Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 18 - Chapter 1.05

Deep Dream

“I can’t stand eating alone.”

I get summoned to Ai Yashajin’s room as soon as the match pauses for lunch. There’s no ignoring a player’s selfishness- …… request during a title match.

But there is a limit.

“Listen up, Ai ……”

People are going to talk if it gets out that the Ryuo secretly visited his grade-school aged apprentice in her private room. It’s suspicious enough that I came all the way out into the boonies to accompany her to this match in the first place. Not in a lolicon sense, though. In Shogi terms!

“This isn’t smart. Misunderstandings are bound to happen, yeah?”

“There shouldn’t be an issue unless you’re the assistant observer.”

It seems the young lady doesn’t get the hint.

Thoroughly enjoying the Tohoku cuisine that she hardly ever has a chance to eat, Ai continues.

“And you’re writing a match article today, yes? There’s nothing improper about sharing lunch with your apprentice for material. So long as you don’t discuss the match, that is.”

“…… Just to be clear, the association staff took my phone as well.”

There’s a lot of gray zone when it comes to how isolated players should be during a title match.

The rules are in a transition period, and the details haven’t been completely ironed out to this extent.

The players themselves are forbidden to carry any electronic devices starting the day before the match, but that’s not the case for the match recorder, journalists and others involved with the match. They can break the rules all they want if they are so inclined.

That said, this is a Women’s League match. Pros like myself are so much stronger that Women’s players wouldn’t need to rely on electronics if they can ask us for pointers.

―――Then again, today’s match is the exception.

Even the early stages of the match this morning went beyond the normal realm of Shogi sense. Especially Ika. Even I can’t understand what the heck she’s trying to do.

“By the way, I spoke with Okito-sensei―――”

To avoid discussing the current formations, I bring up the weird dream I had as well as what Okito-sensei told me.

Grade schooler or not, I had to tell someone about the ghost story I’m in right now.

―――Knowing Ai, she’ll say, “Huuh? What are you, a moron?” and laugh it off!

I accepted her summons to lunch knowing that a tsunami of criticism was coming my way, but ……

Rather than shoot it all down, Ai takes a completely different angle.

A supernatural one.

“Have you ever heard of apophenia?”

“Have you ever heard that I never went to high school?”

Ai shrugs off her Master’s retort with a huff and then elegantly devours a piece of sushi using chopsticks. Wow, that ticks me off ……

“…… And? What is this …… apophenia, was it?”

“That’s what it’s called when a person can make sense out of chaos.”

“……!”

At one point, I was told that I was hallucinating when I said there’s a systemic reason behind the moves software makes.

The person who said so was Mirai Futatsuzuka 4-dan. He happens to be Okito-sensei’s research partner.

He’s also a graduate of The University of Tokyo and a software developer on top of being a pro Shogi player.

A guy so smart and skillful that he was dubbed the Software Translator, insisted that Ika and I are one and the same.

That we were both something other than human.

“There’s also a type of apophenia known as pareidolia, a phenomenon in which a person visually derives information out of random data …… A simple example would be seeing a human face in a tree trunk.”

Or a man in the moon.

Or seeing shapes in the stains on the ceiling.

Ai explains that pareidolia is a term to describe those instances.

“It’s known to happen with computers as well. Things that shouldn’t be there sometimes show up in images created by deep learning software while it is analyzing random images.”

“Like haunted photos ……?”

“Researchers call these strange happenings deep dreams.”

“Deep …… dreams?”

“Due to overfitting, computers can make the same mistakes as people. Isn’t that interesting? Androids are counting digital sheep. And―――”

Ai takes a moment to wipe her mouth with a napkin before saying.

“Both apophenia and pareidolia are classified as mental illnesses.”

“Mental ………… illness …………”

“Ika Sainokami has been an interesting subject for me for quite a while now. My curiosity

wins out over unease in her case. Though I’m sure you feel differently.”

Ai Yashajin’s inner scientist is showing as she mumbles on.

