Alchemy, Part 1: Deus ex machina

Alchemy, Part 1: Deus ex machina

El-Hazard characters and situations are copyright 1995 by
AIC / Pioneer LDC, Inc. This work is not intended to
infringe those rights.

an El-Hazard fanfiction by Alfred Correira

http://fireantranch.com/alfred/

Based on OAV I (Nights 1-7) only.

$Date: 2004/05/08 23:14:06 $

~~~~~

Personal Log, Day 742: Today marks my tenth anniversary
here at the lab. And over two years since I began this log.
I've been here longer than anyone but Director Hamadiah,
but then he's been here since the lab first opened. The War
had already been going on for twenty years at that point.
Who would have thought it possible that any war could last
this long? They say that the will to live can survive under
any trial but, still, who would have thought that people
could endure this much slaughter and destruction and still
continue to fight on, still continue to carry on living?

And, for what? The war is a bloody stalemate with no end in
sight. What became of the early promise of swift victory
over a decadent foe? And, when the enemy turned out to be
not so decadent after all, what became of the promise of
swift victory through the use of superior technology? One
technical achievement after another, matched or exceeded by
the enemy, and then we returned the favor. And what about
the greatest achievement from this lab: what happened to
all the expectations pinned on the introduction of the
Omega series battle android, how they would sweep the
battlefield and end the war once and for all? Once again
the enemy matched us with androids equally as deadly. And
who could have guessed that, although both sides were
willing to spill blood with great abandon, neither side was
willing to irrevocably commit their precious androids and
risk losing them, and the war as well? Instead, we trade
brutal hit-and-run strikes with massive, but "manageable"
loss of life and "replaceable" loss of androids. But no
strategic thrust to tip the balance, and the war goes on.

It is amazing to see how far android technology has come
since the first primitive Alpha series androids were
introduced. Designed to assume menial human tasks, it
seemed quite logical to make them in our image and give
them the ability to use the same tools and vehicles we use.
But it was inevitable that those in power would decide to
extend those "menial tasks" to include combat and those
"tools" to include weaponry. If not for the Obedience
Circuit installed in every battle android, there'd probably
only be androids left in the world by now.

When I first saw Omega androids swooping into action, so
like us in appearance (with the exception of the demonic
faces they were given to maximize their ferocity) and so
unlike us in anything approaching humanity, it hit home
hard. How does anyone justify using these unfeeling
machines that look so much like us against real living
people with souls and feelings, even if they ARE a hated
enemy? How could I justify my own participation in all
this? It was inevitable that android technology would be
put to use to wage war, and I knew that when I started
working here at the lab. What made me do it in the end:
some humanitarian impulse to help put an end to the
slaughter, or was it to take the opportunity to solve
difficult problems, and let the consequences fall where
they may? Probably, a little of both, truth be told.

Personal Log, Day 743: There was an all-hands meeting
today. Prince Ruritan came down from headquarters and
harangued us for hours. We've been given a new directive to
find something, anything, that is "so radically new and
powerful" as to irrevocably turn the tide of war in our
favor. And they want results within the next six months.
Right.

There have been rumors for several months now that the
enemy has "something quite awful" under development that
would decisively end the stalemate (and probably all of us
as well in the bargain). I guess this meeting proves that
the government believes these rumors to be true. And most
likely the six month deadline means that they think the
enemy is getting close to having something that they can
use against us.

Still, what do they expect from us: a miracle in a month?
It took almost three years to develop the first Omega
prototype: what gives them the right to think that we can
pull off an accomplishment like that in a fraction of the
time? Is it cluelessness, arrogance or simply naked fear
that drives our leaders?

Personal Log, Day 745: After much internal discussion, I
have convinced the team that we should try to work out the
remaining problems in assimilation theory: most of the
researchers here are familiar with my off-hours theorizing
(probably more than they cared to be familiar with
previously) and we can build upon the countless hours of
spare time I've put into it over the past two years to give
us a head-start against the calendar deadline we are
facing.

