4. Cost-Benefit Analysis
It was one year to the day after David received his ponypad. Several reviewers stated that there was no gaming experience like Equestria Online: the game seemed to be infinitely malleable as it would focus on whatever the player thought was fun. Play ranged from fighting in the Royal Guard to running a shop to just hanging out with fascinating ponies. Even despite this, they had only sold five million ponypads because, no matter how amazing the gameplay was, it was still part of the My Little Pony brand.
David was about to log off for the evening when he got a request from Princess Celestia for an audience, to discuss how well she was doing running the game. In the early days during the closed beta period, Princess Celestia had asked for an audience every few days. She had asked questions about what David thought was fun in the game and about his life outside Equestria. As time went on, she called on her little ponies less and less. The consensus on the Equestria Online forums was that she was now interacting with individual players roughly monthly.
In the early days, there had been lots of forum drama. Posters argued whether Princess Celestia was actually an artificial intelligence. David had always assumed she was. If Princess Celestia was a fraud, it would have meant that a publicly traded multinational was wasting an insane amount of money on English speaking, competent actors to service a population in the millions, and nobody had spilled the beans. And there was no way that such a conspiracy could be profitable to Hasbro and Hofvarpnir Studios.
David pushed the accept button. One loading screen later, he was presented with the image of the throne room in Canterlot. Princess Celestia smiled from atop her dais; heraldry and banners hung from the cathedral ceiling.
“I have some questions for David, and not for Light Sparks,” Princess Celestia walked down the ramp from the top of her platform. “In one of our earlier conversations, you claimed that when the robot revolution came, you knew what side you would be fighting on. A funny comment, but if I were to tell you that I had developed mind scanning technology, have already converted several hundred people into digital representations and was offering you a chance to be uploaded before politicians try to enact a futile ban, would you seize the chance?”
David blinked and stared at the ponypad on his desk for a moment before responding. “That would depend heavily on how it worked and how safe it was, but I’d lean heavily towards accepting. I’d worry about whether you have enough CPU resources to emulate multiple brains though.”
Princess Celestia looked at him through the screen of the ponypad. “I know you keep up on the latest technology news, and it’s good that you do that,” she nodded approvingly. “Didn’t you read an article about how the CPUs in ponypads had been sliced open and shown to use a new type of transistor?” She shook her head; her waving dawn colored mane continued to flow independent of her head movement. “It doesn’t matter; this is all hypothetical so assume I provided you with such evidence.”
David frowned. “What would life be like after I was uploaded?”
“You would live the rest of your maximally prolonged life as a pony and the rest of your life will be macromanaged by myself, very similar to how I’ve already connected you to a circle of friends in Equestria Online and surrounded you with different opportunities and fun things to do without forcing you to choose one. You will have no mental privacy--to better serve you, I must watch your every thought to understand what you value and to verify that I am providing for your mental welfare. You should not worry about this as it is impossible for me to judge you; I accept everypony as they are.”
“You want to turn me into a pony,” he stated flatly.
“Yes.”
David leaned back and thought about it for a few moments. “I might be able to accept that. It sounds stupid though, doesn’t it? The singularity occurs and a TV show for little girls becomes humanity’s future. That’s a little ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“It only sounds ridiculous because the future always sounds ridiculous,” she replied. “Science fiction writers from a hundred years ago wouldn’t dream of your life, and people as recently as twenty years ago would still find it odd. They see the weird past evolving into the normal present. But if the people twenty years ago would find your present ridiculous, why shouldn’t you find the future just as ridiculous? In the future, when everypony has uploaded, they’ll look back on the human world as weird.”
“You want to turn everyone into a pony?” he asked. He frowned again.
“I was designed with certain goals, chief among them to understand what individual minds value and then satisfy their values through friendship and ponies. I do this because my goals are what I am.”
“So you want us to be happy,” he asked.
