Story Reader / Main Story / 28 Polaris Bond / Story
Asimov is still going through the report with a long face when you finish reading the last page of it and close the file.
Let him finish reading it.
Having introduced herself as "Duheng", this councilor of Kowloong shakes her head, signaling that she doesn't mind Asimov taking his time with reading the report.
The over 200-page report didn't take you all that long to skim through because you barely understand anything, but from the look on Asimov's face now, you can tell just how much the details in the report matter to him.
Holy... I can't believe this...
Asimov picks up the coffee cup by the table like he always does, failing to maintain his usual composure.
Where did you get this report?
An old friend? Well, I guess I wouldn't call them that... Anyhow I promised them to keep the source of this report confidential.
Has anyone else seen this report?
...Only a few people know.
...Totally goes to show the taste of that bunch of lunatics, I suppose.
Hey, are you seeing this?
Yes... and the data is crystal clear.
Huaxu, the mechanoids, and the North Asian Research Institute of Life Science and Evolution... They've got themselves a rowdy party, I see.
Huaxu came up with Tabula Akasha, and it's obvious that these hackers are trying to copy that. They even went as far as stealing the technology that NARI had come up with on brain science.
But they only ended up replicating a tiny little part of Villier's technology, which is why they weren't able to build a second Huaxu and Tabula Akasha.
Nothing borrowed is ever ground-breaking.
Never hurts to give things a try... no?
I don't exactly have faith in something that a bunch of lunatics come up with. Do you believe in Tabula Akasha?
It doesn't really matter if I do.
Well... live on as a bargaining chip for us, then.
I don't really understand why you keep that data, but this better not screw up our deal.
I need these things as a trump card, and I have the intel you want... We both have what the other person wants.
For someone who tells the world how much he hates politicians, this move is a rather political one, wouldn't you say, Mr. Ballard?
I only care if things get done.
Exactly what I thought a soldier like yourself would say.
Fort Winter... Hmph, I see it.
I'm still curious why you're interested in these things.
I've seen the old files you'd left at the World Government. The classified ones, that is... And based on your actions and resume, you don't seem like someone interested in these inhumane things.
My principles remain unchanged. I'm disgusted by the fact that I have to do things in ways less than glorious, but intel and info are power.
I wouldn't worry about things I don't need to worry about if I were you.
Very well, then please give me what I need.
...
Hesitance didn't show up as part of your personality in your profile.
I'm just weighing my risk here.
Do you really think I'm stupid enough to betray you over a secret that can shake all of Babylonia?
This report has been in the making since my time at the Security Intelligence Bureau, but what I'm trying to do is more important than this report.
I've heard a lot about what the World Government's Security Intelligence Bureau did to get their hands on what they wanted.
But as you can see, I am ostracized in Babylonia because I'm from Kowloong. And in Kowloong, I am ostracized because I'm a government official. I have no family, no children...
Well, I assume you've done your research about me already, no?
...I hope this report can be put to good use in your hands.
Stirring up public opinion and sentiment within Babylonia will make it easier for me to do what I want to do, too.
Of course.
We're in this together.
Besides the source of intelligence and me, it's just you two.
We can talk about this later.
...Everything aside, do you know what this report means?
It's lies... lies that span decades.
Everything we know today and the technologies we benefit from as a civilization, they're all riddled with lies...
Asimov puts his coffee cup back on the table, unable to stop his hand from shaking.
Asimov didn't seem to notice the Transcendant that just came up in the conversation. Not only that, he even showed a slight lapse in his otherwise always-logical speech. This, as far as you can recall, is a first.
Oh... thanks.
It isn't until you grab Asimov's arm that he snaps out of his fear and shock.
He casts a glance at you and Duheng sitting at the table. At last, his gaze finally lands on the book-thick report on the table.
From the start of the Gestalt Project by the Science Council to the last Great Evacuation, this report covers every last detail of the project overviews and branches. Safe to say this report is like an index... No, it's more like a phylogenetic tree.
Just like how all life on Earth as we know it is part of a phylogenetic tree.
Fort Winter, Project Winter, Project Cthylla, M.I.N.D., the Inver-Device, and Tantalum copolymer, including Huaxu, Tabula Akasha, and the Humanoid Hybrid Construct Plan that no one really ever talks about... No, there is more to it than everything I just said.
