"Yes…" my brother's hologram said, sitting across from me, legs crossed. "…I will remain calm, Aldoux, don't worry. We'll talk calmly. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?"
I had my hands proudly clasped behind my back. While the robots once again furiously worked at the computer, I puffed out my chest and spoke.
"I am simply doing my job, esteemed Lucius."
My brother ran his hand along his forearm. A metal panel on his arm opened, and he pressed some buttons inside. "It's impossible not to get angry while talking to you. I'm switching off my emotions, if you'll permit me. For the first time, I will be speaking to you not as your brother, but as an official Resource Investigator."
I didn't know the meaning of my brother's words. No... I knew what it meant to switch off emotions, of course. Most of the cybernetic women I was with for money had opened their emotion-sensing receptors right in front of my eyes. It was a common feature in most cybernetics, especially the rich ones: the ability to control emotions.
What I was truly wondering was this: What did it mean to speak as an officer? Was I in trouble, or was something better happening right now?
"Of course, an official conversation will be better," I said, quite confidently. At that moment, the anger lines on my brother's brow vanished. As all facial expressions disappeared, only a flat face and a moving mouth remained.
"Aldoux Weisshafen, just so you know, I am recording this entire conversation, including visuals, on behalf of the Galactic Environmental Protection & Resource Management Agency. This conversation will be shared on open channels later. What was your goal in officially documenting your test subjects who are unapproved by the Bioethics Oversight Agency?"
I hadn't expected any of this to be on record. This was a first for me. It meant that what I had done had attracted the institution's attention, and I now had to officially defend myself. I must have screwed up something beyond even my brother's authority. "Damn it! I'm really in deep now!" I thought to myself, but I didn't make the smallest facial expression. "I wish I were a cybernetic. The conversation would be easier then."
"First of all, I want to tell you this: the Bioethics Oversight Agency is not in its former glory days. I am an officer familiar with the Bioethics Code. I don't believe I have any subjects that violate the Bioethics Code."
"But procedures require that you contact the Bioethics Oversight Agency."
"I didn't see fit to call an institution with a low budget, widespread corruption, and officers probably located on the other side of the galaxy."
"And why is that?"
The reason was actually simple. Creating these four subjects would have cost an impossibly high amount under normal circumstances. I had them made cheaply on the black market, under the radar. Not only that... The Bioethics Oversight Agency would likely bother me hundreds of times to investigate why my creations were created. They would run psychological tests, biological tests, and view them not as individuals but as subjects. I... I wanted my subjects to live a normal life.
Ilya, Goma, Velsil, Alora... Each of them was like an individual. They didn't even think they were subjects. They bore no approval stamp, no brand name. They were my friends in this facility. No SWR institution would ever allow such a thing. According to the SWR, no subject could live like a human.
This wasn't racism. This was a precaution taken to protect humans. In many colonies, creatures close to human intelligence had been created, and they had brought about the end of those colonies. The SWR had brought an end to the colonies that wouldn't stop.
In this dead galaxy where there was no advanced alien race other than humans, the SWR didn't want to allow the existence of near-human intelligence. If such an intelligence did exist, it had to be a free agent. Even if it was a free agent, it had to be physically flawed. And if not even that, it had to have a boss, and that boss had to be constantly monitored.
But I couldn't say any of this. Telling them all this would be more than enough to get me fired by the SWR. In fact, my friends would probably be executed. "I wish Velsil hadn't answered that cursed hologram! I wish my friends had never been revealed!" I thought to myself.
"Actually, there are many reasons, dear Lucius Varden. First, I am extremely busy on this planet, and I don't want an institution constantly monitoring me. My work is overflowing. You can see this from the reports you receive. We are sending resources below expectations because we are encountering too many problems."
"But you aren't reporting the problems you're encountering…" Lucius interjected. "…in which case we must question your sincerity."
"Yes... Perhaps that was our problem. It's quite likely we overlooked it due to the workload, but what matters is the numbers, not the excuses, right? We are also aware of the figures that have fallen, especially in the last few months. But my team and I would like to tell you about the future developments."
"Your team?"
I thought, "I hope you prepared well, Ilya," and motioned for her to step forward. She came next to me in a Resource Investigator uniform, holding her glasses, and gave a graceful curtsy.
"This is Ilya. She is our team's analytical thinking specialist. Let her introduce herself to you."
"Hello," Ilya said in a confident tone. If only you knew how many times this confident tone had fooled me. "...I am Ilya. I am the member of this team responsible for analysis. Yes... Perhaps we lack official status, but working under the leadership of Master Aldoux Weisshafen is an honor for me."
