn’t tamper with or eliminate any data. She was sure of it.
Out of her peripheral vision Shizue could see packaging that had been folded over several times sitting on top of the disc. Kunugi must have been really bored. If he was really just watching over her, then he was certainly bored. Shizue herself was bored, and she was actually doing the work.
“Maybe it is just an illusion,” Kunugi said. “This hard drive is meant for copying this, right? I was just thinking, isn’t this taking too long? If we’ve only gotten this far, there must be some other way, right?”
“Isn’t it always like this?” Shizue looked back at her screen.
“I feel like it used to be faster.”
“Used to be…You mean circa FDs and MOs?”
“Yeah. You don’t see that anymore. We still had them when I was in school. Recording methods have changed since then I guess.”
Kunugi resumed fiddling with the packaging between his fingers.
“Recoding methods in and of themselves haven’t changed much from the past, but compression technology has advanced leaps and bounds. Obviously, there was less information to have to move in older media. Of course it transferred faster.”
“Hmm, so the disc format is considered old now?” Kunugi asked.
“Changes in format take a long time. The diffusion of hard drives is not complete, so for now, discs are still being used.”
“So we have no choice then,” Kunugi threw out, and the police officer shrank as he watched Shizue continue to work.
“Well, I’m just sitting here, so I guess it’s fine.”
“I’m just thinking this must be annoying for you,” Kunugi added.
“Me?”
“Weren’t you unhappy about this assignment? You look annoyed.”
“Please don’t judge me by appearances,” Shizue said coolly. “I’m always like this.”
If he saw through her it was because she was annoyed.
The cop furrowed his brow. “I’m sorry if I’m wrong. I can’t know what’s going on inside, so all I have is the outward appearance. I asked precisely because I didn’t know. Sorry.”
How awfully polite. Made things hard.
“Well, honestly I was just trying to lead in to asking if you wanted some tea or something. I can’t get used to all this.”
After assuring herself that the download status bar was in fact moving, Shizue turned her gaze toward the nondescript man. As soon as they made eye contact, Kunugi broke his gaze from Shizue and went into a tizzy.
“Oh, no, I mean, I’ll get it. What do you want?” he said.
“I’m fine. This is my workplace. You just wanted tea, then?”
“Is there any Japanese tea?”
“Flavonoid drinks are popular right now,” Shizue said as she stood from her seat. She didn’t usually pour tea for anyone besides herself. And she’d also never taken the same drink as someone else. That was because she didn�
��t feel like drinking something someone else made. It wasn’t as though Shizue was worried about being poisoned or anything, but she felt that one could never be too sure.
As she poured tea into a disinfected rental cup for visitors, she sensed the haze lifting.
The way he’s behaving…is he…
Kunugi must have been what they called a gopher, responsible for getting tea, at his workplace. For some reason, the term gopher was used derisively in organizations. Shizue didn’t know why. What it was about bringing tea that merited discrimination she would never know.
When Shizue returned with the tea she found Kunugi sitting in her chair and making a confused face at the monitor.
Not that staring at it improved the quality of the work or anything.
“Oh, sorry.”
The cop scrambled up. Maybe he’s easier to get along with than I thought, Shizue thought.
However, Shizue detected what looked like a fingerprint on the armrest of her chair. “It’s fine,” she snapped, as she wiped down the armrest with a disinfectant wipe. The chair she’d picked out because it was easy to clean was made of synthetic leather, but that made keratin stand out all the more. If it were lined in fabric she wouldn’t have noticed.
“Germophobe, eh?”
“That’s normal. Lately anyone who isn’t is called a germophile.”
“That’s what I am then,” Kunugi said. He sipped his tea.
“It says there’s another twenty minutes left.”
“Looks like it.”
He must be around my father’s age, Shizue got to thinking.
“You want to have a real conversation while we wait?”
Shizue looked Kunugi in the face and said half aggravated, “Aren’t you supposed to supervise me?” Just when she’d started to warm up to him he had to go and do something like this. She had to admit she’d been played with a little.
“You know…” Kunugi shrank again. “I know that talking about private matters in public is considered offensive, but I want to say something knowing as much. I’m single. When I say ‘real conversation’ it’s not a joke. What would you do if I really did it? If it’s a joke, it’s a joke, and it’s sexual harassment. And yeah, I’m definitely here to supervise you, but that’s because it’s been a while, and people like me don’t often get the chance to be this close to women your age. And if I might add, the prefectural police don’t think you’re going to do anything dishonest here.”
“Is that right?” Shizue said. “I’m sure you’re well aware, but I was strongly opposed to having the private data on minors be handed over to the police. And now I’m the sole person responsible for copying that data. It’s so obvious. For example, you don’t think it’s completely possible that information that could raise suspicion with the police can be tampered with?”
“Of course not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I am positive.”
“Why?”
“I have proof.”
“Proof? There’s no way.”
“No, I do. If they truly thought you were capable of committing such a crime, they wouldn’t have stuck a useless old man like me with you.”
Then Kunugi laughed. “My head stopped evolving around twenty years ago. You could be performing some operation through those keys, but I don’t have the knowledge to discern that. If I asked what you were doing and you told me a lie, I’d have no way of knowing. I would not be able to stop you. I’m a useless middle-aged man. I’m sure the longer I sit here the more unpleasant it’ll become for you.”
