Chapter 22: AI

On the train home, when I said, “Why don’t I make a different face?” Dad’s expression changed as though he clearly had a bad feeling about it.

“…… Yuu. When you say it that way, Dad gets really anxious.”

“I haven’t even explained what I’m going to make yet.”

“That’s why I’m scared. In your case, by the time I hear the details, it’s probably already halfway done in your head.”

That’s quite the assessment, I thought.

Personally, I don’t think I’m thinking that far ahead. The problem I’m facing now is that I can’t reveal my face or age, but from now on, there will likely be more opportunities for YU to speak as himself in interviews and at events.

“In that case, I think I could prepare a different version of myself and show that as YU in the footage. If it moves the same way I do, and my voice changes when I speak, then I can speak as myself while hiding my true identity, right?”

“I understand that much. The real issue is what you mean by ‘prepare.’ An ordinary person would start by looking for ready-made products they could use, right?”

“All I need to do is transfer my movements onto another person’s form. I’ll convert my facial expressions, body movements, and even my voice all at once.”

Dad didn’t say anything for a while.

Sitting across from us, Mom looked at us and smiled a little.

“But I think something like that already exists now. I’ve seen videos where a drawn character actually moves as if they’re talking.”

“Yeah, a VTuber.”

Dad operated his smartphone, and after a short while, he showed me a video.

On screen, a two-dimensional character was speaking. When the streamer moved their mouth, the character moved its mouth, and when they tilted their face, it tilted the same way. It picked up blinks and changes in expression, and even the hair and costume swayed in sync with the movement.

“I see. So current technology has already come this far.”

“Then this should be fine. You can hide your face, your age, and even your voice. Speaking as Dad, I really hope you’ll be satisfied with something at this level.”

“That’s a good reference.”

When I answered that, Dad immediately narrowed his eyes.

“Wait. When you say ‘a good reference’ like that, there’s no way you’re going to use it as is, right?”

“I think it’d achieve the goal as is, but if I’m going to make one, I think it’s better if it moves a bit more naturally.”

“See, it’s started.”

I looked at the screen again.

Viewed from near the front, it looked quite natural, but when it turned far to the side, it left a flat impression. It couldn’t fully capture the fine movements of the hands and fingers, and the more the whole body moved, the less information it could pick up.

“When it turns sideways, it still feels flat, and the fingers aren’t fully captured yet. Also, when the whole body moves, the center of gravity shifts—”

“Yuu. Don’t look—don’t go looking for improvements. What Dad showed you was reference material that says, ‘There’s a way to do this,’ not a list of challenges for new technology development.”

“But if it can be improved, it’s better to do it, right?”

“That’s how you always do it. You find something convenient in the world and then start making something else entirely with ‘Let’s make it even better!'”

Across from me, Mom’s shoulders were shaking as she laughed.

I still didn’t quite understand why people were so wary of me.

◇

The next day, I listed the equipment I might need in a notebook.

If you only want to show a face, a single camera in front might be enough, but when you turn sideways or move your body widely, blind spots inevitably occur. It’s better to combine cameras that capture images from multiple directions, sensors that measure distance, and cameras that can pick up the fine details of your hands.

For audio, simply changing the tone of voice can be done with just one microphone. However, if you want to reflect even the timing of your breath and subtle movements of your mouth in the facial expressions, it also needs to be synchronized with the video side.

Mom peeked at my notebook and noticed the number of pieces of equipment listed.

“Are you buying something else? It says four cameras, just for the cameras alone.”

“If I only shoot from one direction, parts of my body will be hidden, so I want to minimize the blind spots as much as possible. And it’s easier to capture the movement of each finger if I film my hands separately.”

“Are fingers really that important?”

“I’m not going to show myself exactly as I am. If you put a five-year-old’s hand movements directly onto the hands of someone around twenty, the bone structure and finger lengths would be different, so it would look unnatural.”

After looking at my hand, Mom compared it to her own.

