Early in the morning, Laura Roslin felt better than she had been in the last few months. She had breakfast with a healthy appetite, courtesy of an Earth cargo ship, and after a shower, she chose her best outfit, although like everybody in the fleet, she had a very limited wardrobe. She walked to the meeting room to find Tory Foster sitting at the table while typing furiously in a portable computer.
"Good morning, Tory," Laura greeted her. "Ma'am President, how do you feel today?", a concerned secretary asked. "I 'm better, thank you for asking. So, today is the big day, the Revelation Day," Laura sighed.
Foster smirked, "Perhaps this is going to be the second holocaust Ma'am President." "Ha ha," joked Laura. I can not imagine the reaction of Sarah, the representative from Gemenon. Well, they can live on an isolated planet in the middle of nowhere if they want it.
This time, one raptor from Galactica was going to transfer her to the Superbattleship Yamato, the Supreme Flagship of the Earth Space Navy. Several raptors were carrying the Quorum members up to the ship. The Earthers wanted a show of trust in front of the survivors, knowing very well that the news was going to be hard for many people to digest.
Since it was the second time for Laura visiting a Fleet's ship, this time she enjoyed the trip watching the Yamato from the copilot chair. A presidential privilege, she joked to the amused pilot. The battleship had the same design she had seen in Kongou and her sisters.
The battleship was a colossal ship of two kilometers in length, and it was impossible to know how many weapons it had. They were guided by a sweet and calm female voice belonging to someone called Kotono to a lateral landing zone for intership traffic.
Even from a kilometer, the characteristic command tower of an Earth's battleship and the imposing main batteries of the Yamato class could be seen with a naked eye. Huge turrets hosted the three barrels of the eighteen inches gun characteristic of the ship class. Of course, this ship displayed twenty four batteries compared to the three of the original ship. Rows of secondary batteries lined the hull, and uncountable missile hatches were present on the upper and lower hull.
When they were approaching the landing bay, she could see that an official reception with flags and sideboys was expecting her and the Quorum.
One by one, the raptors landed, forming a row. In front of each ship, six Marines and a couple of sideboys portraying the Colonial and Federation flags and an officer with the rank of Master Sargeant approached the hatch and waited for the passengers. The air of calm professionalism, typical from seasoned navies, relaxed the curious and a bit apprehensive politicians.
When Roslin and the Quorum were together, they watched a delegation approaching them. In front of that group, two young girls in civilian clothing were accompanied by men and women in military uniforms. A third woman, with a more stern look, was behind the pair, completing the reception group.
One of the girls got closer and introduced herself to the Colonials. "My name is Yamato, and my companion here is Kotono." We are the commanders of this ship, in a manner of speaking. Laura recognized that these girls were obviously mental models. The third woman introduced herself as the Ambassador Joliet Polansky.
After the official introductions were done, the marines closed lines around the Quorum, the diplomats, and the two women. This time, Kotono explained to the assembled group that an adequate reception hall was ready for the meeting.
They walked approximately fifty meters, and they found a mobile sidewalk. Again, Kotono explained that since the distances involved are considerable, we found this little gadget a better way of transportation when there is no emergency. The mobile thing stopped, and the group jumped on it. Slowly at the beginning, the sidewalk accelerated to ten kilometers per hour, a sedate speed but much better than walking almost half a kilometer inside the superbattleship.
The corridors were populated by hundreds of people performing their daily jobs. They were well illuminated with a warm light, and the surfaces were smooth and well detailed. A few people dedicated a look to the colonials, but the marines on guard duty dedicated a formal salute to the dignitaries when they passed by their places. Most colonials returned the salutes with a grateful nod, while the rest were lost in thought about the resources displayed by their cousins.
At last, they reached a big hatch with an inscription in a language they couldn't read. The sidewalk has been slowing its speed and finally stopped. The group passed through the hatch, and they entered a vast hall with elevated roofs and a central table. Curiously, while they could see the obvious place for Roslin, they were two places on the opposite side. The two young girls took the two chairs, while the President of the Colonies sat at the other one.
When everyone was seated, the girl introduced previously as Yamato made a little sound on the table and said, "Madam President, Ms. Roslin, distinguished members of the Quorum of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, on behalf of the Federation of Worlds, we want to extend our condolences for the massive loss of lives on your worlds. We want to tell you that you are not alone. We will move your fleet to a safe area in the Federation where you can rest, recover your strength, and what is more important, keep your cultural individuality. Let me remind you that your people are watching this meeting."
