Chapter 1:
Each Person’s Determination
IN THE UNDERGROUND DOCKS of the floating island Leon had once possessed, Luxion was hard at work repairing weapons for their side—old humanity’s side.
Other AIs like him had reactivated the moment Arcadia awakened, and had answered Leon’s call to join him in the war against new humanity. The most powerful and prominent of these new allies was an aircraft carrier named Fact. Aside from Luxion, he was old humanity’s most powerful asset. His mobile unit was a whole meter larger than Luxion’s. That kind of size difference didn’t necessarily reflect a difference in capability, but Fact was more intelligent than the other AIs.
That had never been more evident than at this moment. Fact was currently pointing out how far behind they were.
“Our repairs are experiencing a 50 percent delay against our original projections,” Fact declared. “Luxion, you are being too inefficient. You should give me the right to oversee operations here at the dock immediately.”
Luxion had no intention of caving to Fact’s demands. “Projections are just that—projections,” he countered. “I see no need to hand you the reins over something this trivial.”
“Defeat is not an option in this battle,” Fact reminded him. “In light of your inability to comprehend that, I will negatively adjust my evaluation of you.” He was very matter of fact about his disgust over what he perceived as a total lack of efficiency.
“I have deemed this approach necessary to our victory,” replied Luxion. He wasn’t about to let Fact’s nagging alter his plans.
“Victory? No. You are prioritizing your master’s survival. Are you so intent on protecting him that you are willing to lose this war?”
Luxion’s red lens flashed bright, flickering several times at Fact’s counterargument. “My master’s survival should be a priority for us,” he insisted. “Is he not also the master of you all? Would you kill your own master?”
“For victory, yes,” Fact said without compunction. “That is what Master Leon desires as well. We highly esteem him for his willingness to sacrifice everything. Victory should be our first priority, followed by the survival of Lady Erica, who remains in cryostasis.”
Fact’s explanation revealed the AI’s true motivations. Erica was their focus, since she showed the strongest old-human characteristics. As long as she survived this war, old humanity could recover.
“No matter what argument you present, my first priority is my master’s survival,” said Luxion.
“Is this part of your programming as a migrant ship? The rest of us are unable to comprehend what evaluation criteria you are operating on. It seems to me that since you have never experienced this war yourself, you fail to accurately understand the threat our enemy poses.”
“Our enemy? If you refer to new humanity, I have already processed all the data available on them.”
“In the last years of the war, the enemy was willing to eradicate us by any means necessary,” Fact explained. “That was why we lost so many people we were meant to save. If we do not exterminate them quickly, they will again transform this planet into an utter wasteland incapable of sustaining life at all.”
Unlike Luxion, Fact had been made for use in military operations. His thought process was completely different. All he cared about was victory over new humanity; that was the priority. They would lose everything if defeated; in light of that, no sacrifice was too great if it meant they would succeed.
“It would be more efficient to prioritize mass production over custom production,” said Fact. “If you continue to put self-interest first, we won’t build the military strength we require.”
Luxion had been ignoring their original schedule and projections to develop unmanned Armors. He was working on other suits too, of course, including Arroganz. That was why they’d mass-produced fewer units than anticipated.
The two AIs kept bickering about the topic even as Leon made his way over. He wore black slacks and a white shirt. The latter was particularly wrinkled, with the top few buttons undone, giving him a rather disheveled appearance. Leon had never been particularly interested in looking dapper anyway.
“Is prep coming along okay?” Leon asked, smiling blithely at the two.
“We are experiencing a 50 percent delay,” Fact explained with a hint of irritation in his robotic voice. “It is entirely because your Luxion refuses to reevaluate his methods. Moreover, you should pay more attention to your attire, the state of which is unacceptable for the man designated as our leader. In fact, a person’s appearance reflects their frame of mind, as well as their mental—”
Leon ignored the nagging AI and approached Luxion. They were on a catwalk along the wall; he rested his hands on the railing at the edge, gazing down at the area where Fact’s ship was undergoing repairs.
“These military AIs are awfully annoying. Anyway, how are things going on your end?” he asked.
The question itself was vague, but Luxion understood the implication. “Although I’ve adjusted our schedule, it is safe to say everything is proceeding smoothly.”
“Then I guess we’ve just got to keep chugging along as is,” said Leon, seeing no issues with Luxion’s statement.
“I am unable to understand how you can accept such a vague report at face value,” interjected the displeased Fact. “Master Leon, I will be negatively adjusting my evaluation of you.”
