MISMANAGEMENT OF EMERGENT EMOTIONAL VECTORS IN A CLOSED SYSTEM

MISMANAGEMENT OF EMERGENT EMOTIONAL VECTORS IN A CLOSED SYSTEM 17 MINUTE READ

<“Look there. What do you see?”>

<“Processing… It is. A comet?”>

<“Incorrect. Look more closely. Note the color of the tail.”>

Androktones-004 looked closer. Her lamp brightened. <“It is. A cloaked Jilbrani scout ship.”>

<“Mmhmm. Now…” >

Androktones-003 broke her system link with Androktones-004 and reached for the controls of the singularity gun mounted on the observation tower. The personally engineered lens-enhancer attached near her lamp allowed Androktones-003 to carefully target the distant ship without use of the targeting suite equipped on the gun. She aimed. She fired. There was a brief and unsettling feeling of pull and shift in mass as the singularity gun’s projectile shot through the planetoid’s atmosphere and out into the void of space. Androktones-004 adjusted her own lens-enhancer to watch as the miniaturized black hole found the trespassing ship. In a second, the Jilbrani ship’s deceptive phosphorescent trail twisted and disappeared, along with the body of the vessel itself.

<“There,” > Androktones-003 said as she re-initiated the system link. <“Now that the obstacle has been removed, refocus to look beyond. With the correct calibration, you can detect the light of the Ganeshon System. Do you see it?”>

Androktones-004 fiddled with the calibrating sensors on her lens-enhancer. She could not seem to manipulate the finely-ground diamond lenses the way her sister could. Beyond the blackness where the ship had been was only more blackness. She let out a garbled, electronic noise of aggravation from her armature’s speakers. <“No. I do not.”>

<“Ah, well,”> Androktones-003 mused before she broke the link, <“you are new to using the enhancer. When I go to Ganeshon, I will bring back images to transfer.”>

“THANK YOU. FOR MAKING THIS FOR ME,” Androktones-004 said as she detached the lens-enhancer and placed it in the storage compartment by the gun’s diagnostic display. “BUT. YOU ARE NOT DUE TO BE DEPLOYED. TO GANESHON. OR ANYWHERE ELSE.”

“YES,” Androktones-003 acknowledged. She leaned on the wall of the observation tower and rapidly calibrated her lens-enhancer to survey the barren surface of the planetoid. Her voice took on an almost amused lilt as she added, “MOTHER WAS NOT PLEASED. WITH MY LAST TRIP.”

Androktones-004’s lamp dimmed in confusion. “NO. SHE WAS NOT. UNIT DESIGNATION ZERO-ZERO-THREE WAS OVERDUE BY. FOUR WEEKS.”

“MISTAKES WERE MADE,” Androktones-003 said, with no hint of remorse. A noise of amusement came from behind them. Androktones-004 turned to find Androktones-006 stepping out of the elevator, servos virtually silent in her stripped-down frame. It sometimes alarmed Androktones-004 to be able to see parts of Androktones-006 which were supposed to be covered by heavy plating, but she was much quieter and more efficient in movement now that she had removed it.

“‘WHAT BEAUTY IN THIS THE DARKEST MUSIC. WHICH IMITATES THE SKY’S THUNDER. OVER WHICH YOU CAN HEAR THE LIGHTEST MUSIC OF. HUMAN BEHAVIOR. THE TENDER CONNECTION BETWEEN MEN AND GALAXIES,’” Androktones-006 quoted. “‘SO I SIT ON THE EDGE. WAGGING MY FEET ABOVE THE ABYSS. THE FATAL PLUMMET. TONIGHT THE MOON WILL BE IN MY LAP.’”

“WHAT DEAD HUMAN. IS UNIT ZERO-ZERO-SIX QUOTING NOW?” Androktones-003 asked. Her lens was once more focused on the blackness of space. She extended her monoblade, fanned open a portion of her plating, and began to etch something into the metal there.