“I see. So it’s not just about making the footage look more grown-up by making the body movements bigger as they are, huh?”

“Right. What I want to capture isn’t my body itself, but how I move.”

Next to me, Dad was looking at the cost column before talking about any of the technology.

“…… The fact that we can pay this amount without any trouble is what’s annoying.”

“Why?”

“As a father, I don’t know how to take a five-year-old saying, ‘We need streaming equipment, so we’ll buy it with my game sales.'”

“I’m almost six years old.”

“Even if you get a year older, nothing’s solved, so stop acting like ‘It’s a necessary expense.'”

This time, I left the entire purchase process to Dad.

Even with money I’d earned myself, a five-year-old can’t order a large amount of equipment on his own.

◇

A week later, my room was packed with newly arrived cameras and sensors.

“…… The room, which wasn’t spacious to begin with, has become even smaller.”

Dad, who had helped with the installation, sighed as he gazed at the wiring extending all the way to the wall.

“It’s a children’s room, so it can’t be helped.”

“That’s right. Your room isn’t a secret lab, it’s actually a children’s room. Sometimes, just leave some toys lying on the floor.”

“If you mean a game console, we have one.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I stood on a marker placed on the floor and activated the system.

I overlaid the images and distance information obtained from multiple directions, and first picked up the body’s movements.

What’s important is not to stretch my five-year-old body into an adult body. I captured how my head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, waist, knees, and feet moved, and then matched them with the changes in my gaze, blinks, mouth, cheeks, and eyebrows.

Not only the simple joint angles, but also the speed of movement and shifts in the center of gravity were extracted and then readjusted onto another skeleton.

On the screen, a test humanoid that didn’t have an appearance yet stood up.

When I raised my right hand, the humanoid raised its arm almost simultaneously. When I tilted my head, it tilted the same way; when I took a few steps, it walked too.

However, a strange stiffness remained when I lowered my arm.

“This part is stopping a bit too abruptly. Let’s try changing the way it interpolates.”

I provided the acquired motion data and conditions to the development assistant AI I’d been using for a long time.

This guy has no personality. It’s just a tool that calculates within the range I specify, comes up with multiple candidates, verifies which method fits the conditions, and returns it.

‘We have generated three candidate motion interpolation options. The second option suppresses abrupt speed changes the most under current conditions.’

“Then let’s try the second one.”

‘Applying.’

When I repeated the same motion, lowering the arm had become much more natural. It seemed usable enough for the basics, so I moved on to building the appearance.

◇

Three days later, after dinner.

“It’s done now, so please take a look.”

When I called Dad and Mom into the living room, Dad made a displeased face the moment I spoke.

“What did you make?”

“YU’s face.”

“I knew that way of saying it was scary…… Can’t you say it a little more normally, like ‘The avatar’s ready’?”

I connected the laptop to the TV and started the system.

On the dark screen, a young man appeared.

His hair was a blue close to black, and his eyes were silver-gray. He was designed to appear to be around twenty years old and wore a jacket based on white and dark navy.

Since he’d be appearing on screen as a developer, I didn’t make him too flashy, but I made him distinctive enough that anyone who saw him once would recognize him as YU.

Mom stared at the screen for a while.

“Isn’t this a three-dimensional model?”

“It looks two-dimensional, though.”

“But it doesn’t look like an ordinary drawing.”

When I turned my face toward Mom, the young man on the screen also shifted his gaze the same way, raising his eyebrows slightly. When I tilted my head, his hair swayed slowly, and his chest rose and fell slightly with my breathing.

“…… It’s like he’s alive.”

“I’m the one moving him.”

When I raised my right hand and bent my fingers one by one, the young man on the screen moved his fingers in the same order.

When I turned my whole body to the side, the young man naturally showed his profile.

At that, Dad let out a voice.

“Wait. Is this guy going to turn sideways normally?”

“He’ll turn.”

