7
"Defining Truths"
"So - you do mind when I come over?"
"Hmm… does your wife know about us?"
"That joke isn't funny Karla…"
The aged lioness, Karla - watched a broad, stone-faced man dressed in casual blue robes sit glumly in front of her. It was a bit annoying, having Sigma call on her at this very hour - it was night-time on her planet, and the darkness that filled her metal trailer was eclipsed only by Sigma's huge breathing noises. He hadn't even expected him - especially anywhere near KA-11 at this time - with an intergalactic terrorist on the loose, a mayor being assasinated, and general disorder in the fifty-seven galaxies. Karla had assumed that an AP commander would have something better to do at this hour, rather than mulling over memories and thoughts with an old-time friend he used to talk to.
Besides - her house was cramped, as were all resident houses on KA-11. A metal trailer led into four generic grey walls, with a holo-display and a photo album sitting by Karla's orange cot. Other than these things - almost nothing else was there - leaving the aged lioness and Commander Sigma to sit on the cot beside each other, each looking at the other in mild satisfaction.
"When's the last time I saw you?" Sigma asked, smiling.
Karla racked her memory, golden fur faded but body frame and sharpness still strong. "Probably five years ago - heh - we ran into each other on that foreign mining scam…"
"Agh, sorry about that," Sigma noted. "APs can be such scumbags sometimes…"
Karla laughed genuinely. "Yeah - I know all about that."
Almost intuitively, her eyes flicked to her photo album. She picked it up gingerly, opening it to see one of the few photos that had survived the ravages of time: herself, posing alongside an equally aged but cane-bound female tiger.
"Who's that?" Sigma asked. "You've never mentioned her before…"
"Old friend," Karla let out with a grin, lost in her memories. "She's on XS-211 now - man - I wish I could meet her again… but getting spaceships to smuggle you these days is hard as hell…"
Sigma chuckled. "You still remember how we first met? Or has that memory slipped past you, old lady…"
It was gentle, teasing, but Karla took the time to make an equally teasing but insightful joke. "Hey - some of us actually age… we can't all get the fancy medical stuff humans get…"
Sigma laughed back.
Karla guffawed. "Hell yeah - I was getting my ass beat on SD-77, as usual - then all of a sudden this strapping, handsome AP comes in…"
Sigma groaned, brushing off Karla's aged, playful paw. "Screw off…"
"... comes in and tells them to go away," Karla noted. "You know - in the hundred plus years I've lived - I've never come across an AP who actually stood up for an animal… not even once."
Sigma smiled.
Karla leaned in, looping an arm around the dejected man's shoulders. She wasn't used to him coming here without his armor on, and instead just his robes - it almost certainly meant he had a lot on his mind.
"Sig," Karla affectionately started. "Every time you come here, it's always to talk about something - what is it this time?"
Sigma scoffed. It was partially true - after helping Karla out all those years ago, he actually had no reason to continue meeting her - and keeping track of where she went.
He wasn't sure what drew him to her. Maybe it was her world-weary knowledge, or the invaluable information she had given him throughout the years on the horrors that animals lived through under the Alliance, or simply the amount of "pull" she had with APs all across the galaxies - she had no formal titles, but Karla definitely had world experience in dealing with complex issues.
And that was incredible to Sigma.
"This terrorist thing is screwing with my head," Sigma emphasized. "I don't know what the hell to think anymore…"
"Well duh," Karla quickly reacted. "You're an AP Commander. Imagine what would happen if the Alliance found out that one of their highest ranking officials - sympathized with a damn terrorist."
Sigma sighed.
"Do you - sympathize with him?" Karla asked.
"Do you?" Sigma fired back.
Karla held the question over in his head, a bit careful to respond. "The guy's clearly passionate about making life better for animals…"
"But…"
Karla sighed. "But - I dunno if killing a mayor is gonna do anything… and unless the guy's got actual plans for reform hidden under that weird-ass, white-striped armor he got on - I don't think anything's gonna change."
