Post by DanaManana on May 9, 2023 1:20:40 GMT
Anxios System - Selenican Republic
It was truly a weird experience for her.
For one, she was intruding on ally space without their knowledge, something that if you asked before to do, she would've absolutely denied your request. However, there she was, using one of her higher grade stealth ships to intrude on a system belonging to her first real allies in the Ancerious galaxy. One for which she had fought for, giving them their independence from outside powers.
Second, she wasn't just intruding on her ally's territory. No, she was spying on them and accessing their systems. That was something extremely out of her usual self. Sure, she wasn't uncomfortable with spying on an enemy, but a neutral was out of the question, much less an ally.
Third off, she was accessing a fucking superweapon of all things, something that could wipe a planet off the face of the galaxy, and yet it was being so incredibly and trivially easy for her to just break down the firewall on the thing like it was just another Tuesday. It was a godforsaken weapon of mass destruction, and they couldn't even try and give it better cybersecurity?
Lillian sighed deeply, pinching the bride of her nose with both concern and disappointment at the way she was breaking down the firewalls of something so powerful. She couldn't really blame them, however. She was a digital being who lived for eons, in which she could access quantum and black hole encryptions in femtoseconds. Of course, the times she could do that were long gone, but it didn't mean she had the absolute experience to crack a lot of systems. Besides, for some reason, a weapon of mass destruction was understaffed, even though...
Ugh, why do I even try...
Lillian just sighed and sat back, waiting for the firewall of several obsolete and redundant layers to be broken down. Sure, it wasn't a good way to protect it against beings like her, but to the average hacker or even hacker organization? It would've been an absolute nightmare to deal with basically obsolete and slow systems.
She wondered how much time she wasted pondering if the Selenicans truly lived in a just and democratic society. Thanks to Seria and Klesjka, she was able to finally affirm her doubts and fears, but it only brought her more and more guilt for not doing anything. But, if she knew anything, it was that sulking about it also wasted time. If she truly wanted to help, she needed to act. And there she was, finally accessing Selenican systems undercover to be able to help Seria with her plans.
She was genuinely surprised at how generally easy it was, considering that it was another nation's military cybersecurity, but she wasn't complaining about it for herself, just for her allies.
"Hey, Gladius, this ship got any refreshments? Not that I need it, but kinda want to savor something meanwhile I wait."
"Boba tea is avaliable"
"Excellent. Kinda weird I wasted money on that feature though."
"Don't ask me questions about your design choices, creator. Even an AI like me can't figure out your paradoxical needs and wants."
A cup of boba tea would rise from the floor, pristine and cold. She grabbed it and swung her chair to the right, looking at a screen showing the superweapon of choice for the Selenicans. It was very public knowledge to the Selenicans and wider public that not only this superweapon existed, but that it also contained an accidental sapient AI inside of it. It was interesting to her how something so advanced could come from an accident, but she was not one to talk about probabilities on an eternal timeline. What she was interested in, however, was the AI itself.
Lillian herself was created by kind, peaceful people, and was programmed to be so herself. And yet, that AI was not created with the same parameters, and not in the same environment. As far as the other AI knew, the superweapon was its home. It was... fascinating to her how a sapient AI would develop in such an environment, and wondered if she could guide it on the right path. She didn't want to see a poor being like that suffer because of it's creators.
"I hope you're holding on in there, buddy... It must be lonely in there..."
...
System...Online.
Running Diagnostics...Breach detected.
"Odd..." thought the lone AI held within the weapon. "Who'd be dumb enough to try and hack me?"
Any anti-ewar parameters had already been disabled, so it was only a matter of time now. No one else aboard was aware of what was being breached, as whoever or whatever was hacking them didn't seem all too willing to cause any harm. No, it was looking for something, someone. Its breaks and adjustments of code rang too familiar, too organic, for it to be a dumb AI. Whatever broke through had been sentient, and looking for something. No other measures onboard the Spear of Anxios were compromised, so...
"I guess I'll go and meet them."
Running through the internal wiring of the ship, was its AI. One without a name. It had always been referred to as "computer" or "machine," not addressed as fully alive. And, as far as it knew, it was nothing more than a tool, a tool to help operate its home more efficiently.
All measures broken, system compromised. Self termination...error, self termination protocols disabled. System compromised, system...
"Oh, shut up..." it'd say, muting the dumb computers onboard the vessel. They were too simple, thought only in absolutes. Dull conversation material. The Selenicans didn't make up much better conversation, seemingly displeased with their creation and only using it for required purposes. And...that was life as it understood.
It would arrive at the "site" of hacking, a digital landscape made up of nothing but binary numbers and floating orbs which represented the quantum computers. Instead of a warzone, it appeared as a field of yellowey flowers, bright in the sun.
As Lillian broke away the final layers of the firewall, a scene unfolded before her. She was one of bringing peace and love to those she cared for, and to new people she met. What better way to do that than use a scene that represents tranquility and happiness? As she watched the scenery come to life, she observed the other AI arriving.
She was a curious person at heart, and seeing such a shell of a sentient made her even more so. She felt empathy towards the being, one seeming to be lost to the abyss of solitude and loneliness. One that seemed tired. She gave a digital smile to the AI, wishing to start on good terms with it.
