BCI system.
Brain-Computer Interface.
Since writing it in English makes it sound difficult, shorten it a little and call it cyberbrain (電腦) technology.
In a way, the artificial intelligence technology used by the Luna Count family could also be called a kind of cyberbrain technology.
They stick a person in as the core and make it so they can control a Titan with thought alone.
Even so, it’s hard to compare it to the BCI system Ian is talking about now.
This isn’t connecting the brain to a computer. It’s connecting the nerves in my leg to the Titan’s leg.
I don’t really understand it.
“Wouldn’t only one leg be connected?”
I only have a prosthetic on one leg.
If I’m going to control a Titan, don’t I need to connect all my limbs, like in some anime?
“We can cut off the other leg.”
“Haha, very funny.”
Ian didn’t answer and just stared at me.
Ran started glancing around, reading the room.
The silence stretched on.
I was starting to break out in a cold sweat.
“We don’t have to cut it off.”
Doesn’t that mean you could?
My spine grew damp.
“It’s not like the Luna Count family’s method of opening up the head and plugging something in, or connecting to the nervous system. We only connect the electrical signals that convey the intent to move from the nerves. The human brain is more flexible than you’d think.”
Ian wiggled two fingers in turn.
“After going through mapping training that uses the difference in nerve patterns for movement, you can control both legs separately with just one leg.”
“It sounds hard just hearing about it.”
“You can’t do it?”
He’s needling me.
“Of course I can.”
Then I had no choice but to get needled quietly.
Even after hearing the explanation, I still don’t really know what he means.
At any rate, one thing is clear: I’ll be able to handle a Titan much faster than I can now.
And the problem is the other option.
“Then what about the tandem system?”
In other words, a two-seater cockpit.
Like fighter jets in my original world, it’s a cockpit where people sit front and back to pilot.
It’s also the Southern Liberation Army’s main method of operating cores.
The first Titan appeared in the South, and I’d even learned that back then, they used a two-person tandem system.
Even with current technology, it’s a core cockpit that can be made very stable.
Under most circumstances, there wouldn’t be a problem.
“There’s no one to ride with me.”
Under most circumstances, yes, but I have a problem.
There’s no one to ride with me.
Let’s say making the Titan takes two weeks at the shortest and two months at the longest.
Then can Ailee completely recover and ride in a Titan within two months?
Hardly.
When I first came to this world, it took half a year to restore my ruined body.
Considering Ailee’s physical condition, it’ll definitely take longer.
Can I wait for Ailee until then?
“Physical problems can be sufficiently resolved with drugs and continuous rehabilitation.”
“You’re saying we should use the Luna Count family’s drugs?”
Of course, I used them too.
But back then, it was unavoidable.
“If she intends to recover even by doing that. Recovery depends entirely on her own will.”
Ian’s eyes were serious.
“We don’t even have the drugs right now.”
I used up all the drugs Ian brought last time.
“We can get them.”
When are we supposed to get them?
“You think Ailee would want to ride a Titan with me even if she had to use the Luna Count family’s drugs?”
“That is correct.”
“Correct. Ailee herself said so….”
Ian sprang up from his seat.
Ran flinched and opened her eyes wide.
It was a voice.
A voice I hadn’t heard in a while, but one I knew well.
I slowly turned around.
Ailee was turning her head this way.
“Affirmative reason.”
Pink eyes.
“You are my boyfriend.”
It was Ailee.
***
“Are you insane? This recovery speed isn’t just fast, it’s way too fast.”
Clemens kept scrolling down the hologram.
“Affirmative. I am impressive.”
Ailee slowly nodded.
Until we came here, she had clearly only been blinking, but her motor functions had improved to an astonishing degree.
She’d been able to breathe on her own already.
I never thought she would suddenly be able to talk this naturally.
“Her language function hasn’t fully returned. The fact that she can only speak in the standard language format input into the artificial intelligence, because she has trouble expressing herself the way she wants, is proof of that.”
For reference, Clemens was still in patient clothes too.
Not only Ian, but Clemens had also hit his head in the car and passed out.
He was even in worse condition than Ian.
And yet Clemens was walking around just fine, taking strolls, and looking at patient information.
What the hell is with that bastard Ian?
“But with ordinary language disorders, it’s normal for them to appear in the form of stuttering or mistakes. This case is seriously different. Cases where the manner of speech changes are extremely rare.”
“Agreement. I am special.”
It feels a bit strange seeing someone in patient clothes reading charts.
In any case, he said he’d gotten permission from this side’s military doctor too.
Clemens turned his head toward me.
“There are two ways to explain Ailee’s recovery speed.”
“What are they?”
“One is to explain it in as much detail as possible using medical terminology.”
