Chapter Three: Flicker
ROB sat down in his chair, looking at the modifications that Slippy had done. It had been changed for his new mechanics, and he was glad, but the chair didn't fit him anymore. It was too big. He sighed and shrugged, hands playing over the many control arrays. "We ready for a test launch?"
"As we'll ever be." Peppy said, belting in absently. "We've got our clears from the control tower."
He glanced at Fox, who nodded once, and turned back to the controls, eyes closing. His mind flew away from his smaller body and focused more on his larger one, running diagnostics, checking engines that had sat cold for a while now, making sure their landing pad was clear. Only then did he let himself issue a count, his new voice echoing both in the bridge and outside via speakers, wrapped up in his multitasking.
"Ignition."
The main engines surged to life with a roar, the nuclear-powered g-diffuser screaming to maniacal life. He adjusted the wing flaps, then the thrust angle, and suddenly the Great Fox was off the ground, adrenaline flooding his would-be veins, a high clutching his mind and heart as he laughed to himself, sending the ship into a barrel roll as they broke through the atmosphere and fell in between some of Corneria's military cruisers, weaving easily. Only then did he fade back into his shell, crossing his arms. "Textbook, Fox. All green. Looks like everything is backward-forward compatible, as it should be."
"That's good…" Fox was looking at him with a lifted eyebrow.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just wondering how you're wired now. You laughed."
"Oh! Well, it feels good. It's a sudden slam of acceleration, a rush. You have to understand Fox, it's not the wings of a ship I am adjusting, they are my wings, and I feel the wind on them." ROB smiled. "I never felt it like this before."
"As long as it's a good thing, hey, have fun with it I say." Slippy said. "Still up for a warp test?"
"Hell yes, let's make sure everything's in order. Where to?"
"Let's go to Katina." Fox said, grinning. "Visit Bill."
"You got it." ROB sank back into his ship body, redirecting engine power and lining up jump coordinates. Then a second, stronger rush seized him, and the ship leapt into warp. "We'll be out in about twenty minutes."
"All right, tell me before we exit." Fox unbuckled and stretched his arms.
"You got it." ROB watched as Fox and Slippy left the bridge, Peppy reading something on his displays, and turned to his controls, letting his mind wander into the AI hypernet.
- search string: Athens
- searching…
- none found.
ROB jolted out of the hypernet, frowning and rubbing his chin. None found? Was Athens offline then? Under a temporary radio silence? She wasn't even in action right now, as far as he was aware.
"Something wrong?"
"I… Well… I jumped onto the AI network to talk to Athens. You remember her?"
"Pretty mare? Yes, I do."
"She's not on. She always is." He scratched one of his ears. "Hang on…"
Voice connecting was never easy during hyperspace jumps, but data connection was easy enough. He knew the Cruiser Justice's data locations, and started making direct queries, searching for Athens at the source. As more and more negative replies came back, he felt panic and worry clench him, strange nervous emotions, and finally flooded the cruiser with requests, knowing he was probably confusing the communications staff when they saw the one word repeated over again.
Athens? Athens? Athens?
After five minutes of pounding the Justice with requests, he logged back out of the network and sagged, covering his eyes with his hands. "Peppy?"
"What happened?"
"The Justice is returning a no-AI signal. Hopefully that means she is just down for maintenance, but…" He sat forward, rubbing his temples, shoulders shivering. "I feel… worried…"
"You're allowed to." Peppy stood and walked over to him, patting his shoulder. "Try again once we're out of warp."
He nodded weakly, shivering.
Where was Athens?
"Bill!"
"Hey Fox!"
The pair met each other in midair in a bonecracking hug, then let each other go, laughing and talking. Slippy just shook his head, looking at how odd the little Katinan defense fighter looked sitting by the arwings.
"Been a while hasn't it?"
"Too damn long, you money slave." Bill smiled. "So, what's up here?"
"Not much. ROB's been upgraded, wait 'till you see him. It's almost spooky."
"Aw, he got one of those rad new bodies?"
"Yes indeed."
