電車の中でも寝る前のベッドの中でもサクサク快適に。
もっと読みたい！がどんどんみつかる。
「読んで」「書いて」毎日が楽しくなる小説アプリをダウンロードしよう。
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電車の中でも寝る前のベッドの中でもサクサク快適に。
もっと読みたい！がどんどんみつかる。
「読んで」「書いて」毎日が楽しくなる小説アプリをダウンロードしよう。
テラーノベル
アプリでサクサク楽しめる
On the outskirts of a bustling Tokyo district late at night — after most nightlife spots had closed and the streets lay dark and silent — heavy footsteps echoed through the air.
Two homeless men, sleeping wrapped in cardboard on a sidewalk beneath the railway overpass, grimaced and poked their heads out.
“Damn it, what is it this time of night?”
The other man chimed in.
“I’ve got to go collect cans before dawn tomorrow, but I can’t get a wink of sleep.”
The ground-shaking footsteps drew steadily closer to the men. A massive metal leg appeared at the intersection right in front of them.
As the homeless men looked up in bewilderment, an 18-meter-tall humanoid robot came into view. Its eye-level sensors flashed red as it advanced toward them.
The robot stooped to pass under the railway overpass and extended its five-fingered right hand toward the men; it was clearly targeting them.
Sensing danger, the men tried to flee, but the suddenness of the event left them frozen in fear; they could only scramble backward on the ground.
Just as the robot’s hand was about to snatch up the man in front, a police officer rushed in from behind, grabbed him, and dragged him away, narrowly saving him from the robot’s grasp.
Another officer hauled the second homeless man to his feet. The officer shouted to them:
“Run! There’s a transport vehicle parked in front of the park over there.”
One of the homeless men asked the officer in a trembling voice:
“W-what… what is that huge thing?”
“Homeless people in this area are being attacked indiscriminately. Hurry!”
The homeless men, tugged along by police officers, stumbled and ran until they reached the transport vehicle. One by one, they arrived at the spot, escorted by the officers.
A police officer in a suit stood beside the transport vehicle, overseeing the evacuation. A uniformed officer ran up to him and saluted.
“Are you Officer Tanba of the Public Security Mobile Investigation Unit?”
Tanba nodded, and the uniformed officer spoke rapidly while glancing around.
“We’ve secured all the homeless people in this area. We’re moving the transport vehicle out now.”
“Good work. You may proceed. I’m going to switch to tracking the robot.”
The uniformed officer saluted again and ran off. The sound of the engine roaring to life echoed through the air as the transport vehicle, carrying the group of homeless men, pulled away.
Tanba watched them go, then turned his gaze — silent and unmoving — to the robot; having lost its quarry, it had slowed its pace and was changing direction.
Listening to the robot’s heavy, thudding footsteps — reminiscent of a pile driver at a construction site — Tanba muttered to himself:
“How did it come to this? There was nothing wrong back then.”
It was about eight hours ago. A crowd had gathered in a plaza in the Odaiba area of Tokyo Bayside, waiting in eager anticipation for the towering shroud draped over the object to be removed.
Under a tent in the corner of the plaza, Tanba sat at a keyboard, his eyes fixed on the screen of a large computer.
A company president in his thirties, dressed in casual attire, approached and asked with a practiced, affable smile:
“So, how does it look? Did you find any issues?”
Tanba shook his head.
“Nothing in particular.”
“Then that means we have the police’s approval?”
“Yes, the paperwork is all done. My visit here was just a final check — a precaution, really. I’ve concluded there’s no risk of it being hijacked by terrorists.”
The president stepped onto the platform in front of the massive shroud, took the microphone, and addressed the gathered spectators.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting. The moment has finally arrived to unveil the life-sized humanoid robot developed by our company — a machine equipped with autonomous artificial intelligence.”
The tent-fabric covering was lowered, revealing a humanoid robot modeled after a classic anime series. As the full figure of the eighteen-meter-tall combat robot came into view, a roar of delight erupted from the crowd.
A popular young female idol walked over. The president invited her onto the platform and held the microphone out to her.
“The most distinctive feature of this robot is that a person can actually pilot it from the inside. I understand you’re a fan of this anime series, Milna?”
Milna, the idol, replied with a beaming smile. “Yes! It feels like a dream to be able to ride this, even if it is a replica.”
“Well, the AI handles all the piloting, so you really just have to sit back and relax, Milna. This robot has another groundbreaking feature, too: it’s constantly connected to the internet.”
“My manager mentioned that, but what does it actually mean in practice?”
“It stays connected to online information — especially social media — and decides where to go on its own. It’s part of an experimental system designed to automatically fulfill people’s requests via the web. It’s an impressive piece of technology, too; it’s equipped with solar panels and a high-capacity all-solid-state battery, allowing it to operate for days without needing to recharge.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. I’m really looking forward to seeing the view of the city from the cockpit.”
Milna climbed into the cockpit located in the robot’s chest; once the chest armor plate was attached, she was hidden from view inside.
