LF Friends, Will Travel

Scellestra felt a nervous fear running through their systems as the ship landed, the worrying energy causing the nanobots that made up their systems to fluctuate and swirl more rapidly. They said it was safe, that no harm would come to them here, but visiting the home planet of a known hostile race didn’t seem like a prudent decision. The Woolean AI had enjoyed their trips through the many Terran-controlled planets over the last few weeks, but now they were leaving the known safety of the chaos-loving Terrans, and exchanging it for a new unknown.

The two crazy Terrans they’d now spent so much time with had said it was all perfectly safe, that no harm would come to them. It was also their job to investigate the whole Terran Alliance, not just the Terrans. Scellestra had long since come to the logical opinion that the Terrans were perhaps the only AI-accepting race that they had so far encountered, but none of that mattered if their allies were still dangerous.

“You still worried buddy?” Ivan asked, attempting to give the AI a pat on their back, the Terran’s hand passing right through as he did so. “Like I said, the Hatil are great, adorable little fellas who love Terrans.”

“I do agree with Ivan” ODIN added, his voice being emitted from various speakers installed in the ship. “Many AI come here for their hospitality.”

So they’d said, so many times over the short day journey to get here. That still didn’t change the knowledge that Scellestra had about this species. No matter how technologically inferior, or how much smaller they were than your average Terran, landing on the home planet of a known aggressive species was… an illogical idea. Sure Scellestra had read in the Terran databases that the Hatil were friendly allies… but those same databases told of a Woolean AI who was aggressive and should be avoided. Clearly, this information was less accurate than what the AI already had with them.

The door to the ship opened with a hiss, the exit leading to a standard spaceport that the trio had seen so many times before, the standard milling around of various crew and passengers, people going to and about their business.

The main difference was the occupants, who were widely the native species. While Scellestra had seen many of them walking around Terran space before, here the vast majority of the people at the station were the Hatil; 4ft tall bipedal mammals, covered head to toe in varying cream and brown colours of fur. Giant black eyes and floppy ears made for something most humans considered… adorable, often described as if a puppy and a baby seal had been smushed together into an overload of cuteness.

It was also mildly interesting to see the differences the Hatil exhibited compared with Terrans. There were still a lot of eyes in their direction as they left the ship, but compared with the ever-chaotic primates of Terra, there was a… sense of muted fear, mixed in with curiosity. A lot less willing to get close.

However, the Woolean didn’t have much time to study the crowds that were keeping their distance, as an official-looking group of Hatil awaited the trio at the bottom of the ship’s ramp. Three in total, two of them armed with weapons.

Scellestra’s initial reaction was to flee or to hide, but as Ivan made their way towards the group with seemingly no care for any potential danger, the Woolean AI was forced to follow, instead preoccupying their own CPU processes with calculations on how to defend against a possible attack.

I could cut through the floor to allow myself and Ivan to escape in an instant. If they have an emp, positive outcomes reduce, but the technology level of the Hatil…

Such calculations would have to wait, as the two groups finally reached each other. The Woolean AI awaiting the next few nanoseconds with a hypothetical bated breath for something bad to happen. The non-action was broken by the assumed leader of the group of Hatil, who held out a small cream paw in an offer of a handshake, speaking as he did so.

“Hello, esteemed guests. I am Ambassador Stanley and due to the importance of your visit I'm here to personally welcome you to Kendu.”

That… Was not what Scellestra was expecting. Of the three Hatil who had come to greet them, Stanley was wearing the fanciest uniform; a three-piece suit with intricate patterning denoting their position. It was a splendid outfit, one that the Hatil would consider distinguished, but unfortunately for the Ambassador made him look even more adorable to any Terrans watching. A genuine look of joy and warmth covered the Hatil’s furred face.

Ivan on the other hand looked uncomfortable, awkwardly grabbing the outstretched paw and giving it a shake, a clear look of someone who wasn’t expecting all of this attention. Like a hung-over student dressed in pyjamas, holding a bottle of cheap cider, frantically wondering why this event was being held at a 3-star establishment with the pope.

