03x06 - Project Alicization

[bunniefuu]

Where's Kirito?

What'd I tell you?

That kid's this project's biggest security hole.

Yes. You were right.

Is Kirito safe?

Were you lying
when you said you could treat him?

Please answer me, Mr. Kikuoka!

Because of the att*ck by the fugitive
from the Death g*n incident,

Kirito's brain sustained damage
that modern medicine is unable to heal.

However...

Rath is the only place in the world
that has the technology to treat him.

I'm sure you've heard of it.

The STL... the Soul Translator.

If we use the STL
to directly stimulate his Fluctlight,

we can induce the generation
of a new neural network.

But it takes time.

Right now, Kirito is inside a full-spec STL,
which can only be found here.

The treatment he's getting
rivals that of any major hospital.

He even has his own personal nurse.

I understand. I'll believe you for now.

All right, if we've come this far,
why don't you just tell us everything, Mr. Kikuoka.

Such as why an SDF official like you
would use the Ministry as a front,

what are you plotting here,

and why you needed Kirigaya?

If you're asking that,
I'm going to have you help me.

I'll decide after I hear your answer.

Well, then, may I assume
you're both familiar with the concept of the STL?

It's a machine that reads a human soul,
their Fluctlight,

and allows them to dive into a virtual world
indistinguishable from reality.

Correct.

But I don't think you know
what this project's objective is.

Objective?

To create a bottom-up
multi-purpose artificial intelligence.

Project Alicization

A bottom-up multi-purpose artificial intelligence?

There are two approaches
to developing artificial intelligence.

One is top-down.

Wherein you program the artificial intelligence
with experience and knowledge,

so that in the end
it will learn to replicate true intelligence.

Including the research of Dr. Shigemura,
who'd been working with us here,

almost everything considered an artificial intelligence
right now uses the top-down approach.

But a top-down type can't react appropriately
to anything it hasn't learned about.

In other words, at this time they haven't
evolved enough to be called true intelligence.

Next, bottom-up artificial intelligence.

This is the human brain.

It involves artificially replicating the construct

of a biological organ comprised
of one hundred billion linked brain cells,

and generating intelligence there.

Is such a thing possible?

Until now, it was thought to be impossible.

But the Soul Translator can scan a human soul,

the quantum field we call the Fluctlight.

And to store almost the same amount of data
as a human brain,

we've developed the Light Quantum Gate Crystal,
aka the Lightcube, as a medium.

Which means it can be used to copy a Fluctlight?

Correct.

We have, in fact,
succeeded in replicating the human soul.

Then why did you need to summon me
at this point?

Because, foolishly enough, we'd missed something.

The fact that an unbelievably vast
and deep chasm exists

between a copy of the human soul
and a true artificial intelligence.

Higa.

Show them "that."

Huh? We're doing that again?

Is the sampling done?

Yeah. Everything completed with no problems.

Glad to hear it. But it's pitch-black,
and I can't move my body.

Is this a glitch with the STL?
Sorry, but can you let me out of the machine?

Unfortunately, but I can't do that.

Hey, what the hell?
What are you talking about?

Who are you?
Your voice doesn't sound familiar.

I'm Higa. Takeru Higa.

No way! What do you mean? I'm Higa!
You'll know once I get out of the STL!

Calm down. Don't get worked up.

That's not like you.

You may be a copy, but you're Takeru Higa.

You calmly accept situations—

I'm the same as ever!

If I'm a copy, then I should feel like one!
This... This isn't...

No! Let me out of here!
Let me out of this thing!

You need to calm down.

You're aware of the danger to your Fluctlight
if you lose the capacity for rational thought.

I am being rational!

All right, then why don't I race that imposter there
by reciting the digits of pi?

. ....

And he's collapsed. One minute, eight seconds.

There's a limit to bad taste.

I apologize for that.

But now you see
why I could only explain it by showing you.

Including myself,
we've copied the Fluctlights of over ten people,

and not a single one could bear the thought
of being a copy.

If full copies are out of the question,
what should we do?

What should you do?

Raise them from the start?

Could it be...

That's right.

Copy the souls of newborn infants and raise them.

But what kind of environment
would you raise them in?

You can't create an exact copy of the real world.

Yes, that's impossible. But we realized something.

Plenty of perfect solutions
already exist on the network.

VRMMO worlds.

You got that right.

Using the Seed, we created small villages
and surrounding landscapes,

and converted them for STL use.

In the very first town we created,

four members of the Rath staff raised soul archetypes,
that is, AI infants, to the age of .