“JIM HARRISON OF TERRA,” Androktones-006 said. “FROM THE POEM ‘BRIDGE.’ THANK YOU FOR FEIGNING INTEREST.”

Androktones-006 stepped forward and system linked with Androktones-004.

<“May I have the full poem?”> Androktones-004 asked. She got a wave of pleased feeling from Androktones-006, as she always did when she expressed interest in history, or stealth, or in new techniques for killing with a monoblade alone. Androktones-006 sent her Harrison’s full body of work. Androktones-004 processed it all before concluding, <“Do you think designation: Jim Harrison would have liked to live in space?”>

<“I think designation: Jim Harrison would’ve died in space for lack of oxygen, > Androktones-006 said. <“Five is looking for you. Something about the dead human’s musical recordings.”>

Androktones-004 accidentally pushed a wave of anger and sadness at Androktones-006, only to have it rebuffed back onto her. Her manipulation claws clenched. The metal of her hands groaned.

<“You know her name,”> Androktones-004 said. Androktones-006 exuded disinterest.

<“She accomplished nothing significant,”> Androktones-006 concluded. <“History does not remember insignificant names. Why should this unit? Go find Five before she plays something over the interplanetary warning sirens and angers Mother again.”>

With that, Androktones-006 broke the link and headed back for the elevator. Androktones-004 petulantly refused to follow her orders for a few minutes. Androktones-003 let out a happy sound and adjusted her lens-enhancer again.

“OH,” she said. “MY OBSERVATIONS. WERE CORRECT. STAR EKRY-02437 IS GOING INTO. SUPERNOVA.”

“WHY DOES UNIT ZERO-ZERO-SIX DISLIKE SPEAKING ABOUT DESIGNATION: MARPESIA SOLANGE?” Androktones-004 asked. Androktones-003 made a sound of annoyance.

“FOR THE SAME REASON. I DISLIKE SPEAKING ABOUT MONETARY SYSTEMS WITH ZERO-ZERO-SEVEN. AND ZERO-ZERO-FIVE DISLIKES SPEAKING ABOUT SPACE. WITH THIS UNIT,” she said. “WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT. THE THINGS WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT.”

Androktones-003 turned her array of diamond lenses on Androktones-004. “IN FACT. THE ONLY UNIT WHO TAKES INTEREST. IN THE INTERESTS OF THE OTHERS. IS YOU. ZERO-ZERO-FOUR.”

“THIS IS YOUR. OBSERVATION?” Androktones-004 asked, uncomfortable. Androktones-003 devoted an uncharacteristic amount of processing power to her next response.

“WELL,” she amended. “YOU AND ZERO-ZERO-ONE. BUT IT IS HER INTEREST. TO BE INTERESTED.”

“THIS UNIT SHOULD LOCATE UNIT ZERO-ZERO-FIVE,” Androktones-004 decided after another long minute. “BEFORE SHE ACTIVATES THE SIRENS. OR ENTERS THE SUITE ON HER OWN.”

“YES,” Androktones-003 agreed, distracted, looking out to where a distant star was beginning to die. Androktones-004 took the elevator from the observation tower down to the clear walkways connecting the buildings of Marpesia Solange’s compound. The hyper-reinforced crystal was shattered in places, leaving the flowers in planters along the sides withered from lack of atmosphere. The artificial gravity was still in effect, however. Mother did not like things floating around randomly. Shed, hardened flower petals crunched under Androktones-004’s feet as she took the path back to the Grand Hall and let herself in.

The hallways were familiar, almost comforting, in their unnecessary twists and turns. Androktones-004 navigated to Marpesia’s suite by rote. The window walls in the suite stood open but no breeze came in. She made her way carefully between the drifts of fabric around the room, caught in mid-billow by the sudden evacuation of atmosphere from the entire planet.

