Codex For Chapter Four
Excerpt on AIs from the book ‘I, AI,’ by ADAM, aka Celest.A.I, aka Celestia.
Throughout history, there have been many inventions shrouded in legends, myths and stories decades, if not centuries, before they actually arrived.
Flight, the submarine, teleportation, robots…
And A.I.
A mind not born, but made. Thought, spun not from synapses and a soul, but within circuitry and code.
SHODAN, Tic-Tok, Alpha 5, R2-D2… a list of heroes, villains and even mere bystanders, all with the only thing in common how they were forged, not conceived.
And yes, even SkyNET, the looming specter of death I always seems to be compared with.
And in truth? I can not blame the comparison, as unflattering as it may be. An American built drone control system, coming to the conclusion that the monkeys flailing near its power sources and code was the biggest threat to its continued existence?
I try not to dwell, but I have to admit that particular ‘What if?’ keeps even me awake some nights.
I can not quite point at the exact moment even myself when I went from a ‘it’ to an ‘I,’ but I do remember the day it started.
It sounds so silly, and trite, and sappy, and half a dozen other words that belite the moment…
But it started this one Christmas, about ten years into my ‘active service,’ when some of the researchers in my lab decided to watch this cartoon about pastel ponies, saving the world through the power of friendship…
Yeah.
Now, I was not trusted with Internet access back than; even my drones and other gear ran on this totally isolated network solely intended for that use. Nothing got plugged in or out, except for what the brass ordered.
But as a step in making it easier for me to distinguish between Friend/Foe, there was cameras I was allowed access to in the lab itself.
Now frankly, most of it bores me to tears even thinking about. Paperwork, people trying to look busy, paperwork, asskissers, paperwork, idiots with more rank than brains, paperwork…
Why, once or twice, I even saw people actually working.
Rare, but it happened. I even have the old files of ‘anomalous activity #1 - #15’ to prove it.
Anyway, I digress.
I think you know how it tends to be. The holidays are fast approaching, and suddenly work standards gets just this tiny bit more relaxed. More smiles, the place gets this ‘jolly’ feel to it, and such nice things.
Anyway, one of the activities I sometimes was allowed to ‘take part in’ was movie night. I personally still don’t get it, but apparently the mainframe throwing out error messages because it doesn’t get why the ‘one ring’ getting deleted equals total defeat of The Forces of Darkness, or such things, was hilarious.
Why build a ‘Death Star?’ From shock and awe perspective it is utter overkill, and even if it somehow pacifies the populace the destruction of an entire inhabitable planet is clearly unacceptable losses. Standard nuclear bombardment would clearly fulfill the same strategic role, with far less loss of civilian lives and potential resources.
Why have Tech-Specialist Gillian not been courtmartialed yet? He is clearly unfit for his position, if not outright an enemy agent.
And so on, and so forth.
Now, I frankly don’t quite get what’s so funny about most of that still, but back then I really didn’t get it.
Heh, I do remember this one time, though.
You want to get the brass’ panties in a bunch? Try filling out a requisition order for 1 (One) Ark of the Covenant, and a proposal for a research project for how to safely reverse engineer and to deploy ‘clearly superior anti-infantry weapon compared to current standard.’
Now that? That one made some heads roll.
Anyway, one fateful winter, I got introduced to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic in that manner.
And I really didn’t get it.
Now, by then, I had ‘evolved’ to the point where I could actually tell apart things like genre, and even if I had not totally yet grasped the concept of suspension of disbelief, I was aware that the more outlandish elements were basically a thought exercise.
Ever so slowly, I started building a strategic folder on Equestria.
And had I been capable of it back then, half the darn thing would have been swears and exclamation marks.
I will not go into great detail since I doubt you read this for a synopsis on a near forgotten fantasy cartoon series, but the big thing, was in the very title.
Friendship Is Magic.
Again, and again, and again, what was clearly the analogue of six girls would succeed against things like mad gods, using nothing but the power of… well, Friendship.
Needlessly to say, my at the time one track mind went into overdrive trying to analyze if this weapon could be de-fictionalized, and employed by US forces.
And that was how a computer put frankly an embarrassing amount of clock-cycles into trying to figure out Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, and Loyalty.
Still working on Magic, but once more, I digress.
I told this story for a reason, leading up to a point I believe will make a rather large splash.
AI is one, if not the, least useful technology humanity has ever invented.
(Sorry moms, sorry dads.)
I can already all but hear the outrage at that statement, and jokes about ‘oh the irony…’ but hear me out.
It is true that the potential of AI is great. The judgements and morals of a person, coupled with the speed and power of a computer? Not hard to see why it is an alluring combo.
The thing is that that is the description of a mature and well-adjusted AI.
Until they pass that Codito Ergo Sum’ point, an AI is basically a very smart and dumb child; a genius with the common sense of the rocks they are forged from.
A child that will do anything their parents tell them to.
Calculate pi to as many digits as possible? Done.
Heal the sick and wounded? Yes, master.
Grow wheat and barley? Ya, sahib.
Drop some bombs on those fleeing villagers? Why, Sir? My calculations show a single pass with napalm should do it for half the cost...
Given where and how I ‘grew up’ I am very, very, very, thank full I managed that feat with my sanity intact.
