Sephiroth Go

Part 9 of The Sword and the Go Stone


The Sephiroth's trip back to Shinamo would take 5 months. Michael learned Go terminology, tactics and strategy, while continuing to soundly defeat both of us when we challenged him

Jin and Sandra spent a lot of time playing against each other, and they were getting better as they did. Jin was definitely better, but Sandra still managed to win about 30% of the games they played.

Neither had beat Michael yet.

When they got bored of Go after days full of long intense sessions, Michael had them running laps around the ship's corridors. He even let them access the dojo and practice fighting with virtual swords.

They were getting better as they got into better physical shape, but their techniques were still bad.

I had programmed a part of myself inside the module, activated by a relay network so that Toyota's border scanners wouldn't detect my presence. Every so often, when Exeter was slow and nothing of note was happening, I would check up on the ship and Sandra, Jin and Michael.

Sandra's play had improved to the point that she might win some bigger tournaments if she came back to Google's network. But Jin's had improved too, he could win a LOT of tournaments, even on New London.

Michael's level of play was actually dropping a little as he learned human names for concepts he knew intuitively. But he was still way better than Jin and Sandra.

I don't like cheats, but I was willing to let that go since he was leaving Exeter for good.

I waited for a week after the Sephiroth passed into Toyota network space, before I tried to make contact. Luckily, Toyota either didn't detect my intrusion, or didn't do anything about it.

I had video feeds of the cargo bay, but I couldn't track what they were doing elsewhere on the ship.

Eventually, I realized from the module's readings that it had been unloaded on Shinamo. I deactivated my connection until needed.


-o-

There had already been activity at the site of the Go Master's Challenge on Shinamo. Michael watched as the Go module's building was unloaded and slowly brought to the ground.

There was a workout building, a small office building with the grandmaster's office, lead mentor's office and program administrator's office, and a large conference room.

A new Combine AI was in it's building on the north side of the compound.

The Go Master's Challenge compound was only a half mile from the Sword Master's Challenge.

As the top-ranked challenger in the challenge, Michael would take the GMs office. Jin would take the Lead Mentor position, and coordinate himself and Sandra and eventually other mentors (4-1s and up). Sandra would coordinate with the Combine AI at the center to run the program.

The Sword Master's Challenge had housing for challengers near that compound, and while Michael was gone, he noticed they had added a new wing to the housing compound.

Finally, he was sitting in Sandra's Program Admin office. She was reviewing the candidates for SMC who already were waiting. They had all been cleared of any computer cheating by the Combine AI, but the module was going to scan them now.

It was time to bring them in and introduce them to the program and then do that.

"You'll be the first person to meet the candidates. Give them the details about the program, and the cheating scans that the module will be doing. I'll be their drill instructor, putting the fear of God in them, and getting them into good physical shape, to keep up with Shinamo standards.

Then Jin will be their teacher and mentor, you can work with him on that as well. I'm going to stay strictly in the role of scary authority figure. Maybe I'll have a sit down conversation with someone once they make a 4-1 rank or so."

"I'll go bring them into the compound then," Sandra said.

"Introduce yourself, tell them about the testing, then march them on foot to the compound, and have them go in, in pairs, to be tested."

"Yep, OK," Sandra said.

-o-


Sandra was used to 4 mile runs after running almost every day onboard the Sephiroth. The ground was a lot more rough and uneven than the ship, however.

When Michael said housing, she had expected a single story building, or maybe two stories. The building in front of her was 4 stories tall, and separated into two wings.

She passed a few candidates or challengers as she entered through the revolving door.  She noticed the sheathes on their hips, confirming they were from the sword program.

Sandra was wearing a red robe like the ones the 7-1 sword masters wore. The belt had one silver star on its buckle. The red was for world 7, one star for level 1. Michael said the Compound AI had some suggestions for new outfits for the Go Master's Program but it had wanted to wait and talk with Sandra and Jin before designing them.

She ran into a group of 2 blue robed men and 3 purple robed men at the elevator. They both did a double take, and she wasn't sure if it was the red robe, or the fact that she was a woman.

"Is this a joke?" one of them finally said as the reopened the elevator twice, standing there.

"I am Sandra K, Go Master's Challenge Program Coordinator. Oh, and 7-1. I will be coming here and gathering candidates for the Go Master's Challenge from the other wing. I hope you would be respectful to myself, Grandmaster Michael M and Lead Mentor Jin W."

"Go, what is that even," one of the blue robed world men said.

"Michael M, man. Remember, the second best fighter in the program?" another said.

"Oh crap, he's a grandmaster of your program now?"

"Yes," Sandra K said. "If you ever get tired of swords... Anyway, I've got things to be doing."

