them can be allowed to escape. Destroy them all. That is all.
“Let’s tell General Cooley,” said Captain Foss. “Yukikaze’s right. We have to hit this new unit before they can hit us.”
Rei didn’t answer.
“Captain Fukai, what’s wrong? There’s nothing to consider here. This unit is just a collection of duplicates.”
“Assuming it is... then that means there’s somebody in Systems Corps who did this intentionally to tip us off.”
“It was Colonel Rombert. He was in charge of personnel selection, so —”
“But we can’t conclude for certain that Lieutenants Burgadish and Lancome are JAM duplicates.”
“Why not?”
“Because Colonel Rombert may have assigned new names to the people who came to be in the new unit. In other words, he may be using the names of other people as code names, and the real names of the people in the unit may be entirely different. We need verification. Besides, I don’t buy this attitude from Yukikaze that we have to attack without verification. She’s basically telling me to kill indiscriminately, without determining who’s a friend and who’s an enemy. I think... I think she may have been brainwashed by the JAM.”
“What are you saying?”
“Yukikaze has never been concerned about humans. I know that for a fact, Edith. This sort of behavior is abnormal for her. She’s scared of the names of these dead men, and I think the JAM may have psychologically conditioned her to be that way.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
Rei accessed Yukikaze’s central data storage bank, searching for the original data to which Yukikaze had referred as the JAM’s declaration of war. But there was nothing specific to indicate the content of the message. Captain Foss also verified this fact.
“The JAM must have made Yukikaze hallucinate as well,” Captain Foss surmised. “I can hardly believe it, even if I did anticipate it.”
“It wasn’t a hallucination. It probably happened,” Rei replied. “The data may not still be there, but when she considers her experiences in the mysterious battle zone, Yukikaze knows that the JAM would issue their declaration of war in this manner. She understands the JAM threat but has no concrete data to back it up. That’s what’s got her so scared.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it that she’s exhibiting fear. But if you say that she’s acting abnormally, then I trust you on that. So what do we do?”
“Something exists which shouldn’t. That’s scary, and there’s only one way to deal with it.”
“How?”
“We acknowledge their declaration of war and attack. That’ll be the only way to stabilize Yukikaze’s psyche. If they’re not supposed to exist, we’ll make them no longer exist... by erasing all data relating to these ghosts.”
“What?”
“Yukikaze, our mission action will be to erase all data in the Systems Corps’ personnel management computer relating to the members of the retraining unit,” Rei said, now talking to the plane. “This emergency mission action will be an electronic warfare attack against the JAM. Prepare to engage. Captain Foss, monitor the electronic attack. Yukikaze, initiate electronic warfare.”
“Wait, stop! Yukikaze, wait!” Foss said. “You can’t just delete data at random.”
“Don’t try to stop this, Captain Foss.”
“You’re the one who’s scared here. Calm down, Captain Fukai,” Captain Foss said. “I understand that you want Yukikaze back to normal, but you can’t rush into this. You’ll be deleting data that could be extremely valuable to the SAF. Even Yukikaze wouldn’t consent to that. There’s a procedure for this. You and Yukikaze are both upset. Surely you see that. Let me handle this.”
“Is that an order?”
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
Rei paused a moment before answering.
“All right, Doctor. Yukikaze, follow Captain Foss’s instructions.”
Roger, Captain Fukai.
“Yukikaze, this is Captain Foss. Tell me about the nature of the data you’ve targeted for attack. There’s no need for you to access it again at this time. What I’m asking is, in your reading of that data, on what basis have you judged that the people in that unit are JAM rather than human and that they should be wiped out? Answer me.”
The data targeted for attack relate to the members of the retraining unit. Full names, ranks, original unit assignments, and sortie records have been recorded, but the details have been changed after certain missions. In the case of Lieutenants Lancome and Burgadish, the fact of their disappearances and deaths in combat are no longer in the record. Instead, past those points, it has been recorded that they have been performing normal duties. This clearly contradicts reality. Therefore, they are not human. If they are not human, I predict that they are JAM. That is all.
“But that’s strange, wouldn’t you say?” Foss said. “Think about it, Yukikaze. The two men you believe are JAM may simply be other FAF personnel who have just assumed their names. Why didn’t you consider that? What’s the reason? Do you understand the meaning of my question, Yukikaze? What is your basis for your absolute belief that those two men are not human?”
The number of all humans currently extant in the FAF compared to computer records of the number of survivors is over by two. In other words, these two people are not FAF humans. On the other hand, it is impossible that the persons now claiming to be Lieutenants Burgadish and Lancome have survived their deaths and continued to perform their duties. From this fact, I have concluded that these two men represent the numeric discrepancy previously mentioned.
“Yukikaze, are you saying that you have counted the tens of thousands of human beings on the planet Faery? Every person living, breathing, sleeping, and fighting?”
I have.
“Might not the data be in error? I’m asking you that, Yukikaze. Respond.”
The data related to management of all humans extant in the FAF is not only stored in the personnel management computers of the units each person is attached to. It is also stored in the memories of several other devices, including FAF facility access control computers and the FAF soldier registration bank. I cross-checked them to verify any errors in their records, but could not find any. There are no errors in the original data. That is all.
“This definitely isn’t the work of a human,” Rei said. “It shows all the hallmarks of a computer’s doing.”
“Amazing... For Yukikaze, so long as that target data about the Systems Corps exists, her only explanation for those two extra men is that they’re JAM. Even if the count is wrong.”
“Making the number of humans match up really isn’t what Yukikaze’s concerned about here.”
“I agree. I’m definitely getting the feeling that she’s been manipulated into acting this way by the JAM. It isn’t so much a question of logic, but rather of her intuition. I think she’s trying as hard as possible to logically rectify the existence of something that shouldn’t exist.”
“Which is what I believe I said at the start, Edith.”
“Yeah... if the original data were consistent with the target data, then Yukikaze wouldn’t have tried to match the numbers up,” Foss said. “This is all caused by the names of the dead men also being registered in Systems Corps’ computers as deceased. The Systems Corps probably hasn’t even considered that two of its people have the same names as two dead men. Still, the discrepancy would be revealed as soon as they confirmed that Lieutenant Burgadish and Lieutenant Lancome are dead.”
“There probably isn’t anyone in Systems Corps who would know either of them. Well, that’s to be expected. Those guys are the elite. I doubt they’d know anyone who served on the front lines.”
“In other words, the only people who’d realize what was going on just by looking at the names would be us — you and Yukikaze and the SAF.”
“Here at Faery base, at any rate. The JAM acknowledged that by sending those two in to be the surplus,” Rei
