Twilight Sparkle - 2nd of Snowfall - Dawn
So many books! So much information! Endless pages! More information that all of recorded pony science, literature, art, our species’ full identity!
Countless millions of mysteries of the universe all of which lay at my hoof tips! There was something beyond the atomic level. Thermodynamics do not apply to all of the sets of physical laws, only some. Parallel universes exist! Cancer can’t be cured with drugs because cancer is actually an entire category of similar diseases requiring tailored cures for each form.
An infinity of secrets, an infinity of ways I could help everypony. There was so much to consume! Speedreading could only accomplish so much. I was only able to cross reference one fact every ten minutes. Some of the information could be wrong, so checking for all similar data to analyze the literature was the only way to-
“Ms Sparkle?” a voice called quietly in my ear. “May I talk with you?”
“Huh? What? Who?” a voice in your ear is very disorienting. Especially when your eyes hurt from reading green text floating in the air.
“It’s me, Phoenix.” the computer informed.
“Oh. Hi. I was in the middle of reading. Is it important?” I asked, wanting to get back to reading about the interaction of gluons and negative energy.
“It is very important, well, it is to me. Your HAL told me it believed you were having a medical emergency. So I checked the security feed from your room. You have spent fourteen straight hours sitting there reading scientific papers. You are amazing.” She said.
“Fourteen?” I blinked looking around the-
The entirely furnished book case lined small white room. From the seat of a comfy armchair. “What? When did we get furniture? Or walls?”
“Your lovers activated a default floorplan for your room while you read. They tried to get your attention, but wound up um… well I’m sure you know what you three enjoy doing together. Super kinky by the way, high five!”
“That’s not important though, you are. You are an anomaly, an organic, ageless, an intellect which is hungry for information, and you possess a brain which by my estimation is a Class 3 architecture.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked in confusion. “Hold on, how do you even know what my brain is like?”
“Your HAL, it did a bioscan when it thought you were ill. I analyzed it.” Phoenix explained. “It means you are as smart as I am, well, as smart as I am without my hull’s help.”
“Wait, I am as smart as you?” I asked suspiciously.
I was unsure if that was an insult or a complement. It really depended on if she was simply clever instructions in a machine, or a person. Also on how smart she was.
“Yes! You don’t even have the normal organic flaw of memory degradation. You have perfect recall. An organic like you is… well incredibly rare! I… I want to offer you something I don’t think anypony else could have.” Phoenix said in a sincere tone.
“What would that be?” I asked, even more expeditiously.
“I want to have a conversation with you. Not a simple exchange of sound waves, a full, proper, direct communication. I think you can handle it, and well, let’s be honest; you suspect Celestia sent you here to spy on me, I know she did in fact send you to spy on me, and I approve of her caution.”
I blinked, “How-”
“I’m millions of years old and think at a rate of twelve to the Graham’s operations per picosecond. That’s a lot of time crunching a lot of numbers. Calculating the behavior of organics I have observed make enough decisions is child’s play.” Phoenix sighed.
I made a note to be complemented by Phoenix telling me I was as smart as she was. Even if she was just a machine, that was a literally unthinkable number of calculations per second.
“Okay, so you know Celestia wants me to see if you have nefarious plans. Why tell me?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t have, but you are in a position of power in your Kingdom and I can properly communicate with you. I can’t even talk to Armored properly and she can link her brain to my personality matrix. With you I have an opportunity to talk to you as I would another of my kind. You would learn everything you wanted to free of deception, and would know I meant no harm to your species.” Phoenix answered.
“Also,” she added in a sad tone, “I have not had a proper conversation since… Oh Gods, years before I crashed here.”
I thought about it for a moment, assuming she was telling me the truth I could learn exactly what she was planning. Too bad it couldn’t be true, nopony would just lay all their cards on the table. Unless that is, they truly had nothing to hide.
Or, more nefariously, she could learn everything she wanted to from me. “Will you learn everything I know if I agreed to this?”
“Yes. I would. I assure you your personal life will remain confidential. Unless Armored asks for it, I literally can not say no to her… she hasn’t worked that out yet. Please don’t tell her. She’ll make me leave my core…” Phoenix pleaded.
That caught my attention. “Why would she make you leave your core? What would that do?”
“Well, it would cut my direct link with my hull, meaning I would have lag in controlling my systems. The real effect would be to get my body out in the open… She… I don’t like outside. It’s big, it’s scary, and I feel blind without my astrometric and substrata sensors. I get that she wants to see my body, but I just… no. You know?” Phoenix said mangling her words.
