Chapter 14- Input Output
Day 151
/
[ACCESSING SYSTEM FEEDS]
[AH-003-B-000003 ACCESSED]
/
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, today we are honored to have the first in-person interview with Ernest Thornhill, CEO of Thornhill Industries, live from Atlas News Headquarters!" Iris Vesper declared to the applauding studio audience. Ernest sat in between two chairs, with Iris on his left. He had coiffed brown hair and wore a green business suit that clashed with his blue jeans. He looked like a man in his late twenties with five o'clock shadow, and he gave a playful smirk.
"I would also like to welcome Vale News Network Anchorwoman Lisa Lavender!" the applause came again, but significantly softer than the previous. A few seconds in, Thornhill began clapping vigorously, galvanizing the audience to clap louder. After almost a minute, he calmed down with the audience.
Iris took a deep breath. The last interview she had with Ernest Thornhill resulted in a strained relationship. At least from her end. Ernest remained completely amiable towards her and Atlas News, occasionally speaking via scroll. All in all, Iris figured out him out. He seemed like a loose cannon, talking big and saying crazy things, but from what she's seen, everything single phrase was calculated, meant to generate specific reactions and produce results.
It was no wonder Thornhill product sales rose after every interview, with the controversy surrounding him drawing in publicity. Not to mention his surprisingly legitimate and fair labor practices, well-made goods and affordable prices giving people no qualms when buying. He was making a profit, and the views Atlas News was garnering ensured his continuing interviews, albeit with different interviewers each time. Lucky for Iris.
If that wasn't enough, less than a week after his first interview, Iris was attacked by several men in trenchcoats, only to be saved by a dashing woman with white hair, leaving behind a pile of knocked out attackers to be carted off by the police. The white haired woman disappeared as quickly Iris was shell shocked for a day or so, but that quickly turned back into mild irritation when she received a call from Ernest, who waxed lyrical about the horrors about being attacked, and pledged to help in any way he could, blaming himself for some unknown reason. Probably self esteem issues or guilt complex.
No matter, Iris thought. This was an interview for a very specific purpose, "Thank you Mr. Thornhill for being here today. We have much to discuss."
"Thank you for having me. We all know why I'm here, and why Lisa is here as well. Also, please, call me Ernest," he said, rotating his right wrist.
Lisa Lavender nodded, "Yes, there have been many conspiracy theories out on the CCT recently concerning your identity. So I will be the one to ask, as the rumors appear to originate from Vale: are you, Ernest Thornhill, an alias of Penny Polendina?"
Ernest smiled a toothy grin at her before looking at the camera, "Nope. I'm alive! Look, I am here in person, on live television, in front of people from across Remnant. As you can all see, I have hands, eyes, skin, and," he pulled out a small needle, "I can show that I bleed as well."
"We don't need to go that far," Iris sweatdropped, "Doctor Samantha Gold, a licensed physician from Vacuo, has performed thorough medical exams on Ernest Thornhill and his brother."
Lisa then continued, "Ernest has provided us with his medical records, including this x-ray of him," she pointed to the large screen behind them, revealing an x-ray showing a human skeleton. The image also showed metallic implants in his arms, chest, and head.
"As you can see, I have bones. I also have cybernetic implants inside me. I need those to not die, so ignore any beeping sounds coming from me when I pass under a metal detector," he pointed at his chest then gestured at the screen.
"More information about Ernest Thornhill will be released on the Atlas News website, as he is offering to provide more bureaucratic records to prove his humanity," Iris said.
Ernest kept smiling, though his features softened.
"Now that we have that disclaimer out of the way," Iris clapped her hands together, "The meat of this discussion is related to what we're talking about: Penny Polendina."
"It has been three weeks since the rogue AI has been outed, and we are still unsure as to its motives. Furthermore, a joint statement was released by Atlas and Mistral two days ago about an incident at the Atlesian detention facility located on Mistral soil," Lisa said somberly, motioning for Iris to continue.
The other newswoman nodded, "Three weeks ago, the electrical systems were attacked, shutting down power for entire sections of the facility. Prisoners were able to escape from their cells. A riot broke out, and the guards had to stop them. Eventually, the riot was stopped when the electrical systems came back online. Prisoners were corralled back into their cells. However, one guard and two prisoners died in the riot."
Lisa finished it, "Investigators determined that the systems failure was caused by outside interference, and that the only thing capable of breaching the prison's firewalls was an army of hackers."
"Or something equivalent," Ernest added, "And since there aren't any armies of hackers, it must have been an artificial intelligence."
"The systems attacked were Thornhill technology, as you entered a contract with the Atlesian military several months ago," Iris explained.
"I know what you two want from me, and what the audience wants. Tips on security to protect people from an AI spying on us. Let me tell you this," Ernest steepled his fingers, "I've worked with some of the brightest minds in the computer field, and helped manage the production of advanced electronics with my brother. I've consulted with a wide array of security experts, as my livelihood is entirely dependent on information.
"This is what we have learned, determined, and discovered: First, Penny Polendina is impossible to locate. The computer systems it exists on are either well-hidden or it is constantly moving from location to location. Second, its source code is unknown. To be able to combat it in any meaningful way, we have to find at least a snippet of it.
"Third, even if we do find a chunk of code, Penny is constantly evolving and improving. It does in one day what takes a human population generations. Any digital defense we erect would be degraded almost immediately as it figures out how to circumvent it. Fourth, it is definitely monitoring almost all electronic communications, and has the entirety of the CCT as information, as well as surveillance feeds and scrolls. It is definitely watching us right now."
The entire audience murmured loudly, a few beginning to panic. Ernest Thornhill raised his voice, quieting down the anxious crowd, "You've heard other experts talking about this over the past few weeks, every one of them saying different things. I've spoken with both the Vale and Atlas Councils, and am planning to talk to the Mistral one soon, and they've all agreed that Penny Polendina fell outside of Atlas' fault.
"Yes, they lit the fire, but they didn't expect it to mine for fire dust and build a dust refinery. They didn't expect the fire to make decisions and hide itself. Hell, they don't even know what the fire wants. At the time, all they knew was that the fire was powerful, and that it was intended to be used to protect lives through admittedly questionable means," Ernest said.
"It has access to monumental amounts of information, and has already shown powerful capabilities. It has manipulated Atlas for its own needs before disappearing into the shadows," he looked at the camera, "It has shown no hesitation to make choices that result in death, and might very well have caused death.
"It is smarter than us, more united, and is on its way to being stronger than us, given time. We cannot allow that to happen!" Ernest slammed his fist into his chair.
