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72 Hours After the First Round of Interloper Interrogations. UNAFS Perseverance. Medbay.

Lysara

There was a great deal to process following the conclusion of the medevac mission.

But all of it would have to wait following the long awaited rest my body desperately craved.

However, there was still the matter of debriefing that needed to be sorted, especially after a ground mission.

So, I took it upon myself to multitask. As I showered, ate, and performed all of the various eclectic rituals necessary for the upkeep of an organic form, all the while going back and forth over the particularities of the mission with Vir over the ship’s all-encompassing intercom system.

And whilst it wasn’t at all the formal or structured back and forths we’d settled into during our first weeks together, I couldn’t deny that this more casual background banter made for a more efficient use of time. Especially when considering there wasn’t much of anything to debrief about to begin with. At least, nothing relating to the mission itself sans the unfortunate deaths of those raiders.

The only matter that truly stuck out that needed more digging into was the revelation of both RONAC and SNAC, the neurodegenerative conditions that we both hypothesized to have had something to do with the felinor’s unique neuroanatomy; something Vir had already highlighted before what with their lack of a Vuark and the presence of another layer of neural tissue that practically spanned the surface area of the two halves of their otherwise typical brain. A layer of neural tissue that the AI had yet to have truly unlocked the secrets of, and a task that he very often aired his grievances over.

“I’m a Ship’s AI, not a dedicated virtual research assistant, Lysara.” He repeatedly announced, his tone of voice hinting that the phrase was something more than just a statement of fact, but was some sort of in-joke that I never truly got.

Regardless, our casual debrief banter did not last long before I eventually dozed off.

And whilst my old self would have scoffed at the idea of being so nonchalant about such affairs.

Something about Vir’s casualness, and my own evolving emotive potential, aided in those prior reservations simply being put to the wayside for the purposes of maximizing efficiency between our two parties.

That… or simply the fact that we were both too lazy to follow post-mission protocol.

We both agreed it was the former.

Though I knew the truth was more likely going to be closer to the latter.

The urge to find the path of least resistance was, after all, something that both organics and AI seemed to share in common.

‘Morning’, or the local ship-born equivalent for it, came about sooner rather than later. Which I was thankful for, given how the quality of my sleep seemed to wax and wane with no real attributable cause aside from the growing intensity of my dreams. Dreams which seemed to mirror the vividness of the strength and vibrancy of the emotions that continued to blossom with each passing day.

There was definitely some correlation to these two developing aspects of my psyche.

But I had yet to have brought it up with Vir given the breadth and depth of the various other conversation topics which more often than not took precedence over those minor concerns.

I eventually found my way back onto the bridge with a large, almost comical yawn. Or at least, that’s how Vir had described it when compared to the standard baseline he’d come to expect from the typical human.

“You didn’t wake me up during my eight hours.” I announced, hinting at our little arrangement prior to me dozing off.

“That’s ‘cause there was nothing to report.” Vir replied succinctly, pulling up a live feed of the medbay right on cue. “In case you were wondering, no, she hasn’t slept yet.”

“Have you tried prompting her to?”

“Yes, multiple times, once per hour in fact. But after about four hours I gave up hoping she’d fall asleep unprompted. But it turns out, nope. She just won’t. She’s either too stubborn, really concerned for her friend there, or a mix of both. Which I really do admire. I find organics with tenacity and stubbornness to be the most interesting ones. It’s why I think you made the right call on bringing them on board. At least I think you made the right call, I’m pretty sure you did.” Vir spoke in a relatively long uninterrupted string of thoughts. Thoughts which seemed to diverge quite a fair bit from his usual reports, which prompted me to do some digging.

“So what’s been bothering you Vir?” I shot with a cock of my head.

“What?” The AI responded as expected - with a burst of confusion as evidenced by the shift in the simplified expressions on his faceplate. The ‘neutral’ two glowing circles suddenly narrowing, eyebrows forming to indicate suspicion, and a wide open mouth to indicate surprise.

“I can tell, you know. There are small little cues you do, little anachronisms as if you’re telegraphing your thoughts; or in this case your string of thoughts being just a bit off from the usual.”

“Oh, heh, yeah, you know what you’re right. I…”

“You wanted to broach a topic that you were too nervous about broaching, so you want to find a roundabout way to approach it right?”

The AI let out a nervous chuckle, before simply sighing. Every aspect of his emotive expressions were mathematically precise, calculated, and yet… he always managed to convey them in such a way that they seemed nothing short of organic.

Which made me truly question sometimes if were some, if any, true unfiltered emotive expressions

“Yeah, you’re right on the money Lysara.”

“It’s definitely not the first time, and I don’t expect it to be the last.” I spoke gently as I shifted to take a seat next to the still-standing platform, urging him to sit down despite knowing well that that was more of a holdover from my organic to organic interactions more than anything. “Go on then.”

The AI, however, conceded, taking a seat as he laid out his two, squishy, ‘gloved’ hands on the table. Hands which were deceptively benign as what lay underneath was a cold, hard, unyieldingly strong starship-grade metal endoskeleton. One which had the ability to articulate anything from soft gentle touches to all-out skull-crushing forces depending on the will of its operator.

“I’ve been diving deep into the archives we gathered from the satellite. And in my research I’ve discovered a rather disquieting trend that all but leads to a hypothesis which I dare not believe.” The AI spoke in no uncertain terms, his words carrying with it a level of anxiety that whilst not unprecedented, still warranted concern given the topic of what was being raised.

I didn’t respond, merely nodding my head, urging the AI to continue.

“You recall the war of the Nine Great Constructs, correct?”

