Chapter 232

he Beginning of Everything (2)

※ This is seen from Claire François’s point of view (the first loop・・・) .

“My name is Oohashi Rei . Nice to meet you . ”

The girl in front of me, who looked incredibly young despite being the same age as me, bowed politely just like how a Japanese person would .

I had heard that Asian people looked younger than they actually were, but she seemed especially young .

She was dressed in a white coat instead of a lab coat, so she didn’t look much like a researcher .

Either way, she seemed more like the kind of normal office worker that you could find in a company anywhere .

“I am Chief Claire François . Nice to meet you . ”

“I’m the Chief’s assistant, Lene . Nice to meet you, Rei-chan . ”

“Yes . ”

Rei seemed like the type of woman whose facial expression hardly ever changed, so it was difficult to guess what she was thinking .

Perhaps this was a cultural difference between Europeans, who value self-expression, and Japanese people, who value humility .

However, personality wasn’t a requirement here- ability was .

Even if she was a little bit awkward when it came to dealing with people, I had no complaints as long as she could get the job done .

“I’ll introduce you to TAIM . TAIM, this is Rei . We’ll be working together from now on . ”

“Nice to meet you, Rei-san . ”

“…… You are the world’s most advanced AI……”

Rei’s gaze towards TAIM seemed like she was looking at something precious .

It has been said that Japanese people were more spiritual than Europeans as well, so perhaps she was like that as well .

“…… We’ll be doing something cruel, huh . ”

“Eh?”

“No, it’s nothing . ”

When I asked her in response, she murmured and dodged my question .

“So, what do you need me to do?”

Perhaps she had a sudden change of heart, but Rei immediately started to ask questions about the job .

I preferred to have somebody motivated on board .

“Ultimately, our goal is to prevent the destruction of humankind . You understand that, right?”

“Yes, probably . ”

Rei gave me an expressionless look as she spoke .

“Probably?”

“I’m just talking to myself . Please continue . ”

“…… Alright . Even so, our end goal isn’t a simple matter and can’t be accomplished so easily . For the time being, we’re trying to produce some results within the next six months . ”

“I see . ”

“What I’m expecting from you is related to your field of study―― your research on quantizing souls . I want you to provide TAIM with your research data . ”

I briefly explained how to enter the research data .

She seemed to be excellent at the job and managed to understand it right away .

“I understand . ”

“Any questions?”

“Just one . ”

“What is it?”

“Your project involves ensuring the survival of mankind, but is it necessary to retain their physical bodies?”

“…… Huh?”

At first, I wasn’t sure what Rei was getting at .

“What do you mean by that?”

“I think that having a body isn’t exactly necessary once we figure out how to quantize the soul . ”

“???”

While I was still confused,

“This is what Rei is trying to say: If we find a way to convert the soul and quantize it, the souls don’t necessarily have to be stuck inside a vessel like a body . ”

“That’s right . Thank you, TAIM . ”

I finally understood what they meant, but what about it?

Rei specialized in the concept of quantization of the soul, which was a study that has existed for the past century .

However, it was really only a fictional concept .

It was only in the past decade that it started becoming a reality, but I couldn’t help but think that the idea of throwing our physical bodies away was very bizarre .

“Aren’t our physical bodies what make us human? Can a human being who has become completely quantized really still be considered a human?”

“Isn’t it alright as long as the people themselves are aware that their bodies exist?”

“…… Are you trying to say that we’ll end up like avatars in a virtual world or something?”

“That’s right . As long as the person is comfortable with it, then I don’t think there should be a problem . ”

Is that so?

“Even the medium that will store the quantized soul would still need to be maintained, right? If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it still be essential to possess a physical body for that?”

“I don’t think that’s necessarily the case . Couldn’t we just create a machine that can do it for us instead?”

“……”

I was about to give in .

Her argument seemed to hold a lot of persuasive power .

However, I still couldn’t help but feel repulsed by the idea .

“Let’s leave the discussion here for now . For the time being, please start entering your research data on the assumption that physical bodies will still be present . ”

“…… I understand . ”

Rei was still as expressionless as always, but I could see a hint of dissatisfaction on her face .

But even so, she took in my instructions and got straight to work .

“That girl is quite strange . ”

After leaving TAIM’s side, Lene, who had been silently observing our discussion, whispered that to me .

“Yes, she certainly does seem to be a strange one . ”

“She’s okay with the idea of not possessing a physical body . Aren’t her values a little bit dodgy?”

“That’s not good, Lene . We’re going to be working with her from now on, so you shouldn’t think of her so negatively right on the first day . ”

“You’re right, but……”

To be honest, I felt the same way as Lene .

The idea that a physical body wasn’t necessary was often something that was only ever portrayed in science fiction .

However, thinking about implementing it into real life was something that sounded close to insanity .

Although it was difficult to read Rei’s emotions based on her eyes, there was a certain light in them that was extremely rational .

It was unlikely that her thoughts were just a result of obsessive madness .

Most likely, she truly believed in those ideas .

I had no idea what her circumstances were, and no clue how she ended up developing those beliefs in the first place .

“Anyway, you should get to work too, Lene . You haven’t finished your report on fossil fuel reproduction yet, have you?”

“Okaay . ”

When I prompted her to do so, Lene returned to her desk and got right to work .

After seeing her go off on her own, I also began to tackle my own tasks .

(Are physical bodies really necessary……?)

There was a certain topic that I had given a lot of thought about while I was in the middle of creating an AI .

The human mind was deeply connected to the body, so without being able to experience any physical sensations, it was impossible to build a high-level AI .

There were many elements that made up the human mind outside of our basic five senses .

For example, if the AI didn’t eat food with its mouth, it would never truly be able to understand the taste and sensation of food .

When I created TAIM, I gave her an artificial ability to experience the five senses .

That was how I overcame the barriers that could not have been accomplished through a purely programmatic approach .

For me, I considered physical bodies to be irreplaceable and completely natural for human beings to have .

However, Rei was trying to say that it was not necessary for humans to possess a physical body .

What kinds of experiences and thoughts lead her to that sort of conclusion?

Although I felt a bit of animosity towards her, she had piqued my interest .

Also――

(Cruel thing……? What was she talking about……?)

Rei said something like that to TAIM .

That they’d be doing something cruel .

What exactly did she mean by that?

After that, Rei had managed to make remarkable progress with our research .

She proposed a way for us to save humanity .

It was something I could never have come up with myself .

She managed to do it within four months after coming to our institution .

An eternally repeating loop system for the sake of preserving mankind―― it was without a doubt, an idea that only a genius could come up with .