Dinner was over and my mom was starting to put away the dishes.
I slid the notebook I had placed on the edge of the table in front of my father.
“Dad, I want this.”
“Don’t spring it on me like that again.”
Dad put down his chopsticks and opened the notebook with a wary look on his face.
There, I had written down the parts candidates I had researched over the past few days.
CPU, GPU, motherboard, memory, storage, power supply, cooling mechanism.
The candidates were narrowed down to a few, and in the GPU column, I had compared not only the price, but also the VRAM capacity, power consumption, and cooling method.
Dad looked at the first page, moved to the second page, and returned to the first page again.
“…Yuu.”
“What?”
“Are you going to buy all of this?”
“I’d like to.”
“Rather than replacing parts, aren’t you planning to assemble an entire machine?”
“That’s because it’s more efficient. Rather than partially upgrading the laptop I’m currently using, I can improve performance and expandability by building a new one.”
Dad narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t let a five-year-old make a graphics card comparison chart.”
“I’m not just looking at the model numbers to make a selection. Considering the amount of calculation I want to do in the future, configurations with less VRAM will reach their limits sooner.”
“Wait, wait. I thought I’d feel better if you explained more, but instead I’m starting to feel anxious.”
My mother, who had been sitting across from me, seemed to be interested as well, and she peered over my father’s shoulder at the notebook.
“You’re going to buy quite a lot. Can’t you use your current computer?”
“It’s not impossible to use. However, it’s too slow for what I want to do in the future.”
“Didn’t you say something similar when we bought you a computer last time?”
“Back then, it was enough to just make a game. But now, there are more things I want to handle than when I made 《LITTLE FRONTIER》, and if I were to continue testing on the scale of 《FRONTIER SAGA》, there would be a lot of waiting time in the current environment.”
Dad looked at the notebook and my face alternately.
“In your case, I guess that ‘long waiting time’ is different from how the average person feels it.”
“Not just maybe. I think it’s very different.”
“I’m sure you’re aware of that…”
Mother asked as she returned to her chair.
“So, how much do you need?”
“With this configuration, this is the total amount.”
I pointed to the amount written on the edge of the page.
Mother’s eyebrows rose slightly.
Dad frowned more clearly.
“That’s not the kind of money a five-year-old should be casually spending.”
“I’ll take it out of my sales.”
“I don’t think that’s the problem, though…”
“But it’s money from the game he made himself, right?”
When my mother said that, my father crossed his arms and groaned.
“Well, that’s true. But that doesn’t mean you can buy whatever you want.”
“Of course. That’s why I consulted you first.”
“That’s the only part that’s strangely sensible.”
Dad looked at the notebook again.
Personally, I had no intention of making a purchase that wasn’t necessary.
I didn’t choose something expensive just because I wanted performance. I calculated backwards based on the amount of processing required for what I was about to create, and put together a configuration that allowed for some leeway.
Even in the current environment, there are many things I can do if I take the time.
However, there was no reason to wait that long.
“I just want to confirm one thing.”
Mother looked at me.
“Even if you get a new computer, your one-hour-a-day rule won’t change.”
“I know. I have an hour.”
When I answered immediately, my father’s gaze became strangely sharp.
“…Something about your answer just now bothers me a little.”
“What?”
“No, for a while now you’ve only been talking about ‘your own time.'”
“The promise is about how long I use the computer, right?”
“See!”
Dad immediately looked at Mom.
“He’s definitely thinking about something. At times like this, he doesn’t let it show on his face at all, so it’s even scarier.”
“I’m not hiding anything.”
“Then say it.”
“I’ll explain it to you after the new computer arrives. It’ll be easier to understand.”
“Wouldn’t it be kinder to my heart if you explained it to me now?”
Mother giggled.
“If you’re going to say that much, why don’t you ask after it’s bought?”
“Mom, aren’t you taking this guy’s side a bit too much lately?”
“He’s trying to consult with us and use his own money properly, so there’s no reason to stop him.”
Dad was silent for a while, but then he gave up and sighed.
“Fine. However, I’ll place the order. Either your mother or I will receive the package when it arrives. No suspicious stores. Also…”
“One hour a day. Don’t contact people I don’t know without permission. Don’t go to dangerous sites.”
“Don’t say it all before I can.”
“It’s always the same, so I remembered it.”
“It’s fine as long as you stick to it.”