“Ladies and gentlemen, behold! Witness the momentous first step of a fully autonomous AI robot!”
At the president’s shout, the robot stepped forward with its right leg. The heavy thud of its footfall and the resulting vibration shook the surrounding area.
The robot crossed the plaza and moved onto the street, which had been closed to traffic.
The plan was for it to carry the female idol on a circuit around the plaza and return to the starting point after about thirty minutes, concluding the demonstration.
That was how it was supposed to go.
Inside the tent where the robot’s movements were being monitored, engineers from the development company cried out in alarm.
“Hey, something’s wrong! It’s veering off course!”
“Abort command … What? It’s not accepting the command!”
“Is it a hack? Officer, do you see anything unusual?”
Tanba tilted his head as he operated the computer at his station.
“There are no anomalies with the AI. Its network connection is in normal mode, too. What is going on?”
The robot continued northward, kicking aside the police barricades and stomping down the main road.
Although communication with the idol in the cockpit was impossible, data from various sensors monitoring the human occupant’s condition confirmed at least one thing: she was safe.
As the sun began to set, the robot suddenly changed direction and entered a residential area.
It advanced through the narrow streets, scattering obstacles in its path, and came to a halt in front of a large house.
Behind the robot, local residents — guided by police officers —were evacuating the area; the occupants of that very house were among them.
The robot approached the house, crushed the hedge underfoot, and swung its arm to drive its fist down into the roof.
The roof crumpled like paper, and the robot smashed through more of the wall, crushing the house.
As he watched the scene unfold on a screen, Tanba searched for information on his computer. Before long, details regarding the house destroyed by the robot appeared.
“A shared house? It’s a temporary shelter for welfare recipients run by an NPO. But why attack a place like that?”
Having completely demolished the house, the robot cut through the residential area, returned to the main road, shifted its course slightly westward, and resumed walking.
Along the robot’s path, police implemented traffic restrictions and guided nearby residents to evacuate.
Downtown areas and shopping districts fell into chaos as crowds of people fled in panic.
Inside the Metropolitan Police Department, officials considered attacking the robot, but ultimately decided against it; prioritizing human life, they could not risk an assault while a female idol remained trapped alive inside the cockpit.
The robot reached the streets of Shibuya — now plunged into darkness — and entered an area lined with high-rise buildings.
Approaching one of the skyscrapers, the robot planted its hands and feet against the exterior wall and began to climb. Holes punched through the glass-clad facade one after another as the robot scaled the building, moving much like a bouldering climber.
Partway up, the robot paused, drew its right arm far back, and drove a powerful punch into the building’s interior. That section of the structure was office space, and the impact completely blew out the interior.
By this time, reports from Tanba — stationed at the development company’s command tent — had revealed a common thread among the locations the robot was attacking.
It was surmised that the targets were individuals or companies frequently subjected to vitriolic abuse on social media.
At the Metropolitan Police Department’s ad-hoc task force headquarters, a massive screen displayed footage of a robot descending back to street level after punching a hole into a section of a building in Shibuya.
Senior officers fired questions at their subordinates.
“Have we identified the building?”
“It’s been confirmed as an office building that opened recently.”
“Was only one spot destroyed?”
“It appears the attack was limited to the office space on the 21st floor — the area occupied by an IT company.”
“What kind of company?”
“It seems to be the operator of a site for posting novels.”
“I wonder if they incurred some kind of unjustified resentment on the web? That’s a misfortune for the company.”
The robot then ventured into the alleys of the downtown district, scanning the area with sensors serving as its eyes, and began attacking homeless people sheltering under overpasses or in the corners of parks.
Since the robot lacked the high-speed agility seen in anime, the homeless individuals it targeted managed to narrowly escape.
Nevertheless, the sight of a massive humanoid robot relentlessly chasing down specific people plunged all of Tokyo into a state of terror.
Tanba was recalled to the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters and shown into a room where a senior detective was waiting.
Seated in a chair in the small conference room was Miyashita, a female assistant inspector and a senior member of the Public Security Mobile Investigation Unit.
Miyashita handed a canned coffee to Tanba, who had sat down across from her, and spoke.
“Good work. You really got dragged into quite a mess.”
Holding the can, Tanba asked, “Did you handle the questioning of that company president?”
“Yes. I’ll give you the conclusion first: he’s in the clear. There’s no reason to believe he has any ties to terrorists. It looks like this incident was simply a case of an AI going rogue.”
Just then, Tanba’s smartphone rang. It was a notification from an employee at the robot development company stating that the data analysis results were ready.
Tanba hurriedly opened his laptop and requested the data transfer. A list of social media platforms and video-sharing sites accessed by the robot’s AI appeared on the screen. He selected one and played it.
In the video, a beautiful YouTuber who once took the internet by storm speaks passionately:
“I mean, it’s not like I’ve been paying high taxes just to feed people who are wasting their lives on welfare, right? Don’t you all agree? Come on, you do, don’t you?”
Elsewhere on social media, a heated exchange in a comment thread reads as follows:
“Seriously, I wish homeless people would just disappear.”
