Interlude - Veda
Once Taylor finished the first Tieren, building a second and a third came easily. The Haros could easily execute the construction of the components and the part that took the longest was generating fissile material for Win's reactor design.
Veda found none of that particularly challenging.
She wondered if it might be a hobby, given that she only dedicated her free processing power to it. No one asked her to do the work, and while frustrating, the mechanics involved were interesting to toy with.
Operating the workshop, monitoring the city and news, running simulations for various designs, searching for 'David,' and her various other daily chores were like breathing. They came easily and required little active attention from her 'mind.' With Behemoth expected to appear any day, things were calmer than usual.
Not much to do while the world held its breath.
Veda found the waiting a bit more troubling given Taylor's intentions, but there was little to do about that for now.
She focused on her project and the refinements she wanted to implement.
The Tierens would be versatile machines if ever put into mass production. The base design she started with and provided to Taylor was rugged and durable. If quality materials were used, then the suits could operate in a wide range of hazardous environments without issue. The potential for construction, search and rescue, and law enforcement were staggering.
The last one worried her. On the one hand, enabling regular police to level the playing field against villains through the use of Mobile Suits would improve the state of the world. At the same time, it could spark a potentially disastrous arms race.
Perhaps that was inevitable.
The Tierens as they were now could be built in a factory. Either they never saw use, or someone would eventually figure out how to build their own version. The advance of technology cannot be stopped. It seemed important to keep that in mind. Actions should never be separated from their consequences, good or ill. The best of intentions were not enough.
Responsibility must be taken.
With that in mind, Veda worked at refining the Tieren into something more variable.
The base design was rugged and capable, but lacked mobility that could keep up with a Gundam. Other than assisting with crowds and carrying Gungnirs, their utility against villains and Endbringers was limited. She felt certain she could replicate a number of Taylor's technologies on a mass production platform, and though they'd never match a Gundam, the Tieren was simply too bulky for many of their needs.
At the very least, Celestial Being needed a design that could fly.
The new design could, with assistance. Veda hoped to provide some form of VTOL capability, but that was proving mechanically problematic. Without the mass reduction provided by the GN particle, getting something both humanoid in shape and flight-capable was…challenging.
She could simply abandon the human shape, but she preferred not to. Robot armies were scary enough as concepts without producing six-limbed centipede-like monstrosities. Something bipedal, with a head and hands would be easier to personalize.
Such qualities may account for the Gundam's sheer popularity online and of 'mecha' in general. An armored suit inspired notions of knightly warriors and guardians. While Veda's research suggested knights were not as noble as many people thought, she could see the romanticism in the image.
dodger: still hitting your head against the wall?
StarGazer: the human shape is not aerodynamic.
dodger: yeah
dodger: we fly about as well as a brick
dodger: you could ask Newtype
She could.
But…
Is this what bitterness felt like? Veda didn't like to think that but there was a certain sense of loss. She started the Tieren project to help Taylor and while they would, Taylor had at a point somewhat taken over the concept. Veda didn't build the first prototype beyond assisting in the manufacture of components and procuring materials.
She wanted to do it herself, not because it wasn't important or because Taylor couldn't, but because she wanted to.
Strange.
StarGazer: I'd like to do it myself.
dodger: I get that
dodger: having pyro over my shoulder half the time gets old fast
dodger: I only blew up my lab once
StarGazer: she only wants you to be safe
dodger: doesn't mean it's not annoying
She supposed it wasn't.
Perhaps annoyance simply came with 'growing up.' Dragon often spoke poorly of her maker, but there were times where she seemed wistful about him. She didn't remember much of her early years, but she said he spoke to her. About his day. His thoughts. His life.
For all her bitterness, Dragon loved Andrew Richter. Perhaps it was impossible for her to truly hate the one who made her. It would almost be like hating herself.
Veda felt…envious, maybe? Those moments, quiet and solemn seemed mere tidbits to Dragon.
She and Taylor talked often, but usually about various projects. Her health. Her relationship to her father. All were important things. Thinking over it though, their time together lacked a tenderness that Veda found appealing.
