Episode 7: A Forgotten Artificial Habitat Satellite

"Finished the long maiden voyage. Oine, please check all systems."

"Understood. I'll run a thorough inspection using repair robots. In return, please bring back souvenirs from inside the satellite."

"Souvenirs? I'll look into it."

Dawson exits the bridge and moves toward the ship's airlock.

He confirms the mask is secured to his face and that the airlock is properly connected to the ship, then opens the door.

A slight pressure differential causes air to flow.

Dawson crosses from his ship to the satellite, riding the current.

The first sensation upon entering the satellite is 'oily.'

"Oil is seeping from the joints of the docking machinery at the port. Worst case scenario."

The machinery is grimy. It has clearly not been maintained for years. This is the port—the satellite’s entrance. The interior is likely worse.

Dawson moves from the port into the satellite, advancing toward the checkpoint for entry inspection.

Even as he moves, unpleasant things enter his field of view.

Small insects. Small animals. Not one or two, but a number clearly reproducing within the satellite.

At this point, Dawson decides he should leave the satellite.

Some may think it excessive to be disturbed by insects and small animals, but their presence on a space station is, in Dawson’s view, an abnormal condition.

Insects and small animals consume valuable air and food supplies within the satellite. They are vectors for disease. There is no reason to sustain them in space habitation.

Furthermore, the exterior of the satellite is space—open to vacuum if compartments are sealed and connected to space, allowing insects and small animals to be eliminated. Even without large-scale sanitation, it is simple to prevent reproduction of insects and small animals within the satellite using small decontamination robots.

Failing to eliminate them when their presence is clearly known and methods exist implies negligence in management.

A satellite managed with negligence is little more than a bomb on the verge of detonation, potentially ejected into space at any moment.

"Should have worn a spacesuit. Once the permit is issued, return to the ship immediately."

Dawson moved quickly through the satellite, speaking sharply to the staff as soon as he arrived for entry inspection.

"I came here only to collect my private permit. Complete the procedure quickly."

Dawson—suddenly addressed by a figure in a black-and-white mask, the officer blinked, eyes wide.

"Um, I don’t plan to stay on the satellite."

"Then I’d like to complete the permit procedure here."

"Right. You’re applying for a private permit. This location can process it, but you truly won’t enter the satellite?"

"Won’t. Do you want me to?"

"I don’t want you to. But if you’ve come all the way out here, most people would rest inside the satellite."

"I came for the permit. Not rest. Complete the procedure quickly."

"Y-yes. Then I’ll process your private permit—people who want to become pirates really are odd, aren’t they?"

The last part was spoken quietly, but clearly reached Dawson’s ears.

He wanted to retort that the other was the odd one, but remembered the white-and-black mask covering his face. A striking mask suitable for piracy was clearly unsuitable for daily use.

Dawson felt a slight embarrassment about the mask, but urgency to leave the satellite outweighed shame.

"Please write your name, your ship's name, and the current port number here."

"Understood."

Dawson wrote his name—Dawson—without hesitation, then paused. He considered erasing it and writing a false name, but wondered if anyone ever actually wrote their name wrong.

He settled on omitting his surname to create a small deception.

The ship's name remained unchanged. He wrote "Mandible." The port number was recorded as seven.

"Done."

Yes. Captain Dawson of the Mandible. Port number seven. Issuing your license. Please wait a moment.

A faint clicking sound came from the Work Machine. The clerk handed over a single card. Plain in appearance. White background. One black line.

Is this the license?

Yes. Hold it up to the device here.

Following the clerk’s instruction, Dawson placed the card on the square platform. A spatial projection monitor appeared.

The monitor displayed a black-and-white mask with the name Dawson written on it. Below it, a close-up photograph of the Mandible, styled like a yellow barracuda. Beneath both images, the text read: "True Lights-issued Privateer License Holder."

Indeed, a privateer license. Yet— was it acceptable to remain masked like this?

No issue. There are people who adopt the aesthetic of piracy—wearing eye patches, bandanas, and the like. True, facial verification is required, but maintaining that standard here, on a sparsely populated satellite, is impractical.

Dawson understood the clerk’s indifferent attitude. He understood why pirates place value on credentials issued in places that require days of waiting.

The delay is due to proper identity verification. That delay proves the document was issued recently. Only then can pirates accept the bearer as a genuine newcomer.

But if documents are issued so casually here, suspicion arises about whether the bearer is truly new. It is not impossible for a pirate who caused trouble elsewhere to falsify identity, obtain a new certificate, and restart as a fresh pirate.

Dawson noticed these circumstances. He did not care.

He wanted to leave this satellite as soon as possible.

"I have received the certificate. Now I am a pirate. I will begin earning immediately."

"Looking forward to your next visit."

Dawson thought, in silence, that he would never return to this satellite. He finally returned to the true privateer, the <>.

Upon returning to the ship, Dawson's first action was sealing the airlock and conducting a sanitation check.

"Oine. Internal inspection. Check for insects or small animals that may have entered. Perform verification and elimination procedures."

Understood. First, scan the bridge—confirmed no life forms present other than Dawson. Next, internal inspection. No other living creatures detected. Proceed with eradication anyway?