Thus, I was given permission to build a new computer.
◇
The weekend.
A number of cardboard boxes were lined up on the living room floor.
While my father opened each package one by one, I checked the necessary parts.
“This is the CPU… this is the memory. So, is this huge thing the graphics card?”
“Yes.”
Dad lifted up the GPU with both hands and frowned a little.
“Doesn’t it look tougher than the one we saw at the store last time?”
“Appearance has nothing to do with performance.”
“No, it’s definitely a bit intimidating. It even has a glowing part on it.”
“I don’t need that either, but this was the one that met the conditions.”
“You’re really all about practicality when it comes to things like this.”
I couldn’t assemble it by myself.
It was because my hands were small.
Aside from attaching parts to the motherboard, it was too much for my body to reach deep into the case to wire it, or to support and secure a large GPU.
So I asked my father to do the actual work, and I explained the order from the side.
“Not that cable. It’s better to run it along the bottom so it doesn’t obstruct the airflow.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Also, don’t overtighten that screw. As long as it’s secured, it’s enough.”
“The foreman is very particular.”
“Wouldn’t it be a problem if we broke it?”
“Don’t talk as if I’m going to break it.”
The work progressed through exchanges like these.
Dad seemed to start enjoying it halfway through, and was routing the wires with a much more serious look on his face than at the beginning.
“This is pretty fun.”
“Really?”
“It reminds me of making plastic models when I was a kid. Though I’m scared of how much money it’ll cost if I mess up.”
“If you don’t think about that, it might be similar.”
“Let me think about it.”
Eventually, we closed the case and connected it to the monitor and power source.
Dad looked at me.
“Are you going to press it?”
“Please.”
I pressed the power button.
The fans started spinning with a low hum, and the screen immediately lit up.
After completing the initial settings, I installed the necessary development environment.
I moved the data over from the old environment and ran some processes.
The results were as expected.
“That’s fast.”
Dad said while looking at the screen.
“Processing that I would’ve had to wait a while for on my previous computer now finishes almost without stopping.”
“With this much, it’s usable.”
“‘With this much’…”
Compared to the development environment of my previous life, it’s still slow.
In terms of raw computing power alone, it doesn’t even come close to a children’s device from back then.
However, it’s not bad for an environment that only uses parts available in today’s world.
At least, I could move on to the next step.
“Are you satisfied?”
My father asked me, so I thought about it for a while before answering.
“I’m satisfied with the computer.”
“The way you say it, you’re not satisfied with something else.”
“I bought it because I had something I wanted to do.”
“I guess that’s what this was about after all.”
Father laughed.
◇
Since my father had done the assembling, there was still time left for me to operate it myself.
Evening. I sat down in front of my new computer and completed only the settings I needed for today.
As the hour drew to a close, I called for my father in the living room.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“Can I leave my computer running after my hour?”
The smile quickly disappeared from my father’s face.
“…So this is it.”
“What?”
“The thing that’s been bugging me since dinner that day.”
Dad came to the room and looked at the computer on the desk.
“You don’t touch it yourself, right, Yuu?”
“I don’t touch it. I don’t look at the screen.”
“Then what are you going to do by leaving it on?”
“Calculations. Just calculations.”
“All night long?”
“When I need it.”
“What kind of calculations?”
In response to my father’s question, I pointed at the screen.
Several processes were lined up.
“It’s a process of changing the same conditions over and over again and comparing the results. Up until now, I’ve been checking while doing it, but there’s no need for me to be there every time.”
“So, you want your computer to keep working while you’re sleeping?”
“That’s what it is.”
Dad put his hand on his forehead.
“I guess that’s what you meant when you said, ‘I’ll only use it for one hour.'”
“I have no intention of breaking my promise.”
“I know. I know, but I don’t like how it looks like a five-year-old is trying to get around working-hour restrictions with automation.”
“It’s not evasion. I don’t use it for over an hour.”
“You’ve got an answer for everything…”
I also explained the situation to my mother.
I would only use my computer for one hour a day, as usual.
The rest of the time, the preset processing would continue with the machine alone.
However, once the hour was over, I wouldn’t go back to check.
I wouldn’t go to see the results even if I was curious about them in the middle of the night.
Even if the processing stopped, I’d wait until the next day.
“Isn’t that enough?”
After saying that, my mother immediately looked at me.
