The following day.
The time was 8:53 a.m.
An aircraft had departed Tokyo and was now flying over the ocean toward the massive marine research vessel known as the Ocean Turtle.
At the controls was a sixteen-year-old girl, carefully piloting a specialized aircraft that did not belong to this world.
The vehicle was technically classified as a transport helicopter, but it looked nothing like the helicopters Yuuki Asuna was familiar with.
Instead of a massive rotor above the fuselage, it had enclosed rotors built into the wings on either side, along with two smaller openings on top.
Put simply, it looked like someone had attached four enormous electric fans to a helicopter.
And they had actually asked her to fly it.
Naturally, Asuna was being extremely careful.
The reason Kain wanted her to learn was so she could pilot it herself whenever the need arose in the future.
In other words, this aircraft would be left here for her personal use.
Its four rotors could also be folded inward, reducing its total dimensions to less than ten by ten by ten meters. Asuna only needed to upgrade her current storage space of several dozen cubic meters to a Low-Tier Expanded Space, and she would be able to store the entire aircraft inside.
According to Miss 6O, this transport helicopter was a miniature model specifically designed on their side to fit inside that kind of storage space.
Although it was primarily a transport aircraft, it still carried some light weaponry.
It was also equipped with an ECS—an optical camouflage system that allowed it to turn invisible.
As a result, the aircraft currently flying through the air couldn't be detected by radar and was extremely difficult to see with the naked eye.
Someone might notice a visual distortion if they got close enough, but under normal circumstances, who would approach closely enough to see it?
The controls themselves weren't especially complicated. Piloting it was almost as easy as operating an oversized toy, but Asuna remained intensely focused.
"You're flying in an impressively textbook fashion," 6O remarked with a hint of amusement.
Yuuki Asuna looked almost obsessive about it. She maintained a perfectly constant speed and kept their altitude nearly unchanged relative to sea level.
She was practically flying like a machine.
"Is that RATH's offshore research facility?"
Koujiro Rinko, who was also aboard the aircraft, had already spotted the pyramid-like structure standing in the middle of the ocean.
"Akihiko, Higa Takeru is definitely going to be shocked when he sees you."
Higa Takeru was their junior and a genius in his own right. He currently worked here, developing artificial intelligence.
"Probably," Kayaba Akihiko replied evenly.
He had come with them inside the android body the visitors had provided.
Although the body itself had been supplied by the other world, a portion of its internal hardware came from this one.
It could be compared to a computer. The CPU served as its brain, but the component storing Kayaba's consciousness had not been produced on the other side.
Apparently, human consciousness differed from AI. Their technology couldn't immediately transfer a human consciousness into one of their own storage systems, so the core data-storage component installed in this body had to come from Kayaba's world.
After another three quiet minutes, they finally reached a helipad on the offshore facility, which was even larger than an aircraft carrier.
"Phew..."
Once the aircraft had landed safely, Asuna finally released the breath she had been holding.
She deactivated the ECS and opened the hatch.
After everyone had disembarked, the aircraft closed its hatch again.
Should she put it back inside her personal storage space?
Doing that would expose her unusual abilities in front of even more people.
"There's no need to put it away. Just leave it here. They can't operate it, so the most they could do is destroy it," Kain said.
The faint conflict on Asuna's face disappeared. She nodded to him in acknowledgment.
She then looked toward the people who had been waiting on the helipad since early morning.
They were visibly surprised by the aircraft, but quickly stepped forward to receive the group.
"Please follow me."
They proceeded down a long corridor. Just as they passed through the metallic doorway leading into the black pyramid-like structure, an alarm began to blare.
Everyone could more or less guess why.
The doorway was equipped with a security scanner.
"Sorry about that. This system is meant to prevent unknown individuals from bringing weapons or unauthorized equipment inside. You can all ignore it," Kikuoka Seijirou explained, awkwardly scratching his head.
If they had been ordinary visitors, they would have been required to follow the facility's rules. They would have been searched, and no one would have been permitted to bring arbitrary equipment inside.
"This way."
Kikuoka continued leading the group deeper into the facility.
Among them were two people who could technically be considered civilians: a mother and daughter.
Kikuoka had already been informed why they were here.
Yuuki Asuna was still only high-school age, but from now on, she would generally act as Kain's representative during discussions and future transactions.