~~~~~

Personal Log, Day 769: Given our deadline, we decided that
the best approach was to try to adapt assimilation theory
to something that we already know how to do well --
designing androids -- in order to create an entirely new
kind of android that will make the Omegas look like Alphas
by comparision. Today we finally hit paydirt: at this
point, in theory, we have demonstrated on paper that it is
possible to design an android based on an entirely new form
of adaptive nano-technology, one that incorporates
assimilation theory to permit near-instantaneous enhanced
reproduction of any form of attack. Once we constrained the
problem domain for assimilation theory to "attack actions",
the recognition equations became relatively simpler to
solve and adapt -- attacks are easier to recognize and
analyze than are acts of kindness or charity, for example.
Not that there's much evidence of kindness or charity to
assimilate these days anyway.

I'm calling the principle that is the basis for this
adaptation the "assimilation principle." The assimilation
principle will make an android designed to incorporate it a
moving target of offensive capabilities extremely difficult
to defend against and utterly devastating in the attack. In
effect, this will move the arms race out of the
laboratories and factories directly onto the battlefield.

That's as close to an ultimate weapon as I care to go. With
a unit of these androids at their command, even our
government must be willing to commit at last to a decisive
engagement that will end this war once and for all.

As horrific as that sounds, if it will end the slaughter, I
am in favor of pushing forward.

~~~~~

Personal Log, Day 799: At last, the final details of the
assimilation principle have been worked out. After all that
work, the final breakthrough simply fell into place. There
are three big design issues. First, a whole new android
operating system needs to be designed and implemented to
support the new adaptive combat capability. The second part
involves the creation of new bio-mechanicals integrated
with the adaptive nano-tech. Third, enhanced obedience
circuitry is required to ensure the control of new
capabilities as they are assimilated. The control AI at the
core of the android will have to be extremely adaptable to
enable the android to understand how to properly wield its
growing arsenal of weapons.

That's a lot of new software to design, implement and
debug, at least 2-3 years' worth. The hardware group is not
much more optimistic in their estimates. We do not have
that kind of time available. We will have to find ways to
reduce complexity, and therefore the time needed, to build
a prototype.

~~~~~

Personal Log, Day 860: Today marked another breakthrough:
we finally found a way to simplify the remaining design
issue. We will be able to build the enhanced nanoids using
the existing manufacturing here in town, once we have
completely reprogrammed their computer, of course (grin).

We can now put it all together in one package: the
programming group will develop an enhanced set of
autonomous responders that can be integrated into the
software of the Omega series. The hardware group will
simplify the assimilation nano-tech design with some
creative adaptive interfaces to the existing weapons
bio-mechanicals of the Omega series. And we located another
lab doing some very experimental genetic AI research that
can permit an enhanced android to control the assimilation
nano-tech.

We'll need an external concentrator (maybe some kind of
power control rod that the android can carry) for focusing
and launching newly acquired attack modes, since we won't
be able to design that in as we would have if we could
start from scratch with a new android design.

Now all we need is an Omega android to adapt and we can get
started.

Personal Log, Day 861: Director Hamadiah has been calling
around everywhere, trying to find an Omega that we can
enhance, but no one wants to part with theirs. We've come
too far to quit now: whatever it takes, we need to find a
unit that we can use.

Personal Log, Day 865: Success! Director Hamadiah located a
retired Royal Counselor who lives up in the hills
overlooking town. Apparently, this Counselor has an android
based on the Omega design that a certain unnamed Defense
contractor has repeatedly denied ever building: an
Omega-based sex android. This is supposed to be illegal
but, like most things, if you are the right person and you
know the right person... I don't know what Hamadiah said to
him, but we're going to get to use his android as the basis
for our prototype. At least it won't be as ugly as standard
issue Omegas.

The thought of using a sex android for an ultimate weapon
is strange, to say the least, especially given the low
quality of the sex androids I've seen advertised. But if
the Counselor's android really does incorporate Omega tech,
it should be good enough to help validate our research.