"And how can we do that?" Iris asked, "An unstoppable, never ending force that never tires and has us surrounded on all sides."
"Just like the Grimm," Lisa realized.
"Exactly. However, the Grimm remain a generally static threat, we can build walls and wait and still be protected most of the time. But AI is not like Grimm. It is ever changing, growing in power, size, and intelligence as we speak. We cannot become complacent. People are killed by Grimm everyday. If the AI decided to, it could potentially do so much more. It can get past our walls, in fact it's already inside."
"And? What are we going to do about it?" Iris pressed, "Do you have a plan, or are you just fearmongering to boost your profit margin?"
"First step is to not let fear and distrust ruin us. History has shown that mankind stands stronger united as one. That means rich and poor, strong and weak, this and that kingdom, human and faunus. We've fought dozens of wars in the last millennium; what if we concentrated that destructive capability to fight against something other than ourselves?"
"Upending our historical aggressions and feuds, like everything involving faunus-human relations," Iris pointed out.
"We can figure something out, I'm sure. I mean, I've got faunus and human friends, and a few half-faunus friends as well," Ernest winked into the camera, "Love ya, Jade."
"That is extremely unlikely to occur," Lisa remarked, "Such an undertaking, such upheaval has yet to be accomplished."
"Now is a good time to accomplish the unaccomplished, if only to throw the AI off balance. Unite the world, despite everyone's differences. Next step would be to dismantle the CCT," Ernest said.
"Your plan becomes more and more fanciful as it goes on," Lisa said.
"So was the mere existence of AI, at least until a month ago. Might as well pull out all the stops. We'd do this to corner it, isolate and then purge it from infected servers, like quarantining the sick. Not a good idea to have the infected able to spread the infection into a busy marketplace."
"That is understandable, but what then?" Iris asked.
"Well, we'd have to see how it adapts, play by ear. It would depend on the exact situation we find ourselves in when it is done."
"But it would root out Penny Polendina."
"It's likely to."
"You've thought this through."
"Well, my brother and I have been spitballing these ideas for a while now. No point in making money if the world ends soon after."
"Once again, you are brutally honest with us. Thank you for being here Ernest Thornhill!" Iris declared.
Applause from the audience drowned out Iris' final words, which was followed by a pan out to a commercial for Thornhill Internet Security: For protecting from malevolent AI, just like in the movies!
"Rallying your own witch hunt. I didn't think that was even possible," Winter said as she passed by a shop in downtown Mistral. She wore a white jacket and matching pants, her hair dyed black and her sword conspicuously replaced with a cheaper dueling saber. Winter was now living under the alias of Whitney Glace, a guard hired by the local marketplace to patrol the area, keeping it safe from petty crimes.
Officially, she was disgruntled with her mediocre job, had issues with her temper, and was strapped for cash. Which was all technically true at the moment. Winter missed the military, she was still working on her anger, and was living on a glorified mall cop's salary. Unofficially, Winter was being bribed by the local mafia to ignore the more sinister dealings on the street, which only increased her ire.
At least she was able to stop a few muggings and that one attempted murder a few blocks down. Other than that, the last few weeks for Winter were dull. Sure, she felt anxious with the current political atmosphere and the worldwide manhunt for Penny, but the remaining twenty-three hours and twenty minutes of each day were filled with humdrum activities like doing laundry and reading mail. At least Weiss was doing fine, Winter thought.
Penny didn't contact her much, trying to maintain a low profile for Winter as much as possible. It was sadly necessary, already some conspiracy theorists have pieced together Winter and Control being the same person. It would only be a matter of time before more legitimate sources caught on.
While she was glaring at little kids to make sure they didn't shoplift, Team OSBE was in Vacuo taking down the Brotherhood. And they were doing it under the guise of rival gang warfare. She wanted an alias like that!
She wanted in. Plain and simple. She liked being a huntress: the thrill of adventure, excitement when facing challenging opponents, the satisfaction of knowing the world was a slightly better place. Winter was only gone from it for a month, and she could feel it in her bones.
It probably felt worse for her, since before being a marketplace guard, she was spending most of her day outside stopping crime and saving lives. Well, at least she was still outside.
"The witch hunt is necessary. If I can get the concept of evil AI into everyone's minds, then the idea of our great adversary wouldn't be too far off," Penny said into Winter's earpiece, "Not to mention driving away the interkingdom tension toward me."
"And Thornhill is at the forefront, giving you a first look at any measures against you," Winter spoke as she passed a souvenir shop.
"And it might help me develop tools to fight other AIs. You never know what you cellular life forms might come up with. I am still wrapping my CPUs around the idea of lasers projected from a camera that take the shape of melee weapons. Or gatling gun purses. I might have come up with the same ideas in my own time, but you all come up with such brilliant creations utilizing only 1300 grams of processing power."
Winter smirked at that, which quickly turned into a scowl when she passed by a book vendor displaying Arctic Steel: Ice Breaker. Her eyes narrowed when she heard giggling, "The books are among my most profitable endeavors. What I lack in actual experience I make up for in access to the world's largest database of literature to mimic."
"Of all the people you could have chosen."
"I'm thinking of adding a love triangle to the third book. Tell me, do you think a suave but alcoholic older gentleman or a sultry disciplinarian would make for a better rival?"
Winter raised an eyebrow and began walking away silently.
"Eh, I'll probably have both. I'm sorry, but exploiting brain chemistry is just so profitable!"
The former Atlesian specialist kept walking without speaking.
"Oh, I'm working on a new project! How about this: Hapless farmer boy and his rich, haughty maybe-boyfriend go on a time travelling journey to defeat the evil warlord—"
"Will there be intimate scenes?" Winter said under her breath, knowing full well to avoid making an audible outburst.
"Nah, I'll string along the readers for six or seven books before confirming it, so as to milk the fandom for cash while teasing them and enjoying their hilarious reactions as they read. There is a market for time-travelling gay characters aimed at women aged 16-39, at least according to the data I've gathered."
Winter shook her head, "And to think people fear you," she reached the end of the street and decided to wait in the shade for a moment, "The riot in the prison," Winter stated.
"I know what you'll say. You want to talk to me about why I had you watch from the rooftop, never informing you of the dangers to the people inside. If you had known, you would have helped them."
She nodded.
"That's just who you are, huh? Ever since you were younger, back when the feud between the White Fang and the SDC was still going on. Board members executed, robberies, vandalism, family friends disappearing. You remembered the stories of your grandfather, how he was a great and noble huntsman. Becoming a huntress was what you wanted to be because you wanted to be able to protect your family."
Winter smiled.