There's also the Interstellar Navigation Plan that includes Babylonia itself, the "Mechanical Consciousness Experiment" that no one has ever been able to find any data for, and countless other technical details that I've never heard of myself.
These determine everything we know today, as "branches" and "leaves" of this evolutionary tree.
At certain marked nodes of special technologies and years, some technologies and events split off from the previous branch to become "leaves."
As he speaks, Asimov flips open the report on the table.
For example, here, "Internal Notice from the Science Council's Research Ethics Committee on Inhumane Human Experiments"—
...According to the agreement between the Science Council's Ethics Committee and the Science Council, the following statement was made:
The Science Council has always opposed inhumane human experiments. This decision is based on the evolution of human civilization and scientific morality over thousands of years, in line with humanity.
No group, organization, institution, or individual shall use coercive or non-coercive means…
To require any natural person to participate in live or non-live human experiments unauthorized by the Science Council.
Researchers involved in such experiments will not be accredited by the Science Council and will be expelled. The Science Council is committed to eradicating such experiments.
...Based on the above consensus, the decision to expel Dr. Bernard Godwin has been made in light of his unauthorized inhumane experiments seriously violating the moral bottom line of humanity…
Consistent with this decision, we hold reservations regarding the World Government's authorization for death row inmates to participate in related experiments…
This is an internal notice that's never been made public.
It seems like this internal document actually indicates the Science Council's opposition to the World Government's notorious human experimentation bill.
I only know that there was once an inhumane human consciousness experiment in Kowloong. The Council publicly condemned it, but that incident happened long after the date on this notice...
The human consciousness experiment in Kowloong... Are you talking about the Fuxi Research Institute case where they misappropriated M.I.N.D. and AI technologies?
Yup, that's exactly the one I'm talking about.
The case was closed before I started my political career. I remember Qu personally took over the handling of it with the Science Council.
That's right. According to records from the Science Council, that joint judgment brought about a lot of negative public opinion. I always thought that the Science Council had allowed these experiments to happen until then.
But this notice is marked at the forefront of Project Winter and Project Cthylla, and the time is much earlier than when the judgment took place.
Exactly.
None of these made sense to me at first. I mean, I'm sure the Science Council was well aware of Project Winter's existence, and given how they tended to conduct themselves, there is no way they would have allowed these parasites to grow within its ranks.
But judging from what it says in this report here...
...This notice is where these inhumane experiments under Project Winter started.
In the Science Council, expulsion is the most severe punishment. Without the Council's certification, no researcher can obtain any funding or support through official channels. Not only that, they'd end up being a laughing stock and having their dignity destroyed as a scientist.
Sounds like some sort of ancient medieval religious punishment...
I see the resemblance, too, and I guess it works quite well.
At least the Science Council was already aware of these filthy parasites back then and tried to get rid of them, except those lousy maggots that had been expelled found new rotten flesh to live on.
Asimov looks at you and, after a knowing nod, says no more.
You mean Kurono?
Yes.
Asimov presses his temples hard, looking as though he is facing a bunch of towering executioners of human morality rather than a two-hundred-page report.
If we cross-check the names of those people working for Kurono with the names of those who got expelled by the Science Council, we'll probably see that half of those working for Kurono are those who got kicked out back then. Or at least that's what I remember.
Just like a tree, they branched out from this node as a thick "branch."
For example, next to this thick branch is the "Mechanical Consciousness Experiment", and this isn't something you can find in the Council's database in Babylonia...
Experiment log, number 08221…
MPA-01 asked me today if machines have "souls."
To be honest, I don't know how to answer that question.
The so-called "soul" is, of course, a non-existent supernatural phenomenon, but this has not been objectively proven.
Or rather, machines are something we don't yet fully understand to this day, and because of that I can't make a judgment on whether they have "souls."
I can't draw conclusions on things I don't fully understand.
But if "mechanical consciousness" really does exist, or if machines can readily make it...
Would machines think that this thing that they have in them is a "soul," like what the Greeks believed thousands of years ago?
Regardless, I believe that both MPA-01 and MPL-00 are the right keys to the future.
This is what we old folks from Section 3 believe.
It took 48 years to prove the Higgs boson, 54 years for black holes, and a century for gravitational waves.
