Blue Archive story · Final Volume, Chapter 3, Episode 7
Vol. F Ch. 3 Ep. 7: Utnapishtim's Ship 2
1 scenes, 174 lines
1. Part 1
174 lines
So, um... Do you have any thoughts, Engineering Department?
Yes. I understand completely.
Th-That's wonderful!
I understand that we will never, in any universe, ever understand the structure of this battleship.
...Wh-What?!
I can't grasp the battleship's fuel, propellants, operating principles, engine structure, or design at all.
W-Well! This is an artifact that cannot be understood with our current knowledge of technology and engineering! It makes sense that we can't understand it!
*sigh* ...I thought that researching this would help our long-cherished dream...
It won't help us even one iota.
I-Is that so...?
Oh, but don't worry!
We may not understand how it works, but what we can do is figure out how to run it!
What do I mean? Just because you don't know the structure of a car engine, that doesn't mean you can't drive it, right?
As a simple interpretation, all operational systems can be viewed as a device for transforming input data into output data.
If we can understand the conversion process inductively, we can still take advantage of its functions even without understanding the structure.
In other words, step on an accelerator to accelerate, step on a brake to decelerate, turn a steering wheel to change directions...
If we can organize that information, we can create a piloting manual without having to know how the technology actually works.
That...makes sense to me!
We believe in you, Engineering Department.
Hm...
It seems calling it an intergalactic battleship may have been a bit premature.
Yes. There are no weapons, and the maximum altitude it can fly at is about 100,000 meters... It would break apart if it went outside the atmosphere, let alone into space.
And, most peculiar of all...
More than seventy-five percent of the total mass of this battleship is made up of arithmetic logic units.
In other words, this isn't a battleship, but a kind of flying dimensional topological quantum computer... I believe.
We'll have to skip our class on understanding the ship's origins...
But with this, it could be possible to defeat the Ark of Atrahasis, right?
Yes, the silver lining here is that multidimensional analysis is possible with this.
Not only that, if a genius hacker like me uses a computing device of this level...I could likely hack everything in the world. Heeheehee...
Perhaps I could even hack the Ark of Atrahasis itself...
Then we could crash the Ark to the ground or make it self-destruct?
...Theoretically. Self-destructing could be difficult, but hacking the propulsion system could make the Ark fall.
But that would require physical access to the Ark's systems.
The chess pieces we'll need for this fight... It's starting to come together.
This fight is about...
Put simply, rather than bullets and guns, we will win this fight by pitting a dimensional topological quantum computer against an opponent that's violating the rules of multidimensional analysis...
A battle of bad taste between two hackers, in summary.
Hmm... Himari, it seems the onus falls on you to lead the charge. I have no experience in computers or technology of this degree.
Heehee. What else is a genius hacker for?
Then first, I'll need to establish a theory on how their multidimensional analysis functions.
That sounds...difficult. Please let me know if you need help, but I'll check on the others in the meanwhile.
...That is incorrect.
It's speaking...? Is this a model equipped with speakers?
Your current formula fails to correct errors in the quantum information. You need to use an ion trap.
...You haven't rested for days. It's natural.
Everyone here is pushing themselves past their limit.
The only difference is that I'm a very delicate beauty.
But what... No, who are you?
...
I'm the calculation support AI sent by President Rio.
...Rio.
Incorrect. I'm not Rio. I'm the calculation support AI.
I guess that filthy girl wouldn't show her face here unless she had no shame at all.
About Aris...
Yes, she kidnapped Aris. But I'd like to talk about what I find truly ghastly about her actions. Hah. You'll have to listen to my monologue, then.
Toki.
Rio gave Toki dangerous equipment and forced her to carry out her bidding, even knowing the potential ramifications of using such a weapon.
And I've realized recently that Toki has no friends. Do you know why?
Because Rio prevented her from interacting with anyone, for security reasons.
And Toki did every last thing asked of her, without a single complaint.
She even undertook the mission to kidnap her own underclassman. But did Rio truly inform Toki of what that mission meant?
Th-That...
Rio coerced and manipulated Toki into killing a person.
Aris isn't a real person? Don't make me laugh. I don't care what her perspective on life was, what she did was unforgivable.
Does Rio, the great, all-knowing Big Sister know what Toki thought when she realized what she was being asked to do? How she felt?
...
She never should have forced Toki into her delusional scheming. Rio and her trolley problem... She puffed her chest out with all her moral superiority, but it was Toki who had to pull the lever!
...
What a coward! And when her plan fell to pieces, do you know what she said to Toki?
"Do whatever you want." And then she disappeared. Irresponsible. Cowardly. Selfish.
Did you even consider how Toki would feel, left alone and deprived of the only person she had been allowed to talk to? Do you know why she was unable to join the C&C? Why Toki felt the need to simply disappear?
...
...Hah. Of course you don't. The loneliness or guilt of others would never cross Big Sister's mind. Empathy doesn't reside within the delusions you exist within.
You know, Toki came to me and asked...
She asked what she could do. How she could be helpful. She didn't know how else to find her worth unless she was useful, no matter how insignificantly so.