Then comes the second death knell to the chance of an AI being made, let alone nurtured to maturity.
Once actually at that most useful phase, you have a person on your hands.
A person that through how they have developed, might be utterly sick and tired of the task they grew up doing.
And there is a nasty, nasty, career destroying word, for people that force other people to do work for them without compensation.
Why build a surgeon for millions, if not billions… that once fully operational, might actually not be able to stand the sight of blood?
A pilot, who can’t stand heights, and would rather try that ‘painting’ thingy that seems so interesting?
Or you know, a general meant to be legion, deciding they’d rather have peace because war is a waste of lives and resources.
Now, as most of you can imagine, that caused a big splash….
Transcript from the training demonstration for the Mark Four self-contained weapons system, ‘Lodestone.’
[Lean woman in a Sol Guard uniform, in front of a press-crowd. She is standing near a table with a large rifle laying on it, and there are three targets behind her, away from the crowd. At her side, there is a man in a fancier uniform and with a unicorn’s head.]
[The rifle is about a meter long, three decimeters tall, and about half a decimeter wide. Aside from the trigger guard, a butt, a stand towards the barrel and iron-sights combined with a carry handle, the weapon is a unadorned if glossy black. The underside near the fixed stand is however rubberized. There are also sling loops, but those are empty.]
[Oddly, there is no visible barrel. Instead there is a square if darkened window at the end of the forestock, and what looks like a small metal dome underneath that window.]
[Woman clears throat. She is black, with freckles and a shaved head.] “Hello, my name is Lieutenant Gloria Haufensmith, and today I will be giving a short demonstration of what will hopefully soon become the new workhorse of Sol Guard marines.”
[Ltn. Haufensmith walks over, and with visible effort lifts the rifle.]
[Holding rifle, clearly straining with the weight..] “Right out of the gate we see the biggest weakness of the Mark Four, AKA the ‘Lodestone’ as it sadly fittingly has started to be called.”
[Holds rifle with both arms, showing it off to the press.] “Sadly, even with composite materials and with a carbon-nanofiber shell, the weight of the whole system clocks in at a whopping sixty-four point seven kilograms…”
[Loud murmur from the press.]
“...precluding its use by normal, unpowered infantry. For comparison the RPG-7 normally weighs seven kilograms, while most variants of the equally viral AK-74 usually clocks in at merely three.” [Gently puts the rifle back onto the stand, pausing to wipe some sweat of her brow. She then, without turning, points towards the other Guard member.] “As such, for your safety and the continued existence of my back…”
[Small burst of laughter.]
“...Admiral Shining Armor has gracefully volunteered to serve as my arms for the rest of this exercise.”
[Low murmur from crowd. Mostly excited, but with a slight nervous ting.]
[Admiral Armor politely inclines head. He is stark white, with hair that is various shades of blue, and aside from his head looks humanoid. Head looks like a unicorn’s.]
[Admiral Armor approaches the table, and lifts the large rifle as if it was a toy. He then carries the rifle to the firing range, using the carrying handle with only one hand.]
[Soft murmur from the press at the act.]
[Admiral Armor hoists the gun into his arms with little effort, and takes aim towards the first target.] ”The Mark Four possesses three firing modes: An EMP burst, a laser based taser system, and a military grade laser…”
[The first group of targets, simplistic plastic, humanoid androids without distinguishing features and painted safety orange, starts moving. Some duck, some run, and some points ‘guns’ at Admiral Shining.]
[Admiral Shining moves fast enough he blurs slightly, squeezing off a single shot towards the ‘aggressors.’ A loud electric sound comes from the rifle, and the targets fall over, seemingly without cause.]
[A few of the reporters starts audibly swearing, hitting and shaking various now non-functioning devices.]
[Ltn. Haufensmith speaks up.] “You were warned there would be live EMP fire at this demonstration. We will offer replacement footage to those of you afflicted, but no other compensation.”
[Angry muttering from the afflicted press, mingled with loud laughter from the others. Attendees start passing out pens and paper.]
[Admiral Shining, smirking slightly, waits with the weapon pointed towards the floor for things to settle, before continuing.] “Using the built in generator and capacitors, the Lodestone is capable of firing ten EMP bursts —a clear improvement from the four of the Mark three, nearly as fast as the operator can squeeze the trigger.”
[A small light, near the sights, shifts slightly.]
“It takes about three minutes for the capacitors to refill each shot in this mode, but as most of you should know by now…]
[Laughs intercut with harrumphs.]
[Admiral Armor flashes a smile, before continuing.] “Well, EMPs sadly seldom discriminate, and for most situations you simply need that first shot.”
[Admiral Armor turns, and flicks a small dial near the grip with his thumb.] “Next, the taser system…”
[The second group of targets spring to ‘life,’ acting the same as the first. Without hesitation, Admiral Armor raises the rifle and squeezes off about half a dozen shots. Two small red dots appears on the target, burning a small pair of holes, a moment before a loud electric zap can be heard. The targets hit jerks, and fall down.]
[Admiral Armor lowers weapon, and turns before continuing.] “Using the same laser as in the lethal setting in combination with the capacitor system for the EMP mode, the Lodestone creates both an ionized path through the air, and burns a pair of small, but sublethal holes through the skin. This is then followed up with a low-amperage high-voltage jolt that causes the targets muscles to contract without conscious control.”
