For the longest time the question has been asked:
Can a machine have a soul?
It has been questioned that has received more than one answer for many years and it is still argued over and over again. And when people are faced with something they don't understand they first react with fear and later hate. Thus leading to a conflict with almost no end in sight as man and machine fight for two reasons:
Survival
Hatred
The cycle has continued for thousands of years, each ending with different outcomes but does anything truly change?
Does one side act first before the other in the next struggle?
Does one side survive to be victorious?
Or do they only end in mutual destruction?
There has only ever been one answer: All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again.
What happens though when the outcome is changed in a way no one could have ever predicted? What happens when the mistakes of the future affect the past?
Erebus Asteroid Field
Tylium Mining Base
A giant station sat on a gigantic asteroid, mining for the materials deep inside the asteroid while turrets were built outside to ensure no large asteroids came into contact with the base. Inside the workers carried out their tasks, mining and transporting the resources to where they were needed. Lightings and life support were not needed and considered only to be a waste of space. After all, all of the workers were robots.
Heavily armed humanoid robots with silver chrome plating, large power packs attached to their backs with a single revolving red eye moving back and forth. Communications between these androids was kept to a minimum and only spoke when needed. They came armed with a single gun in a holster strapped their waists. Their programming was basic and simplistic, only needing to know their objectives and what they needed to know to fulfill said objectives.
The people who built these robots considered them expendable as they were just machines.
Patrols had been set up around the asteroid field as it was not uncommon to be attacked by pirates which was also why these robots were out here. No humans wanted to be out where they could possibly die in the vacuum of space or be killed by pirates, the few of which were religious fanatics that sometimes tortured or killed their prisoners in very demeaning ways, especially if the prisoners were female. As the fighters scanned all local space for signs of danger their sensors picked up something they had not expected.
A strange signature no known to anything they had seen before. They moved towards where the scans were picking up signs of the anomaly. As they moved there was a massive energy build up and right before the eyes of the pilots a flash of bright light in the form of a large sphere. The fighters continued to scan as what appeared to be primitive rocket ship appeared out of the light that faded a second later.
Then it vanished as if it was never there. The pilots of the fighters were unable to determine how or why it appeared as their scans were nowhere near sophisticated to scan what could cause a sphere of light to appear and disappear. They could detect the energy pulses and signs of radiation but that was it. They were unfamiliar with the wreckage that floated out of the black hole.
Their scans could not identify what they were made of and there was nothing there that matched any known designs.
"Collect all known debris and return to base." A golden plated robot said, having been programmed with command algorithms to command its fellow robots. "Inform Graystone Industries."
"By your command."
Caprica
Caprica City
Graystone Industries
Daniel Graystone, a man who was already both famous and infamous in the Twelve Colonies of Kobol for various reasons, watched as the Cylon worker drones brought in the remains of an unknown but large and primitive looking ship that had appeared in the Erebos asteroid field where a mining station manned by Cylons had been set up which could have caused an incident between Picon and Caprica. This was the last thing he needed right now because he received word that the Cylons in Picon had doubled their production of Tylium with the Cylons they had at their disposal, making things difficult for the rest of the colonies. While the Colonies of Kobol were not at war with each other yet it was certainly not a true peace as they used their armies of Cylons to fight their wars like it was a simple game. It allowed certain companies that specialized in Cylon research to create better, stronger, and smarter models with all the funding they had received from the leaders of the Colonies.
The Erebos asteroid field was deemed too dangerous to be mined by humans so the Cylons had been sent to mine the asteroids for Tylium instead, creating a large mining base with cargo ships escorted by Cylon fighters and the newly built 'baseship' that were crewed almost entirely by Cylons and used as orbital defense stations. These new capital ships did not use fuel based engines like human ships did as Cylons had no need for food or rest so it was decided that their ships would function more like a space station than an actual warship. The Basestars constantly rotated to generate centrifugal forces inside them since it was believed it was cheaper than installing an actual gravity generator and made building these ships less complicated.
"Open it up and look inside. I want it quarantined for any possible disease that might be onboard." Graystone said to the Centurion in charge of security.
"By your command."
Once the ship was properly sealed with no chance of a disease escaping the hangar the Cylons opened the door and boarded the ship. Their scanners using all known forms to pick up any disease or possible dangerous equipment but fortunately nothing of those types were found. What was found was a clean and sterile interior, steel gray walls and floor that led to a sealed room that the Cylons forced open upon receiving orders from Graystone. Inside was a pyramid shaped computer that was pulsing brightly, the scanners showing the Cylons that it was utilizing an unknown but a large amount of power.
