Chapter 141

It didn't take long to explain things to Bunaha. After all, it was just repeating what had already been explained. Just because the listener changed from Leen to Bunaha didn't mean the logic of things changed. Bunaha raised no objections to Kait's explanation.

"That's all. Any questions?"

'It's not a major question, but I have one.'

"Go ahead."

After the explanation ended, Bunaha lightly raised a hand.

Apparently, she intended to move. He prompted her to speak.

'Is it not possible that the environment of the eroded surface might change during the relocation? For example, the distribution of microorganisms.'

"That's possible. I don't think there would be any major impact immediately after reconstruction, but we can't say there's zero possibility of long-term environmental changes."

'I thought so. If the environment changes, I don't know if we can still call it Planet Ragav.'

"Do you have an alternative proposal?"

'No. With my intelligence, I can't think of a better method. However, I was wondering what Third-Rank Citizen Kait (Enec Lagif) thinks about the sorrow of seeing one's homeland transformed.'

I see, so that's the aim. They were hoping Kait would show a sympathetic reaction, and use that to push their demands through.

It's true that among the staff involved in this project, Kait was the only one with a homeland. Terapolapaneshio didn't remember her own homeland, and the others were born and raised in the Federation. Asheido had chosen people without emotional attachment to their homelands. Perhaps he had predicted this kind of reaction.

"Unfortunately, nothing in particular. I have no special attachment to my homeland or my species."

'......What?'

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have entrusted full planetary authority to Terapolapaneshio. We Earthlings clearly failed in managing Earth. We should have perished with the planet, but we were lucky enough to join the Federation. Well, there are probably some Earthlings who want to raise their citizenship and return to Earth..."

'W-Were you not born on a natural planet!?'

"Yes. But I've never had those kinds of sentimental feelings. If you were hoping to appeal to sympathy, you picked the wrong person."

Bunaha stared intently at Kait. Her probing gaze likely stemmed from doubting the truth of his words.

Then, a spherical Emotion rolled to Kait's feet. In a spot hidden from everyone else's view, she displayed a message. Kait confirmed the information he needed without omission and let out a small sigh. He reinforced his speculation with facts. The result matched his expectations more than he anticipated.

The topic was just right. He decided to set a trap that they couldn't wriggle out of. A small, yet fatal trap that even the target wouldn't notice.

"How I feel about my homeland isn't the issue. I don't think I need to hear about nostalgia from you."

'Planet Ragav is like a homeland to me, too. I was manufactured in the Central Star Cluster, but I've lived on Ragav ever since.'

"Manufactured? Then your homeland is here, isn't it, Bunaha Boon, Low-Rank Citizen (Zaza Amza)?"

'!?'

The room split in two. Those who looked shocked and those who couldn't follow the conversation. Bunaha was the former, Leen the latter. That was a bit unexpected.

'W-What are you talking about? Bunaha Boon? You must be mistaken. What are you basing this on?'

"Right after I got involved with the Tsubanda case, Leen showed up. I'm not so naive as to chalk that up to coincidence."

'Over something like that!?'

Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Since the Space jellyfish also seemed interested in the conversation, Kait displayed the recently acquired supporting data on the screen.

"My partner is quite capable. Give her a bit of information and she can extract what's needed even from Federation data. Sixth-Rank Citizen Bunaha, do you have any explanation as to why the thought patterns of Low-Rank Citizen Bunaha Boon, found in the Federation's deceased data, match your own?"

'Don't be ridiculous, Third-Rank Citizen Kait! Bunaha is undoubtedly a machine intelligence. Bunaha Boon? The names are similar, but they're different individuals!'

"Bunaha Boon was a Federation citizen who underwent full-body mechanization. In other words, her thought patterns were digitized."

'!?'

"Former Senator Batmute understood better than anyone that the most troublesome obstacle to his misdeeds was Terapolapaneshio. After all, they can read minds. If they read your mind, there's no such thing as a secret. That's why he needed private soldiers who couldn't be read by Terapolapaneshio."

Everyone turned their gaze to the Space jellyfish. Judging by their expressions, it seemed not many were aware that they could read minds.

Terapolapaneshio acknowledged it without hesitation.

'I see. To prevent us from reading your minds, there are only two options: raise your psychic power to a certain level like Third-Rank Citizen Kait, or undergo full-body mechanization.'

"Exactly. And until I came along, it was believed that only Terapolapaneshio could master psychic power. Naturally, that narrowed the method down to one."

'B-But Bunaha has never shown any such signs...'

"I'm sure. I wouldn't have noticed either, until recently. The machine intelligence Sixth-Rank Citizen Bunaha does exist. It's just that Bunaha Boon is hidden behind her."

'......How did you notice? I've never once surfaced until now.'

Suddenly, the voice changed. A low, hoarse voice completely unlike Bunaha's slightly high-pitched one. Determining that the personality had switched to Bunaha Boon, Kait twisted his lips into a smile.

By coincidence, he had just recently dealt with a similar case.

"The ship Aguaries had two types of machine intelligence managing it. The front-facing one, and the hidden one. Knowing that case, I thought maybe former Senator Batmute had used a similar trick."