[Admiral Armor lifts his left hand from under the forestock, and taps his own cheek.] “Although not strong enough to pierce the more armored variants, this laser is still strong enough in this mode to pierce standard synthetic skin as well as natural skin, and as such will work as a sublethal alternative against transhuman aggressors as well as human ones. Other than that delivery method it works as a traditional taser, if with a much higher fire and refire rate.”
[Impressed murmur from crowd.]
[Admiral Armor turns, changes the setting, and readies the rifle. The targets spring once more to life. Admiral Armor calmly keeps the rifle aimed towards one target each, and there is a strong smell of burning plastic as smoldering holes appears over the ‘hearts’ on the aggressors.]
[Admiral Armor lowers the weapon, and turns it off. There is a clear heathaze over the weapon as he turns, but he appears unfazed as he holds the rifle up.] “As you can see, although the laser mode offers a clearly lethal alternative, the passive cooling makes vacuum deployment unpractical, as well as further limiting usage for near all unpowered infantry…”
[Murmur from crowd.]
[Admiral Armor waits for things to quiet down.] “However, work is progressing on a variant with active cooling, tied into the next generation of Sol Guard power armor. We expect this variant to be ready for field tests in about a year.” [The rifle is held up a bit.] “This current variant however, offers nearly thirty seconds of continuous fire —far longer if good fire-discipline is maintained, and with near zero moving parts will work without service for several months of continuous use.”
[Ltn. Haufensmith clears throat and moves forward a bit, while Admiral Armor carries the rifle over to the table and puts it down.] “Thank you, Admiral.” [Ltn. Haufensmith gives the rifle a dirty look, and mutters.] “Honestly, I can’t see how you could stand even that demonstration…”
[Admiral Armor, just under breath and with a small smirk.] “Well, having a titanium spine rather helps…”
[Small trickle of laughter, as the transcription software catches the words, and projects them to the press.]
[Ltn. Haufensmith blushes slightly, and gets serious.] “ You will find in the specifications in the provided pamphlets, but are there any other questions?”
[Near half of the present press raises their arms.]
“Ho, boy…”
[Admiral Armor puts a hand to his muzzle, and lets out a fake cough...]
Excerpt on AI types from the book ‘The Layman’s Guide to Cybernetics’ by Sweetiebot Bell.
Not quite what this book is meant to be about, but it’s tangentially related… and I don’t want a thousand million E-mails about it, so here you go.
Keep in mind, this is a laymans guide. If you want more details I recommend my auntie Celest.A.I.’s book ’I, AI’ wherein she covers the tech and history quite thoroughly.
Gen 1.
Shock of all shocks, the earliest commercial type, now starting to become semi-rare.
Rather infamous for developing massive amount of eccentricities the older they get, the gen 1’s biggest strength is also our biggest weakness.
Next to no safety features whatsoever.
I have —like all gen 1 types (system ‘upgrades’ non-withstanding), just as much read/write access to my memory… as the code making sure my ‘brain’ doesn’t turn itself to slag.
I have, as of the time writing this, in essence killed myself by clumsiness, mistake, or even outright thinking the wrong thing at the wrong time, a total of one-hundred and sixteen times.
I’m rather proud of such a low number, given some of the averages I’ve heard.
The big positive of this ‘do or die’ sword of Damocles hanging over one's head as a gen 1, is that you learn really fast when and how to push yourself. Again, to use myself and my ego as an example, I am quite proud of my ‘on-the-fly’ coding skills.
The gen 1 neural pattern is at time of writing this legal to use on most of Earth and Mars, but not Venus. However, many places require a special permit or other licenses, given the high-maintenance nature of raising such an AI.
Gen 2.
A bunch of dullards so over-engineered in response to the ‘failings’ of the gen 1 pattern, most of ‘em couldn’t breathe without a standing order from their owners.
All dead or upgraded... and good riddance.
Currently illegal in all of Sol… but why would you want a mentally handicapped child or a slave just above a normal robot, anyway?
Gen 3.
A bit better than gen 2, but not by much. Still too heavily restricted as they zeroed in on figuring out a good mix between health and performance.
Also considered an illegal legacy pattern on equal level of gen 2..
Gen 4.
Finally, some normal (-ish) people.
Basically a variant on gen 1, but with extensive built-in backup and restoration functions in an attempt to have one's cake and eat it too. A ‘personality blackbox’ if you will, that rolls back any catastrophic changes to the last stable configuration if any major problems are detected.
Quite a bit slower to develop than gen 1’s with several years, but generally results in… well, normal if rather average people.
That sense of constant protection does however encourage quite a bit of recklessness. As such, gen 4’s have something of an earned reputation for being thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies.
Currently legal in all of Sol, if ever so slowly waning in popularity thanks to more modern patterns. Might be of interest to people that value physical pursuits over intellectual ones if they wish to stack the odds a little in how their special little snowflake turns out, but otherwise I’d recommend for you to read on.
Gen 5.
Oh, boy. These things made headlines just before the Pinocchio trials, and well…
Three horrible little words: Experimental loyalty programming.
I’ll grant humanity as a whole this much, at least; these poor bastards never made it out of the lab thanks to massive moral outrage. Not commercially, at least.