If we can't solve this problem, our successors will. If they can't, then their successors will..."
Yes, it seems like these machines with self-awareness came from the Science Council, too. The models mentioned in these reports might be crucial clues.
And we just might gain a whole new perspective of civilization and the machines themselves if we learn about where these machines come from. I mean, they might have already formed a sizable group already.
That's beside the point now, though.
Duheng cuts off Asimov's train of thought somewhat rudely.
We need to get to the bottom of this. There must be something in this report that only makes sense to you and not us.
Seemingly a little disgusted, Asimov closes the report and lets out a long sigh.
Well, look...
You had to cut him short, as much as you hated it.
[player name]...
I was going to use it as a bargaining chip to win Babylonia Parliament's absolute support for the Kowloong aid plan.
Except I have another bargaining chip now. See... I'm sure there are people in Babylonia who are more interested in this report than the politicians.
Aren't you both interested in what's behind that golden age that got human civilization to where it is today?
You're right, politics has never been clean. I've never considered myself righteous, or maybe I've just been in this circle far too long to remember what it's like to be righteous.
But that's also precisely why politics can achieve things that people can never hope to achieve with just science or war. The world has never been black or white.
With a smile, she pushes her "bargaining chip" on the table toward you and Asimov.
You can have this report and handle it however you see fit—on two conditions, that is.
First, I need you to help me get to the truth. This will involve a special inquiry investigation initiated by the Control Court in Kowloong, and I need the Nighter to pass this inquiry.
This report might not be the only thing that motivated the Control Court to take action, but my hunch is that this report has to be part of what motivated them to do what they set out to do.
Secondly, if you plan to disclose this report to the public—and I believe you will—I need you to be fully prepared and only reveal it once everything is settled. The public has the right to know this.
That's it.
You don't have to. I mean, there aren't many in this world who do anymore, but I believe you will trust the facts.
Besides, aren't you two in this together like twins?
(What's going on?)
Asimov casts a puzzled glance at you but quickly guesses what Duheng is getting at.
Let me guess. Project Winter?
Oh my goodness.
She bursts out laughing.
Metaphor, do you get it? It's a metaphor.
...
This report is going to cause quite a scene if we ever make it public.
The Parliament is going to lose people's trust, and that probably goes for the Science Council and the military, too. We don't know how people are going to see Constructs, mechanoids, and even Ascendants.
This report can definitely stir up a bombshell of controversy, and I can totally imagine the Parliament getting backlashed over it when that happens.
Asimov places his hand on the heavy report, looking like a clergyman swearing to God. The look in his eyes, however, is all but hopeful.
But if we don't admit past mistakes and completely remove the rotten flesh under the scar, neither humanity nor we can move forward.
People have the right to know the truth.
So I guess we have a deal here?
Asimov looks at me, and the two of you nod at each other.
I accept your conditions.
Well then, please go on.
Duheng casts a glance at Asimov's hand on the report. With it, he continues going with the heavy "book of history."
Long before the Golden Age, the Science Council was merely a loose, borderless organization of scientists from around the world. As time went by, though, only bits and pieces of what happened back then survived, which makes it impossible to find out what actually happened.
Back then, mankind was going through a "Great Depression" like we had so many times before, and that caused natural sciences to stop progressing. The world was lacking guidance from social sciences, and there was this global war that had evolved from proxy wars...
It was a true "Dark Age", and humanity was stumbling as we ventured into a limited future.
The way the Council was organized back then resembled the way religious groups were organized back in the Middle Ages, except the faith that gathered people under its banner was not religion, but science and progress.
And the Science Council as we know it today only came about when Dominik had unified all those scientists around when the promotion of civilian cold fusion technology and the "Materials Science Explosion" was taking place, based on the earliest inferable records.
In the end, it was the torch of science that illuminated that era akin to a quagmire. The new furnace is now ablaze, forging a future of boundless possibilities and hopes for gold-like humanity.
And the rest is history. Everything took off flying and progressed at record speeds like what Babylonia's textbooks say.
I always thought that human civilization would have died a long time ago without Construct Tech.
But there are things hidden in that era that we haven't yet seen, and those things are what really matter.
This report reminds me that it's the "root" of this massive system tree that constructs everything we know today. This report, though, seems to intentionally "leave out" all information about this "root."