“If there’s money to support that lot, I’d rather see it used to reduce the number of dogs being put down.”
“Exactly. Personally, I think dogs have more right to live.”
After spending some time reviewing these comments and the video content, Tanba slammed his palm onto the desk.
“So, that robot’s AI was reacting to these? It certainly reflects the demands —or rather, the desires — of ordinary people that flood the internet.”
Miyashita frowned as she spoke.
“But does that mean an AI would commit a wrongful act?”
“An AI has no concept of right and wrong; only humans can make that judgment. Or perhaps … is the situation the way it is because there are now so many humans who ‘can’t’ make the judgment about right and wrong?”
From then until dawn, the robot moved through the streets of Tokyo, wreaking havoc wherever it went.
A residential facility for people with disabilities was attacked.
The headquarters of a tutoring center that provided educational support to children with learning disabilities was destroyed.
A food bank warehouse that distributed supplies to impoverished families was raided, and its delivery trucks were crushed flat.
Thanks to the police evacuating residents and staff just moments prior, there were no casualties; however, there was growing concern for the physical condition of the female idol trapped inside the cockpit.
Tanba and Miyashita moved to the headquarters of the company that developed the robot and worked alongside its engineers to find a way to shut it down.
After several failed attempts, one of the engineers spoke to Tanba with a grim expression.
“It’s no use. No matter what we try, it won’t accept external commands. It seems to have learned from the internet.”
Tanba raised his voice.
“What do you mean, ‘learned’? It’s an AI you guys programmed, isn’t it?”
“Haven’t you seen the online ‘flame wars’ lately? People completely reject anything that differs even slightly from their own opinions. I think the AI has learned that kind of behavior — shutting out information.”
“So what are we supposed to do? We’re holding things together for now, but at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed.”
Miyashita asked the engineers:
“Can’t you lure the AI into accessing specific sites I designate?”
Another engineer crossed his arms and muttered:
“That might be possible. Shall we give it a try?”
“Please do. Tanba, I’m going to use your computer for a moment.”
Miyashita bookmarked several websites and showed them to Tanba.
“Have the AI access these sites.”
Tanba looked at the screen and let out a sound like a scream.
“Ms. Miyashita, have you lost your mind? Do you seriously think something like these will work?”
“We won’t know until we try, right? If it fails, nothing to lose.”
Grimacing, Tanba instructed the engineers on where to direct the access. Soon, data indicating that the AI had begun accessing the sites appeared on the screen.
“It’s a success. The AI is accessing the designated sites!”
One of the engineers announced. Then, one after another, the other engineers began shouting their own reports.
“The robot has stopped moving!”
“Connection to the cockpit restored! The idol is safe. She seems weak, but she’s alive!”
“Cockpit hatch controls are responsive! We can get her out!”
Miyashita contacted the police unit on the scene via smartphone, and she and Tanba headed toward the robot’s location.
As the sky began to brighten, a ladder was placed against the chest of the motionless robot.
With the utmost care, police rescue specialists carried the female idol out of the cockpit.
She was taken to the hospital by ambulance, while police officers attached ropes to the dormant robot, climbed up, and severed the cables for its drive and communication systems.
The robot shifted slightly just once, causing everyone to make an emergency retreat, but no further signs of danger were observed, and work resumed.
By the time dawn had fully broken, the robot was deemed completely immobilized.
Watching the scene from a short distance away, Tanba muttered to himself while staring intently at his laptop. The screen displayed multiple instances of the sites Miyashita had bookmarked.
They were promotional websites for various religious groups. In the message sections intended for visitors, the following words were displayed:
“Love your enemies.”
“If even the good attain salvation, how much more so the wicked.”
“Truth is bestowed by the Lord. Those who do not wish to believe need not believe.”
“Do not judge others, so that you may not be judged.”
Tanba sighed and squatted down.
“To think that it was religion that resolved a problem caused by cutting-edge science … Then what on earth is science for?”
Miyashita remained standing, gazing up at the sky, which had now fully brightened.
“In this day and age, I suppose a lot of people feel angry about something. Perhaps they barely manage to maintain their emotional balance by lashing out at one another online.”
“But why was it the emotion of anger, of all things, that triggered such a specific reaction from the AI?”
“I’m not sure ‘of all things’ is the right way to put it. It might actually have been natural — or even inevitable. I’ve heard that anger is a primitive emotion shared not just by humans, but by most higher-order animals.”
Miyashita turned to face Tamba and added:
“Why not try analyzing the ratio of emotions — joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure — expressed online? You might find that anger is the most common one.”
コメント
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読み終えたよ…第7話、すごく重かった。特にAIがネットの「怒り」を学習して暴走するところ、現代のSNS社会を映してて考えさせられたな。それに、結局は宗教の言葉で止まったっていう皮肉も効いてた。檀と宮下の「怒りは原始的な感情」って会話が一番心に刺さった。この作品、どんどん深いテーマに向かってる感じがする…続きが気になるよ。菊池川さん、お疲れさま🌙
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