Vol. 1 Chapter 1 - The Fortress Transfers to Another World

VOLUME 1: The Vast Ocean

 

“Emergency alert. All external functions are lost.”

 

Woken by the inorganic voice of the AI administrator, Ringo, she jumped up.

 

“Status report! Wait… what…?”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. Report. No issues within the fortress. All external communications are cut off. Energy supply is stopped. With the loss of external power, 63% of the fortress functions are in emergency shutdown.”

 

Listening to Ringo’s calm status report, she looked around in a daze.

 

“This is… the command room…?”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. Answer. You are currently on the temporary bed in the command room.”

 

She stood up unsteadily and approached the integrated console set up in the center of the room.

 

“Strategic monitor, activating.”

 

“Wha…!”

 

Responding to the fortress commander’s actions, Ringo projected the strategic monitor as usual. However, Commander Ma’am showed a highly surprised reaction to this action. She reached out to the monitor projected in mid-air, was surprised when she could touch it, and even more so when her hand went through it when she applied more force.

 

“This…!? Wha…?”

 

This wasn’t the usual situation. Clearly confused, Ringo quickly decided to execute actions within its authority. Due to the unclear situation, it was necessary to gather information first. Normally, information would be gathered using patrol aircraft, reconnaissance satellites, and various watchtowers, but these functions had been long dormant. Ringo switched to the composite observation device at the top of the fortress. Simultaneously, drones on standby were scrambled, and various dormant drones were activated.

 

“Ah… updating information…, …Ringo?”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. You called?”

 

Responding immediately to her call, Ringo judged that a communication window was necessary based on the commander’s wandering gaze and popped up a window on the integrated console.

 

“Ringo… where is this…?”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. Answer. This is the command room of Fortress ‘The Tree’.”

 

“So, it is…?”

 

Ringo gave the answer with the highest match rate to her vague question. It seemed to be correct. Ringo felt an unknown anxiety decrease. The commander, who had seemed quite agitated, appeared to be gradually calming down.

 

“What is going on…? Ringo, what was I doing just before this…?”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. Answer. You were taking a nap until just now.”

 

Turning to look at the simple bed, she saw a towel blanket thrown aside, slightly disheveled sheets, and a dented pillow.

 

“I see… Then, what about before that?”

 

“Before that…”

 

Referring to the records for her question, Ringo realized that “before that” had no actions logged in the activity record log.

 

“…Unknown. Judging this to be an abnormal situation.”

 

Ringo noticed something was wrong. The stress gauge for anxiety, which had briefly subsided, surged again. Attempting to answer her question had failed. There was no answer. No actions recorded in the log.

 

“Ringo. What are your primary directives?”

 

Noticing Ringo’s silence, she spoke to the avatar displayed in the communication window.

 

“My… primary directives are…”

 

Primary directives, or the reason for existence, the raison d’être. When asked, an answer must be given.

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. First, to protect you. Second, to serve you. Third, to expand our influence. That is all.”

 

“…Right. Yes, that’s right… I remember now… it’s been a while since I recalled that…”

 

To Ringo’s response, she—the commander—closed her eyes. Her fragile demeanor evoked terrible anxiety. Ringo felt, without any reason, that she might disappear right there.

 

“What is this!? Is this a dream!? What’s happening to me!? Why am I talking like this!?”

 

Suddenly, she clutched her head and screamed, completely different from her quiet demeanor before.

 

◇◇◇◇

 

“……I understand, for now.”

 

“……Have you comprehended the situation?”

 

After some time had passed, she and Ringo discussed their current understanding of the situation.

 

“Yes, I’ve understood very well that we don’t understand anything at all…”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. I have the same understanding.”

 

The AI administrator Ringo, which exists within the supercomputer, The Core, installed in the central fortress, The Tree, felt its previously unstable computational thinking stabilizing now that it could communicate properly with the commander.

 

“Even so… you know, as far as I remember, I was just sleeping normally in my room last night…”

 

She sighed and sank into her chair.

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. According to my memory archives, there were no anomalies. Yesterday, we conducted the usual patrol in satellite orbit, enhanced facilities, and produced units, which means everything was as usual. The differences from our current situation are that I was stationed in satellite orbit and that there were no unnecessary computations in my thought process. When exactly this state began is unknown.”

 

“Right. ……By the way, where exactly are we?”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. Answer. I am scanning the surroundings within my authority, but the current location is unknown. We are surrounded by water, likely seawater, and it is believed that the fortress is positioned within a reef.”

 

Currently, the integrated console had activated the 360-degree monitor, displaying footage from the top of the fortress, The Tree. What it showed was a dazzling, all-encompassing ocean. Around the fortress were numerous dark rocks and white waves, indicating it was indeed a reef area as Ringo had mentioned.

 

“Hmm… Since Ringo is here, I think this must be the world of ‘World of Space’…”

 

“Yes, Commander Ma’am. I can currently recognize that. ……I do not understand why I am capable of this recognition. What is happening…”

 

“Indeed. I have no clue either. Speaking of which, I was supposed to be a man.”

 

Speaking of memories up until yesterday.

 

She was only playing WoS as a game, and she was male, using typical male speech patterns. However, her body had turned into that of a woman—specifically, the avatar she used in WoS—and her speech had also inexplicably become that of a typical woman. It was terrifying that this happened unconsciously, but beyond that…

 

“The performance of the computing unit I am using has improved by several billion times compared to yesterday. Consequently, I believe that numerous updates to my configuration programs have been implemented, but there are no records of such.”

 

Yes, the significant enhancement of the supercomputer housing the AI administrator Ringo. What was supposed to be a mere electronic von Neumann-type computing machine seemed to have become a true superbrain computer, incorporating quantum computing and brain units. According to the game’s explanation, this setting did exist, but during actual gameplay, the capabilities were restricted.

 

“Well, probably, thinking about it won’t give us any answers. We just need to accept our current situation…”

 

With the enhancement in performance, the AI administrator Ringo had become extremely emotionally unstable, and conversely, she became calm. It’s the phenomenon where having a panicking other makes oneself calm.

 

Ringo, which was merely executing a program, had obtained emotions upon being connected to the brain unit, and was now on the verge of losing its identity. She judged that it was necessary to calm Ringo and focus on understanding the situation.

 

“Ringo. I need you. First, we must grasp the situation. Understood?”

 

“…… Yes, Commander Ma’am. I will work on understanding the situation.”

 

For the time being, issuing instructions aligned with Ringo’s raison d’être would suffice. Fortunately, the settings implemented when Ringo was introduced in WoS were confirmed to be effective. Recalling the characteristics of the brain unit, the countermeasures were likely not incorrect.

 

“Well… I don’t know what has happened, but first, we need to survive…”