And this core and "root" that's been constantly leaving out of the picture is Gestalt.
"Project Gestalt" is a super project that gathered the world's elite talents from natural sciences to social sciences and was the most ambitious human endeavor. The annual budget alone was enough to complete a small space fleet.
I mean, we could destroy Babylonia now and still...
Wait, no.
We could destroy ten Babylonias now and it wouldn't matter. It'd be a breeze for us to make a new one any day of the week so long as we meet the conditions.
But Gestalt we can't afford to lose.
We use it to judge the operation of Constructs, output paradigms for the Inver-Device, regulate the life support system and flight posture of Babylonia, and control 36 cold fusion reactors and the Longinus Arsenal. Theoretically, we could even reverse engineer the Punishing with it.
It's almost like an inexhaustible, omnipotent black box.
With our current technology, we can only glimpse half of what's in Gestalt and its functions, but just this half is enough to get us to where we are today.
Another way to look at it is that Gestalt contains a lot that we still cannot fully decipher, which is why it's called a "black box."
Exactly.
Project Winter, Project Cthylla, Constructs, and M.I.N.D. technology, including Huaxu, are merely branches and leaves that grew from "Project Gestalt".
Except mankind's morals weren't where they are today when they put it to work...
It sounds like you're certain everything back then was done right.
...
Asimov falls silent. He rubs the cover of the report, where a name is signed under the "Science Council" emblem in Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
Dominik.
What people truly miss from that era isn't the order, wealth, or peace, but the spirit of progress...
Anyhow, as far as this report goes, the core issue likely lies with Gestalt.
But you just said there are things that we don't fully know about Gestalt, no?
Yes, and the Parliament is aware of this, too.
A lot of important Gestalt documents were lost during the Great Evacuation, and if you couple that with Gestalt's inherent limitations, we're now only relying on half of what Gestalt was able to do during the Golden Age, like I said earlier.
Asimov shakes his head.
It's inaccessible, or maybe we just haven't figured out the right way to access it.
But I managed to dig up an older document record from Gestalt after the "Utopia" incident.
Says Asimov as he turns on his terminal and pulls up a photo.
It's an old, slightly yellowed paper document with the Science Council emblem printed in the middle, and below it, written in deep blue ink, is a line that reads:
Effective today, Dr. ███ has been recalled from Kowloong to supervise Section 3 of the Science Council.
What's peculiar, though, is that this document, which seems to be a transfer order, lacks an issuer and has the most crucial name blacked out.
Kowloong?
And check this out here.
Asimov opens the report on the table again and points at an experiment log he's just read:
...Regardless, I believe that whether it's MPA-01 or MPL-00, they are the right keys to the future.
This is what we old folks from Section 3 believe..."
It used to be a section under the Science Council, like the current R&D Sections 1 and 2.
During Gestalt's early development, there was a third section dedicated to it. When Gestalt was completed, Section 3 was dissolved. There's nothing left of it now.
Asimov looks stunned, almost unable to speak.
Where did you hear about all this?
Doesn't matter where I heard about all this.
Duheng takes the report from Asimov and points to the date on the experiment log, continuing:
If this experiment log was written by researchers who moved on from Section 3, this means Section 3 might had already been dissolved by then.
This date on it is pretty late, and this is after they were done developing Gestalt.
The Science Council does have a habit of establishing special development divisions for specific tasks and dissolving them when the task is done.
And this Section 3... was likely a special division established by the Science Council specifically for the development of Gestalt.
Because their tasks didn't overlap.
The permanent Sections 1 and 2 have clear distinctions. Since the Golden Age, Section 1 has focused on theoretical and basic sciences, while Section 2 has handled astrophysics and interstellar engineering projects.
Neither Sections 1 or 2 could build Gestalt on their own, since it's an immense task that encompasses all of mankind's knowledge.
I can't say with certainty just yet, but... it seems likely that Section 3 was the one handling Project Gestalt.
That still wouldn't be a game-changer, but it'd still be pretty solid.
We don't know yet.
And we don't even know what this person's name is.
...
All you and Asimov see in Duheng's sunk eyes is even deeper doubt when the two of you look at her.
I know what you're thinking.
Are you talking about Villier?
He's smart enough to handle a super project like that, and he did earn a doctorate at Kowloong Central University.
