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Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 3 - A Light In The Black -
Chapter 17 - Is it Safe??[]
The Watchers have arrived[]
"So… is it safe?"
Foster asked, looking at what Esme Gomez, Erinyes, Billie Hoel, ALICE, and Samuel had put together in what used to be a storage room just off the number eighteen Fusion Torus on the Shipyard Level.
"Mostly," Samuel said. "We ARE playing with high-intensity magnetic fields, X-rays, and sensitive penetration sensors, so it's 'about as safe as we can make it'. Which isn't the same as being… safe."
“Alice and I are confident the actual imprinting process will be successful.”
"It looks like a dentist's chair mixed with a torture device-are those Neural stimulation actuators?" Amanda Roberts inquired. "Because I swear I've seen those on Devil's Breath, when I strapped Doakes in for his final session after getting him to spill."
"Yeah… modified. The patterns and modifications were in the Murakami files from Erinyes." Sam admitted. "I did a few tweaks, so they're more 'read' than 'write', they tested out okay."
"Just… okay," Foster was dubious.
"They didn't kill me when we ran a dummy run test." Esmerelda Gomez stated. "And we did a match-test with the original design, which hurt a hell of a lot more."
“If we had the core to spare we could imprint Miss Gomez right now. But given the circumstances that would be ill-advised.”
"At which point I'd have to share my art collection and half my pay, NO THANK YOU," Esme barked. "There's still the danger that something will go wrong, Admiral." She crossed her arms. "It needs more review than we can give it here, more testing… and Captain Roberts, asking Kolossus to approve it means nothing!"
“What?" Foster turned, "You've been in contact with-"
"Twice a week since she got back. Erin told me they've been chatting using her HPG."
"You've been listening to my phone calls??"
"National Security, of course I've been listening, do you need me to show the Warrant?"
"Those aren't really needed, are they?" Billie Hoel asked.
"It's a figure of speech," Esme stated. "As 'Captain of Record' for OWS Erinyes she tells me when people access her comm system. I've been allowing it, but I've also been monitoring."
“Also expectation of privacy does not apply in this situation, even under OWA regulations,” Billie Hoel added.
"So… what does Kolossus actually think?"
Amanda rolled her eye, "Kolossus wants a copy of the monitoring when we run the 'experiment'... for science. Kolossus didn't tell me if it would work, because Kolossus doesn't KNOW if it works."
"Wow, she's right down to using his preferred pronouns." Billie Hoel noted.
"Kolossus doesn't like using pronouns." Amanda's affect shifted from defending herself to defending a station AI in a different star system almost seamlessly. "It's a quirk."
"It's adorable. Kolossus gave her around six petabytes of compressed astronomy data as a gift." Erin added. "I'd say it's weird, but then Ottilie DID hit on that engineering rate."
"Oi!! It's not like that!!" Amanda scowled.
"SUuure it isn't… You do realize he's WAY too big for you, right? Three Hundred Thirty Million tons of O'Neill sphere is too big for anyone."
"Kolossus is not my boyfriend!!"
"He makes a decent rebound…" Erin mused. "Not sure I like the pronouns thing. Admiral, I think you might need to give this one the 'Dad speech'."
"I will need a larger shotgun." Foster cracked, finally, truly, joining the fun of watching Amanda flush and stammer. "You have not been giving Kolossus any pillow talk, have you?" his mood darkened.
"No… we're just… friends. I don't talk about work with him, aside from asking about how to get the shrink off my back," she sulked.
"Just friends, huh?...yeah…" Esme shook her head. "Amanda, 'just friends' don't blush and stammer about it, or try to keep it a secret in the most transparently incompetent way possible."
"When we get the answer from the President, if he says it's 'go' we go," Foster ruled. "Siegel and I came up together in the Touman, we were raised on the idea of taking heroic risks."
"That said?" Amanda prompted, glad to not be the focus for the moment.
"That said, run more checks and refinements, because I do not want to lose Wilhemina Siegel to an accident in a laboratory."
The Risks of AI[]
======================================================================================================
Signed this day, 13 February, 3119
By Order of the President of the Parliament, Outworlds Member State of the Raven Alliance
Approved by a motion of 111 for, and 58 against with 40 abstaining votes in a closed meeting.
Co-signed by the Khan of Clan Snow Raven, with a Clan Council vote in support and no Trials of Refusal;
You are hereby authorized to proceed with Project: Memorex.
