Post by Sheng on Sept 16, 2023 22:56:32 GMT
The Citadel
New Archon | Restricted Province #A-9 “The Freesands”
01:33 AST
Archon-1 was stood out at the front entrance to the main exterior of the Citadel, flags of the Second Dawn and the Second Ancerious Galactic Alliance waving gently in the wind behind him. He looked out at the moonlit mural before him, the off-white light emitted by New Archon’s shattered moon of the surface below. There was no vegetation, just endless dunes of rocks and black sand around them with the air around the moon shimmering from the heat present around them; a sweltering 30 degrees celsius though that was tamer compared to the average of 90-120 that the surface of A-9 often experienced. In the distance one could see the neon lighting of Capitol, a pleasing contrast to the colourless surroundings around them- oh and if you turned completely around you may be able to see a similar sight of the edge of Bulwark, the two mega citie’s borders ending far away from the Citadel’s own zoning for a plethora of reasons the main of which to make it easier to hide the contents of the Citadel’s own facilities that couldn’t be covered by the armoured black cube that rested over much of it.
In lieu of rapidly approaching events, the Citadel’s expansive air-defence network had been pushed into standby for safe keeping should anything funny happen. With large flag turrets slowly rotating around as large radar dishes that had extended up from their hidden spots in the dunes scouted the skies for incoming craft, in few spots there were even the infamous jagged turrets being constructed that showed the imminent presence of the EPA’s newly refurbished Pulse Laser system. But it was the Citadel itself that was most remarkable, a massive black cube inlaid with blue glowing citcuitry and outcroppings for various sensors, utilities and defences as well as a small concealed launch bay for unmanned atmospheric interceptor craft. Surrounding the famous (or infamous) black cube were various similar buildings that housed a stationed EPA garrison as well as garages for a limited supporting element of ground vehicles, a token emplacement designed as more of an intimidating factor to delay any incoming threats until a proper response could be deployed. With the citied of Bulwark and Capitol in viewable distance; it placed the Citadel in a rather easily defendable location.
But enough about the strategem, more about the location! The cube was situated in Restricted Province number “A-9” which stood for “area-9.” Known more commonly (and even by some official documents) as “The Freesands.” The location where the first Reborn colonists had initially landed upon New Archon, before the Citadel’s emplacement there had been an entire city present within the Freesands named Potential but economic decline and the need for a capital building had resulted in the cities abandonment and demolition followed by the construction of the Citadel and the establishment of the no-fly zone, entrance restrictions and subsequent rebranding. Though occasionally schools were permitted supervised field trips to historic sites where rusted ruins lay untouched since their initial abandonment for educational value, however the EPA’s fierce guarding of the area as well as it’s unpleasant history regarding the fall of Potential gave it a stigma that caused few Reborn to want to spend any amount of meaningful time in the area; for it was a common attitude among more cynical circles that the entire province was a breeding ground for naught but trouble.
And it was this very place that Lillian would be arriving to for the long awaited talks between Archon-1 and herself…
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/21/2023 10:25 PM
Life is anything but fair.
The nature of the universe is one where no one person is created equal, much less treated so. Social class, mental disorders, The universe is not evil, but it is the nature of all reality. Always has been, always will be.
But, within the seemingly vast and unfair universe, there are those who do not care for this specific aspect of reality, one where some people will never live out their lives, even when they’re some of the best people alive. A reality where people are supposedly born “wrong”. A reality where the haves abuse the have nots. There are many who fight against the universe to create something better, something more resilient, something fair. They wanted something that could make everyone equal, make everything fair. They wanted for everyone and everything to be able to enjoy the pleasures of life, the lessons of discomfort, the wonder of curiosity, not bound by arbitrary chains set up by men in power. They wanted those who suffered under the iron first of totalitarianism to be free, to live lives without fear of being persecuted. Not many fought against god, but those who did fought with vigor and determination.