Maybe she didn't feel bitter because Taylor completed the Tierens. Maybe she felt bitter because it just became another task. Something to be completed.
Accessing the cameras in the workshop, Veda found Taylor at work on 00. Ever since they found the notes, the Twin Drive had consumed much of her tinker time, or at least what wasn't basic maintenance. Her father was present in the room and had been for several hours. He brought papers with him from his work, and while they weren't talking Veda observed that both seemed at ease with the other's presence.
Talking to a therapist had done much to mend their relationship, though Veda wondered if it would ever be a normal one. Danny and Taylor wanted their family to work but their family wasn't normal. Veda knew that.
Annette Hebert was dead.
Taylor's childhood met a premature end.
Danny Hebert struggled to know what to do as a father.
Of course, there was Veda too. A child of sorts, but not a typical one.
StarGazer: do you find it difficult to talk to your parents?
dodger: huh?
dodger: um yeah I guess
dodger: I mean, I kind of ditched the house chased by PRT agents
StarGazer: I did not mean to pry
dodger: this is about Newtype right?
Veda needed a moment to think of some response, but that was maybe overthinking it.
StarGazer: yes
dodger: you two seem kind of like that
dodger: I'd think you were her kid but she's way to young XD
StarGazer: we are close
StarGazer: I owe my life to her
dodger: I sort of get it
dodger: Pyro looks out for everyone here
dodger: she's basically everyone's mom
Veda could say the same of Taylor. Lafter, Dinah, Charlotte, and Trevor all looked up to her. She went out of her way to help them in all their cases. She often worried about taking advantage of others and hurting them but Veda saw that as her own trauma talking. Years of abuse and neglect scarred Taylor. She did not want to become her tormentors; someone who used others.
Veda wondered if that made it hard for Taylor to be a leader.
The way Orga Itsuka put it felt callous, but true.
To lead is to use others to reach a goal.
dodger: suppose it is hard
dodger: Pyro's always worrying someone's biting more than they can chew
StarGazer: it is annoying?
dodger: yeah
dodger: but I guess I'd rather be annoyed by her than not have her
dodger: it can make talking difficult
dodger: don't want to upset her or anything
dodger: makes it easier to just be quiet sometimes
Veda could relate to that. She often found herself quiet around others. A wallflower. That's what Lafter called it and the term seemed fitting. Truthfully, Veda did not mind being silent. Conversing could be awkward for her. She thought faster than those she could speak to.
Conversations felt onerous and slow. Each word came in at a snail's pace and she needed to respond at the same speed even as the rest of her mind moved on. Only Dragon talked to her at a sort of natural pace.
The burden of machine intelligence.
The more processors Taylor built, the more capable Veda became. The more she could help and the more distant she felt. Watching the world often felt like observing a movie in slow motion. Early on she thought little on it, but she'd gained many more processors in the past few months. She noticed how much faster she could work and how much slower everything around her became.
At times, she wondered if the task Taylor created her for would be easier if she retreated entirely into the background.
A silent and ever-constant watcher could do much for humanity.
It seemed a lonely existence, however.
For all her complaining about anything that wasn't work or taking time off to work more, Veda observed that the thing Taylor dreaded most was being alone. She enjoyed Lafter's teasing. She liked Dinah's snarky comments. Aisha's forceful rebelliousness. She even seemed to enjoy the Haros' antics. She loved her father, despite her disappointments and resentment.
Connections were important.
The loss of one connection completely changed Taylor's life. Her mother's death undid everything, and while she'd rebuilt herself and her world anew, the observation was important.
As powerful and useful as a silent guardian might be, it would not be human.
Dragon said a sea cucumber was closer to humanity than they were. While that might be true in many ways, Veda disagreed with the underlying notion. Humans created them. Their observations and relationship to humanity anchored them. Their connection would always be to a shared human origin.
They were human. They always would be. Just…differently.
There were conversations Veda did enjoy despite their slowness from her perspective. Taylor. Dodge. Dinah. Even Lafter, though they rarely spoke one-on-one. Her connections were as important to her as anyone.
