.hack//AI Buster - Volume 2 - Chapter 3.4

.: 4 :.

"I'm sorry to take time au[ of your busy schedule." Yukino placed a cup of coffee on the table and sat down.

"So tell me your problem."

She and I were the only two women working in the division, so I assumed her difficulties might be related to sexual harassment or something along those lines.

"What can you tell me about Vagrant AIs?" Yukino asked.

I wasn't really expecting her reply. "Vagranr AIs?"

"Yes." Yukino stared into her coffee.

This wasn't something we should be discussing at the company cafe. Vagrant AIs were supposedly made by hackers to invade The World just for kicks. But as far as I knew, even the CC Corp. didn't know how all Vagrant AIs were created.

"Why do you ask?"

"Before I joined this company, I was playing in The World."

"Of course."

Despite her soft and seemingly meek demeanor, her file listed her as a hard core gamer.

"When I was a college student, I met a Vagrant AI." Yukino continued.

"How do you know it was a Vagrant Al?"

"I wrote about it on an unofficial BBS, and a techie contacted me and told me the description fit perfectly with that of a Vagrant AI."

"Did you report it to the system administrators?"

"No." She hesitated, but then continued. "I'm not sure if you'll believe me or not, but I was playing with the Vagrant AI."

"Playing?"

"Well... we talked."

I looked out the window; an uncomfortable silence passed before I turned and faced Yukino. "Many Vagrant Als have the ability to speak. In fact, they've improved their speech abilities at an alarming rate."

"This was different."

"How?"

"I taught it to speak."

"You were teaching it?" I was shocked.

"Yes," Yukino nodded. "He memorized my conversations."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Okay. let's put aside the fact that you, as a user, ignored your obligation to report a Vagrant Al and had chats with an illegal NPC. At chat time, you were only a player, so it can be excused.

However, I have to know if you harbor any special feelings toward Vagrant Als because of your experience?"

"Special feelings?" she repeated.

"You know, are you fond of them?"

"I don't think so."

"You realize that any emotional traits they display are merely an illusion, a copying of expressions like a parrot repeating what it's heard. An AI is only a bug."

"But is the existence of Vagrant AIs realiy harmful to The World? Maybe it's--"

"It's da ngerous," I stressed. "There have been cases where players lose all their data after coming in contact with a Vagrant AI. You're lucky that didn't happen to you."

Yukino bit her lip.

"Look, our mission as Cobalt Knights is to protect The World. Vagrant AIs are bugs, nothing more. Do you undersrand?"

"Yes." She didn't sound convinced.

"So what happened to this Vagrant Al you met in college?" I asked.

"Eventually, it disappeared." Yukino shrugged.

I wasn't sure about that, bur J could teil that was all I would get out of her. "Very well."

I said good night and left the cafe, my thoughts all In a flurry. I needed to reassess whether Yukino could continue in our division or not. If any corrective actions needed to be taken, they had to be done as soon as possible.