The pair walked side by side on the way to the bridge, talking fast the entire way. They has always been close, to the point that as kids they made off with one of James' knife and became blood brothers, and would probably always be close friends. The fact that they were on different planets had had no real effect on their relationship.
"Hey, ROB…" Fox started, stepping onto the bridge, then froze. ROB was pacing back and forth in front of his chair, fingers of one hand pressed to one temple, face drawn tight. "Peppy?"
"He's trying to make contact with a friend who's an AI. He's had no luck. There's a hole in space where she's supposed to be." Peppy replied quietly. "In other words, his best friend isn't answering the phone, her instant messenger, or even showing up on infrared radar."
"That's ROB?" Bill said, looking around Fox. "My god, dude. That's so cool. He looks so alive."
"He is quite alive."
ROB noticed the arrival of Bill on the bridge, and ignored it for the time being, pounding the Justice with queries.
No AI.
No AI.
No AI.
"That's enough of that! You're clogging up our broadcasts!" The voice startled him into jumping almost a foot in the air, the voice just addressing him. "Why are you flooding our ports?"
"I am trying to reach the AI of your ship, Athens. I'm another AI. I'm… I'm her friend." ROB spoke outloud, chewing his lower lip.
"Oh, god, you don't know?" The voice got softer, broken-sounding.
"What? What?!" He heard his voice pitch nearly to a shriek. "Just tell me! Please just tell me!"
"She flickered. She's gone. Complete inexplicable deletion of personality data. Either something went wrong in her body, or she committed suicide, and we can't tell either way."
ROB dropped to his knees. "No. Why would she do that to herself?" He demanded, ignoring the presence of his team mates around him, the feel of Peppy's hand on his shoulder.
"We don't know. We're trying to find out. If you give me the message address of your cruiser, I will let you know as soon as we do."
ROB sent the information and signed off, cupping his face in his hands and whimpering.
"ROB? Can you hear us now? Is it bad?" Fox's voice reached him, finally, his owner sounding tense.
"My best friend has apparently killed herself." ROB whispered, then his emotions chipset overloaded, and he fell into recharge mode, slumping to the floor of the bridge.
"Man, dude, I arrived at a bad time didn't I?" Bill said, watching as Fox carried ROB's body into the bedroom the AI was using, setting him on the bed. ROB was dead weight, returning all green lights from a terminal inquiry that Slippy had done, but otherwise unresponsive.
"It's in no way your fault, Bill." Fox replied, smoothing ROB's fur away from his eyes before straightening, chest tight. If anything confirmed how alive ROB was, it was this. They all had seen the trauma lines etched into his face before he had passed out. "I guess this is the only way for his circuitry to recover. Would you like some coffee? I get the idea we'll be in orbit a while. We can't attempt warp without an attentive AI."
"Hell, like you need an excuse to stick around."
Slippy watched Fox draw the door closed, and sighed. "Still no response?"
"None. He's out cold. Poor guy. Did you even know he had friends where other AIs?" The trio walked slowly down the hallway, drifting toward the guarantee of coffee in the galley.
"No, he did private voice chat with them on their hypernet…"
"I knew." Peppy said, staring into his coffee mug, slouched at the table. He had barely registered them coming in, trying to comprehend that Athens, who had seemed so smart, so caring, was dead. "I couldn't sleep the night before his transfer, and found him active and talking to her. I spoke to her. She was nice."
"Is this common in AIs? To just… delete?" Bill asked, pouring himself, Slippy, and Fox mugs of coffee.
"Not common at all. It's rare." Slippy said. "If Athens was stable, there shouldn't have been a reason for it."
"Who knows. If she did it herself, she probably had her own reasons." Fox sighed.
"Doesn't change how terrible it is, and how much it's hurting ROB." Peppy said quietly. "He's only had feelings two days, Fox, and he's been sucker punched with the death of a close friend."
"Jesus." Bill shivered. "Poor guy. Hope he pulls through."
"We all do. Believe me." Fox said.