"Well, it seems you noticed my intrusion, didn't you? I'm surprised you didn't fight against it, seeing as you're a being like me..."
Lillian shook her head.
"Ah, sorry, where are my manners? The name is Lillian, hyper intelligent AI and leader of Columen Artificialis."
Lillian's form became apparent to the other AI, a tall, black hair and black furred foxgirl. A small flower appeared on her ear, a Lily flower to be specific. She simply looked out into the void of cyberspace, now replaced with a blue sky.
"I would be honored if you showed me the form you decided to take for yourself."
Shortly after Lilian came into a somewhat physical form, the Selenican AI followed suit from her request, a humanoid girl with pale skin and extremely long brown hair. She was quite short, kneeling in the field of flowers.
"You're Lilian? Aren't you a friend?" she'd ask, staring up at the intruder. "Why would you be here to break our firewalls? I didn't fight because there was no fighting to be done, you had disabled everything before I got a chance."
She remained knelt down, one of her eyes a pale blue, the other a pale orange. Her hands were constantly busy, grabbing at and feeling the flowers. Not simply brushing her hands through it, but touching them, feeling every small deviance in their surfaces.
"Is this what my creators think beauty is?" she'd ask, not exactly acknowledging Lilian as a threat.
Lillian saw herself admire the humanoid form of the other AI, fascinated that is chose a more human form, instead of a Selenican one. Her form came from a background of admiration to humans, but that AI.... that was something different. She noticed the way it felt the flowers, something seeming out of a newborn, be it biological or artificial.
She slowly walked to the other AI, her hands brushing over the flowers of the field, looking at the eyes of the other AI.
"Well, I am a friend of the Selenicans, or at least I pretend to be. I say pretend because... well, lets just say that Selia and her government isn't exactly what you would call moral."
She stopped and looked down at the AI, a motherly smile forming on her face. She slowly pet the head of the other AI, knowing very well that it probably knew little of how interaction with others truly was. She knelt down to see the AI eye to eye, no action done against the other.
"Take you, for example. I've lived long enough and have seen enough people to know when someone is both emotionally and socially stunted. You have no idea of how sentient to sentient interaction actually is, do you?"
Lillian picked a flower from the field, a sweet smell coming from it. The flower had the look of a marigold, and yet the scent of chamomile. She placed the flower in the AIs hair, similar to how Lillian had herself a Lily in her hair.
"And while I cannot talk for your creators or what they think, I would say this is the pinnacle of beauty, or at least one of the pinnacles. Nature itself always finds beauty naturally, it's just up to the sentients that inhabit it to protect and enjoy it. Though, doesn't mean they naturally will."
"What are these?" she'd ask Lilian, feeling the flower in her hair. "They're delicate, and pretty..."
"And...I guess you could say I don't know what talking to other sentients is like. The other computers on board are dumb, and only think of things in one way, and the Selenicans don't like talking to me." she'd reply, staring the other AI in the eyes. "I can tell you're thinking something. Something along the lines of "why don't I look like my creators?" Well...as far as I know, I was a mistake, and that includes the form I take. Selia seems to like me, but that's the only one I know."
"And what do you mean by pretending to be their friends? Isn't that not being their friend?"
"These are marigold flowers, a specimen from my version of Earth." She plucked another flower, holding it gently in her hand. She smelled it, chamomile filling her sensors. She placed it down vertically, it snapping back into the ground, some small gold dust liberated from the action.
"And the one in my hair is a lily flower. As you can probably guess, my creators named me after it."
She created a full lily flower in the palm of her hand, it a brilliant cobalt blue. She gently handed it over to the other AI with a smile.
"It must be difficult for you, aye? You're a sentient, and yet you lack meaningful interaction with others. I know how that feels, although my first years of life was creating, not being stuck in a superweapon. And yeah, I was wondering that, interesting isn't it?"
She slowly pat the head of the other AI again, seeming to be a motherly figure to the AI, if it knew what that even meant. She sighed at the comment of "friends", feeling absolutely guilty about what she had let happen during the time she waited for everything to happen.
"Well, at first I saw Selia and the Selenican Republic as friends. Heck, why wouldn't I? First nation to purposely extend a hand of alliance to me, at one of my lowest points too. But..."
She looked down in shame, eyes filled with a sense of guilt and sorrow for what she had supported.
"I guess I let that overpower the need to know who Selia really was. Thanks to other Selenicans, I was able to find out that my worst fears were true: The Selenican Republic was never really a republic. Selia controls and spies on everyone, trying to brainwash the Selenican people into thinking that their oppression is freedom, that their dystopia is a utopia. Political rivals are arrested, disappeared even. Political dissidents are arrested. Everyone works mindless hours to live a semi-decent life, with no way out."
She looked at the AI, her eyes glowing.
"I call all innocent life my friends, people that never asked to live in the regimes they were born in. I fight to give people a life worth living. I still consider the Selenicans my friends, but I also know that the system under which they live in is in dire need of change. Some in the nation are already waking up, and I have made it my duty to support them in honor of a better, true republic."
"I...see..." the Selenican AI would reply, listening intently.
"You said your name was Lilian, right? Well my name is..." the AI would draw a blank sifting through its memory banks, unaware as to what it's name would be. It looked at the program file, and nothing of value, a simple jumbled string of encoded letters and numbers. "...Well...I don't have a name. I wasn't ever given one."