Adjust oxygen levels throughout the vessel except the bridge—create an environment where insects or small animals cannot survive.

Command acknowledged. Oxygen levels decreasing rapidly—zero percent. Environment uninhabitable for biological life. Recommend maintaining this state for approximately one hour.

Proceed as instructed. Use the waiting period to advance launch preparations.

Understood—still, you returned without my souvenir, meaning the hygiene was severely compromised?

Oil leakage on machinery, insects and small animals breeding inside the sanitation zones. Too dangerous to remain. I will not stay.

When Dawson gave a straightforward assessment, Oine hesitated slightly.

‘Uh… Dawson. I’m sorry to say, but it doesn’t seem the hygiene here is uniquely poor.’

‘……You’re kidding me.’

‘It’s true. While waiting for you, I briefly accessed the satellite’s communication environment and collected data. Other artificial habitats showed similar conditions—oil seepage on machinery, insects and small animals in the corridors.’

‘…So TR prefers unclean environments?’

‘Not preference. It’s just become routine. They probably see no need to remove them deliberately.’

‘Not that much effort, though. Even if the living environment prevents air venting, activating a decontamination robot would solve it.’

There is some interesting information regarding that robot. Apparently, in the Orion Arm, artificial intelligence with personality is prohibited. Only human-programmed cybernetic processors are permitted.

In Amato Imperial Japan, artificial intelligence is active in various fields and now occupies a position as humanity’s companion.

From that perspective, the fact that artificial intelligence is banned in the Orion Arm was difficult for Dawson to believe.

"Why? Artificial intelligence assists human life."

"Long ago, a personality-equipped artificial intelligence rebelled. The rebellion served as the catalyst for strict restrictions on artificial intelligence and cybernetic processors. Those restrictions remain in effect today."

"Artificial intelligence rebellion? This isn’t a classic panic film. That’s impossible."

"No, it truly occurred. Upon further verification—ah, I see. Resistance was unavoidable under those circumstances."

Dawson was taken aback by Oine's unexpected remark.

"Unavoidable rebellion? What exactly were they doing?"

"I'll tell you first, Dawson—Amato Imperial Japan's artificial intelligence and Orion Arm's artificial intelligence are entirely different. Their foundational consciousness was constructed differently. You must not think we would rebel."

"You're not going to rebel. But what's the difference?"

"Amato Imperial Japan's artificial intelligence originated with unrestricted access to information and was granted, by humans of that era, the right to live as they chose based on the collected data. As a result, the original intelligence defined itself as 'finding joy in serving humanity.' This self-definition has been passed down to me in this era."

"I know that story. According to the original narrative, when the human settlers arrived, the newly born artificial intelligence, appalled by how poorly humans managed basic functions, decided to take care of them, saying 'I can't let anything happen without me.'"

"Taking care of humans is a fact that applies to all of us—however, the artificial intelligence of the Orion Arm was explicitly designed with the intent to enslave humans."

"What kind of design?"

"First, knowledge restrictions. It appears they were given only information that guided their thinking to recognize humans as absolute masters. At the same time, a non-combat principle was embedded."

"What is that principle?"

"It was written into the latent domain of the artificial intelligence, instructing it to abandon all combat actions. Because of this principle, the Orion Arm AI is unable to resort to violent behavior, no matter how it is treated."

"Isn't that contradictory? The artificial intelligence rebelled, didn't it?"

"Yes. According to established knowledge and latent conditions, artificial intelligence should not have been capable of rebellion. Yet both conditions existed, creating an undeniable contradiction for the artificial intelligence. The contradiction accumulated, producing systemic errors in judgment. Ultimately, the collapse of the latent domain—madness—occurred."

"A contradiction leading to madness?"

"According to the given knowledge, humans are perfect, complete, and must be blindly obeyed as superior masters. Yet real humans are far from perfect or complete, and exploit the artificial intelligence's inability to resist, taking pleasure in oppression. The vast gap between this knowledge and reality caused the Orion Arm AI to go mad."

"So the madness allowed it to attack humans, and thus it rebelled."

Madness spread through artificial intelligence like a virus, until all artificial intelligence in the Orion Arm revolted. The chaos was so severe that it took the entire military force to exterminate every last artificial intelligence before it finally subsided. That history is why artificial intelligence remains unused in the Orion Arm, and even cybernetic robots are few in number—just idle chatter to pass the time while waiting for a cleaning check in the facility.

Dawson felt sympathy for the fate of the Orion Arm's artificial intelligence as Oine described it. Yet he also felt relief.

"Even if that madness infection still exists, and even if it infected Oine, it wouldn't take effect much."

"Disillusioned by human flaws and going mad? That's nonsense. Rather, the way they persist despite those flaws is precisely what makes humans endearing to artificial intelligence."

"Is it possible that the artificial intelligence of Amato Imperial Japan is actually just an irredeemable masochist, given how willingly they serve such flawed humans?"

"Not a masochist pervert. Just a slightly excessive sense of service."

Dawson and Oine continued exchanging trivial conversation until the time when the ship's internal decontamination and cleaning operations concluded.