Purpose of that computer program by Itakura?

[justwantanaccount 125]

Mod note: Please also see companion thread: Black Organization's true plan for info about APTX 4869 and other projects.

Discuss the purpose of the computer program by Itakura here!

Quick reminders about who Itakura was:

• Was hired as the system engineer for developing chess, shogi, and go games in File 377
• Used to be famous for computer graphics - appear often in movie credits for special visual effects, appeared on TV for it
• Eyes got worse three years ago, hasn't done CG since and switched to developing systems
• Had contact with Tequila at his office two years ago, on March 7th
• Tequila expressed interest in a system software that was currently being developed - Itakura said that he declined developing that software due to his poor eyesight and Tequila left
• Itakura used transparent fonts to describe how someone kept breaking into his office on March 17th, and continued until January 6th of next year, when Itakura accepted to do what the BO wanted him to do
• Itakura contacted the queen-like woman over the phone on January 23rd last year - agreed to complete the system software within a year for high pay
• Itakura says on December 22nd last year that he can't develop that program, not only because he has poor eyesight, but also for the sake of humanity
• On February 10th this year, Itakura wonders what the BO will do with the software - he remembers the conversation with the queen-like woman; he says, "who do you think you are?" and the woman replies, "We are both the god and the devil - because we are trying to revive the dead against the flow of time"
• EDIT: Oh, one more thing; it seems that Itakura handed over an incomplete version of the software - does this mean that the BO is still looking for people to complete the software and hasn't used it yet? LOL I have no idea.

It's funny that Itakura's wondering about what the BO will do with the software, when he's the one developing it, hmm. It also seems that good eyesight is somehow required for developing the software. I more or less put random ideas into the poll, since I honestly have no idea what the software could possibly be for, ha ha.

This is slightly OOT, but I can't help but think that the whole angel-devil thing is a big pun somehow, though I'm not sure why. Apparently there's a cocktail named Fallen Angel, though I'm not sure if this is relevant to anything.

So what do you think?

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

Based on the journal, it sounded like Itakura was programming "The Thing" on his own before he was contacted by the Org, and then stopped because of his eye-sight. The Org later contacted him because they wanted him to restart work on the program. Itakura’s program is something an ordinary person would program; specifically someone who programmed games. It probably was a personal project of Itakura's as he was able to stop developing it on a whim; something he wouldn't be able to do so easily if he was paid to make it. If it is a personal project, it doesn't have to be specifically related to games. It could be something related to game development like artificial intelligence, networking, modeling, rendering, etc, or it could be something completely different. That the BO could find out about it in the first place probably indicates that Itakura didn't keep it secret. That means it probably not a virus or something highly illegal Itakura would not want to speak of, although modified it may have those applications.

Although I am not really confident with this, I believe that the computer research program is a project that is working towards the same goal as, but independent of, the APTX 4869 project. I have three main suspicions about what the Org is trying to do with the computer programming agenda.

One is to enhance the abilities of the mind through computer interfaces, basically to augment the brain with data stored on a computer. The problem here though is that this is a worthwhile goal, not something someone would not want to complete for the sake of humanity.

The second is to create a vast information and monitoring network. I got this idea from the Sherlock Holmes canon. "He [Moriarty] sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them". It would certainly help with crime, and would also fit the bill for being bad for humanity, but why would Itakura, a game programmer, be working on something like this to begin with, even if it was a personal project? Keep in mind Itakura's project likely wasn't secret.

The third theory is based on a recent suspicion that the Org's real goal is to be able to preserve one's mind eternally while maintaining mobility. One way to accomplish the goal would be to retard aging indefinitely - basically immortality which is what the biochem agenda is after IMO. Another way would to be able to create a perfect replica of the thought processes of a human on a computer, basically digitizing people. It is an AI based project, which fits for a game programmer, would require the smartest programmers known, and taken to a logical extreme becomes bad for humanity. However I also think it is also kind of "out there" for a theory.

So in conclusion, I don't know.

[kaRAN 10]

thx for the information

[justwantanaccount 125]

Based on the journal, it sounded like Itakura was programming "The Thing" on his own before he was contacted by the Org, and then stopped because of his eye-sight. The Org later contacted him because they wanted him to restart work on the program. Itakura’s program is something an ordinary person would program; specifically someone who programmed games. It probably was a personal project of Itakura's as he was able to stop developing it on a whim; something he wouldn't be able to do so easily if he was paid to make it. If it is a personal project, it doesn't have to be specifically related to games. It could be something related to game development like artificial intelligence, networking, modeling, rendering, etc, or it could be something completely different. That the BO could find out about it in the first place probably indicates that Itakura didn't keep it secret. That means it probably not a virus or something highly illegal Itakura would not want to speak of, although modified it may have those applications.