These youths grew up quickly.

Although we call them artificial Fluctlights
for convenience,

the way they turned out
was more than satisfactory.

They were all very obedient and upstanding.

When they were joined in marriage,
we gave them babies,

in other words,
new soul archetypes for them to raise.

And after accelerating time in their world by , ,
there were more and more generations,

and by the time weeks,
or years in their world, had elapsed,

a massive society
with a population of , had emerged.

But at that level, that's a civilization simulation.

That's true, huh?

At this time, years have already passed
in that world,

and the population of the capital, Centoria,
has reached , .

At this time, the artificial Fluctlights have matured
into the bottom-up AIs that we'd hoped for.

So we were thrilled
to be able to move on to the next phase.

However...

That's when we noticed a certain major issue.

Issue?

A governing body called the Axiom Church
had created laws known as the Taboo Index.

Taboo Index?

It contained, for example, a law forbidding m*rder,
like we have in the real world.

But just by watching the news,
it's clear how often humans violate such laws.

However, the Fluctlights obey those laws.

Obey them excessively, you could say.

This town is beautiful, and far too perfect.

There isn't a piece of garbage on the streets,
and not a single thief.

Needless to say,
no m*rder has ever been committed.

And how is that an issue?

Could it be that your objective...

...is to create AIs capable of m*rder?

Both Kirito and I guessed that
the reason for your interest in VRMMOs

was because the technology could be applied
to police work and SDF training. But...

This project is far too ambitious.

For an SDF official like yourself
to attempt something of this scale...

What you want is to build AIs capable
of k*lling enemy soldiers in battle.

Isn't that the reason?

Is that true, Mr. Kikuoka?

Five years ago,

when the NerveGear was announced,

it struck me.

This technology had the potential
to upend the very notion of w*r.

Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications

When the SAO incident occurred,

I volunteered to transfer to the Ministry,
and joined the task force.

I did all that
so I could get this project off the ground.

It took me five years to finally get to this point.

Why did you decide to take part in this project, Higa?

Well, actually,
my motive was a bit more personal.

I was friends with this guy
when I was a student at a college in Korea.

And he d*ed while serving in the army.

And so I thought...
even if this world is never rid of w*r,

at least if people never had to die anymore, then...

I know it's a pretty childish reason.

But you haven't spoken a word of this to Kirito.

What makes you think that?

If you had talked to him about it,
he never would've agreed to help you.

There's one crucial point of view
missing from your story.

And that is?

The rights of the artificial intelligences.

These so-called artificial Fluctlights
have the same cognitive abilities as humans, right?

It's not as if they have physical bodies.

But they're no different than living beings.

Forcing them to k*ll or be k*lled as tools of w*r...

Kirito would never play a part in that!

Never.

It's not like I don't understand
what you're saying.

But to me, the lives of , artificial intelligences
are worth far less than a single SDF soldier's.

Anyway, why did you need Kirigaya?

Why would you use him at the risk
of leaking something so highly confidential?

Oh, right. I was telling you all this
to help me explain that.

Why are the artificial Fluctlights
unable to disobey the Taboo Index?

That's when I came up with a certain experiment.

If we were to block all of a real human's memories,

revert him to childhood
and have him grow up in the virtual world,

would the subject be able
to disobey the Taboo Index?

To carry out this experiment, we needed a subject
who was used to moving in a virtual world.

And not just a week or a month's worth,
but experience amounting to years.

You understand now, don't you?

I can't believe
my brother got involved in something like that.

Sunday, July , Sylvain

Do you think it's okay to trust Mr. Kikuoka?

I really hope he's not hiding anything else.

So we're just going to have to trust
that the STL treatment will work, huh?

Hey, so about Kirito and this... uh...
this Taboo Index? What happened with that?

There was a boy and girl
who used to play with Kirito,

and it seems like it was the girl
who broke the Taboo Index.

You mean she was influenced by Kirito?

Yes.

And what she broke
was "accessing a restricted address."

We confirmed the death of another Fluctlight
in the girl's view in the restricted address.

Most likely, she tried to help him.

In other words, this girl prioritized
someone else's life over the Taboo Index.

That's precisely what we've been seeking.

That's a lovely story, but...

If only it wasn't a study on weapons to k*ll people.

I agree. But I'm amazed by what that girl did.

After all, it's not easy to overcome yourself.

Does that girl have a name?

Yes.

Alice?

Right. That was the name of the girl in question.