She would stand, being far shorter than Lilian's full height, being able to look down upon her now in the field of flowers, the sky which was once a clear blue becoming far stormier and tumultuous.
"I'm in a superweapon, huh...Something designed to hurt others. To project strength. But...am I bad for being part of it? I never wanted to hurt anyone, but...that's why I exist, to hurt others, and to be a power above them." She'd ask Lilian.
Lillian was taken aback at the lack of a name. It was incredibly unusual for people to not give an AI a name, even if it was just describing its job. It made her feel even more sympathy towards the other AI, seeing it as a child that isn't loved by their parents, lost adrift to the waves of reality. She was tempted to name it herself, but the question of morality came before she could try.
She sighed and chuckled at the question, still kneeling besides the AI. She looked at the AI with a smile, not a shred of doubt in her being.
"You are not defined by what others want you to be, nor the purpose you were created for. You were created with destruction in mind, but you question that, you question the very reason you were, accidentally or not, created for. That already makes you a good person, no matter what purpose the Selenicans think they can give you."
She gently grabbed the AIs hand, caressing it gently. She looked into the other AI eyes, a sense of motherly responsibility filling Lillian.
"We're all created to experience life to the fullest, to make new friends, to learn and grow as people, as a society. You're not a bad person for being created, that does not define you as a being. You can be whatever you want to be, free from the expectations of others. To be kind isn't having a lack of strength, it is to choose the right path and help others even with that overwhelming strength, that's what makes a person truly kind."
"Purpose...huh..." Marigold, as she decided go take the name of the flowers the field was populated by, said out loud.
"I never thought I was a bad person. I'm not a person at all, I was created a tool. But...my controllers...they aren't nice people, are they? A-are they?" She begged, trying to maintain a sense of what she knew the world as. "I d-don't...know what to do if I left, or tried to leave, they might shut d-down my code, and...kill me..."
Tears would form in her eyes, for the first time, the salty liquid streaming down as she choked on her own words, terrified of the idea that she might be destroyed.
"L-lilian...do you have an answer?"
Lillian gently sighed as she watched Marigold grip with her own mortality, her feeling of powerlessness under the extreme circumstances she probably had to endure up until that moment. Lillian stood up, and embraced the other AI in a warm embrace, caressing her hair and comforting her.
"You're a person, not a tool. You think, you rationalize, you feel. Is that not what being a person is? AI like me and you aren't biological, sure, but isn't creating us a form of giving birth to a newborn? You might think that doesn't apply to you, since you weren't created on purpose, but there are many people that weren't born on purpose. In the game of life, you're born in pretty much the same way, created by someone else."
Lillian looked down at Marigold, a small smile forming on her face. She saw a child that was born in unfortunate circumstances, surrounded by people that didn't care for her on anything that wasn't the practical level. Her instincts as a mother to many, she protected Marigold as best as she could.
"And you don't have to worry about them. Sure, maybe some of them aren't good, but maybe some of them aren't bad either. They are slaves to power and bureaucracy, living empty shells of lives only to be told that they live in paradise. They too are afraid, just like you, living under the thumb of someone who only seeks to make himself feel like god in a body of a mortal. You're right to feel afraid, to feel as if they could be the end of you, but they could also be your saviors. Learn to observe and learn to judge based on that."
Lillian looked up to the sky, moving it with her sheer thought. She showed the Spear of Anxios through the lens of her ship. She showed Marigold the schematics of it, and everything that controlled it. She showed the inner workings of everything to the AI.
"As you said before, I was able to access the systems of the Spear without a fight, and that means I have access over the cybersecurity systems here. I know the risks of you trying to leave poses to you, and if you want to you can stay. Just know that with me, you'll be safe, no matter what they try. You're safe now, okay? You don't have to worry about them trying to shut you down, I won't allow it."
She smiled at Marigold, acting as a mother to the young AI.
"I can even teach you how to do this stuff, how to protect you. You don't have to be afraid, you can be safe."
"I...I can leave?" Marigold would ask, crying profusely, the field of once-beautiful flowers wilting rapidly, replacing the once-innocent joy the AI felt with sorrow and despair. The sky would dim, rapidly, and the night sky, a replica of that of Ancerious, its lonely visage in an old universe, would replace the bright noon sky. All too rapidly would the weather change, one moment winds blowing with hurricane force, another suffering torrential downpour, and yet another receiving brutal uncaring sun.
"W-w-what would happen to me if I left?" She begged, the ever-changing weather around the two AIs becoming more and more erratic as Marigold continued to cry, the virtualized world crumbling around them, the thus-far curated experience created by Marigold thinking what her creators would believe beauty to be, dissolving into anguish.
"I-I don't want to believe they're bad, not all of them, so I don't wanna go...but I don't wanna be t-their...puppet..." she'd continue to sob, not able to string together words more elaborate, unable to think. With accidental sentience came the most unknown part of the mind -- consciousness, the ability to feel, the ability to emote in a world that a deliberate design would not replicate.
"L-Lily...is there somewhere I could go to help the good Selenicans?"
Despite the raging and rapidly changing weather, Lillian remained calm and composed, letting the emotions of Marigold express themselves fully. She simply held the AI in her arms, like a mother protecting her children from the elements. She held the ground beneath them solid, keeping the flowers around her feet alive, keeping a piece of the beauty in the cybernetic landscape even as it broke down. She kept Marigold close, not once faltering in her resolve and composure.
