Living with Memory of Steel (Part 1) Read online

  "No, it doesn't."

  "Murase!"

  "Hold on, Junrock. You should also calm down, Reji. I like what you said, but I can't let any kid who hasn't finished his high school without any conditions. You can come to this office as you please, but I won't let you live here. So, you should go home."

  "Murase, if you do a thing like that, he might sell us out."

  "I won't."

  "Just so you know, I've got all the record. You wouldn't want it to go on public either, right?"

  "You don't have to threaten me like that."

  Reji stands up.

  This would be enough.

  After Reji left, Junrock starts a verbal attack to Murase.

  "Are you sure about letting him join the team? The big project is waiting for the UniverSoc."

  "In fact, there is a good chance that we'll be fighting against A-B-A-H-S. He will be a sitting target to egg on. He has lost his friend in the accident caused by A-B-A-H-S, which served as a reason to join our movement."

  "I don't know if it'd be that easy. There isn't much incentive to use him."

  "Don't worry about it. I'll make it work, and things will sort themselves out."

  Murase taps on Junrock's shoulder, laughing.

  *****

  Sekiba wonders why the sea of psy-connect makes him feel more comfortable with discussions compared to the ones in the real world.

  He goes back to his room and makes coffee. His stomach feels hot and heavy after drinking down half of the coffee.

  He starts psy-connect at a chair. There soon appears connection from Dr. Nakazato. The swinging figure of Nakazato looks like an object through glasses that are out of focus.

  "So, what did the chairman preach you?"

  "Ha! Same old. He just wanted to check if the mass-production model is going well, how the situation of the operators, and if the information is not leaking."

  "Then?"

  "I just told him there is no problem. There is no other answer since I've got everything under control. Oh, also he asked me about the name for mass-production model for A-B-A-H-S."

  "You call it mass-production, but they are going to be only 10 units or so, right?"

  "Still, the new machines are very small. This would be a visual strategy. Ha! That old guy suggested `how about A-B-A-H-S 2nd`."

  "It's so lame."

  "So I proposed the name, 'KAWAII A-B-A-H-S-Chan,' but he turned it down."

  "Was it all what the chairman said?"

  "That's all."

  "You can get it over with psy-connect."

  "Well, don't be too hard on the elderly guy. That generation would be gone soon."

  "Then, we'll be pushed out from the younger generation next."

  "Nakazato, you will be fine, right? Your ability wouldn't look faded in front of those kids who treat the third generation as normal."

  "Did you call me?"

  Akari jumps into the conversation.

  "We were talking that we expect so much of children."

  "Hey, dad, mum. Have you found out who had tried to kidnap me?"

  "Oh, you mean Earthlight? We've found that they're called 3-3-Cell, which has an office in Shinbashi."

  "Aren't you going to arrest them?"

  "The reasoning is too weak. Well, Akari's statement can be the evidence, but I don't want to make a fuzz around you."

  "Hopefully, they would get caught on a complete different matter..."

  "Okay."

  Dr. Nakazato continues.

  "But, I'm so glad. I can't live if something bad happens to you, Akari."

  "Thank you, mum. But, can you please not to that thing you did again? With A-B-A-H-S, you could have done something else."

  "I know. I will be more careful next time. You're smart, Akari."

  "What are you talking about? I am YOU, mum."

  "Yeah....that's right. YOU are ME, Akari. Okay...so you're incredibly important to me."

  "I know, mum. Don't worry about it."

  "Oh, sorry to interrupt, but I have to go now. I've still got some work left."

  "Don't work too hard, dad."

  Sekiba leaves from psy-connect. He finishes up the rest of the coffee and stretch, using the back of the chair.

  He wanted to say Akari is important for Sekiba and also Nakazato, but he decided against it. It sounds quite fake.

  But, that's what he actually thinks.

  Akari leaves from psy-connect and rolls onto her bed in the room.

  There is a stain on the ceiling, which looks like it got there on purpose. It creates artificial nostalgia, but it seems familiar to the resident, Akari.

  Every time she thinks about the reason why she was born and alive, she ended up accepting the way she is.

  So, she doesn't have any worry and the sense of lost.

  Still, there are times when she wonders if there is some other possibility or other way of living.

  It's similar to a bride who is promised to have a happy future, but hesitant to take a step forward.

  It's as if a princess with a guaranteed happy life looks outside the window in the castle.

  "I might be able to use that one, called Earthlight."

  The comment comes out her mouth without thinking.

  *****

  [[ MEMORY OF STEEL 2 ]]

  InITeO (International Integrated Telecommunication Organization) has been doing a research on psychological connect. They invite researchers from all over the world and study psychological connect ability.

  I've grown up in a fortunate environment. My parents are researchers and I have the talent for the field of natural science. My brother has been raised in the same environment, but he chose the path of an artist, which is different from the one for our parents. I chose the path to become a researcher.