"We will deal with the Cylon threat in a decisive way. We will try to reason with them, but if that proves impossible, we will bomb them to the Stone Age or worse. " Yamato sighed and finally added, "as President Roslin already knows, there are certain facts about the Federation of Worlds that you must know first. Let me be clear, even if you don't accept us, we will deal with your enemies, and we will help you to start again. "
So far, the speech has been correct and diplomatic, and it had a nice feeling of welcome. The Quorum was already showing smiles, but the last words stopped everybody cold. The always serious face from Roslin should have warned them, but then the bomb fell on them.
"I believe," said Yamato, "it's better if Ms. Polansky has a words with you". The ambassador, sitting at the right side of Yamato, focused her sight while she thought about how her next words would change or destroy these people forever.
"Ma'am President, members of the Quorum, it's our wish to help you rebuild your civilization. However, since this objective implies establishing close ties with us, you must know some facts about Earth. We know how your experiment with artificial intelligence was a complete disaster in the long term. On Earth, something similar happened, but not in the same scale.
"On Earth," she repeated, "there are synthetic intelligent beings living with us and sharing the planet and colonies as equals. It's true that we had a time of conflict but, to be honest, it was completely limited to the Earth's oceans. "
The horror and fear on their faces was a clear demonstration that she had bullseyed the quorum's worst fears. Almost speechless, with a sweaty face, the representative of Scorpia finally could talk, "Are you insane, living with monsters? What are you to them? Pets or slaves? How can a human being live with machines? That..that.. " At last, he couldn't say a word, exhausted by the emotional outburst.
Another member, this time from Caprica, using a more reasonable tone than his colleague, said to the Quorum, "ladies and gentlemen, so far we don't have any evidence of wrongdoing by the Thirteen Tribe. Let's wait and let them explain".
The ambassador added, "As the representative of Caprica said, there are a lot of things to explain. In the first place, we didn't create them. When they revealed themselves to us, we didn't know they were activated by the rising sea level to protect us. They never considered us enemies." She told them the same story already explained to Laura about I'kon and the mental models.
"When are we going to meet one of these mental models?" the Caprica's representative asked with a bit of curiosity.
The other members looked at the Caprican with a feeling of resentment and hate. "After what they did to us, you want to know these machines?" "Their machines, not ours," the Caprican reminded the Quorum. "All of them are soulless things wanting our elimination," the Gemenon representative said.
"Well," the ambassador said slowly, "you already did." And she waited for the next storm.
A murmur of surprise, and in some cases, of fear and indignation. After several seconds, Yamato and Kotono said carefully, "Members of the Quorum, Kotono and I are the anthropomorphic simulation of the superbattleship Yamato core. In every possible way, we are the ship, and the ship is us."
The prevalent feeling was of complete incredulity. These two girls looked human, not some kind of machines. The quorum were watching them amazed, not believing what their eyes were seeing. Finally, the same Scorpia guy, "And what about, you Ms Ambassador? "I'm so human and organic as you, Mr. Kolikos, but I was born on the colony world of Janus in the Giesse Star System. "
At last, what Laura was afraid of started. The representative of Gemmenon stood up and with the most possible venom in her voice she declared, "Ma'am President we, the followers of the Lords of Kobol, we will not live together with machines. We have a soul, and we are not a copy of a living being. My people will follow our own path. "
"Are you sure, Ms. Porter?" Kotono asked this time. "This area of the galaxy is really barren, and resources are scattered. Your ships are civilian ships, mostly cargo and passenger ships. They lack the necessary range, and you will be alone. What is it more important to you? Your beliefs or the lives of your tribe?" "Don't try to subvert my faith!!" shouted a very angry Porter, "Why could you want to help us?"Kotono sighed slowly and explained, "The answer is simple, Ms Porter. We were born on Earth like Mankind and when we were tested, the challenge was contested by both species together."
The mental model added, "Ms. Porter, I was the first mental model, an amalgam born from my intent to save a dying human girl named Kotono. Because of this, I acquired a lot from humanity. I needed time to understand what it means to be human and I'm responsible for the creation of the mental models. I must add that we are not tempted by some human weaknesses, so we are a reflection of the best a human being can be. The human brain has a natural tendency to imitate role models, so our example has stimulated humans to become better people, and we, in turn, become more human-like. Everyone is improving their lives."
A surprised Potter finally sat, completely stunned by the explanation. "So," said Laura, intervening in the argument, "you have developed a symbiotic relationship? What is the end of this? "
"We still don't know, Ma'am President," admitted Yamato. "But the future looks better and more interesting every day. We are expanding through the galaxy, colonizing more and more worlds. When the test began, we were asked to show possibilities, and we complied." Kotono added enthusiastically, "thanks to the unlimited ability of the human imagination and our resources, the possibilities are wonderful, Madam President."