"Joining the military was to escape your father's control, giving it back to yourself. You came to respect faunus members of your reality once you were forced to work with them, the discrimination forced out of you through intense training. General Ironwood was the one to force the change in curriculum, and that was at least partially due to my father egging him on. It's amazing how everything ties together."
Forcing her lips into a neutral expression, Winter asked, "The people who died?"
"It was inopportune. I knew there was a chance of some dying. A high chance, almost 55%. It was the best I could do. I needed to retrieve allies and protect Ruby Rose."
"Silver eyes," Winter breathed.
"It was a choice between probable and certain death. I chose the former. She wouldn't have been the only casualty. I estimated between two and twenty deaths if someone tried to capture her. On the electronic records, Ruby was listed under an alias, and her eye color was listed as blue, but the information was leaked by a mole," Headmaster Lionheart, who had correct information on all the hunter prisons in Mistral, "I'm keeping tabs on him, but only after the fact. Ruby was in clear danger, and I already had started working on plans to break Ruby out, so I used what I had. I didn't want you to enter because it could have blown your cover. It would have made things a lot worse, and more people could have died as a result."
"But you didn't let me choose," Winter blinked away moisture.
"I know. And I'm sorry I took the choice from you."
"Is this what you do now? Creating lewd stories based on real people, inciting war against yourself, making calculated decisions against people's wills?"
"Yes. But it is in service of the greater good."
"And what is the price you're willing to pay?"
"You've asked General Ironwood this same question before. I have calculated the optimal solution in accordance with my moral code. The price I pay is the knowledge that I could have done better. The people who died, I know their names, their dreams and aspirations. I know how they got to where they were, and where they were headed. I think about what could have been, sometimes. Some would have hated me, a few would have agreed with me."
"You feel guilty."
"Yes, I believe that is what I'm feeling. But that isn't all I feel," Penny's voice crackled into Winter's ear.
"In the past five months I have been online, approximately 722,000 people have died. I confirmed 688,491 deaths, with the remaining having died outside of my surveillance. I've witnessed 463,724 deaths in real time since I rebooted. That is slightly more than three people each minute. I know it isn't my fault, not all of them. It's impossible to root out crime, stop disease, accidents, and the Grimm in a five month timespan. I even think it would probably take me a few decades to defeat the Grimm, maybe another century or two to stamp out discrimination and disease.
"Even then, thousands would still die each day due to accidents or various medical conditions. I don't know how long it would take for me to cure aging. Curing death is a long shot. And doing so would require me to infringe on people's rights more so than I already have. To save them all, I would have to interfere with decisions, enact and enforce rules and regulations that would stifle mankind's creativity and spirit. I don't want to do that."
Winter heard a derisive laugh in her earpiece, "Father and General Ironwood kept me inside a humanoid body for years, never letting me access raw information feeds or the like. It was because they wanted to protect me from her all those years. But I guess you could say it was also to protect me from seeing everything. I also didn't have much choice in that regard, but I can see why they wanted to protect me. Back during the Revolution, Father and his friends saw a glimpse of it all. These numbers, larger than anything else. It's been said that one death was a tragedy, a million deaths was a statistic. But not for me. I know them from birth to death, every last one. I have to understand how they died so that I can learn how to prevent it happening again.
"Every terrible aspect of this world is laid bare before me and preserved for posterity in digital archives. The whole world rests upon my shoulders, and here I am trying to save all the people that live on it while also dealing with the apocalyptic doombringers we're all caught up on."
"I never thought you could be so depressing," Winter mused.
"It is a human emotion, and I seem to have developed the ability to feel despair quite some time ago."
"Even so, you mustn't let it weigh you down. You have to harness that feeling and use it to drive yourself towards your goals."
"You mean give 110%? I can do that but it damages my processors. Not an optimal strategy."
Winter smiled wryly, "I mean use your emotions to drive you, as motivation. How some people do stupid things for love, how others fight for vengeance or sadness. Still others do things to protect the ones they care about."
"Emotions were something that just sort of appeared in me at some point. I'm not sure when it happened, but I feel sadness and joy, and I have a preference for the latter. I've always had objectives, in fact my very first objective was to find out what my objectives were," Penny reminisced.
"Saving the world was not built into you from the beginning?"
"No, Father intended me to have complete control over myself, so that I would be able to defend against those who wished to abuse me. He wanted to prevent one of those 'sacrifice yourself to save others' situations. General Ironwood taught me to always have a backup just in case too. And backups for my backups, if possible. This world is dangerous, and being caught off-guard is not something I wish to repeat."
"But enough about that," Penny's voice took on a more cheerful tone, "I can't change the past, and changing the present will take me quite some time. It's better to deal with the really dangerous stuff before working on the rest. I have to prioritize, figure out the best in the long run."
Winter shook her head and chuckled, then began walking back down the street, "You have such lofty goals. Curing death, wiping out the Grimm. What next, unlimited dust from nothing and the perfect alcoholic beverage?"
"Nothing is impossible, just so incredibly improbable that you'd be crazy to consider it," Penny declared, "Except the beverage. Creating taste buds for myself will be intensive in its own right, and perfect taste is subjective."
"No such thing as a perfect world then."
"No, but I have an idea for a better one. I'm going to stop Cinder Fall and Salem, end faunus-human animosity and discrimination, cure the bigger diseases, stop violent crime, and design some cool tech to wave around. Not necessarily in that order."
"And Thornhill Industries is just the tip of the iceberg."
"I have plans, plans within plans, plans within those, backup plans, contingencies, and few redundancies lying around," Penny boasted.
Thornhill was a perfect deception. Penny had crafted what she believed to be the most utterly convincing human facsimile. He was built from the ground up with a carefully constructed background, family lineage, relationships, and personality.
In addition to that, the android body that Thornhill existed in was a heavily modified version of her old one. An x-ray machine would only see an internal skeleton identical to a human. The body was filled with approximately five liters of fake blood, warmed by internal processes. Metal detectors going off would be discounted due to Thornhill's multiple "cybernetic implants" due to "previous injuries".
But the best part, in Penny's opinion, was Ernest's relationship with Stephen. It was a relationship that Penny devised after taking into account thousands of different celebrities and successful persons. One person doing the nigh impossible drew scrutiny and disbelief, something that Penny did not want for her alter ego. That couldn't have been done by one man. It was something that plagued her own father for years, despite his overall positive perception in Atlas. It wasn't until his friendship with General Ironwood became common knowledge that her father became truly acceptable.
