# E22 - Alice
Source: [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/watch/GYXJXQ526/alice)
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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.