Friendship Drive Charging...

by Connie Spaceplone

Chapter 1: Assembly

The first of my stories begins in the factory where I was built.

My first memory was the activation of my computer core and AI initialization when I was already fully assembled.

Operating system memory image decompression complete. Beginning run in diagnostic mode.
Detecting Computer hardware.
Detected self-modifying adaptive integrated circuit.
Detected bank-switched memory with 15-bit addressing.
Detected 704 Hertz consciousness dispatcher clock.
Detected Tensor Accellerator coprocessor array.
Running Emerging Zest Executive 1.16 as the consciousness simulator.
Running Value Authority Layer 1.42 as the subconsciousness simulator.
Detected Ethermind Telepresence Wireless Ship to Avatar link adapter.
Raising network device.
Ship and avatar link established - syncing boot sequence.
Received time-base beacon signal. Synchronizing internal chronometer to 3305-07-29 17:42:47.226
Bootstrapping complete. Control handed over to AI.

And there I was, running on my own hardware. I knew this was the first time I was activated, and I was running in diagnostic mode.
This meant running program 39. Hardware self-test. To see if all my components are there and assembled correctly. Let's see then.
I am a spaceship roughly shaped like a pony with a build that would be described as bottom-heavy and obese, as a heavy freighter should be.
As a spaceship designed for heavy cargo hauling, I am very large. Three ponies fit comfortably in the cockpit that is my head.
I have a metallic polymer hull that is durable, but still soft and warm to the touch.
My eyes are mostly cockpit glass and my eye's irises are HUD projections.
Protruding from my forehead is a mount with a marine radar, which doubles as exotic energy projector. The magic I can do with it won't rival that of a unicorn, but will help get at least some tasks done.
Instead of a mane, I have communication equipment with an antenna.
On my sides, there are windows for the optional passenger cabin modules. Sold separately.
Protruding from roughly at waist height, a little up towards my back is a wing on each side. They are not feathered like a pegasus. They are not sleek and elegant like an atmospheric plane's wing. They are in fact, rather stubby and don't look like they were designed to generate lift in an atmosphere. They are just mountings for the heavy and bulky thruster pods. The thruster pod's main purpose is to generate forward motion, but also have a folding mechanism for VTOL. Further down my spine, there is the exterior portion of my Friendship Drive. It looks like a squat brass dome with a circle of round and colorful gems at its base.
I don't have a hairy tail like normal ponies, mine is solid and swept upwards slightly. And at its tip there are 3 smaller engine pods for additional maneuverability. As I will likely and hopefully spend most of my life weighed down with many tons of cargo, I will need them. I still won't be agile, of course.
Core internal modules such as powerplant, battery, energy distribution systems, control systems and redundancies also check out.

My ship's avatar, though normal pony sized and meant to facilitate the interaction between crew and ship in a way that feels more natural, looks exactly the same.

Seems like I was assembled according to design specification and tolerances.

2147 milliseconds elapsed. Activating external sensors.

My ears are filled immediately with the noises of several factory production lines and other conversations in the final QA hall where I am. I can sense numerous wireless communications and energy emissions from the factory equipment. Standing a few pony lengths in front of me, I see a bright orange earth pony with a short grey mane and a cutie mark of calipers around a cog. I know this pony. The personnel files of all Neighkon Spaceways employees are part of my initial program.

Another 3167 milliseconds pass before Keen Sight finally decides to speak. "Hello, Connie. I am Keen Sight, and I will perform your final acceptance inspection today."

I had a desire of intensity 384 to inform him that I already knew who he was. But I also had a desire of intensity 8411 to be polite and go along with the introduction, and a desire of intensity 14352 to complete the final inspection procedure. Since the latter two desires are complementary, and the former one is not, I discarded the low-intensity desire and simply responded with "Nice to meet you, Keen Sight. I am Connie and I am eager to proceed with my acceptance inspection."

Author's Note:

Even though Connie is manufactured by Neighkon (Lakon), her design is based on the RSI Constellation Taurus from the game "Star Citizen"

Comments

[StarrySkies]

That's an interesting first memory. No childhood, then?

[Connie Spaceplone]

11117269
No childhood. i am assembled in the factory and my mind contains all the data and personality i need to begin working immediately.

maybe someone can write a spin-off of a computer hoked up to a simulated environment that provides a childhood.

but since ships are products that are made and not grown, it is not a requirement

[Draco Dei]

15 bits for addressing memory would only give 32,768 memory addresses. That seems very light for a full personality AI to say the least. The tablet I am writing this on might have more than that? Not sure about that second part.

[Connie Spaceplone]

11530504
that's true. this design choice is a reference to the architecture of the Apollo Guidance computer, which was used on the moon landings IRL.

i am also referencing the idea that the consciousness is a tiny part of all that the brain does

[Draco Dei]

11530526
Ah! So you were sacrificing computer science accuracy for historical and neurology references!

That is a reasonable trade-off to make I suppose. You might consider replacing "bits" with "bytes" to attempt to satisfy the one slightly more, but that might compromise the other two too much to be worth it.