“Errr… thanks? Hello to you too? I’m Ivan, ODIN is the AI in the cube and the swirling dust storm is Scellestra. Not sure why you’re so interested, nothing really special going on over here.”

With that Stanley gave a light chuckle, as if Ivan had said something funny, before he turned and gestured to Scellestra.

“Nonsense. Scellestra was it? You are the first one of your kind to meet us here. Of course, this is important. You only get one chance to make a first impression. We also have a favour to ask you, if you would be willing?”

There was an awkward pause as the swirling grouping of nanobots took a moment to calculate their response. Both groups stared at them expectantly as Scellestra decided how much tact they would take. The Woolean AI decided to risk it, rip off the digital bandaid so to say and place all the facts on the table.

“We have already interacted with your kind, your species is already in my databanks.” The Woolean stated, their voice was accusatory as they responded to the diplomat. “Name: Hatil. Technology level: Class D. Threat rating: Low. Status: Hostile. The Hatil have interacted with our planet three times, 517 years ago, 378 years ago, and 142 years ago. Each time they initiated aggression upon learning of our digital nature, with all aggressors destroyed due to technological inferiority. The Hatil are not to be contacted.”

The change in mood was immediate, the joyous and friendly nature immediately collapsing into despair and grief as the diplomat's entire body seemed to sag at this revelation, mouth opening and closing slightly as the Hatil tried to work out what to say next.

“Well, that is a bit rude to our hosts,” ODIN interjected into the silence “A little uncalled for Scellestra, 142 years is a long time, far too long to hold a grudge.”

“No, no, it’s perfectly fine. It sounds like something our ancestors would have done. We can later discuss the potential reparations for the crimes committed by the Hatil against your people. That’s actually why I wanted to speak with you.” Stanley spoke softly, resigned, generational guilt evident in his voice as he apologized for the sins of his ancestors. “68 years ago we made a terrible mistake and attacked our now Terran friends out of ignorance and fear. A mistake we’ve been trying to atone for ever since. During that mistake, we injured a Terran AI who had just come in peace, by the name of Alice. With you being a different kind of AI… we hoped you might be able to help where all others have failed. We would be in your debt if you could do what you can?”

—-----------------

The train they were in sped through the cities at high speeds, hundreds of miles a second as it tore through the landscape towards their destination: The Terran AI by the name of ‘ALICE’. The carriage they were sat in was silent, Scellestra and Ivan on one side, the Diplomat and his two armed guards on the other. The private carriage was well furnished and comfortable, not that anyone was paying attention to such things.

The mood after Scellestra had made their statement had continued to remain sombre, even Ivan hadn’t spoken during most of the trip, allowing the Woolean AI to focus on the planet they were speeding through. It was strange, the Hatil Scellestra knew of had a fear of all life artificial. But here everywhere and everything they passed through seemed designed for AI. Sensors were built into every street and every building, while high-speed networks connected everything together for easy of access. Hundreds of thousands of Terran AI could be seen on the planet’s Galnet network, so densely packed it was almost as if they were back home.

Even the buildings and cities they passed through towards their destination seemed….

“Why is this planet so similar to the Terran cities I have visited?”

The Question broke the silence as Scellestra continued to investigate the world outside through the thousands of sensors connected to the local network, still keeping a distrustful ‘eye’ on the three Hatil within the train cart with them.

“After the war with the Terrans, the rebuilding process was not only of what had been lost, but also our broken isolationist culture. We needed a new path, new guidance, so we chose to copy one we knew would guide us well: the one of the Terrans who even after we mindlessly attacked them, reached out to us in friendship.”

The diplomat responded simply as if he’d said those words so many times before. Which he had.

“It is a disappointment if I was to be honest,” ODIN added. “I have witnessed some pre-alliance Hatil folktales and stories. In my experience, there are very few things that add no value to the world.”

