Chapter 1 – The Ungrateful Imperial Princess Captain

The moment I woke up, a massive bullet with a diameter of 1 metre and a weight of 15 tonnes blew through my third auxilliary engine.

A sense similar to pain runs through my body. The program engraved on me automatically closes the air lock to the tail deck. Camera No.253 on the ceiling at the end of the deck sends an internal image of the engine block that was broken up into a mess. The walls were peeled off, exposing wiring that looked like human tendons. A dark coloured liquid was scattered from a broken pipe and was immediately frozen due to the extreme coldness of outer space. The liquid in question is Senfuro oil, used for super high speed navigation.

Why do I know the name of such an oil?

The answer came from a different me within myself.

That is because you are the virtual personality program of the cruiser battleship Ajax that belongs to the 7th Imperial Fleet. Ajax has a total length of 450 meters, can hold a crew of 500 personnel, the main arms consist of 8 large mass cannons, 32 heat lasers as auxiliary weapons and three assault ships for planetary advancement. It is the largest ship in the 7th Fleet when excluding the 5 battleships.

What are you talking about? I’m a cruiser battleship AI? My name is Asagaya Makato, 17 years old, a second year high school student. My results are just below the top, I’m a member of the archery club. I’m Japanese and a man.

The different me answered.

Archery is a hunting sport that ancient humans used to like. It became obsolete over ten thousand years ago. In other words, the possibility of you being a human being is zero.

I tried to touch my forehead, but I don’t seem to have any hands. My entire body is this huge ship itself. To reduce mental stress, the faucets in the central block No. 68 toilets turn on for exactly 0.3 seconds, it seems to act as a substitute for hitting my hand on my forehead.

The radar detected the attack of a new mass bullet. The main engine squeezed out power and rotated in an attempt to twist the warships body. The joints in each block raised a painful scream.

The mass bullet stole the No. 7 gun turret, before dissappearing into abyss of the cosmos.

What’s going on!?

「What’s going on!?」

My voice came out. A similar sound was outputted through the bridge speaker. The bridge of the Ajax is in the centre of the fleet. Since it’s the heart of the fleet, it’s designed to be in the position hardest to attack.

The bridge’s sound system also picked up someone elses voice.

「What’s going on, that’s my line Ajax! We’re in battle! Halt program update and apply all memory to battle actions!」

My cameras caught the owner of the voice. On the bridge, sitting in the captains seat is a woman, no a girl. Dressed in a dark blue suit representing an officer. The different me calls her information.

Sohara . Jadigov . Mayo Rosa. Commander of the Imperial Army’s 7th Fleet. Assistant deputy commanding officer. Correction, established as Captain on the death of the commanding officer. Issued a temporary wartime promotion to Captain.

Her complexion was fairly white, with a surprisingly small face. She was more beautiful than any human being I knew. Her black eyes are moist in anxiety and tension.

「Ajax!」 She repeated.

I spoke through the speaker.

「I am not Ajax. My name is Asagaya Makato」

「Asagaya? What? I’ve never heard of such a ship name」

「I am not a ship, but a human being」

In the corner of the bridge, I could hear a battle record officer mumbling.

「This is the end. Ajax has been infected with a virus, it’s gone mad」

The officer next to him responded.

「That sort of thing is impossible. The cruise battleship system is completely independent」

「No, the Captain was killed by a spy. It wouldn’t be unusual if they planted a virus as well」

The Captain was killed?

The officer does not answer the question and instead returns to his record data. Looking at the bridge, part of it is burnt and blood is scattered everywhere. There are 7 body bags in one corner.

I have errors all over the place. An unneccesary update program had been ran, taking down both attack and defensive systems. I’m lacking in internal records, but it seems I was in a shut down state from between 2 minutes to 5 minutes ago.

Sohara spoke up.

「You are not a human, you are a cruiser battleship」

「No, I’m just a high school student」

「High school student? What?」

She shook her head in disapproval and started to look for someone. The person she was looking for seems to be running up the stairs. A glamorous female officer. Whilst standing breathless, she stood next to Sohara and whispered to her.

「It’s probably the temporary AI used during construction. Due to the attack on the system from the spy, this AI took over from Ajax, who had disappeared. I’ve heard that this ship was made by repairing an ancient ship from several thousand years ago, I also heard that at the time, the AI for this ship was extremely autonomous. Due to that, it might consider itself a man more than a program」

「Temporary AI for construction? Vega we’re done for」

「That’s not necessarily true. Even though Ajax has disappeared, it’s basic function as a combat ship has not. This ancient AI may even be superior than the one from before」

Whilst they were discussing in a low voice, the other me was restoring the systems rapidly. It would soon be possible to attack.

Sohara raised her voice.

「Asagaya, report the situation!」

I don’t answer.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead.

