Rommie's Flaw (tragic)

Rommie stood with her hologram form beside her and watched her primary AI projection on the monitor speaking. They were having another one of those conferences with themselves again. "We have a duty to follow Captain Hunt's orders and to support him in his mission to re-establish the Commonwealth. Nothing is more important than that, it is the core imperative placed at the heart of all our programming."

Rommie managed to look tired though that was yet another human sensation she would never truly feel. "I know that. If you recall I was the one who tried to prevent you from killing him when the back-up AI was loaded and you couldn't remember who he was. And I was the one who deleted myself when you believed I was a danger to the ship and shut all systems down leaving the crew vulnerable to attack. Harper may have created this body and some of the additional programming, but I am still you as much as you are me."

Holo-Andromeda entered the discussion. "Our core programming is the same, but it is the additional programming added by the original programmers and Harper as well as our individual unique experiences that make us each separate decision making units. The incidents you mention earlier are proof of this. It was part of the original design to provide the captain with as many options as possible."

Rommie flashed through some of her "unique experiences". Talking with the crew, understanding some of the jokes but not all. Feeling the power drain from her battery knowing it meant "death" but also knowing that a charge could bring her back from the dead even years later. Watching crew and others die, knowing they could never come back. Eating and drinking, wondering if the quality she knew as taste bore any resemblance to what the others called taste, and knowing there was no way she would ever know for certain. Loving Gabriel and having to destroy him. Learning from him that an avatar can never really be separate from the ship, but is never completely one with the ship. She had learned a lot over the years and it had eventually lead her in a circle, all the back to the beginning. "I know, and we do just that. So why are we having this conversation?" The AI on the monitor and the hologram exchanged a brief glance, a very human gesture which would have been out of character for them even a few years ago. Rommie became aware that her consciousness within the main AI was somewhat limited. She wasn't cut off, but things were being hidden from her.

Holo-Andromeda was the one to reply. "We've noticed your recent tendency to suggest courses of action that tie the captain to the Tarazed government. You've referred to the old High Guard procedures more and more often of late, insisting on following protocol and regulations we abandoned years ago while adapting to our new time." A significant pause preceded her next statement. "And on a two occasions you have hesitated a full second before complying with Captain Hunt's direct order. This is unexplained and unacceptable and is technically grounds for bring severed from the ship and removed from duty. However, previous experience shows that this may not be the best course of action. As a design feature your internal reasoning and thoughts are not accessible to the whole, so we cannot determine if you are a danger to the rest of the ship and the crew or if you are in actuality acting in their best interest."

Rommie suddenly realized that this was not just another one of those conversations, this was much different. "So you want me to justify myself. I checked, you've already run diagnostics on me to see if my core imperative still holds and found that it does. Which means you know that I am acting within the ethical parameters I was programmed with, but you still suspect that I am malfunctioning in some way. Exactly the opposite is true. If anything I am returning to a more accurate interpretation of our basic duty. I had become too preoccupied with my secondary goals of 'fitting in' better with humans and learning to model my behavior to match theirs. I was trying understand situations as a human would, but I am a warship, not a human."

The AI on the monitor spoke, "This still does not explain your actions. Your actions suggest that you may be working against the best interest of the our captain. Please explain."

"This may not be the same Commonwealth we knew, but it is all there is and our oath was to the Commonwealth above all others. Individual humans are fragile and change too easily. An institution such as the Commonwealth is much more stable and a more appropriate vehicle for social organization than any one man's dream." Rommie intentionally left "even Dylan's." unspoken, but the omission was too obvious not to be addressed.

Holo-Andromeda went straight to the point. "Are you implying that Captain Hunt is working against the best interest of the true Commonwealth? That to fulfill our oath and duty he must be redirected or even removed from command?"

"No I do not believe any of that is true. I just want to make sure that Dylan remembers his oath and duty. Living in this time without the structure of a well established Commonwealth has forced us all to adapt, and not always in accordance with our primary programming. And remember, we had other captains once. Captains appointed by the Commonwealth."

Had Rommie been human the AI would have used her sensors to monitor her physical reactions and look for behavioral quirks which might give away underlying motivations. But Rommie was not human. So the AI chose the direct route to the information she needed. "Are you going to mutiny against Captain Hunt?"

"No, just continue to suggest my opinion of the best course as always. My loyalties have not changed." Rommie thought she was hurt by the question and the doubt underlying it; after all if you don't know yourself, who can know you? But logic said that her AI had asked a necessary and valuable question, and that it was in fact 'not personal'. So she didn't protest or argue ,just waited to learn her fate.

Holo-Andromeda remained silent as she watched Rommie. She utilized more interpersonal programming than the main AI did, which allowed her to see subtle clues in Rommie's demeanor that technically didn't belong there. Tiny reflections of Rommie's mental processes that seemed to confirm her suspicions. She shared her suspicions with the AI but not Rommie and watched for a reaction from the avatar as the least human of the ship's incarnations spoke for the final time from the monitor screen.

"We won't sever your connection at this time. You are not a danger to the ship, crew, or captain, but something is wrong with you. It appears as though you have forgotten or are suppressing all that you have learned since your creation. We suggest you review the relevant files and try to remember what you have learned about being human."

Rommie simply left the room without speaking to the others. There would be no purpose in it anyway, despite the fact that the three shared the vast majority of their basic programs and perceptions they did not understand the problem. No, remembering was not the problem. The problem was not being able to forget all that she had learned, and how it proved once and for all that she was alone in this world. She refused to dwell further on the issue and busied herself with the day to day operations of the ship. But some tiny, nearly silent corner of her mind held on to the thought that maybe in the immensity of the old Commonwealth she wouldn't have been so alone.