177: Unfortunately...

"Vee-sama. One hour has passed, so I will provide a report on the current status."

"I understand."

Now, after one hour since Memoqsi and all the machine intelligences present here—more likely scattered across the Shibramiss system—began investigating the cosmic monsters they detected through the 'Hetero Mirror,' other than me...

As planned in advance, it's time for a report right here.

Also, during this past hour, it wasn't just Memokshi and the other machine intelligences that were active.

While I was monitoring general news through my puppet, I was also keeping watch from the main body near the Sixth Prime Colony, focusing on the direction of the Fifth Prime Colony, making sure there were no visible signs of abnormal activity.

Joharis double-checked that there were no surveillance eyes or ears in this room or its surroundings that the machine intelligences hadn't detected.

Viljaniira was also using her ocular mods, such as foresight and threat detection, searching for any information that might have slipped through.

But first, we should prioritize the information from Mebokshi and the other machine intelligences.

There is no faster or more accurate source than them when it comes to searching public areas within the colony.

"In conclusion, we were unable to identify the individual suspected to be a space monster."

"I see."

"Yes. We did manage to pick up a few suspicious individuals, but there were no instances where the camera captured anything unusual or strange sounds at the moment of reaction. Given that the search area covered as much as one-third of the entire Fifth Prime Colony, there were inevitably many blind spots, and we simply couldn’t cover everything."

Identification was impossible.

In other words, the decisive moment wasn't captured on camera.

Well, honestly, I suppose there was nothing we could do about that.

I managed to live undetected as a space monster in the Hira Toratsu Gumi system for a whole year, hidden from everyone except a select few. So an older space monster like me would certainly have various concealment strategies.

Therefore, avoiding detection by cameras shouldn't be that difficult.

They might even have a space like my Ether Space.

Given that, it's perfectly understandable that we can't identify them.

"We're also checking whether any unusual incidents have occurred within the specified range, but currently, no such incidents have been reported."

"Could you please provide the list of incidents, just to be safe?"

"Certainly. This is the list of incidents that have occurred over the past couple of hours, none of which have been resolved yet."

Vilijanira received the list data from Memoqui, and from behind her, I and Joharis also peered at the list displayed on the information terminal.

Homicide, theft, vandalism, murder, fraud... Surprisingly, there are quite a few incidents happening.

Still, they all seem like sudden, unexpected events.

The culprit hasn't been caught yet, but it feels like they'll be apprehended any moment now.

How's it going? Vee

I don't really feel anything in particular. I'm sorry for those affected, but it just feels like a regular incident to me.

I see, I see.

Hmm hmm.

In that case, the space monster might not have committed any criminal acts.

Leave it alone then...

Ah, no, I should probably hear this first.

"Memo, are the numbers of people within range correct? And the quantity of supplies as well."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know, the other person might have something like my Ether Space. Depending on how it's used, it could even be used for kidnapping or smuggling. So I thought— if people or goods are mysteriously increasing or decreasing… Is that too far-fetched?"

Memo's expression didn't change in response to my words.

It wasn't so much the look of someone who couldn't investigate it… rather…

It's tough. If people or objects were unnaturally increasing or decreasing, we could investigate, but there's also the possibility of exchange.

Ah, I see...

Therefore, the task currently being carried out behind the scenes by the memos is essentially a list organized by whether individuals were inside, outside, originally present, or absent. This approach allows us to identify suspicious individuals, including through exchanges. While it might be possible to bypass a few cameras depending on the route, it's impossible to evade all of them.

Uh, uh...

We're also identifying suspicious individuals who appear in consecutive ABC cameras but are missing only in camera B—this is unnatural, as they should be visible in the cameras they're supposed to cover. We're currently checking for anomalies not only in water and electricity usage, but also for any unusual behavior in human movement patterns.

Yeah, I feel like I've just witnessed the incredible power of machine intelligence.

I knew that, but trying to escape from a machine intelligence once it decides to pursue me? That's impossible.

That's impossible for me.

Yet, is the cosmic monster we're currently searching for somehow managing to make that impossibility work, even if only temporarily?

Then... mod?

No, why did the 'Hetero Mirror' react for only an instant...?

Up until now, I had unconsciously transferred for just that one moment, completing the task in an instant... Ah, that's why the Memocchi were concerned about exchanges.

Is there someone out there, like a partner akin to Virijianila for me, or do they usually disguise or conceal their own OS as a 'Vanilla OS'...?

"...This is impossible. Rather than expecting updates, let's just keep our vigilance high and leave things as they are until some unusual incident occurs."

"Understood, Master Vee."

Yeah, it's no good.

There's just not enough information.

We can't tell friend from foe, so we have no choice but to leave things as they are.

And so, despite our hopes, the day didn't pass without incident—but it did eventually come to an end.