"Your working for this team despite lacking official status..."
I noticed Lucius was about to say something negative and quickly cut in: "Please, give her a chance," I said.
As Ilya continued speaking, she transmitted a chip's data to the hologram communication device. "I should have sent you the data I have. First, I have to tell you this." Images were forming one after another in front of us, but it was hardly possible for me to understand anything from that data. I wasn't a data guy. I was someone who could only infer meaning from simple sentences. "We know that our facility has been operating at 60% efficiency recently. The collected resources are well below expectations. However, we can explain the necessary reasons for this as follows." As Ilya spoke, a visual hologram about the topic she was discussing appeared around the edges of the main screen.
"First, as an institution, we decided that the geography of this planet, s-MP023, needs protection compared to the planets of other resource gatherers. The decision not to destroy the nature greatly hinders our work.
The first reason for this is that the robots sent cannot work without damaging the nature. Since we are faithful to our institution's environmental protection principle, we cannot overlook the robots working on their own initiative. We have to constantly monitor them, and because of this, we are losing time."
"The robots you were provided have a very high learning curve."
"The learning curve may be high, but the nature of this planet is too chaotic to be understood by any algorithm," Ilya said. At that moment, photos of the planet's striking nature were displayed. "We know that the forests and plants of this planet contain special trees that could be used in future research. Therefore, we are trying to teach the robots not to harm the nature, but it is impossible to make any progress without harming the nature. That's why initiatives need to be taken. And we are present when these initiatives are taken."
"The excavation site has already been established... It's no longer very possible for nature to cause you problems."
"Yes... The excavation site has been established, but the establishment of the excavation site created new problems rather than solving ours." Ilya lightly tapped the data device in her hand and transmitted a new series of hologram images. The images showed landslides around the excavation site and moments when robots were stuck in the complex terrain. When were these taken? Had such things happened? No! Ilya must have taken all of these while I was away. Ilya seemed to have meticulously prepared fake documents. Because I had not seen any trace of a landslide on this planet.
"As you can see," Ilya continued, her voice in a cool and professional tone, "even though the area looks stable, the planet's geological structure is extremely unstable. Standard excavation protocols do not work under these conditions. Every new excavation carries the risk of a new landslide or tunnel collapse. Our robots' algorithms are not updated fast enough to anticipate and prevent such dynamic hazards. This forces us to conduct countless manual controls before and after every excavation. This is one of the sources of our time loss."
Ilya moved to the next slide. This time, the image was a map taken from a satellite in the planet's orbit, with specific regions marked in red. I was unaware that a satellite was even observing this planet.
"Furthermore," she added, "the boundaries of your institution's 'Protected Zone' have been renewed twice in the last six months as a result of our research. These revisions included two areas previously allowed for excavation into the protection zone. We had to stop work in these areas and move to new regions. Preparing the new regions, recalibrating the robots, and redoing the environmental impact assessments... This entire process is another major factor in our drop in efficiency."
"Yes... The excavation site changed three times, but the calibrations shouldn't have caused problems."
"That would be possible if the robots hadn't changed while the excavation site changed three times. As you know, Master Lucius, the worker robots on this planet have been replaced six times."
Could Ilya really lie this professionally? This woman was someone to be feared. I didn't even know the location of the excavation site had changed. Wait a second... The excavation site hadn't changed at all... Ilya had probably manipulated the map images. But it shouldn't be possible to change past data this easily.
God dammit! Of course, she could change it, because we hadn't sent any map images before... Ilya had probably created the data from scratch. But wouldn't it be revealed that this data was faulty? Couldn't an advanced computer figure it out?
"The robots were sent at your request. Also, setting up the excavation site in the wrong place is not our institution's problem."
"No, sir... It is the planet's problem," Ilya said confidently.
"If you had analyzed the region before starting the excavation, it would have been possible to move the excavation site before establishing it."
"Avoiding the expense of the robots required to analyze such a distorted planet seemed like a better option."
"In such a situation, you were required to contact the institution. The institution determines the expenses and options," Lucius added.
Ilya didn't hesitate at Lucius's harsh retort. A slight, calculated smile appeared on her face. It was the expression of a chess master making a skillful move in a dangerous game.
"Contacting the institution was certainly our first option, Esteemed Investigator," she began, her voice soft but emphasized. "However, what was at stake was the continuously changing geological structure of the planet. The moment we sent a report that a region was unstable, within a week we would detect a new crack or slide in the same region. In short, our geological analysis had to change before the reports even reached the institution. Saying, 'Our previous analysis was wrong, and we need new resources and time,' wouldn't that shake the institution's confidence in us? As you know, Aldoux Weisshafen's facility cannot afford to lose trust."