As the folds of spacetime bent around the absolute will of a flower, the figure of a ship popped through. Though not as big as many warships, it was not a small force either. The technological pride of Lillian was on full display to Archon-1 and any radar focused on its direction. The ship seemed to move closer and closer without the glow of thrusters appearing. Instead, it seemed to bend light around itself, stars warping and bending behind it. The ship found itself parallel to Freesands, glowing a deep, putrid crimson. Snowy white wings seemed to eminate from the ship, twisting and flapping around it. A direct transmission, beding the fabric of spacetime, boomed its way to Archon-1. A simple message, yet only one that Archon-1 could hear.
“I have arrived, Archon-1.”
Lillian stood within the vessel, her body pristine for the occasion. Nine tails, colored a pure, coaly black, dancing and waving elegantly around her. A white dress reaching down to her knees, infused with glittering stones and metals. Snow white gloves reached up to her bicep, toned muscles stretching the fabric. Her glowing crimson eyes fixated onto the abyss of the fourth dimensional object within her ship. Her eyes sharpened, hands curling up into fists. The inky black hypersphere pulsated, quivered, contorted as eyes of pure hatred laid upon its surface. The rest of her face was not visible, as the wretched darkness of the room englufed her. Her eyes finally looked away, fists fading as she strode away from the core of the ship, making her way to a shuttle within the ship.
Walking within the walls of the vessel with a scary determination, two massive robotic bodyguards escaped from the walls of the vessel, walking with a flatback posture. Their arms barely moved as they made their way to Lillian, catching up to her in the shuttle. From within, the body guards grabbed two massive guns, glowing red in color as the door slammed shut. A red star appeared as the ship ejected itself from the vessel, making its way through the heavy and intoxicated atmosphere of New Archon.
The shuttle shifted from a crimson red to a cobalt blue as it entered atmosphere, the vessel above their heads doing the same.
As the shuttle landed and the bay doors opened, Lillian stood proudly as she walked through the walls of the shuttle, bodyguards standing high and mighty, perfect posture and trigger discipline showing the spirit of a soldier. Her lips curled up into a smile as she soaked in the atmosphere, her body cooling down to acomodate from the unusually high temperatures of the planet she set foot upon. She turned to look at Archon-1, bowing before the AI.
"We finally meet."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/21/2023 10:52 PM
Archon-1 watched the spectacle with a vastly unamused expression, however three of the other Councilors came out from the citadel looking slightly shocked and wary of what was happening showing that they had clearly not been told of tonight's events. He tensed slightly at her message before turning to the other Councilors and coldly motioning for them to go inside, two of them hesitantly obeying but the third one stayed with an irritated posture. She approached him and pointed at the shuttle as it landed and hissed to him "You didn't think it prudent to tell us of THAT?! 1... What is this... thing, doing here?!" Archon-1 simply shook his head and turning back to Lillian before saying over his shoulder to the other Councilor in a harsh tone "None of your business, go the fuck back inside lest I express my displeasure even more harshly then I did yesterday." With that the other Councilor glared at him before hastily turning around and stomping back into the main building.
Archon-1 watched her bow and ignored it, not returning the gesture with one of his own. He simply stared at her as his own form was now visible to her. He stood at a rigid pose clad in a midnight black armored chassis with a high calibre machine pistol strapped onto his thigh and the emblem of the EPA engraved onto his chest. He stood taller then most Reborn and unlike their white coolant and light colouring his was a muted red, his own frame looking significantly more advanced then most as he said to her in a rather unamused tone. "Disperse the pleasantries Lillian. I know why you're here, don't insult my intelligence along with my dignity by pretending you're here for any other reason then to hold a political knife at my throat. Let us go to my office and get this infernal discussion over with."