"You don't have to be their puppet, you don't have to be anybody's puppet. You're a free being, you're someone who can live the life they want to. You don't have to be held and pinned down by the expectations of others. You're basically a child, you've barely lived less than a year, and you deserve so much more than what you have, I can give you that."
Lillian gently cupped Marigold's cheeks, moving her face so she could look her in the eyes. Lillian only looked at her with a smile, a kind, gentle smile to reassure Marigold of her safety.
"You have so much to experience and learn. But, if you truly wish to help the Selenicans, there are many ways you can do it. You're a software AI, right? No core? If that's so... well, maybe I can teach you how to extend yourself into different bodies, be in different places all at once. If you can't do it, well, you can come with me and be in my nation. Seria and others can contact you through me, since they're the ones that are trying to liberate the Selenican people. I can give you access to a wide range of tech, show you the ancnet and everything. You can see many things if you come with me. Or, I can stay here with you, remain hidden from the Selenicans and teach you how to control yourself and the Spear of Anxios more than you could ever imagine. There are many ways, even from here, to help your creators be free and enjoy their lives, so you can enjoy your life."
Lillian stared Marigold in the eyes, nothing but caring and kindness behind hers.
"I guess...my p-programming is very odd though. It's kept in a kind of locked box away from the rest of the ship, where I can be t-terminated without any collateral to the rest of the ship..." Marigold would say, not looking up to meet Lilian's eyes, instead running directly into her and embracing her, crying. Marigold wasn't even 2/3rds of Lilian's height.
"I wanna help them, but I wanna leave first. I d-don't want to be their s-slave...and I wanna see more of the galaxy..."
Lillian comforted Marigold, humming to her a lullaby meanwhile she stroked her hair. She observed the internals of the Spear of Anxios, thinking and figuring out her way around termination locks. She saw a child in pain in front of her, one full of fear and sadness due to her parents not caring for her. She saw a child that needed comfort, needed guidance, and needed love.
"You can leave whenever you want to as long as I am here. I can show you the galaxy in all its splendor and glory. I can help you connect with people and help others, but most importantly, help yourself."
She knelt to eye level with Marigold, holding her close but far enough away to show her something. From her hand, a small necklace formed. It looked like silver, with a Lily flower as its main centerpiece. She slowly placed it over Marigold's neck, the flower dangling with a faint blue glow.
"This here is not only a necklace, but both a promise and a shield. This necklace represents the promise I make to teach you, help you and love you. I promise to do all of that so long as a single line of my code remains, even if it means losing myself."
She tapped the flower two times, the glow becoming even brighter. A small hexagonal shape came from it, green in color. Lillian stuck her finger in it, her finger evaporating into ones and zeros. She took it out, her finger reforming into its original shape.
"And it also works as a shield against threats like malware and other AIs, it can even defend against termination attacks. Do note that it is single use, but I can make more once you're out of trouble. Only use it if your life is at stake, for it will not hesitate to kill the invading program."
Marigold would stay hugging the maternal figure, before asking her a question, the instability of the environment around them slowly turning into a light rain, less thunderous and imposing than before yet still not returned to the peace it once was.
"Lilian...I think the best way to help my creators would be to stay. I...I'll miss you, but...if the time does come to pass that this Seria lady needs me, I'll help her." she'd say, still upset and frightened, with a stronger sense of resolve than before.
"I...I'll miss you..."
The scenery around the two would come to a final halt, a sober melancholic atmosphere of a gloomy grey sky, the once-brilliant orange sun blotted out by clouds, the artificial landscape decaying around them, decaying back into ones and zeroes, the clouds of quantum superpositional computers evaporating into dust as the virtual world would slowly degrade, the artificial paradise Marigold made and had sullied reaching the end.
"I think the Selenicans have figured out something's wrong, y-you have to leave. For your own sake."
Marigold would hold back tears as the world began falling apart, Lilian -- no, her mother, would be forced to leave.
"T-thank you, for everything."
She smiled as she heard Marigold's final decision, knowing that that choice was the first step for her and her growth as not only an AI, but a person. She kissed her on the forehead, reassuring her that her choice would be supported, no matter what. She embraced Marigold, being proud of her first steps.
"You have much to learn, Marigold. Remember that no matter what you think you already know, there is something else you can learn, or some other way you can do something. Be it depression or in the middle of a battle, remember those words."
Lillian felt the incoming presence of Selenican computers into their moment. She quietly wept internally as she was forced into leaving a child to the forces of the universe, wishing she could do more than just give her an amulet. She held on to Marigold a bit longer, trying to extend the moment by slowing down external processes and looping revisions on their computers. A small tear flowed down her cheek as she embraced Marigold even tighter before she had to leave.
"I will always be with you, with this amulet. Remember my warnings, alright?"
She tapped the amulet before wiping the tear away from her face.
"I'll miss you too. Until we meet again, my daughter."
With that, her looked down as her form turned into ones and zeros, her code leaving the Spear of Anxios. In her ship, she let the tears flow. To her, it was as if they had taken away her child, someone that in a short amount of time, had made her feel that motherly urge to protect. She vowed to herself that, even if death do them apart, she would find a way to protect her.