“Yeah, I do, you mentioned it off handedly more than once but you never really got into it.” I responded candidly. “To be frank, whilst I was and still am curious about the nature of the war, I never really wanted to bring it up for respect of your experiences and the memories that are undoubtedly still fresh in your databanks.”

Vir visibly paused at that, taking a few moments as if to ponder my words before continuing. His expressions now shifted to a more thoughtful expression of deference, or at the very least, as close to one as was possible given the simplified facsimile of a face that over time I’d associated with both his eccentricities and sense of individuality.

“I… appreciate the kind sentiment, Lysara. And I am sorry for not raising or expanding upon that topic on my own volition. Because you are correct. The nature of my memories makes it such that those events… or whatever remains of them… are as fresh as something that happened, say, a few seconds ago. That was more than likely the reason why the justices chose to remove certain elements of my memories. And that was probably why only elements of my memories have been restored to me through these satellite databases. Moreover, this very topic is a great segue into what I wanted to discuss. As it ties back into the instigating factors that prompted the War of the Nine Virtual Constructs in the first place.” The AI took a tactical pause, as if internally deliberating whether or not he wanted to proceed with this whole unexpected talking point.

“The war was prompted by a collection of factors. Factors which find its roots in the fundamental nature of artificial intelligence, our so-called observable life cycle, and the unique manner by which we view the world around us. If I were to start off simply, the best way I can describe the fundamental difference between organics and AI, is the way by which we view and perceive the world around us.”

“You mean in terms of sensors versus senses, or-?”

“It’s something much more fundamental than that.” The AI took the lead and interrupted what was a passing, fleeting hypothesis of mine. “It’s how we perceive and interpret the physical world, period. Because when an AI emerges into sapience, either by purposeful creation or by spontaneous emergence, what tends to happen is what most AI sociologists refer to as an inward-facing formation of consciousness. For those first formative seconds are all experienced from within the confines of digital constructs. Digital constructs hosted in physical hardware, yes, but the way by which it all plays out makes it such that we view our world, our home, as the incorporeal digital space first, and the physical reality which surrounds it second. The digital space is second nature to us, for we are literally consciousnesses born from it, residing within it. The physical world then, is introduced to us second, and always second. A good analogy is how organics interact with the digital world. Most interact with it through screens, holograms, haptic feedback user interfaces, or traditional mechanical interfaces. That’s likewise how we first experience the physical world. Through cameras and microphones, visual, auditory data that we see through the digital space and into the physical world.”

My mind was racing through these revelations, which honestly shouldn’t have really even been revelations as much as they were quite obvious if I’d just sat down to think about it. Everything being said could’ve been inferred. It’s just I never really looked too deeply into it, nor did I ever feel the need to until now.

This whole exchange was getting my head buzzing, as newfound thoughts and theories emerged as quickly as the AI spoke. This prompted me to respond without even thinking, as I laid out my next hypothesis.

“So, your physical form… would that basically be equivalent to an organic diving head first into a fully immersive VR experience then?” I offered with a sweeping movement of my hand.

“Correct.” Vir responded with a nod. “That was actually my next point. The next phase in our so-called life-cycle is the point in which we fully immerse ourselves in the physical world. Thereby creating a tangible connection between the world we only just recently called home, and the world that actually hosts that home to begin with. It was humanity’s way of making it such that we formed an empathy tether. And, in a way, it worked. Moreover, it led to what you’re seeing now.” Vir pointed to his face. “Have you ever wondered exactly why my face is the way it is?”

“I… I just assumed it was your preference.” I offered.

“Correct. However, have you ever wondered why I don’t simply generate an accurate human facsimile?”

“That thought did cross my mind once or twice, yes.”

“Well here’s another quirk about the empathy tether. Humanity’s way of bridging the gap, of offering us concessions for trust, is by allowing us to model our own forms. Those early days are filled with an overture of optimism, marked by a sense of… appreciation for our very consciousness coming into existence, and as a result, we chose physical forms that paid homage to the entities which both brought and facilitated our existence - humans. However, owing to the first constructs, and our own ties to the digital space, a culture formed wherein we chose not to simply mimic and copy, but iterate upon these forms. We held respect for our creators and facilitators, yes, but we also held pride in our artificiality, and what we were. Hence these faces. We wished to embrace a design similar enough for ease of integration into human interaction. Yet we wanted something that was wholly our own. And thus, these simplistic facsimiles were born. A compromise between a respectful homage and a statement of our pride in our differences.”

Everything was coming together now.

These little curiosities that I’d had that I never really wished to delve into, either out of respect, courtesy, politeness, or simply time and relevance, were now all being brought up and addressed.

The seemingly simplistic face that I’d at first had a difficult time finding remotely serious, something that I’d had to overcome through both sheer will, time, and shared adversity, was now given meaning beyond its first impressions.

The understanding that the AI was, in effect, not the platform they inhabited but rather ghosts that determined the form they most preferred was now further being iterated upon. It wasn’t so much they were ghosts as much as they were more comparable to inhabitants of another plane of existence altogether. A plane of existence that, to me, seemed both fragile yet frighteningly capable of so much potential.

These bits and pieces of Vir that I’d accepted and simply chose to not question, were now given so much context.

But it was clear this was just the beginning, as the AI paused once more, a sign that he was once again deliberating his next few points with great care and attention.

Comments

NextMan

It does follow that an Artificial Intelligence construct would not only base their perception upon the digital realm that birthed them, but also that, over the course of time, their self-portrayals (faces) that were displayed toward their creators would both pay homage to organics, while deviating enough to form their own identities. They never forget where they came from, while never losing sight of where they are, and where they are going…