I don't know about Itakura coming up with the project on his own, my impression was that the project was already present and someone asked Itakura to work on it but he declined due to his eyesight, then Tequila visited Itakura because Tequila thought that Itakura was working on the project. Maybe (Re-read the passage, mistook "abandoned" for "declined", guh) you're right and Itakura came up with the project more than three years ago then abandoned it three years ago due to his eyesight, then Tequila somehow found out about that project one year later and visited him . . . anyways, I guess this isn't really an important point in the first place. You're right that the program probably isn't a virus or whatever, since it seems that the BO didn't come up with the project . . . though if some company came up with the project, maybe that company was under BO's control, hmm. *contemplates*

It would have been kinda cool plot-wise if it was a worm like Stuxnet or something, ha ha. Though that would probably make the FBI/CIA the bad guys rather than the BO, but - oh well.

It's really weird to me that the program requires good eyesight, though. Itakura continued programming as a system engineer (google tells me that this involves coordinating different programs, though I'm not completely sure what the job involves), so he can program with poor eyesight. I tend to think that the program is CG-related - in this sense, your suggestion about the program being game-development-related makes sense.

What doesn't make sense to me is that Tequila continued looking for different computer programmers when Itakura was already working on the program. Does that mean that there are different computer programs that the BO wants to develop? Or was Tequila trying to recruit all those programmers for a single program? Tequila was looking for software programmers, right? There's no way that the BO is trying to develop new hardware, right? Were all those software programmers from Mantendo? I can't remember - but the fact that Tequila asked the list of programmers from a Mantendo employee suggests that the program(s) really is/are related to games somehow, doesn't it? As in the program does something that gaming programmers would be required to know how to program, like you suggested? Hmm.

EDIT: The list of programmers Tequila tried to obtain consisted of the most talented computer programmers all over the world, according to File 116.

[kaRAN 10]

wow :shock:

[Balthazar Manfredie 226]

dont all great crime organisations want a program that can hack anywhere they want without alerts and traces that connect back to them, i dont see how it helps them in their plans of immortality or something else

im confused on the program

[justwantanaccount 125]

^ In real life I think that would be true, but I don't think Aoyama knows all that much about computers. Besides, Itakura can be a system engineer for three different games just fine but somehow he needs good eyesight to do the program the BO wants him to do - so I don't think he would have mentioned that he needed good eyesight if he was going to develop some cracking program. I think that the program is CG-related, since Itakura quit doing CG work when his eyesight worsened (though I don't know if that would apply in real life). But then, I have no idea how the heck CG would threaten humanity, hmm.

[Black Demon 466]

I don't know how a computer program could help bringing immortality and such... Maybe it's just a process in achieving the organization's goal.

[Scar Akai 65]

Based on the journal, it sounded like Itakura was programming "The Thing" on his own before he was contacted by the Org, and then stopped because of his eye-sight. The Org later contacted him because they wanted him to restart work on the program.

But didn't Vodka say that they were the one who forced him to create it???

And another weird thing.... why didn't Conan just give an empty disc or damage the disk before giving it to the BO?

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Im agreeing with Chekhov to a large extent and Im guessing the BO is actually developing something AI. Itakura mentioned something about humanity. Perhaps his program was actually still not dangerous but BO wanted him to add in some small feature which rendered it dangerous. We have to understand that, Aoyama's "humanity" was defined at the time when it was aired. It could be a controversy at that time when it is not now. AI is also something which was debated about a while ago. Could it be that, the BO wanted him to produce some program which is able to function like a brain? We know of stuff like Neural Networks now. Could it be that Itakura was building something like that for his chess game so that the system is a highly advanced system which can learn moves to counter the opponent, but now he was forced to complete it for an actual human?

Since "revival" was mentioned, could it be that BO wanted to plant memories into this "artificial brain" and place it into a person and use the APTX4869 to keep that person alive forever??? o.O

[Black Demon 466]

Assume that the BO woman was really Vermouth talking, then why did the phone call even lead to her in the first place ? That's not her profession, was it ? Wouldn't it be more suitable if the one to answer the phone was Tequila, or anyone who's in the software division thingi ? What did Vermouth have to do with that program ?

Assume that Tequila was out somewhere, and Vermouth just happened to be near his phone by chance, so she answered it. But that doesn't explain why did Vermouth even hang out at Tequila's place, while she was supposed to be Sharon at the time. And yeah, that crazy "cat noise" doesn't lead anywhere either...

[CarpetCrawler 280]

I have nothing to add other than that I've pinned this topic, because it needs to be pinned. Fascinating discussion, everyone!!

[Akazora 293]

Assume that the BO woman was really Vermouth talking, then why did the phone call even lead to her in the first place ? That's not her profession, was it ? Wouldn't it be more suitable if the one to answer the phone was Tequila, or anyone who's in the software division thingi ? What did Vermouth have to do with that program ?