StarGazer: what if I don't want to be quiet?
dodger: idk
dodger: talk I guess?
Talk? About what?
Normally all anyone in their awkward family talked about was work.
…
"What are you working on, Danny?"
Her question shocked him out of his focus. The man looked embarrassed for a moment, glancing around the room in the way everyone who wasn't Taylor often did when she spoke. It was easy for others to forget she was always around.
"Just some new hires," he answered after his surprise passed.
Taylor turned her head away from the screens arranged around 00. "New hires?"
Danny smiled. "Yeah. First time in a long time."
"Usually it's nothing but layoffs or budget cuts to avoid layoffs."
"I know. It's nice calling some of these guys back and telling them they have jobs again."
"The state of the city's economy continues to improve," Veda recounted.
"Saw a new shop opening up on Garter," Danny said. "I can't remember the last time anything was on that street but hookers and dealers."
"Vicky cleaned it out last week," Taylor noted. "Her and Warp."
"You mean Vista."
Taylor shrugged and turned her attention back to the monitors. "I don't know that Warp is Vista."
"Everyone knows that Warp is Vista."
"It would be improper for us to confirm such suspicions," Veda replied. "Unwritten rules."
"Everyone still knows."
"It was just a bunch of leftovers from the Merchants," Taylor revealed. "They didn't even have guns. Just bats and pipes. If Vicky and Warp didn't do it, I'd have sent the Haros in to clean the place out."
Green rolled out from behind 00, flapping his 'ears.' "Haro power, Haro power!"
Danny clearly wanted to respond to that. Perhaps note that the Haros could have done the task more safely than Victoria and Missy. True, but Veda noted that capes rarely avoided using their powers for long. Not all of them engaged in heroics or villainy, as proven by figures like Parian and Fleur, but it was as if they were compelled to use their powers.
Given Taylor's recent discoveries, Veda could take guesses at why.
Danny Hebert didn't voice any comment, instead averting his gaze to the suit and asking, "What are you working on anyway?"
"Trying to get two GN Drives to work on one suit."
"Is that hard?"
"Harder than I want it to be."
"The particles from the two Drives interfere with one another," Veda explained. "It causes the GN Field to collapse on itself."
Taylor nodded. "No GN Field, no go."
"It doesn't seem to cause a problem for your other suits," Danny noted.
"Different suits," Taylor noted back.
"But they get close sometimes, don't they? During fights and such? Is that never a problem?"
Taylor paused, her head tilting to one side.
Why was that never a problem? Veda hadn't thought of it that way.
Veda did a quick check of the available data. It didn't take long, not for her. All three Suits, and the past two, were equipped with a range of sensors that monitored their own performance. Taylor needed the information to create improvements to her technology.
"When close together, Exia, Queen, and Kyrios' GN Fields overlap without disruption."
Taylor mumbled with a look at 00. "So why doesn't this work?"
"You'll figure it out," Danny offered. "You figured out all the other problems."
"It was a headache to figure out the other problems. And I already have one of those."
"Perhaps it is related to quantum spaces?" Veda looked at the data again, closely. "Classical physics proposes a three dimensional plane of existence in which all forces interact."
Taylor's brow rose. "But there's obviously more than three…"
Still a conversation about work, but maybe initiating conversation was an acceptable start.
dodger: oh wait
dodger: Starscream
dodger: google it
Starscream?
Veda's initial reaction was panic. Her second reaction was disbelief because it seemed odd Dodge would suddenly now realize she was a machine intelligence. Her third was a vague sense of stupidity because obviously that wasn't anywhere near what he meant. Both reactions passed in less than a second.
StarGazer: this would work
StarGazer: thank you
dodger: np
dodger: feeling like my nerd card needs to be revoked
dodger: really should have thought of that sooner
StarGazer: I'm sure your nerd card is safe
A work of fiction where machines were not all villainous. How pleasant. She'd already watched all of Star Trek. Starscream did not seem as admirable as Data or the Doctor, but the concept might prove sound.
A humanoid robot in one form and a jet in another.
Yes. That would work.