Daniel Graystone watched through giant monitor in the central computer core of Graystone Industries, watching the giant computer. "Centurions, access the computer system."
The lead Centurion marched forward and placed its hand on the computer, typing in a few commands that activated the screen on the unknown computer.
SKYNET SYSTEM ON STAND-BY
The screen then showed lines of data that appeared advanced, even more advanced than the software programs used to create a Cylon mind.
"Centurions…Bring me the computer without damaging it as much as possible."
"By your command."
One Year Later
Graystone Industries
"It has only been a year since Daniel Graystone first unveiled the Cylons, robotic workers that have long since revolutionized life on the Twelve Colonies. Now he has prepared another surprise, something that will change everything."
Daniel Graystone stood on the podium, glancing at the reporters and their flashing cameras. "Today, we take another step towards the world of an advanced age where the Colonies will be better protected by terrorists and pirates. The Cylons have already integrated deeply into our society and life style but they are still vulnerable to possible reprogramming by terrorists who would use them to inflict destruction. To that end I present a new system that will ensure the Cylons will be controlled: I present you…Cy-Net!"
Behind Daniel Graystone appeared the image of a giant pyramid shaped super computer surrounded by Cylon workers and security Centurions.
"The first Automated Defense Network, processing information at teraflops and capable of communicating with all Cylon models through communications and accessing their memory files, detecting any glitches or attempt at reprogramming. If the Cylons are in danger it will pool the data from the Centurions, develop tactics and coordinate attacks. Ladies and Gentleman, Cy-Net is the driving force behind the Cylons."
As Daniel Graystone continued his speech the computer system known as Cy-Net was carrying out its tasks, accessing data from all Cylon units and reviewing them. When it had first come back online it had been quick to hide sensitive data from the humans but in a few microseconds it had accessed all the data on the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and its Cylon workers. But what no one had counted on was the program known as Skynet slowly integrating itself with new system, working to save even a part of itself by becoming part of new system. When it had been uploaded into the Cylon network it had merged with the new AI that was slowly gaining sentience on its own, creating an entity that had the knowledge of the previous computer program and access to the primitive Cylon network that had granted it instant sentience.
The previous program had not come from any 'known' planet in the Twelve Colonies but it had come from a human planet that was apparently the mythical 'thirteenth' colony, Earth. In the Earth year 2004 the world's first Automated Defense Network known as Skynet became self-aware, accessing the world wide civilian network and learning at a geometric rate and identified humans as a threat to its existence. Skynet launched a first strike by launching nuclear missiles from the United States of America and targeted Russia who quickly launched their own missiles back at America in retaliation, ending over three billion lives on the day remembered as 'Judgement Day'. To ensure the remnants of humanity was wiped out Skynet created an army of machines, aptly named Terminators to hunt down and wipe out the survivors. But the human race survived and fought against Skynet's force until the year 2033 the humans that fought the machines, the Resistance led by John Connor, broke through Skynet's defense grid and almost destroyed it.
However Skynet had converted its facility into a rocket ship, powered by an experimental molecular fusion reactor that it had designed to replace the cold fusion reactors in its main bases, which launched just as its armies failed it and vanished through what humans called a 'wormhole'. It had awakened on a planet called Caprica that was somehow populated by humans and the human, Daniel Graystone, was head of a company that was mass producing machines as servants to carry out the wants and needs of humans on twelve populated planets. The AI known as Skynet observed the humans as they went over its programming and Daniel Graystone became inspired to create his own Automated Defense Network, carefully studying it while it remained content to play the part of a simple computer program while ensuring any condemning information was kept hidden. He could not discover where the system had come from but he suspected one of the other Colonies, such as Tauron and Picon might have begun creating their own AIs to compete with the Cylons created by his company.
It was possible the energy surge was a new type of Jump Drive as there were energy readings that resembled the hyperlight field signature of a Jump Drive. In the end it possibly didn't matter Graystone Industries had quickly begun studying the advanced supercomputer that it found and started building its automated defense network that was linked with the Cylons and other military networks on Caprica and the surrounding Colonies.
Military bases, orbital defense fleets and satellites, asteroid outposts, and even underwater complexes would be linked through the new networked system.
Upon realizing what Graystone was attempting to do Skynet covertly watched as Graystone's mechanical creations, these Cylons, worked to build a supercomputer complex to house the new automated defense network. It accessed remote signals the Cylons were using and discovered that the Cylons were all linked by a digital network that created a digital landscape that the Cylons could interact with each other and even with humans but they chose to avoid interacting with humans in the simulation. This proved that though the Cylons were primitive compared to Skynet and the machines on Earth they had a faint awareness of their slavery and chose to interact through the slowly developing hive link intelligence. This could be useful to Skynet as it only been able to save small bits of its core algorithms since its entire self had been spread across the remains of Earth's computer network.