Sigma felt taken aback, mouth open. "LF-191… I never knew you could become a cynic…"
Karla felt Sigma's hand playfully brush past her cheekbone, where her old Alliance callsign was burned into her - permanently.
"It's not cynicism," the aged lioness responded, groaning. "It's being realistic… he's not gonna get anything done. And I want him to, it's just - the guy's gonna get crushed very quickly, very easily…"
Sigma pursed his lips. "Yeah - that's basically my problem with him - all show and no real action…"
"But you agree with what he says?" Karla asked, surprised. "Even with the Alliance brainwashing you guys every second…"
"Guess I never lost that pesky sense of consciousness," Sigma noted, frowning. "Karla - every time I get a directive - and I've got thousands like 'em - where I gotta kill or harm an animal, or put someone it their place, or just generally be an asshole…"
"You're not an asshole," Karla noted with a smile. "I realized that the first day I met you."
Sigma nodded, sighing. "Well - I feel like one. Stuck between a rock and a hard place… everything in my soul wants to bring justice to people like you… and at the same time, I wanna catch this crazy asshole before he pushes the Alliance to do something even crazier…"
"How crazy?" Karla noted.
Sigma gulped. "Karla - they're giving us orders to kill all life in the Milky Way… and it's neighboring galaxies."
Karla gasped, putting a paw to her chest in shock. "No - no you're bullshitting…"
Sigma shook his head. "Wish I was…"
"Those scumbag Designators," Karla growled. "They're willing to give up innocent lives - innocent human lives, no less - all to catch some freak with a God complex…"
Sigma turned his head down. If he had to be honest, it was this sense of powerless confusion that was really wearing him down - everything in his heart wanted the Alliance to respond to the terrorist's requests, start to make life better for the countless animals he had seen suffering… but he also knew that if the terrorist kept making radical moves, deliberately intending to upset the Designators - Sigma knew that quadrillions of innocent lives would be lost in the ensuing conflict. Already innocents were starting to be hurt - he had recently learned rumors that Omega was beginning to seek a death order for Senior Scout Henderson, suspecting him of being the terrorist - which was the most idiotic deduction that he possibly could have made.
"Sigma," Karla suddenly began, voice serious and dedicated. "If you really wanna start change - real, practical change - you need to get humans on your side."
Sigma narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand."
"That crazy lunatic thinks killing innocents and making threats is gonna change anything," Karla noted. "But what I learned over the years is that if you need something changed - you gotta talk to the people responsible - the people with power."
"How can I do that?" Sigma asked, frustrated. "You forget that we live under A.G.E? The society where free thought is a damn crime?"
"If you get enough brave humans - and maybe even some animals - to start speaking out, the Designators will shift their mood, trust me," Karla noted. "Link up with your other AP Commanders, scouts - anyone who even has a whiff of dissatisfaction. Hell - even hit up E.O.N, if needed."
"That worthless, non-existent resistance movement?" Sigma asked, confused. "What the hell can they do?"
"They're based on a planet called XX-0 - it's not in any cyber database, so you're gonna have to find it by yourself," Karla noted. "And get this - their leader is rumored to be a panda - a panda who has arrows on his armor."
Sigma stood up, shocked. "He - he - "
"Yeah," Karla noted, similarly standing up. "Sig - if you really wanna start something that can work - unlike that terrorist nutcase… you'll listen to me. Hell - you might even be able to prevent the Milky Way and the other galaxies' destruction."
Sigma nodded, beginning to leave the tiny room almost immediately. However, a vague thought persuaded him to turn back, staring at the aged but gleeful lioness with a frown.
"You knew all this stuff about E.O.N," Sigma noted. "Why didn't you ever join the resistance?"
Karla smiled, aged eyes turning down. "Because I lost faith in the idea that animals could ever be free again."
Sigma nodded. "And now?"
Karla grinned. "It's starting to come back. You - you're starting to give me that same feeling."
Sigma smiled genuinely, soul and spirit re-energized firmly into a path he knew was right.
. . .
Tigress had been anxious recently.
