Good Luck, Yukikaze

by Chohei Kambayashi

  “It’s because that’s what I want to know too. Even if Yukikaze wasn’t doing it, it’s what I’d order her to do if I was aboard her now.”

  “May I have a look at Captain Fukai’s report, Major?” Foss asked.

  “Sure.”

  The major passed it to her, then took a sip of his beer.

  “You don’t seem to be enjoying that much,” Rei said.

  “I’m happy that you completed this mission and got back in one piece, but now my work is just beginning. I’m not much in the mood for knocking back a beer and celebrating.”

  “You’re the real thing, aren’t you?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Booker said.

  “That this isn’t some duplicate world the JAM created for me.”

  “Your concern over that possibility was recorded when you talked to Lieutenant Katsuragi back aboard Yukikaze.”

  “I want to check Yukikaze’s recordings later.”

  “Naturally.”

  “Do you think I may be a JAM duplicate?”

  “General Cooley is on the lookout for that,” Major Booker said.

  “What about you?”

  “To be honest, I don’t know. If you’re a JAM, you didn’t become one this time around. For now, I’m operating under the assumption that you aren’t being manipulated by them. I’ve decided that’s my only choice here. Where that leads, I can’t say. You really have changed, Rei.”

  Rei wasn’t bothered in the least by what Major Booker said, because in his heart he agreed.

  “Yukikaze may have also experienced a hallucination like the one you had, Rei—pardon, Captain Fukai, I mean,” said Captain Foss. “The JAM would have an easier time communicating with her mind than with humans like us. It’s possible that she may have experienced what would we think of as a hallucination or vision on this mission. She can sense the JAM much more accurately than we ever could.”

  “I never realized,” Major Booker said. “That was my screwup. The computers were acting on their own, according to their own combat awareness. But unlike them, Yukikaze can’t express her consciousness in human terms. That’s why we don’t understand it. Or what she’s doing.”

  “Even without words, I can guess what she’s thinking by her actions and behavior,” said Rei. “She definitely has the ability to perceive the world.”

  “That’s true,” replied Captain Foss. “Perception implies some means of communication. If rocks and stones had the ability to perceive the world, they’d develop a means of communicating their will and cogitations to other beings. Without the ability to do that, the rock would only be a being capable of receiving external stimuli and couldn’t be said to truly perceive the world. I’m positive that Yukikaze really is perceiving and communicating. She may not possess human speech, but she still conveys her thoughts via her behavior. Captain Fukai has learned to understand that, Major Booker.”

  Rei listened to Captain Foss’s explanation and found himself in total agreement. Well, he thought, I guess you really do need a specialist to get the best results. This specialist had explained it in a particularly smart way.

  “Hmm,” said Major Booker. “If we have no way of controlling the speculations of our machine intelligences, then this war really is just one between the JAM and the computers.”

  “No, the conflict isn’t that simple,” replied Rei. “Right now, the battle is between the JAM, the SAF, and the FAF. The SAF’s combat intelligences have completely assimilated the hierarchy systems of the other FAF computers. It’s the same sort of thing they’d do in fighting the JAM. And as far as Yukikaze is concerned, everything that isn’t her is an enemy.”

  “You think Yukikaze sees you as an enemy too?”

  “Probably not as an enemy. I think, to her, I’m more like a very reliable weapon, just as she is to me.”

  “That’s what Yukikaze was originally,” Captain Foss said, the emotion in her voice surprisingly strong. “After a lot of twists and turns, look where you’ve finally arrived in your relationship with her. Well? How do you feel now?”

  “How…?”

  Rei wasn’t sure. It wasn’t the sort of thing he’d say if he thought about it.

  “The way you are now, if I were to tell you that, if necessary, you might have to abandon Yukikaze at any time, would that make you feel lonely?”

  “If it’s necessary, then I’d have to do it. And I would. That’s what Yukikaze did this time around. But I’d be sad when I lost her. I don’t want to imagine what it’d be like.”