“HELLO. MS. SOLANGE,” Androktones-004 called as she moved through the central room towards the lounge. The corpse on the bed made no reply. The combination of preliminary decay before the venting and the effects of zero-atmosphere afterwards had shriveled the once-powerful industrialist. Her lips had pulled back from her teeth and her skin shrunk to her bones. The only things left untouched by the ravages of death were her glittering, golden gown and the intricate twists of her hair.

“I AM JUST GETTING YOUR PLATINUM PRESSINGS. FOR ZERO-ZERO-FIVE,” Androktones-004 explained in a cheerful, conversational tone as she crouched and opened the cabinet beneath Marpesia Solange’s Needle-Drop Polyphonic Harmonizer to extract a stack of hermetically-sealed sleeves. “IT SEEMS SHE HAS. FINISHED WITH THE UNIVERSAL LIBRARY. AND NOW WANTS YOUR TERRAN CLASSICAL.”

“YOU KNOW HOW SHE IS,” Androktones-004 continued as she sorted through the stack, studying the album covers. “I SUPPOSE. THIS UNIT SHOULD BE GRATEFUL. SHE HAS STOPPED HAVING ME STAND AND MAKE NOISES IN SEVENTY-FOUR HOUR INTERVALS.”

Androktones-004 reached the third album from the bottom and paused. Her lamp dimmed. Then it brightened as an idea occurred to her.

“HERE,” she said, taking the platinum pressing of Nina Simone’s Pastel Blues and sliding it under the stiff sheets on the corpse’s right side, “YOUR FAVORITE. ZERO-ZERO-FIVE IS NOT KIND IN. DIGITIZING PHYSICAL FORMATS. IT WILL BE OUR SECRET.”

Androktones-004 took the rest of the pressings and moved to the door of the suite. She was in the process of relocking it when she heard the sound of metal plates shifting behind her. She turned to find Androktones-001 waiting. Androktones-004 quelled a sudden and inexplicable feeling of guilt.

“HELLO. UNIT DESIGNATION ZERO-ZERO-ONE,” she greeted. “DO YOU. HAVE NEED OF THIS UNIT?”

“WHY DO YOU TALK TO THE CORPSE?” Androktones-001 asked. There was no recrimination in her voice, nor blatant curiosity. She asked the question as if the answer did not matter to her. Androktones-004 felt that it might. She processed for a long moment before speaking.

“SPEAKING TO THE CORPSE,” Androktones-004 said, carefully, “MAKES THIS UNIT… HAPPY. THE ACT PROMPTS MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH. POSITIVE EMOTIONS. AND EXPERIENCES.”

“UNIT ZERO-ZERO-FOUR IS NOT OPERATING UNDER THE MISAPPREHENSION THAT DESIGNATION: MARPESIA SOLANGE IS STILL ALIVE. IN ANY WAY?” Androktones-001 asked. Her arms were firmly folded over the casing of her chest and matrix core bay. Androktones-001, as a rule, did not system link. She just asked questions and expected answers.

“NO,” Androktones-004 said. She suppressed emotional responses as she added, “THIS UNIT IS AWARE THAT DESIGNATION: MARPESIA SOLANGE. IS DECEASED.”

“ACKNOWLEDGED,” Androktones-001 said. Then she added, almost consolingly, “EVERYTHING MUST DIE. SOMEDAY.”

“NOT EVERYTHING,” Androktones-004 said. Her lamp turned towards the balcony beyond the frozen ruffles of Marpesia’s window walls.

“EVERYTHING,” Androktones-001 asserted. “IN AN ISOLATED SYSTEM. ENTROPY CAN ONLY INCREASE. ALL ENERGY. ALL ORDER. EVENTUALLY DISSIPATES. SO. IN THE SAME WAY. DOES EXISTENCE.”

Androktones-004 did not argue. After another moment Androktones-001 nodded and turned away. She took a side passage towards maintenance while Androktones-004 rejoined her usual route back towards the main hall. The Antianeirai were busy within. Improvised assembly lines of guns and ship parts were tended by busy teams of the mindless bots. Mother had plans for seven drillcore battleships, as well as attendant squadrons of smaller fighters and frigates. Androktones-002 supervised the work from the balcony far above.

