Ceremony celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the Queen’s ascension to be held next June

New cutting-edge Amicus models to be presented as a gift

On the fourth of this month, the British royal family’s PR department announced that a ceremony celebrating the sixty-year anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Madeleine, fourth queen of the Windsor dynasty, will be held in June of next year.

On the fifth of this month, Novae Robotics Inc. (London) was officially notified of the event and revealed there is a project underway to develop and present new Amicus units to Her Majesty for the occasion. The three robots are currently under development and are known as the Royal Family (RF) Models. They will differ in appearance from existing Amicus and are to be equipped with unique, next-generation multipurpose AI. In response to the media, Her Majesty replied that she will gratefully accept the Amicus. “I’m currently thinking of the right names for them,” she said. (23 related articles)

-Article from The Times, May 5, 2014

Obituary:

Chikasato Hieda (programmer for the Your Forma development team) was a former employee of the tech corporation Rig City (based in Santa Clara, California) and a major contributor to the development and adoption of the invasive augmented-reality device Your Forma.

On the twelfth of this month, Chikasato Hieda passed away with the help of Fenster, a Swiss assisted-euthanasia company. He was forty-four. In response to queries from the media, Fenster admitted to being involved in his death but refused to give any further details since it would “encroach on their client’s privacy.”

In response to a request for comment on this news, Rig City replied, “we deeply apologize, but we are not in any position to speak on a former employee’s activities and choices.”

The funeral was conducted privately by his relatives. He is survived by his daughter, Echika Hieda.

-From The Los Angeles Times, August 18, 2022, Obituaries

Prologue

Blizzard

Every now and then, a thought blew through her mind like a violent gust of wind: I never wanted to turn out like this.

“So based on the victim’s testimony, how many centimeters of snowfall are in his room now?”

“About forty-eight centimeters before we applied the suppressant. The blizzard is pretty terrible, so he’ll probably start exhibiting hypothermia symptoms once the suppressant wears off.”

Much to her surprise, the Brebis Égarée Hospital didn’t reek of disinfectant.

Echika walked down the hospital wing’s corridor with her eyes fixed on the two men ahead of her. One of them was a doctor clad in a white coat, and the other was her partner, Benno Kleemann.

Benno was a twenty-five-year-old German man with squarish facial features and short, tidy beige hair. His overall appearance gave a somewhat neurotic impression. Two weeks had passed since he’d started working with her, but the only thing Echika knew about him was that he had a girlfriend two years his junior.

He continued. “…So we will connect to the patient’s Your Forma and attempt to trace back the virus’s infection source.”

“I am aware of the procedure, yes. Brain Diving, correct? You trace back the personal history and Mnemosynes recorded in his Your Forma to find where he was infected… I have to admit, though. It’s my first time seeing a self-propagating virus that induces illusions of a blizzard.”

“That’s what the doctor in Washington, DC, said, too,” Benno replied. “‘There’s no doubt that this is a new strain.’”

“DC was where it showed up initially, right? I’m glad we weren’t the first case. We’ve learned how to handle it effectively through precedent.”

The Seine River flowed serenely outside the window. Rays of cold winter sunlight sparkled against the water’s surface in an almost irritatingly calm fashion.

“That said,” the doctor started, before pausing to stifle a yawn, “I’m sure you two have it worse, but I’ve hardly gotten any sleep. I really hope you can resolve this as quickly as possible.”

“Why don’t you leave the Amicus to handle the workload at night?”

“We’re letting them take the reins wherever possible, of course, but we don’t want to overwork the poor things.”

“Poor things?” Benno asked, raising an eyebrow. “They’re just machines. You lose out by not using them when you can.”

“Oh, I see, you’re a luddite. Well, personally, I’m an Amicus sympathizer, so I can’t help but feel for them.”

Benno shrugged awkwardly and moved away from the doctor, approaching Echika. Based on his expression, she could tell he was about to give her his usual warning.

“Listen, Hieda. Only broach as far as their surface Mnemosynes. Find how they were infected and look for clues on who did it.”

Yep, same old, same old…

“With all due respect,” Echika said, “I’m a Diver. It’s your job as my aide and Belayer to decide when to pull me up. What I mean is, how deep I go is up to you, not me.”

“I’m only saying this because whenever I try to reel you back up, you drag me down there instead. You’ve almost fried my brain three times from the strain already. Are you trying to kill me or something?”

“I’ve gotten people sent to the hospital before, but I’ve never killed anyone.”

“Makes sense no one works with you for long.” Benno spat the words out bitterly. “Now listen to me, Little Miss Genius. While we were out investigating something else, our colleagues were working their butts off, Brain Diving to trace the source of the infection. You better produce results.”

