"Normal stories are fine. I told you that my world was so small, right? I'd like to know stories of normal folks."
Reji precedes his stories with "this might sounds boring but...". He talks about his school, friends bike and the members of Earthlight as they come into his mind. He doesn't have any special skills, but spends a satisfactory life. Still, a part of him believes he should do something about it. This might be for the revenge of Akimichi, but this could be for himself. These are the things that he talks about.
Akari nods with showing her interests as he talks.
"Hey, can I ask about you, Akari-san?"
"That's okay, but I've already told you almost everything I know."
"But to me, you and Akimichi are elite and unreachable. I'm interested in what you guys are thinking."
"Normal stuff. As I told you before, we are living in a small world."
"Is it? Well, okay... How about your dream?"
"Dream?"
"Yeah, dream. Do you have anything you would like to do in the future?"
"I'll become a researcher of psy-connect. It's not like that I want to be, but I will be."
"That's amazing. That must be your dream."
"I don't know what a dream is. I understand the meaning of the word, but it doesn't sink in. Mine seems more like a prospect of the future.
....I had a brother. He played the violin and tried to become a professional violinist, but he couldn't make it in the first class music world and took his life. I was only little around that time, I don't remember much about it, but now I think of it, it seems wrong. Even if you don't have the skills that are required for the thing you would like to do, the dream is useless. He could have lived not as a musician or a first class violinist, but he has given up.
.... Is dream that important?"
"It might have been that important to your brother."
"I don't get it. I'll do what I can with the ability that I've been given."
Reji wonders what people without that ability should do, but this question wouldn't solve the doubts or worries Akari has.
"Akimichi-san should have had a bright future. He could have been an amazing person that I can't even imagine, but he seemed depressed after getting dumped by his girlfriend. He said he didn't know what happiness was."
"....I feel bad for Kasuga-kun. That didn't happen if I hadn't said selfish thing like that."
"Don't worry. A-B-A-H-S did it."
"That's why I'm a part of the reason."
Akari whispers in a small voice and turns away.
"Hum? What did you say?"
"Nothing. So?"
"I'd like to avenge Akimichi-san. That's why I joined Earthlight. Being a member feels different from what I imagined. This isn't that scary. I feel like I can find something I can do here."
Competing against Clare, getting protected by Murase, with Junrock... I feel like I'm always having a fight, but Murase told that he has an excellent brain.
Earthlight is trying to provide technology to everyone evenly. I might be able to play a role in enriching people's lives.
"I see....It seems like you've been thinking about it."
"I have. I might seem stupid to you, but I'm trying to think. So, if you stay here, you might become able to talk about your dream comfortably."
"Well... I'll be on the producing side of the technology in the future, but that's for sure that I want everyone to use my invention."
"Yeah! That's right! Let's work here together."
"I'll think about it."
Reji and Akari look at each other's face and smiles.
"Akari is the living proof of the Diversity Screening experiment."
Junrock says at the breakfast table next day.
There are four people including Akari at the table. Junrock is worried about the condition of Akari's health, but she has enough appetite and there is nothing wrong with her digestive organs by detection of the family medical kit. Everyone eats together.
"Have you found any evidence, Junrock? Are there any marks in the genes?"
"I don't really know. I cannot tell any difference between her and other people with the medical scanner and simple DNA check. Her body seems normal, but nothing more. So, she has been chosen as a subject not by the scientific reasons but the political definition of the top management of Earthlight."
"What does it mean?"
"It's not important whether it's true or not. Akari is an important witness and a poor subject of DS experiment, which will support the activities of Earthlight."
"Are they erecting her into something more?"
"It's better not to put it that way. Hey, you."
Junrock points at Akari.
"Can I use your name and face?"
"Your tone sounds even nastier."
Akari gets everyone's attention and looks down.
"I... I'm fine with it. What's in it for me?"
"You would like to know a different world, right? We can show you the world that you've never seen, it's the reality of this world."
Akari's head droops even more. She picks up her head after thinking for a while.
"Sure. I'm in."
Clare raises a glass to make a toast. That simultaneously means that they welcome Akari as a member.
*****
[[ MEMORY OF STEEL 3 ]]
Let me give you the conclusion first. The experiment on the 4th-G has failed.
On the day of the experiment 7 years ago, the first destructive activity for Earthlight broke out. InITeO was the target. At that time, the riot police with P.E. didn't exist. The defensive facility of the research center was weak.
The experiment started slightly after 2:10 pm. I was checking everything that my assistants prepared. Dr. Toshihiro Sekiba and Dr. Kenji Sannomiya were just looking. I've known them since university. At that time I was dating Sannomiya. I hadn't told Sekiba about this clearly, but our relationship has been recognized as the established fact before I knew it.
The experiment started.
I lay in the cradle shaped-bed and attached the psy-connect adapter. I closed my eyes and called down my mind gradually. The psy-connect started.
I swam into the network ocean. The word "swam" isn't quite correct, but I don't know the other word to describe this. Here, every sense of the body disappears and only pure consciousness is active. You can connect to the outside. The receiver can see some image on a monitor and sounds. The speaker navigates the output circuit transferring the thing in the head into sounds, which is similar to the oral conversation. The sound transferring process and the output format are of course different from the psychical ones, but once you get used to the differences, it's easy to master.
I had a silly conversation with Sekiba and Sannomiya on the outside. The experiment was going well. As the start of the 4th-G experiment, the brain of my brain got scanned. The cranial nerves reacted to the fine electromagnetic wave that was tuned precisely. Each movement was sucked into to accumulation.
The self that has been separated by the 3rd-G connection is only the superficial consciousness and memory. It's like the thin surface skin of my body is peeled off. I float around the network in the thin skin and watch the left out body getting sucked in. This is a strange feeling.
I think about myself.
People with psy-connect ability tend to think they can live as long as their consciousness is alive. However, this is wrong. The more mind gets separated from the body, the more badly it wants the body. The real nature of the human belongs to the foundation of the physical body.
Suddenly the alarm goes off --- which is an abstracted sense. Precisely, the message of the alert has been released to the building network.
Sekiba and Sannomiya are doing their best to collect information from the outside.
Later, a deep explosive sound, which is similar to vibrations resonates several times in a row. Another several times after a short while.
I don't get what happened.
I colle
ct all the information of the building thoroughly through the security system. The half of the sensors on the first floor are dead. The other half of the information helps me to find out that invaders from the outside are destroying the facilities in the building. As time goes on, the sensors and the building network get more broken down. I'm still connected. To me, it feels like my limbs are wrenched off gradually.
I return my perception back to the lab. The room is on the verge of collapse. The sensors inside are going red. I can't tell what's going on.
My senses are going away.
I only have my consciousness, but I'm losing it.
Computers are supposed to be the foundation of the activity, but they are about to get crashed down. My consciousness flaws between the unstable network and the calculator device.
Several hours later, the system got restored and I regained my senses and consciousness.
The damage was enormous. Sannomiya died. Sekiba was given a diagnosis that takes 2 months for his injuries to be completely healed.
The most unfortunate news to me was that my body had been demolished.
In other words, I died then.
To be continued to Part 2.
About the Author
Masahiko Kimoto has received Ph.D. degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2014 in Internet Technology area.
He works on development of Network Switched, Routers, Middlewares and Applications as software engineer. He especially loves BSD UNIX.
Another his work is writing novels. He has published many SF and YA novels in Japan, and also published text book of UNIX system. He was awarded Famitsu Entame Award in 2006, Kinetic Novel Award in 2013.
Website: http://www.earthlight.jp/
Twitter: @masahiko_kimoto
Living with Memory of Steel (Part 1) Page 10