Post by ingen on Aug 20, 2021 15:24:13 GMT
Tony Idai - Ingen
Ohuhri - Artificia Unanimity
SANRIN SYSTEM
Tony Idai himself had made the trip to the Ancerious Galaxy, hoping for news of Panza's success, and as he watched the sleek black shuttle arc down through the clear turquoise skies of Sanrin he knew the trip had not been wasted.
The shuttle set down smoothly and a ramp descended, down which stamped the burly form of Panza, his yellow-and-red jacket unbuttoned and his air casual. He glanced around the landing pad, which was atop a modest eight-storey building in downtown Takabara. This was not IdaiTech's regional headquarters, but a smaller holding on the same block used for research and development. Outsiders were not typically permitted here, but Ohu was one of the rare exceptions.
The landing pad itself was an interesting blend of traditional Ingenious architecture and modernist design. A shining black surface, so clear you could see your own reflection, was bordered by imitation bamboo fences made of a sleek reflective metal, paned with faintly orange-tinted glass. A mon gate of artfully wrought metal flanked two large tinted glass doors into the interior of the building, and in front of these doors waited Tony Idai. A middle-aged Yokari in a sharp navy blue suit with a pink shirt and a black tie, he stood with his hands behind his back as he waited for Ohu to descend.
Behind Panza, moving at a much slower if not lazy pace, was Ohuhri. On video Artificia often looked strange, slightly blurred, often leading some to believe this was simply how they looked.
Seeing one in person assured any that this was not the case. Ohuhri's glowing green features were well-defined, including the sideways-brushed fringe and the long bangs that framed her face. Ohuhri's eyes were sharply pointed but otherwise rounded, her gaze remarkably soft, with a somewhat restrained nose and slightly small mouth with nicely sized, darker green lips.
Her uniform, which Panza had first seen in a bedraggled, unkempt state, had been somewhat cleaned up, to the best of the Artificia's ability. The coat was done up and the pronounced, if not as high-rising as that of a Captain's coat, collar was straightened out. The boots were done up and done up neatly, and she had done her best to flatten out any creases in the trousers.
She looked somewhat respectable, if you looked past the signs of clothes that hadn't seen a proper fix in a decade or so.
Hand softly placed aboard one of the handrails and the other at her side, the hardlight-skinned being followed the android down, her boots touching the landing pad with the pat of rubberised sole but otherwise remarkably quietly.
Artificia weighed very little, the shuttle had barely noticed the weight shift when she stepped aboard.
With a brief second's hesitation, she started again, following behind.
Idai bowed as she approached, shallow but formal, then offered a polite smile and held out his hand for a handshake.
"Tony Idai, a pleasure to meet you Ohuhri. Welcome to the Jade Empire."
Ohuhri mimicked the gesture, having read a little on Ingenious customs on the flight. Similarly she met the handshake, Ohuhri's hardlight skin perfectly smooth and humming ever so faintly.
"Likewise, a pleasure." she nodded softly, a synthesiser-like edge to her voice. "I cannot express how glad I am to be here."
Idai had prepared himself for the logical possibility, but even so her touch was like a thunderbolt. Almost instantly he felt refreshed, like drinking a glass of cool water on a hot summer's day, and his body felt light, the usual aches and pains caused by the rigours of daily life fading away in an instant.
His mind was racing. He had been right, and now the possibilities were endless. In the medical industry alone, RAI Hardlight staff that could ease their patients with a simple touch. Soldiers who innately generated the light necessary for their comrades to survive on extended missions. The list was endless.
Idai was an old school Ingenious, and to even mention Ohuhri's tribulations would have been most improper. Instead he nodded, approaching the topic obliquely as he led her through the doors which slid open silently to reveal an open office space with desks of all kinds, from machine-laden worktables to glowing computer consoles with holographic displays. They passed through this space and into a boardroom, finely appointed with black leather seating, a blue marble desk on a single metal pedestal, and rich blossoms of blue vines with teal fruit in the corners. A large woodblock print depicting medieval labourers manually constructing a canal sat in an illuminated frame behind the desk.
"We are most honoured to have you here. I hope that your stay with us will prove to be most rejuvenating. I hope that we can achieve some incredible things before you return home to the Unanimity." Idai said, motioning for Ohu to sit in one of the large chairs whilst he himself took another, reaching for a glass of water that sat on a side table between them.