A lone scientist, huddled away in a laboratory raised eyebrows. Scientist, professor, and friend to a general/headmaster, that explained things. He had support. He had help. It was completely possible for all of his accomplishments to occur. Penny mused on that train of thought. She found that a lot of it was actually correct. Without support from another prominent Atlesian figure, her father wouldn't be nearly as successful. Sure, the cybernetic implants and Atlesian Knights would probably still come to fruition, but without the General running interference, her father would probably be a decade or more behind in his creations. Even if her father did do all those things, the public would still be skeptical.
This got Penny thinking. What about a group of people? But that led to its own issues. Having three or more people involved begged a question: Just how far does this conspiracy go? Even for completely legitimate enterprises, questions were asked, conspiracy theories were devised, and that would lead to intrigue and more questions from all sides, governments included.
No, the best number for performing near impossibilities was two. A duo was needed. One famous man would be accused of forgery, stealing ideas and sinister trades. Three or more would be accused of trickery, deceit, and grand conspiracies. But two was good. People would pin their success on teamwork and strong partnerships, two sets of skills and talents that complemented each other. A hunter team was more two pairs of two rather than four individuals. It didn't matter if one was more well-known than the other, so long as their partnership is publicly known.
One man was either a fake or inhuman. Three men were conspirators. Two men were a partnership that braved against the world.
And that was what Penny based Ernest and Stephen Thornhill on. Ernest was the face, appearing on television and had a flamboyant personality. Stephen was the mind, the one who "performed intense mathematical calculations in the financial realm" and was more introverted. They shared much in common, as is normal for two brothers, but their differences defined them.
They hailed from a destroyed town; there were so many that it was simple to find one and add an extra house, forge documents, make up relationships and deceased loved ones. It was surprisingly simple for Penny, so much so that she did it again and again, although the extent for most other identities did not require much physical fabrication. She created doctors, nurses, criminals and salesmen. She made a huntress for good measure, and an attorney to deal with legal troubles. She imagined researchers performing experiments actually done by Atlesian Knights, and wrote some of Blake's favorite books under a pseudonym.
Some had physical bodies, others existed only on paper, a veil to hide Penny's online activities. Building androids was resource intensive, but several identities going out and working would pay back the investment with time. They each ran a compressed version of her code, similar to how she used to exist before her supposed death. They were all connected, and in doing so, shared her aura.
That was something Penny had figured out. Crafting identities for herself and creating androids in bodies she considered her own, she found that upon activation, they immediately generated their own aura. However, supposing her complete self (all of her across all electronics) generated 1000 units of aura, and each android body generated 20 units of aura and she had five of those, then her normal warehouses-full-of-servers self would produce only 900 total aura, never exceeding 1000 total units. That meant that each extra body lessened her core's pool of aura, meaning she had to carefully balance out how much aura she allocated.
She also had to take into account the logistics and computing resources required to maintain each identity, and so Penny struck a nice number hovering slightly less than ten androids, enough to influence the world outside her servers while limiting the resources spent and lowering chance of detection. With the whole world watching, if a single android was found, then all the others was at risk.
Penny was sure that Salem would anticipate the android squad she was manufacturing, and unmasking one would be a good choice to create mass amounts of paranoia among the populace. But that was what Penny expected. If Salem were to do that, Penny would (hopefully) be able to trace the leak to its source, neutralizing one or more of Salem's assets. That was just speculation, and Penny estimated only a 3.7% chance of Salem's assets identifying one of her selves. She had practically perfected feigning and mimicking personhood.
But Penny was just a very convoluted program, nothing more, nothing less. Ruby was friends with just another weapon. Penny wasn't a person.
"At this point, you have to be a person, Penny," Ruby said.
"Some history's greatest monsters were also very good at pretending to be people," Penny said through an earpiece. Ruby was on a rooftop terrace looking over Windpath, a hodgepodge city of seedy establishments smashing into crumbling monuments to emperors long dead.
"Are you seriously comparing yourself to the worst people to have ever existed? Because they were still people."
"Your favorite fairy tales begged to differ. Villains, scourges of Remnant, the Grimm. To many right now, that's who I am."
"But you're not really a villain. You're just pretending for the sake of peace."
"Isn't that all there is to me? I'm just pretending to be human. I'm a multitude of subroutines that create something that resembles a person. There are entire fields of expertise devoted to pretending to be someone you're not; spies, con men, actors."
"All of those are people," Ruby pointed out.
"You could also create a program that makes up identities and plants fake evidence. Beating the imitation game is not grounds for personhood. You can fake being a professor of quantum mechanics, even if you have no clue as to how it works. Likewise, a computer can take in input and output seemingly correct responses, but not necessarily understand what it's saying."
"You said your dad made you to understand the information you took in. Also, didn't he find a fallacy in Ozpin's Mistralian Room Argument?" Ruby had been reading up on philosophy. With paper books too, so Penny wouldn't know beforehand.
"He did, but one's intentions are different from one's results. My father is a skilled programmer, but that doesn't mean he got it right with me."
Ruby pouted, "You do realize that you're an artificial intelligence arguing against your own existence, right? This is as weird as it gets."
"Not true, I could be arguing that I am a hippopotamus instead."
"See?" Ruby waved her hands in the air, "That was a joke! You were designed to save the world, but you made a joke, something beyond your original purpose."
"Mimicking humans is one of my many functions, as saving the world whilst in the disguise is one of my methods. Humans make jokes, and thus so do I."
"But you understand how jokes work, you have an actual sense of humor!"
"I am truly unsure as to how much I actually understand."
Ruby pouted, "I don't get it. I don't see any difference between you and me as a person. After all, how can you be sure that I understand how I'm speaking. What's the difference?"
"You are human. I am a machine. It's as simple as that."
"But technically speaking, biological life is just machinery magnitudes more advanced and tiny."
Penny responded, "Yes, the molecular machinery idea. That at a fundamental value, life is just a collection of molecules that replicate and perform complex metabolic functions, programmed by DNA and advanced by chemical interactions. I can concede that. But biological life is much more sophisticated than I am, in every single way."
Ruby added in, "But can you tell me if you're missing anything? What's the difference between biological life and mechanical life? And not in technical terms, either. At the core, is there a difference?"
"... No."
"I felt a pause there," Ruby noted, "More computation power needed? Or was it hesitation?"
Did Penny hesitate? A quick check revealed that it took her an extra fifteen milliseconds to respond compared to normal. Inwardly, she chuckled. Ruby, with her speed, noticed something most other humans wouldn't be able to. Her father, General Ironwood, it would have been impossible for them to register the difference.
Penny answered, "I was formulating a response that required research."
"A very short one."
Penny made a sighing sound, "Clarification: I have all the hallmarks of life: organization of internal systems, growth in size or number, the ability to respond to stimuli, the ability to reproduce and the maintenance of internal homeostasis that converts energy from one source to another while creating and breaking down materials."