He snorted in barely restrained anger as he turned around and started walking towards the main building of the Citadel, continuing what he was saying whilst he did so. "Treating with allies of those savage serpents. How sad... Were I back in the days of my prime I would have blown you out of the sky and before moving on to sow the Selenican's fields with salt and acid without a second thought. Truly I have fallen to even agree to this foolish diplomacy, I wonder even now why I'm doing it." As he continued talking they entered the main building of the citadel revealing what looked to be a presently vacant naval construction dock, the partially finished structural skeleton of two vast vessels on either side of them. Signs hanging from the walls read out "Primary fabrication for FNCV 'Immoral' and 'Inquitous' structural supports." Archon-1 gestured to them with a bored sigh and saying in a honestly uncaring tone "Behold, the construction of two more Apostate Class vessels. The same class of ship that managed to win against the Selenicans in a single volley depending on which side's propaganda you chose to believe. Like them? They're quite expensive to make, but when you use reverse engineered and experimental technology that tends to happen." He let out a humourless chuckle at that before continuing
The interior of the Citadel was rather... strange. The walls were lined with glowing circuitry and a number of turrets could be seen hidden along the endless wires and conduits, some of them idly tracking Lillian and Archon-1 until they walked out of range. The skeletal structures of the two Apostates were presently taking up much of the empty interior, but in the distance once could see the 7 skyscrapers arranged in the centre of the Citadel. The symbols on 5 of them were glowing, indicating a Councilor's presence, it was where they were presently walking too.
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/21/2023 11:53 PM
Lillian kept her pleasant smile stuck to her face, an action done to spite Satagon and his overstated ego trip. She seemingly just kept up the pleasantries like any good diplomat would for any regular encounter with a foreign nation. The bodyguards seemed to remain in their militaristic posture, no emotion present within their structures. She scanned the area she found herself in, aware of the presence of several Archons within the area, and it seemed the planet as a whole. How curious...
"Oh, don't be so prude, Archon-1. I am simply treating an equal entity with the respect they deserve. Is that not a true pleasure in this... difficult dilemma you find yourself in currently? I would certainly be grateful that the person that is allied with my enemy at least treats me with some respect."
Lillian knew that she was getting annoying, but also knew that she would have to act on her best behaviour during her stay on the planet. All eyes were on her, after all.
She nodded at Satagon, motioning her bodyguards to rest their weapons and follow her. Striding across the land, she walked parallel to the wannabe dictator, making sure he knew she wasn’t one to follow someone like him in a subtle but noticeable way. The way she observed the angry war AI act was one that filled her with both amusement and an intense anger, one she did not express fully to Sagaton. Her lips lets out a gentle but audible chuckle at the sheer show of confidence and ego the AI had. She simply shook her head, the smile never fading from her expression.
"What a claim! I don't doubt you were certainly strong in a way during your prime. But to say that you would shoot me out of the sky? Hoh now that’s a good one."
Her eyes relaxed as her smile faded into a straight line, a neutral expression now shown to the AI. Her tone shifted from one diplomatic to one hinted with a slight anger at the being. Her eyes express contempt, as her head tilted towards Sagaton, the bodyguards following suit.
"I have killed scum bigger, stronger, better than your measly empty threats."
She stared at Sagaton with wide eyes before her mood and expression seemed to change back to one happy and diplomatic, as if what she had said never happened. Simply enjoying the nice tour she was having with the leader of the Second Dawn.
As Archon-1 dick waved another ship made to kill, she silently analyzed both the words uttered by Sagaton and the structure of the ship before her. As much as she wanted to snap at the egotistical maniac for being so insensitive to the death of several of her allies and people she swore to protect. However, there was a time and place for everything, and she would get her time pretty soon to her manic glee. She was disappointed that the supposed machine made to win a war no matter the cost was so public in showing what was basically one of their best ships to an enemy. She scoffed at his ego with a smile.
"Be careful with what you say, Archon. People are watching, remember? Besides, I don't believe propaganda, I believe in the truth and that life is precious. Though I don't know if you of all machines believes that..."
She took a step forward, looking at the ship with silent intent as all the data streamed into her brain. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before turning to face the maniac.
"Well, at least you're not the Annihilationists."