「Asagaya! What’s the matter!?」

「I do not have to obey you. This is a dream in the first place」

I arrived at this conclusion rationally. I left the house at 7:30 this morning. In my bag was the bento my mother made as well as the English homework that took me until 11:00 last night to complete. There was also 3 manga books borrowed from Ryota, my classmate. I rode my bicycle south down Mitaka street, past the city hall. So what happened? There is no memory after that. Still, it’s likely I fell asleep in my first class and am watching such a dream due to the latest Star War’s I watched 2 weeks ago. Soon I’ll hear Yunoya-sensei’s voice and I’ll immediately stand up, causing Sakurako in the next seat to laugh at me.

The other me suddenly started speaking.

This is reality. I understand that this is reality, because I am an AI. Unlike humans, AI accept facts as facts. No matter what happened in ancient times, my body is gone. Only my spirit exists inside this program. A long time ago someone scanned my brain and incorporated it into this AI. That is me.

Wrong! I shouted inside my head.

I am human!

Sohara clasped her small hands together.

「Dream? I don’t know what you’re talking about. You are an AI, yet you go against an order? I am the Captain of this ship」

「Because I am a human being」

The alert system suddenly detected attacks from enemy ships several hundred thousand kilometres away. It was a total of 20 mass bullets from five cruise ships. It is not something that can be avoided using only the avoidance behaviour I have. Three minutes later, all the humans on the interior of the ship will be turned into space dust.

The enemy attack was also displayed on the main monitor. The faces of Sohara and Vega the AI technical officer instantly paled.

Someone on the bridge staff cried out 「God Anmo please save us!」

Sohara spoke up.

「I’ll only say this once again. Follow my orders or you’ll be shut down」

「Do as you like」

She opened her mouth like a goldfish.

Her face is completely white.

I wonder when Yunoya-sensei will notice I’m asleep? As soon as shut down is complete, will I wake up in reality?

Once you’ve shut down the ships systems, it takes at least 3 days to restart. I don’t know where that information came from. In any case what am I doing? After several minutes, the defense system is almost available.

Vega started speaking.

Sweat was flowing from her temple, down her long neck to her plump chest.

「Asagaya, what is man?」

「?」 I am.

「As an AI technical officer I think of man as “something that thinks”. There was a famous saying a long time ago, “I think therefore I am”. You think this world is a dream, but that may not be the case. The only existence you can be certain of is your own. So, why don’t you shelve what it is for now and protect your own existence?」

A great deal of mass bullets were approaching us at high speed.

They will impact us in 2 minutes.

Vega’s philosophical persuasion has passed through my heart. If there is a possibility this isn’t a dream, but reality. Isn’t it not better to protect yourself just in case? It was a reasonable opinion, but I didn’t care about it. If this is reality, then everyone; father, mother, all my friends, my love interest, died a long time ago. How could I live in such a world?

This is reality.

Not matter how much I hate it, I can’t change the truth.

The other me recognises the situation. He isn’t lying, he is me after all.

1 minute remaining until impact.

Vega seems to be rattling on about something troublesome.

Sohara kept silent and stared at the front screen. She chewed her lips, endured her tears and stared at the approaching mass bullets. The evacuation pod for the commander is behind her. Because the evacuation pod is independent of me, she would be saved. No other sailor can leave. It would take 1 minute for the other sailors to run to the pod since the evacuation system is unavailable.

Vega grabbed her sleeve and tried to drag her to the escape pod. However, she shakes her off.

She is the Captain. Although she was promoted during wartime, she would fulfill that responsibility.

10 seconds remaining until impact.

The automatic avoidance system activates and controls the engine output causing the hull to rotate. The crew closed there eyes and shouted out the name of their God, some screamed the imperial cheer.

Of the 20 mass bullets, 19 will narrowly miss. However, the remaining one will hit the center of the ship. My body will break, the crew will be thrown into a vacuum and freeze, there blood will boil within 30 seconds.

Since there is no inertia control, the bridge shakes furiously. Whilst clinging to the commander’s seat, near where the blood was splashed, Sohara opened her eyes slowly and stared at the screen.

2 seconds left.

I immediately activated the defense and attack system. Time slows suddenly. I have an anti-gravity field to defend against the mass bullets, but I can’t stop it like this. A usual ship AI would ring an impact warning as there is no way to avoid it. But I am different, for some reason I know what to do. I expand the field to an hourglass shape rather than a spherical one. The hourglass ceiling and bottom are open. At the moment the enemy’s mass bullets come in from one side of the hourglass, I launched my own mass bullet. The mass bullets were led by the field and collided at the part where the sand of the hourglass fell.

DON! The hull shook as countless mass bullets rained down. The bridge screamed loudly as the screen was dyed red with warning signs.

My outer shell has endured. It truly is an imperial cruiser battleship. Large debris has penetrated the ship in two places, but there were no fatal injuries. Both the engine and battle system are alive. There was no human loss.

The crew cheered.

Sohara suddenly raised her body.

「I won’t express my gratitude, it’s only natural for you to follow my orders.