thisavrou | [video]

Entry tags:

[video]

[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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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?

That's right. He just connects to my implant. SAM himself is integrated into my ship, the Ark Paarchero. He has an amazingly long range, but wherever we are now is simply too far away for us to connect.

[Or, from what she's been hearing, they could be in completely different universes entirely. Buuut that could be a chat for another time, because shit is already complicated enough.]

The Ark Paarchero. [This feels like she's studying, and she's taking every opportunity she can.]

How does it feel? Being away from him? [She taps the computer clipped to her ear, hair pushed aside so Raeka can see it.] I've worn this almost every day since I was a child. It's not intelligent, I just use it to...to see things other people can't. But being without it for too long almost feels like missing a limb. Even if I don't need it all the time, it's nice knowing it's there.

It feels... Empty. Too quiet. Like a piece of my mind has been hidden away, and no matter how hard I look, I can't quite uncover it.

[She doesn't mean for it to sound depressing, but damn. Being without SAM has made this whole thing a real pain in the ass so far.]

It sounds like your device is some sort of scanning computer. What sort of things does it let you see?

I'm sorry. That sounds really difficult. [It sounds even worse than losing her Focus - her Focus isn't a person. She has an attachment to it, sure - but it can be (and has been) replaced, with all the same data. SAM isn't replaceable.

She doesn't have anything more helpful to say than that - maybe it just wasn't that great a question to make someone answer.]

It actually taught me to read and write, to start with. It lets me read the writings of the Old Ones, listen to them - even see them. It helps me look for tracks, hunt machines and animals... If somebody else has a Focus, I can talk to them as if they were in front of me.

Heh, it's fine.

[It was an innocent question, no harm done. Raeka's more interested to hear about this focus thing anyway.]

Sounds like your technology isn't all that different from ours, actually. Makes me wonder if I can contact you through it with my omni-tool.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[video]

no subject

no subject

the part of me that played Tali is cackling right now

lmao quarians amirite

ikr the little scamps

the silly gooses

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject