Whether it was his average physique, his small eyes or black hair, he was a thoroughly unremarkable individual. He was like a shadow, a being without presence.
Nevertheless, glittering on his chest for all to see was the emblem of wisdom, Allekant's "Dusk Owl".[3]
"You don't know...? Is that supposed to be some sort of joke?"
"It's..."
The small-eyed youth clutched his head in discomfort.
"If this was the decision that Allekant's students made themselves, then you've willingly allowed them to usurp your authority. Is that really alright?"
Although the six schools all boasted their own unique characteristics, Allekant Academy in particular stood out for its many peculiar workings. Like other schools, they offered classes which allowed students to research and development weapons for battle, as well as classes which offered first-hand experience employing the fruits of such labors. Unlike other schools, however, the former far outnumbered the latter.
Furthermore, the school was split into factions, divided by research area, which were engaged in a vicious power struggle. The relative influence of the various factions waxed and waned in accordance with the results their research produced in the Festa.
In other words, the most powerful individual at Allekant Academy was the leader of the faction with the most influence at the time. The student council president, in contrast, was at most only capable of acting as a go-between for the competing groups.
He was, in essence, nothing more than a figurehead.
"Well, this..."
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"Please don't misunderstand, everyone. Nothing about this is secret. This is an official collaboration between Seidoukan and Allekant Academies built upon a foundation of mutual exchange. Afterwards, at a more appropriate time, I will disclose a more detailed description of our joint effort with everyone."
As Claudia provided a way out, the small-eyed young man gasped in relief.
"At the very least, this is a 'mutual' effort, no?"
"Of course. As part of our agreement, we will be footing 70% of all research costs incurred by Allekant during this undertaking."
At that moment, the young girl cut in in a seemingly innocent tone.
"More importantly, that reminds me. I heard there was some sort of disturbance over there at Seidoukan? Even the Shadow Stars were mobilized; perhaps these two things are related?"
"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"
Claudia's expression never changed as she gave a vague answer.
It went without saying that these two events were, of course, related.
The reason for the aforementioned joint effort was the result of the event from a few days ago ー the settlement of the incident regarding Cyrus Norman. Manipulating another school's students to attack their fellow schoolmates was a clear and explicit violation of the Stella Carta. Were news of their actions to spread, not only would Allekant suffer an unavoidably harsh punishment, but their reputation would drop.
Such an occurrence would be of no benefit to Seidoukan, however. Instead, Claudia had intentionally kept the matter private, and had demanded the requisite pound of flesh, of far greater value to their school.
"This sly fox sure knows how to play dumb."
Losing interest, the red-haired youth turned away.
According to rumors concerning Asterisk's dark side, Le Wolfe's notorious intelligence organization was second-to-none.
Le Wolfe undoubtedly knew the details of what had occurred. The events, after all, had occurred in their home turf of the redevelopment zone.
Knowing that if given an inch, he'd take a mile, Claudia refused to give him so much as a millimeter.
"If that's all, then let's end things here."
Claudia gave a faint smile, and declared the topic closed for conversation.
"...This is certainly a most fascinating subject, but it seems we're a little late to the game. Perhaps another dayー"
The blond-haired youth seemed intent on changing the topic as well, but he was cut off.
"Uh, just one moment. May I speak?"
"He~h, so now it's this one's turn. What's up?"
Trembling, the small-eyed young man raised his hand and spoke with great trepidation.
"U-u-uh, this isn't that, you know, that urgent, but uh, there's something I'd like to add to the agenda."
"Oh, and what would that be?"
All eyes at once turned to the stunningly mediocre small-eyed youth, who glanced around in a panic before opening his mouth, cowering all the while.
"ーWhat I'd like to bring up is, uh, the artificial intelligence being developed by Asterisk, and all matters deriving therefrom."
"Artificial intelligence?"
The red-haired young man frowned in shock.
"Yes. Because of recent advancements in meteoric engineering, artificial intelligence research has taken great strides. Looking a ways off, it's no longer unreasonable to imagine that the day when self-aware AIs are created will inevitably arrive. When it comes to the laws regarding them, however, no nation has made sufficient preparation. We of the Starpulse Generation, for example, just about fell out of the sky. In order to avoid getting caught unaware, we must decide now how we will deal with them when the time finally comes..."
"In other words, you want to allow these self-aware machines to be students of Asterisk? To hold rights equal to that of humans?"