“I always do.”

“Fine, let me rephrase that. Produce results without breaking your partner. You follow?”

Having said his piece in a clearly one-sided manner, Benno walked back to the doctor. Echika exhaled hard. He loathed her, to an almost refreshing extent. Not that she made any effort to make herself likable. This meant her relationship with him could only keep getting worse, but she didn’t mind.

After all, as unpleasant as it was to admit, he was right. Their partnership wouldn’t last long anyway.

The doctor led them to a luxurious hospital room, where a young French man was sleeping in a dull, undecorated bed. He was the source of the viral infection in Paris. In addition to Echika and the other two, a nurse Amicus robot stood in the room. Its appearance was modeled on a woman in her thirties, with a well-featured, tidy face. It was a mass-produced model she’d seen quite often.

“Thank you for coming,” the Amicus said with a sociable smile. “We applied the suppressant twelve minutes ago, and the patient’s condition has been stable since. He’s already consented to Brain Diving.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Ogier,” Benno said, flashing his ID badge. “I’m Investigator Aide Benno Kleemann from Interpol’s Electrocrime Investigations Bureau, and this is Electronic Investigator Echika Hieda. In accordance with International Criminal Procedure Code Article 15, we will exercise our authority to connect into your personal Your Forma.”

“He’s comatose,” the doctor said, snickering. “Was there a point to that?”

“It’s standard procedure. We get complaints sometimes if we don’t say it.”

“Let’s begin, Benno. Jack in.”

Echika reached into her coat pocket to produce her Lifeline—the Umbilical Cord, a threadlike cable with connectors on both ends. Echika and Benno each took an end and plugged it into the connector ports embedded in the skin on the nape of their neck.

“Next, the Brain Diving cord.”

At Echika’s instructions, Benno plugged the Brain Diving cord into the boy’s neck and tossed the other connector over to her. This one was a good deal thicker than the Umbilical Cord. She plugged it into a second port on her body. This manner of connection was colloquially known as a triangle connection, the most basic form of attachment that the Brain Diver needed to investigate someone’s mind.

“Hieda, what about the antivirus infection cocoon?”

“All green. It’s operating normally.”

“Then get going.”

Echika jerked her chin back; the next moment, she was plummeting into the infected boy’s mind. The wintry trees of Luxembourg Gardens filled her field of view, and the fluffy pleasure of stuffing her cheeks with a pain au chocolat from a bakery flooded her taste buds.

The name of Paris’s index case—the first person to be diagnosed and the source of the infection—was Thomas Ogier, a student at Grande École, an elite French institution specializing in technology and the sciences. According to his surface Mnemosynes—which detailed records of his activities over the last month—having breakfast in this park was part of his everyday routine.

After eating, he would get in a carpool, which would make his heart race a little with excitement. This began a day’s worth of fascinating research.

As the car sailed past the cityscape, advertisements of the latest Bluetooth-equipped sneakers, improved sleep earphones, and carbon-fiber sportswear flew into his field of vision. They all sparkled and shone. These were all products Ogier would likely be interested in.

Echika continued her free fall, letting his emotions flow past her without allowing them to settle in. As she viewed his Mnemosynes, she traced his footprints through the network, from his purchase history through e-commerce sites to his browsing history in video-streaming services. She checked his social media accounts by forcing open his registration info. As an aspiring engineer, he had strong interest in technology. Because of this, he’d taken a prolonged leave from work on All Saints’ Day to go to America, where he’d toured Rig City and Clear Solution Inc.

But she discovered no clues pertaining to the virus. His mailing apps were mostly full of exchanges from his family and friends, and even the few advertisements she found there seemed innocuous.

I see, thought Echika. It’s just like the electronic investigator from Washington said…

Even when they’d Dived into patient zero there, the investigators had found no traces of either the culprit who’d infected them or even the virus’s method of infection.

By this point, she’d finished browsing through the surface Mnemosynes, but Benno wasn’t pulling her up yet. Their processing speeds were so disparate that his monitoring couldn’t keep up with the rate at which she Dived. Echika continued to plummet, accelerating with every second.

No good.

She sailed past the patient’s surface level, into the depths of the medium layers of his Mnemosynes—when suddenly, she felt something jolt in the nape of her neck.

“Aide Kleemann!”

She jerked her head upon hearing his name shouted. Her field of vision dissipated, and she found herself in the hospital room again. Benno had crumpled to his knees, the cord yanked out of his neck. The doctor hurried over to him, but he was already unconscious and completely limp. The Amicus nurse bolted out of the room, its expression alarmed.

Aaah. It happened again.