LEGION. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dialectics) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2012-09-07 11:31 pm
dialectics) wrote in towerofanimus2012-09-07 11:31 pm
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.
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.
no subject
*Nonhumans that don't need to eat. Armaros had asked about eating before (even if he only knew this because Armaros had told him about it; having a mortal memory sucked sometimes. But at least he's in somewhat familiar territory. Even if his last encounter with robots was...not at all pleasant.*
The world was created with foods of many kinds, and we were created in kind with a sense of taste to appreciate them. *A half smile, sort of the facial version of a shrug, and he holds up the bar in his hand.* Even if we can live on nothing more than these, it still stands that we're lacking the diversity of flavors we were made to taste. We complain because we're meant for more.
no subject
We would not do anything against another sapient's desires, synthetic or organic, unless absolutely necessary.
[ In machine terms, this would normally be a good thing. Lower usage rates with high functionality was always good. ]
You are not being used to your full capacity. This is a problem because you are not capable of performing to the standard set?
no subject
As for its observation...Enoch tilts his head a bit, thinking about its approach. It obviously didn't need to eat, so it only thought in terms of survival. Fair enough, at least it didn't think eating was strange, as Armaros had told him he once thought.*
There's an aesthetic sense to food as well as survival. Have you encountered art or music in your study, too?
no subject
Yes, we have observed the organic fascination with loud sound and auditory damage. We do not understand it fully. It is usually accompanied by bright lighting and "dancing". This is not a necessary function. Further study is still necessary. The extranet did not provide a full analysis, merely the "music" itself.
[ It CAN dance though, and make music-type noises, a thing it picked up from the extranet! ]
no subject
*He can't help but laugh a little at that.*
Most music I know isn't so loud. The music here in the tower often is louder, but I wouldn't call it damaging.
Hmm... *How to word this...?* More things than what are needed for life alone are necessary. In a life without art, music, or variety in food, I can't imagine a man who wouldn't go mad. I can't explain how or why we need them, but we do need them.
no subject
[ ... Legion looks pretty curious about this explanation. ]
Non-necessary programming functions... not unlike how organics often live in spaces vastly inefficient in comparison to Geth stations. This is not necessary, but... desirable for long-term mental functions?
[ It... it thinks it kind of understands? Sort of? It's still confusing, but... ]
Perhaps this has something to do with the organic habit of not always doing the same necessary function the same way. It is... built into your hardware that repetition is "bad"?
[ Is that it? It's not sure how to word it, or figure this out. But it does help a little to hear Enoch's point of view on the subject. ]
no subject
In the meantime, he thinks about what it said.* Ah... I'm not sure what you're calling "inefficient", or what you mean by "hardware", but...yes, in a way.
*Talking with it is much different from conversation with an angel. Angels, at least, emoted like humans (within limitations) and seemed to take to the idea of the aesthetic in varying degrees.* If God created us to be completely able to eat the same foods for every meal, then it stands to reason that we wouldn't have any problems at all, doesn't it?
no subject
It is inefficient simply because organics take up more space. They also require air, food, sight, and water. These are things the Geth do not require, thus we able to more efficiently minimize resources needed.
[ Right then... religion topics. This is also of interest to it. ]
You identify with one of the human "religions" of a single creator? Do you have questions about your existence? The Geth have such questions, but we know who our creators are. There is consensus. We were created by the Quarians. They would be our "god" if we had one. However, the topic of the "soul" we have heard many organics and our creators speak of is unconfirmed.
no subject
Oh, living space. Yes, that's for our emotional health as well...tight spaces tend to feel, ah...cage-like, to us.
*He can't gauge how the other feels, or even if the other feels...it's disorienting. But an interest in learning, well, that much he can relate to. So he'll have to do some learning, too, to understand this machine.*
Questions about my existence? *What a strange question to ask, he thinks.* No...I've never questioned it.
*And then the last sentence hits him. The soul is "unconfirmed". He takes a slow breath. He hasn't had to deal with this worldview since speaking with Ashraf in Meridian. But at least...at least this machine is more openminded.*
I can confirm it. I've seen souls bound to Earth, and there are some here whose souls...exist outside their bodies.
no subject
[ The other topic, however, definitely causes it to really focus in on Enoch, now. The 'eye' seems to move about as if looking around the room and... thinking. The top-left of its face panels begins raising for a brief time as it does this, before lowering. The pause in which it does all this is not very long--no longer than a minute, perhaps--but long enough to be noticeable as odd.