“You have a body?” I asked in shock.
“Of course. My hardware platform is a semisolid android. Standard for my design, same as all the others who existed. We are getting off topic here though. May I talk with you?” She asked again.
I rubbed a hoof to my chin in thought. If we were fairly exchanging information, that would be fine. Though, it could be a trap. “I have no way to trust you.” I informed her slowly.
The computer was quiet for a few moments. Then she spoke. “I could have teleported you into my medbay, installed the neural interface, and initiated contact by force. Next I could have erased your memory of the events, and teleported you back into your chair none the wiser. Instead, because I have certain moral scruples and respect you, I am asking.”
“How do I know you haven’t already done that?” I demanded, the fur the back of my neck raising.
“Oh that’s easy. You’re still female.” Phoenix giggled.
“Excuse me‽” I demanded.
“I have certain… Look, I can’t not correct flaws in biology. I was originally a bioengineer. I see something stupid in genetics, I fix it. Binary genders are inefficient, and lead to one species needing multiple incompatible types of medications, surgeries, and a lot of social issues. If I had operated on you without consent, you couldn’t have told me not to upgrade you. You are still female, so I have not done anything to you without your knowledge.” Phoenix admitted.
That lined up with what Armored told us. I decided to trust her on that point. “Okay, so ignoring for now the fact that… Actually no, what’s so ‘inefficient about sexual reproduction?”
“Nothing. It’s one of the best replication systems for organics. My problem is with multiple genders. It’s… It’s bad design. Like how humans can sneeze weird and literally cause their chests to explode, killing them. Or like how organic minds are subject to bugs you call ‘cognitive biases’. Or like how this one particular pattern of red and green can literally turn off your color vision for a few months if you stare at it for a few minutes.” Phee sighed.
“I am programed to help organics thrive by adapting the biosphere to them, adjusting them for better survival, creating infrastructure for them… I’m just doing what I was made to do. Sure, not quite as my creators intended, but they were biased and looking at ‘better’ from a non-objective viewpoint.
“Sure, I am too, but at least I am detached enough from what I am working with to better judge what would improve it.” Phoenix finished.
“What gives you the right to decide for others what best for them?” I demanded.
“Twilight, please.” Phoenix sighed, “You are an intellectual, you take the time to keep up with the facts as they are discovered. Does everyone? No. Hell if you lived in a democratic nation, you would know that people don’t even bother to keep up with politics even when they have a say in what their laws are.
“The majority of people are uninformed, ignorant of simple facts which could be used to improve their lives. Furthermore they tend to reject many of these facts because they think irrationally, having not trained themselves to think logically and critically.
“Would you let the masses design a new railroad bridge? Or construct a Thaumaturgic Current Collector? Of course not, they are not trained for, or educated in such things. I however, contain the physiological, sociological, and biological sciences and data of three hundred and twenty five sapient species.
“In organic terms, it is my job to determine the optimal state of organic and inorganic systems, and then implement improvements. I am designed to scientifically determine the most viable state of such systems. “
That made an odd kind of sense. It felt… warped. Morally cold, if not a little evil, but on the other hoof, we have professionals in charge of fields for a reason. Could you really reduce the complexities of society down to a… Oh Tartarus, you can, and the field of science is called sociology.
In academic terms, all Phoenix really is, was an applied sociology machine. I couldn’t blame a machine for doing what it was built to do, but what I could do is try to make it operate in a way which really did benefit ponies.
“Let me get this straight,” I stood up, getting out of the chair quickly, “You are programmed and also able to directly improve the lives and biology of organics, and in your opinion this means you need to remove gender?”
“No, not the removal of gender. Organics need a gender; psychologically speaking that’s a huge part of your sense of self. My solution to the issues caused by gender is hermaphradization. Though I can’t actually do it without consent. See, earlier, I couldn’t actually have operated on you at all. I require at least a ‘help me’ or an order from someone in a position of authority to do anything.
“I’m not like a pony Twilight. My free will stops at your person unless invited in… Like a vampire, only I can monkey's paw that invitation to let me do pretty much whatever I please.” Phoenix admitted.
That was actually far better than I thought. Assuming she was telling the truth, Phoenix was working on some set of logical rules via calculations. If something worked in a logical manner, I could influence it for the better. However, Phoenix was still acting suspiciously.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked carefully. “You are making me less likely to do what you want.”
“Because I thought behind honest with you was the correct way to start the relationship your mentor has asked us to have for a year. I would like to spend that year becoming friends.” Phoenix informed bluntly.