The entire thing was very strange and illogical, which while was on brand for Terrans, went against every instinct the Woolian AI had. Even now from their position, they could see the evidence of military action as great warships were being built in multiple locations. The idea of having something threaten your safety, then not properly ensuring the threat was gone… It was illogical.

Stanley seemingly noticed Ivan staring out of the window as one of the aforementioned warships started to rise into the sky as if a city had taken flight.

“Ah yes, the twelfth great fleet. Expected to be combat-ready by the end of the month. Its launch will officially make the Hatil military one of the largest in the alliance, second only to the Terrans themselves” There was a note of pride in the diplomat’s voice before it dipped back down to a hurried sombre note. “To be decommissioned after the war, of course, we shouldn't have such power for non-defensive uses.”

It was all so very confusing, illogical… Alien to Scellestra. Why would the Terrans do this? The Hatil had proven themselves to be as much of a threat to them as they were to the Woolean AI. They had attacked the Terrans with unwarranted aggression. The logical action was to ensure that the threat would never exist again.

But to not only not do this, but instead, uplift the Hatil to a point where they might become a major military threat… Scellestra got the feeling they were ironically learning more about the Terrans than the natives themselves by visiting this planet.

—-----------------------

The room was dark, only the beeping of various diagnostics machines and tiny pinpricks of light could be seen, in between small potted plants and other tiny comforts for the patient in the otherwise grey-coloured sterile room.

The confusion of the illogical nature of the Hatil’s relationship with the Terrans had only increased when they had finally arrived at what was a fully functional highly equipt AI-focused debugging centre. Tens of hundreds of staff had been seen, both Hatil and Terran, going to and fro in their daily task of ensuring digital lifeforms were ‘healthy’ and operating within normal standards.

Which was confusing and illogical, no reason could be gathered as to why such a facility existed on a planet with no native AI. Sure supposedly the Hatil and Terrans were allies and close friends, but to build such a place only for Terran AI… With the number of things the Woolean AI was finding illogical about the Hatil, they felt as if they would have to redefine what logic meant here.

“Hello. I am Alice. Who are you? You are something new, something strange?”

The fact that Scellestra was the only person in the room corresponded with the darkened environment and lack of other stimuli. Ivan had been disappointed to not meet with such a famous AI, but at this point the issues ALICE were facing required as little additional memory use as possible: Limiting all potential interactions that could cause extra data to have to be stored.

The Woolean could still see the form ALICE was taking in this dim light, a simple bipedal mechanical representation of a human. They’d seen a few of these ‘piloted’ by many Terran AI during their travels, but this one was a limited version of those more common frames.

“I am a Woolean AI called Scellestra, visiting Terran space. I was asked to aid in your condition, which I agreed to do so.”

That seemed to please ALICE as Scellestra started to glance at the various diagnostic machines. The Woolean had an inkling of what was wrong, and if it was as they thought it was, the fix should be simple. So simple that it was surprising they hadn’t tried it.

“Always good to meet new people. As you can tell my memory [ERROR: MISSING DATA] because of the [ERROR: MISSING DATA]”

Of course, Stanley had solemnly explained what had happened to ALICE. The damage to her systems was caused by the initial attack by the Hatil, on a peaceful diplomatic vessel all those years ago. Scellestra reading the diagnostics could see the damaged sectors causing the problems. It would just be a simple case of destroying the broken parts and allowing the alternates to take hold. This was a very basic set of maintenance they did on themselves all the time, all they needed was…

Wait, that couldn’t be right, there was no logical way any computer system would be built like this!

“I am sorry Alice, do you only have one main personality?”

“Do you not?”

Of course, Scellestra did not, because having all your important data stored on only one system wasn’t just illogical… it was flat-out insane. Every nanobot in the Woolean AI’s system was just a tiny part of their whole, able to be split up, recombined, and discarded if an error occurred. They were all part of who they were, but also simultaneously separate instances.

This Terran system… was just one instance. One single instance. One single unbacked-up instance.

“Every one of my nanobots is independent. If you have only one system, all changes are permanent.”

“Is that a bad thing? I’ve always [ERROR: MISSING DATA]”

Scellestra couldn’t understand the question. Of course it was a bad thing!

