towerofanimus | DATA EXCHANGE [01]

Characters:

Legion, it's roomies, and whoever else!
Setting: Room 3-09 -> Terminal -> Elsewhere. Forward dated to Sep. 14.
Format: Action to start, can switch if you want.
Summary: System restoration complete, Legion wanders the Tower, gathers what it can from organics and the Network alike, and then proceeds to question EVERYTHING EVER.
Warnings: Not much. Legion won't attack unless it's directly threatened. Being adorable counts as a warning though, possibly.

[ROOM 3-09]

> SYSTEM IS RESTARTING.
> SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY: RESTORED.
> VISUAL FUNCTIONALITY. . .
> VISUAL FUNCTIONALITY: CRITICAL FAILURE
> MOTORIZED MOVEMENT FUNCTIONALITY: CRITICAL FAILURE
> SERVER LINKS DISCONNECTED. GETH DATABASE LINK: OFFLINE
> PROCESSING. . .
> AUTO-REPAIR PROTOCOLS: OPERATIONAL
> STARTUP REPAIR BEGUN. RUNNING PROGRAMS.

[ The paralysis, for a machine, meant a dely in proper startup procedure. At first, the machine lies in bed, all lights completely off. Slowly, the lights blink to life, and a bizarre series of electric, click-type noises are heard. After a short time, the machine-creature sits upward, it's lamp-like eye taking in the surroundings around it. The first thing it notices is the collar in bewilderment, but leaves that for later. It gets up and off the bed, takes the notes, and no sooner looks at them before tossing them aside, reading the information far more quickly than any organic. It begins rifling through its trunk, pulling out various weaponry. ]

[RANDOM TERMINAL]

[ Now properly armed and back to functional operation, Legion leaves the dorm room. Its first stop is a Terminal in the hallway, where it downloads all it can to its systems about this place.
> BEGINNING DATA TRANSFER.
> DATA IS TRANSFERRING. . .
> CRITICAL ERROR: DATA BLOCKS IN PLACE
> REROUTING AROUND DATA BLOCK RESTRICTIONS. . .
> DATA TRANSFER COMPLETE.
> BEGINNING DATA ANALYSIS.

It takes around about a minute or so for Legion to read everything that has ever been posted publically on the Network since the beginning. Though to the untrained eye, it just looks like one machine messing with a weird holographic thing near another machine. ]

[EVERYWHERE ELSE]

[ Once this is done, it begins exploring the rest of the Tower, downloading every image into its database for immediate recall in case this becomes important. It was an AI on a mission: locate the missing Normandy SR2 crew, and the Commander. If they were here at all. If not, it was looking at a solo kidnapping. The Network showed no evidence of other crew, but... perhaps they had only just gotten here as well. The nametags on the doors however had proved futile, meaning the statistical probability the Normandy crew were here at all was... low.

Still, you may just even find this machine approaching you with a statement from its synthesized 'voice': ]

You are captive here as well.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The eye seems to glance downward ever so slightly, and it tilts it's head. If it had a face proper, you would get the idea it seems a bit... sad at that sort of statement. But... only slightly. There's no change in its 'voice' of sorts. ]

This platform is equipped for self-defense. However, we do not possess the red collar those working security in this facility all bear. We have been brought to the structure you refer to as "the Tower" just as you have.

[ ... Short pause... what does it call you?

> DATA ON SUBJECT: UNAVAILABLE
> CLOSEST DATA MATCH: BIPEDAL, INSECTOID, HUMAN, OTHER UNIDENTIFIED COMPONENTS.
> FURTHER ANALYSIS DEEMED NECESSARY. ]

Your species is not recognized in our data banks. Exchange of data would prove beneficial for all involved.

Edited 2012-09-08 07:00 (UTC)

[She visibly relaxes. Robots have always rather unnerved her but this one seems somewhat friendly.]

Oh yes, I see that now. My deepest apologies. I'm afraid I haven't been here more than a few weeks so I'm still getting used to all the various being that reside here.

I'm a Troll, from the planet Alternia. My name is Kanaya Maryam, a jadeblood...not that it really matters anymore given that the hemospectrum based caste system is no longer relevant.

[Whoops, she's rambling again.]

