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

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

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

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

nTo 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.

n“Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

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

nHaving predicted her reaction Sam cleared his throat and glanced behind him.

n“Zero Three, this is sergeant Kurokami, she will be accompanying us today.”

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

n“Sergeant Kurokami, I’m sure you already know who Zero Three is. Please get along with her.”

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

n“I’m the independent humanoid anti Calamity weapon, Valkyrie unit BHSFAB03. You can call me Zero Three.”

nStill 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 as well, the Asian girl returned the smile and spoke.

n“I’m Sergeant Kurokami Shizuru from the second monitoring and surveillance division. It is very nice to make your acquaintance.”

n“Likewise!” Zero Three replied, her smile more radiant than ever.

nSam was surprised by the ease in which the young Valkyrie handled the situation. For someone who rarely ever interacted with humans she sure is managing to act normally. Then again she was programmed for things like this. The same logic as humans couldn’t be applied to her.

nNo, I dont think I have seen her this cheerful before…

nAs the thought crossed his mind he 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.

n“Um, Doctor… can you explain, please?” Shizuru asked, having moving a few steps away from the Valkyrie.

nSam glanced behind him for a moment before speaking.

n“You have heard the news, right?” He asked.

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

n“She has been a little depressed after the battle.” Sam said, turning to Shizuru with his usual calm expression. “I decided to invite her to eat with us to see if we could help cheer her up.”

n“Depressed?” Shizuru gave a doubtful look, as if what she heard was outright ridiculous. “Is that even possible?”

nSam 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.

n“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?”

n“What?”

nShizuru’s confusion seemed to grow after hearing his statement. Obviously Sam only thought of the Valkyries as what they are; 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.

nThat said, when he neither confirmed or denied that the Valkyries are capable of experiencing human emotions he began to doubt his own beliefs. After all emotions weren’t something that can be proven or quantified.

n“Even if it’s just something chosen by their AI, the Valkyries are made so they would show the same reactions as human under the same circumstances.”

nThe 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.

nOf 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.

n“What I want to say is…” sighing once more, Sam told his girlfriend the conclusion he had arrived to. “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.”

nThe 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.

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

n“Yes.” Shizuru said, approaching Zero Three while doing her best to act normal. “We better get going before all the tables get filled.”

n“We better hurry, then!”

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

nThe Valkyries analyze their surroundings then determine the correct actions, expressions and tone of voice to emulate under the right circumstances. If one were to disregard the notion that it’s all an emulation, how is the way AI does it any different from what the human brain does, which could be could be boiled down to electrochemical signals?

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