With a slow but mechanical method Ohuhri did so, moving the chair back and sitting in it, shifting forward again and resting her hands in her lap.
"Of course. In return for...freeing me, from Skalia, and eventually my return home, anything I can do to return the favour I will happily do so."
a pause, the Artificia blinking once.
"I sincerely hope she wasn't too much trouble."
Idai waved a hand. "It was no trouble, please."
He leaned over to the desk and pulled out a leather-lined folder. He handed it to Ohu. When opened, it proved to contain a paper copy of the contract IdaiTech had signed with Skalia, two golden rings, and a couple of light bioplastic cards with metal chips embedded. One was white, red and gold and bore the name 'Ataraxia Takabara', evidently the name of a hotel. The second bore the golden valkyrie logo of Goldwing Finance, and appeared to be a form of debit card.
"That is a key to the penthouse suite at the Ataraxia across the road from here. And that is a finance card. We'll put two hundred yen on there a day as a consideration for your help, and Panza will also arrange for a day out to purchase fresh clothing at IdaiTech's expense if you so require."
He leaned back in the chair, steepling his fingers. "The last is a Holo, a personal computer style common in the Jade Empire. Simply place the rings on your index finger and thumb, then make an L shape with them to pull up the holographic interface, like so."
He demonstrated with his own, a glowing screen perhaps 6 inches by 3 appearing in the empty space between his finger and thumb. "Your Holo has full access to the AncNet. I imagine you have some calls you would like to place."
Ohuhri...paused. Up until this point, the green Artificia had bore an entirely neutral expression, speaking with a polite and formal but somewhat deadpan tone.
Supposedly, Skalia had hinted at this being Ohuhri's--though not all Artificia's--norm.
In line with this, she had responded merely with understanding nods as she saw the contract and the cards, taking a brief moment to inspect the cards.
When told about the holo, however, she froze as she registered this.
"She...never gave me the chance, to...to talk to anyone...in thirteen years..." she murmured, sliding the rings onto her left hand and experimenting, opening and closing the holo.
"I, um...y-yes, I do...a couple..." she nodded softly, her eyes lifting back up to look at Idai.
"But that can come later. If I may, what exactly is it you wish of me here?"
Idai gave a single nod of his head, recognising the question he had been expecting.
"I will be brief. Simply put, my people die in the absence of visible light. I am sure that you can appreciate why hardlight bodies are of interest to us. I have been experimenting but I cannot get the neural patterns to function properly. My hope is that, by studying you, I can find out how to make our existing RAI minds work with a purely hardlight body."
He stood. "That can wait, however. It will mostly just be a variety of scans and psychological interviews, but for now I think you deserve a little rest. I will leave the room for a moment; I am sure you have some calls to make. I will be out on the balcony when you are done."
With that, he smiled, stood and quietly left, the doors gliding closed behind him...
Ohuhri went to object, sure there were other matters to discuss, but it was as she opened her mouth that the doors closed with a soft thud.
She was left alone, in the quiet.
Indeed, she did have some calls. Opening the holo, Ohuhri fumbled onto Ancnet, taking a few minutes to find a particular frequency number she needed, punching it in with the due haste of someone desperate to enter them into a comms system for over a decade.
The phone buzzed. Even if it was barely a second, the sound sounded like it lasted forever.
Silence.
It rang again.
And again.
Ohuhri's being tightened, worried she wasn't able to answer.
It rang again.
silence.
It rang once mo--
It cut off, a quiet be-beep signalling it had been picked up.
"Hello?" came the somewhat confused, sleepy voice of another Artificia. It struck Ohuhri to her core, and it took a moment to muster the focus to answer.
"...Commodore Yehla?"
Silence.
"...Ohu? Ohu, i-is that you?" the voice responded, sounding considerably more animated, followed by what sounded like the Commodore unsteadily rising from bed.
"Y-Yehla, it...it's me..."
SOME TIME LATER
As the shuttle finally departed AU space, slipping through the emerald gate that momentarily connected it with Jade territory, Idai thought back on his time with Ohuhri.