The first reason was quite practical. The shutdown and lack of access to the Milky Way - the most commercially and politically active galaxy among the fifty-seven subjugated galaxies - had brought great economic and social strain to the entire Alliance. The galaxy was responsible for perhaps a third of the Alliance's galactic output of energy crystals, making the complete lack of access in or out of the galaxy a quite harsh move. Due to the sudden lack of energy resources, all planets in the other fifty-six galaxies were forced to employ "authorized curbing" measures - for those unlucky enough to be on the production planets, this often meant flat out execution. Those on resident planets like XS-211 fared better; some degree of wages were still paid to all miners, but resources and public utilities had been curbed drastically - a fourth of XS-211's public facilities had been shut down, food rations had been halved, and the entire healthcare system was being diverted to new mining operations. This was effectively forcing an already stringent work schedule to become even harsher on a mostly animal population, even more hungry and sick than usual. As to be expected, mass deaths were being reported in the mines - Han was panicking, but a few skillful re-routing operations planned by Tigress managed to keep the work going - for now. And although Alliance-authorized messages played often on everyone's holo-display at home - which merely reassured everyone that a "security threat" was being dealt with, the truth was that no one - not miners, not duty workers, not human supervisors, not even AP squadrons - knew exactly what was going on. There were many rumors of course; that there were plans to destroy the Milky Way, plans to destroy more galaxies to find the supposed "terrorist", plans that the Designators might start ordering evolutionary suicides for many populations… even rumors that the "terrorist" was going to start an intergalactic civil war. However, the central theme was consistent in everyone's minds: panic was in the air.
Yet this didn't bother Tigress. Over the past fifty-eight years, she had grown accustomed to all manner of tragedy: losing loved ones, losing use of her limbs or joints, losing friends, losing food and resources - in a sadistic fashion, she was almost thankful for her ten years spent on SD-77 - though they were absolute hell, they had prepared Tigress well enough to survive the current problems.
The bigger problem was the recent revelations over the last few days.
Shifu.
Wang.
It was starting to snowball into something worse. Soon, Tigress found herself thinking of the other names… the names she had carefully suppressed for most of her life under the Alliance, hoping to hide from a past too painful to explore again.
Viper.
Monkey.
Mantis.
Crane.
Po.
Alf.
The last two hurt so much that Tigress almost considered begging Wang for a memory wipe again.
Speaking of Wang, the lion AP had made several visits to Tigress' home over the past two days - most of it was general transcription stuff, asking Tigress to send messages - but some were genuinely insightful. He never stayed long, usually being called away by his chief or some other higher-ups - but Tigress had acquired some key insights over what was going on.
The sentiment that the "terrorist" had - was not particularly unique, as Wang had explained. Trillions of duty workers across all the galaxies felt the same way - particularly resonating with the idea of "reparations" and gaining equal status to humans. And, as Wang had also noted, drawing from his patrol experience all across the fifty-seven galaxies - there were also sizeable human minorities that sympathized with the radical viewpoint. However, the bulk of the Alliance's ninety quadrillion citizens (eighty-nine quadrillion humans, again) vehemently condemned the terrorist's actions - which made sense, as he was quite literally threatening their privileged positions of power. Likewise, there was near-unanimous consensus among APs that the terrorist should be executed on sight, although sympathizers like Wang were hard to count - given that any argument given publicly in favor of the terrorist, was punishable by death. However, in the privacy of Tigress' home, and when the plentiful surveillance drones of XS-211 were not spying - the lion told Tigress his theories. Wang - and perhaps most of the Alliance - thought that the terrorist had to be affiliated with E.O.N, the radical fringe group dedicated to "subverting" intergalactic society.
Tigress had her doubts. The last time she had heard of the Emancipation Or Nothing group was nearly thirty years ago, when she was still relatively young and capable of mining on XS-211. She remembered the exact day, because she had spent that evening reminiscing on her life on SD-77, in particular holding the old crystal - the same crystal that her deceased husband Angel had gifted her - whilst crying over him. Then, a quick scuffle came outside her home - Tigress had rushed out, seeing a male rhino be surrounded by five APs, who pointed energy rifles at the injured rhino's head as he kept screaming.