However, she was still a child. Her education remained the priority, and she would be attending school.
They weren't supposed to bother her over every little issue. If anything came up, they were primarily to contact her guardian—her mother.
The Yuuki family owned an electronics manufacturing company, which meant there were many areas in which they could cooperate.
In fact, RATH—the company to which this facility officially belonged—already had extensive business ties with the Yuuki family's electronics manufacturer, RECT Inc.
Kain had also given Kikuoka a warning.
If anything happened to Yuuki Asuna, this entire country would be finished.
Kain had linked Asuna's life to an aircraft that would continuously patrol the skies above the country.
If Asuna died, it would immediately launch a devastating attack against Japan.
That made the girl even more important than the nation's prime minister.
She was practically a super-princess.
Of course, the man named Kain had never told Asuna about any of this. He had delivered the warning to Kikuoka in private.
Under normal circumstances, Asuna herself would be perfectly safe unless she was attacked by a military force comparable to the one deployed yesterday.
If anything did happen to her, the only reasonable conclusion would be that the country itself had acted against her.
Otherwise, how could any nation possibly allow such an obvious armed force to operate freely within its territory?
Several minutes later, after navigating the facility's winding interior, Kikuoka finally brought the visitors to the central control room.
"What is this...?"
"A holographic projection?"
"Nope. It's just a fake three-dimensional image created by combining a huge number of display panels," 6O immediately explained, exposing the illusion.
The scene before them made it appear as though taking another step forward would transport them directly into a town.
Judging by the clothing worn by the figures and the architectural style of the buildings, the world resembled medieval Earth.
Suddenly, the displays went dark.
When the image returned, it showed what appeared to be the same control room they were standing in.
It was almost as though the display had transformed into a mirror reflecting the room.
However, only one person appeared inside the image: a bespectacled man.
"I'm Higa Takeru. The Fluctlight sampling process is complete. I'm about to bring you out of the virtual world."
The man on the screen began operating the control panel.
"Hm? What's going on? Why isn't anything responding? Is the equipment malfunctioning?"
"No, the equipment is functioning normally."
The person who answered him was identical to the man on the screen—but this one was standing in the real world.
"The equipment isn't malfunctioning? Wait, why does your voice sound so familiar?"
"Of course it sounds familiar. I'm Higa Takeru."
At that answer, the "Higa Takeru" inside the screen went rigid, like a robot whose power had suddenly been disconnected.
Several seconds of silence passed.
"What kind of nonsense is that? I'm Higa Takeru! Let me see who you really are and what kind of trick you're playing!"
The Higa on the screen appeared far more irritable and volatile than the calm man standing in reality.
"Damn it! What's happening? Why is the outside gone?"
The virtual Higa opened a door, only to find absolute darkness beyond it.
It didn't look like an unlit room.
It looked as though nothing existed there at all.
"It's simple. The control room you're standing in is a virtual reconstruction based on the real one. Do you still not understand? You're a copy of my Fluctlight."
The moment Asuna heard those words, goose bumps rose across her arms.
Black Cat and Kain had already told her what kind of research was being conducted here, but witnessing it firsthand still sent a chill through her.
From the corner of her eye, she glanced at her mother and Miss Koujiro.
Both women had gone pale, clearly disturbed by what they were seeing.
"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm Higa Takeru! Let me out! Put me back into my body!"
"Calm down. If you keep becoming agitated, you should know what will happen next."
"I am calm! I'm being perfectly rational! If you're really me, then let's compete and see which of us can recite more digits of pi. Starting now! Three point one four... o-out, out, out, out—craftsman!"
His speech abruptly broke down, his voice becoming shrill and grating like a malfunctioning machine.
The virtual Higa's eyes began glowing red.
Finally, the entire image seemed to explode, flooding every display with crimson before the voice vanished completely.
"Miss Asuna, I can now confirm that your world is facing the risk of an AI uprising—and it could begin as soon as the very next second!"
6O suddenly delivered this catastrophic prognosis.
Her examination had uncovered a severe flaw in the system's logical processing.
There was only an extremely small chance that the error would occur.
But if it did, the facility was connected to the rest of the world's networks.
An apocalyptic crisis caused by artificial intelligence would then be virtually inevitable.
(End of Chapter)
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