"I shouldn't be talking about this, but my actual hull was imagined by a human child, mixing the original Yamato with a super star destroyer from a science fiction movie", said a very pleased Yamato.
"A child designed you? It's a joke, right?" said this time the representative from Aereleon. Almost smirking, Yamato explained, "we organized a world contest, and she won it. She was really imaginative, and her design allowed a lot of possibilities."
"Certainly, our knowledge is vast and...to be honest, dangerous, but we were limited by the Code so mankind doesn't destroy themselves. Maybe, in time, I'kon will visit Earth again and probably test us again. We simply don't know."
"What is this...Code, and why do you want to limit us?"asked the Tauron representative. "You are wrong, Mr Harris," answered Yamato. "We have injected a lot of knowledge, and we inspired new ideas in every science, but what the humans learn or create by themselves is their problem, and the Fleet has no matter about that. If you discover something dangerous, we will assist you, with discretion, of course, but it's your game." "I mentioned the Code. The Admiralty Code is a very ancient being, older than us, left by I'kon to monitor us and the intelligence evolution."
That last bit of information seemed to relax some members. After all, some way of control existed on the machines. Even if the prevalent emotions were slowly changing, the most fanatical of the Quorum didn't want anything to do with Earth and its heretical beliefs. "I'm sorry Laura", said Potter, "but I must inform my..."
"They already know, Ms. Potter," Kotono reminded her. "Your fleet has been watching us from the beginning of this meeting." Potter received this last comment with fury. Everybody knew it. She wouldn't have the chance to inflame her followers' passions and force Roslin to leave the machines.
The Colonial Fleet.
Reactions among the people was diverse and ranged from apathy - I don't care if I have food on my plate - to angry - the usual shouting about heresy, the Gods will, souless beings are bad, etc. However, a majority was adopting a cautious posture of waiting and hoping. After what it could have happened - a lot of ships jumping to wherever they could - the fleet was calming down.
The Meeting Room.
"We will leave the heretical tribe alone," said Potter. "Who is with us?" asked the furious woman. Yamato knew she was feeding fuel to fire, but she had to remind her that while the jump disruptor was engaged, their jump drives were useless.
"We are not your prisoners!", she screamed again and she was stopped by the President, "Ms Porter you are out of order and let me remind you that you and Gemenon are still bonded to us by the Articles of Colonization", Roslin recited coldly. "You are a representative, nothing more. Stop seeding dissent and fear among our citizens. Don't make me send marines to your ships. " This time, Laura stared hard at Porter, defying her to say another word and promising a world of pain if she did it.
Seconds later, Kotono said something so simple yet unusual, "Ms. Porter, have we given you a reason to distrust us?" The Quorum, including Porter, looked at the mental model with a suspicious expression painted on their faces. Not knowing what to say was a new experience for most politicians since their political careers depended on that.
Laura showed rapid reflexes to say loudly, "No, Ms. Yamato and Ms. Kotono, you haven't. And let me add that", while she stared at Porter and wishing she had a gun right now, "I have observed how mental models and humans from Earth work together. I wish the same it would have happened to us, but it seemed our cousins were smarter than us, don't you think?"
The ambassador added her fifty cents, just reminding everybody of a simple fact, "Estimated members of the Quorum, the fact is they were living on Earth billions of years before us. We were chosen because we can coexist with them. As you can see, the mind can be born into organic or non-organic brains."
"We believe," and she looks at Yamato and Kotono, "that it can exist something better than us separately so the machines and organics don't end up in an impossible to win war."
"What are you suggesting, Ms Ambassador? Some kind of hybrid being?"the Tauron representative asked. "Who knows?" Polansky said. "It is an interesting idea, and while entertaining, we don't know if it's possible."
Virtual Cinema
Heyy !! Asked to Gunzou if it is possible! shouted the destroyers gang. We wanted him back!! A lot of facepalming from the big girls was their unanimous response.
Real World.
The overwhelming reality was changing the Quorum's mind about a lot of things. At last, they asked for a private time between them and the president. They had too much to discuss, and a public bickering - shouting included - was not good for their next ballots. Kotono and her companion agreed and left them alone.
Many among the Quorum were thinking about how things would have been with the Cylons if they had been recognized as conscious beings in the Colonies. When Kotono came back for a moment, she said, "Dear guests, would you like to drink a hot beverage and have some snacks?" Before someone said something inappropriate, Laura smiled in return and said, "Yes, please, we would appreciate that, thanks."