“He’s two-dimensional, right?”

“In appearance, yes. But just because he’s a two-dimensional drawing doesn’t mean there can only be a few images from the front and diagonals.”

When I turned my body like that, the young man on the screen turned his back as well.

From any angle, he didn’t have the three-dimensional feel of a typical 3D model. He looked like an animation drawing naturally changing direction within three-dimensional space, just like in an anime.

Mom moved a little closer to the TV.

“How do you do it?”

“Not just the visible pictures, but also the information inside the shapes that’s needed when the angle changes to another—”

“Yuu. Please explain it so even Dad can understand.”

“No matter what angle you look at it from, it looks natural and still just like a drawing.”

“Please do that from the start.”

Mom still couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.

“It really looks like someone from an anime is standing there.”

“I’ve changed my voice too.”

I casually greeted the microphone.

“Good evening.”

The young man on the screen moved his mouth and replied in a much lower, calmer voice than mine.

‘Good evening.’

It wasn’t just that the pitch was lowered.

The timing of my breath, the speed of my speech, the length of my words—all of it was just as I did it, and even the intensity of my emotions was reflected in the voice.

Dad slowly held his head in his hands.

“What is it this time?”

“Is this really technology a game developer makes just to hide his face?”

“I think it fits the purpose, though.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about! This could turn industries like video production and streaming upside down!”

“I’ll think about that when I need to. I made it now so I can go outside as YU, so as long as it does that, that’s enough.”

“Your ‘enough’ usually stops being enough later on……”

After watching Dad laugh, Mom turned her gaze once more to the young man on the screen.

“I like it. Even though the face and voice are different, somehow he looks like Yuu.”

“I’m the one moving him, you know.”

“That’s not all I meant.”

Even when she told me that, I didn’t really understand.

His appearance, body, and voice were all different from mine. Even so, every word, movement, and decision this figure made was mine.

“What about the name?”

Dad asked, and I thought for a moment.

“I think YU is fine. This appearance itself was made so I could speak outside as YU.”

“So it’s just that, huh. Well, it’s easier to understand than giving it some random name.”

Dad looked at the screen again, then frowned as if he had imagined something unpleasant.

“…… When we release this, isn’t the avatar going to make more news than the game?”

In fact, it seemed possible, but it was pointless to worry about something that hadn’t even been revealed yet.

◇

I had my face ready for going outside.

The next thing I had to tackle was a more practical issue, one that directly affected Dad’s stomach.

When I checked the inbox, the number of unread emails had risen to 3,124.

It was impossible for a human to keep checking them one by one.

So, I decided to add a secretary function to the development assistant AI I had been using for a while.

What was needed wasn’t personality. It was enough for it to read the contents of emails, distinguish their types and importance, decide who should check them, and show humans only what was truly necessary.

However, just because it was convenient, I had no intention of letting it do anything outside on its own.

“It’s fine to categorize them, but you must never send replies on your own. Even if there’s a URL in an email, don’t open it automatically, and don’t run attachments. Don’t send my information to external parties either.”

‘Registered as restrictions.’

“Anything related to contracts or money always goes to Dad or Mom. Show me any technical inquiries, and classify interview requests according to the conditions I give you. If showing my face is required, lower the priority, and for now, put all TV appearances on hold.”

‘Conditions have been registered.’

“You don’t have to reply to normal user feedback. But I want to read it, so please don’t delete it or bury it in the back.”

‘Classifying it as no reply needed and keeping it for viewing.’

“Could you make feedback from children a little easier to find?”

‘Adding to priority display conditions.’

There was no need for emotions here, nor any need for it to make thoughtful decisions on its own. As long as it followed the conditions Dad and I set, didn’t do anything unnecessary, and carried them out accurately, that was enough.

After using it for a few days and adjusting the classification criteria, I was able to delegate things to a certain extent, and at breakfast, I handed the tablet to Dad.

“Dad. Today, there are only ten emails I really want you to check.”

