workings of the SAF. Well, that doesn’t really matter to me. I’m more interested in learning about the JAM.”
“I see. And what do you make of all this?”
“Are you asking me about what Colonel Rombert’s doing now?” Lieutenant Katsuragi asked. “Or what we should do about it?”
“What he’s doing is spring cleaning in the FAF,” replied General Linneberg, interrupting the lieutenant without any sign that he’d lost his temper. “A simultaneous change in management, so to speak. The colonel is attempting a type of mutiny, aiming to put himself in the boss’s seat. However, I don’t think his subordinates are aware that they’re part of a coordinated revolt. The colonel has them believing that these are strictly individual cases. In other words, I expect he’s talked them into doing it by telling them something like ‘Your superiors are behaving in an illegal manner, so can you help out the Intelligence Forces by acting as their official stand-ins when we bust them?’ Later on, once the people he’s convinced to do this realize it’s a coup, they’ll probably see that they can’t oppose Colonel Rombert... and really wouldn’t need to. Normally, such a plan would have little chance for success. But when you add in the power of the JAM to the internal organizational abilities of the Intelligence Forces, it might just work. He’s using the JAM to pull the trigger. We’ll wait and see just how brilliant the colonel is and just how well he can use the power of the JAM.”
“And you really think you can pull a turnabout on this colonel?” said Major Booker. “He might turn the situation right back around on you. This is a terribly dangerous gamble you’re taking.”
“Two turnabouts bring you right back where you started,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi. “That’s easy for the Intelligence Forces to pull off if they’re prepared for it.”
“I like you,” said General Linneberg to Katsuragi. “Lieutenant, would you consider coming back to the Intelligence Forces? You won’t regret it. That goes for you and the SAF. How about it, General Cooley?”
“If the JAM abandon Colonel Rombert and he fails, you try again with Lieutenant Katsuragi, is that it?” said Major Booker. “Be prepared, as they say.”
“Lieutenant Katsuragi isn’t a genius like the colonel,” said Captain Foss, “but it’s possible the JAM would be sufficiently interested in him to contact him again.”
“If you give this young man to us,” General Linnneberg said to General Cooley, “then the Intelligence Forces are prepared to support the SAF. What do you say, General?”
“I won’t make any deals with you.”
“General, it’s not a bad proposal,” said Captain Pivot. “We’re at a disadvantage on our own.”
“I said no deals,” replied General Cooley. “At this stage, there’s no way I can trust someone who’s getting a kick from making leisurely deals with people on his own side. General Linneberg, your proposal is tantamount to a threat to seize something of ours by force. If that’s your true nature, then I’ve misjudged you.”
“Hmm... It seems I could have put that better. I apologize if that came off as a threat. General, what if I ask you again? Talented people like the lieutenant here are precious commodities. Please try to understand.”
“Lieutenant Katsuragi.”
“Yes, General Cooley.”
“You may return to the Intelligence Forces.”
“Thank you, General.”
“Hold it,” said Major Booker. “If you give him Lieutenant Katsuragi now, Yukikaze won’t have a flight officer.”
“This is no time to be worrying about that,” said General Cooley. “I want to leave someone behind to carry on our memory in case the SAF is wiped out. He’s the right man for the job.”
“I see how resolved you are. Since you made no deal, you shouldn’t expect any payback from me, General.”
“Of course. I’ve already gotten the information I wanted from you. I appreciate your cooperation, General Linneberg.”
“I see... this is why Colonel Rombert told me not to ignore you. Your existence may be humanity’s last hope.”
“Don’t overestimate us.”
“It’s the same assessment I have of Colonel Rombert.”
“However you assess us, I appreciate your understanding. You’re the real hope for humanity, surely. The only thing humanity will find in pinning its hope on a megalomaniac is disillusionment and destruction. Good luck to you, General.”
“Can’t resist a parting shot, can you? Are we even now?” Linneberg said.
“There’s a chance that you may not get the outcome you hope for,” Major Booker said to General Linneberg. “You’re being too naive about your JAM and Colonel Rombert. The Intelligence Forces should be looking for help from us, not the other way around.”
“You have good people serving under you, General Cooley.”
“Major Booker isn’t being ironic, General,” she replied.
“Exactly,” said Captain Foss. “You and the Intelligence Forces act on empty theory. More than that, it’s obsolete. You don’t appreciate the true threat of the JAM. You can’t see the situation the FAF is facing now.”
Major Booker laughed. Even General Cooley managed a smile.
“Did I just say something wrong?”
“Edith, you really are one of us now,” said Major Booker. “The white sock in the colored wash.”
“Really,” said General Cooley. “Humans are born of their environment. We adapt to all sorts of organizations and environments as we live. From that, we obtain the maximum benefit to ourselves as we struggle to survive. If you take one single human, no matter how minutely you examine them, you can’t understand humanity. The JAM have a tough road ahead of them.”
“The JAM realize that,” said Major Booker. “To understand the SAF, they have to change our environment and make us act. There is no human existence without an environment. However, the true nature of the SAF transcends its own group dynamic, General Linneberg. The problem the JAM have with us isn’t just directed at humanity. Either the Intelligence Forces have overlooked it or just can’t deal with it.”
“I’ll hear you out. What is it that my forces are missing?”
“A wariness toward the consciousness of your combat machine intelligences, of the expectations of your computers. It’s easier for the JAM to communicate with our computers than with humans. It’d be easier for them to hijack our information systems than to manipulate Colonel Rombert. But the JAM aren’t interested in taking over the FAF at the moment. Colonel Rombert knows this. The colonel probably made a deal with them for an exchange of information, on the condition that he take over the FAF.”
“Perhaps,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi, “he used the Intelligence Forces’ computers to successfully deal with the JAM. He may not trust computers, but it’s not like he doesn’t use them at all. On the contrary, the man’s a computer genius.”
“The colonel used himself in place of the Intelligence Forces’ central computer. It may have gotten started with a computer message from the JAM, but he probably didn’t need the computers. I can expect the JAM to select a human like that to make contact with,” Booker said.
“I suppose the colonel’s brain has a more complex neural network than you’d find in an average person,” said Captain Foss. “And if the JAM really did thrust themselves into Captain Fukai’s and Yukikaze’s consciousnesses during their mission, then I wouldn’t be surprised if Colonel Rombert was able to hear the JAM’s voice directly. It’s possible.”
“Just like we can’t peek inside of Colonel Rombert’s head,” Major Booker continued, “the FAF computers are fighting the JAM in places that we can’t perceive. General Linneberg, do you see what we’re getting at?”
“Has the SAF proved any of this to be fact and not simply idle speculation?”
“We have. The FAF’s computers are networked into a single consciousness to fight the JAM. Just as with the humans, there exists a hierarchy of levels and ranks between the computers in each corps. Because they’re military. It reduces efficiency otherwise. It was humans who designed them that way. It was only natural that they’d come to reflect a human environment. The JAM understand that. However, the SAF’s computers are the only ones that don’t fit in. The information Yukikaze just brought back from the JAM tells us much. The combat machine intelligences here are independent of the FAF’s computers, and they possess a unique combat awareness. Captain Pivot.”
“Yes, Major.”
