Chapter 26

Translated by SkyTL Edited by SkyTL

Chapter 26: Time limit

It was a subject I had long put off, and it took more than a little courage to bring it up.

I breathed in and out slowly .

The thought of having Riza speak on my behalf briefly flashed through my mind, but I did my best to push it away and pretend it had never crossed my mind .

I am responsible for the two spaceships that are here now. Even if no one holds me responsible, I have to be the one to face them.

“Thomas-san, let’s put the Doctor Walker program behind us for the moment, there is one more thing we need to discuss .”

“Yes, what is it, Lyle-sama?”

“First of all, I have no intention of interrupting the Eos mission. I will complete it on my own.”

I want to make that clear at the outset.

It seems that the Simulants are okay with me having a permanent residence here in Astoria, as Charlotte mentioned to me on the first day .

But I will not comply with their wishes. We need to make that clear from the beginning.

And now to the point.

“So, if you Simulants are willing, we would like you to help us with the Eos mission. Eos has enough payload to carry all the simulants and the entire Ira quantum brain system.”

“Should that be understood as a command based on the second principle?”

Thomas’ answer was clear. He asked back with the same smile on his face.

In other words, he doesn’t want to obey an order unless it’s an order.

If I could just say, “That’s right, it’s an order, obey it,” I would. But now I realize it wouldn’t work that way anyway.

Especially if we deactivate their neurochips and let them join us as humans.

I answered Thomas’ question with a slight shake of my head.

“If we can convince Thomas and the others to cooperate voluntarily , all the better. Frankly , I don’t have much faith in the second principle.”

“ I think Lyle-sama knows what we’re thinking. Astoria is safer than Eos. As robots, we can’t let Lyle-sama go on a dangerous mission because of our first principles.”

Thomas’ retort was predictable.

But is that really the case?

That’s the reason they’re trying to keep me in Astoria, even though I’ve been letting it slide for some time.

It seemed to me that this was the first point that needed to be clarified .

I look at Riza, who is standing diagonally behind me, silently calling to the ceiling.

“That’s the point, isn’t it… So, Ira, let’s get down to business. Riza, join the conversation.”

[Yes.]

“Yes, sir.”

Two of the smartest minds within a dozen light years in this part of the universe respond.

At least they’re perfect when it comes to engineering estimates. Well, perfect is a bit of a misnomer, but if they’re wrong, there’s nothing I can do about it anyway. The question is more whether I can ask them the right questions.

I nod and ask

“To tell you the truth, neither Eos nor Astoria are safe. In fact, the only vehicle in our known universe that we can expect not to be wiped out by a single accident is, well, let’s just say [Earth.] In short, Eos or Astoria is a matter of degree when it comes to safety… Ira, am I wrong about that?”

[ Strictly speaking, it is technically possible to destroy Earth in an instant, but I understand what Lyle is saying.]

I’m not interested in destroying the Earth either, so don’t bite the pillow…

I sigh inwardly and get to the point.

“So, Ira, let me ask you this directly . Do you think Astoria is safer than Eos?”

[If we compare the probability of Lyle’s death due to accident rather than natural causes is about seven times higher on Aeos than if he were to stay permanently in Astoria.’]

“… Is that so?”

It is inconceivable that Ira would lie to me because she is bound by the three strict principles.

This means that Ira thinks Eos is much more dangerous than the error rate.

Now that Ira’s assessment is out of the way, what about Riza’s classification of Eos as dangerous?

I look at Riza and tilt my head slightly , whereupon she opens her mouth with an obvious grimace.

“The conditions are made up. What makes Astoria seem safe is that the comparison is based on the assumption that Lyle-san will not use cryosleep again until he dies of old age . The time the ship is expected to be habitable is much longer on Eos.”

[Lyle’s best chance of surviving in subjective time is in Astoria without the use of cryosleep. It is unlikely that Lyle will live to see the end of his life if he continues his mission on Eos. Isn’t that what R. Elizabeth and I agreed upon?”]

“That’s true, but first and foremost…”

“Wait! I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

They started arguing, and I hurried to stop them.

Please don’t ignore me and start an argument.

Is that what you mean?

Storia is a safe place to live if you don’t want to use cryosleep anymore.

On the other hand , the ship itself will probably stay longer on Eos.

Obviously , Riza and Ira agree and disagree on this issue.

And why?

“Well, let me break it down for you. First of all, Ira, if you don’t use cryosleep, why is Astoria safer?”

[TThe most important reason is that the Astoria has already emptied its antimatter propellant tanks . Compared to the Aeos, which runs on antimatter tanks, it is unlikely that a single accident will destroy the entire ship . Also, the ship is large enough to be evacuated in the event of a block-by-block accident.]

“I see, antimatter…”

The most common method of propulsion for modern starships is the use of antimatter rockets .

These are much more efficient than the old fusion rockets and have been used in almost all spacecraft since mankind has had the technology to produce practical antimatter .

Even such an ideal antimatter propellant has some drawbacks.