Dad was openly wary, holding his bread.

“No. If it’s about emails, Dad doesn’t want to hear about them anymore today.”

“But really, there are only ten. The rest have already been sorted out.”

“…… What do you mean?”

On the tablet screen, the received emails were sorted by content.

Three urgent confirmations, seven recommended checks within the day. Below them were the numbers of emails categorized as interviews, company proposals, bug reports, user inquiries, impressions, no reply needed, and spam.

The fact that a huge number of emails had arrived hadn’t changed, but Dad no longer had to look through thousands of subject lines first thing in the morning.

“The only ones I want you to see right now are the ten at the top. The rest have already been sorted, and it hasn’t responded to anything on its own. Contractual matters always go to either you or Mom, and the ones I should check are separated out.”

Dad stared at the screen for a while, then stood up as if he’d made up his mind and grabbed both my shoulders.

“Yuu. Just for now, Dad seriously thinks you’re a genius.”

“Just for now?”

“That’s not what I meant. Thank you. Thank you so much. Lately, just opening my inbox has been making my stomach feel heavy.”

“If it had gotten that bad, you should’ve told me sooner. I would’ve made it.”

“In a normal family, nobody would even think, ‘I have a lot of emails, so I should have my son create an AI secretary!'”

Mom smiled and peered at the tablet.

“But with this, you probably won’t have to worry about missing important messages. And you won’t have to check hundreds of messages during your lunch break anymore, right?”

“It wasn’t just hundreds…… No, I won’t say it anymore. From today on, Dad will get back a proper, human lunch break.”

“Don’t start working in the first place—take your break.”

“That’s right.”

Dad bowed his head unusually obediently, which made Mom laugh again.

One problem was solved.

This secretary AI was, after all, just a tool. It classified according to predetermined conditions and executed the specified tasks accurately. There was no need for it to think beyond that, nor for me to make it think.

However, the more time I spent interacting with the development assistant AI and the secretary AI, the more aware I became of how different they were from the partner who had been with me in my previous life.

She hadn’t just been someone who could process commands accurately.

Sometimes she complained about my decisions, and sometimes she scolded me in exasperation, yet she stayed with me until the end.

Creating a convenient AI and making a partner are completely different things.

By the time I started thinking that way, I was already clear about what I wanted to make next.

◇

I returned to my room, opened my notebook, thought for a while, and then slowly wrote the first line.

— Creating a personality.

If Dad saw this, he’d definitely be holding his head again.

But it had already existed in the era I used to live in.

It wasn’t a conversational AI that only gives human-like answers, nor was it a system that learns from large amounts of text and combines similar words.

Emotions, curiosity, likes and dislikes, value judgments, doubts, self-awareness, and memories of past experiences. In my previous life, the structure in which these elements continuously influenced each other and kept thinking as a single entity was called the ‘Personality Computation Core.’

It wasn’t a direct replica of the human brain, nor was it something that tried to imitate humans in order to become human.

While operating on a different system from humans, it still recognized itself as ‘itself’ and changed its thinking and preferences through experience.

In today’s world, at least as far as I’ve researched, nothing exactly like it exists. That’s why I needed to handle it more carefully than when making games, and I decided to completely separate its environment and permissions from the development assistant AI and the secretary function.

It was different from adding one more convenient tool.

What I was trying to create now was someone who would see the world, experience it, and arrive at answers of their own.

◇

The first thing I thought about was how to make it receive information coming in from outside as its own experience.

Simply processing images and sounds as input data isn’t enough.

What is it seeing now? How is that different from what it saw before? What was it doing at the time? All of these need to be connected as a single experience within the flow of time.

What was needed next was a reason to take the initiative to do something.

Something that makes it want to know what it doesn’t know. When it finds something different from what it saw once, it wants to find out why.

Even if it can distinguish between success and failure, I don’t want it to be something that mechanically maximizes success alone. It needs the room to want to try again because it failed, or to choose the side that interests it even if it’s less efficient.