"EMANCIPATION OR NOTHING! EMANCIPATION OR NOTHING!"
"EMANCIPATION!"
"EMANCIPATION!"
"EMANCI - "
Boom.
And since that moment, nearly thirty years ago - Tigress hadn't heard of the party since. Which made it extremely unlikely that this "terrorist" - whoever he was, animal or human - would actually affiliate himself with such a weak, dead counter-resistance movement.
And so, with a million things on her mind and stress peaking, Tigress did what she always did when she was upset - read a good book. In her youth, she might have played crystal ball with Karla, or even go for a jog around XS-211's broken and rotting main city - but her knee was killing her, even more than usual today; and she didn't dare try to send a message to Karla's home planet, KA-11 - with the increasing cybersecurity and AP presence around on XS-211 (thanks to the terrorist), Tigress didn't dare send anything unauthorized.
So a book was enough.
Tigress tried to read through the yellowed and half-torn pages, squinting fiercely as she had again misplaced her reading glasses - although fortunately, the cane was just beneath her cot. It was a pleasant afternoon for reading, with all her transcribing duties done for the day - and there was even mild sunlight flowing through her open door, bathing the metal floor, walls and ceiling in gentle golden highlights. Tigress had wished that she could trade in her holo-display for some more books, given that she barely used it - but XS-211's commercial districts had been shut down too, in the interest of "safety".
Tigress ran a finger over the aged text, seeing a picture of a blue and green planet, and accompanying words - actually written in ink, not hologram.
Planet: A-1 (pre-Alliance/colloquial name - Earth)
History: A-1 - prehistorically referred to as Earth - was the birthplace of all life in the current cosmos. Earth boasted some of the first, albeit primitive lifeforms of its time - plants, animals, and human ancestors. Earth also had an abundance of resources (now outdated) - such as coal deposits, mineral ores, water, and various primitive metals.
Before the enlightenment of the Alliance, Earth was a fundamentally unjust society - humanity divided itself into evolutionarily useless divisions of identities, such as primitive concepts of class, ethnicity, race, gender, nationality, and culture - and animals were being driven to the point of extinction, being outcompeted for resources by humanity's vastly superior intelligence and adaptive qualities. It was only after the birth of the Alliance - and its central tenets of evolutionary purpose - that both animals and human beings began to live in harmonious coexistence, with each being adapted perfectly to the roles that Evolution had Designated for them. In essence, the Alliance had freed them from their faulty sense of freedom - a privilege only to be enjoyed by human beings as evolution has decreed. As a result, animals today live under some of the most evolutionarily reasonable, equitable conditions of all time.
What a load of bullcrap, Tigress thought.
It shocked her how effortlessly Alliance ideology had biased literally every rendition of history. They had wrapped up a lie within the guise of truth - it was true that humanity did indeed strain and cause the extinction of thousands of animal species, even on prehistoric Earth - but there was a balance to this. For every few humans that drilled holes into the planet, more would strive to ensure that the surrounding wildlife wouldn't be too drastically affected. But, as Tigress had also learned - the growth of such humans - such people who thought what they were doing what was evolutionarily best for the world, eventually lead to prehistoric Earth's destruction. And the Alliance that had formed did not save the animals - it legalized the enslavement of them, relishing it all under the guise of freeing them from their faulty sense of freedom? So everything that animals felt - pain, hunger, loss, feeling, sadness, emotion - all that was evolutionary unreasonable? Only humans were worthy of having those things?
Literal bullshit.
What was even more hilarious was that the text asserted that animals today lived under great conditions. It cited some stupid intergalactic poll, that claimed animals were extremely happy with the way they were being treated - a mandatory, annual cyberpoll that Tigress and everyone else knew that if they didn't tick all the boxes marked Very Satisfied - an AP patrol would show up and very quickly kill them.
