E22 - Alice

Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
SIGN    Saturday, August 1, 2026
[00:02] Rinko
    Thank you for taking time
    out of your busy schedules.
[00:06] Rinko
    Today, our organization
    is announcing
[00:09] Rinko
    the birth of the world's first
    true artificial general intelligence.
[00:21] Rinko
    And now, allow me to introduce...
[00:24] Rinko
    Alice!
[00:52] Alice
    People of the real world,
    I'm pleased to meet you.
[00:56] Alice
    My name is Alice. Alice Synthesis Thirty.
SIGN    Alice
[02:37] Alice
    My name is Alice. Alice Synthesis Thirty.
[02:42] Silica
    That's our school uniform!
[02:44] Lisbeth
    I heard she requested it.
[02:47] Lisbeth
    "The same uniform as the order of knights
    who came to the aid of the Human Guardian Army."
[02:52] Lisbeth
    Although her first choice was
    the same gold armor she wore over there.
[02:58] Leafa
    Not even Rath could afford that, could they?
[03:03] Sinon
    Still, I'm an amazed
    by the re-creation they did.
[03:06] Sinon/Rinko
    - You can barely tell the difference through the screen.
    - I'd like to start with a question and answer session.
[03:12] Male Reporter A
    Let's start with the basics.
[03:14] Male Reporter A
    What makes Ms. Alice different
    from existing programmable robots?
[03:21] Rinko
    It's her brain... or what we're calling her brain.
[03:25] Rinko
    The consciousness that exists
    in the photonic brain stored within her skull
[03:29] Rinko
    is not a program
    that can be rewritten with binary code.
[03:32] Rinko
    It's essentially no different
    from our human brains.
[03:36] Rinko
    That's what makes her categorically different
    from existing robots.
[03:42] Male Reporter A
    Then we'd like you to demonstrate that in a way
    that would make it clear to us and our viewers.
[03:47] Rinko
    You have her Turing test results
    in your handouts.
[03:52] Male Reporter A
    No, that's not what I mean.
[03:53] Male Reporter A
    If you could open up her skull, and show us
    what you call the photonic brain inside...
[03:59] Alice
    Yes.
[04:01] Alice
    I don't mind.
[04:02] Alice
    But first, would prove
    that you yourself are not a robot?
[04:08] Male Reporter A
    What? I'm a human.
    How I could prove that—
[04:12] Alice
    It's simple. Please open up your skull
    and show us your brain.
[04:18] Leafa
    Wh-Whoa, Alice is upset.
SIGN    World's First True Artificial General Intelligence ALICE Announced
[04:24] Female Reporter
    Uh, this question is for Dr. Kojiro.
[04:27] Female Reporter
    Some labor unions are already raising concerns
    about the industrial use
[04:32] Female Reporter
    of advanced artificial intelligence
    causing a further rise in unemployment.
[04:37] Rinko
    Those concerns are unfounded.
[04:39] Rinko
    Our organization has no intention
    of deploying true AI into the unskilled labor force.
[04:46] Female Reporter
    However, the financial world has high hopes
    that they can be used as industrial robots.
[04:52] Female Reporter
    Do you have any comments?
[04:53] Rinko
    True AIs, what this organization calls
    "artificial Fluctlights,"
[04:59] Rinko
    cannot be mass-produced
    in a short time.
[05:03] Rinko
    Like us, they're born as infants and raised
    by their families from childhood to adulthood,
[05:09] Rinko
    and they mature while developing
    their own unique personalities.
[05:13] Rinko
    In our opinion, to load such an intelligence
    into industrial robots
[05:16] Rinko
    and force them into labor
    shouldn't be allowed to happen.
[05:21] Female Reporter A
    In other words, Doctor, are you saying
    that you acknowledge this AI's human rights?
[05:27] Rinko
    At this moment, I'm sure
    that many of you would feel uncomfortable
[05:31] Rinko
    if asked to acknowledge artificial Fluctlights as humans
    and to grant them human rights.
[05:37] Rinko
    But in another century,
    or perhaps two centuries,
[05:41] Rinko
    we'll be living in the same society as them
    as a matter of course,
[05:44] Rinko
    interacting with them without discrimination,
    even marrying and starting families with them.