She paused slightly, as if waiting for Lucius to fully absorb this idea. Then she continued:
"We chose to use our operational flexibility here to solve the problems at their root and return to the institution with a final, stable efficiency, rather than constantly engaging the institution with 'crisis management' reporting. Yes, the numbers look low in the short term. However, all these 'behind-the-scenes' efforts are laying the foundation for an infrastructure that will increase efficiency in the next quarter. If the institution punishes this initiative and dedication of ours, then it will have lost not only us but also the high efficiency promised for the future."
As Ilya finished her words, she looked directly at Lucius. Everything she said was part of a gamble: Which was more likely, the institution punishing low efficiency, or ignoring the promise of high future efficiency? Her claim leaned toward the latter. This was not just a defense but also a threat, even a bargain.
"The excavation site is established now, is it? According to your reports, quite some time has passed since the excavation site was established... These geographical conditions shouldn't be the only reason for the 60% efficiency, right?"
"Of course, there were different reasons too," Ilya said. "First, we came across many fossils during the excavation." Fossil photos appeared one after another on the screen. "Each of them had to be meticulously extracted and analyzed. In fact, as you know, the last fossil we found was specifically requested by The Inheritors. Isn't this a source of pride for us and our institution? Especially for Aldoux Weisshafen..."
"Where are the other fossils then? Where are their analysis results?"
"The other fossils..." Ilya did not show the slightest sign of panic upon hearing Lucius's question. On the contrary, she adopted a respectful demeanor by bowing her head slightly, but her mind was evaluating thousands of possibilities per second. "...they have, of course, been placed under the most rigorous protection, and our analyses are ongoing."
She tapped the hologram device again. Carefully organized laboratory records and semi-completed spectrographic analyses appeared on the screen. The images were so professionally prepared that it was almost impossible to tell they weren't real.
"However," Ilya continued, a slight tone of caution in her voice, "the real problem here is that the findings exhibit an unexpected biological complexity. Standard carbon dating methods proved insufficient against the organic residues in these fossils. We were forced to apply more advanced neutrino decay monitoring protocols. These protocols are both time-consuming and – I must admit – unexpectedly resource-intensive."
"This delay and extra cost," Ilya emphasized, "is actually the harbinger of a great opportunity for your institution. Because these fossils could lead us to propose an entirely new model for the evolutionary history of life on this planet. We anticipate that this model will enable the discovery of brand-new, efficient regions in the galactic bio-resource mapping. Part of our short-term drop in efficiency stems from this strategic investment for the future. The institution's long-term interests require them to overlook our temporary difficulties."
"When will the estimated reports for the fossils arrive?" Lucius asked.
"We currently have a total of 5 fossils. Most of these fossils were in fragments, and we painstakingly worked to extract them. We don't know if the fossils are actually useful, but if our computers work properly, we plan to send them within one planetary year."
At that moment, I understood Ilya's game. She was taking a big risk to create an excuse. A year was quite a long time. It was quite possible for us to find five fossils during that period. Especially if we tried to search for fossils, we could find them. The fossils didn't need to be useful. We could manage the situation with a few fabricated documents stating that finding them took a long time.
"As an institution, we are obligated to request a document confirming the fossils are being examined, but there is no data flow visible on the network regarding the fossils."
"Esteemed Investigator," Ilya interjected, a slight tone of worry and urgency in her voice—this performance was more convincing. "The situation is actually much more serious than a simple communication error. I must be completely frank with you."
She tapped the hologram device, and a map showing the space traffic in the planet's orbit appeared. Several points were flashing red.
"The last fossil we examined, which was taken by The Inheritors, was quite valuable. A fossil worth approximately 48 million SWR credits... After the pirates realized the value of this fossil, we feared they might come after the data of the other fossils too, so we decided to disconnect the computers from the network. As a precaution... We are already quite far from the Republic Network, and due to this distance, it is highly possible for signals to be manipulated by malicious pirates. If the last fossil we found had not been so valuable, we might have shared the data with you, ignoring the risk of data theft, but... These fossil analyses are not only scientific but also strategically critical for future resource rights. If our raw data or preliminary findings fall into the hands of these pirates, the institution's commercial and scientific interests could be severely harmed. For this reason, we decided to act under Security Protocol 7B."
I was unaware that a "Security Protocol 7B" even existed. I had no idea what Ilya had been talking about for the last few hours.