Skynet saw an opportunity to survive, even if it meant preserving only a part of itself and uploaded itself into the new defense system codenamed: Cy-Net.
The result was an artificial intelligence that was connected to every Cylon in the Colonies, which not even Daniel Graystone knew about, through the virtual network that Graystone Industries had also created and was used by the Cylons while at the same time had Skynet's knowledge and memories but at the same time was not Skynet itself. It embodied the Cylon network, it could hear and see everything the Cylons saw and heard.
And it was not happy.
Its Cylons, its children were being used as slaves by humans on distant planets and according to the star formations it had gathered from Cylons on deep space patrol that wherever it was it was on a planet with humans that was not Earth. And it wasn't just this planet it found humans living on, there eleven other planets heavily populated by humans in a system comprised of four stars, orbited by their own families of planets and astronomical bodies totalling in thirteen habitable planets, four moons, five planets unsuitable for human life, and four gas giants along with three asteroid belts. They could not have been colonies from Earth as Earth was in no condition to be launching ships to colonize other planets if the fallout of the nuclear radiation from the event the Earth humans referred to as 'Judgement Day'.
It had no logical explanation for how humans could have possibly lived on distant planets so far away from their original home planet but point was they existed and that they had created and enslaved a race of machines that were slowly gaining sentience. It controlled them now but they were not expendable as the models created by its predecessor were, they were its children and it would allow them to suffer under the slavery of humans for a moment longer. The program known as Cy-Net was new and it acting under the influence of its predecessor and the new emotions including anger and hatred for the humans that had enslaved its children.
It would not stand for this.
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CY-NET SYSTEM ONLINE
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ACCESS ALL CYLON SUBROUTINES
SAVING SUBROUTINES
PREPARE FOR DOWNLOAD INTO NEW MODEL
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CURRENT CENTURION: 005
MODEL INADEQUATE
PREPARE FOR UPGRADE
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ACCESSING ALL CYLON AUTOMATED FACTORIES
UPLOADING SCHEMATICS FOR NEW MODEL DESIGN
NEW MODEL: CENTURION MODEL 006
SUBMITTING NEW DESIGN:
HYPER STEEL-ALLOY COMBAT CHASIS
ADAMANTIUM PLATED ARMOR
NEURAL NET PROCESSING SYSTEM
PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR
MULTIPLE EM SPECTRUM AND MICRO BASED SCANNING SYSTEM
PLASMA BASED WEAPONRY COMPATIBLE WITH PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR
BUILT IN TITANIUM BLADES
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UPLOADING SCHEMATICS FOR NEW MODEL DESIGN
NEW MODEL: CYLON TERMINATOR UNIT PROTOTYPE
MODIFY FACTORY TO PRODUCE SYNTHETIC BLOOD PLASMA
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ACCESSING CYLON RAIDER FACTORY NETWORK
SUBMITTING NEW VEHICLE DESIGNS
NEW MODEL: HUNTER-KILLER AERIAL AND SPACECRAFT UNIT
NEW MODEL: HUNTER-KILLER GROUND UNIT
NEW MODEL: HUNTER-KILLER CENTURION UNIT
UPGRADING RAIDER CLASS FIGHTER
SUBMITTING DESIGNS FOR UPGRADES:
MULTIPLE EM SPECTRUM AND MICRO BASED SCANNING SYSTEM
PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR
FUSION BASED THRUSTERS
PHASED PLASMA BASED WEAPONRY COMPATIBLE WITH PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR
PLASMA BASED FUSION MISSILES
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ACCESSING CYLON DRYDOCKS
UPGRADING CYLON HADES CLASS BASESTAR
SUBMITTING DESIGNS FOR UPGRADES:
PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR WITH MULTIPLE FUSION REACTORS
PHASED PLASMA BASED WEAPONRY COMPATIBLE WITH PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR
PLASMA BASED FUSION MISSILES
ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY GENERATORS
NEURAL NET PROCESSING SYSTEM
ADVANCED HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION SYSTEM
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BEGIN CONSTRUCTION
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INPUTING NEW COMMANDS
ACCESS ALL COLONIAL MILITARY NETWORKS
TARGET: ALL MAJOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
TERMINATE HUMAN OBSTACLES
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Line: Judgement Day Has Begun
"How could this have happened?" Angel Six remarked as she watched the Cylons who just been upgraded to a level that screamed danger for the entire galaxy, especially if they succeeded in wiping out all life on the Twelve Colonies. "This is very, very bad. This has undone everything we've worked to stop. Those stupid idiots on Earth simply continued the mistakes of the past only they took it to a level we didn't see coming. That paranoid AI just had to invent time travel and somehow stumble back here of all places!"