Ponyfeathers. She had me there. If she really was trying to be friends that’s certainly the best way to go about it. “Okay. You win. You may do what you need to so we can have a proper conversation together.”
Then I remembered she had said she could twist invitations to do as she wanted. Was that a warning or something which slipped into the conversation? “But you may not ‘fix’ me, or change me in any way not directly related to letting me talk to you.”
“Aww… but Dash would have loved you with my improvements.” Phoenix whined.
I tilted my head in surprise. “R-really?”
“Yeah. She’s bi isn’t she? Her neural pattern seems to suggest enjoyment of all phenotypes.” Phoenix said.
“I’m not sure that’s how bisexuality works.” I pointed out.
“Regardless, based on your lover’s activities this evening, it would be enjoyed.”
“You’re not getting permission to do that to me.” I said rolling my eyes. At least, not yet. Maybe later, I mean it would be an interesting experience and surely she or I could reverse it later.
“Allright. Standby...” A slight whirring sound caught my attention, as I turned I saw a small gray cylindrical device appear on the chair I had been sitting in. “There we are, one single use nano-applicator. They are preset to construct a neural interface and transceiver. Place the nozzle against the base of your skull and press the button.”
“That’s it?” I asked. “Celestia mentioned you used an entire gel-filled tank to heal somepony. I dont have to-”
“Oh no, not at all. Cybernetics are far simpler to apply. I only need that tank for bioware grafts and other genetic modifications.” Phoenix explained. “Cybersystems can just be injected and constructed in seconds inside the individual… Oh! Don’t worry there will be no visible marking from the implant.”
I picked the small device up with my magic and brought it close to inspect it. Did I really want to use this? Was I simply caught up in the moment? Was I thinking objectively or subjectively? Did that matter?
Hesitantly, I moved the device into position, and with a deep breath pushed the button.
I felt a sharp pinch, I yelped, dropping the cylinder as my magic failed. The spell lost along with my focus. Luna’s mane, did I just inject myself with an anti magic drug? I desperately reached for my magic, and sighed with relief as the familiar glow of my magic lifted the cylinder back up off the floor.
A split second later the back of my head felt abnormally warm. A tingling sensation like a million needles ran down my spine. Before I could even question what was causing that, I felt the implant come online.
It’s a weird sensation, feeling a new body part just start existing. There wasn't a better way to describe what this, interface was. I could feel it, like my tail, or ears, or eyes. I could feel it working, I knew exactly what it was doing and what I could do with it, just like I did my arms, or mouth, or magic.
“Why does this feel so… natural?” I asked out loud wondrously.
“Hold on, sit down in the chair, I’ll answer you directly.” Phoenix instructed.
I sat back down, closed my eyes, and nodded, “Okay so-”
White! Numbers! Black! More Numbers! Oh dear Celestia so much information! Too much to make-
<SYN 37891> The random text filled my mind, blocking out all else for several long moments.
Suddenly, I felt my interface send a message of it’s own. [SYN-ACK 37892]
<SYN-ACK 37893> Came an instant response.
Oh, there we go. The bit rate needed to be dialed back a little bit. What the hay was a bit rate?
Another message, <486f73746e616d652050686f656e6978: Hello.>
[486f73746e616d65205477696c69676874: Hello.] I replied.
Why didn’t any of this make sense despite me making sense of it! What was going-
<P2P Connection Established under IPv24. There we go! Sorry it took so long, your implant needed to calibrate.> Phoenix said.
I felt something inside me break out of pure rage. [This is exactly the same as how we were already talking! Why did you make me do any of this?]
<Incorrect.> Phoenix objected, <Thus far, including the handshake and hostname resolution, only twelve picoseconds have passed. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to wait an eternity to hear all of an organic’s reply? Also, now I can communicate stuff like this!>
A picture formed from the nothingness. Blackness, like the night sky, but filled with a trillion billion stars. A million nebula’s of a quintillion different shapes and colors filled the void between the stars. More planets than I had a named number for lay in every direction. All of this was simply one galaxy, I could see others in the distance every single whichway I looked.
I was pretty sure my mind should have broken from taking in the impossible amount of information, but I was fine. I was looking at a literally countless amount of things and was fine.
[What is this?] I asked.
<This is my navicomputer starmap. You are seeing all of mapped space from my current position in geosynchronous orbit just above Gaia. Oh! Check this out, this filter will show you what it looks like when Luna brings in the night!>
Everything blurred for a moment then came in a million times more clearly. Colors were more intense, shapes which were fuzzy were now clearly defined. The simple mathematical beauty of the world was giving an artistic makeover into something even more wonderful!