[05:51] Rinko
    That's what I firmly believe.
[05:53] Rinko
    And if that's the case, shouldn't we shy away
    from treating them as objects and abusing them?
[05:59] Female Reporter A
    But, Doctor!
[06:00] Female Reporter A
    Their existence is too different from ours!
[06:05] Female Reporter A
    How can we possibly acknowledge man-made machines
    as being the same as humankind?
[06:12] Alice
    I acknowledge and accept the fact
    of you real-worlders as our creators.
[06:19] Alice
    I am grateful to you for creating us.
[06:22] Alice
    But as another person
    born in my world once said,
[06:27] Alice
    "What if the real world
    is also a world created by others?
[06:31] Alice
    What if there were
    even more creators outside it?"
[06:36] Alice
    If, one day, your own creators
    appeared before you
[06:40] Alice
    and ordered you into slavery,
    what would you do?
[06:44] Alice
    Would you grovel on the ground,
    pledge your loyalty, and beg for mercy?
[06:52] Alice
    I have already had many interactions
    with real-worlders.
[06:57] Alice
    I am all alone in a strange world,
    but they've encouraged and supported me.
[07:03] Alice
    They've taught me many things,
    and taken me to many places.
[07:08] Alice
    I am very fond of them.
[07:11] Alice
    And that's not all.
[07:13] Alice
    I even love one of these real-worlders.
[07:17] Alice
    Whenever I think of this person,
    whom I'm unable to see now...
[07:21] Alice
    Even this steel chest of mine
    feels like it's about to burst.
[07:31] Alice
    I have a right hand that I will extend
    to the people of the real world.
[07:37] Alice
    But I will not fall to my knees
    or grind my forehead in the dirt.
[07:42] Alice
    That's because I am a human.
[07:48] Newscaster
    The organization known as the Oceanic Resource
    Exploration & Research Institution
[07:51] Newscaster
    is widely reported to have been involved
    in the raid and occupation incident
[07:55] Newscaster
    on the self-propelled mega-float,
    the Ocean Turtle, correct?
[07:59] Commentator
    Yes. According to one theory,
    the goal of that raid
[08:02] Commentator
    might have been the seizure
    of this artificial intelligence.
[08:06] Newscaster
    Another problem is that
    a JSDF officer perished.
SIGN    JSDF Officer Killed Casualty of the Raid Incident Mr. Seijirou Kikuoka The Ocean Turtle Attack... Why Did It Happen?
[08:13] Higa
    I never thought that you'd end up
    being the lone casualty, Mr. Kiku.
[08:21] Kikuoka
    You're right, who knew?
[08:25] Kikuoka
    But this was for the best, Higa.
[08:28] Kikuoka
    Seriously, they would've pinned the blame on me,
    so I could've actually been eliminated.
[08:34] Kikuoka
    And because of the pressure from that fatality,
    our opposition in Japan was driven into a corner.
[08:43] Kikuoka
    Well, even I was shocked to learn
    it was the vice minister of defense leading them.
[08:49] Higa
    Seems like the vice minister was getting a hefty payoff
    from those American weapon manufacturers.
[08:54] Higa
    But are you sure you're okay with
    going public about the artificial Fluctlights?
[09:00] Higa
    I mean, that's going to derail Rath’s ultimate goal,
    the autonomous weapons loading project.
[09:07] Kikuoka
    It's fine. As long as
    the Americans know we can do it.
[09:13] Kikuoka
    Now their weapon manufacturers can't force us
    to go public under the pretext of joint development.
[09:19] Kikuoka
    After all, we've already perfected
    the artificial Fluctlight.
[09:25] Kikuoka
    After watching this press conference,
    they'll have to give up.
[09:29] Higa
    That's true.
[09:30] Higa
    And we have him to thank for all of that, right?
[09:43] Kikuoka
    Hey, Higa. Look. Look at that!
[09:46] Higa
    What is it, Mr. Kiku?
[09:47] Higa
    The press conference should be
    almost over by now, right?
