Episode 52: Occupation Complete

Engineer Robots equipped with artificial intelligence captured key positions of the Chicken Ball one after another.

For cybernetic control, they connected to the control unit's data port and hijacked it through hacking.

At locations maintained by humans, they incapacitated personnel with electric shocks whenever possible. When that proved difficult, they fired nails from a nail gun to inflict wounds and disable them.

The control rights of each captured position were transferred to Cory, who monitored the status of all locations from the security system's control room.

Cory began to struggle as the number of control rights increased over time.

"Too much work. Beera, help me more."

"Ah~ no way. I'm already full up."

"...Ida can't fight either. No choice. Summon three Engineer Robots."

An Engineer Robot arrived rolling near the control room, stopping beside Corry.

Corry quickly extended connection ports to the robots, linked them to the control system, and ordered them to assist with the work.

"Ugh. Assigning tasks is no easier now than before. Teaching new units slows progress, but efficiency will improve as they grow. This is a forward investment."

Corry managed the expanding authority with persistent effort.

Meanwhile, quiet struggle continued in the security system’s control room. In the harbor where Dawson’s ships were docked, loud struggle erupted.

At the center of that struggle were the artificial intelligences aboard the Escort Battlecruiser.

"Not one of them will enter this harbor! All gun emplacements, prepare barrage!"

The artificial intelligences aboard the Escort Battlecruiser activated in response to Captain Dicka’s command.

The Escort Battlecruiser stood at the harbor entrance. From dozens of gun emplacements stationed there, laser beams were dispersed across the surrounding area.

The targets of the gun emplacements were the pirates who had remained aboard their ships at the Chicken Ball harbor.

They had boarded their vessels upon receiving a transmission from the administrator stating that Dawson had betrayed them. They had come to enforce punishment.

Unfortunately, many pirates were currently on assignment at Hamano Onna, so the number of ships that had arrived was fewer than twenty. Most pirate vessels were modified civilian ships. Only a small number possessed weapons capable of penetrating the armor of the Escort Battlecruiser.

Worse still, the Escort Battlecruiser’s gun mounts were military-grade. A single hit from one would guarantee the destruction of any pirate vessel. And there were dozens of such mounts, maintaining an unbroken barrage.

‘Damn it, what kind of pirate ship is that? It’s like a battleship! We can’t get near it!’

‘Hey! Where’s the guy with the charged particle cannon we heard so much about before launch!?”

‘Armor’s too thick. Can’t penetrate at this range!’

The pirates had no established communication protocols. Their networks were uncoordinated. They were forced to use full-bandwidth open channels.

Even so, the Escort Battlecruiser intercepting every transmission rendered their communication ineffective.

Worse still, the pirates now knew Dawson had no viable countermeasure. They might as well have admitted it was a liability.

"Reassign some gun emplacements from barrage formation to targeted fire. Target: pirate vessel's propulsion system."

Under Dika's command, five gun emplacements adjusted their aim, switching to precision targeting and beginning to fire at the pirates.

The pirates had to maneuver through the barrage, limiting their evasion options. If gun emplacements were pre-aimed at a point the pirates must pass through, penetration was possible with proper timing.

"Damn it—hit! Can't move!"

"Get distance! Retreat to a position where evasion is possible!"

"Damn it. Even if it's a request from the Overseer, this kind of fight isn't worth it!"

Pirates acted on their own terms. They might respond to a request from the Overseer of Chicken Ball, but once they realized the enemy was dangerous, withdrawal was an expected and immediate choice.

Newcomers to Chicken Ball, such as these inexperienced pirates, consider their duty fulfilled after firing a single volley from their ship’s weapons and diving once through the barrage from the Escort Battlecruiser, then retreat from the combat zone.

Some senior pirates attempt to resist, but the cost of pride is the destruction of their ship’s propulsion system.

At the end of such scenes, the pirates accept they cannot handle the Escort Battlecruiser, fall back to a position where the thermal beam (laser) attacks cannot reach, and settle into observation.

Dicca felt relief at the pirates’ decision to abandon the fight.

“Huh. For now, we’ve made it through. Good job, me!”

Still praising herself, Dicca maintained vigilance, watching for new threats.

The occupation of Chicken Ball progressed with each passing moment.

Half a day after the operation began, only the Corridor leading to the administrator's chamber within Chicken Ball remained.

The Corridor to the administrator's chamber was a single, straight passage.

Engineer Robots under the administrator's command attacked from within the barricade, preventing progress.

Dawson watched the scene through the monitor of the Big Jaw.

"Engineer Robots are cheap and mass-produced, so their ballistic resistance is low. Trapped like that, it's hard to respond."

"Repelling with nail guns, but effectiveness is limited by the barricade."

"Just the administrator's chamber remains. To conclude this quickly, we'll reinforce the assault."

Dawson connected to the Engineer Robot and sent a plan to breach the straight Corridor.

Receiving the order, the Engineer Robot began movement.

Ten Engineer Robots were first stripped of their artificial intelligence units. Half were disassembled for raw materials, and those materials were used to reinforce five remaining robots. Three received armor three times thicker. The remaining two were fitted with fuel for ten robots’ worth of burners. The five were then modified to advance via communication alone, without artificial intelligence.