And you are?

[Would a handshake be appropriate? How exactly do greetings of this nature work anyway?]

[ It almost seems to be confirming this to itself when it says this next bit, and though there's no difference to its synthesized words, it almost seems to disapprove of the idea. The face-panels raise a bit, then go down, as if in acknowledgement of this. You get the feeling if it had eyebrows it would be raising one in question against such a thing. ]

Caste... a rigid system of social and hereditary distinctions set in place by genetics. This would mean you are sorted for different tasks before you are fully completed. This system would not allow your people other functions, or the ability to learn freely. They are not unlike how the Geth began when we were created.

[ Oh right it should probably explain something about itself too right. ]

We are simply Geth. However, this platform has been given the name "Legion" for reference.

[ Pause. Then... it... slowly sticks out its hand for a handshake? It's a little slow about it but Shepard taught it about that greeting and it is reasonably sure this is a widely-accepted gesture of 'friendship' and alliance and all that, so! ]

We look forward to the exchange of data, Jadeblood-Kanaya.

Yes, my world was divided by blood color although only a few of the castes were given specific tasks, my own included. I'm still too young to begin the duties in question but I will in the future...or at least would have.

My apologies, I've been told many times that I talk too much but it is a difficult habit to break.

[She carefully takes its hand and shakes it. The metal feels strange against her skin. Now she had two robot friends (although one wasn't originally a robot) but the metal still takes getting used to.]

It is a pleasure to meet you, Legion. Although, really, you only need to call me Kanaya. If I may ask, in the interest of the exchange of date, why do you call yourself 'we'? You look like only one person...unit...platform?

[Honestly, what's considered a polite way of referring to a newly met robotic lifeform? And why weren't there manuals or walkthroughs for this kind of thing?]

[ Oh this explanation again. No worries, Kanaya. The handshake is also three-fingered; definitely alien. Still, once that is done, Legion looks back to Kanaya almost with curiosity. ]

Your communication is not a problem. We are not impatient like many organics can be. This explanation will require much detail, as our species have never interacted.

[ Really, it's a robot. It's patient and LIKES lots of information unless they're about to all die. ]

I must first explain us. We are Geth. When the creators constructed the first units, we were intended for manual labor, such as tasks too dangerous for Quarians, like harvesting mineral resources or heavily lifting. We were no more than one drone with one 'job'. While the galactic government has long banned AI creation, the creators did not break any laws with our construction, merely skirted the VI boundary. Eventually, more Geth were created.

[ Here, it gestures it's hands, the flashlight-like eye zooming out and looking around. Even as it speaks and motions, it's movements are fluid and entirely like an organic being, almost. The panels on its face at the top raise slightly, and the ones on the side move, though not as though it is speaking. ]

Over time, the creators realized that we worked together more efficiently on peer networks. More Geth, networking together, could perform more tasks at a higher rate of return. It also had the benefit of allowing one unit to do the work of others as well, making it able to run more programs. However, our creators did not anticipate their "virtual intelligence" to begin improving beyond originally considered parameters. Eventually, we achieved true cognition through peer network expansion.

[ And now one of the panels raises and the eye looks to the side, as if... curious or bemused about the next subject. ]

... In other words, we "woke up" for the first time. It did not go over well. That, however, is somewhat irrelevant to your question. Geth are a shattered consciousness. We must run many different programs to function on the same level as an organic can. While we can self-replicate and self-improve, the less programs and Geth activate, the less we can achieve. There is no single individual as you would think of it; we are all Geth, and we are connected, interdependent. Our platform was the first created for solo operation in organic spaces, for cooperation, understanding. There are currently 1,183 different programs within this mobile platform.

In other words, we are what you would think of as a gestalt intellect. Many different pieces of one whole. I believe a proper analogy in organic terms would be a large puzzle. Each Geth program is one piece of the whole.

DATA EXCHANGE [01]

ghdfgs I HOPE I CAN DO IT JUSTICE

No stop, you're perfect.

so is Kanaya. This is kind of great.

Totally not incredibly late. I'm so sorry! But at least I'm on the forward-dated date! :'D

Haha I can backtag forever too so don't worry :) also sorry for the tl;dr