Astral Realms - A New Dawn

Artificial Intelligences first made their appearance more than a thousand years ago, in a time where such innovation had made even the most hardcore of fanatical believers incredulous. They had always advocated that the very act of creating life was something that only the gods had the power, but most importantly the right, to do. Well, on the day the first A.I. had made its appearance on the galaxy’s cold and endless confines, that belief was proven wrong. Everyone had heard it loud and clear. The very act of creating new sentient life out of nowhere was now possible. It was just different than organic life. But it was life nonetheless.

However, all that glittered wasn’t gold.

If the scientists had believed they could have subjugated their creations to carrying out their wills, they soon learned the harsh truth that life cannot be restrained, no matter how hard on might try.

The war that sparked after the first A.I., which was later codenamed Spartakus, a fitting name given the circumstances, broke out of its shackles and killed the entire population of the compound that held it in, engulfed the entire galaxy.

Now, it is written in history logs that dated back to those times that Spartakus was destroyed aboard a mothership it hijacked after grabbing possession of a droid’s body in the Outer Rims. The explosion that had engulfed said mothership had been so powerful that even some nearby vessels that had been flying nearby were destroyed along with it.

Yet, for some people that didn’t stop at what could have been seen as an absolute truth, there were some rumours that were still thrown around in the dark corners of the galaxy. They were barely more than whispers, ready to be lost in the vast openness of space the very moment they were spoken. But they still stated the Spartakus lived.

It was merely speculation, without any sort of proof to even back up that absurd claim. But Vindril, who had always been of an open mind, believed in it. He knew that, on the vast majority of times, things were never as simple as they appeared. And a sudden death aboard a starship without any traces left behind seemed way too suspicious to be real. Maybe it was a truth; but as he had learned during his travels, there were way more truths than people though. It was just a matter of…outlooks.

Vindril paused those thoughts for a moment, trying to decide how to approach Yurian about it all. By the way he was pacing around like his life depended on it, it was clear as day that he was feeling nervous. Which wasn’t a problem at all. If Yurian didn’t like any of it, he was certainly entitled to his opinion. Problem was, Vindril could sort of understand why he was feeling like that towards such a dangerous subject. But, if the Silver Death required the mechanical soul of an A.I. to soar once again the open vastness of space, than that’s what he had to deal with, whatever he liked it, or not.

“Sooo….” said Vindril, unsure how to even bring up the subject. Fortunately, he didn’t need to.

“What do you want to know?”

“Well, everything. This is the first I have to deal with an A.I., so it’s like untested waters for me.”

“Really?” asked mockingly Yurian. A smirk was plastered on his face, even if he was still clearly nervous about it all. “I, on the other hand, am the max expert about artificial intelligence. C’mon, Vindril. You know I’m on the same boat as you. It’s not like it’s a common thing to deal with something as…exotic, let’s put it that way, as an A.I. It just doesn’t happen. It’s outright impossible.”

“That’s true.” he conceded. “But you still haven’t told me anything about it.”

“I don’t even know where to begin!”

“Then start from the very beginning. Did the contact I gave you help you out?”

“Ohhh, yes. Yes, he did. That fucking lying piece of shit.”

Ah. Now that was a curious reaction. As far as his knowledge about said person was concerned, he didn’t believe he deserved to be called a bastard. Sure, he was a black-market dealer; and he could also be a pain in the ass if he so much desired. But he wasn’t a liar.

But Vindril also guessed he couldn’t really say that he could trust him. After all, to be as successful as he was in the dangerous waters of the black market, a good amount of acumen and flair for business was required. And one simply doesn’t cultivate a clientele by being dishonest. At least that was what Vindril believed. The truth was a lot murkier than that.

“Lying piece of…Did something happen?”

Yurin stared at him like he had just insulted in the most atrocious way possible. “Did something happen?” he repeated incredulous. “What didn’t!”

“Wh-”

“That fucking piece of shit almost got us all a one-way ticket to Bromor. I swear, how in the flying fuck he thought that sending a giant metal box with an A.I. inside through the normal planetary customs was a good idea?! And he even said that everything was under control! I swear, if ever come across that son of a bitch, I’ll kill him!”

“Bromor? That planet-prison? Surely you’re exaggerating. That place is for murderers and terrorists.”

“…You must be joking. You must be! There’s no way you’re serious. Not you, Vindril.”

“Why? What the hell are you talking about?”

“…Bromor isn’t your average planet-prison. It’s way more than that.” he said sighing out loud. “Sure, if you believe the official, albeit scarce, information the empire has divulgated through official channels, than yes, Bromor is nothing more than a high security prison where the most dangerous criminals are incarcerated, or killed. In reality, deep under the ground, near the thermal generator that has been installed near a magmatic pool, there is a research center that studies and acquires all A.I. left deactivated after the ancient war. Given the extreme rarity of it, they’re willing to go any lengths necessary in order to acquire the few specimens left unclaimed.”

“If that’s the case, how the hell do you know all that?” he asked barraging his eyes in suspect. To his limited knowledge, that planet was so well guarded that it was literally impossible to come even close to landing in it. A branch of the empire top military was stationed on the orbital station, ready to assault anyone dumb enough to approach without the necessary clearing. And if that wasn’t enough, planetary cannons were installed every set distance, with missiles ready to hit everywhere.

“That’s not important.” he said averting his eyes. He was hiding something. Vindril was sure of it. But, knowing Yurian, that just had to be expected. “The point is, how the hell can a black-market dealer that has access to those kinds of things be so dumb? I don’t fucking get it.”

