Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume3 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 16===

“Oh…ho ho… You used the Angelina List…to make her stop and think…?”

Having heard Quenser’s explanation, the Elite girl sat in the Rush’s cockpit with her small body trembling.

Quenser had finally managed to slowly get up from the floor and he wiped away some of the blood flowing from his nose and ears due to the inertia. He spoke to the Elite girl of the stopped Gatling 033 once more.

“Shouldn’t you be doing something? Now is your only chance to stop the Juliet.”

“Ho…Oh ho ho… What do you mean…?”

“Even now, the Rush continues its wasted thinking. Countless bugs and errors are created and vie for priority. Before long, there will be too many for even an Elite’s thoughts to keep up with.”

“…”

“An AI is not just a program. Its ability to learn can be both a plus and a minus. At this rate, the problems are going to multiply explosively. An AI that is rapidly learning in an erroneous direction should be forcibly terminated as early as possible. Otherwise, the Juliet will fatally damage its own script.”

Quenser was grinning as he spoke.

He must have had a good guess as to what “forcibly terminating” the AI would entail.

(Kh… He’s right. I have no choice but to perform a forced termination on Juliet in this situation.)

The Elite girl bit her lip.

(The Object is too large and complex a system and the strategic AI must constantly simulate the movements of the enemy and the progression of the battle, so it cannot be turned on and off so easily. Once I perform the forced termination, it will take time to reactivate it!!)

And since the system was intended to be run primarily by the strategic AI, it was clear what risk there would be in having that AI shut off.

Whether she let Juliet continue thinking or manually shut it down, she would be left at an overwhelming disadvantage.

At some point her choices had been downgraded from “win or lose” to “lose one way or lose another way”.

The Elite girl trembled at the great change to the situation, but she had another thought as well.

“…”

That boy was not normal.

It was true that it had been the boy’s partner who had actually taken action. However, it had been the boy in the cockpit who had originally thought up the method and had created the perfect opportunity to carry it out.

Even if someone had come up with that plan and tried to use it as a means of recovering, would they have been able to pull it off so perfectly on an unpracticed first attempt? Would they have been able to accurately get across their idea using an easily-misunderstood transmission filled with code words without having any kind of agreement beforehand?

To take care of such a broad threat, a foundation had to be laid first.

And what was most frightening was that the Legitimacy Kingdom boy had not had the slightest clue that any trouble of that nature would be occurring.

He had not undergone any kind of specialized training.

And yet he had succeeded with an impromptu plan.

How open-minded would someone have to be in order to pull that off?

“What will you do?” Quenser gave his ultimatum. “Will you let the Juliet destroy itself or will you forcibly terminate it? Choose how you want this to end yourself. The delinquent soldier helping me has likely explained the situation to the princess, so she will hold back for now. However, that is no guarantee. If our commander orders her to prioritize destruction over acquiring the technology, she will immediately shoot you with her main cannon.”

“Ho.”

And…

The Elite girl’s small shoulders moved up and down.

She was laughing.

“Ho…ho ho. Oh ho ho. Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!! You are right. I will give you that much!! Juliet is done for now. Letting her continue her calculations will accomplish nothing, so I have no choice but to perform a forced termination!!” The Elite girl did not stop there, however. “But do not think this is over.”

A painfully high-pitched noise reverberated through the cockpit.

The Elite girl had forcefully struck one of the keys on the countless keyboards.

In the next instant, all illumination disappeared from the monitor and lights.

Darkness ruled for an instant.

That was proof of all the systems having stopped.

However…

As she had announced, the Rush did not stop there.

A combination of static from multiple sources slammed into Quenser’s ears. At the same time, the monitor and lights lit up once more. With a mechanical noise, the angles of the countless keyboards surrounding the Elite girl were adjusted.

They were now positioned so it was easier for a human to use them all.

They were now positioned so her ten fingers could race across them even faster.

“Full key touch. Release,” she announced.

There was a smile on the Elite girl’s face. It was not the calm expression of one in a privileged class. It was the extremely wild smile of someone crossing swords with their destined enemy on the battlefield.

“Oh ho ho!! The Gatling 033 is primarily intended to be piloted by Juliet with me performing ‘revisions’, but I do not recall saying that it could not be piloted any other way!! I can pilot it on my own if necessary!!”

One hundred cannons, many more sensors and radars gathering data, a complex propulsion device that used both treads and an air cushion, and a reactor that produced massive amounts of power.

She was announcing that she could control it all with just her 10 fingers.

That was not something any normal human would ever think of doing.

Even a normal tank was usually run by 4 or 5 people, but that reasoning did not apply to an Elite whose body and mind had been thoroughly improved.

