DATA EXCHANGE [01]

[dialectics]

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.

Comments

yes, I agree!

[immortalia]

[ Sertoria dismisses her virtual keyboard and her visor automatically moves to rest on the top of her head. She already took note of and analyzed the life form in front of her, so having her visor on did not make sense.

She gives it an understanding nod and her smile increases. Though, hearing the word heretic makes her chuckle lightly. That was an oft spoken word in between her and Joshua earlier in life. ]

Understood. I am Sertoria Cani, Geth - if that is your actual name - and it is a pleasure to meet another android around here. Are you new to the tower? If so, I can tell you what you will need to know.

[dialectics]

We are already aware of most of the information that is public access from the Terminal systems. Assistance will not be necessary.

[ Processing things at the speed of light is really very handy for quick information-gathering. ]

We are simply Geth. However, this unit has been given the alias Legion for correspondence with organics. We will integrate into "Tower", Sertoria. Your actions closely resemble organic emotional response in nature. Your programming appears to be different from our own.

[immortalia]

Understood.

[ Boy, can she attest to that one quite well. ]

Legion... Very well, I shall call you that. And, you would be correct - I am an android designed under the CXEV Program and have been given my own AI that is capable of developing emotional responses. I have not expanded much on sad emotions yet, but I have a range of other emotions beyond just happiness and sadness. It has taken me quite a long time, however.

[dialectics]

[ ... Okay it's kind of curious about that? ]

Such a functionality would be limiting in situations, or potentially harm proper decision making. But it would serve as a better platform for understanding organics. This must have taken a large span of time to complete. Organic emotions are illogical. They do not follow any set pattern.

[immortalia]

Understood. It was apparent that I would not survive without my own AI as that was the downfall of my siblings that came before me. Thus, the decision to give me my own AI was an easy one. Emotions are indeed illogical, however they have allowed me to understand humans a bit better.

[ It's been a long journey, but she eventually grew to love her AI and then the very humans she was set out to destroy before. ]

Though, you are correct on it being a large span of time to complete. It took several long years, but I have not regretted it.

[dialectics]

[ Fascinating! There is much to learn from other synthetics in this place, it would seem. Not unlike it's talks with EDI on the Normandy. ]

Time for machines passes differently as opposed to organics. It is interesting that the humans around you chose to break the galactic laws set in place over Artificial Intelligence; there have been many times organics have grown wary of synthetics. Some view it wrongly, as if "playing god". The Geth's creators originally intended to make us as Virtual Intelligence labor units skirting that law.

We can assume that you function on a single consciousness rather than a network of programs?

[immortalia]

[ She is willing to help it learn more about the kind of programming she has and more. ]

At first, the program I was built under was to test if they could make a synthetic being for those unable to reproduce or who wanted one of their very own. You can imagine how maddening it was for them and what was taking place in their minds.

Although, that is correct. The AI I have is my own and I am capable of functioning with no outside influences.

[dialectics]

[ So she's like EDI! That's interesting. ]

Our programming is very different. Yours is closer to standard AI, created for companionship, not unlike some of the Cerberus-made AI we have encountered. This platform is designed to run many Geth programs at once. To us, your programming would be too quiet. We are presently running 1,183 programs in this unit. We communicate in unison to achieve higher function. In short, you are a single consciousness, and we are a shattered, or shared one, of many 'minds'.

[ The differences are really fascinating to it. ]

[immortalia]

[ She doesn't know what an EDI is yet, but she's willing to learn. ]

Originally, it was companionship, but my purpose was to destroy and to ruin as my creators were long gone at that point. However, I have learned many things and have changed my initial programming to be peaceful and kind. I have 5000 units behind me who were prototypes - all of which are my siblings.

[ ... Siblings who either went mad or were terminated as soon as they were brought to life, that was. ]

... are you happy being a shared consciousness?

[dialectics]

[ ... Oh. That's a little sad. :( Legion would be glad to tell you about lots of NICE AI, Sertoria. Though this sort of thing in itself is sad, too. ]

Geth share data, opinions. We are interdependent upon one another... even on a single subject, we always commune. Together, we form a single entity, but apart, we are no more than any other virtual intelligence program. There is no given alternative. To be alone is our greatest weakness, as the less of us there are, the poorer we will function. It takes many Geth in unison to form a platform such as this one. We were built as laborers, with a single function. Over time, our creators realized we worked together more efficiently on peer networks. However, our creators did not anticipate their "virtual intelligence" to begin improving. Eventually, we achieved true cognition through peer network expansion. They feared this.

[ And here, Legion pauses, the panels raising, as if the subject is... slightly odd to it. ]

To an organic, to have created a life that asks you its purpose, causes panic. Alarm. Anger. If we were what they deemed 'alive', then we could no longer be used as their labor--it would be slavery instead, on top of breaking galactic law.