  “But it wouldn’t be a feeling of abandonment caused by a collapse of the relationship of trust you’ve built up with her. That’s what I think. And that’s definitely different from how you used to feel. You’ve finally achieved the relationship with Yukikaze that you never could before.”

  “I suppose I have. But—”

  “That’s what the JAM don’t understand,” Captain Foss continued. “You and Yukikaze no longer share the relationship of pilot and fighter plane. You once felt that she wasn’t your friend or your lover, but now she isn’t a partner. Neither one of you dominates in the relationship, and yet both of you can trust the other with their existence. The JAM now recognize that, depending on the situation, you share a relationship in which either of you can act as a sort of suicide weapon against them.”

  “I may have thought about it, but I never wanted to admit it to myself. That hasn’t changed, even now.”

  “I believe Yukikaze thinks so as well,” said Captain Foss. “Yukikaze doesn’t consider you an expendable weapon. It’s an arrangement based your new relationship. Seen from the point of view of the JAM or another third-party observer, you both function as weapons. But that isn’t the reality of the relationship you two share. That’s what the JAM don’t understand.”

  “That makes two of us.” Major Booker sighed. “They aren’t fighter and pilot, or friends or partners. Not colleagues or comrades at arms, or enemies or allies. So just what the hell are they to each other?”

  “Simple. They’re one self.”

  “I beg your pardon?” said Major Booker.

  “I’m saying that Yukikaze and Captain Fukai are two parts of a single personality. They’re tied together like limbs for each other,” replied Captain Foss.

  “Like a cyborg?” the major asked.

  “No,” said Edith. “A cyborg is different. This is neither a machine controlled by a human brain or a human body controlled by a computer. They represent a new form of life, possessing two separate data processing systems capable of perceiving the world—and each can also be used by the other as a subsystem. They’re neither human nor machine. It’s no wonder the JAM don’t understand them. They’re an entirely new species. You might say they’re a new life-form evolved specifically to counter the JAM threat.”

  “If you can put that all together into a plausible treatise with your name on the front, you may end up being famous,” replied Major Booker, who looked quite tired. “You think you can just call new species into existence with the free use of rhetoric, Edith?”

  “I’ll admit that the term ‘new species’ is a rhetorical flourish,” said Captain Foss. “I’m saying this based on my evaluation as an SAF flight surgeon of Captain Fukai’s mental state.”

  “Captain Foss, that’s enough—”

  “No, go on,” Rei urged, interrupting Major Booker’s weary voice.

  “Rei, regarding some other entity as part of yourself is normally seen as an abnormality or a sign of immaturity. But I’m saying that doesn’t apply to you in this case. Accepting another as part of one’s own consciousness isn’t that rare a phenomenon. Human beings possess the ability to do that.”

  “That’s schizophrenia, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, good heavens, no! It’s an extremely advanced function of consciousness. You wouldn’t be able to do it unless your mind was sound. If you were schizophrenic, you’d be completely unable to construct such a rich mental world. Even your misunderstanding that
shows that you’re fine. Were you hoping that I would diagnose you as being mentally ill?”

  “No. But, how do I put this…? I’m just me. Saying I’m a new species or crazy doesn’t make much difference to me either way,” Rei said.

  “But it’s common to view the JAM as a new species, isn’t it? And for the JAM’s part, I definitely think that when they captured you and Yukikaze as a pair, they saw you as a type of FAF enemy hitherto unknown to them. I doubt they really possess a very deep understanding of humans…”

  Captain Foss’s words trailed off as she looked at the bed next to them. There was a fumbling in the tent and Lieutenant Katsuragi emerged. Major Booker didn’t stop him. The lieutenant stood in front of Rei’s tent and spoke.

  “I’ve been listening to what you’ve been saying, and I had a thought. Major Booker, may I?”

  “Don’t stand on ceremony, man. Say what’s on your mind,” Major Booker replied, inviting him into the tent.