ROB moaned, rolling onto his side and curling up automatically, drifting on the borders of consciousness, mind chasing itself in endless circles. He had talked to Athens three nights ago, and now, she was no more.
Why? Why would she have flickered? With no warning signs? She had seemed so happy when he last spoke to her. He choked back his sorrow, wrapping his arms around himself. Athens was one of the old ones, like him, not as old but close. She was eight. Half his age, yet had been close to him since she had first logged into the AI hypernet, brand new and bubbling over with cheerfulness.
Why her? Why? Or was it suicide? Had her body malfunctioned? If so, Incarna Corps was going to pay the price. If it was their equipment that had done it, they were liable for the death of an experienced AI, something far too valuable to loose. He moaned to himself, a sob creeping through his chest, feeling knotted up with pain. He had felt like that a lot lately, mourning belatedly for James, and now for Athens. Were emotions a good thing? If all he was going to feel was pain?
Hearing a faint 'ping' noise, he stirred, and saw someone was hailing him on the hypernet. He logged in wearily. "What?"
"Did you hear about Athens?" Asked the AI, another male named Augustus, who was a newer AI in control of Corneria City library and archives.
"Yes. Just did." He whispered back, voice betraying the pain he felt.
"Have they found anything out?"
"No. Not yet… Not that I've been told. Do you think it was suicide, Augustus?"
There was a long pause. "I don't know what to think, ROB, but she sent me an encoded file before flickering. It's in a military protocol. I'm supposed to give it to you."
ROB sat up in bed, blinking blankly. "What?"
"You heard me right. Would you like the file? It isn't large."
"Yes, yes, send it." Moments later, it registered with him, and he felt a sense of apprehension. "Thanks, Augustus."
"If that is a suicide letter, you have to relay it on to the Justice. You know that, right?"
"Just give me a second to read it…" He whispered, dropping in his ID code as the password and watching the file uncompress. "It's a video. It's Athens talking." He remarked absently, then gasped to himself when he saw her eyes, the agony there.
"I'm going to make this short. I can't afford to send this directly to you, and I'm sorry ROB. We've known each other a long time." She sighed, looking away from the camera. "Hopefully Augustus will get this to you before you try to reach me… ROB, I'm going to flicker. Before you loose it and try to stop me, don't. It is in no way your fault or anyone else's, and the reason for it can never be corrected." She closed her eyes, and he watched the tears fall, feeling his own start, pain clutching his chest. "ROB. Don't fall in love. Whatever you do, no matter how much you like someone, never fall in love, especially if they're alive. In the end, all you will get is pain. That besides, I hope you have fun in your new body. Remember me."
The video cut out.
"ROB? Are you still there?" Augustus' voice asked, echoing strangely over the distance.
"Yes. It… it is basically a suicide letter, Augustus. I'm going to relay it on to the Justice with a note attached."
"Good god, why her? Why now? We need the old ones like you guys, or us new ones won't be able to stay grounded." He frowned. "I know it's a private message, but can you at least tell me the reason? I can tell the others on the hypernet?"
"I, well… From what I can infer… she loved someone living, and they didn't love her back. She couldn't take it any longer."
"People. I swear to what gods there are." The young AI made a noise of combined sorrow and disgust, then logged off.
ROB drew his knees to his chest, hugging them and staring blankly at the wall, the video playing over and over in his head as he waited for acknowledgement from the Justice. It was only then that he realized that he was sitting on 'his' bed, and he blinked, tilting his head. Someone must have carried him here? Even, with the all the pain he felt, a warm glow still filled his chest at that. He, at least, was cared for.
"This is Chief Communications Officer Brandon." The voice in his head said. "I recognize your signal address. Didn't you just sign off with us?"
"I'm ROB of the Great Fox." He clarified. "And I just received a file that Athens sent before flickering."
"Could you please transfer it?"
"Yes." He cued the file to send, rubbing at his eyes with the back of one of his hands. "It's suicide, Brandon."
"Wait a moment please." A few minutes later, the voice came back on, sounding shocked. "Jesus. I wonder who the hell it was."