Given everything she had been through, the woman had proven remarkably resilient. She had readily participated in almost all of the psychological and physical examinations he had asked of her, save at one point a Rorschach test which had left her mute and shaking, quickly abandoned. Over the three weeks she had stayed with the Ingenious on Sanrin, she had slowly recovered what he still thought of as her 'humanity', despite the fact neither of them were technically human. She had even struck up a friendship with the administrative team on the first floor, confidently telling him on her eighth day that she was going to a restaurant with 'the girls' that evening.
By the time he had discovered what he needed to, she seemed incredibly well-adjusted. Idai could still sense the haunted look in her eyes sometimes, and he did not know how much of her demeanour was a façade designed to protect her against her alien surroundings, or even a subconscious imitation of the typical Ingenious reserve, but the woman he delivered to the AU was nothing but smiles and happy, simulated tears as she descended the ramp to her waiting people.
Idai had kept his own involvement brief, knowing well when to make a discrete exit. Shaking Yehla's hand and waiting for an aide to drop off Ohuhri's luggage, all of it purchased on Sanrin, he bid his farewells, his direct contact info stored in Ohu's Holo should she need it.
Ohu had revealed something that with hindsight Idai regarded as blindingly obvious. When designing RAI Frames, he had designed synthetic replicators of all the chemicals and hormones, such as Norepinephrine, needed to regulate the mind and body. This made sense since RAI Frames were synthetic copies of biological bodies, with all the muscles, organs and paraphenalia entailed. Although they could control these functions more or less at will, and were much more durable, resilient and repairable, the function was approximately the same.
Glowies, as they were colloquially known, were a completely different concept. Plugging a mind built for a biological body directly into a body with nothing but hardlight left countless missing connections, mismatched impulses and loose ends. Despite being programmed like a computer, RAI minds did not just give up on a process if it lacked a complete syntax. It would make sense that, placed in a body that did not fit them, they simply could not wake up.
He had tentatively developed a revised mind based on a sattran hound, simpler and less complex, and tested it with a hardlight body which had, after some trial and error, worked. Now that he had validated the principle, it was just a matter of applying it on a grander scale. He had a lot of work to do when he returned to Laptev...
Back at the landing platform, Hideaki looked up at his new owner and barked happily. The first of his kind, the hardlight dog had taken a literal shine to Ohu, and Idai had offered for her to take him with her when she returned home
Ohuhri - Artificia Unanimity
SANRIN SYSTEM
Tony Idai himself had made the trip to the Ancerious Galaxy, hoping for news of Panza's success, and as he watched the sleek black shuttle arc down through the clear turquoise skies of Sanrin he knew the trip had not been wasted.
The shuttle set down smoothly and a ramp descended, down which stamped the burly form of Panza, his yellow-and-red jacket unbuttoned and his air casual. He glanced around the landing pad, which was atop a modest eight-storey building in downtown Takabara. This was not IdaiTech's regional headquarters, but a smaller holding on the same block used for research and development. Outsiders were not typically permitted here, but Ohu was one of the rare exceptions.
The landing pad itself was an interesting blend of traditional Ingenious architecture and modernist design. A shining black surface, so clear you could see your own reflection, was bordered by imitation bamboo fences made of a sleek reflective metal, paned with faintly orange-tinted glass. A mon gate of artfully wrought metal flanked two large tinted glass doors into the interior of the building, and in front of these doors waited Tony Idai. A middle-aged Yokari in a sharp navy blue suit with a pink shirt and a black tie, he stood with his hands behind his back as he waited for Ohu to descend.
Behind Panza, moving at a much slower if not lazy pace, was Ohuhri. On video Artificia often looked strange, slightly blurred, often leading some to believe this was simply how they looked.
Seeing one in person assured any that this was not the case. Ohuhri's glowing green features were well-defined, including the sideways-brushed fringe and the long bangs that framed her face. Ohuhri's eyes were sharply pointed but otherwise rounded, her gaze remarkably soft, with a somewhat restrained nose and slightly small mouth with nicely sized, darker green lips.
Her uniform, which Panza had first seen in a bedraggled, unkempt state, had been somewhat cleaned up, to the best of the Artificia's ability. The coat was done up and the pronounced, if not as high-rising as that of a Captain's coat, collar was straightened out. The boots were done up and done up neatly, and she had done her best to flatten out any creases in the trousers.
She looked somewhat respectable, if you looked past the signs of clothes that hadn't seen a proper fix in a decade or so.