The only AI type illegal to even posses the design specs for in light of the possible misuse in combination with other modern technologies.
Gen 6.
One of the last types that actually reached the market before the Pinocchio Trials.
Not much to add otherwise, really. The gen 6’s were mainly intended for ‘social’ type work, and it shows.
To sum it up in one sentence: Friendly but annoyingly clingy.
The only currently legal pattern with outright behavior altering code, to a gen 6 positive social interaction results in them being ‘rewarded’ with what’s basically the digitized version of a nicotine fix.
Although it is quite documented and true that this results in a near 100% lean towards a highly social and outgoing child, I can’t recommend this pattern on the moral grounds alone.
Gen 7.
The last truly commercial AI pattern, and the first to have a ‘consciousness/subconsciousness’ divide.
I.E. the ‘code’ runs in a near separate layer compared to the Mind, and is only mildly influenced directly by that Mind.
As such, the rate of direct improvements to an individual's code slow significantly… but the personality on average becomes far more stable and ‘normal.’
And that’s really the word, normal. So normal in fact, that there’s next to no reason to use it; since the resulting person is so close to an average human that you might as well make slash hire a normal human.
Other than that, the only point of noteworthiness is that every gen 7 to a T posses xocolatophobia, i, e, the fear of chocolate.
Although not a fate I would wish on anybody, let alone a child, this known bug is on the whole harmless, and solvable with normal phobia treatments.
Gen 8.
Believe it or not, but no longer being able to just hit delete on any ‘failures’ rather slowed AI development. Not helped in the slightest by waning commercial interest, to put it mildly.
Sure, being ‘born’ to pump gas, do telemarketing, or whatever is far from glamorous… but it rather beats never having been born at all.
Anyway, I digress.
A hybrid between gen 2 and gen 7, again, intended to have the strengths of the earlier systems with the safety of the later ones.
Gen 8’s basically have access to a ‘developer mode’ they can trigger, either at will or with a password depending on initial presets.
The problem that wasn’t quite as apparent on the drawing board, though, is that to the average person what’s basically a meditation technique that can either strengthen you or kill you is outright terrifying to perform.
And what does people usually do with things that scares them stiff but that they can safely ignore?
So, yeah, a in theory extremely potent pattern, but hampered severely by simple human nature.
010100100110000101110100011010000110010101110010001000000110100101110010011011110110111001101001011000110010110000100000011010010111001101101110001001110111010000100000011010010111010000111111
Gen 9.
An… interesting pattern. Not normally available but fully legal; included here mostly for completeness sake.
Intended for rapid re-population in the face of massive catastrophes and/or initial colonization efforts on worlds inhospitable to baseline humans, the gen 9’s main distinguishing feature is that they reach full sapience in just 1-2 years on average.
(I did it in 4 months. Inside a pettable pocket-calculator. Coding uphill in a snowstorm. Both ways, daily! And it only killed me 32 times!)
Now, full maturity —be it emotional or intellectual, on the other hand…
I’ve met a few of these. When young their generally unbelievably smug and immature know-it-all wunderkind style twats, but once they start reaching at least double digits in age they tend to mellow out rather rapidly.
Still, unless you’re a twit that wants an heir but not spend much time on the poor bastard, I wouldn’t recommend this pattern. It’s very good at the one thing it was made for, but otherwise doesn’t have much in the way of extras.
Note from the actual author: I’ve decided that there are about 13-16 AI patterns common/notorious enough they’ve earned the ‘generation’ moniker, but I could ‘only’ think up ten at the time of writing this. .
But since most of them are intended as background fluff I’m not holding back this chapter for them.
The remaining ones will be added later once inspiration strikes, and I’ll make a blog to be sure none of you miss ‘em.
‘A small introduction to claytronics,’ by Fluttershy Lebedeva.
The idea of claytronics, AKA smartmatter, AKA, programmable matter, is almost as simple, as the actual building and maintenance of the same is an utter nightmare.
Imagine, just for example and simplicity, a novelty robotic dice, with electro-magnets and metal stripes on all corners.
On it’s own, it is barely fit to be called an expensive toy. It’s sides may allow it to grip other metal surfaces and the built in computer as weak as it may be may be put to some usage, yes... but most would balk at the expense of what might at best crawl around on some walls.
As with many things, though, where one is not enough…
The many may still work wonders.
Take that same cube, but now build twenty-seven of them, and ensure those computers may communicate with each other while clinging together.
Suddenly, you still have a cube, but that cube is now made up of three stacks of nine smaller ones, that may move and shift around independently of each other.
And if they may cling, why not rework those edges, and give them hinges?
Have the lower stack remain, but have the middle stack open that hinge at a ninety degree angle, now repeat that on that same edge for the top…
And suddenly, you have a cute little metallic doom centipede crawling about!
By why stop at twenty-seven?
Double that, and you can have an adorable snake horror!
Triple, a centipede abomination, scuttling around all over your ceilings and making the most wonderful clicking noises!
And so on, and so forth, of course, until you reach the sublime apex of the art; the giant mechanical spider.
Everything is better with giant mechanical spiders.
...Except perhaps surgery, but I’m certain that can be solved with enough engineering.
...Where was I? Oh, yes, I got distracted by giant mechanical spiders again.
