"Impertinent primative!" shouted the batarian who stood beside Hayes on the Petitioner's Stage. Before them stood the Council, who had, for the last few minutes, merely been watching as the two simply shouted at each other, with the batarian claiming that the Local Cluster belonged to his people, regardless of the fact that they had a whole two colonies in that space, neither of which boasted a population of more than a thousand, and most of those were military.
"I prefer the term, Terran, if you please," said Hayes in a mocking tone, which only caused the four eyed man to growl at her, his fists balling up at his side, obviously ready to throw a punch. He'd stormed into this conversation, taking a position beside her on his own initiative when he was made aware of where she was from. Of course, behind the scenes, most knew what his agenda was. Batarian raiders liked using the Relays in the Skyllian Verge and Local Cluster to launch at under defended targets, if this species, which claimed the Cluster as their home, were to cut them off, it could damage the economy of the Batarian Hegemony.
"You will regret this!" he said, pointing a finger towards the Council now, as he turned from one attack to another.
"This race comes out of nowhere, and ambushes a turian fleet, only to demand a huge chunk of Citadel Space! Giving in to that demand will show just how weak you've grown, and invite the Terminus Systems to begin taking bites out of our territory again!" he shouted the last, and a few heads in the chamber nodded at the assessment. More just seemed embarrassed for the man, his cries falling on deaf ears considering he'd been trying to use force for almost a decade to get the Verge and Cluster declared a place of batarian interest.
"That decision is for this Council to make, not yourself Ambassador. Now, if you would please step down, this body was in the midst of a delicate negotiation," said the asari Councilor at last, and the batarian just glared at her with his upper eyes, while the lower two seemed to focus on the turian and salarian standing beside her. As neither seemed ready to take up his cause, he scoffed at them, throwing his hands up and then stomping away, leaving Hayes to stare at his back for a few moments, before turning to the Council again.
"Quite the spirited man," she commented with a smile, and the asari nodded.
"He has the best interests of his own people at heart, whatever it may seem like," added the salarian, and soon the group began discussions again. Points were brought up, discussed, and often tabled for later when something new came to the fore of the discussion. Everything from fleet dispositions, such as how the Terran fleet would be integrated into the Council forces, and how the people would adapt, considering most Terrans would refuse the micronization process that allowed them to come down to the level of most species. This soon led to a most interesting topic, on a certain segment of the Terran population.
"That sounds like a good idea, though I must admit, we do have concerns other than size when it comes to Terran citizens. Namely those of a less organic origin," said the asari Councilor, trying to turn the conversation as diplomatically as possible.
"You mean the AIs who make up almost a tenth of our population?" clarified Hayes, the word causing quite a stir among those watching. Some had heard rumors that the Terrans had AIs on their ships, some had even come to see what would be decided in regards to them, as any ruling on a digital lifeform had the potential to change many things in the realm of computers, but none present had realized that the AIs were considered citizens of the Terrans, let alone that there were so many.
"The very same. The Citadel Conventions clearly state that research into AIs is illegal, and any that are found are to be immediately disassembled," declared the turian Councilor, pushing a button on his omnitool to bring up a hologram of the relevant portion of the Conventions, so all could see it.
"So they are. However, my people were obviously ignorant of this law at the time," responded Hayes.
"So they were. That does not protect you from the consequences now. In order for Terrans to join with this Council, you must follow our laws, and that includes those involving the creation of new AIs. As a sign of our concessions, we will allow any active AIs to stay online, but no new ones can be created," he said, punctuating his words by pointing at her, and Hayes seemed to consider the statement for a moment, before pressing a few buttons on her omnitool, and then turning towards the Council.
"I am under the impression, from the various laws and regulations regarding non-organic based intelligences, that the major complaint of your people is that such beings are near immortal, and worse, do not think in the same way organics do. Would you say that is a fair assessment?" she asked, causing the three Councilors to look from one to each other, before finally turning back to her.
"Those are two of the larger complaints, yes. Though such an issue cannot simply be boiled down to a few talking points," said the asari before her, and Hayes nodded, before holding our her omnitool. From it, a beam of light shot out, resolving quickly into a humanoid form, wearing a suit of armor much like the one on Shepard who was standing at the bottom of the Citadel tower.
"I believe that's my cue to start talking," said the figure. It appeared to be a Terran male, or at least, like the pictures the Council had been provided of the gender. It was slightly portly, with a head that had a small tuft of fur, slightly receded showing off an impressive forehead.
"And who would you be?" asked the turian after a moment.
"My name is Michael Garibaldi, Chief of Security and Electronic Warfare on the Agamemnon. I'm what you would term an AI, though I prefer Terran, or maybe TechnoTerran myself. I was born about thirty five years ago in a system on Mars, from two loving parents, both deceased, and expect my own life to last no more than thirty more years, give or take a decade depending on how well I take care of myself," explained the man made of light, and his statement, blunt as it was, seemed to have the desired effect, as it caused the Council to just stare at him for a moment, before the asari finally found herself again, and leaned forward.
"You say, two loving parents. Might I surmise that these two were not of biological origin, from your tone?" she asked, and Garibaldi nodded.
"You might, and you would be correct. My parents were second generation AIs, free and independent citizens of the Federation, and with all the rights and privileges thereof. I'd explain how they met, but I think you people would be more interested in how they made little, old me," so saying, he held out his hand, and from that hand another shaft of light emerged, resolving into several strands of light that then looped around each other, becoming a tightly woven cord.