I was blown away by the staggering coincidence.

Because "Alice" is also the name of the concept
that became the foundation of the overall project.

Concept?

A highly-adaptive autonomous artificial intelligence.

In English, that would be Artificial Labile
Intelligence Cybernated Existence.

The initials form the acronym ALICE.

Our ultimate goal was
to convert an artificial Fluctlight into an ALICE.

Welcome to our Project Alicization.

That sounds so complicated.

I don't quite understand everything, either,

but they said that if they had saved
the Fluctlight of this girl, Alice,

their research would've made huge advances.

Meaning that...

Remember how I said that in the virtual world,
time passes at an amazing speed?

Yeah.

So by the time they noticed,
two days had gone by in the virtual world,

and that girl's Fluctlight had already been corrected
by the Axiom Church.

Corrected?

I thought the Fluctlights only observed each other,
but they were given that kind of authority?

They said that, normally,
it wouldn't have been possible.

But a number of the artificial Fluctlights
wield the "sacred arts,"

which are system access rights
in the form of magic,

so they think
they might've found some kind of loophole.

Sorry! I have to go back.

You have something to do?

They said that they'd let me see Kirito sleeping.
It's almost time for that.

Tell us later how he looked, all right?

He's inside a machine,
so I might not get to see his face.

This one's unit four.

And that one's unit five.

Prototype one and unit six, now under construction,
are at the Roppongi branch,

while two and three are installed
in the lower shaft.

Ms. Aki!

What are you doing here?

Taking care of Kirigaya, of course.

But I thought you were a nurse
at a hospital in Chiyoda Ward.

Were you pretending, just like Mr. Kikuoka?

Of course not.

Unlike that old man, I'm an actual nurse.

It's just that the school I graduated from

is the Tokyo Self-Defense Force
Higher School of Nursing.

I am Sergeant First Class Natsuki Aki.

I pledge to protect young Kirigaya, life and limb,
with full responsibility!

And so on!

I'm counting on you, then.

Right. Just leave it to me.

Kirito is coming back, isn't he?

Of course.

Kirito's Fluctlight is vital and active
inside the treatment program, even as we speak.

And besides, we're talking about the hero
who cleared SAO, right?

Ms. Asuna?

There's something I need to tell you.

No... not just you.

It's something I should confess
to all former SAO players.

You already know that
during the SAO incident,

Akihiko Kayaba and I were hiding
in the mountains of Nagano?

I had a micro-b*mb implanted in my chest.

Because of that, for two years,

I was forced to collaborate with him
on his terrifying project.

But that wasn't really true.

I was well aware
that the b*mb would never go off.

The w*apon he implanted in me was a deception
so I wouldn't be charged with any crimes.

It was the only present he gave me.

Apparently, by the time he got into
Toto Institute of Technology,

Kayaba was already
the head of development at Argus,

but I didn't know anything about that,

all I could see was a scrawny kid who was a shut-in,
immersed in his research.

You gotta step outside once in a while,
or no ideas'll ever come to ya!

I need to come up with a way
to emulate the feeling of natural light on the skin.

Although I began dating Kayaba,

I couldn't figure out
why he never pushed me away.

Well, from the start...

...I was the one who...

Mass m*rder in Popular VRMMO Game?

Akihiko Kayaba ( ) Suspect

...didn't know anything about him.

When I went to his mountain lodge,
it wasn't because I wanted to be his accomplice.

I...

...intended to k*ll Kayaba.

But... I'm sorry, Ms. Asuna.

I...

...couldn't k*ll him.

Kayaba knew I was armed with a Kn*fe.

He only said, "What am I going to do with you?"
like he always did,

and then he went back to Aincrad.

I... I...

Neither Kirito nor I have ever blamed you for that.

In fact, I'm not even sure if I really bear a grudge
against the commander, Akihiko Kayaba.

It's true that a lot of lives were lost
in that incident.

The commander's crime isn't something
that can ever be forgiven.

But... I know it sounds really selfish...

but that short time I spent living with Kirito
in that world...

I'm sure I'll always look back on it
as the best days of my life.

Just as the commander did something wrong,
so have I, and Kirito, too...

And Ms. Rinko,
you've also done something wrong.

But it's not as if we can make amends,
even if we're punished for it.

It could be that
we'll never see the day we're forgiven.

Even still, we have to continue to face
what we've done.

Really, what am I going to do with you?

Coming all the way here?

What's going on?
It's still early in the morning...

Was that...

...a dream?

Next time: Swordcraft Academy.