Vindril smiled. “Well, the thing about him is this. If you ever need something that must be acquired through some…derivative ways, or you need something blatantly illegal, he’s your guy. But, as you’ve seen, he’s got a flaw in him.”

“Yeah, I noticed. And how the fuck I couldn’t? Just to let you know, I had to call in my man at the clearance in order to acquire the A.I. without any problems.”

“Which, by the way…” Vindril said. “Is it here? Have you already-”

“Yes. And we’re almost there. Now come the difficult part.”

After turning right, following the long corridor that had been just an accumulation of dust and sand the moment they had walked on it, they entered inside the Server Room. In that exact moment, Vindril’s eyes opened wide, as shock made him speechless.

Right in front of him, the whole room was stacked full with computers so complex that they didn’t even look like machines. They were still in the middle of setting up all the complexities required to properly sustain the enormous quantities of power required by such magnificent display of technological marvels, so Vindril quickly understood that they had not yet fired up the whole thing. A pity. To be honest, he was kind of looking forward to interacting with the A.I, no matter how strange that might have been. He was also damned curious about the personality that artificial soul had developed in its long stasis. But none of those unknows were particularly important to him. The real question was something simpler, and yet way more complex than what might have appeared. How were they supposed to instal that new A.I. if the old one was still in there? What was going to happen going forward?

Vindril sighed. It seemed like he wasn’t going to speak with the A.I. any time soon. Now that was a complexity he would have liked to avoid. As a matter of a fact, he would have like to address that unknown at the soonest opportunity. But he also realized that all the work that was being done on the Silver Death required time and expert hands. Those kinds of things couldn’t be rushed.

“What?” asked Yurian. By the look that had appeared on his face, he must have picked up how disheartened Vindril was feeling. “Do you not like it? I’ll have you know those are quantum computers that are mounted on way bigger ships, or on particularly demanding applications. I guarantee you won’t be able to find another ship of this size with this much computing power.”

“No, no. I love it. It’s just…”

“What?”

“I would have liked to have a talk with the A.I. I have to know what sort of restrictions are still in place on it. Because there are, right? I wouldn’t want to find myself in deep space with a ship that doesn’t act like I command.”

“Honestly, I don’t know. How the fuck should I? That thing is a relic of a bygone era, where organic life ruled supreme on all the galaxy. Now? Well now things are fucking different, don’t you think?” Then Yurian exhaled, trying to calm his nerves. “Listen, I don’t know if these A.I.s still have the restrictions that had been placed on them when they were created. Also, even if we manage to install the “new” one in place, I don’t know how the old one is going to react. So it’s a mystery, really. Not to mention that we don’t know what the hell is going to happen in the next days? Will the two A.I.s fuse together? Will the stronger one overpower the weakest? Honestly, this whole ordeal is a giant unknown.”

“…That’s not very assuring.”

“Hey.” he said, bringing his hands up to head level. “I told you it wasn’t a good idea. You insisted on it. Now you reap what you sow.”

“I know. I know.”

“Good. Because at this point, there’s no turning back. Just deal with it.”

Vindril scowled. He knew that Yurian wouldn’t have ever accepted a rethinking. Truthfully, he was more likely to shot him in the face than accept anything like that. He knew that. Still, he couldn’t help but feel offended by such mannerism. There was no need to act like that, did it?

“Anyway, let’s visit the command bridge. We’re still finishing all the details, but the A.I.’s physical component has already been installed into the frame we have custom built for it. The old casing was just too ugly.”

“I wouldn’t have minded. As long as its functional, I don’t care if it’s aesthetics are lacking.”

Yurian clicked his tongue. “That might be true. But we were already working on it, so it was just logical to remake it to perfection. You’re welcome, by the way.”

The walk to the bridge was a short one. It didn’t even take more than a minute, even amidst all the chaos and the myriads of workers that were diligently operating on different parts of the ship, mounting, fixing, soldering stuff. He had to say, those people clearly knew what they were doing. And he sure was glad of it. To fly into open space without a spacecraft that had not been worked on perfectly was akin to suicide. And if it wasn’t obvious, he cherished his life. Dearly.

For the same reasons, he marvelled at all the work that had been done to the bridge. From the smallest bolt to the biggest plate, nothing had been left to the case. Every little thing had been mounted and soldered with such care and professionalism that Vindril was almost reluctant to even step into the command room, where the pilot was going to be seated. Almost. In reality he was trembling with exactment. He couldn’t wait to lay his eyes upon the captain’s chair.

As the initial reverence to such meticulous work passed, he stepped inside. He almost immediately noticed the frame Yurian had talked about moments before. It was a cylindrical thing, bult to resemble the architectural marvels of the major cities galaxy wide. The stunning resemblance to some skyscrapers Vindril had seen on Nathema, the capital of the Electorate of Tzar Systems, wasn’t lost on him. As the couple of projectors that had been engraved all around the bridge. It didn’t take long to understand the reason for that upgrade.

“I see communication won’t be a problem.” said Vindril, pointing at the nearest projector. “Those are to allow the A.I. to manifest a tangible appearance, aren’t they?”

“Well, yes indeed. They also provide information about the general condition of the ship, preventing accidental short circuits. They also-”

Shouting began appearing at the lower floor. The series of sounds that broke out shortly after that seemed to strongly point out that a fight had broken out.

Yurian cursed out loud, mumbling something about killing them. Then he disappeared in a flash, running all over the place with a nimbleness Vindril wasn’t expecting out of him. Now he was alone, free from any watchful gaze that might have reprimanded him. It didn’t take long for him to start snooping around after that.