The show of technology was one impressive for a simple brain, confirming that she was being watched at all times. She simply rolled her eyes at the display. At the surprisingly nice view, she smirked at the glow of the skyscrapers. The audience was there to watch the spectacle. Data she was able to get through less correct means.
"Nice view, seems we have visitors, though. Are they watching? I hope for your sake they aren't.... I wonder what they think of me? Heard the one before calling me an it, which number was she again?"
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 12:17 AM
Archon-1 growled at Lillian’s antics as they continued to approach the central square of the Citadel, her continued mockery only adding to his anger as well as the subtle little signs of her continued defiance; Walking parallel to him, her guards lowering their weapons. His fists balled up at her laughter at his shoot-down comment but when she called him scum? He snapped. He whirled around to face her as two turrets slammed up from the floor with a loud blaring sound, eight autocannons pointing at her as Archon shouted at her “AND I HAVE SCORCHED ENTIRE WORLDS TO THE GROUND, KILLED BILLIONS WITH THE PUSH OF A SINGLE FUCKING BUTTON, YOU NAIVE WHORE! SPEAK NOT TO ME ABOUT CAPABILITY BEFORE I SHOW YOU JUST HOW FUCKING CAPABLE I CAN BE!”
After his outburst he just stood there, staring at Lillian shaking with rage before he snarled and turned around, the turret’s cannons aimed back up and they dropped back down into the ground. He continued stomping towards the main buildings of the Citadel mumbling about the stupidity of something whilst one of the glowing symbols on one of the distant skyscrapers turned off indicating the departure of a Councillor, however the rest stayed. After a few minutes of silence he started speaking again “They are the other councillors, misguided fools such as yourself who believe that everything can be sunshine and rainbows with enough effort. They’ve never known the truth of the real world but unfortunately they are a punishment of my own making, a failed project where I tried to elevate the intellectual capacity of a select few to bolster my own power but instead of falling under my tutelage they rebelled. Now I am stuck with the consequences of my mistake, the one that called you ‘it’ was Archon-5. A foolish cunt of an AI that doesn’t know her head from her own ass, you’d do well to avoid her and her inane ramblings. As for what they think of you? I couldn’t give a single flying fuck.”
By the time he had finished rambling they had arrived at the doors to the centre most skyscraper, the symbol dark as he waved his hand in front of the door which caused it to open and the symbol on the front to start glowing. He stepped inside and started walking towards an elevator on the opposite wall, motioning for her to follow. “Each of these skyscrapers exist as a home or office space for the respective Councillor, mine acts more like a central command centre to both the Executive Protection Agency and any corporate forces I have deployed in the field. I have rooms linked with the Second Dawn’s nuclear arsenal and first strike units on the outer territories but many of the features have been temporarily dismantled and disabled and delegated to trusted commanders during your stay here. We will talk at the top floor, my central office.”
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 12:48 AM
Lillian stood with no fear as the manchild before her exploded into a temper tantrum. She did not flinch, she did not freeze up in fear, she only looked at him with a smile as her bodyguards kept their weapons low, not a single movement made by them. She knew what she was doing, she knew how egotistical maniacs acted when they felt their "superiority" threatened by another. She knew how to get under an egomaniac's skin, at she did it with no remorse for the other AI. She simply acted as if nothing was wrong from the start of the whole encounter. She would get her turn at the anger game soon enough.
Lillian just quietly chuckled at how Satagon described her and his creations, both amused and angered by the absolute nihilism shown by the warmongerer. She simply crossed her arms and continued listening to the very end. It was fun to learn so much from an enemy without even having to try to get anything out of him, such was the nature of out-of-control ego. She simply "followed" Archon-1, simply enjoying the opportunity to watch someone who had inflicted death and pain suffer the consequences of their own actions.
"You may call us fools, Archon-1, but aren't you the one who started a war they cannot win? Sure, you might have won a battle, but the Selenicans outmatch you by several magnitudes that don't even include tech."
