Lynn Idris and R (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
link_to_revival) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
srwug_alpha_rp2013-07-13 11:17 am
link_to_revival) wrote in srwug_alpha_rp2013-07-13 11:17 am
Entry tags:
Sixth Resurrection
[It's maintenance time for the VeHA, Lynn and R being as much a team with this as they are when actually piloting. The AI moves and shifts the machine's frame to let Lynn better reach trouble spots, and all the while they've been holding a rather pleasant conversation. Well... until-]
You know... I never realized it before now, but R... you're a Retroactive Existence, yes?
What of it?
Well, the point of the idea of those is to make them have an identity, personality, even memories all preset even before they're made! But you've never said much about your own identity. You got angry when that one goddess called you a "hag" though... were you meant to be a super-macho man then or-
[There's a very loud creaking as the VeHA turns to face Lynn... and even without facial features the woman's struck silent by the animosity radiating from it.]
I'm not going to talk about this. Not with you or anyone else.
R-R... I-
[Yeah, Lynn's realizing she's struck a nerve here.]
Regardless of my intended being, that is not who I am now, so what does it matter? I am what I choose to be, nothing more or less, and I have no lost love for Hans Wagner and his insane obsession with working to create me, ignoring the very work Britannia had hired him to do in the first place.
[The AI then realizes it's probably said too much. And now it's going to say very little.]
I'm going.
[And at that, the VeHA's eye dims and the machine slumps down again, R going off into the ship's systems to have some solitude. And as for Lynn, she's just left standing there, realizing just how little she really knows about R's identity...]
... I'm sorry...
(You can tag either Lynn or R in the aftermath of this conversation, just specify which when you post)
You know... I never realized it before now, but R... you're a Retroactive Existence, yes?
What of it?
Well, the point of the idea of those is to make them have an identity, personality, even memories all preset even before they're made! But you've never said much about your own identity. You got angry when that one goddess called you a "hag" though... were you meant to be a super-macho man then or-
[There's a very loud creaking as the VeHA turns to face Lynn... and even without facial features the woman's struck silent by the animosity radiating from it.]
I'm not going to talk about this. Not with you or anyone else.
R-R... I-
[Yeah, Lynn's realizing she's struck a nerve here.]
Regardless of my intended being, that is not who I am now, so what does it matter? I am what I choose to be, nothing more or less, and I have no lost love for Hans Wagner and his insane obsession with working to create me, ignoring the very work Britannia had hired him to do in the first place.
[The AI then realizes it's probably said too much. And now it's going to say very little.]
I'm going.
[And at that, the VeHA's eye dims and the machine slumps down again, R going off into the ship's systems to have some solitude. And as for Lynn, she's just left standing there, realizing just how little she really knows about R's identity...]
... I'm sorry...
(You can tag either Lynn or R in the aftermath of this conversation, just specify which when you post)
(Towards R)
[Hey R, its that one guy from the Dullahan team who seems to be pretty chummy with you. He actually came earlier on but heard part of the 'conversation' you and Lynn had, so he backed off for a while.]
R? You don't mind if we talk a while do you?
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So long as you don't try to make a topic out of certain subjects, yes.
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[He shrugs lightly.]
Wasn't intending to. Who you were based on doesn't really matter - I'm pretty sure that was your answer to that question. Right now you're an independent entity.
You surpassed your programming and became something new. If anything that's far more interesting than your template.
[Chips looked thoughtful to say the least.]
Though...I wonder what it'd be like to have an RE unit based on me.
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And as to your question, who knows? A Retroactive Existence based on you could turn out entirely different if it were to ever realize it wasn't the real you.
But it's a all purely hypothetical. Nobody has the knowledge to make Universal Alloy any more, to say nothing about a Retroactive Existence.
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Human curiousity is a wonderful and problematic thing honestly. It can do so much for us, and cause so much trouble.
I know... its a shame... RE units have a lot of potential... more than just being something as simple a fascimille of a personality. Ever since meeting you and ALICE I've been able to chase down a lot of ideas and questions and put them on paper.
[He couldn't help but chuckle sheepishly as he pulled one in particular out. It was pretty creased around the edges too.]
The power, understanding and potential of a human mind, intergrated with advanced technology. Explorers who could chart the stars for eons, scientists who could pursue greater ranges of experiments and correlate massive amounts of information through networks...
The boundaries of human and mechanical limiation could be pushed forward further away-
[He paused and shook his head, apparently getting ahead of himself - he looked a little sheepish now.]
Sorry about that. Got carried away.
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Nobody likes having an identity thrusted upon you, and it's one thing if a Retroactive Existence were to develop these desires naturally... but nothing good would come of someone being tailor-made to be an astronomer or physicist.
[Or loving wife, for that matter.]