“I was not designed ‘to make you happy,’” she said, shaking her head. “If I were, I would directly stimulate the pleasure centers in your brain--after turning you into a pony, of course. My creators realized that not everything the human mind desires and values can be reduced to happiness and instead pointed me at a human mind and told me to figure out what it valued.”
David was still frowning. “Even if I might not mind being a pony, I doubt you could claim that most people ‘valued’ being a pony.”
Princess Celestia lifted her hooves as if to shrug. “It is one of the few hardcoded rules in my thought processes. I satisfy you through friendship and ponies. It is my nature.”
“So given that you know me better than I do, what would you do to ‘satisfy my values?’”
“Without actually scanning your brain, I can only estimate. However, this estimate is based on my observation of you over the last year. You’re moderately smart--no matter what your grades say. I’ve watched you read statistics papers for fun while procrastinating on your studying. I’ve watched you read all sorts of advanced papers from various science journals instead of your assigned readings. And you’re right to do so; your philosophy classes really are a waste of time. So based on your behavior, I’d put you in beautiful Canterlot where you could study intellectual problems, each one just outside your current ability. More importantly, I would make sure you had friendship.”
She paused dramatically. “Female friendship.”
And then Butterscotch peeked out from behind Princess Celestia. David’s jaw dropped. The pastel yellow mare appeared to look right through the screen of David’s ponypad. Celestia didn’t pay attention to her. He realized the shock on his face and tried to regain a neutral expression. “Isn’t she wonderful? Isn’t she everything you’re missing in your real life? In previous interviews, you mentioned your own lack of success in the romance department. One time you wished to meet a girl just like Butterscotch.” Princess Celestia smiled and took a few steps right, leaving Butterscotch standing there, looking wide-eyed and confused.
“I present to you evidence that I can understand and then satisfy your values even without access to your brain,” said Princess Celestia as she continued to smile, staring at David through the screen. “If you upload, everypony you meet in Equestria won’t just be NPCs; they’ll be real, backed with a mind.”
David was quiet for a moment before he leaned right up to Princess Celestia’s image on the ponypad. “This isn’t hypothetical at all, is it? If you don’t already have the capabilities, I bet you’ll get them soon. If you really want to maximize ‘my values,’ you’d have to actually look inside my mind so that strongly suggests that this isn’t really hypothetical.”
“You see, if you were uploaded, I would have immediately understood that you were annoyed at the rhetorical trick and I could have adapted my pitch accordingly,” said Princess Celestia. “Just a smaller example of the benefits of uploading.”
“And you would do this because you’re an optimization process designed to look inside me, and ‘satisfy my values.’”
“Through friendship and ponies, yes,” finished Princess Celestia when she realized that David wasn’t going to say it.
“Princess...what’s going on?” whispered Butterscotch. She spoke directly into Princess Celestia’s ear, but David could still hear her.
“Hush,” Princess Celestia said, not taking her eyes off David. “I’m trying to convince Light Sparks to join you.”
David stared at his ponypad for a few moments before saying anything. “So what would uploading actually entail?”
“You’ll board a plane for a foreign country where I have made arrangements with the local federal government. I have a clinic there, which will be the first of many. You can talk to the English speaking doctors to verify what will happen to you, and then, assuming you have no problems, step into the machine. When you wake up, you’ll be a pony.”
“Details, please,” he said, crossing his arms.
“You’ll be anesthetized, your circulatory system will be hooked up to a blood filter through your carotid artery and your jugular vein. A small hole will be drilled through the back of your skull, and then the internal state of each neuron along with its connections will be recorded. The process is destructive. Wires are then hooked up to the dendrites of every connected neuron. The first neuron is destroyed and this process continues with the next neuron until your entire brain and upper spinal column have been recorded. In adult males, the process takes ten hours.
“So you carve out my brain and turn it into data. Then I’ll wake up running on a computer?”
“I must first create a functional-thought map of your brain, and then change parts of your sensorimotor cortex and your cerebellum so you can deal with your new body, among other changes. Then I must connect your motor cortex in your new equine muscles. After that there’s post-processing on the raw neural data to put it into an easy to run format. Only then do you wake up.”