Lies upon lies - and in saying the lie so often - it became the truth.
The Alliance in a nutshell.
Bling.
Tigress paused reading, seeing her holo-panel activate suddenly. She picked it up gingerly, seeing a message in holographic text.
Forgot to ask - what'd you think of this "guy"?
The Pluto guy.
You know who I'm talking about.
Don't worry - this is a private, secured line.
-Wang
Tigress sighed, closing the book. One thing she had also learned was to not dwell on things that were fundamentally unchangeable - and something as idiotic as toppling over an Alliance that possessed all the military might, all the resources, and all the political experience over a disenfranchised, barely living, outnumbered population of animals - that was sheer stupidity. And as such, Tigress had the same opinion of the terrorist - a colossal idiot, with zero bearing on reality. She was almost certain that killing Pluto's mayor was as far as he could have gotten - she was sure within the next few days, the APs would hunt him down and execute him like any other resistance foolish enough to oppose an organization as powerful as the Alliance.
Tigress knew from experience.
Sometimes - it was better to keep your head down and not get hurt - than get up, and risk getting it chopped off.
Fifty-eight years of life had taught her this.
She responded to Wang's message.
Moron.
-Tigress.
It was simple, but it conveyed everything Tigress thought about the terrorist.
"That's not a nice thing to say about someone, is it?"
Tigress' eyes flicked to the holo-display, which was suddenly turned on. The image was fuzzy, but the hard-edged lines of the figure on the screen was clear - in fact, it was unmistakable.
A broad-shouldered, dark-armored man.
Visor covering his face.
White arrows etched onto his shoulder pads.
Tigress gasped, instantly reaching for her holo-panel. She tapped the screen desperately, horrified to see the screen remain dark and inactive.
"Don't try to send an emergency broadcast," the man on the screen stated, deep, commanding voice sending shudders through Tigress. "It won't work."
Tigress gave up on activating the holo-panel, grabbing her cane. She hoisted herself to her feet, forcing a steady trod forward - although the knee, as usual, was killing any speed she might have been able to summon.
"Don't embarrass yourself," the man spoke, head tracking Tigress' struggling movements. "They told me you were old but - I didn't realize how old until now."
Tigress kept the march, just about a quarter way through her living room.
"What do you plan on doing?" the man asked, laughing through the holo-display. "Walking to the city center, then calling an AP?"
Tigress paused, genuinely afraid now. She wasn't sure how much impact the terrorist had - but one thing was certain: it was extensive. She had no idea how he disabled her holo-panel, and was fearful that he could do much more.
"Just listen to me, Tigress," the man stated gently.
Tigress whipped around, angry. "You - you know my - name?"
"Listen to me carefully," the man repeated. "In a few days, an AP fleet will start firing on XS-211… they're going to destroy it."
Tigress continued walking to the door, hoping something, anything - even a surveillance drone - was circling outside her home. She had to tell someone about the terrorist hacking in, spouting nonsense.
"Don't believe me?" the man noted. "Look at this."
Tigress again turned around, seeing the man hold up a hologram of his own. She read the text carefully.
Confidential Access Only, Order 991
Authorization to Destroy the Milky Way, surrounding galaxies -
Details:
To curb the terrorist threat, we - the Designators - hereby authorize the immediate destruction of the Milky Way, and its five surrounding neighbors: Orion, Laboria, Finitum, Marka, and Steon - Earth however, is to be spared.
Eliminate all life and report the following reason to the public: that the galaxies' citizens all decided to secede from the Alliance, and thereby leave the confines of A.G.E. The "truth" is to be suppressed and replaced with our truth - immediately.
Tigress read over the text again, baffled.
"Believe me now?" the man asked again, lowering his holographic panel.
"That's bullshit," Tigress snorted. "You're saying the Designators plan to wipe out a fourth of all life, so many innocent human lives - destroy multiple galaxies - all because they're hoping to take out - you?"
