Dawn broke, and April 12 had arrived.
"Well, I'm heading out."
"Mm. See you later."
Barely finishing his breakfast, Jin dashed straight off toward the Go-lab.
"Reiko, please fetch that thing for me."
"Yes, Father."
Following Jin's instructions, Reiko split off on a separate errand.
When Jin arrived at the Go-lab...
"...Morning."
"Jin-dono, good morning..."
"...Mmnnya."
Half the researchers were slumped over their desks, and even those still awake had dark bags under their eyes.
"Ah, so you really did pull an all-nighter."
Understanding their enthusiasm all too well, Jin had feared this exact outcome.
"Once we got started, we just couldn't stop..."
Surprisingly, Eira was still in high spirits. Much like Jin, pulling an all-nighter was nothing unusual for her.
"Still, we managed to make something we're genuinely satisfied with."
Groma Tray also looked relatively refreshed despite staying up all night.
Kachea, on the other hand, was among those who had collapsed into a dead sleep.
Just then, Reiko arrived.
"Father, I have brought them."
She carried Persica juice—all twenty bottles that had been stocked aboard the Hurricane.
As a side note, whatever portion was consumed would be immediately restocked by Laojun via transporter.
"Oh, thanks. Good work....Eira, Groma, have some of this."
Jin first handed bottles to the two he knew best.
"Thanks..."
"Thank you..."
Perhaps relaxing now that the project was finished, both looked a little groggy as they accepted the Persica juice from Jin.
Being hungry as well, they promptly downed the drinks in one go.
"...Mm, this is delicious."
"It really is....I feel like my energy is coming back."
Jin then handed out Persica juice to the other members as well.
"Ah, so good."
"It really does revitalize you."
"With this, I think I can keep going a bit longer."
Handing the remaining bottles to Laboratory Chief Rasnat Heilbronn, whose expression had brightened a bit, Jin asked him to save them for the members who were currently asleep.
"That is a huge help."
Rasnat stowed them away in the lab's refrigerator. Then,
"Now then, Jin-dono, please take a look at our completed small golem!"
he proudly announced with vigor.
"Oho, that's an innovative body design."
The 1/4-scale small golem developed by the Go-lab was made of magi-resin, with the head, forearms, chest, pelvis, and shins guarded by thin 64 light silver plating.
Conversely, the neck, upper arms, abdomen, and thighs left the magi-resin exposed.
"Since it's only a quarter of standard size, this is more than enough to ensure sufficient structural strength," Rasnat Heilbronn explained on behalf of the development team.
"We also incorporated a simple skeleton inside to bolster its overall rigidity."
He noted that magi-resin alone didn't seem capable of withstanding 20G.
"I see. I think that's a great approach. Wonderful work!"
Jin praised the idea enthusiastically, agreeing that it was a practical solution.
"Thank you very much. Hearing that from you, Jin-dono, is truly reassuring."
"Have you conducted a test run yet?"
"Yes. Multiple times during development."
Because Forming was barely affected by the golem's overall size, assembling the basic control system had been remarkably smooth, he explained.
Instead, Rasnat admitted they had struggled far more with installing the vocalization functions and basic knowledge base.
Without access to Trans Info, Jin imagined that must have required an enormous amount of labor.
"However, aren't the conversational functions and basic knowledge base essentially identical to the Adriana-style?"
"In principle, yes, but because the control core is different..."
Rasnat explained that the way the control core operated differed fundamentally between the endoskeleton-based Adriana-style and a Forming build.
However, Jin pointed out,
"That's a common misconception. Movement routines aside, conversational capabilities and basic knowledge shouldn't depend on the golem's structural framework."
Since these were established, standard routines, there was no need to build them from the ground up every time.
"However, with Forming, the entire body is essentially... Ah!"
Cutting himself off mid-sentence, Rasnat seemed to realize it on his own.
"We just need to embed a separate control core dedicated strictly to vocalization!"
"Precisely. It only needs to be a very small one, so the added cost will be negligible."
"We will certainly do that next time."
"Laboratory Chief, let's run the test!"
One of the researchers, reenergized by the Persica juice, called out eagerly.
"Ah, right....Jin-dono, shall we?"
"By all means. Let's see it in action."
With that, the operational test of the 1/4-scale small golem was ready to begin.
"Start."
The commander was Go-lab's Laboratory Chief, Rasnat Heilbronn.
"Prototype No. 4, initiating operational test. Run check Pattern A."
"UNDERSTOOD."
Listening to Prototype No. 4 speak, Jin was impressed that its voice wasn't overly shrill despite its diminutive frame.
In Jin's builds, he frequently used the vocal cord method, which naturally caused the pitch to rise as a unit's size decreased.
The vocal cord method produced sound by physically vibrating artificial vocal cords using exhaled air just like a human. This approach was especially favored for automata and excelled at producing natural-sounding speech.
By contrast, golems crafted by makers other than Jin typically relied on what could be called a speaker method, where magi-crystals were vibrated through magi-craft to generate sound. While much simpler to implement, it tended to impart a noticeably artificial timbre to the voice.
Incidentally, the automaton Anne, who had been unearthed from ancient ruins in the past, had initially spoken using a speaker-type setup before being upgraded to the vocal cord method during Jin's overhaul.
Setting that aside.
Following Rasnat Heilbronn's commands, Prototype No. 4 executed a varied sequence of movements.
"Standardizing the diagnostic movements into preset patterns is a solid approach."
It made comparing performance against other models far simpler, Jin noted with admiration.
Furthermore, Jin couldn't help but think that Check Pattern A bore a faint resemblance to radio calisthenics.
"Reiko, what do you think of its suitability as a model airplane pilot?"
Reiko's dynamic visual acuity far exceeded human limits. When it came to analyzing rapid, high-speed motions, her assessment was even more precise than Jin's.
"Yes, Father. Its performance appears entirely sufficient."
"Yeah, that was my impression too."
From what Jin could observe with his own eyes, he felt confident that piloting duties could safely be entrusted to it.
"Rasnat-dono, this is more than ready to go."
The moment Jin gave his stamp of approval, Rasnat and the rest of the Go-lab crew broke into wide, relieved smiles.