kscans

Chapter 246 - The Smart Idiot

Sunday. I was watching TV absentmindedly while eating the lunch Saku-chan had prepared for me. Saku-chan had been out since the morning. Hikaru-kun had called for her.

‘Um, Satou-san. I know my power isn’t something to be spread around, but...’

‘You want to tell Rika-chan and the others?’

‘...Yes. Would that be alright?’

‘Something like that is fine.’

‘Thank you so much!!’

That conversation took place after we ate ramen. So today was the day of the confession. A few days had passed since the night he learned the truth, but given the topic, I think choosing a relaxed holiday was a good idea. They were probably all gathered at Rika-chan’s house right now.

"Ah, the bloom of youth."

I slurped my yakisoba. You might wonder why Saku-chan, a skilled cook, would prepare leftover yakisoba. This was my preference. Freshly made yakisoba is delicious, of course, but I also like it cold. The limp cabbage, the hardened meat, and the springy noodles that have soaked up the moisture from the ingredients and absorbed even more flavor are the best. I don’t heat it up. It’s the taste of my mom’s cooking from when I was a kid. It reminds me of the meals she used to make and leave for me when she went out.

"I want a taste of youth, too..."

Maybe I should head to Ura-Akiba and buy a full-dive game console and some school-themed gal-games and eroge. Just as I was thinking that, my phone rang. Since I was in the middle of eating, I used my psychokinesis to check it.

It’s Honda.

It was from a technician affiliated with the Mutual Aid Society with whom I was reasonably friendly. His character was a cut or two above Kawasaki’s, and his talent a cut or two below, but the fact that he was a guy made a world of difference.

"A request to be a tester, huh."

I had no particular plans, so I sent back an "OK" sticker.

"Alright, now that’s settled, I’d better eat up."

I quickly finished the yakisoba, had a quick smoke, and teleported to the lab. There must have been a change in personnel. They were startled by my sudden appearance, so I apologized and headed to the director’s office.

"Yo."

"Is that the voice of my friend, Satou-shi!?"

"Don’t say it like you’re Li Zhengzi."

Besides, I’m showing my face, not just my voice. This is a fine middle-aged body, not a tiger.

Is he trying to establish a character?

Messy hair, glasses, a worn-out lab coat. I always think he has the stereotypical look down.

"Hahaha, my apologies. I’ve recently gotten into ‘The Moon Over the Mountain.’"

"‘The Moon Over the Mountain’... man, that’s nostalgic. My friends and I used to joke about it all the time in elementary school."

"Hahaha."

With a sigh, I sat down on the sofa, and Honda served me coffee. The coffee this guy makes is surprisingly good. It’s one of my secret pleasures when visiting Honda’s lab.

"So, you want me to be a tester."

"Indeed. The higher-ups actually requested something for the rookie kids."

"...I’m a thirty-five-year-old man, you know?"

"Well, please hear me out."

He said that, so I decided to listen.

"It goes without saying at this point, but the Supernatural World is filled with all sorts of dangers."

"True."

"Among them, the Mutual Aid Society is particularly concerned about malicious humans."

"Ah."

Humans can approach you with malice hidden behind a smile. There are non-humans like that too, of course. Demons, for example. But in terms of how easy they are to deal with, non-humans are easier than people. For example, against a demon, you can wear a rosary or an item imbued with holy power. You can take countermeasures based on a non-human’s species, but against a human, your only option is to see through their true nature.

"So, I was tasked with creating a database and an app that allows users to view information on persons of interest."

"...Oh yeah, we never had anything like that before."

"You can view the documents if you ask for them."

"The powerful don’t care about malicious humans, and those who do care have more important things to worry about."

People have a limited capacity. Trying to cram everything in is counterproductive.

"There was a proposal to include it in the curriculum, but as you said, its priority for those who need it would be low."

"So you’re creating a system to easily check information."

"Indeed. I imagine the establishment of the educational institution was the catalyst."

You might think this is a job for an SE or a programmer, but not entirely. While those skills are necessary, this is something for use in the Supernatural World. Occult security is needed to prevent data leaks, so it’s right for someone like Honda to be involved. However.

""That would be boring.""

Our voices overlapped.

"Right?"

"As expected of my friend Satou-shi. Precisely. Honestly, something of that level doesn’t spark my motivation."

Honda’s way is to satisfy his own desires while meeting the client’s demands.

"The request from above can only deal with individuals who are already known."

It wouldn’t cover anyone who wasn’t already a known name. That wouldn’t be very useful, Honda said with a shrug. That’s true, but within the realm of what’s feasible, making existing data easier to view is about the only option.

But Honda was not satisfied with that.

"Some kind of analysis tool that can rip information out of even a first-time opponent?"

"Correct."

"But realistically, how do you plan to analyze someone you’ve never seen before?"