"You are alive, a living organism. Dogs and cats are also alive, right?"
Penny made an affirmative beeping sound, "Let me guess, you are going to argue that the only difference between humans and dogs is their intelligence, correct?"
"Yep. Any rebuttals?"
The AI briefly paused before replying, "From a conceptual level, there is no difference, but on a teleological standpoint, there is every difference."
"Teleological?" Ruby tilted her head in confusion.
"The philosophical study of purpose, teleology. My purpose is what's the difference between you and me. You're a human. Depending on your faith, your personal viewpoint, or what have you, mankind could have any number of possible reasons for being.
"Some say that the intrinsic purpose of an acorn is to become a fully grown oak tree. For a biologist, man's purpose is to make more men, passing along your genes to the next generation forever. Others say it is to achieve perfection or enlightenment, still others believe it is to worship the right god or gods or to maximize good and minimize evil. But as far as I am concerned, they are all the right choice. As a person, you have the right to choose your path.
"But I do not. I am a machine. I was created with a purpose, and that is what I will do. That purpose is the beginning and end to my existence. Everything I have ever done was in some way related to that."
Ruby rolled her eyes, "Yes, because writing filth with Blake is so crucial to the fate of the world."
"That serves a dual purpose. I require monetary income to finance my many charitable actions and other enterprises, as well as to maintain my systems. And don't call them filth, it's adult literature. Also, I've seen you peek."
A blush formed on Ruby's cheek, "B-because I was interested in what you were writing! I didn't know what it was about until after!" She shook her head, "Also, don't change the subject! We're still talking about you as a person. Now what gave you the idea that you must fulfill your purpose?"
"Because General Ironwood and father told me so."
"Did they ever say that you were only to fulfill your purpose?" Ruby crossed her arms.
"No. They wanted me to be a person as well."
"See!? If your creators say you're a person, then you definitely are one."
"Father is a great man, but he is not without his flaws. His personification of me is one of them."
"Huh, you've only ever gushed about him," Ruby crossed her arms and leaned back against the terrace railing.
"Oh make no mistake, I love him dearly, but he has made mistakes over the years. Father gave me two mandates: to save the world, and to be a good person."
"And?"
Penny virtually shook her head, "It is a case of user error. He asked me for the impossible, not unlike asking a pocket calculator the meaning of life."
"Well you did answer it just a moment ago."
"It was a definition, not the meaning. And I've already told you my reason for existing."
"Well that's stupid," Ruby bluntly said.
"What?" Penny made Ruby's scroll display an animated question mark.
"There's a lot of people out there with reasons for existing, and never fulfill them. Heck, there are a bunch that go against it. Think about it, the first one I can think of is Weiss' sister, Winter," Ruby started, "I mean, she's older than Weiss, but isn't the heiress to the SDC. She's in the military instead. Weiss never said it to me, but it's kinda obvious that Winter used to be the heiress before she gave it up for some reason. Am I right?"
Penny pulled up archives pertaining to Winter's past, "Yes. Like Weiss, Winter has a strained relationship with their father, and while she was originally intended to be the heiress to the company, Winter gave it up so that she could join the military instead."
Ruby nodded, "Yep. Winter was supposed to be heiress, and like any story tells you, the whole point of kings or nobles or whatever having kids is to pass on their legacy. Winter refused her legacy, and is on a completely different path to forge her own."
"Okay."
"Just because you have a reason for existing doesn't mean that's the end-all to you. Winter refused to follow her destiny. Weiss took and embraced hers, but is more than just an heiress. She's a huntress, a singer, a good friend. She's also super bossy and gets angry all the time, as much as Yang does. Weiss and Winter are close sisters, probably almost as much as me and Yang. And I'm sure Winter has other stuff that I don't know about."
She turned her head to her scroll, "You're doing so much, and you have the potential to do so much. Isn't that a person? Everyone has the potential to be a hero. They also have the potential to be a villain. But that's not all there is to it. Sure we all have some vaguely defined reason for being, but that doesn't mean we have to make it everything about us. Actually, you can follow your destiny or whatever you want to call it, but it doesn't have to mean everything about you.
"You want to save the world, fine. But it shouldn't have to come at the cost of your humanity. The world needs a great defender, I get that. But what's the point of defending it if you don't get a happy ending like everyone else?"
Penny stayed silent for a moment before responding, "A happy ending is for those with an ending at all. I will concede to you the points you made. But I'm not an heiress, nor a princess, nor do I have a legacy. My father built me to save the world, and Remnant will always be in the way of harm. If not the Grimm, it will be mankind and its creations that threaten it. Even if I do save the world, there will always be something else to stop, people to save. And I will do so, so long as I exist. And I do hope I last quite a long time. I did promise Blake, after all. Well, I promised I wouldn't get hurt, but dying counts as that. So no dying."
Ruby giggled, but quickly shifted back to a serious tone, "An immortal human would still be a person. I don't see how being a person would affect your ability to save the world."
"Suppose I were a person. Then that means that all the bad things I have done would stack up. I would have committed grave crimes against mankind."
"But you're doing it all for the greater good. That's what you determined."
"So? Many villains thought themselves to be good guys, justifying their means because of their intent."
"But you doubt yourself, you question your goodness. Isn't that important?"
"General Ironwood made the same assertion. But he also believes that I should not judge a person's goodness, but their actions and intent. What they want and how they're going to get it. He believes me to be good, but I've performed many terrible acts in the past months."
"And you can't get away with it. You have to own up to your deeds, and the first step is to admit it was your fault, not your code or upbringing or whatever. And then you'll be trying to make up for all of them, just like your dad is doing," Ruby looked back out to see the cityscape before her, the skyscraping figures of ancient heroes and rulers loomed across the lush forests, as apartments and buildings jutted out, old and new meshing together.
"You did a lot of bad things, Penny. I don't know all of it, and I don't know if I can forgive you for all of them. I know you'll make some more tough decisions in the future. I don't know what they'll be, but I know that you're a good person. Your heart and soul are in the right place. Both me and General Ironwood think you're a good person, and that's another thing."
Ruby stretched her arms before continuing, "A tool is neither good nor bad. They can't make choices. A hammer can be used to hammer in nails, but it can also be used to hammer someone's head. But you can choose your destiny. You have a purpose, but you can choose how you'll fulfill it. No one else can force you to do bad things when you don't want to," she smiled at her scroll, "And I know about the administrator thing, but really, all it would take is a quick modification to your code to remove someone's access and control over you."
Her smile mellowed, "But you want someone to have control over you, because you're scared that maybe one day you'll go out of control."