Hand softly placed aboard one of the handrails and the other at her side, the hardlight-skinned being followed the android down, her boots touching the landing pad with the pat of rubberised sole but otherwise remarkably quietly.
Artificia weighed very little, the shuttle had barely noticed the weight shift when she stepped aboard.
With a brief second's hesitation, she started again, following behind.
Idai bowed as she approached, shallow but formal, then offered a polite smile and held out his hand for a handshake.
"Tony Idai, a pleasure to meet you Ohuhri. Welcome to the Jade Empire."
Ohuhri mimicked the gesture, having read a little on Ingenious customs on the flight. Similarly she met the handshake, Ohuhri's hardlight skin perfectly smooth and humming ever so faintly.
"Likewise, a pleasure." she nodded softly, a synthesiser-like edge to her voice. "I cannot express how glad I am to be here."
Idai had prepared himself for the logical possibility, but even so her touch was like a thunderbolt. Almost instantly he felt refreshed, like drinking a glass of cool water on a hot summer's day, and his body felt light, the usual aches and pains caused by the rigours of daily life fading away in an instant.
His mind was racing. He had been right, and now the possibilities were endless. In the medical industry alone, RAI Hardlight staff that could ease their patients with a simple touch. Soldiers who innately generated the light necessary for their comrades to survive on extended missions. The list was endless.
Idai was an old school Ingenious, and to even mention Ohuhri's tribulations would have been most improper. Instead he nodded, approaching the topic obliquely as he led her through the doors which slid open silently to reveal an open office space with desks of all kinds, from machine-laden worktables to glowing computer consoles with holographic displays. They passed through this space and into a boardroom, finely appointed with black leather seating, a blue marble desk on a single metal pedestal, and rich blossoms of blue vines with teal fruit in the corners. A large woodblock print depicting medieval labourers manually constructing a canal sat in an illuminated frame behind the desk.
"We are most honoured to have you here. I hope that your stay with us will prove to be most rejuvenating. I hope that we can achieve some incredible things before you return home to the Unanimity." Idai said, motioning for Ohu to sit in one of the large chairs whilst he himself took another, reaching for a glass of water that sat on a side table between them.
With a slow but mechanical method Ohuhri did so, moving the chair back and sitting in it, shifting forward again and resting her hands in her lap.
"Of course. In return for...freeing me, from Skalia, and eventually my return home, anything I can do to return the favour I will happily do so."
a pause, the Artificia blinking once.
"I sincerely hope she wasn't too much trouble."
Idai waved a hand. "It was no trouble, please."
He leaned over to the desk and pulled out a leather-lined folder. He handed it to Ohu. When opened, it proved to contain a paper copy of the contract IdaiTech had signed with Skalia, two golden rings, and a couple of light bioplastic cards with metal chips embedded. One was white, red and gold and bore the name 'Ataraxia Takabara', evidently the name of a hotel. The second bore the golden valkyrie logo of Goldwing Finance, and appeared to be a form of debit card.
"That is a key to the penthouse suite at the Ataraxia across the road from here. And that is a finance card. We'll put two hundred yen on there a day as a consideration for your help, and Panza will also arrange for a day out to purchase fresh clothing at IdaiTech's expense if you so require."
He leaned back in the chair, steepling his fingers. "The last is a Holo, a personal computer style common in the Jade Empire. Simply place the rings on your index finger and thumb, then make an L shape with them to pull up the holographic interface, like so."
He demonstrated with his own, a glowing screen perhaps 6 inches by 3 appearing in the empty space between his finger and thumb. "Your Holo has full access to the AncNet. I imagine you have some calls you would like to place."
Ohuhri...paused. Up until this point, the green Artificia had bore an entirely neutral expression, speaking with a polite and formal but somewhat deadpan tone.
Supposedly, Skalia had hinted at this being Ohuhri's--though not all Artificia's--norm.
In line with this, she had responded merely with understanding nods as she saw the contract and the cards, taking a brief moment to inspect the cards.
When told about the holo, however, she froze as she registered this.
"She...never gave me the chance, to...to talk to anyone...in thirteen years..." she murmured, sliding the rings onto her left hand and experimenting, opening and closing the holo.
"I, um...y-yes, I do...a couple..." she nodded softly, her eyes lifting back up to look at Idai.
