Sword Art Online - Volume 10 - Alicization Running Read online

  “Ability to react to a system.”

  “Situation assessment.”

  “Survival ability... I guess.”

  Asuna and Lyfa each raised many examples then seemed to realize something as they kept quiet. Sinon also seemed to realize something as she too nodded,

  “Hey, those are all situations in VRMMOs... the virtual world, right?”

  Sinon said, and Asuna tentatively gave a wry smile,

  “Actually, Kirito-kun in real life has lots of good points.”

  “Of course he does, like when he treats us to meals. But from a perspective outside of ours, Kirito in real life, I would say, is a very ordinary high school student, right? In other words, the motive behind that unreasonable action is the outstanding ability Kirito has in the virtual reality world, right?”

  “How can that be...? In other words, they want him to clear a certain VR game... But onii-chan is currently still unconscious. He hasn't even gone through a check up, let alone treatment. They can't do anything if he's abducted like that, right...?”

  Lyfa clasped her hands tightly as she again worried about Kirito's current condition. Sinon's blue eyes fell to the metallic table surface as she thought for a moment then she narrowed them sharply before answering,

  “Vague motive... Even though you say that, that's only what we can see from the outside. What if it's not via the brain, but by a machine that can connect directly to the soul...”

  “Ah...”

  Why didn't we think about it? Asuna was shocked as she sighed hard.

  “Well, if we consider it that way, the organization of the 'enemy' should have some clues. There's only one organization in the world that has a machine that can be connected to the soul, and Kirito acted as a test-diver for it a few days ago.”

  Asuna agreed with Sinon's words as she nodded her head and said,

  “...The organization that kidnapped Kirito-kun is the organization RATH that developed the Soul Translator...? It's true that our opponent might be able to mobilize an ambulance if they had the finances to make such a machine...”

  “RATH...? Is that the company onii-chan was working with for the past few days?”

  On hearing Lyfa's words, Asuna couldn't help but stiffen her body up,

  “Lyfa-chan, do you know the situation about RATH?”

  “Ah, no, the details are that... I heard that the company itself is in Roppongi.”

  “Since you say that, I think I have heard about them. But even when you say it's in Roppongi, isn't that too big an area... RATH's research center is in a particular place there, and Kirito may be inside. The police won't take action on their own, right?”

  Asuna watched Sinon bite her lips and Lyfa lowering her eyes in an uneasy manner, and said in a hesitant tone,

  “...Well, I wanted to say this later, so I didn't say it. in fact, there's still a small link of communication that's in contact with Kirito-kun, but there's a high chance that they broke the bond sometime ago...”

  “...What is it, Asuna?”

  “You said it before, didn't you, Sinonon. Kirito-kun's implant.”

  Asuna used the fingertips of her right hand to point at the center of her own chest.

  “Ah, I see... It's the vitality sensor, right? It's true that the information is sent through the net in realtime to your terminal, Asuna...”

  “Even though the signal is already severed, if we can track the fake ambulance's whereabouts during the time it delivered Kirito-kun, we might be able to figure out where he is now. That's what I'm thinking, so I'm requesting for it to be analyzed.”

  “...Who?”

  Asuna looked up at the sky and called a name out in place of an answer,

  “Yui-chan, how is it?”

  Immediately, particles of light appeared several millimeters above the surface of the table to form a little humanoid silhouette which after briefly glowing stronger, dissipated.

  What emerged was a girl less than 10 centimeters tall. She had long black hair and a white one-piece skirt on, and the 4 rainbow wings on her back fluttered slightly. The girl— a pixie, widened her eyes under her long eyelashes, and moved her adorable eyes slightly as she first turned towards Asuna, and then to Lyfa and Sinon. Of course, once she deduced that she was to answer Sinon first, she floated in the air and bowed.

  “Long time no see, Sinon-san.”

  Sinon was addressed by the clear gossamer voice as she showed a slight smile and nodded back,

  “Good evening, Yui-chan...no, I should say 'good morning' here.”

