Saturday, August 1, 2026
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules.
Today, our organization is announcing
the birth of the world's first true artificial general intelligence.
And now, allow me to introduce...
Alice!
People of the real world, I'm pleased to meet you.
My name is Alice. Alice Synthesis Thirty.
Alice
My name is Alice. Alice Synthesis Thirty.
That's our school uniform!
I heard she requested it.
"The same uniform as the order of knights who came to the aid of the Human Guardian Army."
Although her first choice was the same gold armor she wore over there.
Not even Rath could afford that, could they?
Still, I'm an amazed by the re-creation they did.
- You can barely tell the difference through the screen. - I'd like to start with a question and answer session.
Let's start with the basics.
What makes Ms. Alice different from existing programmable robots?
It's her brain... or what we're calling her brain.
The consciousness that exists in the photonic brain stored within her skull
is not a program that can be rewritten with binary code.
It's essentially no different from our human brains.
That's what makes her categorically different from existing robots.
Then we'd like you to demonstrate that in a way that would make it clear to us and our viewers.
You have her Turing test results in your handouts.
No, that's not what I mean.
If you could open up her skull, and show us what you call the photonic brain inside...
Yes.
I don't mind.
But first, would prove that you yourself are not a robot?
What? I'm a human. How I could prove that...
It's simple. Please open up your skull and show us your brain.
Wh-Whoa, Alice is upset.
World's First True Artificial General Intelligence ALICE Announced
Uh, this question is for Dr. Kojiro.
Some labor unions are already raising concerns about the industrial use
of advanced artificial intelligence causing a further rise in unemployment.
Those concerns are unfounded.
Our organization has no intention of deploying true AI into the unskilled labor force.
However, the financial world has high hopes that they can be used as industrial robots.
Do you have any comments?
True AIs, what this organization calls "artificial Fluctlights,"
cannot be mass-produced in a short time.
Like us, they're born as infants and raised by their families from childhood to adulthood,
and they mature while developing their own unique personalities.
In our opinion, to load such an intelligence into industrial robots
and force them into labor shouldn't be allowed to happen.
In other words, Doctor, are you saying that you acknowledge this AI's human rights?
At this moment, I'm sure that many of you would feel uncomfortable
if asked to acknowledge artificial Fluctlights as humans and to grant them human rights.
But in another century, or perhaps two centuries,
we'll be living in the same society as them as a matter of course,
interacting with them without discrimination, even marrying and starting families with them.
That's what I firmly believe.
And if that's the case, shouldn't we shy away from treating them as objects and abusing them?
But, Doctor!
Their existence is too different from ours!
How can we possibly acknowledge man-made machines as being the same as humankind?
I acknowledge and accept the fact of you real-worlders as our creators.
I am grateful to you for creating us.
But as another person born in my world once said,
"What if the real world is also a world created by others?
What if there were even more creators outside it?"
If, one day, your own creators appeared before you
and ordered you into slavery, what would you do?
Would you grovel on the ground, pledge your loyalty, and beg for mercy?
I have already had many interactions with real-worlders.
I am all alone in a strange world, but they've encouraged and supported me.
They've taught me many things, and taken me to many places.
I am very fond of them.
And that's not all.
I even love one of these real-worlders.
Whenever I think of this person, whom I'm unable to see now...
Even this steel chest of mine feels like it's about to burst.
I have a right hand that I will extend to the people of the real world.
But I will not fall to my knees or grind my forehead in the dirt.
That's because I am a human.
The organization known as the Oceanic Resource Exploration & Research Institution
is widely reported to have been involved in the raid and occupation incident
on the self-propelled mega-float, the Ocean Turtle, correct?
Yes. According to one theory, the goal of that raid
might have been the seizure of this artificial intelligence.
Another problem is that a JSDF officer perished.
JSDF Officer Killed Casualty of the Raid Incident Mr. Seijirou Kikuoka The Ocean Turtle Attack... Why Did It Happen?
