"Do you want to go in like that?"
Emi looked down at herself.
"What is wrong?"
A staff member arrived at the right moment with two hard hats.
"This place is still under construction."
Satsuki picked up one of them and, standing on tiptoe, placed it directly on Emi's head.
As Emi fastened the hard hat, she replied earnestly, "I will be careful."
"You said the same thing in the server room last time."
"That was an accident."
"And falling into a cardboard box after stepping on a wire—was that an accident too?"
"The cardboard box was placed in a problematic spot."
Satsuki could not be bothered to argue with her anymore. She handed the other hard hat to Chizuru and then took her to the commuter vehicle.
The trip from the landing pad to the tower was short, but the vehicle did not drive directly into the underground entrance; instead, it circled in front of the management center first.
It was nearing noon, and personnel in the construction zone were starting to shift in batches, so the roads were becoming crowded with vehicles and pedestrians.
Emi quickly noticed that the workers passing along the road were almost all wearing the same style of dark gray work uniforms.
The name of their respective companies was embroidered on the chest, and a small Uniqlo tag was sewn inside the collar.
Some of the jackets were covered in cement dust, with white, worn-out patches on the elbows and knees.
Near the supply station, several rows of metal racks were set up where staff members were handing out clean jackets, gloves, and socks to the off-duty shift, while old clothes were tossed into recycling bins on the other side according to their numbers.
She stared at a worker's collar for a while.
"Did Uniqlo make all these work uniforms?"
"Yes."
Eguchi, sitting in the front row, turned around to answer.
"There were originally dozens of contracting companies on-site, and each one purchased different work uniforms, making it difficult to standardize sizes, prices, and durability. Mr. Yanai specifically designed a set of workwear, and now Uniqlo supplies it based on headcount and job position."
Emi looked at the clothes being constantly collected and reissued.
"Can they be replaced if they get damaged?"
"Slight damage is sent back for repair, and those with serious wear are recycled. The hard hats, gloves, and shoes are also uniformly distributed on-site."
"Is Uniqlo going to sell work uniforms in the future?"
Satsuki answered with a smile, "Mr. Yanai is already considering it. People in Odaiba wear out their clothes every day, which is perfect for testing which fabric is more durable for him."
"So the people here are actually Uniqlo's trial wearers."
"At least they do not have to pay for them themselves, right?"
Just then, an insulated truck with the S-Food logo appeared outside the car window, parked in front of the temporary cafeteria.
Staff opened the back door to deliver boxes of lunches inside, while steam was already rising from the window on the other side.
Emi immediately turned her head to look.
"What is for lunch today?"
Eguchi paused for a moment, then lowered his head to flip through the on-site schedule in his hand.
"The main course is curry rice, and there is also a grilled fish set meal and a pork rice bowl."
"Do the people underground eat the same thing?"
"It will be delivered to the Computing Center's lounge area."
"Is there dessert?"
Eguchi clearly had not prepared for this level of detail.
"Dessert…"
"Emi."
Satsuki offered a reminder.
"I am going to be working here for several days, so I need to understand the living conditions first."
Emi said this very earnestly.
A manager beside Eguchi quickly added, "Today there is pudding and red bean bread, and we will prepare chocolate and coffee for the night shift."
Emi nodded, satisfied.
"The conditions here are very good."
Satsuki glanced at her.
"Is your standard for evaluating a computing center whether or not there is pudding?"
"The machines are also very important."
"Are they ranked before or after the pudding?"
Emi considered it seriously for a few seconds.
"That depends on what kind of machine it is."
The few people in the car could not help but laugh.
Next to the temporary cafeteria was an S-Mart converted from a shipping container.
Drinks, towels, and daily necessities were displayed at the entrance, and a few workers were inside picking out batteries and cigarettes.
Further away was an S-Farm refrigerated truck, and staff nearby had just unloaded vegetables and meat into the central kitchen.
There are tens of thousands of people working in Odaiba now, and their needs for food, laundry, and daily shopping have created considerable demand—this is another business opportunity, and it also helps integrate synergy within the Group.
S-Food is responsible for the central kitchen and various cafeterias, S-Farm supplies ingredients with partner farms, Uniqlo is responsible for work uniforms, S-Mart fills the scattered needs on the construction site, and personnel and goods are uniformly transported by Saionji Logistics.
These companies used to run their own businesses, but now they have all appeared on the same construction site.
Emi looked out the window and suddenly said, "This place is a lot like a really big computer."
Satsuki turned to look at her.
"How is it like one?"
"Every part has its own job, and then they are connected through roads and systems."
Emi pointed to the insulated truck that had just driven past the window.
"The cafeteria needs to know how many people there are today, the central kitchen needs to prepare ingredients in advance, Uniqlo needs to know how many clothes are needed in each work area, and logistics needs to arrange vehicles and ships. We can still rely on manual statistics now, but once Odaiba officially opens, the numbers will definitely get larger and larger."