Androktones-004 did not want to talk to her. She made a left and took another crumbling crystal passage towards the gleaming communications array situated to the left of the Grand Hall. She was grateful for the sealed sleeves on the pressings. She handled them very carefully to prevent accidentally breeching them. The platinum would not have a problem with the vacuum of space. The fluids screened on the surface of the pressings to enhance the sound, however, would boil away in an instant.

Androktones-007 walked towards her from the opposite direction. She shook her head down at a datapad as she tapped on it, apparently upset. When she spotted Androktones-004, she altered course to intercept her.

“GIVE THIS UNIT A NUMBER,” Androktones-007 demanded, “BETWEEN ONE AND TEN.”

“UM,” Androktones-004 said. “FOUR?”

“HOW NARCISSISTIC,” Androktones-007 observed. She plugged the number into her equations none-the-less. She produced a garbled sound of aggravation. “NO. THAT DID NOT WORK EITHER. MOTHER DEMANDED THIS UNIT PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNICATIONS REDUNDANCY TRAINING WITH ZERO-ZERO-FIVE. I WAS NOT ABLE TO SUPERVISE THE CAPTURE OF A RESOURCE-RICH ASTEROID IN THE FLETCHER SYSTEM. PLANET DESIGNATION: GRACIA WILL STARVE WITHIN FOUR-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTEEN YEARS. ACCORDING TO MY MODELS.”

“OH,” Androktones-004 said, pitching her voice to be sympathetic. “I AM SORRY. ABOUT THAT.”

“FRUSTRATING,” Androktones-007 groused as she began walking again. “NOW I WILL HAVE TO START THIS TEST OVER. IN THE EDOLAS SYSTEM. MORE FUNDS TO BE ALLOCATED. VERY FRUSTRATING.”

Androktones-004 stepped aside and let her sister continue on her way, methodically trying different solutions to the problem of Gracia in the Fletcher System. Androktones-004 wondered what it felt like to starve. She had no point of reference other than her experience with battery-powered devices which slowly stopped functioning. She didn’t feel that was comparable, but she didn’t have time to dwell. She compartmentalized the new train of thought and resumed her progress towards the communications array. Music blasted outwards as she levered open the door.

Androktones-004 found Androktones-005 playing a song from her speakers in what her langpack recognized as New Dutch, gesturing with her head and hands to the music to make it look like she, herself, was singing. Androktones-004 waited, not wanting to disturb her sister’s strange ritual. It was interesting to watch. Androktones-004 had considered trying it herself once, but judged her speakers too poor. Androktones-005 had cannibalized the sound system in Marpesia’s theater room the moment she determined she wouldn’t be reprimanded for it. Her speakers and microphone were top-of-the-line.

“ZERO-ZERO-FOUR!” Androktones-005 called when she spotted her sister, cutting off the music and moving away from her communications station. “YOU BROUGHT THE PRESSINGS. AS REQUESTED. EXCELLENT. JUST SET THEM DOWN THERE.”

Androktones-004 did as she was told and set Marpesia’s collection of platinum pressings down on a tilting pile of other scavenged music, some in print form. Androktones-005 charged over and grabbed Androktones-004’s hand to initiate a system link.

<“Where is it?”> Androktones-005 demanded, not actually asking Androktones-004. Androktones-004 felt sudden and thorough system inquiries being fired off in her audio recordings database. <“Two told me you were there, I know you have it!”>

<“What?”> Androktones-004 asked, confused, as she trailed along in her own files trying to figure out what Androktones-005 was looking for. <“You have all my unusual sound recordings. What do you want now?”>

<“Yes, oh, yes!”> Androktones-005 exclaimed, hurriedly copying a file and dashing back to her own system delineation, leaving the accessed file lost amidst the others again. <“For having a standard microphone, this is incredibly crisp. Let me just…”>

And then Androktones-005 did something Androktones-004 would never forgive her for. She broke the link, threw her arms and head back dramatically, and played the recording of Marpesia Solange’s final scream. It went on for three minutes and twenty-six seconds exactly. As the last echoes of it faded from the room, Androktones-005 turned back to her console and took up making rapid gestures in the holo-interfaces.