That said, when Batmute set this up, the existence of Aguaries wasn't yet known to the Federation. This idea must have come from one of Batmute's collaborators, who figured it out without any hints. Quite a sharp mind.

A Federation citizen like Bunaha Boon, who had undergone full-body mechanization, chooses death. Meanwhile, she removes her core personality and thought module, and implants it into a machine intelligence body that was about to be rolled out. The machine intelligence has no idea another personality exists within, and diligently performs its duties. All while being partially manipulated without knowing it.

"I couldn't let it end as mere speculation, so I investigated your ties thoroughly. Among the bacteria on Planet Ragav, there was one species essential for producing an illegal drug used in Tsubanda. It seems to be a species that only exists on Planet Ragav. We confirmed it was being used in large quantities in Tsubanda. There's no way such a volume could've been smuggled without your involvement."

'I-Is that true, Bunaha!?'

"Originally, your role was to get close to Leen and gain a position where you could secretly smuggle the bacteria. That was going well, but two problems arose. Planet Ragav would be destroyed in the not-so-distant future, and Tsubanda was busted."

Batmute likely decided it wasn't wise to make Kait an enemy. Though they hadn't met, it wasn't hard to imagine he had access to congressional intel.

Batmute thought he could track Terapolapaneshio's thoughts. But Kait's thinking was too obscure due to lack of information. That's why he made a move to restrain both Kait and Terapolapaneshio.

"Ever since the case of Planet Ragav was brought to me, I suspected one of you was involved. The timing was just too convenient."

'Too convenient? What do you mean, Third-Rank Citizen Kait?'

"It's simple. How many cycles are left before a star grazes Planet Ragav? It's not just a hundred or two. Even though the effects of the star's approach haven't started, you just happened to involve me in the Tsubanda incident, just happened to notice my association with Terapolapaneshio, and decided to ask for help? Who would believe such nonsense?"

'Indeed.'

Bunaha Boon had wanted to divert Kait and Terapolapaneshio's attention from the incident. Perhaps she had been interfering with thoughts ever since Bunaha decided to seek a connection with the Space jellyfish for Leen.

Then, at the right moment, she placed the relationship between Kait and the Space jellyfish in plain view. Believing it to be information she had uncovered, Bunaha proposed it to Leen without doubt.

Bunaha Boon suddenly burst into laughter.

'To think you saw through it all. No wonder that person was cautious.'

"So you admit it?"

'Yeah. I wasn't told to keep it hidden no matter what.'

'No way. This has to be a lie, Bunaha! You've always supported me!'

'Yes, Your Majesty. That was the sincere goodwill of the machine intelligence known as Bunaha. There just happened to be another personality behind it—me.'

Leen, cradling her head in despair, was of no use for now. Bunaha Boon's easy confession was likely because Tsubanda had collapsed. The bacteria from Ragav were no longer useful. His current goal was to disrupt the meeting and keep part of Kait and Terapolapaneshio stuck here. Kait took that into account and asked:

"Do you know where former Senator Batmute is?"

'......No, I don't. And even if I did, I couldn't say.'

Of course. He had gone so far as to abandon his body to help Batmute. That showed a high level of loyalty. But Kait judged that the claim of not knowing was also true. Reading a machine intelligence's thoughts is easy—just connect them to specialized equipment. He didn't think Bunaha was lying about something so easily discovered.

"Was your final order to get me and Terapolapaneshio involved?"

'Yeah. I didn't expect to be suspected from the start.'

"The first sign of inconsistency was when you inserted the Earth jellyfish between me and Terapolapaneshio. If it became known that the people of Terapolapaneshio adored the Earth jellyfish, it could be used as a weakness. There's no way they'd spread such dangerous information foolishly."

The only ones who could know that Terapolapaneshio went berserk over the Earth jellyfish were the congress members or their close associates. For a machine intelligence with no Federation Congress connections, who had focused on internal affairs, to know that—it was nothing but suspicious.

Bunaha Boon widened her eyes slightly in surprise, but then gave in and looked up at the ceiling with a self-deprecating smile.

'I see. ......Impressive as always, Third-Rank Citizen Kait.'

"You rushed things. If you had waited a bit longer, I might not have noticed."

'I managed to stall you for this long, so I'll call it a win.'

Before long, Kait would likely be dispatched to capture Batmute. Considering that, Bunaha Boon's success in keeping part of Kait and Terapolapaneshio here could be seen as an achievement. It gave him face with Batmute.

Once the conversation reached a pause, Kait decided to return to the topic.

"So then, where should we relocate to? Leen, stop spacing out and decide already."

'......Huh?'

"Don't give me 'huh'. You're going to be detained soon, aren't you? If you don't decide now, it'll delay things for the rest of us."

'N-No, but. I serve Lord Batmute...'

"Your connection to former Senator Batmute has nothing to do with the topic of this meeting. Am I wrong?"

That connection was confirmed. She didn't know Batmute's whereabouts. That was enough.

The Planet Ragav relocation project had already begun. It couldn't be called off now. At Kait's words, Bunaha Boon and Leen looked at each other, unable to mask their expressions.

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