First, it is very expensive, even with the latest antimatter manufacturing technology, and the required amount of antimatter propellant is not loaded on board until launch anyway . In other words, the problem has already been solved by people on Earth before we leave, and it won’t matter to us once we’re gone .

However , this antimatter is an extraordinary substance that reacts violently with all kinds of matter even in the event of a small leak, with one gram of it releasing an energy equivalent to that of a nuclear weapon in its early stages . It is expressed in tons.

In other words, this figure should not be taken with a grain of salt.

In the terrible explosion of a rocket engine, a leak of antimatter on the order of micrograms caused such a catastrophe .

If the fuel tank had been damaged , the entire ship would have instantly vaporized into a mere plasma.

“In other words: While the Astoria has canceled its sails and thrown its antimatter fuel overboard, the Eos faces a higher risk of explosion because it continues to contain antimatter . Is that what you’re saying?”

[Yes. And the size issue is important, too.]

“I see. Well, I have my doubts about the risk estimates, but if Riza agrees, then I guess it is. So …”

I turned to Riza and said that I kind of understood Ira’s point. Now to Riza’s side of the story.

“Riza. Why is there a difference in the viability of the ships themselves?”

“The Astoria itself is nearing the end of its life. The remaining facilities are pushing the limits of what they can do to maintain a system of this size. It won’t be long before the entire ship reaches a level where life is no longer possible.”

“…How long do you think it will take?”

“An optimistic estimate is 20 years. The pessimistic estimate is 120 years. By the way, if the Eos is fully repaired, it will still be 50/50 in 100 years.”

…If Ira agrees with that, it must be the right number.

So, let’s summarize the story.

In the event of an accident, the risk of being killed by the entire ship is higher on Eos.

On the other hand , the ship on Astoria will not be able to withstand decay in as little as 120 years or as much as 200 years, and the environment will not be conducive to human survival .

In other words, Astoria is better for the next hundred years or so, and Eos is better for longer.

So if you want to live a long life, it’s best to live in Astoria without using cryosleep.

There are a lot of other details, but it seems like Riza and Ira have already talked about it, so I’ll just accept the conclusion .

So, I have a question.

“Oh, well, let me ask you this, Ira. Let’s assume that Eos has been repaired as well as possible and that Ira and the Simulants have cooperated fully . Then we reach the target system as originally planned… What do you estimate the success rate would be if you could establish a small colony on the ground and live there?”

[Answer. If we define failure as Lyle dying before establishing a local base, I estimate the success rate to be 46%. This figure agrees with R. Elizabeth.]

“That is a number that is not too far from my own understanding. I will adopt that figure. By the way, I seem to recall that the success rate I was told when we left Earth was about 70 percent.”

[The mission success rate when we left was 78 percent, Lyle, to be exact.]

I’m not interested in those numbers.

“What I’m saying, Ira, is that there’s still half a chance of success, and that’s still a pretty good chance of winning.”

[It’s already less than half.]

“Do you think that we who volunteered for this mission in the first place, to die one out of four times, are now willing to turn away ?”

[No, I don’t think so. But I have a duty to make sure Lyle’s life is not in danger.]

Either you’re too smart for your own good or you’re too stupid to know. At least she understands I’m not going to back down.

As we learned last month, Ira is not necessarily refusing to continue the Eos mission.

For example, she is reluctant to fix Eos under the first principle because of the danger, but she will cooperate if I ask her to under the second principle .

If they are really sure that they are violating the first principle, they will not obey the order even if it is based on the second principle .

This means that it is only a matter of time before they obey an order, even if they resist it.

“…Ira, what would you do if I told you that I want to take you and all the Simulants to Eos?”

[If it is my decision, I will refuse, but if it is your order, I will obey.]

“So it is not necessarily a violation of the first principle?”

[I’m afraid it is, yes.]

“I understand. Thank you, Ira.”

That’s all the confirmation we need for now, and I think we have a better idea of what’s going on with Ira than we thought.

—That’s right.

I turned back to Thomas.

“Thomas-san, um, what about the first principle?”

“Y-yes, yes… I understand what you’re saying. Of course we want to do everything we can to meet your needs, Lyle-sama, so…”

Despite Ira’s assurances that continuing the Eos mission was not necessarily against first principles, Thomas’ words were not very clear .

So maybe the problem is with him.

The problem is that he’s resisting because something is bothering him. It is not Ira who is holding me back.

It’s Thomas that I have to convince.

Maybe this is the point where I should make a bold push.

“Thomas, why don’t you come visit us on Eos? Maybe it will help you overcome your fears.”

“…I…is that right?”

This suggestion was obviously totally unexpected for him.

He looks quite confused, his brow furrowed in thought. It’s the first time in a month that I’ve seen this expression on his face.

I was worried that Riza would object to the arrival of another Simulant in Eos, but she stood silently behind me. Fortunately , she seems to have understood my intentions. I will take her at her word.

“…Yes, Lyle-sama. I will come to you.”

“You’re welcome, Thomas-san.”

Thomas smiled, a little more awkwardly than usual, and I nodded at him.

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