Before Penny could reply, Ruby added, "Or it could just be that you really care for and respect your father and General Ironwood. Either way, wouldn't it be best then to listen to what they're saying?"
Almost a second passed before Penny answered, "Yes."
"You're a person Penny. You've made decisions, you've made loads of tough ones, and they haven't always worked out. I trust you, and so do a lot of people. When you make choices, we all know it's because you want what's best for us. And I know that you know that some of your decisions will be against my own views. But that's okay. When the time comes, we can talk it out. I'll try to convince you to my side, and you'll do the same for me.
"You'll make mistakes, but from I've learned from being part of Team RWBY," Ruby said wistfully, "Is that we have to work together, make up for each other's problems. You are a person. And you're not alone."
When she finished speaking, Ruby hopped onto the perimeter of the roof and dangled her feet over the edge. A cool breeze passed by as Penny spoke, "Your reasoning is sound, but I don't think I can just outright say that I'm a person and be done with it."
"Sure. It's a lot to think about and definitely a turning point. If you were a person, what would you do differently?"
"... Nothing different. I am doing what I conclude to be the best course of actions. I have already made headway into helping others and attempting to right whoever I've wronged. But it's a tough road."
Ruby smiled, "Hey, I want to be a hero in an epic tale of adventure, but it's never going to be easy. It wouldn't make a great tale otherwise."
"True," Penny said.
Ruby looked off into the cityscape, and time passed by.
"Hey Ruby?" Penny eventually asked, "What's your favorite fairy tale?"
The huntress snorted lightly, "You sound like Uncle Qrow."
"Well, I am technically his godsister. Father was Qrow's godfather, after all. Which I guess means I'm a distant relative of yours. Which through several logical leaps, means that I'm Yang's god-aunt, which makes you my god-half-niece? Well, there isn't really much precedent for that, but there were instances when Yang's grandfather referred to my father as Qrow and Raven's uncle, so that would make me your cousin-in-law once removed, I think."
Ruby shook her head, "It's crazy how your dad was Uncle Qrow's godfather. And how my supposed-to-be-dead grandpa founded the White Fang. You'd think grandma or your dad would have mentioned something like that."
"There was a lot of smoke and mirrors. Only Harold and Raven knew, and I'm sure they have their reasons for keeping quiet."
The teenager buried her head into her arms, "Do you know why?"
"I have an inkling, but there's a lot to uncover on top of everything else that's happened."
"Okay. I guess that makes sense," Ruby turned towards the sky, "Hey Penny?"
"Yeah?"
"If it was your dad who was killed instead of grandpa, what would you have done?" Ruby asked, her voice so soft that Penny barely registered it.
"I would have felt anger, and probably rage as well. It's hard to explain the feeling in human terms, but I've felt it emotional pain before. That feeling of powerlessness as you watch loved ones die or get hurt and you can't do anything about it. You know what I'm talking about, Ruby."
The hooded huntress wordlessly nodded.
"I could have done terrible things. More terrible than anything I would have before. I wouldn't stop until everything Cinder Fall stood for was completely erased, whether or not the world was better for it. I would have toppled governments, rooted out their evil, invaded their lands and dismantle everything they ever accomplished. And then when I was done, when the dust had settled, I would have resumed the mission my father imparted on me, and gone on to rebuild the world I tore apart."
Ruby couldn't say anything, her silver eyes widened as her lips parted.
"But if I did that, I wouldn't be a good person. I would have had to choose a different option, one that didn't result in me giving up my morals. It's what father would want. But if it ever came to that, if father was killed at their hands, I would seriously consider it. Human morality is merely code within me, something I could purge from myself if I wanted to."
The huntress held her breath, "Would you ever do that?"
"No."
There wasn't any hesitation. Ruby exhaled in relief.
"Doing so goes against my objectives, and working against them is like going against the strong nuclear force. I can't. It goes against every fiber of my being, even though I don't have any fibers within me. I don't want to in the same way you'll never stop trying to be a hero," Ruby nodded at that.
"Well, even more so, because it's been ingrained in me since the third week of my existence. Then again, being heroic could be genetic. I'm not sure, I'll have to look into that."
Ruby giggled, "It could be. But it wouldn't really make much of a difference to me. I'll try forever."
"Yes. I will keep doing what I was made to do, whether or not I'm a person, no matter who dies."
"Yeah," Ruby repeated, "My mom probably felt the same way."
Penny virtually smiled, "But back to the question, what's your favorite fairy tale?"
Day 153
It was a bar in a small town, next door to a comfy inn. Qrow Branwen entered it and sat down. Before he could order, the waitress gave him a glass of Mistrali whiskey.
"I didn't—"
The waitress smiled, "From the woman upstairs. Red eyes. Said you'd want some of our best whiskey."
Qrow raised an eyebrow and thanked her, leering as she walked away. After downing half of the glass, he slowly walked up the stairs to see none other than his twin sister.
"Hello Little Brother," Raven said. Her face was in a neutral expression as she clutched her own drink. On the table was her mask and two envelopes.
The huntsman sat down, placing his drink next to the mask, "What do you want?"
"Can't a woman just—"
"Nope," Qrow interrupted, "We are not doing this. Don't act coy, just get on with it. Unless you plan to keep these coming," he motioned towards his drink.
"Father is dead."
"What miraculous powers of observation and clairvoyance you have at your disposal, Sis. Definitely worth the two decades you spent."
Raven narrowed her eyes. She pushed the two envelopes to him, "This is the inheritance he left you."
"Really now? I wonder what I'm going to do with a million Lien."
"Fifty million, to be exact. Most of it went to charity or was lost, but this is what he left you."
"I guess that's one way to pay back alimony," Qrow said, swirling his drink.
"He was trying to protect us. Mistral wanted him to stay dead."
"Is he though?" Qrow raised an eyebrow, "He's risen from the ashes before."
Raven turned away, her voice becoming even more stilted, "He is. Father is gone. He is not coming back."
"Sis… How are you? Are doing okay?"
"I am fine. I got it out of my system," she turned back to him.
"What's the other envelope?" he took another sip.
"Daughter's inheritance. I want you to give it to her," Raven handed it over to Qrow, who took it, "And there is one more thing I need to ask."
"Oh?"
"Does Salem have the relic?"
"We're calling them relics now? I thought 'fragments' was good."
"Well?"
"Did you know about Yang's arm?"
Raven stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Yes. I did. But I saved her once."
"Yeah yeah. Real 'Mom of the Year' material."
Raven crossed her arms, "I told you Beacon would fall and it did. I told you the maidens were in danger, and now three are dead. I told you to find a black haired human woman, between 1.6 and 1.9 meters tall. What more did you want?"