“But you can’t go look at the results in the middle of the night.”
“I know.”
“Like when you wake up in the middle of the night and go get some water. Don’t even look at it while you’re up.”
“…Is it that forbidden?”
“What’s your reply?”
“Yes.”
Dad laughed.
“That’s the only thing he seems a little dissatisfied with. It makes him seem like a five-year-old, so I’m relieved.”
“It’s normal to be bothered about not being able to see the results even though they’re out.”
“Hold on until morning.”
“Understood.”
One new rule had been added.
◇
That night.
Before going to bed, I opened the notebook on my desk.
I wrote the words I had been thinking about at the top of a new page.
――Someone other than me.
After looking at it for a while, I continued below it.
It tries things even while I’m asleep.
Even while I’m thinking about something else, it investigates.
Even if it repeats the same task tens of thousands of times, it never gets bored.
It summarizes the results into a format that I can use.
“One hour isn’t enough.”
The words slipped out on their own.
The games I’ve created so far have been made by spending an hour a day.
In 《LITTLE FRONTIER》, I created a system for the ecosystem and villagers to operate on their own.
In 《FRONTIER SAGA》, I expanded this to include countries, economies, and history.
In 《Pettan Forest》, on the other hand, I thoroughly removed unnecessary things.
Making games itself is possible even in today’s environment.
The problem was beyond that.
Checking under tens of thousands of conditions to make sure there are no contradictions in the systems I came up with.
Giving the same NPC different situations and checking whether their conversations or actions become unnatural.
Running the economy and seeing if extreme imbalances occur.
Repeating wars over and over again and making adjustments so that no one tactic is extremely advantageous.
And above all.
Putting what I think looks interesting into form as quickly as possible.
Technically, it’s not difficult.
The problem was the amount of time one person could use.
If so, I just needed to increase it.
If I couldn’t increase the amount of time I had, I could create a way for work to continue outside of the hour.
In my previous life, such things were not uncommon.
AI that assisted in tactical judgment. AI that organized the fleet’s vast amount of information. Computational support AI that continued to verify hypotheses set by researchers.
There was no need for humans to handle everything by themselves.
There is something called AI in today’s world as well.
It can hold conversations, compose sentences, and create images.
However, it was a little different from what I wanted.
“Just making things isn’t enough.”
What I want is not a tool that accepts orders and spits out finished products.
What do I find interesting?
How far should I leave things to the machine, and where should I decide for myself?
Why did I choose to create effects from causes in 《FRONTIER SAGA》 instead of lining up a large number of events?
Why did 《Pettan Forest》 reduce the creation functions to only three operations?
If it can’t share that, we won’t be able to create something together, however useful it may be.
I added a sentence to my notebook.
――Not something that gives me the answer, but something that brings me the materials for my answer.
“Is this it?”
It felt a little right.
There’s no need for it to make the same things as me.
There’s no need for it to be me.
In fact, there’s no meaning if we’re exactly the same.
It picks up things I overlooked and brings up possibilities I hadn’t thought of.
After that, in the end, I’ll decide what I find interesting.
I remembered a time in my previous life when I was teaching new employees how to work.
At first, I’d give instructions one by one.
Then teach them the reasons little by little.
Eventually, they’d be able to gather the necessary materials before I said anything.
Eventually, they’d come up with ideas different from my own.
“…A new hire?”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
It’s quite strange for a five-year-old like me to be thinking about training new employees.
But that expression was the closest.
Rather than making a tool. Raising someone who’ll help with development, from scratch.
With that, I’d decided what to do.
◇
The next morning.
While I was eating breakfast, my father called out to me while looking at his smartphone.
“Last night, the computer ended up working until morning.”
“It’s on schedule.”
“I’m not complaining about the electric bill. What were you calculating so much?”
“I was creating the first training data.”
“What?”
“It’s for the development assistance AI.”
Dad’s chopsticks stopped.
In the past, he might have been so surprised that he raised his voice, but lately he’d gotten into the habit of keeping quiet.
After a few seconds passed, he slowly opened his mouth.
“…I want to go back to the me from yesterday and say, ‘As soon as you hear the word calculation, ask for more details.'”
“You can ask now.”
“Then I’m asking. Why AI?”
“I don’t have enough time on my own.”
“That answer’s too simple.”
“That’s the only reason.”
My mother joined the conversation while setting down the miso soup.