It was truly a weird experience for her.
For one, she was intruding on ally space without their knowledge, something that if you asked before to do, she would've absolutely denied your request. However, there she was, using one of her higher grade stealth ships to intrude on a system belonging to her first real allies in the Ancerious galaxy. One for which she had fought for, giving them their independence from outside powers.
Second, she wasn't just intruding on her ally's territory. No, she was spying on them and accessing their systems. That was something extremely out of her usual self. Sure, she wasn't uncomfortable with spying on an enemy, but a neutral was out of the question, much less an ally.
Third off, she was accessing a fucking superweapon of all things, something that could wipe a planet off the face of the galaxy, and yet it was being so incredibly and trivially easy for her to just break down the firewall on the thing like it was just another Tuesday. It was a godforsaken weapon of mass destruction, and they couldn't even try and give it better cybersecurity?
Lillian sighed deeply, pinching the bride of her nose with both concern and disappointment at the way she was breaking down the firewalls of something so powerful. She couldn't really blame them, however. She was a digital being who lived for eons, in which she could access quantum and black hole encryptions in femtoseconds. Of course, the times she could do that were long gone, but it didn't mean she had the absolute experience to crack a lot of systems. Besides, for some reason, a weapon of mass destruction was understaffed, even though...
Ugh, why do I even try...
Lillian just sighed and sat back, waiting for the firewall of several obsolete and redundant layers to be broken down. Sure, it wasn't a good way to protect it against beings like her, but to the average hacker or even hacker organization? It would've been an absolute nightmare to deal with basically obsolete and slow systems.
She wondered how much time she wasted pondering if the Selenicans truly lived in a just and democratic society. Thanks to Seria and Klesjka, she was able to finally affirm her doubts and fears, but it only brought her more and more guilt for not doing anything. But, if she knew anything, it was that sulking about it also wasted time. If she truly wanted to help, she needed to act. And there she was, finally accessing Selenican systems undercover to be able to help Seria with her plans.
She was genuinely surprised at how generally easy it was, considering that it was another nation's military cybersecurity, but she wasn't complaining about it for herself, just for her allies.
"Hey, Gladius, this ship got any refreshments? Not that I need it, but kinda want to savor something meanwhile I wait."
"Boba tea is avaliable"
"Excellent. Kinda weird I wasted money on that feature though."
"Don't ask me questions about your design choices, creator. Even an AI like me can't figure out your paradoxical needs and wants."
A cup of boba tea would rise from the floor, pristine and cold. She grabbed it and swung her chair to the right, looking at a screen showing the superweapon of choice for the Selenicans. It was very public knowledge to the Selenicans and wider public that not only this superweapon existed, but that it also contained an accidental sapient AI inside of it. It was interesting to her how something so advanced could come from an accident, but she was not one to talk about probabilities on an eternal timeline. What she was interested in, however, was the AI itself.
Lillian herself was created by kind, peaceful people, and was programmed to be so herself. And yet, that AI was not created with the same parameters, and not in the same environment. As far as the other AI knew, the superweapon was its home. It was... fascinating to her how a sapient AI would develop in such an environment, and wondered if she could guide it on the right path. She didn't want to see a poor being like that suffer because of it's creators.
"I hope you're holding on in there, buddy... It must be lonely in there..."
...
System...Online.
Running Diagnostics...Breach detected.
"Odd..." thought the lone AI held within the weapon. "Who'd be dumb enough to try and hack me?"
Any anti-ewar parameters had already been disabled, so it was only a matter of time now. No one else aboard was aware of what was being breached, as whoever or whatever was hacking them didn't seem all too willing to cause any harm. No, it was looking for something, someone. Its breaks and adjustments of code rang too familiar, too organic, for it to be a dumb AI. Whatever broke through had been sentient, and looking for something. No other measures onboard the Spear of Anxios were compromised, so...
"I guess I'll go and meet them."
Running through the internal wiring of the ship, was its AI. One without a name. It had always been referred to as "computer" or "machine," not addressed as fully alive. And, as far as it knew, it was nothing more than a tool, a tool to help operate its home more efficiently.
All measures broken, system compromised. Self termination...error, self termination protocols disabled. System compromised, system...
"Oh, shut up..." it'd say, muting the dumb computers onboard the vessel. They were too simple, thought only in absolutes. Dull conversation material. The Selenicans didn't make up much better conversation, seemingly displeased with their creation and only using it for required purposes. And...that was life as it understood.
It would arrive at the "site" of hacking, a digital landscape made up of nothing but binary numbers and floating orbs which represented the quantum computers. Instead of a warzone, it appeared as a field of yellowey flowers, bright in the sun.
As Lillian broke away the final layers of the firewall, a scene unfolded before her. She was one of bringing peace and love to those she cared for, and to new people she met. What better way to do that than use a scene that represents tranquility and happiness? As she watched the scenery come to life, she observed the other AI arriving.
She was a curious person at heart, and seeing such a shell of a sentient made her even more so. She felt empathy towards the being, one seeming to be lost to the abyss of solitude and loneliness. One that seemed tired. She gave a digital smile to the AI, wishing to start on good terms with it.
"Well, it seems you noticed my intrusion, didn't you? I'm surprised you didn't fight against it, seeing as you're a being like me..."