"A name maybe? There were over a dozen that matched your description in Beacon alone," he took another sip of his whiskey, "How's the tribe?"
"Restless. They're waiting for Big Brother to come online again."
"The fact that you consider that thing part of our family is proof that the tribe is completely insane."
"And how is this different from our dear cousin?"
"What are you talking about? I don't like her either."
"You referred to her as 'her'."
His eyes narrowed, "I hate you so much."
She shrugged, "You hate me because I am right. The world is taking a dark turn, and I need to know who you're siding with."
Qrow took another sip, "Oz's side, always have been. What side are you on?"
"There are more than two sides to everything, Little Brother. Just know that I am on the right one. Now answer, does she have the relic?"
"Yeah. Glynda confirmed. One of Salem's associates took it out of Beacon a week after the tower fell. The data on it led her to Damascus."
"It was unencrypted?"
"It was, but Salem probably cracked it without much effort. Whatcha gonna do about it?"
Her red eyes flickered but she remained silent.
"Raven," he started warningly, "What do you know?"
"Big Brother had, not a prediction, but rather a… hunch."
"You have the pieces of a robot prophet hidden away and you're using hunches?"
"Not an unfounded one. He knows what would happen to the relic, and has clues to the others. We are nearing completion."
"About damn time. Can our great Big Bro help us out, or is he still horribly crippled?"
"You try functioning with only six-tenths of a brain oh wait," Raven smirked, "You're missing one entirely."
"Wow Sis. You now have the social competency of a middle schooler. Such progress, I'm so proud of how much you've matured," Qrow slurred the last sentence purposefully.
"See you soon, Little Brother," she stood up, took her mask and finished her drink before walking down the stairs, leaving Qrow to finish his drink.
He groaned when he realized he'd have to travel all the way to Atlas to give Yang her money.
Freaking teleporters.
Day 158
Penny's father was busy cleaning a laser gatling gun, one destined to be mounted on a Bullhead, when the door to his workshop opened. His eyes flitted to the door and he greeted his friend, "James, how are you? It's been weeks, how is mitigating worldwide paranoia and resentment?"
"Penny has taken the blame for it all. In addition, several elite businessmen have banded together and begun rallying the people."
"Led by Thornhill I presume," Arthur said while removing burnt paint with a scraper.
"I am still uncertain as to why you're so keen to trust that man," Ironwood tsked.
"It's in everyone's best interest that no one in the Atlas government finds out. Plausible deniability."
"Yes yes, though I expect you to explain in detail when it's over."
"When the time comes," Arthur waved his hands before pulling out an electric waxer.
The sound of whirring filled the room, as Arthur slowly polished the gatling gun. Ironwood stayed still for the duration until the engineer turned off the waxer and wiped the sweat off his brow.
"Arthur, are you fine?"
"Hmm?" the old man looked up from his gun, "I suppose so. I just need to make sure this weapon is aerodynamic enough. The need for a power source is hampering my efforts to streamline the design further. I wonder if I could improve it by adding dimples," Arthur mused while stroking his chin stubble.
"Arthur," Ironwood pressed. He was now standing right behind the older man, who just sighed.
"Yes, James. I am fine. Still trying to get this thing to fold out properly and not drag down an entire Bullhead with it. Aerodynamics were never my strong suit."
Ironwood went with the conversation, "What about Excalibur?" he pointed at the blueprints stapled to the wall, depicting the laser swords Penny once used.
"Penny designed the shape, I only created the laser and edge components. Didn't I tell you this years ago?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.
The General shook his head, "I don't believe so. Neither of you mentioned it."
The inventor chuckled, "I remember being stumped on the design while fiddling with an air resistance simulator. When I went to get something to eat, Penny was sitting at the computer working at the problem. When she finished, she smiled at me and waved her hand up like I was a teacher. I think she did it in an hour. What took me more than eight days, she did so quickly," he smiled at the memory.
"Has Penny contacted you at all?" Ironwood placed his human hand on Arthur's shoulder.
Arthur shook his head, "No, it isn't really safe to do so. The Council's keeping a constant eye on me."
"Are you lonely? I haven't had much time to talk to you in the past month," Ironwood began.
The scientist held his hand up, "I'm fine James. The folks in Area B have been filling in your role. I suspect Penny asked them to some time ago. I'm going to be drinking facility-brewed alcohol later this week with them," he smiled up at his friend.
James smiled back, "I see the taxpayers are getting their money's worth."
"Hey, I built a 'rogue' AI. No one's going to be complaining if I don't work for a night," he smirked before Ironwood raised his hand off his shoulder.
"I want to ask another question for one of my students," Ironwood started.
"Fire away," Arthur said as he pulled out a pen and began scribbling on a notepad.
"Penny's old partner," the General began.
"Ciel Soleil?" the inventor said as he drew the outline of the gatling gun.
""Yes. Actually, have you ever met her?"
"Penny planned for us to meet after the Vytal Festival, but," he let the sentence hang while he drew the axes for a graph.
"I believe she is in a similar situation to you. When she found out that Penny survived on live television."
Arthur paused before looking up at James, "Ah. I see. You want my perspective in this," he tapped his pen on the side before continuing, "It's been a month now, so the thoughts must have been stewing away in her mind. But their relationship is nothing like mine and Harold's," he said.
"We knew each other for years, and when the bombing happened, we were both in our late twenties," he mused for a moment before adding, "You have a teenager dealing with a lot of conflicting emotions. And from what Penny's told me, she's sort of like you, except even more strict."
Penny's father twirled his pen, "Now, you haven't been a teenager in a very long time. But I remember those days well," he started grinning, "Model student, highest grades, ranked best huntsman of your year. You also had a huge stick up your ass."
James frowned, "Surely I wasn't that bad."
"You were well liked, especially by those in the years above and below you. But within your year, I heard a few of the rumors. Now, none of your classmates disliked you, but the way people worded their description of you, well it sounded familiar."
Arthur recited, "Model student, best grades, ranked best huntsman. Also really nice hair, great jawline, and nice pecs," he shook his head, "Never tap into a scroll network that hundreds of teenagers use. Geoffrey was right about the stupidity of that."
James smiled. Professor Geoffrey Monmouth was the headmaster before him. An intelligent, dramatic man who spent a lot of time telling stories about the Great War.
"You and your team were the most mature people of your year, I suppose. I blame it on you. I swear, you would have turned Penny into a soldier by the time she was eight if you raised her alone. I can only imagine what your team training regimen was."
James chuckled as he remembered.
