Episode 47 — Debugging for the Lazy: The Logic of the Circle
—Ding-dong.
The electronic chime echoed through the living room. I was buried deep in the Throne of Sloth, sipping on perfectly chilled cola while checking the monitor synced to my phone.
On the screen was Bartos, looking a bit perplexed yet carrying the air of someone on a "gravity-defying mission."
...Figures he’d show up.
Before New Felsen even went live, I had a vague premonition. Systems never behave exactly how you expect them to; they always cough up unforeseen bugs once they’re actually launched and running.
I let out a sigh and remotely unlocked the front door.
"Excuse my intrusion, Master Zect."
Bartos entered the living room and straightened his back as usual, but there was a hint of hesitation in his voice.
"Master Zect. ...In truth, several reports of collisions between freight carriages at the new city's intersections have reached us. ...Please, do not misunderstand. Compared to the Old Town, the numbers have decreased to a staggering degree! Over a ninety percent improvement... for us, to wish for more would be the height of greed, but..."
Bartos trailed off and leaned in slightly.
"However... a desperate plea has reached my ears. A plea stating that this city requires 'Absolute Discipline'—something that only that person... no, only Master Zect can create."
(...A plea? From who? Well, maybe Gustav or Elishua finally woke up to their inner perfectionist?)
I set my cola down and put on a serious face. Bartos was talking as if it wasn't a huge deal, but to me, raised in Japan, a "traffic accident" is a fatal bug that takes priority over everything else. No engineer worth his salt would look at a ten percent bug rate and say, "Yeah, it’s basically finished."
"...A ninety percent improvement, huh? Listen, Bartos. In my home world, we don't have a culture that tolerates a 'ten percent' accident rate. Especially on these wide roads. As the speed of the carriages increases, a single collision directly translates to 'Death.'"
"D-Death... Is it truly that dire?"
"You have to think that far ahead. ...Fine, I get it. I’ll fix that bug."
First, I visualized traffic lights in my head. Red, green, yellow.
But I immediately reconsidered.
(...Oh, wait. This world doesn't have a power grid.)
Elishua’s magic lamps run on mana stones, which are basically independent batteries. Building a network that "syncs" every traffic light in the city to switch between red and green would be impossible with the current level of technology in this world.
(...Traffic lights have too high an operational cost. I need something low-tech that makes accidents 'physically' impossible.)
I hit on a good idea and smirked.
"Bartos. Bring Gustav here tomorrow. I’ll prepare the materials and explain it then. Also, get a hold of Garam, the stonemason."
"Understood! I shall make the arrangements immediately!"
I watched Bartos leave like a whirlwind, crawled out of my throne, and sat down at my high-end PC in the study.
The most over-specced computing resource in this entire world was now being deployed for the sake of a single intersection.
"...Search. 'Europe,' 'intersections'... and 'roundabout.'"
Images of beautiful circular intersections filled the screen one after another.
I poured through the data, organizing my thoughts into my own interpretation.
(...This is it. The roundabout... a circular intersection. This is the optimal solution for a world without electricity and with underdeveloped discipline.)
I traced the search results, further refining the concept.
"...No need for traffic lights (power). When a carriage enters the circular intersection, its structure physically forces the driver to slow down. And it’s a system where high-speed T-bone collisions simply cannot occur."
Specifically, it works like this: You place a circular, non-passable area called a "Central Island" in the middle of the intersection. All carriages must travel clockwise around that circle.
"...The most important part is defining the 'Priority.' Carriages already inside the circle have absolute priority. Carriages trying to enter must wait until there’s a gap in the flow. ...With just this, the indecision at intersections vanishes."
Next, the issue of "signals." This world doesn't have turn signals.
"...Let’s have the drivers carry 'flags.' When turning left or exiting the circle, they hold up a flag on the left side. While going straight or continuing clockwise, they don't. ...With this simple flag management, surrounding carriages can predict the next move."
I then realized another essential element.
"...I’ll need to package this with 'signs.'"
Which road has priority, where to stop—things like that.
Some residents can't read. In that case, I need to design "pictograms" whose meaning can be understood at a glance and install them throughout the city.
"...Alright, the configuration is set. ...Ugh, more work. ...Whatever."
On the PC screen, a simulation generated by the AI showed carriages smoothly navigating a "Felsen-spec Roundabout."
Once I install this, I’ll never have my sleep disturbed by accident reports again.
Leaving the PC running, I returned to the Throne of Sloth and decided to wait for Tama to come home.
"...Tama. Tomorrow, this city gets even better."
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