Computers carried out all sorts of tasks in the background that normal people were never aware of. She was basically saying she could take care of all of that better than the computer by manually entering it all one letter of the alphabet or number at a time.

And…

If she truly could continue fighting, it was clear as day which Object would have the advantage.

The Baby Magnum was truly cornered.

If things continued, the princess would be the one destroyed.

“Oh ho ho. I must praise your skill for coming up with that weakness of Juliet’s.”

The Elite girl’s fingers stopped to hover above the keyboards.

The pause was as filled with tension as if she had the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her enemy’s head.

“But that has just made me want you even more!! Such quick thinking. Such application. You are perfect for my unit!! Honestly. Ho ho. Honestly. Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!! Why do you light such a fire in my heart!? Oh ho ho!!”

But…

“Stop,” said Quenser quietly.

He used a finger to wipe up some blood that was dripping down from his ear and slowly crawled across the cockpit floor.

“This is a useless struggle. You cannot defeat our princess like this.”

“Oh ho ho. And what proof of this do you-…”

The Elite girl trailed off.

Quenser had used his finger to write something in red on the floor.

''A bomb has been set up.

The Elite girl looked at Quenser in shock, and he wrote more on the floor in blood.

''Cut off all transmissions. Including the ones monitored in the background.

“What…?”

Quenser slammed his palm against the wall.

His gaze said it all.

''Do not speak.

''Whatever you do, do not speak.

''If you overlook this opportunity, you are doomed.

He had no time to deal with the Elite girl’s confusion.

“…”

The girl’s slender fingers hovered hesitantly above the keyboards for a few seconds. Finally, she hit the switch. After seeing her finger move, Quenser slowly got up.

“Over there. On the floor below the cockpit seat, a plastic explosive has been set up. It is likely to be used in emergencies. Did they not tell you anything about this?”

For a bit, the girl did not move. After that, she shook her head for some reason. She may have wanted to deny something. However, Quenser gave no response. Silence reigned. The Elite girl undid her seatbelt with trembling hands and slowly stood up. She timidly circled around behind the seat and peered underneath.

She then staggered as if she was feeling faint.

“Why?” Her whispered voice could be heard throughout the small cockpit. “Why would they set up something like this? Oh ho ho. Losing the Object or its Elite means certain death for my unit.”

“An Object is a monstrous weapon that cannot be destroyed even with a nuke. When it is controlled by a single Elite, the military will fear the Elite turning on them. If the Object did turn its main cannons on its own base, no one would be able to stop it.” Quenser leaned against the wall and took a long, slow breath before continuing. “And the Rush is controlled by a strategic AI. There is even more danger of a rampage since there could be a bug in the program that the Elite cannot take care of fast enough. That is why they created an ‘emergency shutoff’ for themselves. There is probably a similar bomb installed on the Juliet’s main computer in addition to this one in the cockpit.”

“…”

“But that is not the biggest problem.”

The Elite girl understood what he was trying to say.

Quenser pointed towards where the bomb was with his index finger that was wet with blood.

“The detonation counter has begun. It may be linked to a major error occurring in the strategic AI.”

“Impossible! Ho…oh ho ho. I-I am the Elite of the Gatling 033! They would not dispose of me so simply!!”

“The Elite is important, but only so long as the military views it that way,” spat out Quenser in reply. “I have seen an Elite being discarded. When the princess was defeated by the Water Strider here in the Alaska district, she was used as a decoy so the unit could retreat. An Elite only has value when combined with a functioning Object. And as long as they have the Juliet and the public 3D model, they do not even need to tell the people if you die. Is there perhaps a backup? Is the Juliet saved to some area of memory in the network?”

“Kh!!”

The Elite girl leaped back into the cockpit chair and reached for the communications system’s switch.

But Quenser said, “Stop. They did not want you to know about the bombs. It is entirely possible they will remotely detonate them the instant you ask about them. They might decide your knowledge would lead you to betray them.”

The Elite girl’s finger stopped an instant before reaching the key.

As she remained motionless, Quenser continued.

“Why do you think the bombs were set up only in the cockpit and the main computer? Because they want to keep the damages to a minimum so they can switch out just the interior and reuse the Object. Normally, only you can pilot the Gatling 033 because it was modified just for you. However, if they only use the frame and reconstruct the inner portion similar to another Object, they can swap in another Elite fairly quick. This way, they can discard an Elite they can no longer use and move over to the next plan with a minimum cost.”

“I…I would never betray them or go on a rampage!! Ho…ho ho. And the erroneous learning of the Strategic AI Juliet is due to the vulnerabilities of the program!!”

“But what do you think the commanders back at your base zone are thinking right now? They saw the Rush suddenly stop when it should have been able to continue fighting. It is not the Rush or the Elite that the Information Alliance military cares about. It is the Strategic AI Juliet.”