  “The time now is 4:32am. Sunrise is 4:32am today, so it can be assumed to be morning. Good morning, Lyfa-san, mama.”

  Yui, the player assistance AI that originated from the old SAO, turned 60 degrees to the side as she greeted, and again floated in front of Asuna.

  “The signal tracking on papa's pulse that was sent to mama's terminal is 98% complete.”

  “I see. If that signal came out from near Roppongi, the basis behind our guess will be strengthened... That's how it is, huh?”

  Asuna nodded hard at Sinon's words. Including Lyfa, the trio stared at Yui with very expectant looks.

  “Then, I'll pass my current analysis to everyone. It was hard to defend the portable end of the terminal, especially against the National Defense Medicine College hospital, Unfortunately, I can only tell that there were only 3 signals sent out.”

  After saying that, Yui quickly waved her right hand, and on the surface of the table under her bare feet, a watercolor hologram appeared, showing a detailed map of the center of Tokyo. Yui's wings stopped flapping as she landed, took a few small steps over and pointed to a part of the map. *Pon*. A red dot of light appeared.

  “This is the Setagaya General Hospital papa was sent to at first. This then is the place where the first signal was released.”

  She moved a few steps to a new spot of light.

  “Meguro Aobadai, Sanchome, the time was around 2026 29th June, 20.50pm. We can predict the path they took.”

  The two light spots were then extrapolated from with a white light trail. Yui moved a few steps to the southwestern side again, and a third spot of light indicated the location. The trail of light then stretched further.

  “The location where the second signal was fired was at Shirokanedai Minato-ku Ichome, and the time was around 21.10pm that day.”

  Isn't that a little too far south from Setagaya to Roppongi? Asuna thought with some uneasiness, but could only close her mouth and wait for Yui to finish.

  “And then... the third place where the signal was launched is here.”

  The trio's expectations' were severely stymied— Yui pointed at an artificial construction site far to the east from Roppongi.

  “Shinkiba, Koutou, Yonchome, the time was 21.50 that day. It was around 30 hours ago, the last time, before papa's signal was cut off.”

  “Shinkiba...!?”

  Asuna couldn't help but utter, then after thinking about it, there were many new intelligence buildings developed nearby there. There might be a second base of RATH located somewhere over there.

  “Yui-chan... What kind of facilities are there?”

  She asked as she felt her heart race, but the answer she got defied her guess.

  “The facility located over there is called the 'Tokyo Heliport'.”

  “Eh...? Isn't that, the launch site for helicopters?”

  Sinon muttered with a shocked expression, and Lyfa immediately changed her expression.

  “A helicopter!? ...That means... onii-chan was taken somewhere further away... Is that it?”

  “But... Wait.”

  Asuna continued to try and clear the confusion in her mind as she said,

  “Yui-chan, the signal was completely cut off after it was sent from Shinkiba, right?”

  “Yes...”

  At this moment, for the first time, the pixie Yui's adorable face was showing a melancholic look.

  “There's no sign of papa's monitor device connected to any
of the terminal stations in the whole of Japan.”

  “In that case... After he was taken in the helicopter from Shinkiba, he landed in some deep mountain where the electric signals of the terminal can't reach... Or the wilderness or something like that, right?”

  Sinon shook her head to deny Lyfa's words.

  “Even if it landed somewhere, there has to be some facility as the destination. They could first enter an area with the most advanced electronic interference then interchange at that point...”

  “What if it's not in Japan... but outside...”

  No one could immediately give an answer to Asuna's trembling voice.

  The only thing that broke that short silence was Yui's pristine and calm voice.

  “There's only one military helicopter that can fly from Tokyo to outside of the country. I can't be certain due to the lack of current data, but I feel that papa should still be somewhere within the country.”

  “Yeah. RATH is researching on something that can override the current virtual technology, right? It's an enterprise that's highly classified, so it's really hard to imagine the research facility being located outside the country.”

