Yield
I was a CEO who made a real effort to raise my employees' self-esteem.
After assigning them clear, important work that would let them prove their abilities, I returned to my office.
A single box sat on my desk.
Inside was an LPU that had been judged defective.
"Hmm… defective, huh."
Plenty of things mattered in semiconductors, but if you wanted to make serious money with them, yield was king.
Yield was the ratio of perfectly good products that came out of the factory.
The opposite of the defect rate.
Basically a success rate.
With ordinary products, people usually talked about defect rates.
What's the defect percentage on this item?
That was the normal way of putting it.
But semiconductors used success rate instead of defect rate.
Why? Because with other products it was faster to count the rejects, and with semiconductors it was faster to count the ones that worked.
Of course technology had steadily pushed yields higher, yet they still lagged far behind other industries.
I looked over the LPU yield data.
"A lot of defects."
Defect rate 32 percent, yield (success rate) 68 percent.
Even that number only existed because Illys had designed it and the dwarves had made the mask that TSMC then fabricated.
Even a company with the world's highest yields only managed this much.
Of course this was the first run; repeating the same design would push the number higher.
Building a semiconductor was like erecting an impossibly tiny building—one tiny mistake anywhere along the way and the whole thing became scrap.
The "tiny mistakes" meant things like stacking one layer atop another only to find the metal lines misaligned so electricity could not flow.
Even when a woodworker made a single chair, the gaps could end up a little off.
What did the carpenter do then?
He tapped it with a hammer until the spacing was right.
Exactly. Other products could be hammered and forced into place if something didn't fit.
But with semiconductors, a metal line off by even a nanometer—0.000001 mm—meant a defect.
A breeze? Defect.
Dust? One hundred percent defect.
Static electricity? Defect.
Use a liquid that was 99.999 percent pure and the 0.0001 percent impurity still counted as a defect.
Bad mood? Defect.
Feeling depressed? Defect.
Just… randomly defect.
"There are so many reasons for defects you could write a song about it."
Electricity only flowed when the wires were connected.
If the wires weren't connected, electricity didn't flow.
The most obvious, simplest piece of knowledge imaginable.
Yet a semiconductor packed tens of billions of transistors and linked them with a hundred layers of wiring.
Those wires couldn't be joined any old way; they had to be connected according to complex conditions that matched the logic circuits.
And all of it had to fit inside a three-centimeter square that was only one millimeter thick.
"When you think about it that way, it doesn't even make sense."
It only made sense because the real thing existed. If someone had described this a hundred years ago, who would have believed it was possible?
That was why yield was life itself for a semiconductor foundry.
I stared at the defective LPU.
"Still, if I sent this chip to the Nano World, they could probably fix it."
They could fix it, sure—but there were simply too many rejects.
TSMC had sent over ten thousand defectives.
Ten thousand rejects in three months.
It hurt to waste them.
Yet shipping that many into the Nano World was too much.
"Even Illys probably couldn't handle all ten thousand."
Illys and Ralph had the skill to repair them.
Illys was the one who designed the mask; there was no reason she couldn't fix the chips.
The problem was volume.
"How many could they repair in a year?"
There was another worry.
"Putting Illys on repair duty doesn't feel right."
If I was going to use Illys, it was better to put her on design or mask development.
Better still to have her create something Earth didn't have yet, the way she had made the magical illusion footage last time.
Or she could teach me magic.
I couldn't cast magic myself, but I could activate the magic stored in the artifacts—the circuit boards Illys had given me.
If I was going to activate them anyway, it would be better to understand what I was doing.
Either way, dumping core personnel on reject repair was a bad idea.
"Hmm. How much repair work could ordinary territory folk actually handle?"
Well, when you don't know, you ask.
I took out the smartphone that connected to the Nano World.
By now it was my greatest treasure.
I pressed the call button on the smartphone linked to Rodriguez.
A moment later Illys answered.
"Yes! Constellation!"
Somehow her face was top-tier celebrity material, yet she gave off the vibe of a fresh recruit who'd just been drilled into shape.
I suddenly pictured a female idol entering the army as a new private on some variety show.
Exactly that feeling.
"Illys. I have some broken semiconductor chips I'd like fixed."
"Yes! We will repair them!"
"The thing is… the quantity is pretty large."
"Send them all. We will do our utmost."
"It's ten thousand. And from now on a few thousand more will probably show up every month."
"Ten… thousand?"
