Valkyrie Smash
Chapter 40 - 40: How is it any different?

Shizuru stood near the intersection between the male and female dormitories. It had become a part of her routine to wait there for the Doctor, who was now her boyfriend.

Eating meals together was one of the few things they could do as a couple, even though there wasn't much of a difference from when they had yet to start dating. Because of that, she wanted to make sure they didn't miss each other, setting up a time for them to meet as well as send a message to confirm it with her boyfriend.

Her coworkers pressed her for details soon after the news broke out. Apparently they expected her to end up with Jordan at some point, and because of that, they were shocked to hear she went for the gloomy introverted Doctor instead.

"How pitiful." She muttered, sighing as she recalled all the gossip. "Not that I expected them to understand."

To the other female soldiers, Jordan was the more obvious choice. He was the more attractive male according to them, however Shizuru didn't care much about what they thought. Although she didn't say it out loud, the entire time she only thought of how superficial their tastes were.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

A familiar voice shook Shizuru out of her thoughts. She quickly put a smile on and turned to face her boyfriend, but the moment she saw who was standing behind him, she froze in her place.

Having predicted her reaction Sam cleared his throat and glanced at the Valkyrie accompanying him.

"Zero Three, this is Sergeant Kurokami, she will be accompanying us today."

He then turned to face his girlfriend and did the same introduction.

"Sergeant Kurokami, I'm sure you already know who Zero Three is. Please get along with her."

The young Valkyrie came forward and spoke in an energetic tone as she saluted with a smile.

"I'm the independent humanoid anti-Calamity weapon, Valkyrie unit GVI.MC.SBG.U03. You can call me Zero Three."

Still stunned, Shizuru stared at the Valkyrie for a couple of seconds before noticing how nervous she was despite the radiant aura she emitted. Straightening her back and saluting, the Asian girl returned the smile and spoke.

"I'm Sergeant Kurokami Shizuru from the monitoring and surveillance division. It is very nice to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise!"

Zero Three's smile seemed to grow even more vibrant after hearing Shizuru's response. The ease with which the young Valkyrie handled the situation. For someone who rarely ever interacted with humans, she sure was holding it together. Then again she was programmed for things like this. The same logic as humans couldn't be applied to her.

'No, I don't think I have seen her this cheerful before…'

As the thought crossed his mind Sam noticed that his girlfriend was giving him a questioning look. Stopping the sigh he was about to release, he turned to Zero Three and told her he needed a moment to talk with the sergeant.

"Um, Doctor… can you explain, please?" Shizuru asked, having moved a few steps away from the Valkyrie.

Sam glanced behind him for a moment before speaking.

"You have heard the news, right?" He asked.

"Yes, obviously..." Shizuru said, following his line of sight and glancing at the humanoid weapon.

"She has been a little depressed after the battle. I decided to invite her to eat with us to see if we could help cheer her up."

"Depressed? Is that even possible?"

Shifting her gaze back to him, Shizuru let her doubts show, as if what she heard was outright ridiculous. Sam could no longer hold back the sigh, scratching the back of his head as he tried to come up with a way to explain without outing himself.

"I don't know if she's really experiencing the feeling but…" as he spoke, Sam found himself getting surprised by his own line of thoughts. "Does it matter?"

"... What?"

Shizuru's confusion seemed to grow after hearing his statement. Obviously Sam only thought of the Valkyries as what they were; computer programs loaded into an android. The level of complexity distinguishes them from mere machines, however same as everyone he knew they weren't humans.

That said, when he neither confirmed nor denied that the Valkyries are capable of experiencing human emotions, he began to doubt his own beliefs. After all, emotions weren't something that could be proven or quantified.

"Even if it's just something simulated by their AI, the Valkyries are made so they would show the same reactions humans would show under the same circumstances."

The Valkyrie Project file explained that the AIs are capable of analyzing their surroundings at hyper speeds and selecting the right actions and emotions to emulate in reaction to that. The precision in which they can do it is incredible making it seem no different from what happens with humans.

Of course, reactions to horrifying and disturbing stuff are very limited allowing the Valkyries to fearlessly dive into situations that would drive normal humans mad. Without that, it would be impossible for them to effectively operate as weapons.

"What I want to say is…" sighing once more, Sam told his girlfriend the conclusion he had arrived at. "It doesn't matter what she is. If we do something to try and cheer her up, she would definitely react the same way as any human."

The only thing that came out of giving this matter such serious thought was Sam hating the topic more and more. At the very least Shizuru seemed to catch on to what he meant, resolving herself to help him with this task.

"Are you done?" Seeing the two walking over to her, the young Valkyrie asked if their little discussion came to an end.

"Yes," Shizuru approached Zero Three while doing her best to act normal. While she didn't seem to follow her boyfriend's logic, the Asian girl decided to help anyway. "We better get going before all the tables get filled."

"We better hurry, then!"

The three headed for the cafeteria with the girls leading the way while Sam followed closely behind. Watching as the two chatted away, he couldn't help but dive deeper into his previous thoughts.

The Valkyries analyze their surroundings then determine the correct actions, expressions, and tone of voice to emulate under the right circumstances. Even if he were to consider that it's all an emulation, Sam couldn't help but ask himself how it is any different from what the human brain does, which could be boiled down to electrochemical signals.

As the questions continued to rage in his mind, Sam noticed the smile on the young Valkyrie's face. For the first time since he started his current job, his conviction began to crack.

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