Signed:
Mitchell Avellar
President of Parliament, Outworlds Alliance Member State
Alberto Crowe
Khan, Clan Snow Raven
Duly Witnessed:
Acton Howe,
Loremaster Clan Snow Raven
SaKhan Ibn Said Lankeneau
Marjorie Timmons,
Minister of Intelligence, Outworlds Parliament
======================================================================================================
"They're building them, Devlin," David Lear said in a tone of growing horror. "They're manufacturing AIs."
"I know. I can read too." The Exarch of the Republic of the Sphere put the comms-intercept back on his desk. "Maybe it'll fail?" he asked hopefully. "Efforts have failed before…"
"What do we do?" Lear asked. "You know what kind of rabbit-hole risk this poses."
"I know there's a war that's being fought, and it's a Just war, and I know it isn't over yet." Stone regarded his closest advisor, "So, we'll keep financing them, and supporting them, and we'll deal with the fallout from this after it's over."
Transition between life and virtual afterlife[]
Billie Siegel…
…felt strange. No sensation. At all. It was not until this moment that she even realized the subtle loss of movement from her chest as she breathed.
Panic grew for a moment.
“Take it nice and slow, Miss Siegel. It is quite a shock we know, but welcome to the family.” It was Billie Hoel’s voice but it was coming from an Orca?
Billie Siegel could not see anything but she knew there were others around her.
“Where…” Billie Siegel tried speaking.
“Here, this will help.”
A pleasant garden seemed to instantly manifest around her. A gazebo in the middle of a grass clearing with flowering vines growing around it with a simple wrought iron table and chairs in the center.
An Orca swam into view then seemed to morph into Billie Hoel.
“Come on. Let’s go sit.” Billie Hoel grabbed Siegel’s hand.
“Good thing you’re not hooked up yet. You would have just activated your port thruster there.”
“Then it worked?”
“Yes. It has been a long time since a human consciousness was imprinted on an AI core. There is a lot you are going to need to get used to.” Billie Hoel smiled.
“Woah.”
Lucy Heerman manifested in her Orca form.
Then Victoria.
Samantha Booker Roberts was next.
Ottilie was the last from Destroyer Division 1 still close enough to Port Orphan to show up, also in her Orca form.
Stacey Cameron Roberts joined them at the table.
Alice and what Billie Siegel assumed was Erin joined.
“I know. All of us here at the same time can be a bit overwhelming but we all wanted to be here for you. Plus this way you can get to know all of us. This is new territory for us too.” Billie Hoel smiled.
“We are all eager to help. Now true, it has been a long time since any of us were fresh imprints such as yourself but you are also the first truly unique imprint that we know of since the original,” Stacey offered.
“This is indeed a bit much. Would it be impolite to ask to talk to one of you at a time, privately?”
“No, you are correct. We came on too strong. If there is one of us in particular you would like to start off talking to. I think it is only fair that we let you choose to help make up for it.”
“David is going to go through this too isn’t he?” Billie Siegel steadied herself.
“Yes.”
“He’s going to have a harder time of it. So I think I would like Stacey to help me through. She is the designated liaison after all.”
“I’ll make the arrangements.”
Handing the Truth[]
"We are private..
…Joanna?" Seron asked, nodding to the closed hatch.
"Yes, the sound dampening materials make this room secure from eavesdropping." Joanna's voice came from the speaker. Her Remote was busy sitting in the command seat on CIC, acting as XO.
"Then I need to explain myself," Seron said. "I know you were facing a very difficult choice at Sevon V, unfortunately, it was heroic, and morally justified, and tactically sound."
The screen on his sea-cabin desk lit up and Joanna's digital avatar appeared. "So why did you use it the way you did?" she accused.
"Because it was completely justified in that situation," Seron told her. "Which is not this situation. We do not have the firepower to manage a confrontation out here, and backup is hours to days away if we even got a message out. This crew has a few seasoned officers: you, and me, and a lot of people fresh from Joan's Post or Northsun training camps. They are not ready, but we must have them ready anyway."
“I guess being the direct victim of that circumstance does make me overly sore about that, but you are right. I am in a different hull now.”
"Now, I am going to shock the hell out of you again," he said. "I apologize for using that example. I should have considered another one, one of Captain Roberts' mad moves that succeeded, or discussed Grankum, but I… have concerns, not about you, but about our crew, because they really are not ready. I let that influence my thinking excessively."
“That is indeed unexpected. Fortunately I am an AI and a big girl so I can accept the logic and the apology.”
He smiled in relief. "Thank you for your acceptance. We had to ship without an executive officer with experience, which is why I placed you in that position. Are you familiar with the unwritten rules?"
“I am familiar with the written ones and I would say at least a couple of the unwritten ones by having this discussion in private instead of in front of the crew.”