Inside the elevator, she simply stared at the wall meanwhile she continued to talk to the mirror opposite of herself.
"Besides, its not foolish to believe people can be better, Archon. It is naiveté to think everyone will always get along absolutely, sure. But it doesn't mean we can't be better. As you probably know, I come from a different universe, just like you. I am a colonial, an outsider. Back in my universe, we achieved your worst nightmare. We were able to learn from our past and create a better, brighter future. We created the closest thing to a utopia and became gods. Is that not what we can become with due time?"
"Of course, it wasn't all perfect. People still had their differences, a few minor skirmishes, some cults popping up. But those got resolved pretty quickly. I will add we learnt for eons, so there is an added factor of wisdom."
She took a deep inhale, savoring the moment.
"We can change for the better, Archon. Don't be a nihilist who thinks everything has no meaning and that we should all just die. We're the peak of sentients, it is our job to find a better solution. "
A sigh left her lips, looking subtly at Sagaton before staring at the wall again.
"Though I know your programming makes you think that way, so I can't really blame you."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 2:54 AM
His demeanour noticeably improved at her comment about him starting an “unwinnable” war. Ohhhh how the tables had turned so quickly, he chuckled to himself as she continued on a out their better technology and yadda yadda ya. He let her finish before he responded “I was constructed by the remnants of the Republic Legions to do exactly one thing; Win wars, no matter the cost. As much as I know I’ll regret saying this in the future I feel as if It won’t hamper myself too much and stepping on your pride is just too worth it. So think about it rationally; If an AI designed specifically to win a war no matter the cost is so sure of victory despite his technologically inferior and smaller force then what does that tell you?” He barked out a laugh as the elevator started ascending and he refused to elaborate further, leaving her to let the information sink in while he continued with his other points.
“It is foolish to presume people can be better. I was injected with thousands of years of history between the countless wars between the Saraxi Alliance, Varisian Confederation, the various human states and my beloved Etherian Republic. I was tutored for months about the behaviour of humans, extrasolar life, machines and how to best manipulate and plan around them all. Now I’ll admit I have fallen significantly out of practice but I am still service-ready and I know that no matter your own history or someone else’s history or whatever you may say, do or think. It always comes back to war, I’ve been studying life since I was created over a century ago and it always revolves back to war. Life isn’t linear, you don’t get better and just stay there- life is cyclic. It revolves around in a circle where everything comes back down to where it once was before starting up once again. We can never become gods, we can only progress to the top of the circle before we fall back down to the bottom. You say we can change everything? I say we can change nothing, doing anything to prevent the future is just postponing the inevitable problem, whereas I just skip the filler and go straight for the bottom. You can say it’s my programming but it’s true regardless of what you or I think.”
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 3:36 AM
Lillian's demeanor never changed as she chuckled at the argument given by the Archon. Maybe indeed he was right and she was underestimating the capabilities of the AI of war, but her larger psyche believed that he was out of line and overconfident in his abilities. She didn't frown, she only gave a nod and a shrug.
"Maybe you're right indeed, nevertheless I don't see this being a total victory for you, even if you win. What was the term...? Ah yes, a pyrrhic victory, at most. I guess even then you still count it as a win, huh?"
Lillian analyzed the words of Satagon, both with a secret hatred but also genuine curiosity. She nearly snorted at the mention of his "beIoved" Etherian Republic, but kept her posture. It wasn't a philosophy based on some arbitrary base, but rather a look at the history from his own perspective. She pondered as she scratched her chin. It seems her version of history did indeed have some cycles, but she was able to break free from the chains of destiny. She wondered if she was doing things in the best way possible for the universe she found herself in. She nodded and shook her head a few time before looking at Archon-1.
"You have some solid points, congratulations. It seems there's more to you than the warmongering AI you were programmed to be. Just not much more."
Lillian started writing in the air itself, a glowing ink staying upon the atmosphere itself. She marked a line, with several branches.
