~ Fushigi Yuugi ~
Twixt Earth and Sky

by Elwen Skye

Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yuu Watase, Flower Comics, Viz Comics, Pioneer, and probably a lot of other big companies. I make no claims of ownership on the series or its characters. I write this fanfic merely for personal enjoyment and the entertainment of others, no profit is derived.

Warnings: This story follows the anime storyline and includes spoilers for the entire TV series plus both OVAs.
O tanoshimi ni.

~ Chapter 3 ~

New Meets Old
A Showdown of Smarts

Not much that belonged to Jonathan Hollande seemed anything special to look at, neither his appearance nor his lifestyle. What might have made someone interested was his bank account. Fulfilling the new-age American dream, he had made his money off of the stock market and kept it, through ulcer-inducing plunges and dizzying climbs upward.

Moreover, he didn't live like the millionaire he was. A few months ago, he had figured that he could live to sixty, barring any major contingencies, without ever having to work again. But the former computer programmer had no taste for luxury, so he kept his small but cozy apartment in Silicon Valley, the only change being to stock it with the fastest computers and the most up-to-date reference books about all things code.

It was the perfect life, he thought, as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the computer case. Who needed a giant house and a swimming pool, anyway?

A touch to his fancy ergonomic keyboard turned off the screensaver in front of him. "What shall we do today?" he asked aloud, even as he was already moving his cursor toward a specific folder. It was the project that had occupied most of his time for the past two weeks, testing the limits of his abilities: an artificial intelligence that could play go as well as the human experts. The goal had been long dreamed of by computer scientists, and at last the international go community was willing to recognize their efforts with a computer versus human tournament reminiscent of chess with Deep Blue. Jonathan's AI had done fairly well in the early eliminations, but by comparing its performance with his own skill, he doubted his current build had much of a chance against a professional.

The competition organizers had chosen three volunteers from among professional players, one each from China, Japan, and Korea. The three top-performing AIs would be randomly paired with a player and the programmer would be flown out to meet the opponent, like a proud owner showing off his thoroughbred. Programmers were allowed to refine their AIs up to the last minute, but to avoid cheating through tailoring the AI to respond to a certain style of play, the pairings would be kept secret. All the contenders knew was to reserve a certain weekend for the match. That was in a week, now, and Jonathan keenly felt the pressure that always resulted in his best work.

He checked over the code he had added the night before and decided it was time for him to play another test game.

Shizue and Tomo looked at each other in confusion. The mirror was providing guidance in its own cryptic way, much as Taiitsukun had said and Shizue had expected.

"'Chou' means... Chiriko?" the girl asked. "So he knows where the next Terran Seishi is?"

"It seems that way," said Taiitsukun, pointing to the second character. "That is the symbol of Jiroku."

"But who knows where Chiriko is?"

"Don't look at me!" said Tomo. He turned to the old woman. "You are more closely connected to the Suzaku Seishi than I am. Can't you find them like you found us?"

Taiitsukun shook her head. "I cannot stay in this world for very long, at least not until the merging process has progressed a while longer. But I will try to narrow it down as much as I can while I am here. There is no more time for me to waste on discussion. I will send you to them, Tomo, as near as I can, when I must return to the World of the Four Gods."

And with that, she vanished.

Shizue sighed. "Let me guess, now I act normal for another week before something else happens." She wondered how the heroines did it when she read about them. Didn't they ever rue the inconveniences it brought upon their lives to have to save the world? Where was the sense of fierce determination and duty that was supposed to keep her going? She was of the weaker brand, that only bemoaned, "Why me?"

"That's how it goes," Tomo murmured. "You wait for something to happen, wishing for the exact opposite. And you can't even enjoy those times when nothing happens, because you know that something will." He had taken off his make-up again as if to emphasize the (temporary) return to normalcy.

The Terran Seishi looked down at the mirror in her lap. "Somehow I get the feeling that next time I'll be doing more of the work." The characters had moved closer together, with the white one becoming less blurred. Jiroku, she mused, Seishi of Jutsu. She wondered what that meant.

"No sense worrying about it now." He offered her a smile that comforted her not at all.

Jonathan Hollande was losing and loving every moment of it. Because, really, it meant he had won. He was being beaten by his own creation, after all, and, far from being demoralizing, it was exhilarating.