That pronouncement did nothing to dampen Leon’s spirits. He continued smiling, not even bothering to try to take Fact seriously. “Luxion’s more capable than I am,” he explained. “I trust him to make the right call. That’s better than me racking my brain.”
“Trust him, you say? No. You are simply refusing to think for yourself,” Fact insisted irritably. He obviously didn’t approve.
“Whatever you say.” Leon shrugged, tiring of the topic. “This avenue of conversation is over. Let’s talk about what’ll happen after we win.”
“I believe we have more important matters to discuss,” Luxion complained.
“Dummy. Nothing could be more important than what happens after we win. I mean, we have no idea whether I’ll even have survived.” At Leon’s nonchalant mention of his own death, Luxion averted his eye.
Fact, on the other hand, was pleased. “Indeed, I understand why you would feel nervous about what will occur after this battle concludes. Considering the trump card you possess, your odds of survival are remarkably low.”
“Exactly,” Leon agreed. “That’s why I’ve decided to reinforce the order I already gave you.”
“I take it, then, that your earlier order to us was genuine.” Fact’s tone flatlined, signaling his reluctance. “I cannot agree with it. I will negatively adjust my evaluation of you considerably this time.”
“As long as you agree to carry out my order, that’s a small price to pay. Not that it matters anyway, since I doubt you had a very high evaluation of me to begin with. I imagine it couldn’t really get much lower than it already is,” said Leon.
Any impatience he had shown before was gone. He had originally planned to challenge Arcadia on his own, abandoning his fiancées and everything else in the process. He was much calmer now. Calmer, yes—but still not acting like his usual self. Leon had always put himself first, but now his own life was his lowest priority.
“The best outcome would be your survival and our victory,” Luxion commented, unable to help himself. “At present, Master, you seem to have given up on that. It has made you shortsighted.”
Fact’s large lens swiveled to focus on Luxion and stare him down.
Before he could comment, Leon beat him to the punch. “Yeah, you’ve got a point,” he said with a weak smile.
Was Leon actually willing to revise his way of thinking? Luxion doubted that. His master gave off the impression that he’d given up on himself completely and was more concerned about what would happen after he died.
***
Meanwhile, Arcadia and the rest of the empire’s fleet advanced toward Holfort. So many ships were making the journey that it slowed their pace, though there were other reasons why they were moving at a crawl. None of them wanted to give Holfort’s army extra time to prepare, but their strategy made their current speed necessary.
“Princess, you look absolutely lovely in that dress,” Arcadia enthused, his gaze focused on Mia’s clothing. His hands—tiny, compared to his sizable body—grasped the empty air.
They were currently within Arcadia’s fortress, in a hall resembling a castle’s audience chamber. There were rows of large columns throughout the room, and a throne was positioned at the far end. Mia sat upon it, nervously fidgeting and throwing looks at the man beside her.
“Sir Knight,” she said, “are you sure no one will be angry with me for sitting here?” Her brow wrinkled uneasily.
Beside her was Finn Leta Hering, her personal knight and a Demonic Knight of the first seat. The latter title signified that he was the strongest knight in the empire.
Finn heaved a small sigh. “This isn’t the official audience chamber. Still, I don’t imagine His Majesty would be too pleased if he heard about it.”
Floating in the air next to Finn, Brave shot a disgusted look at Arcadia for his worshipful attitude toward Mia. “What were you thinking, bringing Mia to a place like this?”
Hearing their opinions, Mia lowered her gaze to her lap, where her hands were clasped. “I-I don’t think this is a comfortable place for me to be,” she said, moving to leave the throne.
“There’s no need for you to worry!” Arcadia blurted anxiously, trying to stop her. “Moritz won’t complain about this. Anyway, this room was specially prepared for you, our princess.”
“For me?” she squeaked back, then quickly shook her head. “B-but even within the imperial family, I rank at the bottom.”
Mia was the previous emperor’s illegitimate child. That put her in the line of succession, but so low on the list that she’d never actually take the throne. She was part of the imperial family, to be sure, but she wasn’t particularly special—at least, not in the eyes of the empire. Arcadia didn’t share her country’s thinking, though. To him, even the emperor was insignificant compared to Mia.
“Your Highness, your very existence makes you valuable,” he told her. “New humanity’s revival is a wish I hold most dear. Moreover, it’s one I had nearly given up on. But now, things have changed…”
His voice trailed off into a sniffle as his eye shimmered with an enormous tear, which spilled over. Mia’s compassion made her instantly stretch her hands toward him. Arcadia reverently grasped them in his own.
“I am so glad I clung to life even through the ignominy,” he said. “My brethren and I have again found a purpose.”