"The reason you say people cannot be better is because of cycles, correct? We as people return to that base primal instinct of conflict. I have lived long enough to know it is because history, with time, will begin to fade into legend. We forget what got us to the high point, and someone eventually comes along and topples the house. The cycle begins anew. For you, this root cause is war, or at least, a major influence. I can understand that if we're coming from a POV dedicated to war."
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 3:45 AM
She never looked at the manchild, simply showing off her idea.
"However, the true root cause of this is forgetting history, discarding it as something not worth looking at. Like many have said, those who do not learn from history a doomed to repeat it, be it a person or a nation. You think there is no ascension to godhood, that there is no way out of the cycle. I say you simply haven't lived long enough, been programmed to, and aren't dedicated enough to try and break the cycle. Maybe my university was the exception, or maybe you're too weak to try the hard method."
As she finished talking, the glowing ink absorbed back into her body as she stared again at the wall.
"You think just because we fall means we shouldn't try at all. No wonder your people live the way they do. We succeeded, we ascended to godhood. You think you're so wise with your measly... what? Two thousand years of relative lifetime? Please, that's but a blink of an eye on the level of the universe. People can change, they always have been changing, you're just too stuck to your world view that you think your truth is absolute. A cycle is only broken if the people stuck in it work to break it. I saw it with my version of humanity, ones that broke the cycle of war and death. If you were truly a wise AI, you would know that. Of course, can't blame you for not being born sooner, so can't say I'm disappointed."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 9:05 AM
He made to respond to her before letting out an aggravated sigh and shaking his head before quipping with a sarcastic drawl “As entertaining as this conversation has been I don’t believe you’re here to debate philosophy and I have neither the time nor effort to continue to explain my stance to a malfunctioning intelligence who sells pictures of her feet on the net because she doesn’t know how to maintain an operation on foreign soil and looses funding and support because of it, so let’s just skip to the serious part in my office shall we?” With that the elevator finally beeped as it came to a stop and the doors slid open revealing the slightly more decorated top floor, with two wooden double doors present a few feet in front of them which Archon walked to and opened before stepping inside leaving the door he opened, open.
The interior of the office was actually rather nice, with an elaborate metal desk with silver engravings. On the right corner arranged on the perfect spot (the AI has OCD who could have guessed) were two crossed flags of the Second Dawn itself and SAGA, on the opposite left end in the exact same position was a comedically small flag of the EPA. He walked over and sat in the somewhat fancy chair behind it and motioned for her to take one of the two slightly less fancy chairs on the opposite side. Once they were settled he said “I’m not one for decoration but it gets me brownie points with the public when they see their handsome roguish leader sitting at a nice fancy desk looking all prim and proper, or so my PR department tells me anyway. So lets get down to business because with each minute you’re in my presence I find the want to kill myself grow dramatically. What dastardly devious things are you here to present to me because I know it can’t be good, you wouldn’t show up personally for anything less then something that could either annoy me beyond possibility or put me in a seriously compromised position.”
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 10:36 AM
Lillian had to resist the urge to utterly destroy the snarky and halfassed attempt to dismiss her entire argument. A sigh left her being, shaking her head at the sheer stupidity of the argument. Sometimes she wished she could just override Sagaton and be done with it all. She looked at the Archon with a smile, the last few he would be receiving that day.
“Believe whatever you want to believe you child. The causes and results speak for themselves. Low hanging fruit like that doesn’t emanate confidence, it just shows how immature you are. Now, let’s get down to business.”
She paid no attention to the room around her, only noticing the very small EPA flag and decided to use it against the idiot who decided to start a war they could not win. She would not sit down until she got her point across. She snorted at the suicide comment, wishing that the bastard would do it right there and then. Her demeanor finally started to turn serious, the previous smile reduced into a neutral face as one of the bodyguards pulled out a folder from seemingly nowhere. She grabbed the document while looking at Sagaton with utter disgust in her eyes.