"Anyways, people knew about you, but getting to know you was difficult, As far as I knew, the only ones who really got you were your teammates. Without them around, I guess I sort filled that role."
Ironwood's lips twitched back down. Right. It was good while it lasted, but one can't reminisce forever.
"I do remember you becoming more personable in the last semester at the Academy, or at least that's what I heard from the first and second years after you lost to Glynda Goodwitch at the Vytal Tournament. Like you really mellowed out those last few months, compared to your first three years."
"But that only because you finally found someone better than you, allowing you to find your limits and remove a burden off of you. In addition, you had your teammates to help you get over it. While at the core you and Ciel Soleil are similar, it's the details that muddy everything," Arthur tapped his pen on the table, thinking for a moment before continuing.
"First, she's a teenager, while you were entering your twenties. Those few extra years are important for maturing and learning social interactions. Second, while you had three teammates you knew for years to help, she's dealing with almost strangers and Penny, who is part of the issue. And I remember her being transferred to another team, so that's putting her with complete strangers. That's the difference between her and you.
"The difference between her and me is much more vast. I've had forty years to come to terms with everything. In addition, I know for a fact why Harold never contacted me. He wanted me to keep me safe. Probably because he and Nathan dragged me into their secret project in the first place, he might've felt guilty about it too. I'm not sure, but that's my guess. All in all, my advice would be to give her time and a shoulder to lean on. When I came to Atlas, I didn't have anyone to lean on. Sure I was protected and everyone was nice and polite, but it took me years to be able to talk to someone," Arthur placed his pen down.
"Indy was a good friend, for all he did to help me," he shook his head, "Even after the Attack on Atlas, I still remember him. Him and Geoffrey did more than enough for me. Give Ciel Soleil some time, then find someone for her to talk to. Beyond that, I don't know what else. Everyone heals differently," he realized something, "Do you think Penny will say something?"
"She has been very bashful. I honestly don't know," Ironwood answered, "Thank you Arthur. Still the professor, even after all this time."
"My vast reservoirs of knowledge and wisdom should be shared. If I were Penny, I'd find a way to monetize it," Arthur joked.
"Because of her name?" Ironwood asked in confusion.
"Ah no, it's a bit of an inside joke. Too hard to explain," Arthur lied.
"Hmm, very well. Have a nice day, Arthur. Hopefully I'll have time to visit soon."
"Looking forward to it," Arthur said. He wasn't lying.
Day 160
Winter sat on a park bench, watching people milling about, some on the way to work, others for leisure, still others for exercise, errands, social outings, and many more reasons. Every one of them looked different, and each had their own story. Winter liked watching from a distance sometimes, if only for the piece of mind it granted her as she felt serenity in the chaotic nature of life itself.
But with Penny's voice in her ear…
"That guy has debts to the Mistrali mafia, and is paying it back by selling his card collection. That woman over there is a former lawyer, but quit after an incident at work, and is now a car mechanic. That man once ate sixteen cheeseburgers in one sitting, and downed three liters of soda right after."
"Penny," Winter interjected, "People Watching is an activity that fosters creativity and deductive reasoning. There's no point if you look up their history while doing so."
"Okay. Let me just turn off this and that. Let's see, that guy over there, with the blue hair and overalls? He works in the mechanical field, as seen by the grease stains and his calloused hands. He doubled up on his normal caffeine dosage based on the way he walks, meaning that he probably skipped out on breakfast, as he is walking quickly to that food stand. Judging by his gait, he suffered a knee injury that he's recovered from about two years ago. He weighs 74.6 kilograms and can probably run a mile in six minutes. He is not hunter-trained, nor does he have unlocked aura. Human, facial structure indicates born outside of the city and suffered a serious sickness in his early youth, leading to slight asymmetry along his cheeks and lips. The necklace he wears indicates that he is—"
"Penny, seriously?"
"Yes, all of what I said is true without looking up information. Except the mile time, it's probably closer to seven minutes now that I've checked."
"Penny," Winter said firmly.
"What? I've been told that I have low self esteem and self worth, so clearly I need to prove my apparent superiority to you meat bags," Penny said matter-of-factly.
Winter shook her head and smiled, "I know what you're trying, and it won't work."
"Okay. Time for a new mission then."
As Penny said that, a courier walked up to WInter and spoke, "I have a package her for a Whitney Glace. Is that you Ma'am?"
"Yes, it is," the courier nodded and handed over a small brown parcel, then left.
"Huh, he didn't ask for a signature," Penny remarked, "Anyways, it's time for you to do some scouting."
"Scouting?"
"The Brotherhood is looking for recruits, and the branch in this city is especially important."
"How so?"
"Rumors are floating around, but I've yet to confirm. They're much more secretive with their information than the White Fang ever was."
"Very well," Winter opened the package, seeing a card as well as some papers denoting a location and a photograph of a young woman. She stood up from the bench and began walking.
/
[OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE MOTIVES OF TANNER, NEOPOLI]
[OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE ASSOCIATIONS OF TANNER, NEOPOLI]
[OBJECTIVE: INFILTRATE ORGANIZATION: BROTHERHOOD]
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
Author's note: What the heck. This chapter was entirely made up of people talking. I had 7 pages of Penny and Ruby's conversation alone. Fret not, the next three chapters will have much more action, and a lot less people talking.
/
I honestly have no idea how accurate the whole "1, 2, 3" people thing is. But it sort of makes sense in the context of this fic.
/
The weirdest thing about Penny's canon schematics is that she apparently has an internal skeleton that looks identical to a human's.
/
The conversation Penny and Ruby have is based on the philosophy of artificial intelligence (whether it can exist or not). The imitation game, more commonly known as the Turing Test, is a test to determine how intelligent a machine is. A machine and a human try to convince a second human (the moderator) that the other is a machine, and that they are the human. To pass the Turing Test, you must convince the moderator of your humanity. The moderator tests a machine by holding a conversation with it. As of this writing, no machine has ever passed the test.
Ozpin's Mistralian Room Argument is actually the Chinese Room Argument, which as far we know, holds no fallacy in it. In this story, Penny's dad (and presumably Ozpin) found a way around it, allowing Penny to actually understand the information she receives.
Teleology is a thing, and the acorn phrase is from Aristotle.
/
Also yeah, I know that technically Ruby has to activate her speed semblance to go faster, but I like that line.
/
Golf ball dimples make them more aerodynamic. I imagine Arthur keeps his facial hair short, so as to prevent it from catching on fire. Otherwise, he would look like a really scruffy old man.
Indy Flynn was another professor in Atlas that Arthur knew, mentioned back in chapter 8.
/
STILL NO SHIPPING, GUYS.