  I don't get my brother. He has been given the logical thinking and problem solving ability. I have never doubted that my brother would enter the same world as our parents. However, he got obsessed with arts. I can't judge if he is talented or not, but I'm guessing the reason why his work received a good reputation in the early stage, fortunately or unfortunately, is mostly due to his skillfulness. His life went downhill as expected.

  I love my life, but I don't want to live like him.

  After graduating from a grad school, I started working for InITeO as a researcher for calculator science.

  In the early days of the research, psychological connect was done to tie the electric reaction of the brain directly with the operation of a computer. With the psy-connect of the first generation mind gives off instructions and the vision receives the result through a monitor. With the psy-connect of the second generation, people can receive feedbacks from the calculator by electrical stimulation to the brain. The research for the third generation was to send the mind to the calculator.

  Here, the relation of version 11 protocol becomes important. If the personality can change into information and be sent to the calculator, it can be transferred through network. For instance, personalities can be transmitted to the city on the moon from the earth and engage in some sort of work --- from technical work to business meetings ---. They can receive the results and rewrite them. The psychological connect technology of the third generation perfectly meets the requests of the version protocol.

  However, it has become clear that there is a considerable gap between individuals in the ability of psychological connect since the second generation. The techniques of the first generation can be applied to most of the people, but only a particular group of people can use the second generation. As for the third generation, only a hundred people can exercise the ability in all the research facilities around the world.

  However, the research has continued.

  The psychological connect techniques of the fourth generation is to read memory. As for the personality readout, It is fairly easy to implement deductively once they collect up the massive amount of information on how brains react to various stimuli. However, the amount of me
mory is massive. It seems like humans remember everything since they are born inside the unconscious mind. It's extremely difficult to read it out, let alone rewrite it.

  Fortunately, one of the most excellent psy-connect users is one of the researchers.

  That's me.

  I have become the leader of the research project and the first test subject of the read-out experiment for the complete memory and the personality.

  It happened 7 years ago.

  Chapter 3

  It's been several days.

  Reji visits the Earthlight office almost every day.

  He gets roped in to work for their official work, to use the best out of the extra hand.

  The official work of Earthlight is an advertising company. Their office has an undisguised name: Earthlight technology. Even though it's an advertising company, their main work is not sensory designs such as audiovisual designs, but semantic designs such as information structure.

  They sometimes get orders of new business development, but most of their work is repairing work. They restrict semantic network that has been destroyed by an accident, a mistake or a trouble. These troubles are, for instance caused by an cyber attack by Earthlight itself.

  "In other word, you make your living by fixing what you've broken?"

  Reji was shocked to hear the explanation for the first time.

  "Our party specializes in information since we have Junrock, but people in other cells fix broken buildings and roads. Those people belong to parties. Otherwise they can't make a living. This can be considered to be economic effects."

  Junrock does the most of their practical work. Murase is a salesman and Clare manages general affairs, but their roles are purely nominal. Reji runs errands and works as an assistant of Clare.

  His job title is an assistant, but all Reji can do is pity work. He can use a computer okay, but he can't do any accounting work or write business emails. There were business writing classes at school, but nothing useful stayed with him. He wasn't really listening. Most of the data processing work can be done by anyone. There is no work that used to exist as work such as copying and organizing documents.

  He tried making tea, but everyone forbid him to offer tea ever since he had given the 3-time condensed green tea.

  "Well, everyone studies again after becoming a member of society. This is a good chance to learn."

  That's what Clare says.

  However, Reji thinks this over.

  Akimichi would have been able to get on work as soon as he goes into the world. He's passed a test to become MoSE. His future must have been full of hopes.

  Still, Akimichi died and a useless person like myself has survived.

  All I can do is to stay here and do things with them, but this might give me some opportunity to do something for Akimichi.

  What Clare said makes sense. This isn't meaningless when I see it as job training.

  There are nothing I do or I can do for the first two days at work. On the third day, I begged him to give me some work. Since then, I've started to learn more things slowly. It was clear that I was getting in Clare's way, but I was going to repay it with the work I've learned.

  Clare asks Reji to go out to the top floor of the building for lunch. Her favorite fresh ham and cheese sandwiches in a basket and English tea in a kettle --- straight tea without any extras --- are ready to be served.

  Clare pours some tea into a plastic cup and gives it to Reji.

  "You've been working so hard."

  "I have to apologize. I must have been giving you a lot of trouble, Clare-san."

  "You don't have to be so polite. Call me Clare. I like to see those work hard like you, Reji."

  "Do I look like I'm trying?"

  "Yeah, I think so. Trying hard as you can is a privilege for young people."

  "That's all I've got. I can't even do average work if I don't work hard."

  "People who don't work hard are less than average."

  "But, I don't have any driving technique like you, Clare or do well at work. Doing my best can only get me to the minimum level."