“Please go with the easy and simple one.”
“At least make an effort to understand.”
Medical stuff is too difficult.
I can’t understand it.
“To put it simply and easily, she’ll continue recovering incredibly fast.”
“V.”
Ailee expressionlessly blinked one eye.
Good news.
“At this recovery speed, she might be able to walk normally within a month. We’ll start feeding training tomorrow.”
“Feeding training?”
Why is that necessary?
“She hasn’t digested anything through her stomach for over a year. If you only take in nutrients through supplements, you don’t gain weight.”
Apparently, if you don’t eat anything, your stomach gradually loses function too.
The human body is much more complicated than I thought.
Even I thought I wouldn’t die after being hit by a car.
“Doctor. Question.”
“What is it?”
Ailee talking like that still feels a little unfamiliar.
Other than that, everything is good.
Even the fact that she needs training to recover is good.
Because it means she’s recovered enough to train.
“I would like to know the time required to recover enough to ride in a Titan.”
“If you mean piloting, you’ll need two months. If you mean participating in combat, at least six months.”
At least six months.
About the same as the time I went through.
Since she’ll be receiving help from drugs and a doctor, it might be shorter than mine.
“Doctor. Assertion.”
“What now?”
“I wish to shorten the recovery time by using the Luna Count family’s drugs.”
She didn’t ask whether he had any drugs.
She said she wanted to use them.
Clemens let out a sigh.
“Use what?”
“Confirmation. The Luna Count family’s drugs.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Negative. Doctor, you must have spare drugs.”
“You talk like you’ve seen them. Let’s say I did bring spare drugs when I left the Luna Count family. They’d be past their expiration date.”
“Negative. Drugs stored in unopened glass ampoules can be preserved for more than two years from the date of manufacture.”
It had been roughly a year since Ailee and I escaped the laboratory.
If Clemens had emergency drugs, they’d still have about a year before expiring.
Even if they had been manufactured some time ago, they’d have half a year left.
“…That stimulant is making you calculate all kinds of things.”
Clemens shoved his hand into his pocket and placed something on the table.
“How did you even know it was a glass ampoule?”
“I saw it in your pocket.”
“I guess the patient clothes are thin enough to show through.”
It was an ampoule containing a drug.
Clemens dragged a hand down his face and sighed.
“Enhancer.”
Not a stimulant.
“It wasn’t originally a medical item either. I’m telling you in advance, I brought it along to use on myself if things got dangerous.”
“What does it do?”
“Muscle strengthening. Regeneration enhancement. Dynamic visual acuity enhancement. Temporary euphoria.”
“Isn’t that all-purpose?”
“It sounds all-purpose when you hear it, but if you use too much at once, it’ll destroy your body instead. It’s addictive too. On top of that, it’s trash that ruins the brain in a different way from stimulants.”
Snap.
Clemens grabbed the tip of the ampoule and broke it off.
No, wait. You just said it was trash.
“W-wait a second!”
“This has been diluted, and the side effects have been reduced as much as possible. As long as we don’t administer all of it at once, it should be enough to aid recovery. You were given the same thing too.”
Now that I hear it, he’s right.
I must have been given the same thing, but I didn’t feel any side effects.
“Most importantly, it’s already open.”
From the moment the glass ampoule was broken, the contents had only two options.
Use it all, or throw it all away.
“In the old days, we used to stick things like this into people’s bodies as much as we wanted under the excuse of experimentation.”
Clemens looked around and found a syringe.
“But now I’m a doctor. I’ve decided that even poisons meant to kill people will only be used when saving them.”
Sssst.
A little of the drug leaked out from the tip of the syringe.
“So let me ask just one thing, Ailee.”
“Response. I will answer the question.”
“Honestly, I don’t trust the Luna Count family’s drugs that much either. I can’t say there absolutely won’t be any side effects. Even so, why are you trying to recover so badly that you’d take drugs for it?”
Her pink eyes immediately turned to me.
“Repetition. I have already said it.”
“Ailee!”
No.
Stop.
“My boyfr—”
Before she could say more, I quickly covered her mouth.
Ailee narrowed her eyes slightly, then smiled again.
Clemens clicked his tongue, then pushed the enhancer into the IV medication.
“So I shouldn’t have asked.”
So that’s what he meant by not administering it all at once.
“This isn’t a drug originally meant for a patient in such a weak physical state. The expected result is good, but expectations and results can differ at any time, so stay alert.”
“Agreement. However, there is something I wish to do.”
“What?”
“Request. Wheelchair. I will go on a date.”
Clemens’s expression instantly hardened.
“Hurry up and take her away. You’re making my stomach hurt.”
I’m embarrassed too.