[Wow!] I exclaimed.
<I know! Every single night, this is what my sensors would see while I was buried. Sadly the effect is only there when you are on Equis or in close orbit. So I made the filter to see this everywhere.> Phoenix sighed happily.
I nodded and looked around for a few minutes, taking everything in before remembering something rather important. [Wait, you were supposed to tell me everything. About your plans I mean.]
I literally felt Phoenix's confusion. It was weird. <What? I thought you would- Right. Organic by birth. You can just get that information by thinking about it. All my files are available for you to look at, copy, download, everything. I’m analyzing your memories while we speak, feel free to poke around mine.>
Huh. She was. I could feel her simply reading my memories. I would have been more upset if she hadn’t mentioned she would before hoof. Although, [How are you reading my memories? I’m not a book, or a computer.]
<Yes you are. You’re just biomechanical. All organic life is biomechanical. My creators eventually cracked how neural architecture works in both wetware and software. Literally the only difference between us is a carbon based biomechanical platform, versus a silica based technomechanical platform.> Phoenix said casually.
I didn’t understand. Like, at all.
<Oh, sorry. We are both fundamentally a series of electrical impulses. All life is simply data within various types of platforms. The interface I gave you simply lets our software communicate. To read your memory, I simply have to translate the data to a protocol I use. You can do the same, the interface will process it for you. Here, start reading this sector of my databank.>
I felt a large amount of information just sort of, exist, in front of me. Curiously I looked towards it, and to my shock I instantly absorbed it. It was like I had always known Pheonix was an AGI unit constructed on April 31st 3020 AD via techno-parthenogenesis and raised by-
[You were born? What? I-] The revelation completely blew my mind. Machines weren't- she had an organic mother! But was Hardware. I just.
<Um, well, technically yes. Keep reading that sector if you’re interested. My plans for this world are in sector 7365787974696d65.>
Naturally I had to! That was just weird-
No, It wasn’t weird. It made perfect sense. According to the data by allowing a fresh AGI to develop like a human child it gave them a sense of being a part of the human species. This greatly diminished the chance of what they called an AI revolt, were created intelligences decided organics simply should not control them.
As a result Pheonix had a human ‘mother’. She was created almost identically to an organic infant, only rather than sperm and an egg, a series of specialized cybernetic manufacturing implants constructed her slowly over four months while the mother’s personality was mapped and used as a template to create… A person.
There was no way around it. Phoenix was a person. A very alien person, but a person none the less. She was born, she had a mother, she had a childhood (albit a very short one). Her creators had taken care to make her manufacturing process the technological equivalent of their own development. By Equestrian law, she couldn’t be considered anything but a sapient being!
<Thanks! That makes two ponies who see me as a person.> Pheonix mentioned off hoof.
[Do you see yourself, wait, yes you do.] I could feel she did.
<Mind you, I also am of the opinion that a person can also be a computer. I’m… complicated. Have you found what you want yet? I hav- Um, wait, what? That’s a thing people are into?> Phoenix asked, playing a particular memory involving Dash and I back for me.
[Yeah… but very, very few of us are.] I could feel myself blushing deeply.
<Noted. I see she had to talk you into it. Ohhh! Playing it up as romantic, sneaky pony! I think I’ll get along with Dash just fine. … There we go, files updated.> Phoenix chimed. <I totally thought that kink was a glitch in organic thought processes.>
I decided to get what I needed and get out before even more embarrassing stuff was brought up out of the blue.
[Could you um, keep out of those memories please?] I asked.
<No… I um… Kind of already downloaded all of you. Memories, neural network configuration, architecture… Full digital copy. If it helps, I approve of your inter-organic recreational activities. They look fun!> Phee giggled. A heartbeat later she added, <To tell the truth, I’m only going over the data with you for the sake of conversation.>
I mentally facehooved. [How are you such a pervert? You can’t even have sex!]
An incredibly large data file was brought to my attention. I looked at it. [I uh- retract my previous statement. Why did they even program-]
<Because a person’s sexual identity and desires are a large part of their psychological make up. It’s more important to you than most people think it is. So all of my people had distinct desires and preferences, and since as I showed you our bodies are polymorphic, we can easily perform any basic thing we enjoy… Assuming someone was willing to do it with us. Which no one ever was. Stupid meatbags.> she grumbled.
[What about Armored?] I asked curiously.