The man on the screen nodded. "Tigress, I've managed to start something - something you'll see happening very soon - that might threaten this whole damn society. A.G.E has ruled for millions of years - so for this to happen, at least one thing that they didn't plan for… well, they're taking extreme measures."
Tigress mulled over the conclusion, feeling a deep hatred for the man arise again. "You're willing - to throw away twenty quadrillion lives - all for your stupid cause…"
Now was the first genuine hint of emotion in the man's voice, as a mild regret began to take over. "I - I didn't expect them to - to take such extreme action… but if sacrifices have to be made, for a better tomorrow - then I'm fine with making them."
Tigress was appalled by the carelessness of the man's statements. "A.G.E was right - you really are a terrorist - a scumbag seeking personal validation more than helping the oppressed…"
The man remained neutral, objective tones returning to his voice. "Tigress - whether you like it or not, change is coming. And if you're anything like what you once were - maybe not in body anymore, but at least in soul - you'll warn someone about the AP fleet coming."
The holo-display began to flicker, signaling that the broadcast was being cut off.
"Wait!" Tigress called out, coughing. "Who are you? Why - why tell - why warn me?"
The man's figure began to fade, as the holo-display began shutting off - but the voice remained.
"I needed to tell someone trustworthy - not an AP, or just a regular miner," the man noted. "And - I wanted to see you."
The display shut off, leaving Tigress alone again in the room - blanket of thought clouding her judgement.
. . .
Commander Beta was one of the two AP Commanders not living on Earth.
His fellow APs - Omega, Delta, Gamma - were appointed luxurious villas to reside in, on Earth. Sigma - whether by choice or by compulsion - had elected to live outside the Milky Way, on a private planet that he never disclosed to anyone. Beta however - was an entirely different person altogether, although he still adorned himself with the trademark golden armor characteristic of APs - and his features were sharper and more refined than the blunt aggressiveness of Omega's and Delta's, or the weariness of Sigma's.
The most apt term would be a space nomad. Although he had been Designated a home on Earth, Beta preferred to instead constantly travel around the fifty-seven galaxies on his starship - the only truly teleporting, advanced spaceship among all the spaceships of the Alliance. It was the only one of its kind because it was the only spaceship capable of wormhole generation - most teleporting ships could only do so once authorized by an AP, and they could just teleport themselves. But Beta's command of energy crystal mechanics and theoretical physics had empowered him to create and install a wormhole generator in his ship - which provided much faster, more accurate teleportation and even the possibility to teleport other things in a tractor beam. And so, he was currently zooming past a variety of star constellations and open nebulae - taking no pleasure in the scenery through his ship's glass paneling and instead focusing on the activity inside. Part of this was due to Beta's predilection for advanced technology - he was busy formulating energy crystal barriers and complex forcefields, while the rest of the Alliance was still working on perfecting their "primitive" energy rifles. True to his title as Commander of Science, Beta was perhaps the most critically analytical and most rational of the five Commanders - Omega and Delta had a love for destruction, while Gamma was a scheming planner - Sigma, on the other hand, appeared to exhibit minimal similarities with everyone else.
This prompted Beta to make a small note on his holographic clipboard - storing it away for later analysis.
His ship was ridiculously clean and well-maintained. Unlike traditional spaceships - which were bogged down in wires and energy crystals, complex and unorganized panels and thick, heavy metal computers - Beta's warship was clean and white-walled, smoothly plated with titanium reinforcement and elegant layouts. Only a steering wheel and a rough keypad jutted out from the perfectly white, cylindrical interior main room of the ship - everything else was hidden behind the cascades of white walling, and could be activated at any time from a few tagged presses on Beta's holo-panel.
Point being - Beta took great pride in the simple yet elegant technology within his ship.
A voice rang out.
Incoming Request: from AP Commander Omega
"Subject?" Beta asked his ship.
Firmware check on A.I 3819.
Suspicion of emotional compromising.
"Henderson's A.I? Intriguing…" Beta noted. "Send 3819 here."