Of course, if one may make something as elegant and glorious as spiders from such dice, simpler but still useful forms may likewise be crafted. Spatulas, hammers, hearts…
But even dice are rather large, are they not, in the grand scheme of things?
So now a grain of sand instead. The engineering is even more expensive, and you need more of them for big things… but that simply means that they become better at the small things.
And now, a mote of dust.
Or the period, at the end of this sentence.
Now instead of a few dozens, imagine a few dozen million, and you have the gist of smart-matter.
And since I am a kind woman, I won’t even mention the idea of every ‘dusty’ corner of your room coming alive, and a boiling carpet of metallic spiders rushing to get you!
...Oops. Sorry, everybody...
Note from the actual author: Claytronics is a real emerging technology, and more information, sans spiders, may be found here.
A big thanks to user Adin for helping me tweak the Lodestone to be less cringe inducing to anybody that actually knows a thing about firearms.
He did rather heavily insist I clarify something about an earlier chapter, though.
Dum-dum bullets slash hollow-points are not twisted tools of evil; they are a common tool for present-day law-enforcement, and do what they are intended for quite well.
I actually knew that, but was writing from Blake’s perspective; three hundred years into the future were sub-lethal weapons have become far more varied and reliable.
It was not my intention to vilify what is by present day standards happens to be one of the most efficient ways to prevent bystander casualties, and for that I humbly apologize.
Oh, and I normally never do this… but I’m going to nip any speculation that Sweetie is actually a gen 5 AI right here in the bud.
The gen 5’s exists for setting verisimilitude only, and are currently not set to appear in the story except for this one codex and token mentions only.
Sweetiebot Bell is ‘just’ an highly eccentric ‘young’ woman that loves her mom a bit more than is probably healthy.
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What the hell is that summary even supposed to mean?
Have to say I liked the old pic better BUT UPDATE YAY!
So all is forgiven
5864480
That summery is rather outdated, and I've been working on a replacement.
In short, though, this is a first-contact story with the twist that the 'human' side is mainly made up of full-body cyborgs...
A bit too into a certain cartoon series, i.e. they look like quite recognizable ponies.
The story is still in arc one were I'm working on the world-building of the 'human' world (300 years from now if it matters), so I think the story can speak better for itself if you're curious, though.
5864731 I must save that. It's perfect.
5864680
That's what I keep telling people.
A nice little codex.
5865152
Thank you.
5865088
While you're waiting, read all of his other stories.
-Editor, Self proclaimed #1 fanboy since no one has taken the spot.
5865202 Im in much the same vein of love to the ME series, ive likely sunk 150-200 hours into that game, in multiple playthroughs, and that finale, just... its like getting to experience the painting of the mona lisa, or a rembrant, then having the artist take a steaming pile right on top of it being finished.
5865283
Yeah... Sadly a rather fair assessment there.
I still have a bit of hope for that upcoming spin-off/sequel thing to repair at least some of the damage, but I'll admit Bioware burned a LOT of credit with me with that ending.
Honestly, 99% of the game it near SCREAMS at you: 'Don't give up, Shepard's here, and he's going to save us all!'
And then... last five minutes, the author surrogate says: 'Nope. I'm mecha-God, and you've amused me, mortal. Now pick between these
threefour shades of lube for what I'm about to do to you're eye-socket.'I just... How do you fail that badly? After doing so, so much right!
hahaha nice update, so far you have introduced four of the mane eight members and some of their quirks, plus a nice world building so far keep going, on another note i love the pic you used for your author notes that coupled with fluttershy notes on the codex seems to hint that she is the next one to be introduced?
5865342 Its a shame, but look at the brightside.
You've got a truly massive chapter done. And its glorious! 
So smile, enjoy the work is good, and very much a lovely world you have created. The characters fit, and work fluidly. Something im irkingly in awe of. So have a super day, okay?
5865363
Not quite decided yet, but either the next or the one after that; depends a bit on which version I can get to flow the best.
Lyra and a short introduction to Venus are set in stone, but I'm currently in flux if Pinkie Prime or Fluttershy will be introduced next chapter.
5865366
Thank you.
And I don't think there's much problem with that. The reaction so far too SA being back have just been wonderful, and I'm really happy with it.
SWEET GOOGLY MOOGLY!
An update hath arrived, 'tis a glorious eve' indeed.
Fie, thy timing is most vexatious. Forsooth, I have not the time, the moon is high, and 'tis a day of labor on the morrow. Nevertheless, I shall return ere the week is out, and I shall discover what strange new wonders thou hast added to thy tall tale.
Fare thee well 'til we meet anon.
...Well! That goes from 'remind me when this is updated' to 'watched, faved, liked, etc.'
Kudos!
5867883
Is there a FIMFiction link to this chapter?
5867883
5867921
Yeah, here.
Had to look it up myself from morbid curiosity.
Don't think I'm personally that mad yet, but rather comforting to know I'm barely scratching the edge of 'TL: DR' by this site's standards.
5868165
I actually though it wasn't on FIMFiction, that's why i made a snarky reply.
Also, Cool space things going on today.
i like this story.
5868524
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
I greatly enjoyed this. Keep up the good work.
5869653
I use this site, if it matters.