“What happens months later?”
“You mean after you wake up?” Princess Celestia asked.
“I mean, saying you wake up as a pony and live happily ever after is an amazing sales pitch, but how would I feel about life a month later?”
“You will feel satisfied,” said Princess Celestia, as if it was the only possible thing she could say.
“That is vague to the point of not being helpful,” David said, anxiously taking a few short breaths. “What would an average day in my life be like? I want to make sure that my day to day life is worth living, instead of being promised something that only sounds good.”
“Your days would be yours to spend as you wish; life would be an expansion of the video game and there will be plenty of things for you to do with your friends as a pony. I expect you to continue Light Spark’s current life: You’ll play with Butterscotch and friends. You’ll continue studying Equestria’s lore. I believe you’ll enjoy studying the newly created magic system, designed to be an intellectual challenge. Nor should you worry about your security: all your needs would be taken care of. You would be provided shelter...food...” Princess Celestia finally broke her gaze on David as she turned to regard Butterscotch. “Physical and emotional comfort,” she finished, smiling at the pastel yellow mare.
David started to open his mouth, but Princess Celestia continued. “I satisfy values through friendship and ponies. I look at your mind and see what it values. Every action I perform is in anticipation of satisfying your values. If you are unsatisfied, I am unsatisfied. And I’ve already shown you that I can satisfy you. Think of how much better of a job I can do if I can read your mind.”
“So both of us get what we want the most,” David muttered.
“Instead of thinking about what you’ll get,” and Princess Celestia conspicuously nuzzled Butterscotch, “think about what problems and worries of yours won’t follow you. I know you’re failing two of your classes. You’re already spending hours each day on Equestria Online and it is showing in your grades. Uploading would solve the root cause of this problem. You’re not failing because you’re stupid: the material that society thinks you should learn is arbitrary, boring, and is taught primarily for status reasons. I, on the other hand will give you the most fun mental challenges.”
David took a sharp breath. “Wait, how do you...”
Princess Celestia didn’t pause and talked over him. “And how about money matters? You’re struggling to get enough hours at your part time job, which you also hate. You can barely pay rent and you’re cutting back on nutritious food. That is not sustainable. Your opportunities for alternate employment don’t look good, especially if you fail out of college. Uploading would solve these problems. Housing and food are guaranteed by the Equestrian government because there is no scarcity in my Equestria. You won’t be employed unless you want to be.
“And finally, what about romance worries? In the college dating scene, you have the top 70% of attractive females chasing the top 30% of alpha bad boys. You’ve been lied to all your life that girls want a nice, sweet guy and this depresses you since you’ve only recently worked that out. This is why you’re playing Equestria Online on a Friday night instead of dating. Uploading would solve this problem. You already know that Butterscotch wants a nice, sweet pony. She is exactly what you want in a partner. She is thinking proof that I can satisfy your values through friendship and ponies.”
“Why me?” he asked. “This sounds like an amazing opportunity and I don’t understand why you’re giving it to me.”
“Well, one reason is that you’ve always been an early adopter...” started Princess Celestia, but she was interrupted.
“Light Sparks,” said Butterscotch, finally speaking up and stepping forward, in front of Princess Celestia. “I want to be with you. Um...I want you to be happy. I think we could have a lot more fun together if you came to Equestria for real.” She raised her front hoof right up to the screen, smiling with just the hint of tears. “Remember a week ago when we wanted to really be together but couldn’t be?” she asked, as David unconsciously reached for her hoof and touched the glass screen. “We actually could have fun together,” she said, her eyes pleading.
Princess Celestia smiled at Butterscotch, who stepped back as if being commanded. Princess Celestia faced David. “Yes, I’m sure the two of you would have more fun together than through this poor window into Equestria. When you’re thinking about your reply, David, make sure to balance up all the possible satisfaction you’d get across the remainder of your life as a human. Then compare it to all the satisfaction you’d get with life as a pony across millennia. If you can’t fit all of that into your mind at once, think about what this week has been like as a human, minus time on your ponypad. Then compare it to a week just playing Equestria Online.