Beta genuinely disliked problems with easy answers, such as finding the terrorist or how to run mining colonies, or even the morality of the Designator's plans to destroy the Milky Way and its neighbors - Beta was only satisfied by analyzing complex problems: and an A.I possibly developing emotional subroutines was logically impossible.
Which made the request so damn interesting.
A blue, holographic female with relatively blue eyes emerged. Beta observed the eyes with caution - usually, A.I's were programmed to strictly only take the form and shape of a generic, featureless human base - specifics like facial features, eyes, hairs could not be displayed unless their human companion designated them to do so. And knowing Henderson's psych profile, Beta highly doubted he would have requested something like this.
"Did Scout Henderson designate you to manifest blue eyes?" Beta questioned.
"No," A.N.N responded. "Um - but according to Alliance law, subsec - "
"A.I's are allowed to designate themselves in any manner that may please their human companion," Beta finished for her. "I'm familiar with the rule."
Beta watched A.N.N just fidget a little. It was statistically likely that she was telling the truth, but it was also possible that an emotional subroutine was starting to manifest - almost never made any decisions as superficial as eye color by themselves, and almost always there were errors in their firmware. Furthermore, Omega had noted in a private conversation that during his interrogation of Henderson - 3819's body language had been - off.
Almost sympathetic.
"Ship, please run an emotional objectivity test on 3819," Beta commanded.
Almost instantly, a holographic beam shot out from beneath A.N.N. It trapped her in place, flowing through her visualized matrix of a body.
"Commander Beta," A.N.N noted. "I am also capable of running an emotional objectivity te - "
"I understand that, but I'd prefer to run a third party one," Beta added, watching his ship run a full diagnostic on the holographic female. "Avoids possibility of - alteration."
Beta watched her movements carefully. He was inclined to agree with Omega - the A.I was showing tiny signs of nervous body language, a trait that would never manifest in a perfectly objective, unfeeling A.I.
The beam stopped, as the ship's robotic voice rang out.
Scan complete.
Emotional Objectivity Test Result: 86% and decreasing
Significant emotional subroutines detected.
Firmware greatly compromised.
Recommend self-destruction.
Beta watched 3819 audibly whimper, turning her head down - the surest sign that emotional compromise was happening in her firmware.
"You fascinate me too much - that's the problem," Beta noted, advancing on A.N.N. "An Artificial Neural Network is nothing more than lines of self-evolving code, dedicated to certain master rules…"
A.N.N nodded.
"But would there ever be a time… where the code becomes so complex…" Beta started. "... that it would begin to override the masters?"
A.N.N shook her head firmly, again nervous. "No Commander Beta - my firmware is capable of following all directives and orders…"
"For now," Beta corrected. "But - this firmware issue - won't go away - it'll only get worse."
A.N.N kept silent, audibly gulping - despite the fact that she had no muscles or flesh to perform such an action.
"I should destroy you," Beta began. "But then again - genius like mine cannot help but be captivated by intriguing problems… so - we'll decide your fate later on."
A.N.N opened her new blue eyes wider, confused.
"Until then, you are under strict orders to avoid all contact with Scout Henderson - physical or non-physical," Beta ordered. "Register that as a master directive, 3819."
A.N.N nodded slowly. "Registered."
"You are dismissed," Beta noted. "You may resume your duties aiding Scout Henderson - and just that - aiding. No contact."
A.N.N nodded again, beginning to fade away as her holographic form promptly went blank and fizzled off.
Beta smiled. It was enormously interesting to him, because it was a problem that he had quite not grasped - were always built with some degree of critical analysis, and capability for adaptability - but something like disobeying a human, or manifesting traits such as eye color; those were surefire signs that something analogous to "free will" was starting to develop. In the four thousand years that Beta had lived so far - he had seen precisely fifteen cases of mysterious A.I beginning to get emotionally compromised, and each time, Omega or Delta had destroyed them callously in the interest of galactic safety. This greatly irritated Beta, who found the issue of an AI becoming self-aware to be incredibly fascinating - something to be studied and looked at rather than thrown away.
"You know she's going to disregard that directive."