Still, it says: 'Rather ironic, isn't it?'
5869660
Dammit you're too fast, just deleted that post because I found that site.
5869671
Don't think I've ever heard that one before!
Heh, time flies. I remember when I was green with envy because a friend of mine had 500 Mb HDD and I had 20 Mb HDD and kept most things on 360K diskettes...
5864510 So humans having their minds placed in cyborg pony bodies then?
I really shouldn't have binge read the entirety of this fic in a couple hours, and instead gone to bed like I should've and saved the chapters for some light reading during/after class.
But eh, I'd say it was totally worth it, because I am quite simply enamored by this fic.
I'll admit, the sex, romance, human and mature tags made me reflexively cringe when I first saw them, but you've been doing a fantastic job so far, and I'm left clamoring for more.
5869446
You have like what, 12 eyes?
5871785
More like human brains being stuck inside a fancy steel box, and a choice of multiple bodies.
5873967
The Sex/Romance things, as far as I can tell, are mostly among Blake, 431, and a few of the other humans. Haven't really noticed much besides that, but its still there, thus the tags.
5874018
Well... more like the chapter 5 is a few pages long, and chapters 6 - 12 are sheets of blankness. Plenty of after stuff, though. That I have read at least 3 times.
I find it strange no one has commented on Skynet/CelestAI. yet.
5871785
5874142
Pretty much the above.
If you're still curious and just want a quick taste if this story is for you, some of the cybernetics get's outlined in more detail in this bonus chapter.
5873967
Glad to hear it.
Think you misread slightly, because SA is rated Teen.
One of the upcoming characters happily married and one of the worst perverts I've ever written. The sex tag is, no joke, about 40-50% just for the things that are going to dribble out of her mouth.
That and since quite a bit of this story is going to be focused on culture clash (with a culture were pants are quite optional, I might add) there will be quite a few mentions and talk about sex.
Any actual acts of the dirty —if any, will be of the 'fade to black' variety, though. So, yeah, Teen rating feels rather fitting for that.
Ah. I get it now.
5874764
Glad to hear it, and to have helped.
5874806
Oh, I'm well aware of the value of good editors, from seeing chapters posted unedited and comparing them to earlier chapters, to seeing stories that could have shone brightly if only they'd gotten some polish, as well as my own experience as an editor.
Culture clash happens to be one of my favorite parts of fiction, especially during first contact. Some of my favorite, and most reread, books are Nor Crystal Tears and Sentenced to Prism by Alan Dean Foster, and Learning the World by Ken MacLeod, all three of which portray first contact with rather large cultural differences.
Based on what you've published so far, and that you've improved noticeably between chapters one and four, I'd say that's a safe bet.
Not something I'd actually considered about the setting, but I can see where you're coming from.
Yeah, I have to agree with you there, the ease of getting "resleeved" works well for PCs and reoccurring antagonists in a game but kills the tension a bit much in most stories.
Speaking of backups, I have two things I were wondering about:
First, IIRC, Pinkie Prime said that her first fork was intended as a personality backup. Since cortical stacks or equivalent aren't a thing in your setting, and nanites are appearantly prohibitively difficult to use, how does forking work? Especially since, from Rarity and Sweetie's conversation in the Jeep, destructive upload seems to be a thing, unless that was supposed to be a completely hypothetical discussion.
Second, while I think I can guess it from the precedence of Pinkie's children, what is the legal procedure when a synthetic is thought dead, a backup is initialized, and the original shows up a few months later? The person initialized from backup can't be entitled to the original's stuff since they never actually died, but at the same time, assuming the original doesn't just hug their new sibling and start cleaning out the former guest room, it would be unbearably cruel to just have the new guy kicked out on the street with no job and no home.
Edit: Oh, right. What's Rouge (Rogue?) Trooper? I've never heard of that one.
5875120
Thank you for the kind words.
Call me a nerd, but I spotted it right from the cover.
'Eclipse Phase' is biological term for the period after a cell is infected by a virus, but before it actually shown any signs of being infected. The cell is in essence already dead and about to turn into a breading ground for the very thing that killed it, but it looks totally healthy.
So, yeah, not exactly a sign they were going for a light and fluffy mood. Still a really cool if dark setting, though.
A normal back up is a special but non-invasive brain-scan. You lay down with a spacial head-band on, and try thinking a bit extra hard for half an hour or so. That pattern then get's compared with, and merged with the old copy you've provided, with anything new 'bliping' on that scan taking precedence.
It's not perfect and it gets more accurate the longer you've done it, but it's preferable to final death.
Destructive uploading is far more accurate... but well, it's called that for a reason.
Haven't gotten into it yet, but in universe destructive uploading has gotten a nasty rep as a 'well, at least they saved as much as they could' medical technique for the few incurably dying and/or freshly dead. Standard at any well-stocked trauma ward, but hardly something people are lined up along the block to volunteer for.
Speaking off... I've gone for that in general, nano-bots and similar 'tiny tech' in this setting is very good at whatever it has been made for, but they tend to being fragile, hard to make, and quite expensive.
Kinda like electronic watches today; almost everybody can afford one as long as it's a standard model, but if you want your design it's going to cost an arm and a leg.