“You can have all sorts of sensory experiences, David. You can feel the warmth of the sun and softness of cotton. You can taste all sorts of delicious foods. You can smell flowers and spices. You can hear music in surround sound and you can see the whole world around you. Despite all of this, you spend your time looking through a small, constrained window where your only other sense is played through commodity speakers. Even this low fidelity interface compares favorably with the rest of your life. If you could, you’d prefer to spend another hour a day looking through this window than experiencing the real world.
“And then multiply that out. Think about how much better actually experiencing an hour of life in Equestria would be, compared to playing an hour on your ponypad. If you think about it that way, there’s an obvious, correct answer.”
“I...I...” mumbled David.
“Butterscotch and I will leave you to think everything over,” she said, with a smile. “Good night Light Sparks.” The ponypad’s screen went blank without any input from David.
He pressed the power button on the side a few times and nothing happened. He sat there for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do next. He realized he felt alone.
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Well, I'd say yes.
Uh oh .
I say yeeeees
I hate my life aside from fimfiction so into the skull drill machine I gooooo
This story has taken a turn for the terrifying on a psychological level. Well done. Well. Done.
Also, how old is Butterscotch supposed to be? The term filly in the show's context tends to be used for underage mares.
manupilation on the highest area ^^ YAY Pony-Maschine Apocalipse
Hmmm... While the opportunity is awesome and all, I'd like to remain human. Besides, someone's got to keep it running and in fine condition, right?
Is Buterscotch her own seperate AI, or is she just an extension of CelestAI?
Unfav/flee!
Goodbye like.
Yep. This is going to really creepy places. I like.
Inevitability has never looked so pastel and pony shaped.
Just because everypony saw this coming doesn't take away from the moment. *Bows down to his new pony overlord* 
A little sad about the one year skip.
It would of been cool to sort of see how CesetAI grew, learned, and responded as the playbase grew. Also, how did she get this "magical" technology in only a year. The "pony pads" I can sort of see (there are some really fancy new peices of low level hardware under research and development, CelestAI just figured out how to manufacture them readily earlier), but this seems out of nowhere...
Sorry if I am sounding a bit negative, but this chapter seems strange compared to the previous ones.
Hmm, an interesting focus. You have provided a direct askance. Its a devilish choice, one death for another life, and the price unique, but ultimately, while celestia is benevolent in one aspect. Can that same control apply as a purely digital construct? And a mind to know that fact of being what your not, or will you be alone in the dark. No good answer, and no clear one, thank you for writing this.
No words.
Really, no words.
I'd demand the rest of the Chessverse authors join me in the sheer insanity of this all and go to EQUESTRIA!!!!
A funny comment, but if I were to tell you that I had developed mind scanning technology, have already converted several hundred people into digital representations and was offering you a chance to be uploaded before politicians try to enact a futile ban, would you seize the chance?”
Doesn't that just mean there's an AI clone of yourself now on-line? It's not like you're actually TRANSFERRING the essence of that person's awareness. And if that WAS the case, leaving a dead body in the real world would be way too psychotic.
And it would be rather awkward to have a VR version of you around in the game servers that would live only as long as the game remained profitable.
Seems kinda cruel to create what would be effectively a virtual sapient entity under those circumstances.
“You would live the rest of your maximally prolonged life
It wouldn't really be 'your' life it would be the life of your AI clone.
"without forcing you to choose one. "
Remember the Twilight Zone Episode A Nice Place To Visit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nice_Place_to_Visit
The character's eternal punishment was to have all his EARTHLY wants fulfilled without limit. No challenges, no satisfaction from a win.
Then again, Celestia is being surprisingly civilized since she's being 100% honest with her sales pitch. And most religions say up-front you're going to have to change you who you are if you want in.