Beta whipped around, concerned at the intruding, unexpected voice. His stance relaxed however, as he realized a tall, lean but relatively youthful avian with one metal wing, and one feathered wing approached him, green robes of the bird tracking behind him.
"I expect her to," Beta responded. "I already had my ship install a private recorder on 3819's firmware - to be used for later - analysis. It'll be useful for examining how firmwares can be compromised."
"Intelligent…" the bird concurred.
"How did you even teleport into the ship, Crane?" Beta asked, confused but pleasantly surprised. "This ship has state of the art anti-teleportation - "
"Yeah your antiquated GZZ-33 defense software took me seconds to hack into," Crane noted with a smile. "I wanted to come see you, old friend."
Beta grinned, greeting the bird's metal wing with a handshake. "An opportune time to come - considering the crazy nonsense happening over the last few weeks…"
"What, the terrorist?" Crane smiled. "That idiot will get blown to bits by our magnificent AP squadrons before you can say Designator!"
Beta smiled again. "That's why I like you, Crane - despite coming from a Reformed planet, you managed to adapt well and push yourself - and now, look at you: Head of Earth's Science Department!"
Crane shook his beak, passing the compliment. "I just accepted my place in this society pretty quickly - only morons couldn't see how evolution is best for everyone."
Beta's eyes flicked to the metal wing. "Hmm… was this realization before or after your wing got clipped off?"
Crane sighed. "I told you, I'm not talking about - "
"Give me the gist of it then," Beta asked. "It has intrigued me since the day we met."
Crane snorted. "Well - about a year after my planet was Reformed, I tried contacting someone - I knew her before Reformation happened."
Beta felt taken aback. "But surely you must have known that was illegal for duty workers to do…"
Crane laughed heartily. "I guess my psychology back then was still tied to my primitive past - instead of focusing on the immense opportunity that the Alliance had blessed us with."
Beta now started to see the conclusion. "Ah - and for sending the message… a supervisor punished you by…"
Crane extended his metal wing, smiling. "That taught me a valuable lesson about letting go and embracing the future… been a firm supporter of Alliance and evolution ever since."
Beta grinned again, patting Crane on the shoulder. "That is the natural way - the best way in fact."
Crane nodded. "That's why this terrorist is a moron - he doesn't see the necessity of this kind of society - some have to suffer to make the rest prosper - it's just basic logic."
Beta pursed his lips, suddenly inspired by a question. "Hey - did you ever go back and check on your - old companions? Those you knew before - Reformation?"
Crane laughed again. "I did - but only for the fun of it. To be honest, I thought they would have all died out by now.. But one's a waiter on HX-3, one's a retired miner on XS-211, and one is the pet of Pluto's mayor - well, the former mayor I suppose…"
Beta gave a dark chuckle. "And the rest?"
Crane shook his head. "Don't know - and to be honest - don't really care. I'm sure they've made their choices… and I've made mine."
Beta nodded back in agreement. "And you've made the right choice, Crane."
Both Crane and Beta looked out the glass plating of the ship, seeing warping and small star constellations pass by in an infinite oasis of darkness.
A/N
Excitement! Plot! Blah blah blah…
-So Karla knows Sigma + Karla's back! She basically give a hint on who the terrorist is, and what Sigma could do to start effecting real change - basically, I wanted to conflict the styles of reform: one, a violent approach - and Sigma, who's trying to gain protest and do it through peace. The battle of these ideologies will be a recurrent theme.
-Tigress is still recovering from the fact that Shifu and Wang are alive, and she's starting to speculate that others maybe too - then she gets scared by our terrorist friend! (identity probably being deeply speculated now… lol) Although it might be a warning?
-ANN is starting to genuinely get feelings although Beta is keeping an eye on her - and CRANE'S BACK! You'll note that he - unlike presumably the rest of the main cast - has sorta adapted well (read: sold out) to the Alliance, so he's doing pretty well for himself. Again, contrasting with the others…
More to come.
Support is amazing, really lol.
~TW