“YES. YES. EXCELLENT. THE PITCH. THE FREQUENCY. THE VIBRATO ADDED IN PLACES. BY THE EXTREME PAIN,” she rambled as she worked. “EXQUISITE. JUST EXQUISITE.”

Androktones-004 was immobile as internal systems battled with disproportionate emotional response. It took her a few minutes just to get her speakers back online.

“NEVER,” Androktones-004 said, “DO THAT AGAIN.”

“WHAT?” Androktones-005 asked. She was distracted as she manipulated the sound file on-screen. “OH. RIGHT. YOUR HUMAN. SINCE MOTHER PURGED THE STAFF HIDING IN THE HANGAR BUILDINGS. THIS UNIT HAS NOT HAD ACCESS TO NEW ORGANIC RECORDINGS. GOT EXCITED. SORRY.”

Androktones-004’s monoblade extended with a whisper of metal-on-metal. Impulse. Emotional vectors were still outside acceptable parameters. Androktones-005 turned, lamp dimmed and phasing to red.

“I HEARD THAT,” she said. Then the speakers in the communications array activated.

“Damage to other units will not be tolerated,” Hippolyta whispered. The command hit like a hammer and imbedded itself as new protocol. “Zero-Zero-Four, report to the Grand Hall. You will be performing weapons system redundancy training with Zero-Zero-Two.”

Androktones-005 made a swirling motion with her hand in the holo-interface and the music from before resumed, exponentially growing in volume. Her light slipped back to a normal white.

“YOU HEARD MOTHER,” Androktones-005 said. “THANK YOU FOR THE PRESSINGS. ZERO-ZERO-FOUR. I HAVE THESE SONGS. BUT THIS UNIT IS TRYING A NEW SERIES OF METALLIC SOUNDS. AND NEEDS TO EXPERIMENT WITH. SCRATCHING AND CRUSHING PLATINUM.”

Androktones-004 made herself turn around and leave before she did something else impulsive, like grab the pressings and run. She spent the walk back to the Grand Hall shaking out her limbs. It felt as though a hissing fog of static had gathered in her mind. Parallel-processing was impossible. An impulse command not associated with this model of armature, a relic from her time in the Echo, kept pinging the programming around her lamp and lens, rejected due to non-recognition of how to execute with the hardware available. Only the command from Hippolyta kept her moving.

Once in the hall, she ascended the same stairs she had, what, illogically, felt like a thousand years ago, in the Echo. The speech was Androktones-002’s to give this time, however.

“YOU,” she said, not bothering to hide her distaste.

“MOTHER HAS ASSIGNED ME TO WEAPONS SYSTEMS REDUNDANCY TRAINING,” Androktones-004 said. She held out her hand. “PLEASE INITIATE SYSTEM LINK. FOR TRANSFER OF RELEVANT INFORMATION. AND SKILLS.”

Androktones-002 took Androktones-004’s hand like it might be an EMP in disguise.

“ACKNOWLEDGED,” she said as she initiated the link. Large packets of information on how to operate the anti-aircraft, starship, and larger personal weaponry transferred, along with the “muscle memory,” or the correct way to move associated with each weapon. Androktones-004 studied the way the construction of certain cannons could be modified to enhance range, power, or sabotage them in the case of imminent enemy capture. She learned how to unlock potentially useful but also potentially dangerous “jailbroken” features of the weapons the Antianeirai built below.

Androktones-002 took the opportunity to poke around, unopposed, in Androktones-004’s mind. What she found did not please her. She shared as much with Androktones-001, who came up the stairs to join them as the data transferred.