  On hearing Sinon's words, Asuna nodded in agreement. The combined Electronics Manufacturer her father lead was in turmoil because a corporate spy switched sides. The important research facilities were guarded very tightly like the Tama Hills. It was said that there had to be strict security on research facilities. If there were a lot of bases outside the country, the chances of information being revealed would definitely be greater than if it was within the country.

  Lyfa showed a look of deep thought, lowered her head and muttered,

  “Then... It's definitely somewhere inside Japan, far away from people, isn't it...? But can they really build such a secretive research facility in the current Japan?”

  “And it's not just on the scale of doing so secretly... Yui-chan, is there something you know about RATH?”

  The moment Asuna asked, Yui again floated into the air, stopped at the height of the trio's stares, and said,

  “I used 12 public and 3 private search engines to begin my search, but I couldn't find any suitable match regarding the enterprise's name, facility's name or even VR technical related items. Also, I couldn't find any information regarding the technology on the 'Soul Translator', including the completion of a patent request.”

  “They didn't even submit a patent for such a great invention that can read a person's soul and record them... It really is a tightly guarded secret...”

  It looks like we won't be able to find any openings from outside of RATH. Asuna sighed, and Sinon shook her head blankly.

  “For some reason... It's like we're wondering whether the enterprise actually exists. If I had known, I would have asked Kirito more about it... Did he mention any hints that might help us the last time we met...?”

  “Umm...”

  She frowned and tried desperately to rummage through her memories. Kanemoto's attack and the suspicion of abduction shocked her really hard, and the peaceful conversation she had in the Dicey Café before that seemed to be covered by a fog, like the distant past.

  “At that time, it's true that... we were talking constantly about the Soul Translator, and before we knew it, evening had fallen. After that... I think he did mention a bit about how the name RATH came about...”

  “Ahh... There's a monster that's either a pig or a turtle in 'Alice in Wonderland'. It's a little weird to say that though, since a pig doesn't look like a turtle.”

  “Lewis Carroll who created this name didn't seem to specify what it was, and the subsequent analysis on Alice seemed to define it that way...”

  Asuna sensed something flash by her mind, and as she spoke, she suddenly stopped.

  “Alice...? Did Kirito-kun say anything about Alice when he exited the shop?”

  “Eh?”

  Sinon and Lyfa, who had been keeping quiet, widened their eyes.

  “Does onii-chan have something to do with Alice in Wonderland?”

  “No, that's not it... At the RATH research facility, isn't Alice some sort of shortened form or something... Well, it's common, right? Take out the first letters of each related term and combine them to form another meaning...”

  “That's the so-called 'Acronym' right? The departments related to the American government often do that to make it easier to read.”

  Sinon chimed in with extra tidbits of information, and Lyfa shook her ponytail as she said,

  “In other words... If we combine the 5 letters, we'll get A, L, I, C, E... like that?”

  “Yeah, that's it. Yes, Kirito-kun did mention...”

  She gathered her concentration with all her strength, and deep within her ears, Kirito's ever-familiar voice rang. She cautiously described,

  “...Aateifisharu...Reibiru...Interijen... I can't recall what C and E were for, but I think that's what A, L and I stand for.”

  Asuna finally articulated as she felt her head ache slightly, perhaps because she also squeezed out the substance of her memories. However, the other two continued to think while looking like they did not notice.

  “Aateifisharu... That would be 'artificial'. Interijen...ce, that would be 'intelligence'... Then what's an English term for Reibiru?”

  Sinon raised her question, and Yui, who was in the air, immediately answered.

  “From the pronunciation, I think the most suitable term should be 'labile', very adaptive.”

  After a short pause.

  “'Artificial Labile Intelligence'. If we translate it, it would mean 'A highly adaptive Artificial Intelligence'.”

  “Artificial...Intelligence.”