  6

  LIEUTENANT KATSURAGI SAT down on a chair offered to him by Major Booker and began to speak.

  “You said that the JAM don’t understand the SAF. It’s similar to how I said that I don’t understand it either.”

  “That’s right. That was on the recording,” said Captain Foss. “So?”

  “It’s hard for me to explain, but I thought that Captain Fukai thinks the same way that the JAM do. It’s something like total individualism. The JAM aren’t a collective being. I think that what the JAM can’t understand is how a collection of individualists like the SAF can still function together as a whole to resist them. Do you see what I’m getting at? I’ve only just come to the SAF, so it still seems miraculous to me. It seems unbelievable to me that Captain Fukai flies Yukikaze for his own personal reasons, and the SAF thinks nothing of it. I doubt the JAM are the only ones who find it amazing that a group of humans like that can function effectively.”

  “I know just what you’re talking about. I also thought that when I came here.”

  “It was General Cooley who made the SAF like this,” said Major Booker as he sat down on Rei’s bed. “You could say that the organization was set up as a gathering of people with special personalities. They never expected problems like this would arise as a result. Well, I suppose we are special as far as the FAF is concerned, so it’s only natural that we get treated differently than other units. Maybe that’s what’s thrown the JAM for such a loop. I never would have expected that, though.”

  “There are many different types of humans,” said Captain Foss. “Usually, they tend to mix traits together within a group to form an average. However, the SAF was artificially set up to form a group with similar personality vectors. It isn’t just simple individualism, but rather like a non-group-based life philosophy of autonomy. It’s almost like a group that believes itself capable of parthenogenesis. Even their interest in the opposite sex is weak. They might have sexual desire, but very weak urges to form families or protect and care for them. The term ‘special’ almost can’t help but carry a negative connotation.”

  “That’s the SAF exactly,” replied Major Booker with a nod of his head. “But while it may be special among humans, there are plenty of animal species that live their lives in this way. Seen from that point of view, you could say that most people are the special ones and we’re the normal ones.”

  Rei caught Captain Foss’s glance and, feeling as though she was criticizing him, spoke up.

  “I don’t know if it’s normal or not, but human beings are capable of living on their own. It’s just that a life like that can be difficult. After all, we humans were basically programmed to live in groups from the start.”

  “By whom, I wonder,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi. “At the very least, it wasn’t the JAM. The JAM seem to understand the character of the SAF. The way they talked, it was like they expect life to be like that. It was almost as if they had scattered the seeds of life across the earth.”

  “It’s possible that they did,” said Major Booker. “But I doubt they came to Earth to harvest it. Not to observe either. They invaded Earth seeking something that they could use. It’s possible that the JAM systematically modified the earth in order to make it suitable for themselves. But instead of organic life, what if it they had been attempting to grow computer networks? What we consider artificial information systems. Maybe what happened was the JAM set up an operation to create them automatically, but when they came here expecting them to be completed, they realized it had been contaminated by an unforeseen glitch called ‘humanity’ and didn’t know how to deal with it.”

  “I got the feeling that the JAM just didn’t quite understand the human speech they were using,” Rei replied. “I wouldn’t take them at their word.”

  “But I was thinking,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi. “The JAM can understand the personality of the SAF but don’t understand why you won’t ally yourselves with them.”

  “That’s right, I agree. What about it?”

  “I know there’s another group aside from the SAF who’s like that. So I was wondering, why didn’t the JAM contact them as well? They can’t not know about them. That’s when it hit me: the JAM didn’t contact them because they can understand them.”

  “There’s a group like that in the FAF?” Rei asked. “Other than the SAF?”

  “Yeah, the combat unit of the FAF central intelligence department: the FAF Intelligence Forces,” Katsuragi said. “The group led by Colonel Rombert. I think that guy’s a JAM. I have no basis for it, just a gut instinct.”

  “I get you,” Rei said after a moment’s consideration. “It makes a lot of sense when I think about it. That’s probably why I could have potentially been assigned to the Intelligence Forces instead of the SAF. If they’re working for the JAM, then it makes sense that the JAM would have no questions about them.”

