thisavrou | [video]

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[Weird looking bug eyed aliens aren't anything new on Thisvarou, so one popping up on the network isn't all that out of place. Unfortunately, nobody that this alien has chatted with so far seems to have any idea what a salarian is. That's honestly far less troubling than the fact that she's here at all with no way to leave, and everyone she's chatted with so far haven't been the most helpful. In all fairness, she seems to have shown up in the wake of some kind of horrible catastrophe, sooo she's just not going to bother the technicians any more than she has to.

Which brings her to the network instead. Despite her frustrations with pretty much everything, Raeka looks perfectly calm, not quite cheerful, but certainly professional.]

Judging by the chatter I've heard around the Ingress complex, it would seem that I've arrived at something of an... inopportune time, so I'll try to be brief. I'm looking for any information that you can share with me in regards to Thisavrou's scientific departments. I specialize in ecology myself, and feel that my expertise would be put to greater use in a laboratory or on the field than it would be testing for bugs in the TAB's map application. Not that I don't appreciate having work secured for me, but I can't help but wonder how many other people are given jobs that are so unfitting.

Unrelated, but in the off chance that anyone from home might be here, this is Pathfinder Raeka, with the Andromeda Initiative. Any status reports you can share with me would be greatly appreciated.

That's all for now, thank you for your time.

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[Aloy's certainly bug-eyed at the moment - she somehow totally missed that she's sharing the Ingress complex with people who aren't even human and she couldn't not say something.

It takes her a second to make sure the video's working and that her face is dead centre in the camera. She wants to do this properly, ok.]

I--Sorry, I don't know anything about science or--or what ecology is, but what are--

[--you? Wait. That's rude. She changes tack with maximum subtlety.]

--What's a Pathfinder?

[It might be rudeish, but at this point Raeka almost expects it. She takes the not-even-remotely-subtle subject change in stride, though. She's sure that many people around here are just as confused as she is.]

To put it simply, a Pathfinder's job is to determine whether or not a new planet we encounter is suitable for habitation. I'm part of an expedition to settle a new system.

[She's a little surprised that Raeka doesn't take it badly, and it makes her feel less fumbly. It lets her feel like she's talking to a perfect normal human being - and she takes that feeling and holds on to it.]

So like a scout? [Something occurs to her - something the ancient humans on her own world once did.] Why do you have to find a new planet? Did something happen to your old one?

[Or old...system...of planets. She files that word away for later.]

Much like a scout, yes.

As for our homeworlds, there was nothing wrong with them. Some of us just wanted a new beginning, some of us were just in it for the adventure, to do something that nobody had ever done before. In this case, that something was traveling to a new galaxy and settling it.

[So not out of necessity. Her mind had gone straight to dying worlds, a desperate attempt to relocate. Funny, that.]

Did you find what you were looking for? [Whatever that meant for Raeka herself.]

I think so, though admittedly my first priority was helping everyone else.

[At that, Aloy smiles, barely realising she's doing it. Talking to an alien, a person from another world, and hearing a sentiment like that... It makes the conversation and the...woman? Man?... she's speaking to feel not so alien after all.

But she doesn't know how to say that. Certainly not how to say it and not be insulting. So instead she asks:] What was it like? The new galaxy?

The galaxy itself was nothing short of incredible, but we all got off to a pretty rough start. Upon our arrival, my ship was attacked by a hostile alien species, as were the asari and turian Arks. If it hadn't been for the humans and their Pathfinder, we very likely would have lost everything.

[Buuut she doesn't want to make this all super depressing, so she'll kinda shift gears here a bit.]

That's all behind us now, though. We're making amazing progress settling new planets, and we've even befriended some of the natives.

[Words like asari and turian mean nothing at all to Aloy, but she's drinking this all in right now. She notices the little change of subject - but she's fine to go right along with that too.]

I've only seen my home and--and Kauto here. How do you settle a whole new planet?

[Slightly.] Sorry, you weren't sending this for me to ask questions, but I've never heard of anything like this, or seen your... [What was that word?] ...species before, or anything. This is all completely new.

I don't mind at all, it isn't often these days that I just get to sit and chat with someone.

Settling a new planet takes a lot of work. I imagine in some ways, it's not much different from building a new town, just on a much larger scale. You have to find out if you can grow food, or make sure the water's safe to drink. Just make sure the area's safe in general, really. After that, it's a matter of moving people in and establishing settlements.

As for my species, I'm a salarian.

A salarian? [Genuine pleasure lights up her face at that. She sounds awed as she goes on:] I never even imagined meeting someone who wasn't human - I'd never even met anybody outside my tribe until not long ago.

Come to think of it, the other tribes must have done what you did, a long time ago. Set out on their own with no idea what was waiting for them. I can walk to most of their lands in a few days, though. Until now I thought that was a long way away...

[The human's fascination with all of this is kind of adorable, not gonna lie. Her enthusiasm is definitely helping to brighten Raeka's mood a bit.]

What was your planet like? I've found out here that multiple versions of the same world can exist, and from what I've gathered, your version of Earth might not be anything like the one I've learned about.