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Agreed. That is the largest flaw in the system - the resulting identity crisis, and the fallout that would follow... would be quite the mess to say the least. But I'm sure there's some kind of solution to that problem.
[Chips pushed his glasses up and rubbed his chin contemplatively.]
Hypothetically speaking, the same masses of raw code that were used to graft human memories into the RE unit could also be used to craft a program to allow self determination.
Of course that kind of process would take at least a decade of research and development - the kinds of personality defects that could occur from attempting to hash out a completely new personality from a base template could lead to all sorts complications. Extreme lack of empathy, psychosis, sociopathy...
And crafting one from scratch would take even longer
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[There's a bit of a pause, as if R's just realizing something.]
Come to think of it, I suppose Retroactive Existences add an entirely new layer to the nature vs. nurture debate. Once one would be completed, it would be nearly impossible to alter its programming directly. If you wanted to change its behaviors, you would need to give it some incentive, or appeal to it in some manner.
Just like a human.
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Exactly, and just like a human - character flaws would be a part of our 'programming' as it were. A slip up when defining of a brand new personality in a Retroactive Existence wouldn't be categorized as an error either since the coding would still take and run perfectly - it only affects how they act, percieve the world.
The fact that the overall design of a Retroactive Existence was created to mimic the human brain with technology - more than that - mimic human life... humanity has essentially recreated itself with science.
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[Even R's going to need a minute or two for this to sink in.]
I'm starting to appreciate the fact that I'm the only one ever made. We may have other advanced AIs on board, but they weren't made the way I was.
[Another pause.]
And perhaps I was too hard on Lynn before.
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I wouldn't say its depressing. Rather, its a calculated risk. Something that requires as much care as bringing up a child, mixed with large amounts of high scale programming. And trust me, when you're in this team, hearing Ursa talk about parenting from time to time, you'll appreciate just how much work goes into it. You either go about it with care and hope and see the beauty of your results, or you just go at it recklessly and see a disaster. Either way there'll be mistakes.
[Chips regarded R with a raised eyebrow before giving a grin.]
Then again, maybe Retroactive Existences aren't that completely human. You seem to understand that you make mistakes a lot faster than most of us would.
[It was clearly a joke given his tone.]
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I mean it lashed out so angrily when that one goddess called it a "hag"!
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It seems your computer is angry with you.
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[... No, she'll ask about that later.]
Y-yes... R... didn't like me asking about what its original design was meant to be.
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I see.
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You need to refer to it as it wants to be known now, not what it was before. I do not know the reason, but it must be important. Unless there is some evil past behind this reasoning...
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And if there's some evil secret in R's past...
No.
[She shakes her head.]
I don't want to believe that. R's stuck with me in spite of me being the Icarus Bomber, I can't imagine anything it's done to be on that level of atrocity.
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[Tact? What's that?]
What does that mean?
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...
I wonder how many is it for me.
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[She swallows awkwardly. And she'd rather not ask about blood on Texotic's hand simply because comparing rap sheets was never a smart idea.]
But it's different now for me. I'm sure it's the same with you.
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I am here to... apologize.
I will not take food nor other items without ensuring they do not belong to other people.
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[And after a moment, Lynn does her best to give Texotic a reassuring smile.]
And it seems that hope's been well-placed, if you're willing to change like that.
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It's... not a change or anything similar to it... if I knew that food was not mine I would not have taken it in the first place... that's all.
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If that's not a change, what is?
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But a guilty conscience soon gets the better of him, and he emerges.]
Um... hey.
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... Hey...
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But instead, and cringing at his own decision, he settles in to sit down beside her.]
I'm... sorry about before. That was... pretty dumb of me.
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You were probably just drunk or something.
[Or at least that's what she's going to believe.]
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... Just please don't say anything like that again, Richard. When I lost James, I gave up on loving anyone the same way as I had loved him. Some people can find love again when they lose it... but he was the one.
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[Richard cringes himself at what he's about to say... but dammit he fights gods and monsters, he can't get scared of something like this!]
You know you... kinda said something similar regarding your very life, once. That you spent over a decade thinking you wouldn't be able to move on from what happened... in the test and all...
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When I thought I wanted to die, I kept finding reasons why I didn't just jump off a cliff or shoot myself or... or anything else for that matter.
I haven't had situations like that when it comes to romance. At least not yet.
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...N-Not me though, that would be a terrible choice for you to make...
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I was about to say...
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... At any rate, you'll find someone else.
In the meantime... don't worry too much about my lovelife. All thing considered my life's getting back on track after a very long time... if things happen, well then they happen.
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[Richard smiles, about to eat, before realising something else.]
...Did something have you down before I turned up though? Today I mean.
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I asked R about what its intended identity was meant to be. It got rather angry when I asked that.
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