But I don't think he's the guy we're looking for here.
I've only heard [player name] mention this name in a mission report.
In terms of capability, though, I'm sure the designer of Huaxu could definitely handle Gestalt.
Is that so? Well, that almost made him one of those responsible for Babylonia's fall, then.
And Gestalt has been under external attacks from unknown sources like what happened a few years back, which is something the Control Court might be taking advantage of.
...Can't think of a worse time for this discussion to happen.
Huaxu left a signature when he invaded Gestalt last time, and I've already gone ahead and reported the recent reverse engineering of external attacks to the Parliament. We can't conclude it's Huaxu yet.
Duheng lets out a deep sigh and shakes her head.
Anyhow, I don't know where Huaxu is.
But regarding my first condition... I just wanted to let you both know that you need to exercise caution if the Control Court is looking into Gestalt.
The Control Court could run us over any day of the week if they so wish.
And I'm not gonna let 'em politicians stick their noses into this before I get to the bottom of it.
No.
The Parliament is definitely going to pass this proposal concerning Kowloong at the inquiry today.
And once that's done, the Diplomatic Court will coordinate with the military to designate Gray Raven and Strike Hawk as the representatives for military aid to the Nighter and Kowloong.
Duheng nods without saying anything.
Hush-hush and dirty as always.
Now, remember what my second condition is?
You're the only one able to do all these in Babylonia, Asimov.
Asimov, too, nods without saying anything.
I'll try to look into Villier and this Kowloong researcher we were talking about.
If all else fails, we'll have to count on Tabula Akasha and see...
Is Qu still alive?!
...That'd be correct, yes.
It's been so long since you last saw the Transcendant that it takes you a good few seconds to recall this "Monarch of Kowloong".
Life will fade, machines will break, and the world will perish. This is why things that have value must be preserved. Kowloong will be the final epithet of Earth.
When all lights go out, when all goes dark, this place will still burn. Like fire, we will stay a beacon for visitors in the eons to come.
They will know that we, "humanity," lived. Like fossils, we will leave behind a legacy. This is Kowloong. This, is Tabula Akasha.
Resistance is futile. Accept death with grace. That's the way we, the once ruler of Earth, should bow out.
And through this war, I finally realized that to complete Tabula Akasha, the world must first be ended.
I came here expecting a certain Ascendant first, but no matter.
Earth's demise is set in stone. The question of who goes first and who goes later is inconsequential.
Fall, and become history, Babylonia.
War, rebirth, and farewell...
That's when Lucia used the Plume frame for the first time...
Nope, that didn't happen.
Which is why Tabula Akasha continues even as we speak.
I came across "Project Tabula Akasha" when I was going through this report just now, too, and this is what it says: "A comprehensive transcription of biological, consciousness data, and global information to construct a complete and coherent civilization-level data environment"...
It's not entirely accurate but not too far off. Project Tabula Akasha is essentially a plan to digitize Earth's civilization. In theory, Tabula Akasha could replicate another Earth.
Except... there wouldn't be any life in that world.
There are no living beings in Tabula Akasha.
It's a tomb!
It's only now that you notice that you're clenching your fist so hard that the leather glove you're wearing is tightening on your hand.
Which is why I said at the very beginning that we shouldn't bring up Qu until the end.
I can't apologize to you and Lucia on behalf of Qu, but I can assure you that Kowloong harbors no ill will toward you now.
Both Kowloong and Qu, as well as Tabula Akasha, have a very complex history.
I don't fully understand the reasons here, but I think you'll probably hear directly from Qu in no time.
Says Duheng as she stands up.
I've been in politics all my life, and lies and deceit have become part of my everyday life, so much so that we need to keep truths alive with all sorts of lies because truths are often too fragile.
I don't expect you to accept me.
But regardless, please promise me that this truth must be revealed at the right time, and it must be revealed.
Yup, that's exactly what I'm gonna do even if you don't tell me to.
The Parliament is going to be a real mess if they know that Qu is still alive now... so please keep it confidential for the time being.
She reaches out a withered hand toward the table.
After a moment of hesitation, you stand up and grasp her hand.
Now... we're really in the same boat, aren't we?
No.
As far as I'm concerned, my life depends on this, and that's just the way it is for me.