I can feel excitement coming from the one-in-a-million girl attempting to seize the future of Shogi itself using the world’s fastest supercomputer.

“The last time I played against her, I could tell the software algorithms were affecting her own emotions. She abandoned them completely in her matches against Ginko Sora and Sota Kunugi. This Shogi is something to behold, isn’t it? Today might be the last time you ever speak with Ika Sainokami the person.”

“…… Are you saying that learning how to play Shogi like a computer has driven Ika insane?”

“Not quite.”

Ai adjusts my wording.

While only slight, the implications are huge.

“Ika Sainokami comprehends the formations on the board like a computer processing images. For a human being …… that’s too much weight to carry.”

“…………”

“Taking in that much information has changed the makeup of her brain, allowing her to acquire more of it the more her brain resembles a computer. That’s why her Shogi has gotten so strong. At the same time, though, it loses the traits machines don’t need.”

“Traits machines don’t need? Like …… a heart ……?”

Ika grew up surrounded by old folks with cognitive problems.

In that environment, she craved even the slightest bit of human interaction. She wanted to be loved, but the only people around couldn’t communicate.

What if one of them was able to express some kind of emotion through lining up Shogi records?

And if Ika understood that gesture as a sign of affection?

In that case ……

If that is the case, it’s heartbreaking ……

What we perceive as a battle, Ika misinterprets as love. Now she’s on the verge of losing that completely.

Ika can’t be forgiven for what she’s done within the Shogi world.

I sure won’t forgive her for hurting Big Sis without so much as a second thought.

Even so, if that monster loses whatever semblance of a heart she has left ……

“It’s time. I’ll be going now.”

Ai stands up, adjusts her kimono, grabs her pouch with her watch and her fan inside, and makes for the door.

“Ai!”

I shout because I couldn’t get to my feet in time.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder like a black wing, Ai turns to face me.

“What?”

“………… Nothing.”

Her opponent’s origins. Ai just theorized that the monster she is about to go hunt is actually a sad, lost soul in search of love.

―――…… Can she still fight knowing that?

I couldn’t bring myself to put it into words.

If I did, it might impact the match.

“It’s about time we compare notes.”

I’m drinking tea in the association staff green room when the observer comes back after the match starts back up again and strikes up a conversation.

“I’m told that you have access to the world’s fastest supercomputer, which runs deep learning software, Mr. Kuzuryu. Please inform me of its rating.”

“……”

He’s not picking up on how awkward it is for me to talk with him, at all.

―――Maybe he’s lost all of his emotions, too ……

I was just starting to sympathize with him. Feeling a little betrayed, I do what he asked.

“Awaji. Rate the current formations,” I say into my phone and numbers show up on the screen.

Of course, my phone isn’t doing the calculations. The supercomputer in Kobe sent them to my phone remotely.

“Awaji says the offense has an advantage.”

“With these formations? My own software cannot settle on a rating …… She’s too strong.”

“That’s because Ika has played the best move according to Awaji all the way back to moving her King to 5 Eight on the opening move.”

Now that I’ve said so, I counter with a question of my own.

“The software you developed is deep learning as well, correct, Okito-sensei? Have you given it a name?”

“No.”

It was a short but clear rejection.

Now, him refusing to show his hand yet again is really getting under my skin.

“…… I played against Awaji for a full month. Nonstop.”

“Did you? That is an interesting approach.”

“Ika has been playing the same moves as Awaji, and I don’t think I can do that even after playing against Awaji for a month. In all seriousness, no other program would ever play 5 Eight King as the opening move. No one would ever think it was an option without learning from Awaji’s match records.”

I keep talking, almost to prevent Sensei from getting any words in edgewise.

These things should be kept secret, but the words just kept coming.

“The thing is that Ika could only have studied a total of 101 Awaji matches, including the match I played against Shinokubo-sensei. Being able to replicate Awaji’s sequences to this degree …… It’s unbelievable.”

What if this actually is apophenia like Ai was talking about?

What if studying Awaji’s match records gave her a deep dream, which showed her how to play this style?

I’m no doctor or scientist.