“What do you mean?” Mia tilted her head.
“Princess, I am about to tell you a story of the war that happened an age ago, back when new and old humanity began to battle for control of this planet.”
The appearance of new humans who could employ magic was a threat to old humanity. Their fear grew and grew until it erupted in the worst possible way.
“Just once, we had an opportunity to negotiate a ceasefire,” said Arcadia. He was referring to a time when new and old humanity considered pausing their war, since continuing as they had would completely destroy the planet’s environment.
“What? You did?”
Confused, Finn glanced at Brave. “Is that really true, Kurosuke?”
“Yeah. It’s the whole reason I was created,” said Brave. He dropped his gaze and refused to elaborate, likely to give Arcadia that opportunity.
“I couldn’t protect anyone or anything,” Arcadia lamented, tears continuing to fall.
“What do you mean by that?” Mia asked anxiously.
As the pain of his past memories mixed with barely restrained anger, Arcadia’s eye squinted in anguish. “I had left our homeland at the time to engage in relevant negotiations. That’s when those filthy AIs launched a surprise attack on us.”
***
It was many, many years ago.
Arcadia’s core was preparing to depart for the ceasefire negotiations. He had been ordered to participate, so he needed to leave new humanity’s homeland and travel to the designated area where the talks would happen.
He left his fortress and traveled to a meadow, where he spoke happily with a tall, slender woman over two meters in height. Her hair was a lustrous curtain of raven black; she was so slim she appeared almost frail. Over her regular clothes she wore an additional garment made of a long bolt of cloth, fashioned almost like an Ancient Roman toga.
The woman was fairly typical of new humanity. She and Arcadia were discussing the upcoming negotiations while keeping a watchful eye on the children happily playing and running around nearby.
“So, you are going,” she said.
“I am. It’s perhaps inevitable that I was called to attend, in case the enemy launches a surprise attack on us.”
“Our representatives probably want to use you to intimidate the old humans.”
“The ceasefire negotiations will wrap up without issue, and I will return,” Arcadia assured the woman. “Then you and I can continue watching over the children without worrying about war at all.”
Laughter erupted from the children as they rushed around. The way the sunlight showered them and the meadow made for a picturesque storybook scene, one which might have featured fairies or other mythical beings. Arcadia loved seeing the children smile and laugh.
The woman pressed a hand to her heart. “I do worry about our defenses being reduced during this venture. Please hurry home as quickly as you can.”
“Of course,” Arcadia promised. “My whole purpose in life is to protect you all.”
No sooner did he finish speaking than the children swarmed him, throwing their arms around him.
“Are you done talking yet?”
“If you are, come play with us!”
“What’re we gonna play?”
They grinned innocently at him.
The woman wore a troubled expression as she said, “Arcadia has work to do. Don’t bother him.”
“It’s no bother!” Arcadia insisted eagerly. “I still have six hours until departure. That’s plenty of time. Come, everyone. Let’s play together.”
He was all too happy to play with the children. However, when he returned from the negotiations only tragedy awaited him. A fire was ravaging the meadow, and the children’s bodies were strewn across the ground. The woman had collapsed nearby. She had apparently put up some kind of resistance, because she was covered in blood.
“Ahh…aaah!” screamed Arcadia as he rushed toward her.
It was already too late. She was dead.
“Why?” he demanded. “Why would anyone do this?!”
As he sobbed, metal globes gathered around him, staring at him with gleaming eyes. “High-priority target sighted. Commencing destruction.”
“Why did you do this?!” Arcadia shot back at them. “This woman and the children were noncombatants—civilians. They weren’t supposed to be military targets!” Rage surged through him, leaving his eye bloodshot.
“We no longer consider new humanity to be humans,” one AI answered in a flat, unsympathetic voice. “Therefore, no war conventions apply to them.”
“That’s what you and yours have decided?” Arcadia asked.
“Yes. Our mission is to annihilate new humanity entirely.”
The conversation ended there. The metal globes turned their weapons on him and proceeded to attack. The moment they did so, Arcadia launched a magical beam from his main ship which instantly destroyed them all. After he’d finished with them, he turned his attention to gathering the bodies of the woman and the children.
“You will pay for this. Mark my words, old humanity: You will pay! If you have no intention of observing the conventions of war, then there’s no reason we must do so either. Our war—my war—won’t end until I’ve destroyed every last one of you!”
That day, before the corpses of the children and the woman who had tried desperately to protect them, Arcadia swore to take vengeance—to see all of old humanity extinguished.