I never thought that you'd end up being the lone casualty, Mr. Kiku.
You're right, who knew?
But this was for the best, Higa.
Seriously, they would've pinned the blame on me, so I could've actually been eliminated.
And because of the pressure from that fatality, our opposition in Japan was driven into a corner.
Well, even I was shocked to learn it was the vice minister of defense leading them.
Seems like the vice minister was getting a hefty payoff from those American weapon manufacturers.
But are you sure you're okay with going public about the artificial Fluctlights?
I mean, that's going to derail Rath’s ultimate goal, the autonomous weapons loading project.
It's fine. As long as the Americans know we can do it.
Now their weapon manufacturers can't force us to go public under the pretext of joint development.
After all, we've already perfected the artificial Fluctlight.
After watching this press conference, they'll have to give up.
That's true.
And we have him to thank for all of that, right?
Hey, Higa. Look. Look at that!
What is it, Mr. Kiku?
The press conference should be almost over by now, right?
Our hope is that, through the virtual world, you can all interact with newly-born artificial Fluctlights,
and that this will change how you feel about them.
That's all we ask of everyone watching this broadcast.
Doctor!
Is there any danger of the AIs annihilating us humans to take over the planet?
Aside from one possibility, that would never happen.
That would only happen if we were to attempt to annihilate them first.
But think of all the books and movies till now...
I must go.
Please excuse me.
M-Mr. Kiku!
Kirito!
- Alice? - Alice?
Hey, Alice. Long time no see.
Kirito!
Alice.
Your little sister, Selka, chose to go into Deep Freeze to wait for your return.
On the eightieth floor of the Central Cathedral, she's still asleep even now on top of that hill.
All right, Mr. Higa.
Go ahead and delete the memories of the last two hundred years
since the start of the maximum-acceleration phase.
My and the queen's roles are done.
Tokorozawa National Defense Medical College Hospital
Come in.
Sorry! I got here a little late.
No, I just woke up a second ago.
I'd say you're still only ninety percent of the normal Kirito.
Are you eating enough?
I'm eating. I'm eating a lot.
What do you expect? I was bedridden for more than a month.
Anyway, I found out when I'll be discharged.
In three days.
Really?
Then we need to celebrate!
First in ALO, and then in real life, too.
Yeah, I guess.
It's all right.
Even if our memory are gone, the memories will never vanish.
That's right, Kirito. Don't cry.
Stay cool.
Yeah. I'm sure...
we'll see them again someday.
Come in.
Hey, there! I hear they're finally releasing you, Kirito.
That calls for a huge celebration!
I'm not even going to ask how you already know what I just learned from Nurse Aki.
Well, I'm really glad for you.
Getting this far in your recovery after only a week of rehab?
Got to hand it to youth!
We were told that the public thinks you're dead.
What are you going to do now?
Dr. Rinko's been appointed the official head of Rath,
and you can't just stop by the Roppongi office, right?
Not to worry.
I still have a lot to do.
For now, I have to do all I can to keep the Ocean Turtle and the Underworld safe.
Right, that's it!
What's going to happen to the Underworld now?
Well, things aren't looking very good.
The government's trying to find someone to blame, and the negotiating is still ongoing.
But eventually, Rath will be dissolved,
and all related technology will be absorbed by the major conglomerates.
Alice will be seized,
and there'll be no saving the Lightcube Cluster on the Ocean Turtle from being reinitialized.
N-No way!
You already have a plan in mind to keep that from happening, right?
Not so much a plan as... a hope, I guess?
My hope is that while the government's tied up in negotiations,
public opinion acknowledging the human rights of artificial Fluctlights will form, that's it.
To achieve that, we need to have as many people from the real world as possible
interact with the artificial Fluctlights for as long as possible.
That's probably the very purpose of the Seed Nexus.
Yeah... I guess.
But for that to happen, we must have a high-bandwidth connection
so the Underworlders can connect to the Seed Nexus.