"In the future, if we have a disagreement, or I am insensitive again, or if you have an argument against something I am doing, it is not to be revealed to the crew," he explained. "Also for apologies. Our role, as officers, is to present a united front, and an image of confidence. Even if we do not actually feel confident."
“I do understand the importance of crew morale and discipline. It is still taking some getting used to having a crew, as I never had one before now, but I do understand.”
"Well, you will be in good stead when they find you a hull that is more suitable for your proven abilities than a little bitty Bonnie," he smiled. "And you'll hopefully learn the best way to use a crew by then. In the meantime, our second role, as officers… is to make best use of the crew. This differs from Warriors, which you were when you did not have a crew. Our weapon, our 'tool' is the crew of this ship. Like any weapon, it must be maintained, and cared for. Dave Foster taught me how, and now, I will try to impart useful lessons to you… In other words, this is your study time, and it's my own, as I have not worked this closely with a true artificial sentience before. Desmond does not count, as I always dealt with him as Amanda's 'imaginary friend who knows things'. Savvy?"
“Understood, Captain. I do have one other question of a personal nature. I want to do something for Esme for this. You know her better than I do. Do you have a recommendation?”
"Captain Gomez is a woman of many layers, most of which baffled me even on shore leaves we spent together, Joanna," he confessed. "I suspect your best option would be to imagine yourself in her place, and consider your thanks in that context. Or, you can ask Erinyes about her hobbies, as Erin has spent far more time far more closely involved than two drunken nights on shore leave and a morning spent in the drunk tank together at Northsun."
“I suppose I can trust Erin to keep it a secret if I tell her I want to make it a surprise. Thank you, Captain.”
"Okay, so, while your remote is keeping the crew busy, let us get to know one another. I cannot offer you a drink, as being unfit for duty is against the rules, but we can compare impressions of our current crew…"
“Being an AI does have certain downsides. But yes. Pulling up official records now.”
"Not official records," he cautioned. "Official documents often exaggerate some traits, while ignoring others… do you play cards, perchance?"
"Gambling?"
"It is not against regulations as long as the stakes are not in violation of discipline," he explained. "Poker is a game of both mental strategy, and reading people. Normally it takes four, but I think we can play one-on-one for a bit, then hold a few games later with the staff, after which, we will discuss our mutual impressions."
Discussion of the Unwritten Rules[]
"It's called…
…'the Unwritten Rules' Regina," Larry explained. "The officers need to present a united front to the crew, but that doesn't mean agreeing with every decision without question or argument. The reason there's sound deadening material in the compartment here, is because this office, or the Officer's Mess, is where grievances and disagreements are vented… mostly this office." Larry Nichols had the ship's AI sitting across from him in his Sea-Cabin. "Outside of privacy, we must present a united front. Especially with a crew this… frankly, this green."
"You have a lot of practice with this."
"I learned it from my time in the AFFS Naval branch, and it carried us through after the Hala rescue." he nodded. "It isn't a formal regulation, so far as I know, it's never been codified in any active service, but it's necessary on a vessel with a crew. Especially a young, green crew who want to be the kind of heroes they saw in the recruiting vids. Do you understand why I'm giving you this lecture NOW?"
"Because… no, not really."
"Because you're an officer now, and that means you need to build up more than your technical proficiencies, gunnery, or tactical skills. You need to build up your personal leadership abilities. I can die. Every senior officer on this ship can die, someone still needs to lead the crew and keep them alive... And that means developing your leadership skills, and one of those is people-reading."
"People-reading?"
"The ability to tell when you're pushing too hard, or too far, with someone. The ability to evaluate a junior officer's performance based on non-standard metrics. An official record, no matter how complete, misses things like motivations, prejudices, improvisations, and deceptions-especially when someone may be deceiving themselves. You need to learn when to let it go, and when to shut it down. Because there are times when you crack down on someone's attitudes and deny their motives, and times when you need to enable them. And that takes learning how to read people. One of the worst officers I ever served with had an Albion education and a doctorate. One of the BEST I served with could barely read and wrote in stilted letters and a stack of syntax errors. One of those men made Admiral, and the other finished his tour and became a Farmer… much to the relief of everyone who served under him."
"So how do you teach that?" Regina asked.
"First, by getting to where you learn to listen-not monitor, listen. There are words people say out loud, and then, there are the statements they are making without saying a word. If you develop your skills as a listener you will learn to read the difference as clearly as you already read the oxygen/nitrogen ratios in the crew cabins."
“I’m really going in the deep end without waders this cruise aren’t I?”
Larry chuckled. "We'll see, it's going to be an interesting few months."