He had always known that his computers were smarter than he was, but this was different. This wasn't an inherent advantage, unlike their perfect memory, their processing power, their strict adherence to logic. This was taught, applied and victorious. However creative he tried to be, he could not overcome the AI. He had finally written a go program he couldn't beat.

The individual watching him could restrain himself no longer. "Play here, sir!" A small, translucent hand reached across his shoulder to point to a position on the screen.

He whirled around, and his voice caught in his throat.

At the same time, his silent spectator, a child no older than twelve, widened his eyes. "You are aware of me?"

"Wh-what the hell are you?" Jonathan asked, recovering his ability to speak.

The child overcame shock enough to sound offended. "I'm a person. But I died, so now I'm a spirit. My name is Ou Doukun, also known as Chiriko."

"Nice to meet you... Chiriko," the programmer said, opting for the simpler name. "I'm Jonathan Hollande. I don't normally see dead people."

"And I am not normally seen, Jonathan-san."

"So, um, not to sound rude, but if there's no particular reason you're here, I'd really feel more comfortable if you left." Jonathan tried to suppress the feeling of hysteria that grew out of the inanity of their exchange.

"I understand," the child answered, although he sounded rather wistful. Apparently the situation was not as disturbing to him as it was to the programmer. Rather than fade out, he drifted toward the hallway.

Jonathan's eyes immediately returned to the monitor, his gaze straying to the position Chiriko had indicated. It took him a moment to understand, but then it was as if everything suddenly fell into place. It was subtle, but brilliant.

"Wait."

Chiriko paused. "Yes?"

"Do you play?"

"Always, when I had the time for it." There was eagerness in his voice, but also regret.

He felt reluctant to ask the child to stay, who definitely gave him the creeps, but this was too much of an opportunity to pass up, and Jonathan Hollande always grabbed his opportunities. "Would you... mind... a match?"

For once Chiriko reflected his age as a smile of pure delight replaced the look of sagely wisdom and sadness he had worn since Jonathan set eyes on him. "I would be honored!"

And thus their match began. At first Jonathan had found it rather awkward, realizing that he'd have to place pieces for the both of them, but he got used to it. He could tell they were evenly matched, although of vastly different playing styles. Everything Chiriko did seemed to be prudent, perfectly thought out, just like his AI, except much wiser. Jonathan preferred to be tricky, not exactly to take risks, but to avoid the straightforward path. Everything his opponent did was, he thought, if not predictable, then completely sensible once played. He liked to keep people a bit confused and off-guard. Not that the child, whom he was quickly coming to see as a genius, was showing any signs of discomfiture. There was a look of concentration on his face, but his eyes seemed to sparkle with pleasure.

As the game progressed, Jonathan watched his opponent's moves more and more carefully, taking his pauses to think himself. Like his play against the AI, all of Chiriko's moves were subtle to discover, he realized, and he had trouble coming up with them as quickly as the child. Grudgingly, he admitted that he was probably looking defeat in the eye.

They continued, however, neither seeming to gain a real advantage over the other. Jonathan even wondered if the child-genius' level was completely incomparable to his own, and that he was merely being toyed with. And yet his opponent didn't seem like that kind of player.

It was dark when they finished the last local skirmish, fortified the final cracks in their walls, and passed their turns. They each skimmed the board silently, counting. It was far too close to call offhand, and Jonathan's heart fell when he reached the opposite edge. Was it going to come down to that?

Chiriko looked up with a smile. "It looks like I lost, Jonathan-san. By five points."

"But komi is usually 5.5."

"Komi?" he asked.

"Don't you know? It's added to white's score, to compensate for the disadvantage of going second."

"Oh!" Understanding dawned in the child's eyes. "That makes a lot of sense. I'd never thought about it before." Then he smiled. "So we each think the other won. That means it was a very challenging game. Thank you very much."

"Don't mention it," Jonathan murmured. "I think I learned a thing or two."

"Um, Jonathan-san, I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"You were teaching that machine to play?"

He nodded.

"Why is that?"

The programmer grinned. "Because it's a huge challenge. Go is very abstract. It's hard to translate the game's principles into code that a computer can understand."