On an individual level, there are people who can strip a new opponent bare down to the number of hairs on their butt. But that depends on individual skill and is difficult to reproduce with a universal technology.

"I will use the collective unconscious."

"...You mean you’re going to use the collective unconscious as a database for queries?"

If so, it would be possible to extract personal information even from a first-time opponent. After all, all of humanity is connected to it. But.

"That’s going too far."

Just accessing it would be extremely difficult.

"Are you the one saying that? The very idea was sparked by the All Satou Resolution you used on the villainess."

"What, that silly prank?"

According to him, a significant amount of resources had already been allocated to research on accessing the collective unconscious.

"Including the will that desired ruin which you subjugated last spring, there have been a fair number of examples of enemies extracted from the collective unconscious."

Now that he mentioned it, that’s true. I’ve crushed every enemy of that type, but just thinking ‘if anything happens, we can just throw it at Satou’ shows a severe lack of a sense of crisis.

"Although some of the higher-ups did indeed have that perception and were reluctant to approve the budget."

"How did you get the budget approved?"

"The Chairman forced it through. He argued that even if it ends up being pushed onto you, there’s a difference in perception between doing nothing and at least trying, right?"

"Well, yeah."

The existence of the Mutual Aid Society in my mind would undoubtedly become less significant.

"Let’s get back on topic. Research had progressed to the point where access itself was possible. Well, it was really just accessing it, we couldn’t do anything with it. But then came your All Satou Resolution. Seeing that was a shock... not because of the vileness of the act, but because of the technology."

Was that clarification necessary?

"A perfect copy is impossible. But I figured that a small part of the technology used could be reproduced, albeit with a significant drop in quality, so I began my research."

He’s really working hard.

"And with the cooperation of Yanagi Seiichi, we recently reached a point where it’s somewhat practical."

"Yanagi?"

The artificial gods were beings that also utilized the collective unconscious. So naturally, Yanagi would possess that kind of technology. Onisaki was also one of the creators, but he himself isn’t the technical type. The technical aspects were handled by his subordinates, while he likely provided support using his luck.

"He was willing to cooperate?"

There’s no harm in putting the Mutual Aid Society in his debt. However, it’s a technology that, if misused, could create something as troublesome as an artificial god. For Yanagi, who recognizes his past actions as a mistake, that was a bold choice.

"Of course, the Mutual Aid Society also accepted a constraint. If we misuse it, we’re headed straight for ruin."

"They’d naturally take out that insurance. I just didn’t think he would accept it, even if the offer came from the Mutual Aid Society."

I would think he’d be hesitant even if the Mutual Aid Society presented the risk of a ruin-level penalty.

"That’s where Satou-shi’s existence comes in. He probably calculated that if something were to happen, you would be moved to completely eradicate the technology."

"That Yanagi..."

Well, he’s not wrong. Ah. If the technology used to create the artificial gods was provided and then misused, I would definitely take action. Still, I don’t know...

"So, we had the technology, but its application was still undecided."

"...And you shoehorned it into this job because you wanted to use it as soon as possible."

"Indeed."

Not "indeed." That’s completely for your own selfish reasons.

"Is it not a good thing when my desires make someone other than myself happy?"

"It’s not bad, but..."

Grumbling, I urged him to continue.

"The specification is this. You point the camera of a gadget equipped with an AI modeled on a spirit-division provided by Omoikane-no-kami at a target for analysis. Using the information obtained, such as appearance and soul wavelength, it queries the collective unconscious. Only if the target is determined to be a threat is information extracted."

However, even when it extracts information, it’s not that detailed, apparently.

"Name, the reason it’s judged a threat. If it’s committing evil acts, its tendencies. And a simple combat style, at most."

The higher the precision of the information, the more difficult the extraction. Conversely, by narrowing the target or limiting the information, the hurdle is lowered. So for a device to be distributed to children, that’s about the limit in terms of cost.

"If we limited it to only malicious individuals, we could increase the density of the information a bit, but..."

"Well, there are dangerous people who cause trouble without any malice."

Like Kawasaki.

"Indeed. If the goal is to keep children away from danger, it would be better to broaden the scope a little."

"Agreed."

"So, to explain the request again. I would like to ask my friend, Satou-shi, to conduct a field test of the prototype and help accumulate data."

"Alright."

The former anyone could do, but the latter couldn’t be entrusted to just anyone. After all, you have to snap pictures of people who are deemed threats. It’s too dangerous. In that respect, I can handle most villains on my own, so I’m the perfect tester.

"Thank you. Then, here you go."

"!"

"Y, you..."

A gadget shaped like a red notebook was placed on the table. For someone who doesn’t know, it’s nothing special, but for someone who does, it’s...

"The Iromon Dex."

"You’re an idiot."