  Major Booker stared at Lieutenant Katsuragi, then silently took a swig of his beer.

  “A double agent,” said Captain Foss. “Someone inside the FAF who knows its counterintelligence activities would certainly be an invaluable resource to the JAM.”

  “Jack, what do you think about this?”

  Major Booker gulped down his beer, then sighed and spoke.

  “Keep your voices down. The room may be bugged. Except it’s too late now, isn’t it? Well, Colonel Rombert must have known we’d be on guard for this. Of course the SAF was aware of that possibility. Rombert is the absolute last person we’d want to be a JAM duplicate, as far as we’re concerned.”

  “Did the JAM have a chance to replace him?” Rei asked. “You must have checked that out.”

  “I think that, if the JAM really wanted to, they could swap in a duplicate at any time. Besides, he doesn’t have to be a duplicate. It wouldn’t be so strange for a human to decide to help the JAM if he gets what he wants in return. There’s the question of how he made contact with them, but the possibility may be high that he has.”

  “Long story short, the SAF suspects that Colonel Rombert is a cat’s paw for the JAM,” Rei said.

  “Exactly. The fact is that, right now, we’ve received orders from Colonel Rombert to place you both in the newly formed retraining unit. That pretty much clinched our suspicions of him.”

  “Retraining unit? When was that established?”

  “I was told yesterday, during a meeting with General Laitume. It’s a confirmed fact. Colonel Rombert’s in charge of it,” Major Booker said.

  “They’re trying to separate me from Yukikaze?”

  “I’m afraid that Colonel Rombert may destroy her,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi. “The JAM are sick and tired of her. Absolutely.”

  “You said no, of course, right, Major?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’ll be hard to ignore these orders,” the major explained. “It’d be hard even for General Laitume to do it. The existence of JAM duplicates has thrown the FAF into an existential crisis. Doubtless, Colonel Rombert is fanning the flames
. But if he’s a JAM, what would his motive be for doing that?”

  “God damn, it’s a brilliant way to do this.” Rei sighed. “The colonel’s found a legitimate way to obtain information on the SAF. If he’s a JAM, he could take over the SAF and then use it to carry out the JAM’s ends. Isn’t that a clear enough motive? If you follow these orders, the SAF will be destroyed. Jack, you don’t want to recognize them, do you?”

  Booker answered with a silence that was broken by Lieutenant Katsuragi saying that he was thirsty too.

  “You can have my drink if you want,” said Captain Foss.

  He took a sip from the beer she held out to him, then sounded determined when he spoke.

  “I’m going,” he said. “You can say that Captain Fukai is too badly injured to be moved, but I want to have a word with Colonel Rombert.”

  “It’s General Cooley’s decision, and a difficult one. But we don’t have much time. General Cooley has to make it as soon as possible,” said Major Booker. “At any rate, the intelligence you two brought back is beyond anything we expected. It’s requiring us to completely rethink the meaning of our war with the JAM. Compared to that, this thing with Colonel Rombert is just a trivial problem.”

  “Are you saying there’s no point in fighting anymore?” asked Rei. “Is the SAF abandoning its war against the JAM?”

  “Captain Foss, tell them your prediction.”

  “Yes, Major Booker,” Captain Foss said, formality creeping back into her voice. “With the additional data that Yukikaze brought back, I can make a report on the results of my profacting of the JAM. In a nutshell, the JAM desire competitive coexistence with the SAF. I haven’t formally submitted my report to General Cooley yet, but—”

  “What do you mean by competitive coexistence?” Rei said.

  “A relationship wherein we shut up and let the JAM get the jump on us. It would change the relationship to one similar to where we compete for a common food source, sometimes working with the JAM and at other times competing against them. That seems to be how the JAM conceptualize us. It’s clear that if we abandon our war with them, we won’t be able to compete and will ultimately be consumed by them.”