The blond-haired youth followed with a line of inquiry, his face still half-disbelieving.
"Yes, and if given the opportunity, to enter the Festa as well..."
"Are you an idiot? Like hell."
The red-haired youth responded without holding back.
"I have no idea where you've gotten your hands on these machines posing as students, but for them to enter the Festa? You must be joking."
"As my counterpart has said. No matter how you look at it, this is really too much. Even a cursory examination of the problem presents a multiplicity of issues. All of those aside, doesn't the Stella Carta strictly regulate age? With the age of Festa participants restricted to those between 13 and 22, doesn't that mean that the only machines who would even hypothetically be capable of participating are those by now obsolete?"
"First of all, how can we even make judgments on the humanity of something so ambiguous? That should be the first step ー making preparations for all those things. I think such provisions are going to prove necessary in the near future."
"What? Everyone's opposed? Bo~ring."
The young girl folded her arms, puffing her cheeks as she glared at everyone.
"Huh? World Dragon's in favor?"
"Of course. Because this way is more interesting."
This representative of the Yellow Dragon would act in accordance with whatever flight of whimsy took her.
Even if she represented her entire school, she placed her own interests as a priority, the interests of her school coming a distant second. The scene falling into disorder, the situation turning to chaos ー these were the kinds of things the young girl enjoyed.
The reason the girl was able to maintain her elevated position despite her personality was due to her overwhelming strength.
Each school employed a different method for selecting their student council president. Seidoukan, for example, opted for a simple election-based system. Le Wolfe selected their top-ranked student. The World Dragon Seventh Institute, however, chose the simplest and most straightforward method - an elimination tournament.
The strongest of the candidate was given the position of the student council president.
More succinctly, among the students at the World Dragon Seventh Institute, the largest of the six academies, this girl stood at the top, undefeated.
In short, St. Garrardsworth, Seidoukan, and Le Wolfe were united in opposition.
On the other hand, World Dragon, and the proposing party, Allekant, were in favor.
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"As per the instructions of the Queen Veil representative, her vote is cast with the majority. That's four against, and two for. The measure fails."
"Haa... That's really unfortunate."
The small-eyed youth hung his head dejectedly.
This was, however, the expected result.
If such a proposal were to pass, the only one who to reap the benefit would be Allekant. It never had a chance of passing from the beginning.
Moreover, it's not like the Rikka Garden Council had the final say.
Standing above the Rikka Garden Council was a select group of members of the Integrated Enterprise Foundation who, together, comprised a management committee. If a measure passed, it would later be reviewed by this committee. Although they endeavored to respect the will of the Garden Council, they were under no obligation to do so. There simply no way this measure wouldn't be sent right on back.
ーWith that said...
"In that case, putting aside the 'humanity' of artificial intelligences, would it still be unacceptable to deploy them as weapons?"
The words uttered by the small-eyed youth, his head bowed, tensed the atmosphere in a single moment.
"And what do you mean by that?"
"Was it not clear? Did we not just decide that artificial intelligences were not to be granted rights equal to other students? Beyond that, didn't we just declare that making judgments in discerning their humanity to be arbitrarily difficult? In other words, even if they appear to be human, a machine is just that ーa machine; a tool, if you would. The Stella Carta has no specific provisions restricting the use of weaponryー no matter what it may resemble."
"...You mean to employ autonomous Replicants as weapons?"
"The Stella Carta certainly does not forbid it."
Such a thing was obvious. Even if remote-controlled Replicants were to be deployed in battle, they stood no chance against the Starpulse Generation. They'd be nothing so much as scrap metal to be discarded.
But, were such Replicants capable of independent thought and action, would that not alter the situation drastically?
"I see. So this was your true aim."
Claudia narrowed her eyes.
The first proposal had been a feint; he'd never expected it to pass. It had been brought up only for the sake of reaching this point.
It looked like this beady-eyed youth wasn't just an ornamental figurehead after all.
"Hmm... I understand now. This is certainly a topic which warrants discussion."
The blond-haired youth sighed for a third time. The small-eyed youth nodded his head deferentially.
"Thank you. Now when I return, they won't just shoot the messenger."
- ψ -
The July sun burned with a searing heat which roasted the skin of those under it. Even as school finished for the day, it gave no sign of letting up.
Ayato, sweating, raced out from within the shaded foliage of the central courtyard.
"This is bad, I don't think I'm going to make it..."