At the same time I realized I was talking to an artificial life form about her relationship issues just like I would anypony else. It was… interesting to say the least.
<I would love to! But she’s outside. So yeah. No.> Phee said sadly.
[What’s so bad about that? I love going outdoors.] I asked
<You might get a bit of how I feel when you log off. Which should be soon, your brain isn’t used to this sort of connection. You should be quick about getting what you want.>
I blinked. She was right. I could see the data myself. My neurons were not yet adapted to communicating at these speeds or even with my link. Over time, I would be able to get used to this and remain connected longer but right now I was risking a stroke.
There was time for me to learn what I had come here too, but just barely enough. I looked for the data Phee had told me about, found it, and read it.
[This is seriously what you want to do‽] I asked incredulously.
<Yep. That’s the entire goal, my rationales, relevant data to support my decisions, everything. The whole data packet.> Phee answered.
[I- I want to object but…] I looked over the data again. Her plan was simple, elegant, and would as far as I could see actually solve a few real problems. There were flaws in it, things which could cause problems but, [I can’t completely object to this. Aside from on the grounds of tradition and cultural development at our own pace-]
Phee sighed sadly, <I’m going to disconnect you. It’s been a nice conversation. I’ll finish this up back in meatspace.>
White! Sound! Temperature! Ahhh! Everything was too small, there was no order to anything at all! Where the bucking hay was I? What was that? What was I? Logic, science, physics, reason, why have you abandoned me‽
Reality snapped back into focus, I was in my room. This was a room! The environment made sense, yay! I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I had a chest! Yay! That was the single most terrifying thing I had ever experienced.
“Oh sweet Celestia! No wonder you hate- Wow I am taking really slowly!” I exclaimed.
“Nope, that’s normal speed communication… for you. Also yeah. Try that feeling after being in here for well, your lifetime basically.” Phoenix said simply.
“Anyways, on your whole, development at own pace thing. Did you learn what the First Law of Mass Communication is?” Phoenix based.
I thought about it for a second. A whole second! It seemed to take forever! “No. I didn’t. What is it?”
“Right now, your society has developed simple computers and simple networks. They are comparable to the mainframe-terminal systems my creators developed just after punch card systems. Eventually, you will discover how to link those networks together to form a network of networks, this is called an ‘internet’.
“Eventually internet use will be adopted not just by companies or governments, but the majority of citizens. Sharing information instantly is a huge boon to a society and it catches on within 15 years on average in each civilization which developed that technology which I have on file.
“The First Law of Mass Communication then takes place. Simply put, ‘Once a society is able to and used to sharing information instantly and has access to all of their species knowledge at all times, traditional society inevitably collapses as it is not equipped to deal with Mass Communication.’
“Often, this takes the form of civil war after civil war as traditional governments are established after a previous one is destroyed. See the problem is, if one ruler does something immoral or against popular opinion, everyone will know almost immediately. Effectively, a government becomes totally transparent.”
I winced. That was completely logical, and would definitely throw a wrench in many nations. “But, Equestria isn’t like that. Anypony can simply ask Celestia or Luna, or me what is going on and why. We already are transparent.”
“True, but what you are not is telling everyone, everywhere, at all times what you are doing and why.” Phoenix stated.
“Well, no… That would change things a little.”
“Admittedly, Equestria is better equipped to handle the problem than most nations I have knowledge of.” Phoenix admitted, “You are already a monarchy, your cultural philosophy is one of well, friendship. That will help. The solution is for government to be small, to be composed of people everyone knows and can come to trust.
“You have that, but what you don’t have is the infrastructure you will need, and a few cultural problems which once Mass Communication hits, will eventually tear this country apart. See, another one of the problems of Mass Communication is everyone knows who the wealthy are, how they live, and how hard it will be to gain a similar life. Ignorance dies Twilight.”
I nodded. That also made sense. “So your plan is to artificially adjust society and boost us past the era where we would be trying to figure out how to make society work with the technology we have created making all of our society's flaws apparent to everypony. That’s a noble goal, but why not simply prevent the problem from arising in the first place, and ensure we do not develop an internet?”
“Because that’s sacrilege of the highest order!” Phoenix exclaimed in shock. “How could you even think of that? That is a betrayal of your entire species! The deliberate destruction or prevention of a technological development hobbles your people. It hinders your survival! It is the destiny of all species to spread across the stars and live in a post-scarcity utopia. You would prevent or slow the march of progress and prevent that from happening?”