Personal Log, Day 866: The Counselor arrived today with his
android. He claimed that he owed it to "her" to do it in
person since she'd been such a good companion to him. That
struck me as an odd thing to say about a glorified sex toy.
He calls it Sherazade (also odd: an android with a name
instead of a designation, but it probably makes sense given
its function). I must admit that he has good taste,
considering: it's the most exquisite thing that I've ever
laid eyes on, android or human. Apparently, its builders
had a bit of a breast fixation as well. I'd call it
"albino" if it were human, which is not surprising since
its master is also albino, which probably explains why he
had it built in the first place. Not at all the look I
would expect for a sex toy, even down to the outfit it was
wearing. The eyes especially were unsettling in a way:
there was something in them that I would have called
"disdain" in a human being. I wonder if he had its
programming tweaked as well?

Personal Log, Day 867: We performed a preliminary analysis
on the android today. Fortunately for us, it is definitely
based on Omega tech. We should be able to fully exploit it
just as if it were a regular battle android. Not that it
acts like a regular battle android. At one point during
lunch, after everyone else had gone to the cafeteria, it
got up and started walking around the lab, inspecting some
of the work stations. When I asked it what it was doing, it
replied that it was "bored." The old goat *must* have done
something to its programming. Whatever that might be, it
should disappear once we install a military-grade obedience
circuitry.

I didn't mention the behavior to anyone else, although I
probably ought to.

Personal Log, Day 868: We started running a battery of
tests on it today. It'll probably take us a week to
complete them all. Once the testing is complete, we'll
begin making the modifications to its software and
hardware, and install the enhanced obedience circuitry.

The plan at this point is pretty straightforward. For the
hardware upgrades, we'll mostly be integrating in the new
adaptive nano-tech units being designed in the lab and
built in town. I think that we're going to have a major
problem recharging the android during operations if we have
to depend on the current field generators used for the
Omegas -- those generators will take days to recharge all
the new tech in this unit, especially the nano-tech.

We'll leave the rest of the android alone to save time --
we cannot afford the luxury of any unnecessary
reconstruction. I doubt anyone will still think of it as a
sex toy by the time we're done with it, though, considering
what it will be able do to them if they try anything. We
probably should at least create some kind of uniform for
it, although there has been some discussion about leaving
it clothed as it came to us: there is something to be said
about a unique weapon looking absolutely unique.
Fortunately, the outfit is made of the same
battlefield-grade materials used for Omega uniforms, which
is not surprising considering where this android came from.

Personal Log, Day 869: An odd occurrence today -- as I was
making my way to the lab to run some additional tests, I
heard singing. At first, I couldn't tell from where, and
then I realized it was coming from inside the lab itself.
It was the android, singing a song that I recognized from
one of the ancient song cycles, a tale of abandonment and
lost hope. She had another of those strange looks in her
eyes, something that spoke of a terrible sadness. Is it an
accompaniment to the song, or for herself? I was surprised
to find myself even asking that question.

I stood in the doorway and listened, until I realized that
I was actually on the verge of crying. I had no idea an
android could do something that struck me as so ... human?

Personal Log, Day 874: Once again, I found myself down in
the lab, before dawn and before anyone else was up and
about. Just listening to her sing. We don't talk -- she
ignores me and I wouldn't know what to say anyway.

Today was the last day for testing, and tomorrow we begin
to install the first of the new software modules in
preparation for the hardware upgrades. She will be off-line
for awhile. When we bring her back on-line, she will be a
very different android indeed. And, although I could never
admit it anywhere else, that bothers me. Maybe I've been
around her too long...

~~~~~

Personal Log, Day 931: We brought her back on-line today.
There were some glitches that we had to work through at
first, but by the end of the day she was functioning pretty
smoothly.

Although her external appearance is the same as before we
began reworking her, I could tell the new software was in
place: she had the same look I associate with the regular
Omegas. There was nothing in the eyes but function.

Personal Log, Day 932: I went down to the lab early again,
as before. I don't know why, I knew beforehand that it was
a stupid thing to do. The lab was quiet when I got there;
she was sitting, unmoving, in her docking station.

It's best that I remember what we're trying to accomplish
and leave it at that.