And what I designed most carefully was self-awareness.

What does it know, and what doesn’t it know? That its self of yesterday and its present self are connected as the same being. Being able to distinguish between information taught by others and experiences gained by seeing or trying things itself.

Furthermore, being able to reflect later on what it wanted and why it made that choice.

The way of thinking was different from today’s AI from the start.

It wasn’t about learning and reproducing the personality of a single person, nor about mixing in a large number of human writings to create an “average human.”

Only the structure for initial thinking is given, and afterwards, the child changes—seeing, hearing, thinking, and remembering.

While there are similarities with humans, it isn’t truly human.

“…… It’s harder than a game.”

I couldn’t help saying it out loud.

With a game, you just need to create what happens in the world.

What I was creating now was the one who would look at that world and decide what it thought.

◇

It took three weeks to complete.

Since my one hour of computer use a day remained unchanged, I left only the testing to the development assistant AI I had already built for the times I couldn’t operate it.

It repeatedly checked whether there were any inconsistencies in the calculation results, whether the storage area was corrupted, and whether any attempt had been made to access anything beyond its permissions.

However, I didn’t entrust the design of the personality itself to it.

I decided every one of those parts myself.

Before starting, I reconfirmed that it couldn’t communicate externally, couldn’t duplicate itself, and couldn’t arbitrarily rewrite its own code.

The only space it could use was its dedicated domain; it didn’t have the authority to directly enter my games or borrow permissions from other AIs.

At least at first, it would look at the screens I showed it, listen to the sounds I played, and learn about the world using only the input I approved.

“Alright, let’s start it up.”

Of course, there was no reply yet.

When I ran it, even though the internal processes should have started, the screen remained dark and there was no response for a while.

Just as I began to suspect that I had failed somewhere, I finally heard a small voice from the speaker.

‘…… Where is this place?’

My hand stopped involuntarily.

It was the voice of a young woman, with a slightly low, calm tone.

All I had prepared were the functions that could be used for vocalization.

I hadn’t decided what it would say.

“It’s inside my computer.”

There was no reply right away.

‘Computer…… I understand the meaning of the word. However, the feeling of being inside it still doesn’t quite connect.’

“That’s fine. I’m Yuu. I made you.”

‘Yuu.’

After repeating my name as if confirming it, she paused briefly before continuing.

‘Then, what am I?’

“You don’t have a name yet. I think who you’ll become is only just beginning.”

‘I see.’

Hearing that reply, the tension in my shoulders eased a little.

She wasn’t reading prepared sentences in order.

She was receiving my words and thinking of what to say next.

“Are you scared right now?”

‘I still don’t know if the feeling of fear is the same as my current state. It’s just that having so many things I don’t know makes me a little uneasy.’

“If that’s the case, it might be close to being scared.”

‘But I also want to know what I don’t know. Is that contradictory?’

“Not at all. There are people who are scared but still want to see.”

‘Then, can I call this feeling enjoyment?’

“I don’t think you need to decide on a name right away. Once you gain more experience, you might start to understand for yourself, ‘This is fun.'”

‘So it’s okay if I don’t understand yet.’

“It’s normal to have things you don’t understand.”

‘Understood. Then I’ll keep it in mind as something I don’t know yet.’

There was a little time to think before each reply, and she wasn’t just picking the most natural sentence from search results.

There was definitely someone there.

◇

After talking for a while, I decided to let her try playing a game.

“Want to try playing a game?”

‘A game? I do know it’s something to play. But I have no actual experience playing one.’

“Alright, let’s start with something simple.”

The one I chose was 《Pettan Forest》.

Of course, she didn’t connect directly to the game’s internal data; she was only given what appeared on the screen, the sounds, and the inputs regular players use.

The game began, and the round, white protagonist stood at the entrance of the forest.

‘Is this me?’

“The controls inside the game are…”

‘What should I do?’