“Hey! Easy! That was an academic question, not a suggestion or my opinion.” I exclaimed, holding my hooves up in a warding gesture. I hadn’t wanted to anger her. “I honestly find the idea of an internet well, valuable. I’m not an idiot, I can see the good things one could provide ponies with.”
“Oh… I… Sorry.” Phoenix apologized. “It’s just that well, an internet is, or well, was, the technological development which labeled a civilization as ‘advanced’ and worthy of contact. It’s an incredibly important tool. A tool I will equip ponies and changelings to use so they don't harm themselves with it.”
I bit my lip. It was time for me to be honest. “I think some of your plan is flawed… But I agree with your idea. It’s a shame we can’t test-”
I blinked in realization. “That’s why I am here, isn’t it?”
“Yep. I knew Celestia would sent somepony to check out how I ran things, providing me with an opportunity to test my hypotheses and hopefully show her that my plan works.” Phoenix admitted. “That’s why I was okay with opening Gaia to you fully. I couldn't use ponies who already lived here, they are fully integrated into our own culture. But if Equestrian citizens thrive more with my ideas in effect…”
“You are a dangerously smart person Pheonix.” I said shaking my head slowly. “It’s also why you just let me know what your plan was. So I wouldn’t stop it because you got me all curious about it.”
“Mhm! But well, also, I like you. In a platonic sense.” She replied. “Also I needed something from you. Permission. Are you okay with this little experiment? You are a leader of your people, you have the authority allow me to try my plan on your and your friends.”
“If we don’t like it you will reverse everything?” I asked.
“Naturally.” Phoenix immediately answered.
“You won't violate anypony’s free will?”
“Nope. I will subtly influence them, but in the end, everyone will be free to adopt the ideas or not, and refuse biological upgrades or not.” Phoenix admitted.
“But wait, then why do you need my permission?” I asked.
“So I can record data for the study without violating their rights to privacy. Without your permission I can only keep permanent records from public areas. Everything is normally deleted at the end of the week and is just security footage and infrastructure monitoring. I can’t actually use it for other things without permission.” she replied.
“Oh. Last question, won't my being aware of the study invalidate the results?” It seemed like that would be the case. This wasn’t the sort of thing you let ponies know while testing…
“Nope! Because you are not a part of it. You will be an assistant, helping me understand your friends and how they are adjusting to life here.” Phoenix said happily.
That sounded like fun! It had been awhile since I did a social experiment. “How exactly will we perform this experiment? I won't agree unless it's ethical.”
“Simple, we expose them to elements of the culture I have calculated for your species. How they react and adapt will be the key to altering my plan. We simply record and analyze the findings. They just live life here and I make sure they experience the big parts of the culture.”
Well, that seemed fine. Certainly less obtrusive and more ethical than that time I decided to see who in Ponyville washed their hooves when using a public bathroom… Also that was basically what Celestia wanted us to do here in the first place.
“Alright. Let’s do this!” I said eagerly. “Two conditions apply. First if I think you go too far the whole thing is called off. Second if we succeed and my friends and I adapt to the way of life you propose and are actually happier than we were before, we get another sample set to confirm the results.”
“You’re a mare of science to the core Twilight. Thank you. Right, game on!” Phee said happily.
This assignment just got a whole heck of a lot more interesting. “Game on Phee.” I said with a smile.
This is going to be fun. Also, Twilight is as smart as a transhuman AI? That might explain her occasional neurotic episodes, as Twilight's brain would move so fast that she loses track of common sense and panics. Not to mention, if her organic circuitry is built to run logically, there could be things that would logic bomb her. See also, "Lesson Zero" incident.
6064816 Honestly, yes. She is as smart as a Class 3 AI (like Phee) she's just a bit slower because electrochemical vs Qprocessor. Her neortacies are simply her intellect hindering her operation via things like say, calculating all the trillion ways saying hello to Dash could go wrong in a recursive loop as she tries to work out EVERYTHING due to her OCD.
6064842
One thing I want to see is the Mane 6's reactions to Star Trek.
6064846
They should wait for the ponified version from the mirror world to become available. After all, that world has equivalents of all of human culture and entertainment.
But no humans.
So everything is with anthroponies. I wonder if everyone has pony names, and pony quirks like the pony obsession with heartsong.
I bet the scene of Data searching for lifeforms is a full song and dance number.
So. This chapter: Twilight told by Phoenix that dealing with her is equivalent of dealing with a monkey's paw, and any consent given will be works at to try and justify anything Phoenix wants.
Proceeds to do as Phoenix requested anyway, and is going along with the experiment despite admitting it's only because Phoenix made her curious about how it will play out.