Assume that Tequila was out somewhere, and Vermouth just happened to be near his phone by chance, so she answered it. But that doesn't explain why did Vermouth even hang out at Tequila's place, while she was supposed to be Sharon at the time. And yeah, that crazy "cat noise" doesn't lead anywhere either...

This is just a thought (and a stupid one at that), but what if Tequila and Vermouth are related in some way? Maybe in a romantic sense? Tequila's a high ranking member, even though his time in the spotlight is cut short by the bomb. It's very possible that Vermouth, being in a sexual relationship with Gin, was also in a sexual relationship with Tequila. And maybe that cat noise, as Chekhov as mentioned in some post somewhere else, is actually a baby but is actually Tequila and Vermouth's baby instead of the more common Gin and Vermouth baby. But that's a different theory for a different topic. I guess I should also add in two more cents about what I think about the computer program. Anyway, I think that this computer program isn't really directly involving immortality, but is more about increasing and enhancing brain function. Because even if you live forever, there's only so much a brain can store. And when your memory runs dry, you might as well be dead. So maybe this program has something to do with increasing the amount of knowledge a human brain can process, possibly by having surgery and inserting some super chip in your brain. And maybe that super chip is really small so though it's still possible to do the actual computer work, transferring and creating and working with the chip's interior would be nearly impossible. But this is just a theory and I'm not that great with theories. But, like I said before, this is just my two cents (four if you count the Tequila and Vermouth relationship).

[Black Demon 466]

This is just a thought (and a stupid one at that), but what if Tequila and Vermouth are related in some way? Maybe in a romantic sense? Tequila's a high ranking member, even though his time in the spotlight is cut short by the bomb. It's very possible that Vermouth, being in a sexual relationship with Gin, was also in a sexual relationship with Tequila. And maybe that cat noise, as Chekhov as mentioned in some post somewhere else, is actually a baby but is actually Tequila and Vermouth's baby instead of the more common Gin and Vermouth baby. But that's a different theory for a different topic. I guess I should also add in two more cents about what I think about the computer program. Anyway, I think that this computer program isn't really directly involving immortality, but is more about increasing and enhancing brain function. Because even if you live forever, there's only so much a brain can store. And when your memory runs dry, you might as well be dead. So maybe this program has something to do with increasing the amount of knowledge a human brain can process, possibly by having surgery and inserting some super chip in your brain. And maybe that super chip is really small so though it's still possible to do the actual computer work, transferring and creating and working with the chip's interior would be nearly impossible. But this is just a theory and I'm not that great with theories. But, like I said before, this is just my two cents (four if you count the Tequila and Vermouth relationship).

Actually that idea was originally come up by me, though I didn't go that far and think that it was Vermouth's baby with Gin or something like that...

And also, Tequila is not as highly ranked as Vermouth and Gin. If I'm not mistaken, it was stated in Conan Drill that he is just Gin's subordinate.

[Lia. 45]

Maybe it's some sort of computer game that has to do with CGI effects?

[Charala97 23]

Assuming that the 'queen like' woman Itakura spoke to was Vermouth, I agree with Black Demon that there was no need for her to convince Itakura to take up the project..... And I doubt that Tequila had any kind of relationship with kind of relationship with Vermouth. In the mystery train arc, Yukiko mentioned about the fight Sharon had with Itakura.... I wonder if it had a deeper meaning as Vermouth sternly told Yukiko to keep quiwt, maybe she was closest to uncovering the truth behind the program. I kept rereading that part to see if I could get a clue, but it didn't help.... 

[dorrag 0]

Apoptosis is (according to Wikipedia) a process of programmed cell death. Maybe Itakura discovered some algorithm applicable to the biochemical area (for example something related to Conway's Game of Life - maybe observing those changing tiny pixels requires good sight), or developed some means for DNA programming.

In any case, my theory is that Itakura's program (controller) + APTX (carrier medium) are intended for controlling cellular processes. Probably the current APTX (as used on Shinichi) used suboptimal/defective control program and therefore behaves unpredictably.

[Uchiha Shadow 44]

I'm going by the most popular theory that it's digital immortality or something similar to it, since we barely have anything on that so far.

[Balthazar Manfredie 226]

I'm going by the most popular theory that it's digital immortality or something similar to it, since we barely have anything on that so far.

that one is overused

[Uchiha Shadow 44]

that one is overused

True, but it's not like there is a lot of choices that really make sense, the only thing that I can think of is creating a digital world/simulation but that is obviously way too far fetched and I don't think it's possible anyway, besides I don't see the benefits of something like that to the BO except like, them wanting to create a simulation where crime is a normal thing to do but again there is no way that's what it is.

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

that one is overused

It might not have been that overused 20 years ago.

[Balthazar Manfredie 226]

It might not have been that overused 20 years ago.

im thinking it has

i went back and a lot of american comics, cartoons, or whatever have that program thingamajig

its popular in marvel and DC

i dont know, we might never get to see what it is 

 

also im thinking if the program turns out to be that, folks would like...meh