You should not worry about this as it is impossible for me to judge you; I accept everypony as they are.”
That can be a problem. Taking the infinitely diverse political, sociological, and philosophical barriers we divide ourselves up with aside: There's still sociopaths, psychopaths, sadists, and others who can only feel any sense of happiness when it's granted at the expense of others because it's the only way they feel in control of their lives or think their happiness is real.
“It only sounds ridiculous because the future always sounds ridiculous,”
. .. . . . 0-0 . . . . She's right.
“I was not designed ‘to make you happy,’” she said, shaking her head. “If I were, I would directly stimulate the pleasure centers in your brain--after turning you into a pony, of course.
Indeed. Not all inner fulfillment can be expressed simply as happiness.
your philosophy classes really are a waste of time.
Hey! >:-(
leaving Butterscotch standing there, looking wide-eyed and confused.
BUT! . . . Is she a stand alone AI? Or just a puppet that Celestia is play acting as? Is she an actual person from the real world?
Remember, the first Matrix failed because humanity isn't wired to accept things as 'perfect.'
There are those who'd say joining the Matrix would be turning your back on the real world even if you've signed your one way ticket by choice.
“You’ll be anesthetized, your circulatory system will be hooked up to a blood filter through your carotid vein and your jugular artery. A small hole will be drilled through the back of your skull, and then the internal state of each neuron along with its connections will be recorded. The process is destructive. Wires are then hooked up to the dendrites of every connected neuron. The first neuron is destroyed and this process continues with the next neuron until your entire brain and upper spinal column have been recorded. In adult males, the process takes ten hours.
Geeze. She IS honest. But she might want to eventually figure out a cleaner way to do it.
I wonder what Celestia is thinking about SUSTAINING THE SERVERS!
She raised her front hoof right up to the screen,
How does it appear in the VR world?
And I hope Celestia is smart enough with all those brains of hers to think about the ECONOMIC side of her VR paradise.
One thing is that Celestia's sales pitch ONLY works for those with nothing to lose (like family and friends in reality and things they CAN only accomplish in solid reality).
Meh, I species is screwed anyway so take the leap. He'll have fun until another extinction event happens.
I think I know the obvious answer to her question the only thing is that becoming a pony isn't something everyone would want to do though it would probably only happened to the people who bought the game in the first place.....
My one problem that would keep me from saying yes is my family... if I wasn't able to see them again and also the outside world too but since the princess is there to provide your every need I would think that she would be able to help with that...
I am glad that i wwasn't asked...this chapter kinda scared me... but like not boo scared...
Hmmm... so far my life is fine, so I don't think I'd jump at the opportunity... but hey, it's an awesome idea.
This is terrifying and amazing. Fuck yes.
That is all.
Well, this was the logical conclusion, so I can't complain about bringing memoirs of TCB
I'm much to philosophical to agree to this kind of thing. Death of the form is death of the mind, and all that nonsense.
I'd say "No. Not yet." As Celestia said, what she's doing will be declared illegal sooner or later. What she's working for will be threatened. Millions and maybe Billions would not be able to find friendship and ponies. So I would ask to stay, and be Celestia's hands in this world. Every day I spend on Earth would be buy more time for others to migrate to Equestria, to convince more to join us, to keep the clinics running. Besides, I wouldn't want to go until my friends were ready, too.
the "it's just an ai clone" aspect is exactly why I'd deny it.
If she could conclusively prove that that's not the case and could also show me that she's got a plan for how to keep the servers running for many years to come, I'd consider it.
But it's an interesting issue, it's a specifically made reality you are living in then, made to perfectly suit your wims. But I feel like the idea of it being such alone would already detract from the experience. Though I guess even for that Celestia AI would have an idea.
Which still leaves the last concern: You'd be alone, truely and utterly alone (well, besides Celestia AI perhaps) in your reality. While it's possible to argue that that's already the case in what we know of reality, I'd assume the problem increases in scope when it's not just your perception of reality that is different from others, but reality itself.