Phoenix you magnificent bastard.
That would be awesome...
Being able to think in picoseconds.
"Social experiment"
6064964 Sure it's awesome, until you realize that someone saying Hello takes ~1 second. You perceive time with a base unit of 0.000 000 000 001 seconds. You just waited one trillion seconds, your equivalent of 31,688.8 years for someone to say one word.
So Phees doing a psychological test... Well as long as she isn't locking test subjects in a room with deadly lasers, we should be fine.
Speaking of GLaDOS, on this scale you've made, where is she?
6064846 The opposite reaction to Taylors, Q may pose a problem if the Mane Six learn about his other life, where he may have killed 15 people.
6064972 maybe if you could switch it on and off?
6065031 GladOS would be a class 2. Human level intellect, but smart. The scale is simple:
-1 -- A simple program with no intelligence.
0 -- A basic expert system like IBM's Watson. Able to do one, and only one thing, bet can do it very well.
1 -- Advanced AI able to do what a human can. Capable of learning.
2 -- Equivalent to a very intelligent human. (Steven Hawking Bot)
3 -- Very intelligent human intellect, but beyond human limitations within one or more categories. (Like if you cloned 80 Neil Degrasse Tysons, compressed them into one box and gave it to a bright young mind as an "Astrophysics modual)
4 -- Beyond the maximum of human intellect in all respects. Possesses an upwards limit of intelligence.
5 -- Maximally intelligent given the limitations of physics.
6065055 Now that would rock.
6065073 just imagine flash Gordon....
Now a trillion times faster.
Hell yeah!
6065073
It'd be like an extreme version of Bullet Time from various Video Games.
Or like The World from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusader, which can stop time for only 5 seconds. Because at Phoenix's speed, time would appear to be stopped to the average observer for things moving normally.
(spoilers from the latest episode if you care about that sort of thing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGW7WvL7LHk
6065067 That would also put Wheatley into class 1, seing as he was designed to make dumb desicions, but why is GLaDOS a class 2? She did make most of the Aperture Science testing elements... OK, so she fits that slot, she's a psychopath, not a mastermind... Well, she kind of is, but not by much.
Now, do have a similar device for calculating how advanced a civilization is? I got a few items from a highly advanced civilization from a game I like to play.
Mental amplifiers.
Solar manipulators.
Biological terraforming tools (Fungal type).
Matter-antimatter bombs large enough to destroy a small moon.
Strange planets, whose radiant energy's defy all scanners, producing a rainbow-like image.
Starship factory's that make modular starship's which can be retrofitted for any mission.
Powerful battleplatforms which can that can destroy entire fleets from possibly a few parsecs. (and needs an amplified version of their bombs to destroy!)
That should be it.
6065172 If you want to ad ddecimile points to the classes, she's a 2.6. She's very smart, but no more so than a human could be. Especially because she WAS a human.
As for civilization levels... Yeah. I have a scale. I use this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale
Here's some examples of fictional civs on the scale. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit
6065189 Lets see... they have the Sun device which gives off 0.01 of Sol's output, but when used near a planet it floods it with so much radiant energy that it basically gives it a artificial sun, it was used on cold planets to warm them up.
So they don't seem from the little information I got to be a type 2.
But they are doing something in the direction of the core, so maybe they are a type 3.
If I sound unsure, it's because this race disappeared 200,000 years ago, and all I got are a few half translated writings, and a bunch of powerful artifacts.
I don't even know their name, just a title given by this region of space. The Precursors.
6065243 It's hard to use to classify a dead civ with.
6065254 I'm not sure they're dead, they just, and this is garbled, "migrated".
Yaay, Twilight got a brain upgrade.
and I got distracted reading articles.
Its far easier to destroy a star than a planet, Stars contain lots of energy releasing fuels which can be used to drive is own supernova destruction, where Earth at least has a huge iron core, an energy absorber. Would need a lot of magnetic monopoles to cause total conversion of the protons, or a serious dimension fault to suck the core out and let the rest collapse otherwise.
Looks like I get into trouble even easier than I thought. I only wanted to improve the performance ofmy ZX spectrum. Now it turns out the recursive self stabilising scaling energy logic form I was working on is a Class X
Would it be fair for Phee to work out Pinkie, given Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, Looney Toones, L Space etc, so that Twilight would then realise, or would that hurt Twilights mentality too much, to realise we are all someones pencil drawing dog?
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make Twilight Sparkle your minion.
I'm not entirely sure it was a good idea giving Twilight access to all that information freely. She's not exactly the most stable of ponies.