"I'll send samples first. Work on them only as much as you can without overdoing it. I don't want you spending your time on reject repair. We have plenty of other things to do, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then I'll only send a few."
[TRANSFER]
How many should I send?
I settled on ten defective LPUs.
Outskirts of the Rodriguez territory.
Illys stood with Ralph and the dwarves.
"I will summon the items the Constellation has sent. Summon!"
A deep, resonant hum filled the air.
A massive summoning circle appeared on the ground.
The earth trembled as a colossal building materialized.
Ralph's eyes lit up.
"I wonder what sort of building it will be this time."
At last the structure stood fully summoned.
"Let's take a look."
Illys and the dwarves entered the building.
"Huh?"
As she examined it from every angle, Illys's expression turned strange.
Recognition hit her and her eyes flew wide.
She clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Ah……!"
"What is it?"
"This… this is something I designed!"
"What?"
"A few months ago I designed it and drew the gold lines on the giant glass plate."
"Ah, the mask work you mentioned?"
"Yes! Exactly that! The Constellation actually built it. I can't believe it."
Illys looked deeply moved.
The glass plate she had designed had been realized as a giant semiconductor building.
The blueprint she had drawn inside transparent glass now stood before her as a physical structure.
Her voice trembled.
"Something that only existed on a glass plate… raised into something this magnificent. I'm truly moved."
Yet the awe quickly hardened into a focused gaze.
"But the Constellation said it was broken. Everyone, search carefully."
"Understood."
Dwarves and a 5-Circle Mage scoured the structure with hawk-like eyes for any anomaly.
"Look carefully. This is no ordinary building. It is an artifact of the Constellation! One wrong line and the entire thing is useless—an extremely delicate structure."
Illys moved from place to place, inspecting the building.
Before long one of the dwarves shouted.
"Found it!"
Illys and the other dwarves gathered around.
A faint ripple of energy rose from the spot she indicated.
The crack became clearly visible.
"So this was the problem."
Illys's eyes gleamed.
"A crack… definitely a headache. The metal frame is misaligned. That's why the mana gets cut off as it tries to pass through."
At Ralph's signal the subordinate dwarves sprang into motion.
"Bring hammers and precision engraving tools!"
"Yes, Chief!"
Tap, tap, clang.
The dwarves used small hammers and fine carving knives to straighten the metal frame and fill every gap one by one.
Their hands were rough yet rhythmic, carrying the accumulated craftsmanship of long years.
Illys stood beside them and gathered silver mana in both hands.
"I'll stabilize the magic circuits so the repaired sections don't shift again."
A low hum rose as Illys's mana stretched out like silver threads and flowed along the lines.
The cracked patterns began to glow once more and settle back into place.
Ralph spoke with open admiration.
"You're taming metal with magic. Remarkable."
"The dwarves' hands are excellent as well. If the craftsmen don't perfectly prepare the path, even if I pour mana through, the metal will only thrash about instead of stabilizing."
"Hahaha! Hearing you say that feels good!"
Ralph laughed heartily, and the subordinate dwarves puffed out their chests and returned to hammering.
"Now search further. There may be more than just this one spot."
"Yes!"
For a full hour they repaired one broken section and thirty-six imperfect ones before the work was finished.
Most of the imperfect spots were places where layers connected.
The metal of the lower layer and upper layer needed to join precisely, yet several places only half-overlapped.
In those cases mana could still flow, but performance and heat generation would suffer.
Ralph spoke to Illys.
"It should be fine now."
"Good. Let's run a final test. I'll send mana through."
Illys focused her magic.
"Mana! Flow!"
A brilliant surge erupted.
Mana streamed from Illys's fingertips.
A 5-Circle Mage.
The building was quite large, yet a 5-Circle Mage could handle a structure of that size.
Whoooosh!
Feeling every current of the mana, Illys smiled.
"Good. It's flowing smoothly. The Constellation's building is complete."
She looked around at the dwarves.
"But the Constellation said there are a great many items that need this kind of repair. He also said he does not want us devoted solely to repairs. This building was a sample. If the dwarves lead the territory folk in repairs, how long would it take?"
Ralph thought for a moment.
"How many territory folk can participate?"
"If we push hard, three thousand. For sustained work, around two thousand."
"Then we can form teams of one hundred territory folk with two dwarves each. That would take five days."
"Understood. I'll report that to the Constellation. Everyone, please come out."
The dwarves gathered outside the building.