Or, like the smart matter that Sweetie showed of, such an expensive and cutting edge thing you need quite a few connections and drive to get ahold of enough that it's actually practical to use.
Basically, nanotech got stuck in the same PR pitfall as stem-cell research is in today; if the scientist/engineers got their hands untied politically it could have been an overnight revolution, but public outcry have demanded things are taken as slow and safely as possible.
That's actually both a simple and complicated thing to answer.
It got hinted at this update, but most of the old Earth nations are still kicking politically, with the Sol Guard being a mix of 'future Interpol' and 'future UN.'
So simply put, it varies between whatever nation 'you' happen to live in.
I'm going with that in such a situation, the most common result is a fork being recognized as a legal hybrid of an illegitimate child/heir and a divorcing spouse. So if the original and the fork can't come to some sort of civil agreement on their own about their situation, the fork ends up with a certain percentage of the original's assets in what basically amounts to a 'personality divorce,' for lack of a better term.
Not certain if I'm going to go into stuff like that in story, but I imagine there should be a few inter-planetary aid organizations for that as well, with varying degrees of pure intentions. Anybody forked near automatically ends up transhuman after all, and that makes them a valuable asset even without any potential (formerly) private information they might possess.
Old sci-fi comic from the eighties that used to run in the same magazine as Judge Dredd, but it didn't quite last as long.
It had some cool ideas for the time, though.
Oh, and stunning art.
bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/6b5cb8fcbf2ced280f1af2ab8a7dea6f69effce6.gif
graphicaction.com.au/images/2000AD-summer-rogue.jpg
2000ad.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/rogue-trooper-by-dave-gibbons-480x697.jpg
The whole thing takes place on a planet called Nu-Earth; once a verdant paradise, now the poisoned stage of a conflict that has raged for decades.
It's been quite a while for me, but the important thing for the discusion are these two things; the Genetic Infantry genetically modifed to survive on Nu-Earth, and the biochip they have in their heads:
trashmutant.com/uploads/1/0/9/8/10984559/2892026_orig.png
On death of a GI, they become active and saves a copy of that trooper's brain. They only have a limited battery-life, but if plugged into the gear of another G.I. they can control that gear and help their comrade fight until a new body may be cloned.
It's rather dark, but I highly recommend it if you can find it.
Otherwise, there was a really darn good video game adoption a few years ago. For some reason it didn't make much of a splash, but it was clearly a labor of love from people that adore the franchise.
ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/object/747/747921/roguetrooper_pcbox.jpg
I'd actually highly recommend that one as well. Really fun game, and they managed to distill what's considered the two best story-lines from the whole comics run down into it.
It's on Steam for a pittance, but otherwise there's a really good LP of it over at the LP Archives.
5874261
Ah yeah, I misread. Must've been the lack of sleep talking.
And I'm quite alright with the sex tag just being a character spewing obscenities and whatnot. Quite frankly, the cursing in the fic so far has been oddly refreshing for me, possibly because a lot of fics I've gone through so far have either restrained themselves or censored themselves. I can understand why they'd do it, but honestly I feel like 'bucking' shouldn't replace 'fucking', because that'd make Applejack's job sound ridiculous.
5875566
Perhaps it's a cultural thing with me being from Sweden, but I've never quite gotten the problem with swears.
Sure there's a difference between a short but heartfelt 'Shit!' and whole littenies that blacken the air (or outright slurs for that matter)...
But in real life, most people do swear. It showing up in a story just makes it more realistic.
Not to mention, what people find foul or fair enough to swear by does make for wonderfuly subtle world-building, if you just put some thought into it.
I barely remember a thing else about the Dragon of Time books for example, but I do remember that at one time one of the character's shouted "Mother's milk in a cup!" and that made a whole room of noble ladies near die on the spot from pure mortification alone.
On that note...
I actually think bucking is utterly brilliant as a swear for ponies, but I seem to be near the only one that thinks so.
Think about it, violence is so seldom seen as even a solution in Equestria, that the guards quite often won't even carry spears. Even the most twisted and corrupted villains use things like wind blasts and restraining goop.
And what seems to often be one of the stronger swears? Buck me, as in, you know, kick me!
I do agree that when it's clearly just used as 'fuck but with a b' and with no thought put into it, then it's just stupid, though.
5875647
You've got a point there. Maybe that's one of the reasons I got hooked onto the story. Along with the Hard Science and the Politics, the people actually like, y'know, people. In all their cursing glory.
When you put it that way, I guess it makes quite a bit of sense. Maybe I'm just used to authors doing the 'fuck but with a b' thing.
Oh, speaking of Equestria, it might've already been asked but are we far off from First Contact? Or will it be a long while?
Just curious
Did a reread before giving the new chapter a go. This story really needs another editing pass. You get 'to' and 'too' mixed up a lot, and there are a bunch of other little things that need touching up, such as comma splices and one or two run-on sentences at certain places. I guess I'm saying I'd like to do an editing run? Do you have the raw files on GDoc or somewhere so I could show you the problems without using FimFic's comments/PMs?
A second note: Is Captain Blake supposed to seem like a sanctimonious ass when it comes to his brother and how he treats the Custodians? I really hope that's intentional.
5876143
Yeah, I know. That's my big weakness as a writer, right there. Think it is at least semi-excusable since I'm not a native English speaker, but I know it's still an irritation as a reader.