This just might be a regular guy mixing supernatural with sci-fi. Heck, dreams and reality are mixing together at this point.

But in terms of what’s on the board right now …… Ika is doing it.

“You said you haven’t given your software a name, yes? In that case, I’ll give it one for you.”

“……”

“Its name is―――Ika Sainokami.”

Ika is one of an extremely limited number of people on earth who can run deep learning software in their minds.

Knowing that, Okito-sensei gave her a continuous stream of data to process and therefore honed that rare talent.

I doubt that’s ever been done before.

That’s the very same experiment that Ai Yashajin conducted with the supercomputer Awaji, but Okito-sensei did it with his own daughter’s brain.

The result …… Ika successfully replicated Awaji’s playing style in a match of Shogi.

“Please answer one question for me,” I ask, dropping my voice as low as it can go.

The one question I had to ask no matter what.

“Were you ………… experimenting on Ika? Your own flesh and blood ……”

In that moment he woke up in a hospital bed after losing to software drove him to attempt suicide.

He then received a daughter who has the talent to surpass software itself.

Did he …… start plotting his revenge against software?

“She drifts further and further away from being human every time. Yes, her Shogi skills got stronger …… But still!”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ika Sainokami hurt someone very dear to me. That’s why I’ll never forgive her. I couldn’t care less if she breaks, and I’d gladly give her a taste of her own medicine if I got the chance.

But.

I still yelled.

The old man in my dream made me.

“Do you think she’s really happier this way?! Do you want your daughter to be killed by a computer just like you?! The daughter you only just met!!”

“Then, answer me a question.” Looking down on me with glass-like eyes, Okito-sensei asks. “Would you be able to stop your apprentice from doing so when they yearn for strength? Even if said method defies convention?”

“……!!”

“Will your apprentice win, or will my daughter?”

Shifting his gaze to the board on which Ika was starting to pull even further ahead, King Yo Okito quietly murmurs.

“Let us watch and find out …… whose love prevails.”

Confronted with a pro Shogi player who referred to the board to determine the strength of love, there was nothing I could say.

The coalition of five newspaper companies that sponsor the Empress Title Match and the Empress League itself have a negative stance about livestreaming matches.

While I personally think they’re twiddling their thumbs in the past, I can’t think of anyone who would want to show the world what Ika is like during matches.

The only camera in the arena for this particular match is fixed to the ceiling above the board and we can kind of hear what the players are saying in the association green room.

“Hehe! Heeeeeee ………… Hihihehehhehihi!!”

Even from our only view inside coming from one ceiling-mounted camera, Ika’s near-euphoric state comes through loud and clear.

That weird laugh of hers rings out as her pointer finger dances across the board, making most of her moves without using a single second of waiting time. The only exception was the five minutes she waited before making her first move. As to why, I have no clue.

The board is beyond complex.

This match started out as Static Rook, but the big pieces have slid around and changed hands so often that it’s impossible to classify anymore.

Of course, no match between human beings has unfolded this way before. But no one would’ve imagined formations like this, let alone researched them. Ika doesn’t seem to care about that and barrels forward at breakneck speed.

Those fingertips of hers strike like lightning.

Her formations fit together like clockwork, the gears spinning in overdrive. Ika lives up to her Worldly Thunder nickname in every sense of the word.

Meanwhile, Ai Yashajin is quiet.

“…………”

Well, that’s normal for Shogi matches …… But I’ve got a pretty good idea what’s going through her head right now.

I’d bet she has one hand over her eye, reading as deep into the board as she can while meticulously managing her time and choosing her next move.

Typical Shogi senses won’t work in that arena.

The only option is to read what you can and reinforce what you see. There’s no way to tell if you’re ahead or behind in matches like this ……

“Yashajin-sensei. You have one hour remaining.”

“……”

The match recorder’s voice, followed by a soft click of the tongue. Ai’s hand still hasn’t shown up on the screen.

“Heeehahahaha!”

Another round of Ika’s high-pitched laughter comes through the wall.