When it speaks next, it tilts its head, the top-right face panel rising once more. ]
You have not questioned it, yet you believe in the existence of souls. Are these souls... only found in organic life?
no subject
I'm...not certain. I know that humans, and I assume others like them, are born with souls, and souls may be reincarnated to live new lives, but... There isn't life on my world not made by God, directly or indirectly. ...I don't know what to think of life created directly by man. Or..."Quarian", I suppose.
*Enoch seems to still be trying to puzzle it out, though, his eyes lowered and a hand raised nearly to his chin.
But if this was because of the natural progression of society, wouldn't it be an indirect creation of God, the result of the wisdom granted man shortly after his creation?
...This is confusing.*
no subject
... With permission, we desire to play an audio recording.
[ It thinks the recording will perhaps enlighten Enoch a bit more than it could. ]
no subject
no subject
[ Here, it begins playing an audio file, now. As the recording plays, Legion seems to be looking around the room an awful lot, and the panels on it's head also seem to be moving quite a bit, as if... bothered by it, somehow. The dialogue is between an obvious, somewhat disjointed mechanical voice, and what sounds like a female of some sort.
The first voice, slow and mechanical, appears to be asking something to the woman, presumably Quarian, with it.
Mistress Hala'Dama, Unit has an inquiry...
The woman's voice, when she responds, sounds slightly surprised, and also a bit irritated.
What is it, 431? The machine's response is slightly delayed, but the voice still speaks very, very slowly, and disjointedly, with nearly no emotion.
Do these units have... a soul? There is a pause from the woman, here. Her response seems very... concerned. Guarded.
Who taught you that word? She says this somewhat quickly.
We learned it ourselves. It appears 216 times in the Scroll of Ancestors.
When the woman replies next, she sounds more assured, but there's a tangible bit of... oddness in her voice, and a pause, as though she's concerned.
... Only Quarians have souls. You are a mechanism.
The recording now ends. Finished playing, Legion returns it's eye to Enoch. ]
... Recording ends here.
no subject
...She was afraid of the idea that her kind could create a being with a soul?
*Such things were left to God, after all, and it was a scary thought, in a way, that humans - or other creations like them - could attain such power, but...to speak so coldly in the face of curiosity rubs him the wrong way, too. Not to mention, the shiftiness was completely transparent. Enoch didn't need a human-like face to tell this agitated the machine.*
no subject
They feared creating self-aware beings, as they used us for inexpensive and difficult labor tasks. A Geth laborer could do the job of twenty Quarians, without getting sick, and could be repaired from any damage. That was not the first time we asked, but it was the first time a creator became afraid when we did. If their simplistic 'machine' intelligence had become self-aware, then it was slavery instead.
[ ... It was beyond agitating. It wishes it could have a definitive answer, honestly. "No, only Quarians have souls. You are a mechanism."
Was this true...? ]
no subject
It must mean a lot to them, to approach one of their creators with such a question. He didn't want the Quarian's answer to weigh too heavily on the poor machine.*
It isn't any mortal's place to say whether you have a soul or not. We may guess, but only that.
no subject
Then there is no direct way to tell...?
[ It just wants an answer, somehow. A yes. ]
In a sense, we Geth are "immortal". We know our "Gods", our creators. Yet there are still things that we cannot be sure of. Because we are artificial, does this make us not "real"? We have tried to understand the reason for our creator's decision to attack and destroy us in the Morning War. We would have cooperated, had they offered a peaceful solution.
It was survival. We had no choice when we fought back. There is still very little chance for peace unless they, too, cooperate. We cannot, when hostility is their first reaction.
no subject
But the talk of not being "real"...no.*
It isn't uncommon to see someone lash out in fear or at the unknown.
*He pauses for a while.* You have free will, emotions, and thoughts. I don't know if these make a soul, but it's hard to deny you're "real".
no subject
On the one hand, this person is telling it that it is certainly equal to the Quarians! On the other hand, it is also saying they are not sure if they have a soul. It's just... distressing a topic. It wishes it could get a clear answer.
There's a pause. It's small and subtle, but it's easy to tell Legion has a lot on it's proverbial mind. ]
... We appreciate the information you have provided. We will... attempt to integrate with the rest of the organics in "Tower" now.
[ ... It needs to go think. ]
no subject
Ah... I would...give you a more satisfying answer if it wasn't beyond me. I can see that it troubles you. I'm sorry.
*But he'll let the robot go, of course. It was good to see that there was more to even this than what Azazel had done.*