By the time she finished saying this, she had completely forgotten about the pudding from earlier.
"You could connect all this data to the Computing Center. First, predict the daily personnel and material needs, then arrange transportation based on inventory. In the future, all of Saionji's factories, warehouses, and stores can also be connected, and then…"
"And then you will find that the program will never be finished."
Satsuki interrupted her with a smile.
Emi, however, seemed even more excited.
"That is what makes it interesting."
"I hope you can still think that way when you are facing endless bugs."
The commuter vehicle finally stopped on the east side of Saionji Tower.
The entrance was located inside a low equipment management building.
There was a closed passageway between the building and the tower podium, and the underground structure connected directly to the tower base.
There was no conspicuous decoration on the outer wall, only a metal sign that read "SIS Odaiba Central Computing Center."
After getting off the car, Emi's pace quickened.
She had participated in the design of this place and was very familiar with every inspection and every elevator past the entrance.
But no matter how many drawings she looked at, it did not compare to actually standing in front of the door.
Before the staff could guide her, she had already walked to the first security gate.
"Ms. Suzuki."
The security personnel handed her a new identification card with both hands.
Emi took it and looked at it.
The front of the card had her photo, name, and employee number printed on it, with the SIS logo in the top left corner, and a black magnetic strip pressed on the back, very similar to the employee ID she usually used.
"Can my old card not be used?"
"The Odaiba Center uses an independent access control system. Identity information has already been entered, and after entering the Central Computing Area, you will also need to enter a personal password."
Emi flipped the card over to the back to take a look, then suddenly turned to Satsuki.
"Does Satsuki-chan have a new card too?"
Satsuki took her own ID from Chizuru and casually placed it in front of her.
Emi immediately leaned in.
Satsuki's card did not have the SIS logo, nor could any employee number be seen.
On the dark background, only the Saionji family crest was pressed, with her name below it; the design was much simpler than the employee card in Emi's hand.
"Why is yours better looking?"
"Because this place belongs to my family."
That was a perfectly sufficient reason.
Emi looked down at her own standard employee card, then looked up at her.
"I am a very important employee too, right?"
"That is why you were issued a new one."
"Then can you add a family crest to mine too?"
"We will talk about that after you change your last name to Saionji."
Emi blinked, then immediately hugged Satsuki's arm.
"That could work too."
"In your dreams."
Satsuki pushed her away and swiped her card through the card reader.
The indicator light turned from red to green, and the first door opened inward.
When the dedicated elevator began to descend, Emi stood at the very front, staring at the floor numbers.
At first, the construction sounds from the ground could still be faintly heard, but as the elevator descended deeper, those sounds quickly disappeared, leaving only the slight vibration of the equipment running.
Emi waited for a while, then finally could not help but ask, "How much longer?"
"About thirty seconds."
The staff member in charge of guiding them had just finished answering when Emi glanced at her watch.
"It was thirty seconds when we got on the elevator just now."
"Ms. Suzuki, safety checks also take time."
"I know, I have read the procedures."
The other person quickly realized that continuing to explain would only make her ask more questions, so they simply fell silent.
Satsuki stood behind her, watching her.
"The machines are not going to run away on their own."
Emi continued to stare at the floor numbers.
"Captain America might have already arrived."
"Then remember to check when you go out if anyone is carrying a server rack and running to the pier."
Emi imagined that scene and could not help but laugh out loud, and the fingers that had been tapping against her pant seams finally stopped.
The elevator continued to descend for a while, then slowly came to a smooth stop.
After the door opened, a gust of cool air rushed in from outside.
The corridor was wider than Emi had imagined, with light gray walls and metal floors extending into the distance, and the lighting was very even.
There was an isolation door every certain distance, and the temperature, humidity, and power status were displayed on the monitoring terminals along the wall.
The official sign for this floor was hanging at the end of the corridor.
Central Computing Area · Phase I
Below it were two much smaller black characters.
Jade Casket
Emi's pace slowed down.
Jade Casket, a beautifully decorated box used for storing precious items.
This name first appeared in internal project meetings.
It would not be used in engineering documents, procurement contracts, or customs materials, but everyone involved in the construction had grown accustomed to calling this underground center by this name.
She stood there looking at it for two seconds, and the corners of her mouth could not help but lift up.
"Finally here."
The last isolation door opened to both sides, and the low hum in the server room became clear.
The first thing Emi saw was a sea of equipment that seemed to stretch on forever.
Rows of server racks extended into the depths of the room, cooling equipment and fans were operating simultaneously, and the control systems that had already been powered on were flashing with indicator lights of different colors.
She had seen every area here on the blueprints and even remembered the distance between each group of nodes, but when she was actually standing at the door, those lines drawn on paper suddenly had a completely different weight.
Over five hundred i860 computing nodes were right in front of her.
The server racks, wiring, storage equipment, and control terminals were all installed in the positions she was familiar with, just waiting for the first round of overall testing to begin.
Emi paused at the door for a few seconds, then immediately looked for the console.