  Asuna could not help but blink as this term popped out without a reaction.

  “Ahh I see... Artificial Intelligence would mean 'AI', something related to your existence, Yui. But what has a company that's developing a brand new Brain-Machine Interface got to do with AIs?”

  “Doesn't it refer to characters that can move within virtual space? Like that NPC over there?”

  Sinon lifted her right hand and pointed at the window as she said that. Asuna continued to speak, as she thought they had not yet grasped the main point.

  “But... If this company RATH originated from 'Alice In Wonderland', then if the term 'Alice' RATH uses is a codeword for something related to Artificial Intelligence... Wouldn't that be strange? That means that company's aim isn't to develop the next generation VR interface, but to produce AIs from their research?”

  “Hmm— Is that so...? But the NPCs inside games aren't really valuable... The disk-use AI programs are mostly sold everywhere. Is it really something special, that there's a need to hide the enterprise and even abduct someone?”

  The moment Sinon asked that, Asuna could not answer immediately. For every step she took forward, there was an annoying feeling of hitting a wall. Is our guess a complete mistake? Terrified, Asuna still hoped to find some sort of a clue as she lifted her head to ask Yui,

  “Hey, Yui-chan. What is 'Artificial Intelligence' anyway?”

  Yui then showed a rare bitter smile on her face and landed on the table.

  “Are you sure you want to ask me, mama? To mama, it's like asking 'what are humans'..”

  “That's true.”

  “Strictly put, such a definition like 'This is an Artificial Intelligence' is impossible. In this world, a real Artificial Intelligence has never existed, whether in the past or the present.”

  Yui leaned slightly on the edge of the teapot, and her words caused the trio to all blink their eyes in shock.

  “Eh, bu-but... You're an AI, right, Yui-chan? That means you're an Artificial Intelligence, right?”

  Lyfa stammered as she said, and Yui tilted her head, keeping quiet like a teacher who was thinking of how to explain to her students, nodded a bit, then started explaining,

  “Let's start from what we have called an AI before— In the last century, the people who developed AIs were aiming for a common goal
through two paths. One of them is the 'top-down-type AI', and the other is called the 'bottom-up-type AI'.

  Asuna pricked up her ears, trying her best to understand the content of the pure and innocent voice that the delicate girl spoke in.

  “First, regarding the top-down AI, it's a kind that purely relies on the existing computer architecture to accumulate experience through simple questions and answers, ultimately becoming a real intellectual through learning. Including me, most AIs are all top-down-type, so that means... the 'knowledge' I have now may look similar to yours, mama, but it in fact is something completely different. To put it directly, an existence like mine is just a collection of a system that can only 'Hear a question A and reply with B'.”

  Yui said that as her clear white cheeks showed some signs of loneliness. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Asuna thought.

  “If, how mama asked me 'What is an AI?', and how I immediately showed a 'bitter smile' or some variation like that, that would be because papa mostly made such an expression, and I gained experience and learned it when I am asked about myself. The basis itself is not really that different from the predictive text app in mama's portable terminal —because of this, the top-down-type AIs as they currently stand are nowhere near the level of being a real AI. This is the 'so-called AI' I just explained to Lyfa-san, so please understand it like that.”

  After saying that, Yui turned her eyes to the distant moon outside the window.

  “...Now, I'll explain about the other kind, the 'bottom-up AI'. This is similar to your brain, mama... everyone has billions upon billions of brain cells that are all interconnected within a biological organ, and the aim is to recreate this through artificial electronic devices to create awareness.”

  That's really too ambitious... a concept that's completely absurd. Asuna could not help but mutter.

  “Is...Isn't that too preposterous...?”

  “Ehh.”

  Yui immediately nodded her head in agreement.

  “As far as I know, the bottom-up type was a path that was discontinued before they even planned the experiment. If it is actually realised, the awareness that would actually reside within it would be different from my kind, an existence that should really be on the same level as humans like you, mama, everyone...”