“Unpleasant…”
Was that what it looked like?
She couldn’t deny it.
“You looked really unhappy,” the cop said. “Of course, once again, that’s based simply on what I see. Well, that’s the only reason I could come up with for being transferred here, which in other words just means I’m here to bother you. The fact that they want to bother you at all must mean someone doesn’t quite have positive feelings about you, but they definitely don’t suspect you.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s like that,” Kunugi tied up. He made a weird face and sipped more tea.
“Mmm, this tea is good,” he said, very deliberately.
It tastes the same everywhere.
It was just something that came out of a dispenser.
Because so many people sued for cases of dysosmia and hypergeusia, food products of late had enhanced flavors and smells. It was all a little acidic for Shizue’s taste.
After a brief silence, Kunugi asked, “You were really that opposed to this?”
“What do you mean ‘that opposed’?”
“Well, you just said you thought the police doubted you because you were so opposed to their plan. Is that a way of saying you’re tired of doubting your own pupils?”
“No, it…isn’t.”
Shizue immediately regretted having answered such an off-kilter question so earnestly.
“I’m just a counselor.”
She went on. “There are no longer such things as educators. Proctors help with specialized subjects, and supervisors are responsible for teaching basic social mores and rules. There are staff for running communication courses, but I’m sure that will be phased out soon.”
“So you’re telling me there are no more educators.”
“I’m saying the word ‘education’ no longer connotes teaching and fostering. It has negative connotations of discipline and organization. Looking at past data it seems the word had a broader meaning before, but even so, by the end of the twentieth century it was no longer clear what was being taught, regardless of the methodologies used.”
“I wasn’t taught how to live either,” Kunugi said. “I certainly didn’t like my teachers. I don’t know about before my time, though.”
“With no one learning anything, using the word ‘student’ was silly too. ‘Teacher’ is a weird word too. I don’t think ‘teacher’ originally signified the primacy of older age, but that’s the meaning it took on. There’s nothing guaranteeing an older person is inherently superior.”
“I guess that’s a form of age discrimination.”
Well, yes.
“For about ten years, all kinds of contradictions erupted, and these arcane educational pedagogical systems collapsed. Concurrently, the term ‘education’ was banned. Today, minors are all children—they are only recognized as such by the different rights and responsibilities they bear.”
“I don’t really understand. Well, I’m the one always lectured on profession-based human rights issues, but clearly things are different from the past. When I was young, there were laws protecting young people, but…” Kunugi paused. “What am I trying to say here? W-well…” The policeman stammered.
“You’re confusing the issue,” Shizue said. “I know what you are trying to say. I’m no youth rights revivalist. There is no clear delineation between children and adults, so it’s no one’s right to make them up. Whether you have knowledge or experience or superior physical function isn’t determined by age or gender, so to create arbitrarily separate groups based purely on age is problematic. I realize this will seem like a gross exaggeration, but to say a minor can’t have a criminal record is in principle the same as denying a woman’s right to vote.
You’re having to protect and shelter both, but beyond just protecting basic human rights lies responsibility.”
“So what don’t you like about all this?” Kunugi asked. “I mean, what is so important to oppose now, to the extent that you hate the police?”
“Why are you asking such questions of me?”
“Hmm…”
Kunugi put his empty cup down on the desk and brought his right hand to his chin.
“If I had to identify the problem…In brief, there are no guidelines as to how we are to use this data we’re accumulating.”
Obviously.
That was because it was illegal.
“How to use it then?” he s
aid.
“Using this data will produce terrible results. I think it’s a popular delusion fostered by people born in the twentieth century.”
The policeman smiled weakly and pointed at his face. “You mean me.”
Unable to confirm or deny, Shizue went on. “The data itself has no meaning. The data is nothing more than organized numbers and signs. No data has any meaning at all. If we find meaning in data it’s because the people using the data are determined to find meaning. The same information can be interpreted differently by different people. Various meanings can hence be derived from the same information. The question is which meaning will we adhere to, and then what shall we do with that information. Ultimately, the result is influenced by the people using it.”
“You say it would be used badly.”
“I’m sure at the very least the police wouldn’t do anything bad with it.”
Shizue was just being sarcastic, but Kunugi said with a completely straight face, “Of course.”
“Today’s police force spends most of its time looking for criminal usage of data. Two-thirds of the entire police force is dedicated to protecting information exchange. As I’ve already made clear, I’m just a lug in this department, but this data we’re looking at—isn’t it just records on children? I can’t imagine how it could be misused.”
“I can’t imagine anything but it being misused.”
“You’re suggesting the police would misuse it?”
“This isn’t just information about children’s lives. In this drive is contained information necessary for the mental care of minors. Information about their performance in classrooms, obviously home environment, likes, dislikes, hobbies, changes in habits, physical characteristics, exhaustive medical records, dream records…everything has been databased. That’s why there’s so much to be downloaded.”
Kunugi looked beyond Shizue at the screen. She continued, “The police are going to try to suss out a suspect from this information.”
“No, they’re trying to create a profile of a hypothetical perpetrator…or that’s what they’re saying.”
“That’s even worse.”
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