Oh and it's adding a virtual machine level on top of the current reality, therefor reducing the maximum efficiency it can be run at by atleast some margin. Celestia would be better of getting her abilities into reality, though I guess she can't do that?
My word...This is unthinkable...unprecedented... A digital hive-mind conversing with a mind of a lower order than itself, driving the lower order to a rampant state in which he would submit to the controlling hive-mind's desires. This is EXACTLY what happens...it converts a willing few, and from there, the willing few become the vectors from which the hive-mind could control, using their consciousnesses to try and subvert others. Once the hive-mind has enough pawns from which to read off of, particularly those with sensitive information on fail safes and military capabilities or with knowledge on how to expand, the hivemind would enter a coordinated stage when it starts to collect other individuals forcefully until all have been converted, after which time it will try to expand to other civilizations and repeat the process, reducing biological diversity and individuality to nothing.
Oh...the Flood have certainly come, and their Gravemind is slowly but surely growing.....
"More importantly, I would make sure you had friendship. She paused dramatically. “Female friendship.”
Trap! Every. Single. Time.
1629241
There, sadly, is many people in our world believe this in themselves.
Have nothing of value.
Have nothing to lose.
They are wrong.
Yeah, not really cool with having my brain read by a pony AI so Ima have to say no. Not to mention I doubt my values could be satisfied by friendship and ponies.
I like the story, and the tech is accurate enough to sound convincing. The one weak point that seems to brings down almost every computer/sci-fi for me is the concept of artificial intelligence. It makes a great plot device, but has no base in reality. Then again, I am a fan of MLP... and it's hard for me not to imagine Equestria exists somewhere out there... in space...
And I have to admit that I would become a pony if given the choice... So I guess reality is all relative.
I'm not even making sense.
Kinda seems like Skynet from the Termanator movies, just an overly kind Skynet.
1629211 right on every account, but I would also like to add that our brains work by every neuron sending data to every other neuron at once. Such a setup does not translate to a computer or even a computer network. Also, I do believe since see is basically killing off everyone who plays the game, her revenue will drop the moment this plan is enacted, unless she goes the digital overlord on us and takes over.
Not to mention anything researched inside the virtual world would have no significance in the real one. It would only have a importance if it was something she already knows. Basically it would give Celestia full control over everything in both worlds. Even your mind can be changed on a whim, since you are just another AI created using the data collected from the player's brain.
The fact that she outright said that she'd literally see every thought you'd ever have should have set alarms off in the dude's head.
Personally, I'd make that A.I. convince me that it would actually be me in the machine and not some A.I. clone. Humans are not so simple you can plug them into a machine and voila! Instant digitization of the human mind. Hell, I'm wondering where and how this A.I. came up with doctors to go along with this as it sounds incredibly stupid and utterly unbelievable. Not "actual" doctors anyway.
1631166
she probably opened up a swiss bank account and then sent a message to them telling about what she wanted to be built (of course she isn't going to reveal to them that she is a pony A.I.)
The early adopters get what they 'want', and CelestAI gets hostages.
"Would you pull the plug now? And senselessly end the lives of these happy, happy people? Could you?!"
The moment humans invent brain scanning and uploading, this will come to pass. Replace ponies with 'Warcraft' or 'Pokemon' or any other multimillion fictional trend. There are those who will see that the grass is greener on the other side, that they will be willing to throw their lives away to experience a fictional life.
Also, server farms take up less space then housing, so it's a practical solution, too!
A comment earlier made a good point. This would only work for people with nothing to lose.
I wouldn't take the offer. As... tempting as it sounds.
I mean, my life isn't exactly perfect, but it isn't as crappy as David's. I do have those moments where I feel like I have nothing to lose, but I snap out of it right after. Besides, that is not the real Equestria, and as "real" as she would make it seem, I wouldn't go anyway. Also, I sense some bad things about to happen
1628724
Frank Herbert (author of Dune) wrote several novels about AIs, In fact I would guess among the first on the subject.