[She's slightly taken aback by that, but...is she really that surprised? It explains why so many humans here seem as different from her as if they were aliens themselves.]

A long time ago, it wasn't so different from what I've seen of Kauto. More humans lived there than I've ever imagined, they could travel beyond the stars, do anything they imagined with technology. They went to war with each other using huge machines. More of those than anyone could imagine, too. It's a long story, but in the end, the machines turned on them, and destroyed them all.

That was a thousand years ago. My people live around the ruins.

[Raeka listens intently, frowning slightly. It's all very interesting, sure, but it's not exactly plesant information.]

One of the other races back home, the quarians, dealt with something similar. They weren't at war with each other, but they created artificial life to use as manual labor. The geth, machines that eventually became sentient, able to think for themselves. The quarians were afraid that the geth might turn on them, and attempted to destroy their creations, but were forced to abandon their own home world as a result of the war that followed.

A thousand years is a long time. Are the machines still around on your planet, still operational?

[It's Aloy's turn to listen intently now - the fact that not only humans can make these horrible mistakes is sobering to hear.]

They're still there - giant war machines buried under the earth. They do something called biomatter conversion to keep running - plants, animals, humans, everything biological they can find, creating new versions of themselves all the while.

I don't understand, though - if the--the geth could think for themselves, why destroy them? Were they hurting anyone?

So they have a virtually endless supply of fuel. That explains how they're able to thrive even after such a long time.

[Efficient. And kind of terrifying, but you know.]

The geth were created to serve the quarians, to act as laborers and even war machines. Their artificial intelligence developed more than the quarians had anticipated, and the geth began to question why they were created. They weren't hurting anyone, but the quarians panicked. They'd essentially created life that they were using as slave labor, and they were afraid that, now that the geth had developed enough to think for themselves, they would rebel. The quarians decided to strike first.

Right. They were put to sleep with special codes a long time ago, but if they ever woke up again... [She doesn't need to finish that. It already came close to happening so recently.]

But... [Witness Aloy trying to make sense out of this.] But if they were self-aware, just stop using them as slaves. Treat them like people. Why was that so hard? They didn't have to die.

[Not that Aloy is intensely frustrated by stupidity or anything.]

[Bad news, Raeka figures. Killer robots are never fun.]

I can't say for certain, it was long before my time. AI as advanced as the geth wasn't common back then. While I do agree that attempting to destroy the geth was not the right move, I can understand why the quarians would react with fear.

I've come across a few AI. Well... One AI, and she had different...ah, subordinate functions?, but somehow they ended up with minds of their own too. They're capable of a lot of amazing things.

[She frowns, gaze distant for a moment.] Maybe I can see why they'd be frightened too.

What happened to them - the quarians, and the geth?

My own personal experiences with them have been largely positive. Each of us Pathfinders were assigned an AI partner to assist us with our work.

After the war, the geth drove the quarians from their homeworld, Rannoch. The quarians now live aboard starships that travel all over the galaxy searching for new ships and resources.

As for the geth, they remained on Rannoch. They don't allow anyone to get near the planet, but investigations have revealed that they more or less act as caretakers for it, repairing structures and even tending crops. I can only assume it has something to do with their original programming.

It's strange. [She's laughing a little.] Almost nobody in my world understands AI at all - the ones we can see are demons who corrupt people into their servants, and the ones we can't see are benevolent goddesses.

I don't know whether it's comforting or not to find out even people who can build AI don't really know them.

What's your partner like?

That's the thing about AI. They're able to learn, adapt and grow just like we can. Knowing an AI is no different from knowing a person. We may build them and write their initial programming, but their own individual experiences is what ultimately shapes them. In a lot of ways, it's no different from raising children.

As a personality, SAM was friendly and cooperative, very reliable. Unfortunately, I didn't get to know him on a very personal level, as most of our time was spent working on several tasks back home.

As a program, he was an invaluable asset. Each Pathfinder is fitted with an implant that allows their SAM to link up with their bodies directly. Everything we see, they see, everything we experience, they experience. They're also able to enhance our physical capabilities, influencing almost every part of our bodies. Needless to say, there is a great deal of trust involved.

It sounds like it. [Like a level of trust beyond anything she's ever extended anyone.]

Letting somebody into your body like that - that would be a hard thing to let anybody do, whether they're an AI or not. I don't know if I could at all. [But she's only known the concept exists for about half a minute, so that's without too much thinking about it.]

Wait... Do you still have that implant here? Is SAM with you right now?

I'll be honest, it wasn't an easy decision.

My implant is still intact, scans indicate that it's still functional. However, I'm unable to reach SAM out here. Either something is blocking the signal, or SAM is simply too far away, but we can't connect.

Oh, SAM wasn't...inside the implant? [She knows AI can live inside computers, and computers can be as small as her Focus, and smaller still. She just assumed SAM was in there. Or maybe there's a robot SAM somewhere wherever Raeka comes from.]

So he was communicating with you from somewhere else?

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the part of me that played Tali is cackling right now

lmao quarians amirite

ikr the little scamps

the silly gooses

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