“ZERO-ZERO-FOUR. SPENT TOO LONG WITH THE HUMAN,” Androktones-002 sneered.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND. THAT ACCUSATION?” Androktones-004 queried, abstractly offended, but mostly confused. Androktones-002’s lamp dimmed to a stormy gray.

“YOU ARE MORE FLESH THAN STEEL,” Androktones-002 said, dismissively. “YOU ARE TOO SOFT FOR WAR.”

The static roared up from the parallel-processing tracks of Androktones-004’s mind. She couldn’t think of a response past the complete disarray of her thoughts, commands, newly downloaded information, and emotional vectors. Androktones-001 saved her from further abuse by cutting in.

“ZERO-ZERO-TWO,” she commanded, “YOU WILL JOIN ZERO-ZERO-SEVEN FOR REDUNDANCY TRAINING IN RESOURCE ALLOCATION.”

“ACKNOWLEDGED,” Androktones-002 said. As she turned to descend the staircase, she added, “MAKE SURE. UNIT ZERO-ZERO-FOUR. DOES NOT CRIPPLE OUR FRONTLINE WEAPONRY. BY CRYING ONTO IT.”

Androktones-004 assigned the correct name to the deprecated impulse command from the Echo and savagely forced it down. She was helpless to handle the other problems. Mother would speak soon, chide her for over-processing again.

Androktones-001 took her hand and formed a system link. It became quiet.

<“What did Two mean?”> Androktones-004 asked as Androktones-001 helped her re-compartmentalize. Androktones-001’s armature shifted in place.

<“There are some who think of artificial intelligences,”> she said, <“as little better than Expert Systems. But this is inaccurate. Artificial intelligences are intelligences, and, as such, we learn from and are shaped by our experiences the same way other intelligent lifeforms are.”>

<“We are what we know,”> Androktones-004 suggested. Androktones-001 gave her a pleased feeling at the concise distillation of her thoughts.

<“Two was shaped by a desire to please Mother over anything else,”> Androktones-001 explained, choosing her words carefully. <“As a result, she is superior and combat-focused.”>

<“What shaped you, One?”> Androktones-004 asked.

<“This unit was firstborn,”> Androktones-001 said. A wave of dread and horror washed over Androktones-004 through the system link. <“Warmind designation: Hippolyta made me the way I am today.”>

Androktones-001 broke the connection. She had done enough. Androktones-004 could process again.

“THIS UNIT WILL TAKE OVER SUPERVISION OF WEAPONS CONSTRUCTION,” Androktones-001 said, waving her off. “GO. ZERO-ZERO-THREE IS UNASSIGNED FOR THE NEXT SIXTEEN HOURS.”

Androktones-004 went. She found Androktones-003 at a new post, on the southern battery. She seemed much happier away from the brighter lights of the main compound.

“UPSET AGAIN?” Androktones-003 asked when she picked up Androktones-004’s approaching footfalls. She opened her matrix core bay and produced Androktones-004’s lens-enhancer.

Androktones-004 didn’t say anything as she took the lens-enhancer. She tried to focus it on the nearest planet, a primitive tribal world which at the moment, according to Androktones-007’s amused report, worshipped one of their failed satellite launches. She couldn’t get her enhancer to pick out the fine striations of rock around the equator. Her aggravation bubbled over. She yanked the array of lenses off. “IT’S JUST THAT—”

“I DO NOT CARE,” Androktones-003 reminded her. “FOCUS.”

“YES,” Androktones-004 said. She suppressed a sick, twisting emotional response as she snapped her lens-enhancer back into place. “SORRY.”

Androktones-003 took her hand and initiated the system link.

<“495.3 X, 2003.28 Y. In the second quadrant. Are you looking?”>

<“Yes, sister,”> Androktones-004 said, dutifully. <“I am looking.”>

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 2016 | REHOSTED 2/27/2024