"But that can come later. If I may, what exactly is it you wish of me here?"
Idai gave a single nod of his head, recognising the question he had been expecting.
"I will be brief. Simply put, my people die in the absence of visible light. I am sure that you can appreciate why hardlight bodies are of interest to us. I have been experimenting but I cannot get the neural patterns to function properly. My hope is that, by studying you, I can find out how to make our existing RAI minds work with a purely hardlight body."
He stood. "That can wait, however. It will mostly just be a variety of scans and psychological interviews, but for now I think you deserve a little rest. I will leave the room for a moment; I am sure you have some calls to make. I will be out on the balcony when you are done."
With that, he smiled, stood and quietly left, the doors gliding closed behind him...
Ohuhri went to object, sure there were other matters to discuss, but it was as she opened her mouth that the doors closed with a soft thud.
She was left alone, in the quiet.
Indeed, she did have some calls. Opening the holo, Ohuhri fumbled onto Ancnet, taking a few minutes to find a particular frequency number she needed, punching it in with the due haste of someone desperate to enter them into a comms system for over a decade.
The phone buzzed. Even if it was barely a second, the sound sounded like it lasted forever.
Silence.
It rang again.
And again.
Ohuhri's being tightened, worried she wasn't able to answer.
It rang again.
silence.
It rang once mo--
It cut off, a quiet be-beep signalling it had been picked up.
"Hello?" came the somewhat confused, sleepy voice of another Artificia. It struck Ohuhri to her core, and it took a moment to muster the focus to answer.
"...Commodore Yehla?"
Silence.
"...Ohu? Ohu, i-is that you?" the voice responded, sounding considerably more animated, followed by what sounded like the Commodore unsteadily rising from bed.
"Y-Yehla, it...it's me..."
SOME TIME LATER
As the shuttle finally departed AU space, slipping through the emerald gate that momentarily connected it with Jade territory, Idai thought back on his time with Ohuhri.
Given everything she had been through, the woman had proven remarkably resilient. She had readily participated in almost all of the psychological and physical examinations he had asked of her, save at one point a Rorschach test which had left her mute and shaking, quickly abandoned. Over the three weeks she had stayed with the Ingenious on Sanrin, she had slowly recovered what he still thought of as her 'humanity', despite the fact neither of them were technically human. She had even struck up a friendship with the administrative team on the first floor, confidently telling him on her eighth day that she was going to a restaurant with 'the girls' that evening.
By the time he had discovered what he needed to, she seemed incredibly well-adjusted. Idai could still sense the haunted look in her eyes sometimes, and he did not know how much of her demeanour was a façade designed to protect her against her alien surroundings, or even a subconscious imitation of the typical Ingenious reserve, but the woman he delivered to the AU was nothing but smiles and happy, simulated tears as she descended the ramp to her waiting people.
Idai had kept his own involvement brief, knowing well when to make a discrete exit. Shaking Yehla's hand and waiting for an aide to drop off Ohuhri's luggage, all of it purchased on Sanrin, he bid his farewells, his direct contact info stored in Ohu's Holo should she need it.
Ohu had revealed something that with hindsight Idai regarded as blindingly obvious. When designing RAI Frames, he had designed synthetic replicators of all the chemicals and hormones, such as Norepinephrine, needed to regulate the mind and body. This made sense since RAI Frames were synthetic copies of biological bodies, with all the muscles, organs and paraphenalia entailed. Although they could control these functions more or less at will, and were much more durable, resilient and repairable, the function was approximately the same.
Glowies, as they were colloquially known, were a completely different concept. Plugging a mind built for a biological body directly into a body with nothing but hardlight left countless missing connections, mismatched impulses and loose ends. Despite being programmed like a computer, RAI minds did not just give up on a process if it lacked a complete syntax. It would make sense that, placed in a body that did not fit them, they simply could not wake up.
He had tentatively developed a revised mind based on a sattran hound, simpler and less complex, and tested it with a hardlight body which had, after some trial and error, worked. Now that he had validated the principle, it was just a matter of applying it on a grander scale. He had a lot of work to do when he returned to Laptev...
Back at the landing platform, Hideaki looked up at his new owner and barked happily. The first of his kind, the hardlight dog had taken a literal shine to Ohu, and Idai had offered for her to take him with her when she returned home