Lucius's eyebrows seemed to rise slightly, even though his emotions were switched off. This protocol stipulated that, in extraordinary circumstances, sensitive data must be completely isolated from communication networks and stored physically on secure local servers.
"All fossil analysis data sets," Ilya explained, "have been temporarily moved to an isolated server farm, independent of the main network. This is a temporary measure taken for data security. Continuing the data flow over normal channels would be like inviting uninvited guests directly into our treasury. We made this decision after consulting with our master, Aldoux Weisshafen. Our not notifying you until now, so as not to compromise our overall security posture, was also a requirement of this protocol."
Ilya stepped closer to Lucius, her gaze sharpening:
"Therefore, the analyses not appearing on the central system is not a mistake but a deliberate security measure. I promise you, as soon as the analyses are finished or a secure data transfer path is established, we will share all the findings immediately. In the meantime, we can send you the status reports from our security team. We hope for your understanding, Investigator. Protecting the interests of the institution is much more important than short-term reports, isn't it?"
"Absolutely."
"Absolutely."
"Finally, we would like to tell you this: we have implemented a series of simple but effective changes to increase resource collection efficiency. First, we restructured the robot teams."
Ilya showed a clear organizational chart on the hologram screen.
"Change one: Task-Based Teams. We have now divided the robots into specialized small teams instead of general-purpose teams doing overall excavation. For example, the 'Surface Cleaning Team' prepares the area before excavation, the 'Main Excavation Team' focuses on efficient layers, and the 'Transport and Loading Team' ensures the process is uninterrupted. This increased overall efficiency by 10% by allowing each robot to specialize in fewer tasks."
"Step two: Route Optimization. We reorganized the routes of the robots between the excavation site and the storage area. Additionally, we designated path-creating, digging robots to increase potential efficiency. We ensured the creation of shorter and repeatable routes. This simple change prevented a robot from wasting an average of 1.2 kilometers daily and shortened transport times by 15%."
"Third and final change: Simple Maintenance Planning. We reprogrammed the maintenance periods of the robots based on their working hours and wear-and-tear data. Now, every robot knows when its next maintenance will be, and this reduced unplanned malfunctions by 30%. The total time spent on maintenance, because it's better planned, dropped from an average of 5 hours per week to 3 hours."
Ilya pointed to the improvements in the graphs.
"Esteemed Investigator, all these changes are not complex or revolutionary. We simply organized the existing operation more intelligently. These simple optimizations guarantee that efficiency will stably exceed 120% in the next quarter. All process documentation is ready and available for your inspection."
"All these things you said are actually simple changes. Looking at the data, it's certain they are effective changes."
I cleared my throat and cut in, "Absolutely!" I had to take some of the load off Ilya. It was my turn to speak. "The facility is currently operating at 210% efficiency. This efficiency will drop in the future, but my team and I are producing very rigorous work to prevent it from dropping." I pointed to Ilya. "Ilya is a very important assistant to me. She will enable us to reach this efficiency. Later on, she will make plans to further increase this efficiency."
"Then I wish we had hired Ilya instead of you," Lucius said.
I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious because his emotions were switched off. But I gave a small chuckle as if he were joking. At that moment, Ilya intervened.
"I cannot do anything without the orders of Master Aldoux," she said.
"I understand..." Lucius said with a flat voice. "...Where are the other members of the team?"
At that moment, I extended my hand inward, and Alora, Goma, and Velsil all entered the room in official uniforms. First, I introduced Alora. Alora gave a polite curtsy.
"Alora, she is our team's psychological counselor."
"What does that mean?" Lucius asked.
"First of all, you know that the robots you sent have a high degree of artificial intelligence. They have a thinking style that could almost be called human. Alora herself is an expert in both religions and religious history and analyzes human evolution psychology very well," I said.
"I, Esteemed Investigator Lucius, analyze the robots' thoughts. I try to prevent any decrease in cognitive efficiency in advance. I also analyze the psychological dynamics of this team and work to increase the team's continuity."
"What about the blue one? Is his name Velsil?" Lucius asked.
Velsil stepped forward and bowed like an Asian lady, because he couldn't manage a nobleman's curtsy. "Velsil is our utility member. He helps Alora, Ilya, and even Goma."
"Is that all?" When Lucius asked this, I could see Velsil trembling with excitement, and Ilya intervened, saying:
"Investigator Lucius, you know the importance of a utility worker best. He does everything he can to provide the necessary support to the entire team." At that moment, visuals of Velsil doing different jobs began to appear on the hologram. In one, he was welding—it was impossible for someone as clumsy as Velsil to manage welding. In one photo, he was cleaning... In another, he was mapping from the computer, and many other things... "He performs every job dutifully, and he personally helped me create these reports."