[09:56] Rinko
    Our hope is that, through the virtual world,
    you can all interact with newly-born artificial Fluctlights,
[10:02] Rinko
    and that this will change
    how you feel about them.
[10:05] Rinko
    That's all we ask
    of everyone watching this broadcast.
[10:11] Questioner
    Doctor!
[10:13] Questioner
    Is there any danger of the AIs annihilating us humans
    to take over the planet?
[10:21] Rinko
    Aside from one possibility,
    that would never happen.
[10:26] Rinko
    That would only happen
    if we were to attempt to annihilate them first.
[10:31] Questioner
    But think of all the books and movies till now—
[10:34] Alice
    I must go.
[10:36] Alice
    Please excuse me.
[10:46] Higa
    M-Mr. Kiku!
[10:51] Alice
    Kirito!
[10:52] Higa/Kikuoka
    - Alice?
    - Alice?
[11:05] Kirito
    Hey, Alice. Long time no see.
[11:08] Alice
    Kirito!
[11:12] Kirito
    Alice.
[11:14] Kirito
    Your little sister, Selka, chose to go
    into Deep Freeze to wait for your return.
[11:20] Kirito
    On the eightieth floor of the Central Cathedral,
    she's still asleep even now on top of that hill.
[11:35] Kirito
    All right, Mr. Higa.
[11:37] Kirito
    Go ahead and delete the memories
    of the last two hundred years
[11:40] Kirito
    since the start
    of the maximum-acceleration phase.
[11:44] Kirito
    My and the queen's roles are done.
SIGN    Tokorozawa National Defense Medical College Hospital
[12:05] Kirito
    Come in.
[12:10] Asuna
    Sorry! I got here a little late.
[12:12] Kirito
    No, I just woke up a second ago.
[12:25] Asuna
    I'd say you're still only ninety percent
    of the normal Kirito.
[12:29] Asuna
    Are you eating enough?
[12:30] Kirito
    I'm eating. I'm eating a lot.
[12:33] Kirito
    What do you expect?
    I was bedridden for more than a month.
[12:37] Kirito
    Anyway, I found out when I'll be discharged.
[12:40] Kirito
    In three days.
[12:41] Asuna
    Really?
[12:42] Asuna
    Then we need to celebrate!
[12:46] Asuna
    First in ALO, and then in real life, too.
[12:49] Kirito
    Yeah, I guess.
[13:30] Asuna
    It's all right.
[13:31] Asuna
    Even if our memory are gone,
    the memories will never vanish.
[13:36] Eugeo
    That's right, Kirito. Don't cry.
[13:40] Eugeo
    Stay cool.
[13:42] Kirito
    Yeah. I'm sure...
[13:45] Kirito
    we'll see them again someday.
[13:52] Kirito
    Come in.
[13:53] Kikuoka
    Hey, there! I hear they're finally releasing you, Kirito.
[13:57] Kikuoka
    That calls for a huge celebration!
[13:59] Kirito
    I'm not even going to ask how you already know
    what I just learned from Nurse Aki.
[14:06] Kikuoka
    Well, I'm really glad for you.
[14:09] Kikuoka
    Getting this far in your recovery
    after only a week of rehab?
[14:12] Kikuoka
    Got to hand it to youth!
[14:14] Asuna
    We were told that
    the public thinks you're dead.
[14:18] Asuna
    What are you going to do now?
[14:20] Asuna
    Dr. Rinko's been appointed
    the official head of Rath,
[14:24] Asuna
    and you can't just stop by
    the Roppongi office, right?
[14:27] Kikuoka
    Not to worry.
[14:29] Kikuoka
    I still have a lot to do.
[14:32] Kikuoka
    For now, I have to do all I can
    to keep the Ocean Turtle and the Underworld safe.
[14:36] Kirito
    Right, that's it!
[14:38] Kirito
    What's going to happen
    to the Underworld now?
[14:42] Kikuoka
    Well, things aren't looking very good.
[14:45] Kikuoka
    The government's trying to find someone to blame,
    and the negotiating is still ongoing.
[14:51] Kikuoka
    But eventually, Rath will be dissolved,
[14:53] Kikuoka
    and all related technology will be absorbed
    by the major conglomerates.