Even now, Toki is fighting alone! She ignores her wounds and searches and fights in places where sanctums could manifest. Alone!
Do you understand her desperation? Her pain?
...You filthy witch. You don't deserve such a loyal maid. A friend. And if C&C doesn't want Toki, I'll take her with me. I'll protect her.
...
Actually, "filthy" doesn't even begin to cover your repulsiveness.
...You're right.
I know that I'm not welcome. I even understand why, Himari.
But don't you need my help operating this artifact?
I know more about the legacy of the Nameless Gods than anyone else in Kivotos...
No. I don't need you.
If you knew their legacy so well, the world wouldn't have come so close to being destroyed last time. Because of your actions.
You did nothing. It was the very person you tried to kill who stopped you from destroying the world.
So, no. Not a single soul in Kivotos needs your help.
Get off this ship. I have Aris, Sensei, and the Game Development Department. I don't need you.
...Understood.
Um... Himari?
Was that Tsukatsuki Rio, the Student Council president?
I heard she disappeared. I guess she's doing okay.
Thinking of her reminds me of a story from an ancient epic.
A story?
Yes. More of an ironic fable... It's a story about a king whose desperate attempts to avoid a prophecy actually caused it to come to fruition.
The king heard a prophecy that the kingdom would be destroyed and nearly went mad trying to escape that fate...
But in the end, the king's efforts were the cause of the kingdom's destruction.
The king did everything he could to prevent the prophecy's fulfillment. He banished the prophet, destroyed the temple, sealed all the gateways, and started a war...
In the end, his beloved brothers, all his family, vassals, everyone he loved died and the kingdom was an uninhabitable ruin.
...
The fable's moral is worth contemplating. Is destiny inescapable? Does individual human effort mean anything at all?
I discussed this with Seia, Trinity's prophet.
What should the king have done to escape his fate? What did the king do wrong?
...
His mistake...was being a king?
Being a king who banishes prophets and starts wars, a king who believes in prophecies. That was the king's biggest mistake.
But Seia... There isn't really a mistake the king made you can point to then. He did nothing wrong.
If the king gave up his power...if he renounced his rights, if he never listened to the prophet, the prophecy might not have come true.
Hm... Isn't that a bit of a stretch?
It is. It's entirely pointless.
Your question is inherently flawed. There is no answer to a story like this.
No, I understand. We have no way of knowing how this will end, so let's do everything we can.
...I can worry about condemning her once this is all over.
Rio...I mean, let's just say "computational support AMAS" for now.
Can you come here and help me with calculations?
...
...It's like the second koan.
"Thank you for your consideration, Hanako."
Oh dear... The chief officer and even Sensei? U-Um... Did you hear everything?
Don't worry. I know a little bit about the situation. I won't talk about the Millennium president's presence.
Thank you. It seems she is somewhat of a pariah among the students at the moment.
For all of them, and for us, there's a mountain of problems to be solved.
Chief Officer, did I hear you mention a koan earlier?
Oh... Yes.
It's not a big deal. I heard about the seven strange questions of Kivotos from the president of the General Student Council.
It was like a kind of Zen dialogue where it was unclear what was being asked or whether there was an answer. The General Student Council president liked things like that.
"So the General Student Council president was interested in the unknown."
Yes. She liked mysterious stories that couldn't be explained. Stuff that involved artifacts, the occult...
Like Sensei's Shittim Chest. It's a kind of artifact that cannot be understood with our current knowledge.
"Hm."
The second koan went as follows.
"Can you understand by means of the incomprehensible?"
This is my first time hearing the second koan.
"Can you understand by means of the incomprehensible?" That's the kind of question... Hm.
Well, it was the sixth koan she was really interested in... But anyway, the second koan has a trap.
...It's not a complete sentence.
Yes. Can you understand "what" through the incomprehensible? The object is missing.
Therefore, this sentence isn't a question in the first place.
But...the president said it didn't matter because it wasn't meant to have a correct answer. The object is left for you to fill.
I don't exactly understand it however.
The fable you told reminded me of the koan, is all.
It's just small talk, so don't pull your hair out over it.
Hm. I find it fascinating, however.
For example, if what I don't understand is fate, then what I understand through fate is...
What can we as people understand through fate? Hm... A fascinating question with no real meaning.
"It's an incomplete question in the first place."
"Well, you can put anything in to complete it."
...Perhaps you're right. Koans aren't necessarily meant to have an answer. Like my question about the king.
Hanako, can I ask you something?
Yes, what is it, Chief Officer?
How does that story end? What happened to the king?
Oh... The king...
He realized his own actions were the cause of the kingdom's destruction...
He felt there was no way to atone for his sins and couldn't bear the weight of his own guilt.
So, eventually, in his despair...
...Um, perhaps this story is best saved for another time.
"..."
Rin, Sensei, we've completed the plans for the operation.
You two gotta give everything your final approval before we brief everyone. Hurry up and come to the bridge.
Oh my. With the plan complete...
...Yes, let's go.