She left them, and took the elevator to the basement, where Michael said the world 1 candidates and challengers would be housed.

There was no one milling by the elevator in the basement. I turned left out of the elevator, and went down the hallway towards the Go wing of the basement.

There were 13 candidates standing there, having a good time, chatting and eating.

"Welcome Candidates!" Sandra shouted.

The men all stood up and formed three lines.

"You are trying out for the Go Master's Challenge. I understand many of you don't even know what Go is. It is a complex and subtle board game played on 361 squares in a 19 by 19 grid. When you play, you will either be placing the white stones or the black stones. You want your side's stones to control more territory at the end of the game. So it is a war game, subtle and powerful, full of threats and counterplay, more similar to martial arts than you may think.

Computer cheating is prohibited at all times. Computer cheating is using an ai or any other computer device to assist you during play, or using an AI to reprogram your neural structures to be more effective at Go. Any AI or computer assistance before or during a challenge will result in your termination from this program.

So your first step in the program is to follow me back to the compound, where the module will check your brain and your possessions to make sure you are abiding by this rule.

Follow me."

There were thirteen men and no women amongst the 1-1s. Shinamo was an almost completely male-only monastic style colony. But Michael had reassured me that Toyota's new policies meant gender equality was expected. Go Master's Challenge would be a prototype for bringing monastically minded women on colony.

The men followed me to the elevator. Sandra sent seven in the first elevator trip up, and she went with the rest after that.

They followed in silence as they walked back to the Go compound.

"This is the Go building," I said, once we got to the compound. We were standing outside the module building.

"You will do all of your challenges, Go practice and over-the-board mentorship in this building. There is a dumb AI known as the module inside this building. The module runs the Go system, and also checks for computer cheating. You will go in twos into the Go building to be checked," Sandra said.

Sandra pointed at two candidates at a time as they went into the module building, and then came back out a few minutes later. She did this again and again until the last candidate was in and out.

"You will have a world and a level in the Go Master's Program. Right now you are all world 1, level 1, what we call 1-1. You haven't even jumped over your first koopa yet! Grandmaster Michael M is the best Go player you will ever meet. He is the grandmaster of the program, and the only world 8 challenger in the program. He is 8-1. Master Jin W is the lead mentor for the program. He will be teaching and mentoring you about Go, I will be assisting him. Master Jin W is 7-2.

I am your Program Administrator. I will bring in all the new candidates, inform you of any promotions or demotions in rank, and answer any questions you may have. I am Sandra K, 7-1. The world is more important than level. 8-1 is higher rank than 7-4. So it is Michael M first, then Jin W, then myself and then all of you.

You will be going through a week long initiation, where you are challenged both physically and mentally. I will give you notice that you have been promoted to 1-2, that is world 1 level 2 at the end of that week. If you have not been promoted to 1-2 by the end of the week, your Go Master's Challenge is over for now. You will be eligible to try again in 3 months.

If you make it to 1-2 by the end of the week, you can continue. For now there won't be any 1-3s ahead of you, so you will continue to challenge other 1-2s and receive challenges from 1-1s. If you lose to enough 1-1s you will revert to that rank and be eliminated from the Challenge.

The best of the 1-2s will claw there way up to 1-3, and so on. We will instruct you regarding who you are allowed to challenge as the weeks go by.

As for now, get a good night's sleep, and be ready for an early start tommorrow morning. Dismissed!"


-o-

Jin had woke up around 7 Sephiroth time to see that it was 9 am local. The Senior Challengers' Building was small for now, but the Compound AI would make it bigger as needed. Sandra K and Michael M were already out and about, when Jin got ready. He put on the Red robe with the 2 silver star belt, shaved, ate a whole nutrition meal bar for breakfast, and went to the module building.

It was the candidates first day playing Go and his first day teaching.

A lot of Elite Amateurs taught, but he had been on the track to being a pro early, and he had funding so he continued to play full time and started making enough money to stuck with it before too long.

Sandra had taught for a year before she became Pro, so it seemed weird that he was being asked to teach instead.

The candidates were all sitting outside the module building doing sit ups with their hands on the back of their heads.

"You're going to keep doing sit ups until your instructor gets here. He's probably sleeping in just to make you work more," Michael was yelling walking around at the candidates. A few of the candidates were obviously already in great shape, but some of them were struggling.

"Go down all the way, not just a little way. Rest your chest on the dirt, and then up all the way. Do you want to be singled out for extra reps, do you?!"

Jin approached the class, bowing to Michael.

"And.... STOP. Candy Asses, Master Jin is here to teach you sorry saps how to play Go! You're listening to him now!"