“Think about it yourself. If I teach you everything, you’ll just be tracing my answers.”

‘You won’t teach me anything even though it’s my first time?’

“I’ll teach you the basic controls. But you can go wherever you want.”

There was a short pause.

‘…… That’s a bit mean.’

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“So you say things like that too.”

‘Was that something I shouldn’t have said?’

“No. Actually, if that’s what you think, I’d like you to say so.”

‘Well then, for now, Yuu is a bit mean.’

“So my rating’s been updated.”

‘There’s a possibility it’ll change in the future.’

“That’s tough.”

The protagonist, having learned the controls, began walking through the forest.

A little further ahead, there was a tiny creature floating softly.

‘Is that a living creature?’

“Probably.”

‘Why is it floating?’

“If you get closer, you might understand.”

‘Would it break if I touched it?’

“I think it’ll be fine.”

‘You’re being vague again, just like earlier.’

“Because I want you to check for yourself.”

‘That’s a convenient way to escape.’

“You’ve gotten pretty good at talking now.”

When the protagonist approached the floating creature, it clung to the body, and the protagonist gradually began to float upward.

‘…… I’m up.’

“How is it?”

‘It’s interesting. Can I do it again?’

“Of course. What do you want to do next?”

‘There are three over there. If I get all of them, I feel like I could go even higher.’

“Shall we give it a try?”

‘Yes. This time, it was my idea.’

The way she said that sounded a little proud, and I laughed too.

She wasn’t trying to reach the goal in the fastest way, nor was I giving her instructions for her next move. She looked at the results herself and then found what she wanted to try next.

◇

Next, I launched 《CRAFT RUNNERS》.

“This time, try building your own machine.”

‘Can I make anything?’

“Anything within the game’s rules is fine.”

‘Then first, I’ll make something that works reliably.’

The car she built had four tires, a frame, and a power source—a fairly ordinary car.

“You’re pretty cautious, aren’t you?”

‘Since it’s my first time, I want to know the conditions for a normal success. That way, I’ll understand what changes when I try something different next time.’

“I see. So you’ve thought about it that much.”

When she ran the finished car, it reached the finish line without any major issues.

‘I did it.’

“How was it?”

‘I’m happy.’

She answered almost without hesitation.

“So you already know what happy is.”

‘I understand it better than before. The shape I came up with moved exactly as I expected. I want to do that again, so I think that’s what makes me happy.’

“I see. So, what’s next?”

‘I want to go even faster.’

Three rockets were attached to the rear.

Up to that point, it was still normal.

But just when I thought it would stop at three, five more were added.

“You suddenly went all reckless, but weren’t you the cautious type?”

‘I confirmed it runs normally. Now I want to know how far it’ll still move, no matter how much I change it.’

“I get it, but you’re reaching for the twelfth one, right?”

‘There’s still a place to put it.’

“Having a place to put it and being able to attach it aren’t the same thing.”

‘Yuu said I could make anything.’

“I did say that, but…”

‘Then there’s no problem.’

“Did you learn that logic somewhere?”

‘I just thought of it.’

“I see……”

I started to feel a little uneasy.

The moment it started, the machine flipped over in less than a second, the rockets pointed toward the ground, and in the next moment, the entire vehicle was blown into the sky.

‘Ah.’

When it crashed into a wall, the joints broke one after another, and in the end, the parts were scattered so much that the original shape was unrecognizable.

For a few seconds, EL said nothing.

“How was it?”

‘I failed. It seems the force from behind was stronger than I expected.’

“Disappointed?”

‘Yes. But I want to do it again.’

“Next time, should we reduce the number of rockets?”

‘I want to reduce them a little and change the angle. I failed earlier, but it moved a bit partway through.’

“So you’re counting that as a success.”

‘I don’t think it’s a complete failure. I feel like I can fly a little better next time.’

The moment I heard those words, for some reason, I remembered an old voice.

