Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Memory Failure- ABERRATION, 2nd Iteration

by Ironraven

Section 9 and it's operatives aren't mine.

---

"You said this was the prototype; is there anything different about it?"

"Mechanically, the only difference is the lack of thermoptic camouflage. It was removed as spare parts." Churnow tapped at the keyboard before him. "The big differences are in the personality. It is equipped with the first prototype persona we created for you."

The Major shifted as she leaned against the wall near one end of the executive's desk. "The original persona was more aggressive, it was unsuitable for our needs."

Pazu raised an eyebrow. "More aggressive?"

"Much more. In tests, it shot first, without waiting for permission from humans. It wasn't as concerned with collateral damage. We modified the AI to make it more inquisitive, we lowered their apparent age, made them more cheerful. The Tachikoma you knew were dependent on humans at the beginning, They were still learning, this one isn't." Churnow cleared it's throat. "If the persona that you knew was that of a younger female, this machine is more masculine. We took memories of war veterans to form part of it's programming. It will fight with everything available to it."

"It's also paranoid. When it was being tested, I gave it orders to stand down during a simulated firefight. It assumed that the orders were from a hacked communications network. Even with blanks and smoke grenades, it was able to destroy several androids. It resisted any attempts to modify it's program." The Major had stared at the engineer as he spoke, her jaw tight.

"Great, a pissed-off Tachikoma who's spoiling for a fight," grumbled Boma.

---

Tachikoma glided through the heavy, armoured door. The door had opened for him. He wasn't sure why this was home, but that is what the data ghosts indicated. The lights came up as they sensed his motion. He raised his arms, shouting with glee "I'm home!"

Rather than curved, blue shapes like his own, a flatter, green form emerged from the closest tech bay. "Halt. Identify yourself."

"I'm a Tachikoma. Who are you?"

"This unit is designated Uchikoma number seven, assigned to Public Security Section Nine." The voice was that of a simple machine, devoid of any spark, dead. "There are no Tachikoma assigned to Public Security Section Nine. The Tachikoma were destroyed. You are in error."

---

"This is the prototype we used for testing the remote processing system, isn't it." There was no question in her voice, her voice calm.

The executive lacked the inner strength it took to meet the Major's eyes. "Yes, it is."

The Major's hands slammed down on the top of the desk, making the metal and polymer structure jump in fear. "You had told me it didn't have a personality. You were supposed to conduct tests on the original military interface. That was the prototype, that was the zero-th generation persona for our needs."

Churnow's eyes shifted rapidly, some part of his brain inherited from a reptilian ancestor had somehow survived being cyberized. There was no escape. Most of the people in the room were were angry. Along with the woman, the large man looked ready to pull him apart. "We had to test it with an aware AI, to see if bandwidth issues would arise."

"Where the hell did you get the body? There weren't supposed to be any here after they came to..." Batou tripped over the word he wanted, knowing that everyone was waiting for his explosion. The Tachikoma had all been special to him, not just the one that was 'his'. Even if they weren't alive, they'd been people. "Work with us."

"We had moved the memories and personas to safe storage before we began the remote experiments. It had been the body of one of yours; but just the body, we had to be sure of the system before we used your Tachikoma's memories. So many of them had microfractures in the structural members and excessive wear on the joints that we gave them all new physical bodies. Except for this one, the old ones were broken down for spare parts or recycled."

Ishikawa had a bad feeling about that. "What about the secondary data stores, where those removed? Or at least formated and overwritten."

Churnow tried to keep his voice from cracking. Why should they have taken those out, they were just redundancies used as virtual memory. They had originally been data storage when the Tachikomas had been military equipment with the most basic user interfaces. "So? After the AIs and modern datalinks had been installed, the real data was retained in the brainboxes; the secondaries there were irrelevant except during synchronization. They would have been analogous to scrap paper."

"So anything experienced by the Tachikoma who's body you used could have been in that memory, you stupid bastard." Ishikawa seethed at this man's ignorance. How could anyone who purported to be an expert on computers have overlooked that. It wasn't like it was volatile memory, like old style random access systems. "It's gated memory- unless it is overwritten, what goes in stays in."

"Chief, Batou and I will take the two Uchikomas that you brought, the rest will search from the air with the tilt rotor."

---

"What do you mean, destroyed? They can't be destroyed."

The mechanical voice followed him as he moved deeper into the maintenance bay. "The Tachikoma were destroyed during the Dejima fighting. The Uchikoma were selected to replace the Tachikoma. Tachikoma are obsolete"

Other than the one following him, the others were still and silent in the stalls. This was wrong, they should have been out, joining their comrade. They should have been blue, and rounder, like him. They should have had real voices, not this. This was the voice of a cheap computer, not a Tachikoma. It was colorless, disposable. These were intruders, pretenders to the name. Section 9 must have been attacked, there was no other reason. His siblings were either in hiding or they'd somehow been destroyed by these poor copies. There was only one thing to do.

"Stop. You are not authorized to access that storage locker." The Uchikoma's voice was as flat as ever.

Tachikoma punched the access code into the lock. It was one of the memory echoes, the data ghosts. "If I have the access code, logically, I must be authorized." Pushing back the doors he quickly ran an eye turret along the ammunition within.

"You are a Tachikoma. The Tachikoma are obsolete. If you are obsolete, you can not be authorized." The Uchikoma crowded closer as Tachikoma calmly loaded his internal magazines with 6mm armour piercing for the machine gun, and 40mm high explosive dual purpose for the heavier weapon. The stingballs, flashbangs and other low-lethality munitions would stay behind. Section 9 had been invaded, the other Tachikoma destroyed, it was war. Tachikoma twisted his arm, tilting forward so the aluminum muzzle cover slid off the launcher. "You can not do that. Only humans may load the weapons systems. I command you to cease, or we will destroy you."

Tachikoma sighed as the other green figures emerged from their bays, fingers snapping like crabs. The red lanyards on their weapons safety pins fluttered as they moved. These machines really were stupid. They had just brought fists to a gunfight.

---

Author's notes:
Memories of another life, not your own. Humans call it a kind of insanity. I call it a resource.

As a significantly out of context comment, I was checking out various message boards. It seems a lot of people don't get the thing about Batou using that cross-shaped piece of debris in ENDLESS GIG. Yes, he has a burden. He's been able to put together all the pieces of the puzzle that is Motoko and Kuze. He might not know what the picture is, having put it together from the back of the pieces, but he knows that they have a significant history together, and it is very personal. People don't seem to understand something: if a member of a counterterrorist unit, such as Section 9 or any of the real world ones, is found to have a personal, possibly romantic, relationship with a terrorist, a couple of things happen. Suspension without pay at the mildest, until the the investigation is all over. If you are cleared, you'd still be shunned by many members of that community, which puts a twist in joint operations becuase everyone in the unit will be marked by the taint. If there was something, but it wasn't a danger, you loose your job, your clearance, and you spend the rest of your life knowing that you are being watched for some slip that lets the toss you into solitary confinement until you die. If there was somethign, and it was a danger, such as aiding and abetting your terrorist lover, you do not pass go, you do not collect 500 dollars, you go straight to jail. So not only does Batou know who the other guy is, he can never, EVER say anything to anyone. He can't even think about it loud. If he does, Motoko goes away, Section 9 is humiliated, and the others would never be able to trust him again. I'd say he has a cross to bear.