  "You'll learn to work better, if you keep up the good work... . My driving techniques aren't that amazing."

  Clare answers as she munches her sandwiches.

  "I thought I was great at it when I was younger, you know? I started driving when I was a primary school student. I was quite famous in the neighborhood --- at that time I was living in Adelaide in Australia. A professional racing driver of Formula One even gave me a complement. I had a sleepless night that day. Still, that was it. A national completion was out of my league. I gave it another go when I came over here, but there were amazing drivers even in a smaller country. My driving wasn't good enough in one country. There was no way I can be an international racing driver. That was the end of my dream."

  "Why did you come to Japan?"

  "It's a long story."

  She sips tea and picks up her memory.

  On the way back from the national race, Clare was driving absent-mindedly. It didn't take long if she took an airplane, but she wanted to be driving.

  She was driving on a road from Cairns to Adelaide. It would have been a straight shortcut, if she could drive in the middle of the continent, there wouldn't be any stores to get food supplies, which are only available in towns along the coastline. During the trip, Clare picked up a boy, called Nick. He was two years younger than her. He was dirty from top to bottom. She stopped at a lake and throw the boy into the water. She stripped him down and scrubbed him until his skin color shows up. Then, she went naked and bathed. They splashed water to each other in naked, had tons of fun in naked, ate in naked, and made love in naked. It was their first time. Nick especially had no idea what to do.

  When they woke up, they were surrounded by the local police officers. They took Nick away without saying anything, and Nick followed in silence. Clare's protest was ignored. It took her a while to vaguely realize that Nick was a laborer who had run away from a factory nearby.

  "That's when I decided to come to my grandma's homeland, Japan. I thought Japan wouldn't exploit workers, but I got treated worse in a way. Everyone considered me as a foreigner and didn't give me any job. Special MoSE certificate for foreigners with psy-connect ability was impossible to get for someone like me who doesn't have any talent except for driving. This was the place I ended up staying."

  "But, your driving skills come very useful here."

  "Well, that's all I can do here, but to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if this is really what I want to do."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. That's why I want to root for you. You are doing your best to find a work that you can do."

  "Okay. So, we're similar."

  "Similar... yeah. Let leave it as that. Let's see which one of us will find a great life first."

  "Yeah, that's going be a competition."

  A wind is blowing a basket, and Reji quickly holds it down. He takes a big last bite.

  Yeah, that's right. I can find my true self in the competition.

  He catches Junrock's eyes downstairs.

  "I don't know if you enjoyed her or she enjoyed you, but I don't like your attitude of putting your nose into her life."

  What the heck is he talking about?

  Clare puts her hand on Reji's shoulder which is tense in anger.

  "There is nothing going on between us, Junrock."

  "If you say so."

  Clare sighs as Junrock leaves and shrugs off as if saying not to worry.

  Reji goes to his desk with unsettling feelings. He talks to Murase, who is sitting next.

  "What's that?"

  "Junrock? Don't worry about it. He is shy around new people."

  "Still... He's a grown up man."

  "Geeks are like that. Also, you'd better get on well with him. He's a future executive."

  "An executive? Murase, you can be an executive."

  Murase shakes his head.

  "I'm not like that. I'm mo
re physical. The executives of an organization are all intelligent, for instance, people with MoSE certificate. Do you know the education background of Junrock? It's fantastic. He's different from us.

  I've heard about his background. The administration investigated on that when he joined this organization. I don't think he would openly talks about this.

  He was a junior high school student when he implanted the adapter for psy-connect. Hard drug came along in his life in university. He tried cocktail mixed with chemical stuff and cyber stuff. There is an academic paper he wrote on his experience of the drug. His argument rejected arts and humanity completely. His belief was that technology is the only thing that can save the world. Around that time, Earthlight started to take more interests in him. It took him only three months to finish his thesis, and get the Ph.D. degree. I don't really know what happened after he left, but he's here."

  "He seems like a weirdo."

  "I don't know what changed his state of mind, but people say there is only a thin line between the extreme right wing and the extreme left wing. They could be similar. Either way, his abilities are useful to the organization."

  Reji finds it strange. The policy of Earthlight is to provide the benefits of science of technology evenly to people. It doesn't make sense if only intelligent MoSE can be in the top management of the group.

  Still, Murase says.

  "That's what organization is like. We can let people with the brain deal with difficult stuff."

  Junrock comes back to his seat with coffee.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Nothing."

  "Okay."

  Junrock walks to Murase and shows a panel device, saying "please take a look at this." It seems like they are avoiding others in their conversation, so Reji goes back to his desk.

  Reji wonders why Junrock brought the device. Now he thinks of it, he's never seen Murase using a device. Maybe it is fairly simple why Murase belongs to Earthlight.

  H hears a name, "Nakazato" under their breath. The word comes into Reji's ears, whether willing or not. It attracts Reji's attention. They talk for a while and stand up.