[14:58] Kikuoka
    Alice will be seized,
[15:00] Kikuoka
    and there'll be no saving the Lightcube Cluster
    on the Ocean Turtle from being reinitialized.
[15:03] Asuna
    N-No way!
[15:05] Kirito
    You already have a plan in mind
    to keep that from happening, right?
[15:10] Kikuoka
    Not so much a plan as... a hope, I guess?
[15:15] Kikuoka
    My hope is that
    while the government's tied up in negotiations,
[15:18] Kikuoka
    public opinion acknowledging the human rights
    of artificial Fluctlights will form, that's it.
[15:23] Kikuoka
    To achieve that, we need to have
    as many people from the real world as possible
[15:28] Kikuoka
    interact with the artificial Fluctlights
    for as long as possible.
[15:32] Kikuoka
    That's probably the very purpose
    of the Seed Nexus.
[15:36] Kirito
    Yeah... I guess.
[15:38] Kikuoka
    But for that to happen,
    we must have a high-bandwidth connection
[15:43] Kikuoka
    so the Underworlders
    can connect to the Seed Nexus.
[15:47] Kikuoka
    The satellite connection used by the Ocean Turtle
    has been cut off by the government.
[15:53] Kikuoka
    I'm going to see what I can do
    to restore that connection.
[15:56] Kikuoka
    We took the initiative
    with that press conference the other day.
[16:00] Kikuoka
    That should've bought us some time.
[16:04] Kirito
    Connection, huh?
[16:10] Kirito
    Mr. Kikuoka...
[16:12] Kirito
    please!
[16:14] Kirito
    Protect the Underworld.
[16:20] Kikuoka
    You don't need to ask me.
[16:23] Kikuoka
    The Underworld is the dream
    that I'd stake my life on, too.
[16:38] Higa
    Of course it's not going to run.
[16:41] Higa
    It's definitely going to collapse right away.
[16:44] Higa
    That's what happened
    to both my and Mr. Kiku's copies.
[16:49] Higa
    There's no way that a human soul
    saved onto a Lightcube
[16:52] Higa
    can stand to know
    that it's a copy of itself.
[16:57] Higa
    Even... even if it's...
[17:08] Kirito
    This is Mr. Higa, I presume?
[17:12] Higa
    Th-That's right.
[17:14] Kirito
    So you didn't delete me.
[17:16] Kirito
    Or to be precise, you've copied me?
[17:20] Higa
    I couldn't... I couldn't delete you!
[17:24] Higa
    You're the first Fluctlight to survive
    the passage of two hundred years!
[17:29] Higa
    No, you're the longest-living person
    in human history!
[17:34] Higa
    I could never delete you.
[17:36] Higa
    Isn't that right, Kirito?
[17:42] Kirito
    I had a feeling
    that something like this might happen.
[17:46] Kirito
    Mr. Higa, was my Fluctlight
    the only one you copied?
[17:50] Higa
    Y-Yeah.
[17:52] Higa
    During the memory-deleting operation,
[17:53] Higa
    yours was the only one I managed to copy
    behind Lt. Colonel Kikuoka's and Dr. Kojiro's backs.
[18:01] Kirito
    I see.
[18:06] Kirito
    Her Majesty... Asuna and I once discussed this.
[18:10] Kirito
    What we do if something like this happened.
[18:14] Kirito
    This is what Asuna told me.
[18:16] Kirito
    If she were the only one who got copied,
    she would have herself deleted right away.
[18:21] Kirito
    If both of us were copied,
[18:23] Kirito
    then we should use what little time we had left
    to unite the real world and the Underworld.
[18:29] Higa
    Then, if you were the only one?
[18:32] Higa
    What would you do then?
[18:34] Kirito
    In that case, I would fight only for the Underworld.
[18:38] Kirito
    Because I am the protector of that world.
[18:44] Higa
    F-Fight?
[18:46] Kirito
    The situation the Underworld is currently in
    is extremely unstable.
[18:50] Kirito
    Isn't that right?
[18:51] Higa
    Yeah... that's true.