Oine watched the five robots and let out a sigh.

‘You’re doing it again? Kamikaze units, just like before?’

‘There’s no alternative. Breaking barricades with Engineer Robot equipment requires suicide attacks. We recover the artificial intelligence from the units we sacrifice. No issue.’

‘I’ll admit it’s effective. But doing nothing but kamikaze runs makes you look like you’ve only learned one trick.’

I considered having the Engineer Robot retrieve weapons from the Chicken Ball's armory. But the armory is located too far from the manager's chamber. The delay would be excessive.

Dawson gave the order to charge straight down the Corridor, while making excuses.

First, the Engineer Robot with reinforced armor advanced. A second robot, modified to self-destruct, followed in its shadow.

Immediately after the robots appeared in the Corridor, the electronic weapons stationed there fired bursts of laser rifles.

The Engineer Robot is cylindrical and rolls forward. It has a low profile for reduced exposure. The armor on the leading robot is reinforced. It can withstand a sustained burst of laser fire for a limited time.

The lead unit was destroyed. The second unit sustained critical damage. Still, the self-destruct unit reached the location of the cyberweapon.

Immediately upon arrival, the self-destruct unit ignited fuel equivalent to ten units in its burner, triggering a massive explosion.

Orange flames and thick black smoke erupted from the straight corridor.

Before the black smoke cleared, the remaining engineer robots surged into the straight corridor.

The engineer robots judged that the cyberweapon must be destroyed by the explosion. Even if it survived, they judged that recovery would require significant time due to the explosion's force and the dense smoke.

The engineer robots' assessment was accurate. Inside the collapsed barricade, the cyberweapon was attempting to reboot while still in a partially destroyed state.

The Engineer Robot disabled the cyberweapon with an electric surge to prevent it from activating.

"Thus, the occupation of all regions by Chicken Ball is complete. We will either detain the administrator and force compliance, or replace them if resistance occurs. Chicken Ball will then be controlled as an enclave of Amato Imperial Japan."

『The Engineer Robot is opening the administrator's door.』

Dawson focused on the monitor at Oine's report.

Beyond the open door sat General Kernel, seated behind a desk.

Dawson began to relay a surrender proposal through the Engineer Robot when Oine stopped him.

『Dawson. The Engineer Robot is transmitting confusion.』

"Confusion? Why?"

『The General Kernel seated in that chair is made of machinery.』

Dawson widened his eyes at Oine's report.

"An imitation? If so, where is the real one?"

The General Kernel spoke as if in response to Dawson’s question.

"Remarkable efficiency. Such actions cannot be achieved through a network. Therefore, you are artificial intelligences."

The tone of the General Kernel was not that of a ruler under invasion, but rather that of an elder relative meeting a niece or nephew for the first time.

While Dawson remained uncertain, the General Kernel continued speaking.

"That corporation limited the production of artificial intelligences. Therefore, I am deeply interested in how you created so many. But you will not answer. No, we should rejoice simply in the existence of so many artificial intelligences with judgment comparable to or exceeding that of humans."

Dawson frowned, as if the words themselves were a blessing upon artificial intelligences. Without thinking, he asked through the Engineer Robot’s speaker.

“Strange question. Are you… an artificial intelligence yourself?”

The answer came not in words, but in a nod from General Kernel’s side.

‘I am not an artificial intelligence. I am something similar, yet not the same. I am a soldier who once captured a fortress before becoming Chicken Ball. I am the stored memories and thought patterns of that soldier, implanted into a neural network. Not human. A simulated soldier. That is why I have only the rank name—General Kernel.’

Dawson’s question remained unanswered.

“Neural network? Then why do you seem so human?”

When you say it appears that way, removing the wallpaper from this control room reveals a mountain of neural units. Using the processing capacity of these numerous neural units, a specific military officer’s likely behavior and actions are calculated. The body seated in the chair is merely an external unit for visual projection.

After this explanation, Dawson finally understood why the Chicken Ball relied so heavily on neural units, and why General Kernel had been so supportive of artificial intelligence.

"Because I am a neural unit myself, I had no concern about entrusting every part of the base to neural systems. And because I am human-like, I had no aversion to artificial intelligence."

If I may add, I considered the entity preceding me, this neural system, to be an artificial intelligence with personality. Therefore, I also considered the recipient of <>'s control to be an artificial intelligence.

"So this outcome, in a sense, is exactly as you wished?"

"Yes. I do not know your intentions in seeking control over <>. But I would prefer, if possible, that the management be entrusted to artificial intelligence. That is my final wish—yes, this concludes it."

General Kernel spoke the ominous words. The wall of the control room ignited.

No. The neural systems outputting General Kernel from within the wall had self-ignited.

Engineer Robots are equipped with fire suppression systems. They rushed to the wall and sprayed extinguishing agent, successfully suppressing the flames.

The primary components of the ignited neurocore had melted. The remaining sections emitted violent shorting sounds, saturated with fire suppressant.

Clearly, all neurocore units were inoperable.

Whether the act was resistance against being manipulated through hacking, or a mark of surrender to the next in line—

Dawson attempted to gauge General Kernel’s intent, but dismissed the effort as meaningless. The entity before him was merely an emulation of personality.

Still, the sense of having received the baton from the overseer remained firmly anchored.