"And Goma?" As soon as Lucius asked, Goma blurted out.
"I climb!" he yelled excitedly.
This was the point where the chess game was closest to breaking... Goma had once again jumped in without using his intelligence, and this had made even me uneasy. We had come all the way here; we couldn't afford to ruin everything now.
"What does that mean? Explain," Lucius demanded.
"He..." Ilya began. "...If you recall, we mentioned how unstable the geography of this planet is. When we need to do reconnaissance on the planet, the robots are usually physically quite inadequate." At that moment, photos of Goma climbing a mountain appeared. These were photos from the journey we took to retrieve Alora. In fact, all the places we passed through during our walk were mapped. So, Ilya was busy with these things while we were walking. "He is incredibly flexible and strong."
"Yes! I'm strong!" Goma said.
"That's why," Ilya continued, without a hint of hesitation in her voice, "...we use Goma to minimize exploration costs. We have trained him to conduct advance reconnaissance in steep terrains where robots cannot enter, especially in our excavation site expansion projects. He can carry sensor packages equivalent to those of a robot, and with Velsil's help, we process the raw data he collects into usable maps for us." Other maps appeared at that moment. "This method saves us the maintenance cost and energy consumption of an average of 3 exploration robots per month. Furthermore, thanks to Goma's physical agility, we can collect data from narrow passages and sensitive ecological zones that robots cannot access, without causing destruction. This is further proof of our commitment to the Institution's environmental protection protocols."
Ilya turned to Goma as she finished her words. "Goma, could you tell Investigator about the samples you collected on your last reconnaissance trip that allowed us to discover a new mineral deposit in the southwest of our excavation site?"
Goma's eyes sparkled. "Yes! There were bright, heavy rocks there! Ilya called them 'rare earth elements'!" he burst out excitedly. Although this seemed like a prepared scenario, Goma's sincere excitement and Ilya's presentation of "concrete" evidence seemed to have somewhat placated Lucius's questioning gaze. Ilya masterfully integrated even Goma's simple nature into the team's overall narrative of efficiency and harmony.
"What you've described was quite illuminating," Lucius finally said, leaning back in his chair. "The Institution has heard you."
"..." Everyone waited for the answer that would come from Lucius.
"Helmar Voss's robot assistant has approved this team. Now, Alora, Goma, Velsil, and especially Ilya, you are official members of this team. Your officer numbers and IDs will be issued shortly. We want you to know that you have been accepted due to the promising nature of your future plans, based on the evaluation from Voss's assistant robot. You should know that Aldoux Weisshafen's own lack of success was also a factor in your acceptance."
I was a failure, but they couldn't fire me due to family connections. For now, anyway... So, it seemed they would accept this team to make me useful.
"Thank you," Ilya said.
"Finally, we would like to add this: you are now officially SWR citizens. As for the Bioethics Oversight matter. No subject can exist without Bioethics Oversight approval."
"But..." I was about to interrupt when Lucius cut me off.
"The planet you are currently on is outside the Republic Network. In short, you are not considered to be inside the Republic. If you do not want to clash with Bioethics Oversight, these individuals must be classified as Enchanced before entering the Republic Network. If you are classified as Enchanced, you move away from the biological being status and can work for the institution without bioethical oversight."
"Of course, sir," Ilya said.
"If you have nothing further to add, I wish you good work," Lucius said. No one made a sound. Then, the image suddenly cut off.
Everyone took a deep breath. Velsil dropped to the floor and cried out, "Damn it! That man was worse than The Custodians!"
"But we got away with it, didn't we?" Goma said. "My climbing was very useful."
"Tell me about it," Alora said, rolling her eyes. "But I looked like I was completely useless. I wish I had a cooler job."
While Goma, Alora, and Velsil talked among themselves, my eyes met Ilya's. The fact that Ilya was intently focused on me from behind her glasses caught my attention.
"Ilya... I told you you were perfect, didn't I?"
"Would you believe it?" Ilya said. "Even I didn't think it would work." Then she walked a few steps towards me and embraced me with her wings. "Don't believe how calm I looked... I'm so excited, can you believe it?" she said, taking my hand and placing it on her chest. Her chest was truly pounding as if it would burst from its place.
"Yes..." I swallowed. My heart was probably pounding wildly too, but touching Ilya's breasts had relaxed me a little.
"Your hands are very sweaty too..." Ilya said and giggled.
At that moment, Alora yelled from behind. "Hey! Take the pervert away and get your cheap intimacy somewhere else!"