"'Computer'? Is that what that machine is called? But why do you have to put it in code?"

Jonathan frowned. "You don't know what a computer is? Where have you been?"

"I... I'm not from this world. I only came here today."

"Hm, then this could take more time to explain than I thought." And he launched into a speech, which clearly demonstrated his expertise, and his love of his subject, and his rare ability to make it comprehensible.

Another few hours had passed by the time he finished, having gone briefly over computer logic as well as most of his go algorithm. Chiriko had listened spellbound, never for moment paying less than rapt attention. Somehow, Jonathan felt he could trust this strange child of a ghost to actually understand what he was saying, and not just lead him along by smiling and nodding.

"So that's most of it, I guess. I hope I haven't bored you to de--uh, I hope I haven't been boring," he finished lamely.

"No, no, that was very interesting, Jonathan-san."

The twenty-one year old yawned and glanced at his watch. "Wow, it's late. Didn't feel like it. I guess I should go to bed." He paused. "Uh, do you need anything?" He wondered if ghosts slept, and if they needed beds.

"No, I'll be fine. Good night, Jonathan-san."

"G'night."

Chiriko stared at the go board after Jonathan left, running his intangible fingers over the stones. It had been a challenging game. Jonathan's style clearly incorporated more modern techniques than had been known in Chiriko's time. Watching him play the computer, Chiriko had felt more nostalgia than he had since re-awakening. By the time their own match had reached chuuban, he felt that all the theory of go he had once studied had returned to him and he was playing at his best. But he had still lost, at least in his mind. Komi... Chiriko had never felt much of a disadvantage in playing white, but he had noticed many people at the court playing differently depending on color. The concept made a lot of sense, at least. Chiriko filed away the question of how large komi should be for pondering at another time.

Right now, his thoughts were most stimulated by Jonathan's AI. He stared at the board, replaying the game in his head. The computer screen had long since gone dark, but he could still remember all the positions. The flow of the two games was entirely different. The computer's moves were completely prudent, but as Jonathan had explained, could not reproduce the intuition of a human player. It seemed like a shame, that such amazing ability to read ahead should fail for lack of insight. If one could combine the computer's caution with Jonathan's flamboyant style...

Chiriko reviewed what Jonathan had explained about coding. It was like teaching a person to play, except the computer could only think in absolutes, and would always do exactly what it was told. There was no room for the sudden inspirations that had led to the development of new patterns. But Chiriko had never given up on a pupil before, and he had taught many courtiers to play go. Some of them had always taken him completely literally and never deviated from his advice. Now he was teaching an advanced player that needed to learn flexibility, as described by absolute rules. He was sure it could be done. Kneeling before the go board again as if he were still playing, he began placing imaginary stones, ignoring the real ones, and imagining how Jonathan's computer would respond. He mouthed the advice he would give, stopping at intervals to translate all he had said into something the programmer might be able to use.

He was going to teach the computer how to beat them both.

Jonathan wandered into his "living study", as he called it -- the living room converted into a roomy computer study, with plenty of floor space left over. For things like playing go with a spirit, apparently.

He set down the bagel he had grabbed from the kitchen. In yesterday's excitement, he had forgotten about dinner, although his stomach was used to his erratic eating habits.

"Good morning, Chiriko."

The spirit was still there. Jonathan had hoped he would wake up to find it all a dream, and, failing that, half-hoped that Chiriko would have left in the night, never to be heard from again. Now the programmer felt bad for wishing him gone. The child was obviously lonely, and Jonathan, being the only one who could see him, seemed to be the only person who could relieve that feeling somewhat.

"Good morning, Jonathan-san!"

The programmer was somewhat taken aback by the child's eager tone, as if he had been waiting all night just for him to wake up so they could spend more time together.

"Uh... you look like you had a good night." Jonathan had more social skills than the average computer geek, but dealing with spirits wasn't really in his realm of experience.

"I figured it out!"

"F-figured out what?"

"How to teach the 'computer' to play go like we do."

"That's gr--wait, what?" Was this what the child had spent the night thinking about? Well, Jonathan supposed there were worse ways to pass time.