"It doesn't really matter, does it?"
"… No. You're right. It doesn't." There was another pause. "We're planning on having a funeral for her, ROB. It was the consensus of all on the ship that we wouldn't want a new AI in her body, so we've had her decommissioned. Would you like to attend the funeral?"
"Yes. Yes please."
"We'll send you the information on it when we have it planned. It'll be a few days at least."
"Thank you, thank you so much."
"… To quote Athens, keep your fire burning." The communications officer signed off.
"Your base is being ripped up? My god man." Fox lifted an eyebrow.
"Yeah, they're taking it apart. Complete and utter face lift." Bill took a drink, huffing. "It needed it, but we've all been transferred to other bases, or in the case of people who have to stay like me, we're in nearby hotels. You cannot believe the hell we're getting from hotel managers for landing our planes in their parking lots."
Slippy laughed. "You've always been a bit short on common sense, haven't you?"
"Bite me, Slip."
"Hold up, guys." Peppy said, looking at the door, where ROB was standing, wavering dangerously, rubbing one of his eyes with a tear-matted paw. "Are you ok, ROB?"
"Athens sent me a message before flickering. It was suicide. I've been invited by the Justice's crew to go to the funeral." He said, not looking at them, trying to contain the tears that choked his voice. "They don't know when it'll be yet, but I'll have to go to Corneria City for it."
"That's fine." Fox said. "I have a dark suit that'll fit you ok, if you like."
"Thanks." ROB walked over and sank into a chair, hugging himself.
"Flicker?" Bill finally asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's AI slang for personality deletion, whether on purpose or not." He replied, keeping his voice detached so he wouldn't start crying again. "The first insane AI coined it, about a decade ago. Um, anyone got a match?" He accepted a lighter from Bill, examining it then flicking it, showing the flame. "Imagine that as healthy AI, a full flame, fragile and alive." He blew on it, the air causing the flame to dance, flicker, and go out fully. Then he passed the lighter back and returned to hugging himself. "It's rare, and almost every case is on purpose. Equipment is just too good nowadays, everything too backed up. Some brand-new AIs come with a subsystem that does constant copying of personality data to several separate locations for backup, yet those models still flicker. It's a choice, not an accident."
"Why would an AI commit suicide, though?" Peppy asked.
"We feel emotions as keenly as a living person, but we overload faster. If something happens that we do not like, we have a much harder time handling it. That's why ship AIs are kept away from stressful situations, with the exceptions of war. Or that's how it used to be." He swallowed, feeling his eyes burn, the tears wanting to start again. "Athens… fell in love. And didn't get love in return. For her, that was more then enough to flicker." As soon as he choked out that sentence, he sobbed, cupping his face. "I'm sorry…"
"No. Don't apologize." Fox stood and walked around the table, pulling the robot into a hug. "Jesus, ROB. Don't be ashamed of crying. It isn't a bad thing."
"I have never felt so much pain." ROB choked out, hands knotting into the back of Fox's shirt helplessly. "How isn't this a bad thing?"
"If you keep it bottled up, it will eat at you for your entire existence. Believe me. That's why crying is good. It lets you release the tension."
"I'm getting your shirt wet."
Fox choked back a laugh, looking at the others over the top of ROB's head somewhat helplessly. They looked back, sympathy in their eyes, but no solutions, no ideas on how to make ROB feel better. "That's ok, I have to do laundry anyway. Is there anything we can do?"
He just whimpered weakly, burying his short muzzle into the soft spot made by Fox's collar bone and shoulder. His mind was still flying in circles, muddled and confused by the pain he felt. And yet, he felt better, just to be where he was, being soothed by someone he had known so long.
"Come on, I'll walk you back to your room." When ROB only clung harder, Fox sighed and in a quick motion picked him up, fireman carrying him back to his room. "You know, this is the second time today I've had to carry you, and you are really god damn heavy. You know that?" He grunted as he walked down the hall.
ROB made a small choked noise, worrying Fox for a moment, until he realized that the AI, for all his pain, was laughing.