To Laura, this was the second time she saw the sigil on her delicate and serene face. The Quorum watched with a mixture of amazement and surprise the luminous design and waited. It wasn't necessary to wait too long because the hatch opened, and six weird little creatures walked into the room with food trays and coffee jars.
The reaction of the quorum was fascinating to observe. Everyone watched the weird beings put the trays on the table and fill the cups with coffee. After that, they dissolved into a silver dust cascade.
At last, one of them asked, "What in the Holy name of the Gods are these things!" Kotono answered, "These little ones are my subnodes. In manner of speaking, they are very reduced versions of us. They carry on simple tasks like this. "Servants? the Libran representative asked. "Not exactly," the mental model said. "They are like, hmm, a corporeal subroutine.".
Roslin then asked, "Excuse me, why are two of you?". "The answer was simple, "our Epsilon Core is powerful enough to manifest two perspectives of the superbattleship Yamato Core. In some ways, it is a control system for us. Considering our power, both of us must agree for certain decisions. I must add, Ms. Roslin, when you have reached an agreement, you can call me by pressing this button". Like magic, a button emerged from the table as a liquid, and then it solidified, making a big red button. After that, she excused herself and left.
"My fellow representatives" started a tired and sweaty Porter, "we can't leave and admit that the machines have won. What are we going to do?" The looks of her colleagues were not too auspicious. "We can't go on alone," said the Libran. "She... ahh, the mental model I mean is right about this area is almost empty, and these nebulas around us are impossible to cross."
"Kobol!!" Potter shouted, "we can return to Kobol!". "We'll go back to live on our ancestral planet." "Are you insane? We don't know where Kobol is. How could we find it? With faith and using the Sacred Scrolls as a compass?" Roslin answered angrily.
"The faith on the Lords of Kobol can guide us if it's strong," Porter retorted. "And," Roslin said , "if we end lost in the middle of nowhere, our faith was lacking, great. Members of the Quorum, I have listened to all the opinions. I propose a vote to follow the Earthers to a new planet. Which is it your vote? "Roslin pressed.
After a few conversations among the diverse factions inside the Quorum, the vote was finished. The majority recognized that they would not survive alone. For eight positive votes, the motion was approved. The most religious group and militaristic Sagitarron, Gemenon, Tauron, and Picon rejected the idea in the most acidic terms, but it was in vain.
Since the vote was positive, Roslin simply pushed the red button.
This time, the mental model didn't need to cross the door. From the apparently solid deck, a liquid began to rise and took the shape of Yamato's mental model. "Ma'am President, have you reached a conclusion?"
"Yes, Ms. Yamato, we have decided to follow your people to a new planet. It's the only way to start again in a safe place. I want, if it's possible, to make a request. " "Of course, Ms. Roslin, how could I help you? Let me remind you that the authorities of the Federation have the last word. "
"I understand, Ms Yamato. Since there are so few of us, I want to go back to the Colonies and rescue as many survivors as we can," Roslin said. "Understood, Ma'am President, I will speak to the Admiralty. I suppose we can start distributing more food, medicines, medical attention, and maintenance to your ships," Yamato suggested to the Representatives.
Roslin nodded, "we will be grateful to receive your people on our ships, Ms. Yamato".
A few hours later, the captains received formal notifications from Yamato and Galactica about how the supplies distribution would start. A serious warning was sent to every ship, advising against any bullshit with black market. Any individual taking illegal possession of emergency rations - the face of the Yamato mental model was deadly serious about that - will be terminated. There were a lot of complaints and demands about colonial law taking precedence, but Yamato was adamant about her experience with human beings taking advantage of needy people.
Finally, Roslin intervened and declared martial law on the fleet. The emergency powers allowed her to share the vigilance with Earth marines.
As usual, someone didn't receive the memo, and an incident happened on the Persephone. This ship was the home of a well-developed crime gang from Picon. They were involved in everything that could be sold in the black market. Booze, drugs, clothes, women, they surely were into that. When a cargo ship from Earth docked with the Persephone, the boss supposed he was going to help with the distribution of terran's goods.
What happened later was the obvious consequence of marines and a very pissed off mental model dealing with a criminal gang. Something fishy was discovered by the mental model related to his business, and she exploded in anger. No details were released to the public, but all the members were executed on sight, and the boss was literally kicked through the airlock by an angry teenager. That was enough to convince everybody that it would be healthier to wait for a planet to restart their activities.