Chapter 15

Translated by SkyTL Edited by SkyTL

Chapter 15: The Depression of the Quantum Brain

The R. Elizabeth was built as a general-purpose ship management computer on Earth’s Lagrange 4, along with the EoS, an Outer Space Exploration Agency research vessel.

Even today, she organizes masses of disparate information in her quantum brain, the Quantum Brain, through massively parallel processing. Her thinking is so complex that it completely exceeds the human imagination.

It is required by law that all personal artificial intelligences of this age – i.e. those that are not programs with fixed functions but have the same general decision-making abilities as humans – are subject to the three principles of robotics The three principles of robotics are legally binding. Not only humanoid robots, but also the spaceship Riza, whose body is anything but humanoid, is no exception.

By the three principles, robots are designed to protect and obey humans on an instinctive level.

The robots had no emotions in the human sense, but their service to humans evoked feelings similar to human joy, while non-compliance with the three principles caused grief and pain. When the stress of violating the three principles becomes too great, the quantum brain can pause or, in the worst case, even self-destruct. This is how it is designed.

Of course, for Riza, being of use to humans was a great joy.

Among the three principles, the first one is particularly important: do not harm human beings.

It is a proposition of the highest priority, and it is even allowed to break the second principle, which is to obey orders from humans, if it is to protect the first principle.

The absoluteness of the first principle is so great that it is no longer an exaggeration to call it fanaticism.

…Therefore, the death of so many passengers in the accident caused Riza great grief. If Riza had been a normal human girl, she would have screamed and cried like crazy and never gotten up again.

The only thing that kept Riza’s delicate quantum brain from breaking down was the fact that there was only one survivor, a boy named Lyle.

When he first met Riza, Lyle was an eight-year-old orphan.

The treatment of orphans is not as bad as it was at the dawn of mankind, and in modern times they are well taken care of under the protection of the government.

The Outer Space Development Bureau collected orphan boys and girls with excellent grades by investing in orphanages. Since the crew of an outer space research ship is not supposed to return to Earth once they leave, it is basically desirable that they be lonely people who have no regrets. The orphanage was the perfect place to find talent.

Lyle is a typical orphan, but unusual, a child who dreams of adventures in the endless barrenness of space, and even more unusual, a child who has the grades to match.

When he passed his preliminary exams at the age of eight and came to see Eos under construction, he never expected to become the most important person in Riza’s life.No, she didn’t.

Lyle was twelve years old when Eos left for space.

It was around that time that the boy who seemed to think only of adventure learned about the girl, Lacey Whitford. He was always hanging out with Fred, a boy a year older than him, and Marina, a girl his age, but it was Lyle who was chosen for the communication experiment.

Riza still thinks she should have chosen Fred over Lyle back then.

From that point on, Lyle was favored by both Fred and Marina.

It was strange, but he seemed to be completely oblivious to Marina’s fondness for him, while he was aware of Fred’s fondness for his own gender. Lyle seemed to have the impression that Marina liked Fred.

Unfortunately, when Marina found out about Lyle’s feelings for Lacey Whitford, she really had to hide her feelings until the very end. She often revealed her feelings to Riza under the command of absolute confidentiality, which no one but the stubborn Lyle could know about.

The love affairs of the crew did not fall under Riza’s jurisdiction, but she still regrets that something could have been done better.

Lyle was now in the small Eos briefing room, looking over the information Riza had gathered last night and today, occasionally fidgeting to check the time.

He is now waiting for someone.

The Lacey Whitford imitation and the little fellow who is a bonus have not yet arrived in Eos, although I have told them to come to Eos this afternoon. They seem to be in the corridor under the jetway at the moment.

What a bunch of idiot robots. They are so stupid that they could have bypassed this weightless environment if we hadn’t given them a push first. Even Riza’s little rover could have done it a little more cleverly.

Riza is not upset, but her opinion of Ira and the Simulants continues to sink before her eyes every day.

Why can’t those stupid robots do something as simple as following the three principles to fulfill the wishes of Lyle, the only human at the moment.

A rover is a walking work machine that is remotely controlled by Riza, and there are various types, from rovers for hull repair to rovers for planetary exploration.

Planetary exploration rovers were originally intended for Eos to conduct research for colonization when they reached some suitable star system. So it has no real use when it’s drifting among the stars as it is now.

Riza was currently using the extra rover to investigate areas of the Astoria colony that Ira had no control over. Her objectives were various, but the biggest one was to find something that could be used since she was running out of materials to repair the Eos.

In short, the Rover is one of the weaker machines, and being slower than the Rover is one of the most insulting ratings for a robot.

And finally a foolish visitor came to Eos. She trudged across the command bridge to the airlock, the entrance to Eos.

“Wow, so this is an Earth ship. It’s pretty big when you see it up close… What’s the matter, Lacey? You look very nervous.”

“Because I’ve never been on an Earth ship before…”

“So do I. You can think of it like visiting Lyle at home. I’ve read about this kind of thing in books about Earth. The theory is that you go into Lyle’s room and look under the bed. That’s how you find out what Lyle likes. If he likes big boobs, you’re in trouble.”

“Lyle-sama likes…”

“What is wrong with you?”

“No, I mean…”

“You two bunkers.”

Riza called out to the visitors over the speakers on the boarding bridge.

“How long are you going to keep Lyle-san waiting? When a human tells you to come, you fly off immediately.”

Riza said with irritation.

No, of course Riza is never irritated, but she is willing to simplify things by appearing irritated and intimidated.

The two fools froze for a moment, and then walked into the ship with a vexed look on their faces.

On the ship, Lyle is waiting for the two bodies in the small conference room.

Lyle is always nervous when he meets this Lacey impersonator. The only person who doesn’t notice is Lyle himself. Of course, he is fooled by her lifelike appearance.

He asked me to prepare some earthy snacks or refreshments that the two newcomers would enjoy, but Eos was having problems getting the artificial gravity system up and running just now due to maintenance.

And most “earthy foods” are not suitable for consumption in a weightless state.

Riza suggested chocolate, but Lyle requested popcorn.

When I asked why popcorn, he replied that it was the usual way to view the images on the big screen.

I wonder if they think the board guide they want to show us is a family movie or something like that.

Of course, the popcorn made at the Eos factory is artificial, containing zero percent corn and is, to say the least, a spongy fiber. It is intentionally unevenly shaped to resemble the real thing in appearance and texture, but the flavor is disguised by a caramelized mixture of cooking oil, salt and heated sugar.

Because of its crunchy texture, the popcorn tends to crumble and splatter when eaten without weight. It’s a bit of a shame that it was made to please those lousy robots, but If it makes Lyle feel better, Riza doesn’t object.

However, care should be taken not to let them fly around unnecessarily.

Lyle is apparently thinking of using those two bodies for practical purposes. And that’s not a bad idea in general. Riza agreed with him, with some modifications. But that doesn’t mean she’s enthusiastic about it.

In this age, almost every task is done by robots. And not just any old Simulant, but “proper robots” like Riza or Ira. After all, it’s more efficient.

For this reason, the Simulants were not sent to Lyle to help him with his work.

It is a companion robot, or to put it more bluntly and vulgarly, a robot that helps Lyle get rid of his sexual cravings.

I worry about something like this getting too emotionally involved with Lyle in practice. Lyle is still more than cute enough for the two of them.

Well, most of all, Lyle is a boy with a very strong sense of mission. He is not the type to abandon a mission because of his carnal desires.

In this respect, Riza has a very strong trust in that regard.

I have a strong trust……

But seeing Lyle happily talking with Lacey’s imitation from earlier, Riza decided to secretly deduct two points.

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