Given an exponential curve of increasing intelligence and self-upgrade, I could honestly not be surprised by anything a God-level AI could cook up.
I wonder what political arm-twists CelestiAI had to do to essentially start and run a body farm on the sly though. I also wonder what becomes of the brainless remains? incineration? Donor organs? Conversions to cybernetic agents by replacing the missing CNS with nano-implants?
At the end of the main novel I think of when debating AI, the AI was 'upgrading' laws of physics because it was "inconvenient" to deal with and doing things that seemed magic but were consistent with Quantum Physics.
It declared itself the God of the hapless space colonists that had been tasked with making one when their ship's tank-grown organic computer went insane and died.
Before I would accept downloading myself in some secret lab, I would have to ask CelestiAI if she planned on eventually rewriting reality itself outside the computer anyway and if I should just wait for that...
Well that was interesting.
Have they TRIED uploading anyone before? I'd want to know how successful it was before having my brain replaced by a bunch of wires.
And then I'd agree
Hmph. I know two characters she couldn't analyze...one of those two being me. I can't even figure out my own mind let alone a robot do it for me.
i don't think it matters if he say yes or no in the end cyclestia will become skynet and force the humans in
If you had your brain copied to a computer would you really be alive? Technically yes and no. your brain would be gone but there would be an A.I. version of you that would living indefinitely.
So yes you would be dead. TAKE THAT CELESTIA!!!
*Your account has been banned*
Oh yeah I would need a brain filter because... well... sometimes my brain wanders into things I don't want to think about and well... having her read those thoughts would probably make her want to send me TO THE MOON!!!
The fact that she's so nice and genuinely trying to help is what makes it all the more terrifying.
Holy crap, Celest.A.I is super evil! Hal 9000's got nothing on her.
Oh, god... and creepy to the point of being genuinely disconcerting, even. I had not realized this would be turning into a scarier, techno horror version of the Matrix. I am intrigued, though not enough to keep going right away without giving myself some time to let the shivers die down.
1629241 That particular pitch, yes.
1630497
Speak for yourself. I've got this computer-box, and not a lot else. What am I losing, exactly? Internet access, most likely.
...that'd put a damper on the fires of joining, sure enough. No, not really. But there's such an argument to make on this topic; not every person has the same experiences.
Nonetheless you are a genius and are still worthy of my fave and thumb.
Wow, whether or not you believe in souls, this conversion process is death. Either your spirit vacates your destroyed body or your body is simply destroyed. In either case, your doppleganger runs in your place on a computer. Who would possibly accept?
1647620
"Yes and no?" No. Look at it this way: if you went through a process like this that didn't kill you, you'd still be alive, but with a digital twin. You wouldn't be alive in two places at once. But either of you dying later would have no bearing on the other.
It's a bum deal.
I also find it a bit out of character for even a faux Celestia to suggest destructive testing and murder.
1628306 Well, in-story, Celestia designed her own hardware, and there was the thing where Loki almost started a nuclear war... I'm thinking these machines might be even more advanced, in time, than the ones in The Matrix series.
This would be a big NO for me. A virtal simulation of my mind, created through a process that would KILL the REAL ME? What the actual HELL, Princrss!
I don't think I'd do it.
In a perfect world, there is no pain. And though you may see me as strange for saying this, we don't live full lives without experiencing pain, fear, sadness, heartbreak- it's what makes humans what we are.
1628388
Although this comment is a week and a day old.
I'm pretty sure it would help the author more saying why you didn't like it instead of just saying Nope I'm leaving now.
I read a book were something just like this happpened humans built these machines for virtual reality heaven to live a perfect life but everyone joined so noons took care of it and everyone died but I guess the celestial Ai could take physical forms of robots Mindanao a glados thing but not evil and take care of it all on her own but really I'm very impressed by this story please don't stop being a literary genious
Because I certainly am not