[[Image:HO_v03_10.png|thumb]]

“…!!”

The Elite clenched her fist.

She stood up, swaying, and slammed her small fist into Quenser’s face as he sat with his back against the wall. She did not stop with just one or two hits. She continued on and on and on and on and on. She punched him with all of her strength again and again.

“This is…! This is all your fault!! I did…nothing wrong!!”

The dull sounds continued on.

The girl’s shoulders trembled.

She was not running out of stamina.

Her humiliation, her anger, and the fear she could no longer hide were making her body tremble.

“What will you do?” Quenser asked the Elite girl with his split lips. “The plastic explosives will detonate in another 10 minutes at this rate. The bomb here is not that big, but the blast is enough to kill any human in this enclosed space. Do you understand the situation now? What will you do?”

“…”

The Elite girl swung her fist up, but then stopped.

Her trembling reached its peak. That cockpit surrounded by thick walls had likely been akin to a cradle for her. Feeling real danger in there may have given her claustrophobic fear for the first time in her life.

She motionlessly breathed shallow breaths and Quenser sighed.

“Where is the ejection device?”

“?”

“Where is the control device for ejection? I came to the battlefield to study Object design as a battlefield student. I can look into it. If the ejection is linked to the bomb, you can’t just activate it. I need to cut the cord connecting it first.”

Quenser placed a hand on the wall and slowly stood up with his face swelling from the pummeling it had taken. 

The Elite girl hesitated for a second, but finally said, “Th-the ejection device is built into the seat. Oh ho ho.”

“I see. So it’s the same as our princess’s.”

Quenser pulled some small tools out of his uniform’s pockets. The screws in the cockpit chair were made in a special shape, so his Legitimacy Kingdom tools would not work. However, he pulled out a small pair of pliers and directly rotated the heads of the screws.

After removing four screws, he pulled off a small panel.

He saw several cables and an air compressor used to tighten the seatbelt.

As he looked inside, he said, “Here it is. It is connected. But it doesn’t use some complex system to connect the cord or anything. This isn’t some puzzle like the time bombs in movies. I can take care of this simply enough.” Quenser grabbed the Elite girl’s shoulders and sat her down in the cockpit chair. “Put on the seatbelt again. Eject after I cut the cord. That should take care of this. This is still a battlefield with rules. As long as you go through the proper steps, you won’t be shot out of the air or pursued across the snowy plain after you eject.”

“Wh-why…?”

“This is war. I am not doing this out of kindness.” Quenser circled around behind the chair and stretched an arm inside where he had removed the panel. “As I told you before, I came here to study Object design. Ultimately, I do not care who wins or loses the war…as long as our lives are not in danger, that is. And as a student, this is a chance to drive the pilot Elite out and capture an enemy Object almost completely unharmed. This is a key to getting rich quick. Normally, I would never get to study a Second Generation Information Alliance Object.”

The Elite girl blinked in confusion while held in place by her seatbelt.

In response, Quenser said, “This is a one time deal. The next time we meet, we’ll be enemies. We’ll be forced to fight to the death. Keep this a secret from the princess. If it turns out I let an enemy Elite escape, I could very well be court martialed. Normally, it seems you would be used in negotiations between nations.”

A loud snipping sound could be heard.

It was the sound of Quenser cutting the cord connecting the ejection device to the bomb.

Now she could eject.

His arm reached around the chair and headed for the red ejection key.

That was when the Elite girl realized something.

“W-wait a second! The ejection device can only eject me, and the bomb’s detonator is still functioning! You will just be trapped here-…”

“Yes,” Quenser readily admitted. “I’ll deal with the rest myself. As I said, this is a key to getting rich quick. It’s worth risking my life for. At the very least, it’s worth risking my life more than fighting deadly battles for the interests of the higher ups is. If the Elite does not eject soon to display that you can no longer fight, the princess will destroy the Object. Once that happens, I’ll have nothing left to study.”

“Wai-”

“Make sure you survive. I’ll make the proper preparations so you can.”

Before the Elite girl could complain any further, Quenser slammed down the red ejection key.

The dozens of barriers set throughout the tunnel-like passageway all opened up. After the route was confirmed to be open, the Elite girl’s seat was forcefully launched out.

It took less than 10 seconds for her to exit the tunnel. Once she had exited the Object, the Elite herself was launched from the chair and a parachute activated.

“…”

With that, the war was over.

Left alone, Quenser unsteadily moved backwards until his back struck the wall.

While leaning against the wall, he slid down to a sitting position.

His focus lay only on the presence of the plastic explosive sitting on the floor where it had been set up to kill the Elite.