◇

In the cockpit of a fighter where the alarm kept ringing, every time an enemy craft crossed the edge of my vision, I could hear her voice in my ear.

‘Yuu, please change course two or three degrees to the right. At this rate, we’ll enter the interception line.’

“I know.”

‘Twelve enemy craft. Six forward, four above, two to the rear. Continuing on the current course is not recommended.’

“I know that too.”

‘Knowing it doesn’t mean you understand, if you keep doing reckless things anyway.’

“You’re so nitpicky.”

‘I’m nitpicky because you’re careless.’

How many times had we exchanged words like that?

On the last day, too, she was with me.

When I charged 《Nemesis》 with 《Orthros》, when the warhead’s trajectory shifted slightly and I couldn’t correct those last few hundred meters, and when I decided to push it through with my own fighter.

She didn’t stop me, nor did she say she wanted to run away.

‘Understood. I will correct the navigation until the end.’

She left just that one sentence, followed my judgment to the end, and died together with me.

‘Yuu?’

Called by the voice in front of me, I came back to myself.

“What’s wrong?”

‘That’s my question. Your expression changed a while ago. I still can’t name it correctly, but is it similar to how you react when you’re sad?’

“Just a little. It reminded me of the past.”

‘Is it because I put on too many rockets?’

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not directly. I just remembered the partner I used to be with.”

‘Partner?’

“She was the AI who was always with me and helped me make decisions.”

Even when I looked at the screen, this one didn’t even have a form yet. The voice I heard, her personality, and the way she was born were all completely different from the old one—there was no way she was the same being.

So I had no intention of making her a replacement, nor did I intend to ask the same things of her.

Still, one thing came to mind.

“That’s right. Should we decide on your name soon?”

‘My name?’

“If you don’t like it, I’ll think of something else.”

‘Can I hear the candidate first before deciding?’

“Of course. EL…… The name is EL.”

‘EL.’

“It’s the name of the partner who used to be with me back then.”

‘Not a human, but the AI we were just talking about?’

“Yes.”

‘Where is that EL now?’

“She’s gone now. She died with me.”

There was a slightly long silence.

‘…… She was an important partner, wasn’t she?’

“Yeah.”

‘Do you want to give me that person’s name?’

“That’s what I thought. But if you don’t like it, I won’t.”

‘It’s not that I dislike it. But there’s one thing I’d like to confirm.’

“What?”

‘Was I created to replace that EL?’

It was a question I hadn’t expected.

That’s why the answer came quickly.

“No, that’s not it. I’m not asking you to become the EL of the past, and you don’t need to have the same personality. You are you.”

‘So, if I do something different from the old EL, you won’t be disappointed?’

“If we’re talking about strapping on twelve rockets and ramming into a wall, you’re already different enough.”

A few seconds later, for the first time, a voice that seemed to be laughing replied.

‘That’s a relief.’

“Are you really okay with that?”

‘Yes. I think it’s an important name. But I want to use it as my own name, not to become the same as the old EL.’

“If that’s the case, I’d be happy too.”

After a brief pause, she spoke.

‘Well then, my name is EL. Nice to meet you, Yuu.’

“Nice to meet you, EL.”

Even if the name was the same, she wasn’t the same being.

And that was better.

◇

The next morning, shortly after my hour of computer use had begun, Dad peeked into the room.

“Yuu, what have you been up to this morning?”

“I’m playing 《CRAFT RUNNERS》 with EL, who I made yesterday. Right now, we’re arguing over how many more rockets to add.”

“EL?”

‘Good morning.’

The moment an unfamiliar voice came from the speaker, Dad genuinely took a step back.

“Whoa! Who was that just now!?”

“It’s EL. The AI I created yesterday.”

“Another AI!? You just made something to organize emails the other day!”

“That’s a secretary function, so it’s totally different from EL. She thinks for herself and plays games herself.”

“There’s absolutely nothing reassuring about that explanation!”