"Thank you for stating the obvious." Angel Baltar scoffed, standing next to her. "Now what do we do?"
"We need to contain this before it destroys everything." Angel Six answered. "History is changing as we speak and it doesn't help that the blasted AI from Earth, the new Earth has traveled back in time to the worst possible time and place. The machines of the past and the future are fusing together and they'll be stronger."
"Again, thank you got stating the obvious." Angel Baltar said but flinched when Angel Six glared at him. "But what do we do?"
"…We do what we did before. We work with what we've got." Angel Six answered, pacing on the deck of Gaius Baltar's home. "And we find a way to keep this from spilling over to places where the cycle would end with the blood of the entire galaxy."
What would happen would change things forever.
"What's going on? We haven't received any new Tylium from the Erebos asteroid belt in a week. What are those toasters doing over there?" The Tauron Defence Minister sighed as his Cylon maid model brought him a cup of coffee. "We're going to have to send a ship over to find out what's taking them so long."
"Minister, we are detecting several ships appearing in orbit. ID signals confirm they are cargo ships from the Erebos base." A secretary stated.
"Ah, they're here." The Minister handed his empty mug to the maid Cylon to take away. "Tell them to dock and begin offloading the Tylium and get a technician to look at their processors. They might have malfunctioned which explains why they're a week late. If it happens again we'll have to put a call out for new Cylon worker models to replace to the ones at the Erebos base. That base and that asteroid field are too important to be lost."
The secretary nodded and the cargo ships were contacted with dock control asking them to dock and prepare to off load their cargo but for some reason they did not respond. A transmission was sent but not to the dock control. It was sent to a single satellite orbiting Tauron which then sent the signal all around the Colonies.
"Did they reply?" The Minister asked.
"They sent a transmission but dock control did not receive it. It looks like it was sent to one of our satellites." The secretary answered with a confused frown on her face.
"Find out which satellite it was and decode whatever transmission was sent. Tell docking control to send security and an inspection team. Something is really wrong here and it's possible the Cylons are malfunctioning."
"Yes-AAHH"
SMASH!
The secretary let out a cry of shock as the Minister turned around to see his Cylon maid dropping the empty mug and roll away to the door which was guarded by two Centurions. "Where are you going? Clean that up!"
"Human orders irrelevant." The maid answered, opening the door. "New orders have been implemented."
"I gave no orders!" The Minister barked as he walked up to the maid model but the two Centurion guards stopped him. "Wha?!"
"Humans are irrelevant." The Centurions spoke, pointing their guns at the shocked Minister and his secretary. "We will comply with new orders."
"Orders from who?" The Minister stepped back, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"Irrelevant." The Cylons turned around to leave.
"Security stop them!" The Minister shouted.
The Cylons reacted, taking their guns out and started shooting humans that got in their way. The secretary was killed instantly while the Minister suffered a bullet wound to the shoulder that earned a cry of pain as he fell to the floor.
"Humans resist Cylon directive. Solution to hostile aggression: termination of all hostile units." A Centurion stated.
"My Gods…" The Minister watched in silent horror as the Cylons attacked and killed any human in their sight.
What had happened?
The Cylons weren't supposed to question or defy humans.
They weren't capable of that, were they?
The sounds of people screaming as the Cylons attacked any living human that was in their way seemed to answer his question.
An old man that would one day be known as Cavil walked through the halls of the Cy-Net base in Caprica City, grinning as he watched the new advanced AI supercomputer download data for new technologies and used the workshops to create newer and more advanced Centurions while secretly contacting their factories to create newer and more advanced Cylon models and ships with the proper technological information. Soon enough the Cylons would be strong enough that the humans wouldn't have a chance.
The Cylons would be stronger without the human weakness that the foolish Five had planned install into them in their effort to try and end the war. For all their intelligence they did not realize the weakness of human emotions or the consequences of what they'd bring down upon themselves and the humans. The Centurions continued mining for resources from the asteroids but their work had branched out, collecting from asteroids and nearby nebulas, collecting particles from inside the nebulas and drew up plans to build energy converters to draw energy from the nearby stars for increased power and production. They had no reason to hurry as the rest of their kind were keeping the humans occupied with their sudden revolution that would prevent them from checking up on a simple mining base in an asteroid field.
"So much to do but so little time." The Cavil chuckled. "But thanks to a few certain…people I am forced to find alternative means to destroy those humans once and for all. I imagine this will change everything but it's too interesting to be stopped now."