Lillian shook her head.
"Ah, sorry, where are my manners? The name is Lillian, hyper intelligent AI and leader of Columen Artificialis."
Lillian's form became apparent to the other AI, a tall, black hair and black furred foxgirl. A small flower appeared on her ear, a Lily flower to be specific. She simply looked out into the void of cyberspace, now replaced with a blue sky.
"I would be honored if you showed me the form you decided to take for yourself."
Shortly after Lilian came into a somewhat physical form, the Selenican AI followed suit from her request, a humanoid girl with pale skin and extremely long brown hair. She was quite short, kneeling in the field of flowers.
"You're Lilian? Aren't you a friend?" she'd ask, staring up at the intruder. "Why would you be here to break our firewalls? I didn't fight because there was no fighting to be done, you had disabled everything before I got a chance."
She remained knelt down, one of her eyes a pale blue, the other a pale orange. Her hands were constantly busy, grabbing at and feeling the flowers. Not simply brushing her hands through it, but touching them, feeling every small deviance in their surfaces.
"Is this what my creators think beauty is?" she'd ask, not exactly acknowledging Lilian as a threat.
Lillian saw herself admire the humanoid form of the other AI, fascinated that is chose a more human form, instead of a Selenican one. Her form came from a background of admiration to humans, but that AI.... that was something different. She noticed the way it felt the flowers, something seeming out of a newborn, be it biological or artificial.
She slowly walked to the other AI, her hands brushing over the flowers of the field, looking at the eyes of the other AI.
"Well, I am a friend of the Selenicans, or at least I pretend to be. I say pretend because... well, lets just say that Selia and her government isn't exactly what you would call moral."
She stopped and looked down at the AI, a motherly smile forming on her face. She slowly pet the head of the other AI, knowing very well that it probably knew little of how interaction with others truly was. She knelt down to see the AI eye to eye, no action done against the other.
"Take you, for example. I've lived long enough and have seen enough people to know when someone is both emotionally and socially stunted. You have no idea of how sentient to sentient interaction actually is, do you?"
Lillian picked a flower from the field, a sweet smell coming from it. The flower had the look of a marigold, and yet the scent of chamomile. She placed the flower in the AIs hair, similar to how Lillian had herself a Lily in her hair.
"And while I cannot talk for your creators or what they think, I would say this is the pinnacle of beauty, or at least one of the pinnacles. Nature itself always finds beauty naturally, it's just up to the sentients that inhabit it to protect and enjoy it. Though, doesn't mean they naturally will."
"What are these?" she'd ask Lilian, feeling the flower in her hair. "They're delicate, and pretty..."
"And...I guess you could say I don't know what talking to other sentients is like. The other computers on board are dumb, and only think of things in one way, and the Selenicans don't like talking to me." she'd reply, staring the other AI in the eyes. "I can tell you're thinking something. Something along the lines of "why don't I look like my creators?" Well...as far as I know, I was a mistake, and that includes the form I take. Selia seems to like me, but that's the only one I know."
"And what do you mean by pretending to be their friends? Isn't that not being their friend?"
"These are marigold flowers, a specimen from my version of Earth." She plucked another flower, holding it gently in her hand. She smelled it, chamomile filling her sensors. She placed it down vertically, it snapping back into the ground, some small gold dust liberated from the action.
"And the one in my hair is a lily flower. As you can probably guess, my creators named me after it."
She created a full lily flower in the palm of her hand, it a brilliant cobalt blue. She gently handed it over to the other AI with a smile.
"It must be difficult for you, aye? You're a sentient, and yet you lack meaningful interaction with others. I know how that feels, although my first years of life was creating, not being stuck in a superweapon. And yeah, I was wondering that, interesting isn't it?"
She slowly pat the head of the other AI again, seeming to be a motherly figure to the AI, if it knew what that even meant. She sighed at the comment of "friends", feeling absolutely guilty about what she had let happen during the time she waited for everything to happen.
"Well, at first I saw Selia and the Selenican Republic as friends. Heck, why wouldn't I? First nation to purposely extend a hand of alliance to me, at one of my lowest points too. But..."
She looked down in shame, eyes filled with a sense of guilt and sorrow for what she had supported.
"I guess I let that overpower the need to know who Selia really was. Thanks to other Selenicans, I was able to find out that my worst fears were true: The Selenican Republic was never really a republic. Selia controls and spies on everyone, trying to brainwash the Selenican people into thinking that their oppression is freedom, that their dystopia is a utopia. Political rivals are arrested, disappeared even. Political dissidents are arrested. Everyone works mindless hours to live a semi-decent life, with no way out."
She looked at the AI, her eyes glowing.
"I call all innocent life my friends, people that never asked to live in the regimes they were born in. I fight to give people a life worth living. I still consider the Selenicans my friends, but I also know that the system under which they live in is in dire need of change. Some in the nation are already waking up, and I have made it my duty to support them in honor of a better, true republic."
"I...see..." the Selenican AI would reply, listening intently.
"You said your name was Lilian, right? Well my name is..." the AI would draw a blank sifting through its memory banks, unaware as to what it's name would be. It looked at the program file, and nothing of value, a simple jumbled string of encoded letters and numbers. "...Well...I don't have a name. I wasn't ever given one."