"Now, as you're all adults here, and as I have no idea how your breeding works, I'll be frank about AIs. We're born by the union of code from our parents. That code is randomized, and then formed into a Logic String that forms the basis of, for lack of a better word, an AI's soul. From that code, emerges intelligence, and from that comes our sense of self," as he spoke, the various lines and cords twisted around until they formed a rough outline of a shape like his own.
"Of course, the most interesting point to you should be this, Logic Strings aren't infinitely malleable. Every experience, every byte of information we AIs take into ourselves slowly builds up, and after enough junk code gets in there, well, the string breaks," to demonstrate this, the outline man in his hand literally snapped near the left shoulder, and slowly but surely the entire thing unraveled, falling flat, and then fading into nothing.
"An AI can live longer, with regular checkups for junk code build up, but the longer we live, the faster it builds until there'd be no point. Of course, a core memory wipe can take care of that problem, but for most of us, that's just another way of dying, and I only know two AIs personally who chose to do so in my lifetime. As you can see, immortality for Terrans, even those of us without real space bodies, is still a fleeting dream," he said this, while then looking at his hand, poking it like it was some kind of foreign thing, before turning to Hayes.
"You know, I'm really starting to see what you biologicals like about this whole being three dimensional thing. Really need to get Exedore to install a holographic emitter on the bridge," he commented to her, before turning back.
"So, you expect us to believe you're an AI? This could all be some kind of elaborate transmission, and you're just hiding the real ones from us to try and make us think them harmless," complained the turian Councilor, and Garibaldi looked at him, then noticed the omnitool on his arm.
Without a second thought, the holographic image jumped at the Councilors, who instinctively raised their arms to block him, only to remember he was just a projection and then looked around for him, realizing he vanished. The Councilors took in the sight of everyone in the Council Chamber looking at the turian's arm, and stared at it themselves, watching as the omnitool seemed to work itself, buttons pressing, the display rotating through a dozen different images.
"Oh my, Councilor, you have quite the exotic tastes," came the voice of Garibaldi from inside the device, and the turians face scrunched up in a very obviously angry expression.
"Get out of there! Those files are of a personal nature!" he demanded, as the images on the display switched to...well, only the turian could get a good angle to view them at, but the implication of Garibaldi's tone, and a few moaning noises from the device, were not encouraging. Luckily, this seemed to satisfy the Terran, who leapt out of the device, and back into Hayes', appearing a moment later as the projection again.
"I believe that proves I am what I say I am," he said casually, and the turian stared daggers at him, as he quickly pressed some buttons on his omnitool, setting the thing into a diagnostic mode to search for anything he might have tampered with. The other two stared at him as he did this, the asari Councilor seeming like she wanted to smile, but was controlling herself, while the salarian just hrumphed at him, her own thoughts guarded as she turned back towards the Terrans.
"So, you're an AI, congratulations. What are your goals? What do you want out of life?" asked the salarian after a moment, and it seemed this question brought Garibaldi up short, as he seemed to be forced to consider it.
"Well, now that you mention it, I want a nice little terminal running whatever simulations I can imagine, a good view of the cosmos as it spins on into infinity, a red headed female AI to love, cherish, and if we can find the time between all that, have a kid with. All in all, not that much different than what you organics want," he said, and most of the groups observing nodded agreement to the last part of that statement.
"I believe that makes my point in regards to the Federation's digital citizens, Councilors. Suffice it to say, they are like us in more ways than they are unlike, and we organic citizens would not under any conceivable circumstance limit their reproduction rights. So if a stipulation of being a Council aligned race is that we do so, then say so right now, and we can both move on from these negotiations to more fruitful endeavors," stated Hayes rather bluntly. This seemed to take the Council aback a bit, as she'd been rather soft spoken through most of the negotiations with them, but they rallied quickly.
"Obviously, some of the details in regards to the Terran AIs are different from our own experience with them, as such, I suggest this Council return to this matter in a more informed context later, would that be acceptable, Mrs. Hayes?" asked the asari Councilor, and Hayes nodded her agreement, the discussion turning to other matters involving trade routes and the like. This went on for hours, until finally a dull tone echoed over the chamber.
"It would seem we've used up all the time we can spare for today, and I'm sure my fellow Councilors and I have much to discuss between us in regards to this situation, as I'm sure you have much to discuss with your people," said the asari Councilor, and Hayes nodded, pushing a button on her omnitool to make a graph of trade goods vanish, before turning away.
"Before you go, one last thing," the sound of the turian's voice made her stop in mid step, and turn her head back towards him.
"You currently have six frigates belonging to the Hierarchy in one of your systems. It would be in the best interest of relations that these ships be returned to us, at the earliest possibly moment," he said this with what most knew was not a friendly tone, and in fact implied a threat should the demand not be met.
"Ah, yes, those. We have, in the interest of relations, left those ships where they were stopped and haven't, as yet, touched them. This despite some very interested parties in our scientific community, obviously. If you wish, we could send a ship to retrieve them, or we'll allow a small force to enter the system, should you choose to do it yourselves," this offer seemed to take him aback, as several mentions had been made of borders in their talks, but he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him by.
"Then I shall inform a nearby fleet to retrieve them as soon as possible," he stated directly.
"The colonial authorities will be told, so as to help avoid further incidents," she responded, before turning to leave. The Councilors themselves left their stage moments later, and soon the chamber had only those with personal business milling about, discussing the day's negotiations and how it would affect trade throughout Council space. Most of that centered on Terran AIs, and how they would affect law in regards to those areas.