Unparalleled Path ~ Reincarnated as the AI for a Space Battleship ~ Chapter 24

「Captain, I'm sorry but it's urgent. Asagaya's condition──」Vega said.

When she operated the console a number of holograms appeared. They were graphs showing my mental load. The red line which had been horizontal suddenly descends and crawls to the bottom.

I am in so much stress that even the control of the ship has been affected. The output of the auxiliary engines become unstable, the battle simulation that was running froze and several sensors malfunction.

「Asagaya, are you alright?」She said.

I squeezed out my a voice. 「Did『Home』really die?」

She frowned. 「You heard.」

「Is it true?」

She nodded. 「Yes.」

My mental graph dropped even further.

「Wait! Don't let this get the better of you! If it gets any worse then you won't come out of it.」Vega said in a hurry.

「I'm alright.」

「Do not lie to me. Because I'm running the diagnostic program I can clearly understand your mental state. If you like you can talk to me. What caused it to fall so much?」

I stayed silent for five minutes and spoke about my thoughts from before.

Vega nodded. 「Home. No, the Earth I should say became your 『way』 to live.」

「But, I said I'm alright.」

The lighting system went haywire and the bridge's lights flickered.

The crew of the bridge grew uneasy.

Vega closed her eyes, then opened them again. 「Consider this, the earth has disappeared but the descendants of those who were there are still alive. The genes of your family and friends have been inherited. How about you think about it this way?」

I looked over to the Captain's seat.

Sohaira was observing Vega with anxiety.

She called Vega on the intercom. 「How is Asagaya's condition? That, perhaps, might the cause be due to me getting angry?」

「Angry?」

「For peeking into my room I think.」

Vega shook her head slightly. 「Be at ease. His discontent is unrelated to the Captain's scolding. No, rather, I think you should scold him more. That way, his spirit will also stabilize.」

「Scolding?」

「He is lonely. Even if it is negative contact with others the connection is still very useful.」

「In that case I will be more proactive.」

「That's it, he will be pleased to be scolded if he is scolded.」

I operated Vega's console and holographic letters emerged in front of her eyes. 『Please don't say anything inappropriate.​』

She gave back the letters.『All men love Queen-sama's.​』

「Asagaya!」

Without delay, Sohaira called out to me.

「What?」I replied to over the intercom.

「Let's become friends!」She said.

「Ha?」

「S-So, that, Become friends with me! Is what I'm saying.」Sohaira hesitated to say.

「Well, Why say that all of a sudden──」

「Why──」

She took a sidelong glance at Vega.

However, because the conversation with me was over the intercom Vega did not know what was happening and shrugged her shoulders.

「Because I'm lonely. I just lost my brothers the other day, and my other brother aimed at my life. I'm really hurt. To comfort this lonely soul, I need to interact with people. Be that as it may, I am the captain and I can not open my mind to subordinates and fleet commanders. So, I want you to be my friend.」Sohaira said.

It's Vega's analysis from some time ago. Sohaira is trying to strengthen her connection with me through her own way of doing things.

「I'm glad. Although this performance seems forced.」I said.

She made a wry smile. 「It's not a complete performance though. It's just, as royalty, those who would reveal their loneliness and weakness never leave the board. In any case, you are my friend and I am your friend. Isn't that right?」

What would change from such a farce?

For a moment I thought so, but my deep psyche seems to disagree with that. The graph line which floated before Vega slowly began to rise.

I have only one friend.

Even so, it had surprisingly saved me it seems.

The control of the ship stabilized and I returned the hull which had been out of the fleet formation to its original position. The mass bullet turret orientated to face the enemy fleet and the output of the reactor was fixed at 32 percent. The speed went from zero the 1x the speed of light. We will meet the enemy in a few hours.

「Asagaya, what did you say to the captain? You suddenly got better.」Vega said.

「Let's get the unkind and useless A.I. Technical Officer fired! was what I said.」

Vega put both hands on her head. 「Well, I'm sorry I could not reduce your psychological burden. It's just, It's because you are not an ordinary A.I.」

「It's because I'm human.」

「No, It's about the memory hardware. The whole capacity of the Ajax is strange in the first place.」

「Strange?」

「At a quick glance it looks the same as a standard battleship A.I., But the response when you went under is usually deep. It seems there are drives which cannot be detected mixed in.」

「Is that a problem?」

「It's a big one. If unauthorized drives are mixed in, it will soon become impossible to control the memory──」

I accepted her words.

「Will it become a personality impairment?」

「It doesn't mean that will be the result. Even if there is a problem with the temporary personality it should be something similar to the Ajax. You are a separate existence from that.」

「Then, what will happen?」

「I also want to know.」Vega hit the console. 「You emerged at the timing of when terrorism occurred on the warship and the fleet fell into a dilemma. At first I thought that it was temporary A.I. for construction. However, temporary A.I. who makes someone believe they are human is not needed. In addition, you yourself mentioned things such as 『Home』. From where did the idea 『Home』 come from?」

「I truly lived there. What can I say.」

Vega waved her hands through the air. The holographic chart was minimised and replaced with an unbelievably huge military port station. It is larger than the Alliance's largest shipbuilding facility in the Shaka star system. A military station comparable to one satellite is rotating slowly against the background of a blue earth styled planet.

「In order to make sure, I wonder if we'll need to enter the dock of the Main Imperial Star. The facilities there will dredge the bottom of the drive, so that your mind will become clear.」

『In order to make sure, I wonder if we'll need to enter the dock of the Main Imperial Star.』

I contemplated the words Vega said a few hours ago.

The Main Imperial Star's Dock. The possibility of reaching there is no longer zero.

While thinking this, my second and third auxiliary engine caught fire. Clusters of Senfuro Oil is frozen and scattered into the vacuum of space at an alarming rate. The explosion originated from the shell hangar where the exterior armor blew apart from the inside. Crew packed escape capsules were ejected one after another.

The Battleship War Spite, directly beside us collects the capsules through the gap in its abdomen using a tractor beam.

The A.I. of the『War Spite』 gained a sense of compassion. I returned my thanks. Because of his arrival the crew did not have to die.

My reaction furnace is considerably lacking in stability. Just when I think it has risen to a hundred percent power, in the next moment it will fall to around 0 percent. Several important mechanisms in the ship were destroyed by mass bullets.

Air leaks into the vacuum of space from the large hole in my back and abdomen. At the beginning of the bridge, the average oxygen concentration inside has fallen to two percent. The inhalation system is running at full capacity, but it will have to hold until the crew have escaped.

Using the only functioning turret, I let a shell loose towards the enemy fleet with my last roar.

Thank you for reading!  If you want to make any changes to this chapter you can request an update of the draft on and I will update the chapter here.

Chapter end