"It's like this," Chiriko said excitedly, waving Jonathan towards the board. He pointed out a few of last night's positions, explaining how they could be handled by complicated algorithms. He soon moved on to other situations, which Jonathan obediently laid out for him, spellbound by the child-genius' ability to grasp in one night concepts he was sure it'd taken him months to master. Once, Jonathan moved to type things up before he forgot it all, but Chiriko insisted that he was only running through preliminary ideas that still needed Jonathan's feedback and approval. They did get into arguments about how to implement certain strategies and principles, but by lunch time they had worked out a much-improved version of Jonathan's AI.

"You're amazing, Chiriko," he murmured in awe. "How could you pick up all this programming so easily?"

The child averted his eyes modestly. "I spend too much time on academics. I'm not good for much else."

"This kind of thing is good for plenty," Jonathan insisted. "This AI'll blow all the rest out of the water. We'll totally win the competition now. ...ah, I'm not sure how I can credit you for all your help. It's practically your program now."

"Not at all, Jonathan-san. If it wasn't for the foundation you laid, I wouldn't have been able to figure anything out, and you were the one who taught me how 'computers' think."

Jonathan grinned. "I guess you're as modest as you're smart. Okay, I won't try to give you all the credit. But I still think you're amazing."

Before they could continue, a third voice reached their ears. "I hate to interrupt this lovely conversation you're having, but I have some important things to tell you," it said smoothly.

They both turned to see a figure dressed in a fantastic costume, with long black hair and a painted face that hid the person's gender.

"Tomo!"

Jonathan was surprised to see Chiriko's tense expression.

"That would be me," the intruder said dryly.

"I'm guessing you two know each other," Jonathan said, hoping to diffuse a situation that looked like it could turn ugly.

"Why yes," Tomo answered, before Chiriko could say anything. "We used to be enemies, but if you will listen to my information, you'll see that we're stuck on the same side this time."

"Why don't we hear him out, Chiriko?"

"As you deem prudent, Jonathan-san. I would guess this matter revolves around you, given that you can see both of us."

"Clever as ever, Chiriko," Tomo said silkily. Jonathan thought he could see the hackles rising from the child's neck. "Did you spend a lot of time thinking last night? It was pretty easy to find this place with all the ki you were exuding."

"Please tell us, Tomo, what reason you had for seeking us."

"Alright, you can have the short version. You," he pointed at Jonathan, "are a Terran Seishi, a warrior chosen to save the world. Our world, which once existed within a book, is currently merging with yours. We, the Seishi of our world, and you, along with others like you, get to fix the mess. Another of the Terran Seishi, Riyuko, is waiting to meet you in Japan."

Both Chiriko and Jonathan were too shocked to speak for a long time.

Chiriko found his voice first. "Jonathan-san is a seishi!"

"I'm a what?"

"Like I said," Tomo continued calmly. "You are a Terran Seishi. You probably have some kind of ability, although it may not have awakened yet. Your Seishi name is Jiroku."

"And... just what the hell am I supposed to do, now?" Jonathan's pitch rose with each word.

Tomo shrugged. "We don't really know either. But Taiitsukun said we should start by gathering the Terran Seishi, at least."

"You've spoken with Taiitsukun?" Mention of the deity's name seemed to dispel Chiriko's antagonism.

"I haven't the faintest clue what either of you are talking about," Jonathan interjected.

Tomo tone varied for the first time. "That's why I didn't want to deal with the explanations," he muttered, half to himself. "I doubt it'll be any clearer unless you just come talk to Riyuko."

"Like hell," Jonathan said. "I'm not going anywhere."

The Seiryuu Seishi shrugged. "Suit yourself. Now that I know where you are, it's no problem to return here again. I'll just go tell Shizue -- that would be Riyuko's original name -- that I found you. I'm sure we'll meet again." He tossed a small white object at Chiriko. "We'll be in touch." His final words were accompanied by an overbearing smile.

And with that, he was gone.

To be continued...

The original characters and situations in this work are copyright Elwen Skye. Please ask permission before reposting anywhere. Thank you.

Notes: Much apologies if this chapter seems forced or contrived. That's probably me writing of things about which I know nothing. Of course, the idea of playing go with a spirit is blatantly taken from Hikaru no Go, but I'd like to think I added some new dimension to it, too.

Finished: August 10, 2006