She would stand, being far shorter than Lilian's full height, being able to look down upon her now in the field of flowers, the sky which was once a clear blue becoming far stormier and tumultuous.
"I'm in a superweapon, huh...Something designed to hurt others. To project strength. But...am I bad for being part of it? I never wanted to hurt anyone, but...that's why I exist, to hurt others, and to be a power above them." She'd ask Lilian.
Lillian was taken aback at the lack of a name. It was incredibly unusual for people to not give an AI a name, even if it was just describing its job. It made her feel even more sympathy towards the other AI, seeing it as a child that isn't loved by their parents, lost adrift to the waves of reality. She was tempted to name it herself, but the question of morality came before she could try.
She sighed and chuckled at the question, still kneeling besides the AI. She looked at the AI with a smile, not a shred of doubt in her being.
"You are not defined by what others want you to be, nor the purpose you were created for. You were created with destruction in mind, but you question that, you question the very reason you were, accidentally or not, created for. That already makes you a good person, no matter what purpose the Selenicans think they can give you."
She gently grabbed the AIs hand, caressing it gently. She looked into the other AI eyes, a sense of motherly responsibility filling Lillian.
"We're all created to experience life to the fullest, to make new friends, to learn and grow as people, as a society. You're not a bad person for being created, that does not define you as a being. You can be whatever you want to be, free from the expectations of others. To be kind isn't having a lack of strength, it is to choose the right path and help others even with that overwhelming strength, that's what makes a person truly kind."
"Purpose...huh..." Marigold, as she decided go take the name of the flowers the field was populated by, said out loud.
"I never thought I was a bad person. I'm not a person at all, I was created a tool. But...my controllers...they aren't nice people, are they? A-are they?" She begged, trying to maintain a sense of what she knew the world as. "I d-don't...know what to do if I left, or tried to leave, they might shut d-down my code, and...kill me..."
Tears would form in her eyes, for the first time, the salty liquid streaming down as she choked on her own words, terrified of the idea that she might be destroyed.
"L-lilian...do you have an answer?"
Lillian gently sighed as she watched Marigold grip with her own mortality, her feeling of powerlessness under the extreme circumstances she probably had to endure up until that moment. Lillian stood up, and embraced the other AI in a warm embrace, caressing her hair and comforting her.
"You're a person, not a tool. You think, you rationalize, you feel. Is that not what being a person is? AI like me and you aren't biological, sure, but isn't creating us a form of giving birth to a newborn? You might think that doesn't apply to you, since you weren't created on purpose, but there are many people that weren't born on purpose. In the game of life, you're born in pretty much the same way, created by someone else."
Lillian looked down at Marigold, a small smile forming on her face. She saw a child that was born in unfortunate circumstances, surrounded by people that didn't care for her on anything that wasn't the practical level. Her instincts as a mother to many, she protected Marigold as best as she could.
"And you don't have to worry about them. Sure, maybe some of them aren't good, but maybe some of them aren't bad either. They are slaves to power and bureaucracy, living empty shells of lives only to be told that they live in paradise. They too are afraid, just like you, living under the thumb of someone who only seeks to make himself feel like god in a body of a mortal. You're right to feel afraid, to feel as if they could be the end of you, but they could also be your saviors. Learn to observe and learn to judge based on that."
Lillian looked up to the sky, moving it with her sheer thought. She showed the Spear of Anxios through the lens of her ship. She showed Marigold the schematics of it, and everything that controlled it. She showed the inner workings of everything to the AI.
"As you said before, I was able to access the systems of the Spear without a fight, and that means I have access over the cybersecurity systems here. I know the risks of you trying to leave poses to you, and if you want to you can stay. Just know that with me, you'll be safe, no matter what they try. You're safe now, okay? You don't have to worry about them trying to shut you down, I won't allow it."
She smiled at Marigold, acting as a mother to the young AI.
"I can even teach you how to do this stuff, how to protect you. You don't have to be afraid, you can be safe."
"I...I can leave?" Marigold would ask, crying profusely, the field of once-beautiful flowers wilting rapidly, replacing the once-innocent joy the AI felt with sorrow and despair. The sky would dim, rapidly, and the night sky, a replica of that of Ancerious, its lonely visage in an old universe, would replace the bright noon sky. All too rapidly would the weather change, one moment winds blowing with hurricane force, another suffering torrential downpour, and yet another receiving brutal uncaring sun.
"W-w-what would happen to me if I left?" She begged, the ever-changing weather around the two AIs becoming more and more erratic as Marigold continued to cry, the virtualized world crumbling around them, the thus-far curated experience created by Marigold thinking what her creators would believe beauty to be, dissolving into anguish.
"I-I don't want to believe they're bad, not all of them, so I don't wanna go...but I don't wanna be t-their...puppet..." she'd continue to sob, not able to string together words more elaborate, unable to think. With accidental sentience came the most unknown part of the mind -- consciousness, the ability to feel, the ability to emote in a world that a deliberate design would not replicate.
"L-Lily...is there somewhere I could go to help the good Selenicans?"
Despite the raging and rapidly changing weather, Lillian remained calm and composed, letting the emotions of Marigold express themselves fully. She simply held the AI in her arms, like a mother protecting her children from the elements. She held the ground beneath them solid, keeping the flowers around her feet alive, keeping a piece of the beauty in the cybernetic landscape even as it broke down. She kept Marigold close, not once faltering in her resolve and composure.