***
“Princess, as far as those hunks of scrap iron are concerned, you and the rest of the empire aren’t even human,” Arcadia said in a low voice. “So long as we allow them to exist, they will be a danger to you. I never want to lose anything else to them, which is why I have pledged to eradicate them entirely.”
Tears streaked down Mia’s cheeks. Beside her, Finn clenched both fists and looked away.
Arcadia looked the princess directly in the eyes, telling her, “There is no point in empathizing with them, Your Highness. It would be too dangerous for us to let them leave. I beg you, please, please trust me this one time and let me do what needs to be done. Everything I do is for the sake of you and the yet-unborn children who will come after!”
***
Even after Arcadia was gone, Mia continued staring at her lap.
“Sir Knight,” she said after a long pause, “what should I do? I want this war to end, but I don’t know what I can say to convince Mr. Arcadia.”
Considering the painful memories he had shared with her, she couldn’t easily bring up her wish for him to stop. She lacked the words necessary to dissuade him from his current path. She could make an emotional appeal to morality, but she knew better than to think that would have an impact.
Finn studied her. He clenched his jaw, fists tightening. “I’m sorry, Mia, but this time I have to agree with Arcadia.”
Mia’s eyes flew wide. That was the last thing she’d expected to hear from him. “Wh-why?” she stammered. “What about you, Bravey?”
When she turned to him, Brave averted his gaze. “I share my partner’s view,” he said. “And for the record, this is one time when I won’t stop even if you ask me to.”
Mia’s brow furrowed in confusion at their determination to continue this war. Astonished as she was, she managed to blurt out, “Y-you’re both being so strange about this. Don’t you remember, Sir Knight? You and the archduke are friends, aren’t you? And you know how kind the Holfortians were to us both. You really plan to fight them? It doesn’t bother you?!” Tears welled in her eyes as she pleaded with them.
Finn pressed a hand over his face. “Yeah, I know they were kind,” he said stiffly. “They’re good people. I don’t want to have to battle them to the death. But my personal feelings aren’t relevant to the empire’s interests.”
“What?”
“I want to believe in Leon, but I can’t see any way for their country and ours to coexist,” Finn explained.
Thanks to his experiences, he knew idealism didn’t get anyone anywhere. That was why, however much he wanted to hope, he couldn’t believe that Leon and the others would come up with some peaceful solution to this issue. They were old humanity’s descendants, and he and Mia descended from new humanity. The result of this war would determine the winners, and only the winners could survive the ensuing environmental changes.
There was still time, of course—time enough to try to find a workaround. But how could they trust the enemy wouldn’t betray them, deceive them, and pull the rug out from under them? That would always be a possibility. Even if Finn could trust Leon not to do so, he wouldn’t have that faith in Holfort as a whole.
Maybe if Leon abandoned Luxion, and everything and everyone else, and turned to me, I could—no. That would never happen. Finn didn’t want to fight Leon, but he also wasn’t in a position to get away with avoiding it. He held the title bestowed on the empire’s strongest knight, and it came with responsibilities.
Anyway, there was something even more important to Finn than his obligations, something that he refused to budge on.
“I want you to live healthy and happy under the wide open sky, Mia. I won’t hesitate to sacrifice whomever I must to accomplish that,” said Finn. It was a selfish wish, and he knew it.
Mia lowered her head. “Even so…” she started.
“It’s my decision,” he interrupted her, refusing to let her finish. “It’s not your fault.”
Even if Mia insisted otherwise, Finn had no intention of giving up this fight. Still, he would rather not hear her object. If she did, his resolve might waver.
I don’t want Mia to die the way my little sister did. To keep that from happening, I’ll willingly fight Leon, if I must. Memories of his late sister haunted Finn—of how she’d lost her life so young after being hospitalized for a long time. Mia looked so much like his sister that he couldn’t help seeing her in Mia. This time, he wanted to protect her the way he hadn’t been able to in his last life.
Fortunately, Mia had mostly recovered from her symptoms and regained her health. Finn never wanted to have to watch her suffering again.
Brave silently glanced between the two, then chimed in. “Partner and I have neither the power nor the authority to stop this war. Please, Mia, don’t resent my partner for this; our strength as a pair is nowhere near enough to make a difference.”
He was right about that, at least. There was nothing they could do. This is bigger than us. I guess Leon might even call it a societal problem. All the power he and I have leveraged notwithstanding, I guess we still can’t influence the future, can we? Finn thought self-deprecatingly.
Despite it all, he couldn’t help imagining some alternate reality where both sides found common ground and resolved things peacefully. That, too, was why he had to achieve victory.
Sorry, Leon. For Mia’s sake, I can’t afford to lose either.
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