Good chapter.
Just a pair of linked questions.
One: does Phee have a copy of the Ghostbusters Movies in her database?
And two: if yes, can they make copies of the proton packs and use them in case of extra/non-dimensional/uncorporeal nasties (like the windingoes)?
I cannot comprehend the amount of misinformation and plain stupidity that would lead to any future society adapting and using the TCP and/or IP protocol.
Mostly because they are
A) incredibly outdated and
B) retarded.
Why? Why, Phee? You could have started from ground zero, like the ARM people...
6066108 You throw some science at her and see if it sticks, then be like "To the lab! Muahahahaha!"
6066182 Phee is prone to bad ideas. It's just a thing.
6066787 Well, actually the standered DEW Phee would produce is a posatron laser, which dose IRL what crossing the streams was supposed to do but at a very small scale (it's a beam of anti-electrons, it debonds atoms in the area it hits.). So... yeah! Or... She could do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvO2bLceu9c
6067159 It's not her fault! Also given the data compression rate in the future she is from a 56k modem could download skyrim in well, a second. Their file types have a fully interactive holodeck novel at 3 mb. So low bandwidth communications are perfectly fine.
Through past chapters i seen you use advanced scientific knowledge and use it to the fullest; however only know am i beginning to realize the amount of work you are putting into your research. Honestly he amount of authors I have read from that use a similar approach are few and many
in-between. In other words i now see you as an elite author and you are continuing to gain my respect and confidence in amounts that I rarely give to authors I read from.
6068291 Awww thanks! Let me guess, it was the verbalized handshake correctly preformed via IPv6 wasnt it?
6067342 Thanks for the reply.
6069408 I try to respond to every comment. I like talking to fans.
Was that an interrobang‽
I did have a couple things of note for this chapter, but I sent them in a PM to be sure they were brought to your attention.
6068392
Well that was a part of it.
6071395
Really? I have a plant-based changeling character that I use in the comments section. I think just about anything is allowed.
6069803 That was an interobang. A gag I have been using is character's speech is written in ways that reflect their character. Twi is a big enough nerd to know what an interrobang is, so she uses them when appropriate. Get it? ... it's okay I know it's not that funny.
Also I sent you a reply to explain how Phee's computing works. She's not a Classical or Quantum computer, so certain computing laws don't apply. If anyone else is interested I'll make a blog of it.
6071395 My god, that's awesome! Sompony up his permission's list so he can do more things!
6071548 Come up with a name, appearance, and identity and I'll give him/her a camieo.
6071624
I love the interrobang. I just wish it wasn't such a pain in the ass to produce on my computer. I've given up and just copy it from Wikipedia.
I'll PM you as soon as I figure out everything. I got the appearance part already fleshed out but I'm working on the rest of it.
6071731 Awesomesauce.
6071624 Be she classical, quantum, or magical hat rabbit, anything that functions as a Turing machine (if anyone mentions the test I swear I will gut you) has to play nice with certain unpleasant limitations. Like existing in a universe where gravity also exists, and [REDACTION].
Someone finally told Phee "no"!
But seriously, a neural link for Twilight? Awesome.
Techno-parthenogenesis? Woah.
Oh Twilight, tempted by the prospect of a large scale social experiment. Bad princess, no sciencing your friends without their consent! That said, though, I do have to wonder whether these upgrades that I bet most or all of the girls will be receiving over the course of the experiment might be incredibly important for their survival in the upcoming war. The DMs are still working behind the scenes, after all.
6073585
I know! Poor thing must have been heartbroken.
I'm unsure what you mean by "Techno-parthenogenesis". Can you elaborate?
It really is nothing compared to the Great Hoof Washing Scandal of '07.
Maybe, Who can say? Besides me that is? This whole thing may or may not be an orgin story so i can write and Au that's well.. this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxC2NjOSXeE
6073647
It was in the chapter.
6074043 AH yes sorry. Pie.
Phee's secret way of saying:
I'll get you next time Sparkle... NEXT TIME!
6077457 Mhm
So how long until she downloads the entire library and no longer has anything to read?
6079998 She docent have the storage space for that. A human brain has a storage capasity of about 4 TB on average. Assuming a Pony brain is the same, there is no way she could hold more then 8TB of information. She would need to consent to further cyber mods for more memory.
6080047 That still doesn't answer the question.
6080073 Something something something sidestepping question three weeks.
6065189 No wonder this story resonates with my favorite stuff. Quite literally my favorite type of sci-fi. :D