“Ika has pulled ahead,” I mutter to myself after checking Awaji’s rating.

Even human eyes can tell that she has a commanding lead at this point.

“Mine matches that evaluation as well. Offense has a distinct advantage,” Okito-sensei says just as quietly.

If a computer played from this point, Ai’s chances of turning the tables are pretty much zero.

The only thing that could save her now is Ika making a mistake ……

“You stated earlier that I am using my daughter, yes? That she …… That I am making Ika carry out a personal vendetta against computers.”

“What about it?”

“I did not feel the slightest hatred or despair when I played against software.”

The first pro player to formally lose against a computer continues this trip down memory lane despite my confusion.

And he ends up using a word that doesn’t fit at all.

“It was love.”

“……………… What?”

“You have faced off against a supercomputer, have you not? Didn’t you feel it as well? That overwhelming mix of admiration and jealousy one feels for a strong opponent. Did you not see it for yourself? The beauty within that Shogi?”

“……!!”

I played against Awaji nonstop for nearly a month.

At first, it was nothing but torture …… But I did pick up on it at some point. Once I uninstalled the way human beings play Shogi and installed software’s version of the game, that is.

I realized just how much fun it was.

But I used a younger version of Big Sis to trick myself into matching Awaji.

―――Because I thought I’d die if I didn’t. Still ……

Looking back on it now, I make another realization.

―――Maybe I didn’t have to go that far to abandon my own humanity ……?

“That is the same as my daughter’s love for you.”

Awaji’s rating leans further and further toward Ika with each passing moment.

Almost like the two are merging together.

“Even after learning Shogi, my daughter’s talents were exceptional. She became isolated, unable to see eye-to-eye with anyone until encountering a prodigy named Yaichi Kuzuryu …… The impact of that moment must have been equivalent to seeing light shine through complete darkness. Surely you can understand? The genuine purity of only being able to love a person via Shogi.”

“………… I’m afraid I can’t, and I’ll never have feelings for Ika.”

I answer as bluntly as possible to hide that fact I’m a bit shaken. My heart is pounding enough to make my ribs hurt.

“So then, who is it you intend to play Shogi with in the future?”

“What do you mean who ……?”

“Ginko Sora? She may have attained a professional rank, but she will never be capable of challenging you in an even match. In fact, no one in your generation or below can hold a candle to you. Only the Meijin can match your talent, but his skill will inevitably decline within the next few years.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I understand admiring strong players, but it’s nowhere near the same thing as love―――”

“Then allow me to rephrase my question.”

As if to trap me in a pincer formation to checkmate the King, Ika’s father presses me even further.

“You will end up spending the most time with my daughter. Will Ginko Sora be able to endure?”

“…………!”

“As a rather considerate boy said, the current format for title matches allows for players to spend a total 171 days together with you should they clash in all the title matches, as well as regularly scheduled league matches. My daughter started openly talking about becoming a professional player once she heard that.”

The very thought of that nightmare coming true makes me gasp for air. Could that actually happen in the future ……?

For better or worse, Okito-sensei’s advance gets cut off there.

“H-Hey! Look at the screen!”

One of the association staff members jumps to their feet with a start.

“The Empress took off her eyepatch!!”

“Seriously?! Does that mean the match is almost over?!”

Ika’s face is on the screen.

The whole screen.

In other words, she’s stood up to get as close to the ceiling-mounted camera as possible.

“YAAAIIIIIIICHIIIIII.”

She shouts my name.

“You better WATCH CLOSELY! Put on those glasses you wear for matches! I’M GONNA PLAY JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT♡♡♡”

Somehow, Ika’s naked left eye has an ominous glow on the screen.

It’s zooming around from side to side, almost like a fish with no eyelids. It’s not looking anywhere close to the board, so what in the world is she seeing right now?

“I’ll make you understand.”

Ika’s declaration echoes through the wall.

“That twerp Sota, this brat Ai and of course that silver-haired hussy aren’t worth your time. Only me, your lil’ Ika Sainokami, IS WORTHY OF YOOOUUU!!”