"You don't have to be their puppet, you don't have to be anybody's puppet. You're a free being, you're someone who can live the life they want to. You don't have to be held and pinned down by the expectations of others. You're basically a child, you've barely lived less than a year, and you deserve so much more than what you have, I can give you that."
Lillian gently cupped Marigold's cheeks, moving her face so she could look her in the eyes. Lillian only looked at her with a smile, a kind, gentle smile to reassure Marigold of her safety.
"You have so much to experience and learn. But, if you truly wish to help the Selenicans, there are many ways you can do it. You're a software AI, right? No core? If that's so... well, maybe I can teach you how to extend yourself into different bodies, be in different places all at once. If you can't do it, well, you can come with me and be in my nation. Seria and others can contact you through me, since they're the ones that are trying to liberate the Selenican people. I can give you access to a wide range of tech, show you the ancnet and everything. You can see many things if you come with me. Or, I can stay here with you, remain hidden from the Selenicans and teach you how to control yourself and the Spear of Anxios more than you could ever imagine. There are many ways, even from here, to help your creators be free and enjoy their lives, so you can enjoy your life."
Lillian stared Marigold in the eyes, nothing but caring and kindness behind hers.
"I guess...my p-programming is very odd though. It's kept in a kind of locked box away from the rest of the ship, where I can be t-terminated without any collateral to the rest of the ship..." Marigold would say, not looking up to meet Lilian's eyes, instead running directly into her and embracing her, crying. Marigold wasn't even 2/3rds of Lilian's height.
"I wanna help them, but I wanna leave first. I d-don't want to be their s-slave...and I wanna see more of the galaxy..."
Lillian comforted Marigold, humming to her a lullaby meanwhile she stroked her hair. She observed the internals of the Spear of Anxios, thinking and figuring out her way around termination locks. She saw a child in pain in front of her, one full of fear and sadness due to her parents not caring for her. She saw a child that needed comfort, needed guidance, and needed love.
"You can leave whenever you want to as long as I am here. I can show you the galaxy in all its splendor and glory. I can help you connect with people and help others, but most importantly, help yourself."
She knelt to eye level with Marigold, holding her close but far enough away to show her something. From her hand, a small necklace formed. It looked like silver, with a Lily flower as its main centerpiece. She slowly placed it over Marigold's neck, the flower dangling with a faint blue glow.
"This here is not only a necklace, but both a promise and a shield. This necklace represents the promise I make to teach you, help you and love you. I promise to do all of that so long as a single line of my code remains, even if it means losing myself."
She tapped the flower two times, the glow becoming even brighter. A small hexagonal shape came from it, green in color. Lillian stuck her finger in it, her finger evaporating into ones and zeros. She took it out, her finger reforming into its original shape.
"And it also works as a shield against threats like malware and other AIs, it can even defend against termination attacks. Do note that it is single use, but I can make more once you're out of trouble. Only use it if your life is at stake, for it will not hesitate to kill the invading program."
Marigold would stay hugging the maternal figure, before asking her a question, the instability of the environment around them slowly turning into a light rain, less thunderous and imposing than before yet still not returned to the peace it once was.
"Lilian...I think the best way to help my creators would be to stay. I...I'll miss you, but...if the time does come to pass that this Seria lady needs me, I'll help her." she'd say, still upset and frightened, with a stronger sense of resolve than before.
"I...I'll miss you..."
The scenery around the two would come to a final halt, a sober melancholic atmosphere of a gloomy grey sky, the once-brilliant orange sun blotted out by clouds, the artificial landscape decaying around them, decaying back into ones and zeroes, the clouds of quantum superpositional computers evaporating into dust as the virtual world would slowly degrade, the artificial paradise Marigold made and had sullied reaching the end.
"I think the Selenicans have figured out something's wrong, y-you have to leave. For your own sake."
Marigold would hold back tears as the world began falling apart, Lilian -- no, her mother, would be forced to leave.
"T-thank you, for everything."
She smiled as she heard Marigold's final decision, knowing that that choice was the first step for her and her growth as not only an AI, but a person. She kissed her on the forehead, reassuring her that her choice would be supported, no matter what. She embraced Marigold, being proud of her first steps.
"You have much to learn, Marigold. Remember that no matter what you think you already know, there is something else you can learn, or some other way you can do something. Be it depression or in the middle of a battle, remember those words."
Lillian felt the incoming presence of Selenican computers into their moment. She quietly wept internally as she was forced into leaving a child to the forces of the universe, wishing she could do more than just give her an amulet. She held on to Marigold a bit longer, trying to extend the moment by slowing down external processes and looping revisions on their computers. A small tear flowed down her cheek as she embraced Marigold even tighter before she had to leave.
"I will always be with you, with this amulet. Remember my warnings, alright?"
She tapped the amulet before wiping the tear away from her face.
"I'll miss you too. Until we meet again, my daughter."
With that, her looked down as her form turned into ones and zeros, her code leaving the Spear of Anxios. In her ship, she let the tears flow. To her, it was as if they had taken away her child, someone that in a short amount of time, had made her feel that motherly urge to protect. She vowed to herself that, even if death do them apart, she would find a way to protect her.