“Are you going to create an AI that makes games?”
“It’s a little different. I’m not going to have it make games for me.”
“Then what are you going to have it do?”
“Try out what I’ve created over and over again, compile the results of changing the conditions, and look for inconsistencies between settings. If I need it, I think I’ll also ask it for suggestions for dialogue or text.”
Dad looked a little relieved.
“Then I guess you don’t just leave everything to it.”
“Then there’d be no point in me making it, right?”
“I thought you’d say that.”
After thinking about it for a while, Dad frowned.
“But won’t that AI start something on its own while you’re sleeping?”
“It won’t.”
“That’s an immediate answer.”
“That’s how I’ll make it. It’ll only carry out the tasks I’ve authorized, and it’ll stop if it needs to make decisions outside of its scope. It won’t communicate with outside parties without permission, and it won’t be able to increase its own authority.”
“…Is that kind of restriction something you think about from the beginning?”
“Of course. Deciding what it can do is different from deciding what it’s allowed to do.”
Mother looked at me.
“It won’t send emails to someone without permission?”
“It won’t. I won’t give it permission to touch my contacts in the first place.”
“Speaking to strangers using Yuu’s name?”
“I won’t let it do that either.”
“Shopping without permission?”
“It can’t.”
“Ordering sweets in the middle of the night?”
“I wouldn’t do that even if it wasn’t an AI.”
“I just asked.”
Dad laughed from the side.
“Mom, you’ve been enjoying this from the start, haven’t you?”
“I mean, I want to see what I can ask at times like this to trip him up.”
“Don’t play with me.”
“It’s fine, because you answered correctly.”
Dad was still thinking about it.
“Then, what if that AI gives a strange answer?”
“Rejected.”
“What if it learns something more fundamentally wrong?”
“I’ll make it so I can trace its learning history and the reasons for its decisions. Once I know where it went off track, I can correct it, and if necessary, I can roll it back to a previous state.”
“…If you’re thinking that far ahead, is there any point in me worrying?”
“You’re free to worry.”
“Don’t say things that sound strangely adult.”
“But if there’s anything that bothers you, Dad, let me know. What I think is normal may seem strange to someone else.”
Dad widened his eyes a little.
“That’s unusual. You saying something like that.”
“I found out after making 《Pettan Forest》.”
“What?”
“What I think is easy is different from what other people think is easy.”
Dad was silent for a while, then laughed.
“Then is there something I can help with?”
“There is.”
“I don’t understand technology, you know?”
“That’s not the point. I need someone like you, Dad.”
“…I feel like I was just told something that makes me happy.”
“I don’t think it’s your imagination.”
Mother laughed.
“Good for you.”
“Mom, it’s even more embarrassing when you say it that way.”
Breakfast was finished.
Before I returned to my room, my father called out to me one more time.
“Yuu.”
“What?”
“It’s the same as the promise we made yesterday. Even if the AI is working, you only get to touch the computer for one hour.”
“It’s okay. I’ll keep it.”
“And even if you’re curious about the results, you don’t get up in the middle of the night to look at them.”
“I know that too.”
“Also, if something really unexpected happens, you’ll tell us without hiding it.”
“I’ll do that. Keeping it to myself won’t make anything better.”
At that, I nodded without hesitation.
Being able to control it technologically is one thing, but having to deal with it alone is another.
“I promise.”
“Okay.”
Dad nodded in satisfaction.
◇
I returned to my room and turned on my new computer.
I checked the calculation results from the previous day.
There were no problems.
The data was as expected.
I created a new project.
There was no name yet.
The screen only displayed a blank field for entering a name.
I watched the cursor blink for a while.
This is not a game. It’s not even a weapon.
I have no intention of turning it into a device that simply executes my orders.
It tries things out when I’m not looking, picks up what I missed, and even comes up with a different idea if necessary.
Even so, I’ll decide what to choose in the end.
It’s not me.
But I’ll make things with you.
“First of all, let’s start by teaching you.”
I put my hands on the keyboard.
Until yesterday, this was a job I was doing alone.
It’ll be different from now on.
If I only have one hour, I shouldn’t use that hour just to work.
In that one hour, I can train someone who can work for the twenty-three hours when I’m not there.
With my tiny fingers, I began to type the first line of code.
What I’m trying to create is not another me.
It’s meaningful precisely because it isn’t me. It was the very first one.
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