Illys had already changed into white prayer robes and assumed a prayer posture.
"Constellation! Please accept this offering!"
The semiconductor vanished.
A soft electronic chime sounded.
Immediately the Constellation's call came through.
"Mm-hmm."
Illys smoothed her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear.
"Constellation?"
"Oh, Illys! You fixed it already?"
"Yes. All the dwarves mobilized, so we could finish quickly."
"Is that so? How was it?"
"Constellation. If it were just me and the dwarves, we could repair more than ten buildings a day."
"No. I don't want you and the dwarves devoted only to that. You and I have plenty of other work, don't we?"
"That is true. So I calculated it: if one hundred of our territory folk form a team with two dwarves, they can repair one building in about five days. If we need speed we can run thirty teams; for steady moderate operation, twenty teams."
"Five days with twenty teams… that makes one hundred twenty a month, one thousand four hundred forty a year."
"Yes. That amount should be manageable."
"Then let's do it that way. I don't want Illys or the core technicians focused on repairs. You should be taking lessons with me and doing more interesting things, shouldn't you?"
For a moment Illys's eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Yes, sir."
"Ah, right! And that illusion magic circuit board you sent last time—looks like its lifespan is up."
"Send it and I will recharge it. But……"
"Why?"
"Have you been watching our video letters continuously?"
"Ah, they were so realistic. They were fun to watch. Seeing Illys in person feels different too."
"……"
"Anyway, got it. I'll send a hundred defectives a month. Please handle the repairs mainly with non-core personnel."
"Yes. I'm sorry the speed isn't higher."
"Don't be. I already know the Rodriguez territory only has about ten thousand people. The quantities on this side are so large I never expected you to fix all of them."
"Still, I'm sorry."
"Oh, by the way, what food should I send this time? Did you like the jerky last time?"
"Yes! The meat was fragrant and delicious."
"Then this time I'll send jerky, Hanwoo beef, and something called cheese. Try them. The Hanwoo is good just grilled, and with cheese it makes a great hamburger."
"Hamburger?"
"Ah, a hamburger is two pieces of bread with a meat patty and vegetables in between. You can make the meat patty by grinding Hanwoo and frying it in oil. Give it a try."
"Yes. I will definitely make one."
A short while later Illys gazed at the massive pile of food that had arrived.
"This is Hanwoo… and this is cheese?"
She first tasted the cheese.
The cheese was a soft yellow color with an extremely intense aroma.
The maids, by now used to tasting summoned food, cut the cheese and distributed pieces to everyone.
Illys examined the cheese on the small plate before her.
The sharp scent that stabbed her nose was like moss from the deep forest mixed with long-aged tree bark.
She cut a small piece with a fork and placed it in her mouth.
The moment the cheese touched her tongue, a dense flavor surged in like a wave.
First it was salty, then it melted like butter, leaving a deep aftertaste.
Illys furrowed her brow as she savored the thick, profound taste.
"Huu……"
She felt as though she were being pulled into the intense world of the cheese.
"Deep and heavy. This must be what people mean by richness. Hmm… why? Why do I suddenly feel so happy?"
An odd feeling of happiness simply from eating cheese.
The dwarves and retainers tasting cheese beside her agreed.
"My lord. We feel the same. Under the protection of our lord and the Constellation we have food this delicious—there is no reason not to be happy."
"Indeed."
While Illys was tasting the cheese, the maids brought over grilled Hanwoo.
"My lord. We have grilled the meat."
The aroma was extraordinary.
Illys carefully picked up a piece of meat and placed it in her mouth.
The Hanwoo melted on her tongue.
For a moment her mind was filled with only one thought: What is this?
She was so startled she could not move.
Soft, fragrant, savory, and heavy—the flavor filled her entire mouth.
Did such a taste even exist in the world?
"Ah……"
At her reaction everyone looked at her.
"This is……"
Illys glanced around.
"It's food that makes the whole world feel lovable."
"Hahaha."
"Hohoho."
Everyone rejoiced and shared a moment of abundance together.
Then someone came running swiftly from the lord's castle.
"My lord!"
It was one of the administrative clerks.
The clerk reached Illys and reported at once.
"A messenger from the Duke Randolph household has arrived!"
"Hmm……"
Illys set down the fork she had been using for the Hanwoo.
The Rodriguez territory was a county, so a messenger from a higher-ranked duchy had come.
Illys's brow furrowed ever so slightly.