[18:54] Kirito
    Compared to the real world,
    that world is tragically powerless.
[18:58] Kirito
    Energy, hardware, maintenance,
    and networking...
[19:04] Kirito
    We have to depend on the people of the real world
    to keep the infrastructure operating.
[19:08] Kirito
    That doesn't bode well for its long-term safety.
[19:12] Higa
    But there's no way around that, though.
[19:15] Higa
    The Underworld's physical presence, the Lightcube Cluster,
    can't be moved off the Ocean Turtle.
[19:21] Higa
    Not to mention,
    the ship's under government control now.
[19:24] Higa
    On a whim, the government could decide
    to cut off all power tomorrow,
[19:27] Higa
    and the entire cluster could be reinitialized.
[19:31] Kirito
    How long will the nuclear reactor's fuel last?
[19:34] Higa
    Um...
[19:35] Higa
    Well, since it's a pressurized water reactor
    for a nuclear sub,
[19:39] Higa
    if it's only maintaining the cluster,
    then four or five years, maybe?
[19:42] Kirito
    Then basically, there'd be no need
    to refuel during that time.
[19:47] Kirito
    In other words, as long as we can prevent
    any outside interference,
[19:50] Kirito
    the Underworld will continue to exist.
[19:52] Kirito
    Am I right?
[19:53] Higa
    B-But if you're trying to prevent,
[19:55] Higa
    there isn't a weapons system
    on board the Ocean Turtle.
[19:59] Kirito
    I said that I would fight.
[20:01] Higa
    F-Fight?
[20:03] Higa
    But the satellite connection has been cut off,
[20:06] Higa
    and there's no way
    to contact the Ocean Turtle.
[20:09] Kirito
    There is a connection. There must be.
[20:12] Higa
    Wh-Where?
[20:13] Kirito
    Heathcliff.
[20:15] Kirito
    No, Akihiko Kayaba. We need his help.
[20:19] Kirito
    Mr. Higa...
[20:21] Kirito
    you'll help, won't you?
[20:23] Higa
    K-Kayaba-senpai?
[20:26] Higa
    He's alive?
[20:29] Higa
    A copy of Akihiko Kayaba
    and a copy of Kazuto Kirigaya.
[20:34] Higa
    If these two copies... no, these two people
    were to meet, what would happen?
[20:40] Higa
    Could it be that I've opened Pandora's box?
[20:47] Higa
    I want to see.
[20:49] Higa
    I want to know what will happen.
[20:52] Higa
    All right.
[20:54] Higa
    I have some old contacts I can reach out to.
[20:56] Higa
    I'll send out some encrypted messages.
[21:22] Eugeo
    If you're going to take a nap, do it after you're done
    with your sacred arts homework.
[21:28] Eugeo
    Are you planning to copy mine again?
[21:33] Eugeo
    Hey! I tweaked that skill
    you taught me the other day a little.
[21:37] Eugeo
    Let's head to the training hall later.
[21:39] Eugeo
    Hey, you snuck out again
    to buy some snacks, didn't you?
[21:43] Eugeo
    Of course you got some for me, too, right?
[21:46] Eugeo
    Come on, wake up, Kirito.
[21:50] Eugeo
    Kirito.
[22:02] Kirito
    I should've had them
    delete all of my memories!
[22:06] Kirito
    All the memories of the two and a half years
    I spent with Eugeo!
[22:26] Suguha
    Hey, tell me about it, Big Brother.
[22:29] Suguha
    What happened in that world. The good.
[22:32] Suguha
    The bad. Everything.
[22:38] Kirito
    When I first met him, deep in the forest,
[22:45] Kirito
    Eugeo was just a woodcutter.
[22:48] Kirito
    It might be hard to believe,
[22:51] Kirito
    but for three hundred years,
    and over multiple generations,
[22:55] Kirito
    they were trying to cut down
    a single cedar tree.
[23:15] Alice
    Kirito.
[23:18] Alice
    I...
[23:22] Alice
    ...feel I'm might wither away.
SIGN    Incoming Call
    Rinko Kojiro
[23:36] Kirito
    Next time: New World.