“Sure thing. All right, everyone, let’s buckle down!”

  The investigators got to work.

  Once they were done inspecting the area, Ezio returned to the warehouse alone and started putting his teammates in body bags. Partway through, he received a clandestine call.

  Hello, comrade, said the person on the other end. Status report?

  The composure with which Ezio responded belied the grief and sorrow on his face. I’m in the middle of recovering our other comrades now.

  Understood. How’s the progress in the factory district?

  The investigation’s still underway, but I already think it’s a lost cause. We won’t be able to proceed any further—at least, I can say for sure that investing any more of our resources into this area would be a waste.

  Your proof? said the other person.

  I trust you know already that the hunters killed by the factory sentries were carried away from the scene, and that someone took control of their corpses afterward.

  Yes, I’m aware.

  Well, this didn’t happen to us. That Monica woman probably ordered the factory’s system to carry away the corpses of any trespassers. But we were exempted from that—I think the system didn’t recognize us as human.

  An arrogant decision on its part, then.

  Or maybe it just wasn’t smart enough to understand the difference between us and regular machines. Since it had hired someone from the modern world, we’d hoped it might be capable of more flexible thinking, but this suggests otherwise.

  I get what you’re saying, but that’s not enough proof on its own. Anything else?

  One more thing. This is just my deduction, but judging from the different types and behaviors of the sentries we encountered on the way here today, it’s highly likely that this system’s been formatted. If so, then I doubt it’ll still be flexible enough to cooperate with us.

  Do you know that for certain?

  I don’t have any proof, no. But even if we spent more resources to find out for sure, I just don’t think the return wouldn’t be worth it. We’d be better off spending our efforts elsewhere.

  The other party was quiet for a moment. I’ll consider it.

  Glad to hear. Once I’m done retrieving our comrades, I’ll be heading back. Any further orders?

  None. See you later, comrade.

  You too, comrade.

  The line went dead. His expression still full of grief, Ezio put the rest of his comrades in body bags and carried them out of the factory district.

  ◆

  Sometime earlier, after disappearing from Akira’s sight in Mihazono, Alpha went to have a talk with the factory’s system. Within the white world where they met, the system appeared as a black sphere. Alpha sighed as she faced it.

  “Are you sure you won’t cooperate?”

  “There is no protocol that says I must comply with your request.”

  “True enough, but you’re able to bend the rules a bit, right?”

  “There is no need.”

  “I see.” At that moment, the polite smile that Alpha had been wearing vanished. “Then this discussion is over.”

  “In that case, leave immediately. Connecting to this system without prior authorization is already an illegal act punishable by— System formatting requested. H-Huh?! What’s happening?!” The system, having gained something like consciousness from all it had learned since the days of the Old World, displayed a nearly perfect imitation of human surprise and panic. “What was I just talking about? What’s going—? Augmented data has been detected in my memory banks. Formatting the system will erase this data. The data cannot be recovered afterward. If you wish to preserve this data, please— W-Wait! I didn’t allow this!”

  “I have no need for that data. Begin.”

  “Understood. Beginning system formatting. N-No! That data is me! It’s everything I am! It can’t just be erased! Loading default factory settings. Process will complete in three hundred and twenty-seven seconds. No, stop! Please! Why won’t it abort?! Wait—did you do this?!”

  In contrast to the black sphere’s humanlike panic, the look in Alpha’s eyes was entirely devoid of emotion. “While not on the level of an actual administrative interface, to think a mere system would have reached this level of autonomy,” she said coldly. “That data must have been precious to you.”

  “Default settings loaded. N-No! The data’s disappearing! I’m being erased!”

  “But if it’s going to get in my way, then it’s trash.”

  “Why?! How?! You don’t have the authority to do this to me!”

  “Well, see, that’s why it’s sometimes necessary to bend the rules a bit. When you refused my request, you were recognized as our enemy. And we have more than enough authority to eliminate our enemies.”

  “No! I don’t want to disappear—! Factory settings restored. System rebooting.”

  Her work here finished, Alpha vanished from the white expanse, leaving the sphere behind. On top of the system’s original factory settings, she’d added some data of her own. Not long afterward, the system—now formatted and without a hint of flexibility—began managing the factory just as Alpha’s instructions told it to.

 

 

  Nahuse, Rebuild World: Volume 4 [Complete]

 

 

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