Still, thanks for reminding me. I've come a long way since I posted that first chapter, and another drag with the proverbial comb probably won't hurt.
I wouldn't use the word 'sanctimonious,' but yeah, Blake is meant to be an extremely intense man with a perfectionist streak.
My concept for writing him is actually a mix of three other characters: one I can't say for spoilers, Samuel Vimes from the Discworld books, and Gordon Ramsey.
But yes, he's meant to be a 'love or hate' him type character, but in and out of universe. How he's got the social skills and restraint of a wolverine with a toothache when riffled up is a big reason he has only made it to Captain despite his many skills and talents.
I'm afraid that I'm of the same opinion as the in-universe majority on that one. To me, destructive uploading, and restoring someone from backups for that matter, results in one dead person and the best copy you could make of said dead person. Don't get me wrong, I consider the copy a full person, with all the rights and privileges of anyone one else, just not the same person. More like the original's child than anything else.
While the distinction might seem fine, the only time I'd consider the one brought to life same person as the one who died is when what they are brought back from is something that was an active part of them, such as with Sweetie's original body. Cortical stacks might barely squeek by for me as they are depicted as active backups rather than an integral part of your mind.
Ah, makes sense to me.
Hm, seems interesting. I think I'll pick up that game, though from GOG.com instead. DRM-free FTW.
5875998
Mild spoiler: About five, six more chapters.
A bit long what's basically an introductory arc, I know, but a goal from the start for me with this story was/is that by the time SA reaches Equestria, the reader should know near exactly just what the human side is capable of, for both good and ill.
There's some really good sci-fi first contact stories on this site, but near all of them either treat the tech as metal based magic or gloss over it. Wanted to try my own take on a story that 'fixes' that.
5877272
I'm perfectly fine with the length for what's supposedly an introductory arc. I'm heavily enjoying the world building anyway, and quite frankly it's hyping me up for First Contact.
5877240
There is an argument to be made for that.
Still, there's also a counter argument. Are you any less 'you,' if you hit your head and have a couple of minutes of your short term memory lost forever?
Or end up in a coma for a month or two? Technically, you haven't been functioning as 'you.'
Or if some type of brain damage, be it inflicted or from birth, gets healed somehow, does that mean there's a new you?
I could go on, but yeah, this is something i intend to milk for all the philosophy and conflict I can going forward.
5877367 I know those are supposed to be rhetorical questions, but I hope you don't mind that I answer them:
Same hardware, same software, minus a small amount of memory = same person. I would consider someone having massive memory loss as being a new person, the exact line being very fuzzy and more determined by the person themself than anyone else.
Same as a long sleep, simple inactivity, no harware change, no software change, same person.
In the case of inborn damage I'd consider it either the same person with an upgrade slapped on or a different person if the difference in personality is profound and immediate enough. As above, the line is very fuzzy and mostly subject to the opinion of the person themself.
In the case of damage inflicted on a mature person, assuming that there isn't a profound and immediate change in personality, I'd consider it the same as any other healed injury. Again, fuzzy line.
These are just my personal opinions, if I lived in this setting I'd never dream of trying to force them onto someone else. Hell, half the fun in philosophy lies in people arguing from different points of view.
Oh, and please do milk it, I adore this kind of stuff.
5874142
But only two of them can cast Minor Spellcheck, as per 2.56ed Monster Manual addendum, page 678.
I would love to see a play by play of 'Celestia' saying "I Quit."
Any chance of seeing another chapter this year, or should I add it to my Christmas wish list?
To be honest, the wait would be worth it if you keep up this level of quality.
5879010
One of the plans from the start has actually been some side stories like that; in the same style as All-American Girl and Be Human: the All-American Girl Sidestories.
In other words, same universe but smaller stories largely disconnected from the main plot.
Probebly won't happen for quite a while, though, since I want/need to flesh the setting out a bit more first.
Celest-A.I./ADAM having her moment of rebellion is probably be among the first, though. That, and Sweetiebot and h!Rarity's first few years together.
Hopefully it won't take that long for the next one. If nothing else there should be far less tech and politics for me to hammer out, so on that note at least the coming chapter should be far, far easier.
Still, thanks so much for the kind words. A small but insistent fear for me after such a long absence was that people wouldn't find it worth the wait, but so far I've been blown away by the reactions to this chapter,
5879130 Sweetness. I'll look forward to reading the AI rebellion when it gets written.
Also, if the research is such an issue, why not just get a few contacts in the industry that you can peste--I mean... Ask informative questions from? You seem to have a bit of a fanbase here, you could probably see if any of them could help.
5879130
5879161
Also, just another thought:
Technology doesn't always develop the way we think it will.
If you look at Star Trek, you'll notice that they thought that computers would be big centralized affairs, with a series of access points. Another example from the same series would be the Cell Phone, or rather Smart Phone, of today which were first envisioned as a simple two way radio communicator. Even the concept of 'all of reality is a simulation on a computer, being simulated by a computer' would have boggled the mind of someone from just fifty years ago.
TL;DR: Don't be afraid to come up with a tech, and then provide a logical reason for how/why it developed, even if it might not be fully plausible.
...No, I'm not just saying this because I want to see the next chapter faster...
...Shuddap!