The satellite connection used by the Ocean Turtle has been cut off by the government.
I'm going to see what I can do to restore that connection.
We took the initiative with that press conference the other day.
That should've bought us some time.
Connection, huh?
Mr. Kikuoka...
please!
Protect the Underworld.
You don't need to ask me.
The Underworld is the dream that I'd stake my life on, too.
Of course it's not going to run.
It's definitely going to collapse right away.
That's what happened to both my and Mr. Kiku's copies.
There's no way that a human soul saved onto a Lightcube
can stand to know that it's a copy of itself.
Even... even if it's...
This is Mr. Higa, I presume?
Th-That's right.
So you didn't delete me.
Or to be precise, you've copied me?
I couldn't... I couldn't delete you!
You're the first Fluctlight to survive the passage of two hundred years!
No, you're the longest-living person in human history!
I could never delete you.
Isn't that right, Kirito?
I had a feeling that something like this might happen.
Mr. Higa, was my Fluctlight the only one you copied?
Y-Yeah.
During the memory-deleting operation,
yours was the only one I managed to copy behind Lt. Colonel Kikuoka's and Dr. Kojiro's backs.
I see.
Her Majesty... Asuna and I once discussed this.
What we do if something like this happened.
This is what Asuna told me.
If she were the only one who got copied, she would have herself deleted right away.
If both of us were copied,
then we should use what little time we had left to unite the real world and the Underworld.
Then, if you were the only one?
What would you do then?
In that case, I would fight only for the Underworld.
Because I am the protector of that world.
F-Fight?
The situation the Underworld is currently in is extremely unstable.
Isn't that right?
Yeah... that's true.
Compared to the real world, that world is tragically powerless.
Energy, hardware, maintenance, and networking...
We have to depend on the people of the real world to keep the infrastructure operating.
That doesn't bode well for its long-term safety.
But there's no way around that, though.
The Underworld's physical presence, the Lightcube Cluster, can't be moved off the Ocean Turtle.
Not to mention, the ship's under government control now.
On a whim, the government could decide to cut off all power tomorrow,
and the entire cluster could be reinitialized.
How long will the nuclear reactor's fuel last?
Um...
Well, since it's a pressurized water reactor for a nuclear sub,
if it's only maintaining the cluster, then four or five years, maybe?
Then basically, there'd be no need to refuel during that time.
In other words, as long as we can prevent any outside interference,
the Underworld will continue to exist.
Am I right?
B-But if you're trying to prevent,
there isn't a weapons system on board the Ocean Turtle.
I said that I would fight.
F-Fight?
But the satellite connection has been cut off,
and there's no way to contact the Ocean Turtle.
There is a connection. There must be.
Wh-Where?
Heathcliff.
No, Akihiko Kayaba. We need his help.
Mr. Higa...
you'll help, won't you?
K-Kayaba-senpai?
He's alive?
A copy of Akihiko Kayaba and a copy of Kazuto Kirigaya.
If these two copies... no, these two people were to meet, what would happen?
Could it be that I've opened Pandora's box?
I want to see.
I want to know what will happen.
All right.
I have some old contacts I can reach out to.
I'll send out some encrypted messages.
If you're going to take a nap, do it after you're done with your sacred arts homework.
Are you planning to copy mine again?
Hey! I tweaked that skill you taught me the other day a little.
Let's head to the training hall later.
Hey, you snuck out again to buy some snacks, didn't you?
Of course you got some for me, too, right?
Come on, wake up, Kirito.
Kirito.
I should've had them delete all of my memories!
All the memories of the two and a half years I spent with Eugeo!
Hey, tell me about it, Big Brother.
What happened in that world. The good.
The bad. Everything.
When I first met him, deep in the forest,
Eugeo was just a woodcutter.
It might be hard to believe,
but for three hundred years, and over multiple generations,
they were trying to cut down a single cedar tree.
Kirito.
I...
...feel I'm might wither away.
Incoming Call Rinko Kojiro
Next time: New World.
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