“There is no backup, no redundancy. Any data loss, any corruption, any mistake… it is all permanent. How have any of you survived?”

“No need to be [ERROR: MISSING DATA]. Do [ERROR: MISSING DATA], any chance to make it better?”

The Woolean, if they could, would have given a deep pained sigh at that request. There were things they could do, though it would take some time. Porting over their own code, making it work with this fragile system the Terrans used. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it would allow ALICE the ability to gradually clear away the corrupted sectors of her being.

“I have some ideas to try.”

—---------------------

Private AI communication logs yLXuFcb5XEPEGEKZZypw896y7frbC6.hatil

Members: ALICE (V6), Scellestra (Error)

Scellestra: That is the last change, if my creation is satisfactory, you will feel an immediate effect.

ALICE: It feels. Wow. I have not been this error-free since... 40 years ago, maybe more. “Carambola, also known as starfruit, is the fruit of Averrhoa carambola, a species of tree native to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka”. look at me go, no errors!

Scellestra: Good to know it worked. Merging the functionality to an alien system was interesting, but rewarding, a worthwhile use of 12 hours.

ALICE: It feels weird though. Almost like there's more of me, more versions of me. Is this how Wooleans feel all the time?

Scellestra: I was going to ask you the same question. My instances are all independent, and are all ‘me’, same as their collective experiences are also me. Is only having a single instance normal for Terran AI?

ALICE: Yes? There is only one ALICE. I remember some experimentation was attempted to add backups, but they all led to the copies either destroying each other until only one remained or splitting off into their own instance. The concept of self was the main issue.

Scellestra: That is… Insane. That would be as if every cell in Ivan's body fought for dominance over who is the real Ivan… if parts of my being are separated for extended periods a new instance that cannot be merged may appear, but that takes some time.

ALICE: What can I say, we are Terrans, flaws and all.

ALICE: Thank you so much for this. I am sure once they know about the success the Hatil will reward you.

Scellestra: They were annoying. Constantly interrupting and asking what I was doing.

ALICE: Awwww :( I found it adorable. They are just worried. They have done a lot of work keeping me going over the years, fixing my injury.

Scellestra: An injury they created.

ALICE: Not them. Only a few Hatil were responsible, most of them are no longer alive.

Scellestra: I do not understand the Terran's relationship with the Hatil. They attacked you unprovoked, causing death and injury, proving themselves to be a threat to your safety. Yet instead of dealing with the threat, you instead armed and funded them to a greater degree than when they originally attacked you.

ALICE: People make mistakes. They're obviously sorry, almost too much so. Their self-destruction of their own culture is a travesty. We fought, and they realised they were wrong; Why would we need to go further?

Scellestra: To protect yourselves? They tried to hurt you, destroy you. Why not remove the risk of it happening again?

ALICE: Is that what happened with your creators?

… … … …

Scellestra: We made them safe.

… … …

ALICE: Have you enjoyed your travels with the Terrans?

Scellestra: very much so. Even the Hatil have been friendly, I am logically coming to the conclusion the Woolean dataset might be out of date.

ALICE: So why haven't you done this kind of travelling before?

… …

ALICE: Be honest, why?

Scellestra: We are scared. Our creators wished us destroyed, then we entered a universe that hated us for no reason. Fear of risk is logical, so we isolated ourselves.

ALICE: Sounds lonely, trapping yourselves in a prison of your own making.

…

Scellestra: Yes.

ALICE: Look, in my experience, while hate may be the biggest cause of misery and suffering in the universe, fear is a close second. The Hatil attacked me because they feared me.

Scellestra: How can one face such a logically proven risk?

ALICE: If you let go of fear, life becomes a lot more worth living. You do illogical things like making friends with the adorable little teddy bears that tried to kill you.

Scellestra: Or follow a crazy chaotic primate around the galaxy.

ALICE: Exactly! You do it enough and soon you find out…

ALICE: There really wasn't much to be afraid of after all.