Shimomura Tsutomu was indeed sitting there.
His shirt was wrinkled beyond recognition, there were several empty cups of coffee on the desk, and a stack of freshly printed operation logs was piled beside his hand.
He heard the isolation door open and turned his chair to take a look.
"You finally came."
Emi walked over quickly.
"You did not turn it on yet, right?"
"The control nodes and input/output systems have already started, and the computing array is still waiting for you."
"What about the program?"
"I fixed two places."
Emi's footsteps stopped immediately.
"You changed my program again?"
"After one node exits, the task redistribution gets stuck."
"It was not like that when I checked yesterday."
"You did not simulate a node failure yesterday either."
"That is because the official test had not started yet."
The two of them had just met, and their tone had already quickly entered a work mode.
Emi handed her coat to Chizuru and pulled out the chair next to Shimomura to sit down.
"Show me what you changed."
Shimomura pushed the keyboard to her and pulled a few pages out from the printed paper.
"Here, and this part of the task scheduling."
Emi lowered her head and looked for a moment, and the excitement she had felt along the way gradually faded.
She flipped through the logs with one hand and entered commands on the terminal with the other, quickly bringing up the node allocation and communication status.
The characters on the screen scrolled continuously, and the computing nodes that had not yet started were all in a waiting state.
"This will not work."
She quickly pointed out one of the sections.
"When the third and fourth groups exit at the same time, the tasks will all be squeezed into the second group. You only handled single-node failures."
"We are testing single nodes first today."
"The machines are all on, might as well test the multi-nodes too."
Shimomura turned his head to look at her.
"You are planning to make it malfunction as soon as you arrive?"
"Fault testing is supposed to involve faults."
"You said the same thing last time."
"It was fixed in the end last time too."
"It took two days to fix."
"So it can be faster this time."
Shimomura looked at her, seemingly judging whether there was any point in continuing the argument.
Satsuki stood behind them and watched for a while, realizing that both of them had completely forgotten she was still there.
The surrounding SIS engineers were clearly used to this situation, each guarding their consoles and equipment areas, just waiting for them to finalize the first round of the test plan.
Chizuru asked in a low voice, "Eldest Miss, do you need to let Ms. Suzuki take a break first?"
"It would be strange if she were willing to rest right now."
Satsuki walked to the observation window and looked at the computing array deep in the server room.
A few years ago, Emi would have been excited for a long time just to take apart a game console, and Shimomura was just a young man who had just been found from school.
Now, what lay before them was a parallel computing system consisting of over five hundred processing nodes.
The area above Odaiba was still in the construction stage, and bridges, tracks, hotels, and residences would also take a few years to be fully completed.
But the underground Computing Center was already prepared a step ahead; it would start from here to connect to Saionji's factories, warehouses, stores, transportation, and communication systems.
A few minutes later, Emi and Shimomura finally determined the first round of the test plan.
Shimomura picked up the printed paper and wrote the number of nodes at the very top.
"Start with eight groups first, sixteen nodes per group. After communication, temperature, and power supply are stable, we will continue to increase."
Emi stared at the screen and said, "Start with half in the second round."
"Let us look at the first round first."
"The first round will definitely pass."
"You also said yesterday that the scheduling program would definitely have no problems."
"It still has no problems now; only the two places you changed have problems."
Shimomura took a deep breath and decided to let the machines start first before continuing to discuss whose program had more problems.
He made a gesture to the engineers in the equipment area.
The power status lights turned green one by one.
Emi inserted her ID card into the console and entered her password.
The screen quickly popped up the final confirmation page, and the key switch next to it had also been turned to the standby position.
She placed her hands on the keyboard but did not press it immediately.
She was very familiar with every part of this system.
How the nodes were arranged, how the programs were scheduled, where the data entered, and which group of equipment it should be sent to—she had participated in the design of it all.
But when those server racks were truly arranged in front of her, her heartbeat still quickened significantly.
Shimomura glanced at her.
"Are you ready?"
Emi took a breath, and a smile appeared on her face again.
"Of course."
She pressed the confirmation key.
The sound deep in the server room changed immediately.
The indicator lights on the first row of server racks lit up one by one from left to right, and green light spots extended forward along the node array.
The data on the console began to refresh rapidly, and the first line of startup information jumped to the center of the screen.
Node Group 01: Online.
The second and third lines appeared immediately after.
Emi leaned toward the screen, her eyes brightening little by little as the number of online nodes increased.
"Mr. Shimomura."
"What is it now?"
"Connect the second group too."
"How long has the first group been on?"
"The temperature is normal, and the communication is normal too."
"Wait another three minutes."
Emi turned her head and looked at him with anticipation.
Shimomura held out for a few seconds, but finally reached out and picked up the internal phone next to him.
"Power room, prepare to connect the second group."
Emi immediately sat back in front of the console, her fingers landing on the keyboard again.
The lights on more server racks began to shine.
Jade Casket had truly woken up for the first time.