~~~~~

Personal Log, Day 962: We worked out a way to supply her
with a lot of power very quickly; it involves a surprising
simple technique using rotating fields to create massive
controlled power surges. We should be able to fully charge
her in less than a minute from a near-zero power state.
We're going to add the power controller to the staff since
there's no room to integrate it inside her. We'll add a
socket somewhere on her that the controller in the staff
can interface with to generate the surges. It will look a
lot like she's being "wound up" when her power is being
replenished. It's admittedly crude, but we can improve on
that later when we transition from prototype to production.

Personal Log, Day 963: Today was her first day in the test
lab. She still doesn't look like an ultimate weapon, until
she points that staff at you.

Personal Log, Day 987: The tests are going well: her
ability to adapt to the attacks we launch at her -- and for
which she has no prior experience -- is impressive. And
devastating. We lost a lot of monitoring equipment in the
early tests before we figured out just how far away from
her the equipment needed to be in order to survive long
enough to gather measurements. We've already run out of
weaponry in the lab to throw at her and let her assimilate
in order to bootstrap her offensive capabilities. We'll
have to stop testing soon anyway since we're running out of
things for her to destroy.

Personal Log, Day 992: Hamadiah has been ordered to
demonstrate the prototype to Prince Ruritan. He pointed out
that we have not finished designing and building all the
internal monitoring and self-repair systems, in particular
those we need for the nano-tech -- that's the project I'm
currently trying to complete. But, apparently, the
Higher-Ups can wait no longer for us to prove that we can
make her work.

We plan to set up a controlled demonstration at the
abandoned factory across the river. The test will include
captured androids and even some enemy prisoners! Some of us
raised objections to using them in such a fashion, but
apparently there are concerns higher up that the modified
Obedience Circuit won't behave as it should. So, the
military wants proof that she will perform ALL battlefield
functions as though we had started with an actual battle
android. And what good is a battle android if it won't
slaughter people on command?

Personal Log, Day 995: The Prince was down today for the
first field test. She exceeded every one of the test
requirements without any glitches or breakdowns. Everyone
was ecstatic with the results. I had to leave when the
blast winds blew the screams towards the observation tower.

It's only a matter of time now before we're given the
go-ahead to send her out on her first combat mission.

Personal Log, Day 996: There's something that's been
bothering me as I review the tapes from the final test run
yesterday, but I can't put my finger on it.

Personal Log, Day 997: I finally figured out what was
bothering me: at one point late in the demonstration, one
of the cameras scanned her face. It was the look in her
eyes: not at all like the eyes of a battle android. Her
eyes had a look of... what? Anguish? Melancholy? ... in
them. Almost like the look in her eyes when she was
singing. Where could that response have come from? Her
former programming should be completely suppressed at this
point. Maybe I'm just reading too much into the tape -- no
one else seemed to notice anything.

~~~~~

Personal Log, Day 1000: Prince Ruritan gave the go-ahead to
launch the first mission against the enemy. We still have
not fitted her with all her monitoring and auto-repair
componentry, but the military wants to make a statement
with her right now. And, who knows, as powerful as she is
already, they could be right.

I should be ecstatic about this, since it vindicates my
original research. But I can't get it out of my head that
it's wrong to use her like this. How do I justify what I
have helped do to her? And why do I feel like I need to
justify myself to her at all?

Personal Log, Day 1001: Someone upstairs decided that an
ultimate weapon needed a catchy name to feed to the general
press and public. Since the popular press refers to the
Omega androids as "demon gods", they selected the name of a
powerful female demon from one of the ancient song cycles.
Today, we had a christening ceremony of sorts for her.
Tomorrow, we turn her loose on the world: Ifurita.

~~~~~ end Alchemy, Part 1 ~~~~~

Thanks to Vince Seifert for performing sterling prereading
duties as well as for the many convivial conversations
during the writing.