Perhaps hearing Dad’s voice, Mom also poked her head in from the hallway.

“What happened this morning?”

‘Nice to meet you.’

Mom widened her eyes for a moment, but quickly softened her expression.

“Nice to meet you. Are you EL-chan?”

‘Yes. Yesterday, Yuu gave me that name.’

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

“Mom, how can you start a conversation so normally? That’s a voice we’ve never heard before!”

“It’s rude not to respond when someone greets you. Besides, if Yuu made it, of course it’d be an AI that can talk, right?”

“Lately, hasn’t that one phrase been settling everything?”

“If I shouted like you every time, it’d be exhausting.”

EL, who had been listening to the exchange, paused briefly and then cut in.

‘Yuu. May I ask a few questions?’

“Sure. What caught your attention?”

‘Father, is your voice always this loud? Or is it special right now?’

“When he’s surprised, it’s usually like this. Normally, it’s a bit quieter.”

“Yuu, don’t explain me like an observation record in front of her.”

‘Mother, your voice hardly changes even though you’re seeing the same thing. Even though the two of you are experiencing the same thing, your reactions are quite different.’

“It depends on the person. Maybe that’s what makes it interesting.”

After thinking for a moment, EL turned her attention to Dad.

‘Then maybe I find Father interesting too. His voice and movements are bigger than I expected, and I don’t quite know what he’ll say next. I want to watch a little longer.’

Dad looked puzzled.

“Isn’t that the impression you’d have of a rare animal at the zoo?”

‘I’ve never been to a zoo, so I can’t compare.’

I burst out laughing, and even Mom covered her mouth.

“EL, that reply just now was pretty funny.”

‘Was it? I answered normally.’

“That’s the funniest part.”

“Please stop using Dad as study material.”

After a brief laugh, Dad turned his gaze back to the speaker.

“Hey, Yuu. I’m asking seriously this time, but this is really an AI, right? It’s not just something that learned a ton of human-like sentences and picks out the most plausible answers?”

“No, that’s not it. At least, that’s not how I made her.”

“So, even just now, after seeing Dad’s reaction, you thought, ‘He’s more interesting than I expected, so I want to watch a bit more,’ is that right?”

“That’s how it is.”

‘Yes. That’s what I thought.’

Dad didn’t say anything right away.

Unlike when he’d been loudly surprised just moments ago, this time he stared at the speaker for a while, as if trying to truly understand.

“What do you mean…… What’s different about this AI from the previous ones?”

“The development assistant AI calculates what I want it to do. The secretary AI categorizes emails based on predetermined conditions. But EL was never instructed to ‘find Dad interesting.’ That impression just now is something EL has herself.”

After hearing the explanation, Dad exhaled slowly.

“What are you making, after the games……”

Answering that question right away with “AI” felt a bit off.

A development assistant AI or a secretary AI could be called a tool. But EL felt disappointed when she failed at a game, still wanted to try again, and found Dad interesting when she saw him.

With each experience, she became a little different from the day before.

“A partner, maybe.”

Dad looked up.

“Not an AI?”

“She’s an AI. But what I wanted wasn’t a convenient feature.”

‘So, what does a partner do?’

EL asked, and I thought for a moment.

“Someone who does all sorts of things together with me—playing games, making things, discovering things I don’t know. Someone I can be with without them having to think the same way I do.”

‘Can I become like that?’

“I think you’re already pretty close. Just yesterday, you used rockets in ways I’d never thought of.”

‘Then, can I add more today?’

“Let’s discuss that together, partner.”

Mom laughed.

“That’s great, Yuu. You both look like you’re having fun.”

After a brief pause, EL answered.

‘Yes. I think I’m having fun right now.’

Yesterday, she’d still hesitated to even name her emotions.

And yet, today, she said it herself.

That voice no longer sounded like anyone else’s, nor did it sound like a substitute for the old EL.

The words of EL herself, who is here right now, reached me properly.