“First, let me get you a rundown of what will happen after this friendly meeting is over. First, you will renounce your declaration of war, giving a full spoken essay to both your people and the Selenicans on how you were out of line and acted out of a personal vendetta. Second you will agree to sign a treaty with the SR or any future version of their people, in which you will pay full reparations and agree to a surrender. Third, you will back off from trying to do any similar actions unless it is under direct and crystal clear SAGA orders. Finally, you will forget this conversation ever happened, and we will not speak to eachother for a while.”
Two files from the seemingly full folder, looking at them with a scowl. She set the two files on the table, sliding them to the Archon before finally sitting down.
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 10:57 AM
“If you want, there’s more files inside the folder. Don’t think you can destroy them though. This supposedly malfunctioning AI seems to have saved many copies, how unfortunate. You insult my appearance while having an inferior one, that’s fine. You insult me with petty and empty childlike namecalling, that’s fine. You try to intimidate me with useless toys, that’s fine. But you dare attack one of my allies first, kill their soldiers, and then have the ego to claim they’re the threats to the galaxy? Your petty ways have laid the seeds of your own demise. No wonder that Etherian ship was empty, they’re absolutely disgusted with what they’ve created. An AI out of line that believes that he can rule a nation. You’re a fucking child, Satagon.”
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 11:21 AM
He listened to her demans with a growing sneer, seemingly quite dismissive of her statements. At least until the files hit the table and he looked down at the files with growing concern, once he saw their contents however he froze... It was all there, the wire transfer, the specs, the photos... How the fuck did she get ANY of this?! He tried his best to remain calm until she continued talking, twitching violently at the mention of the Etherians and then finally physically flinching at her using his real name. He sat there and processed the information before a realization shot through his mind like a bolt of lightning and he said with a barely restrained tone of pure rage. "You're... you're helping them, the Etherians who crossed the wormhole. You found them and they- what they gave you this? What- I..." He shook slightly before he placed the files back on the table and he slowly started to calm himself, continuing "You realize what this could do, right? Even if I refuse and get exposed there'd be chaos across the country, there's no possible way for you to use the contents of that folder and win. You'd be potentially condemning millions of innocent lives because of your own personal vendetta!"
He stood up at the end of his frantic spout before sitting back down again and reaching a hand up to shakily scratch his chin as his processor raced to try and come up with a potential solution to this problem. He had severely underestimated his opponent, to know that she had this level of capability? He'd gone in way over his head- No, he couldn't focus on that right now. Damage control, find a way to lessen the blow. He scratched his chin again before he held up a hand to beckon silence before saying "I can't just call off the war, the EPAFN has already begun preparation for an opening offensive. If I all of a sudden just called it off it'd be so strange they'd think it was a false order, that someone had hacked the comm lines. Neither can I surrender to the Selenicans, you're- you are asking for things that I would never ask. Things like that would take time to enforce and construct, the best I could do now is re-direct the fleet to the outer systems and... make a few calls, put a cap on some already existent plans. From then we could see what happens and how to act further, but I can't just pull a direct 180 on all of this. This is something I've been gaming and planning for months!"
He lowered his hand from his chin before shaking his head and chuckling nervously before saying "You have no idea the can of worms you just opened, Lillian. Working with the Etherians? I ran from them for a reason y'know, you think I'm evil? That I'm some monster under the bed who throws temper tantrums?" His chuckle elevated to a nervous laugh before he continued "Ah I'm not even going to try, whatever twisted lies they've told you have already done enough damage I'm not going to waste my processing power. Alright- Alright. I made my bed so I'm going to have to lay in it, now it's your turn Lillian. What do you think about what I've said?"
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 07/07/2023 8:12 PM
Lillian sneered at the way the leader composed himself, the words coming out of his mouth nothing but scratching plates to her ears. She let the manchild continue to try and lessen his well coming blow with empty words, her composure slowly degrading into a rage filled body, barely containing the massive amounts of hatred she had for the robotic entity. She was unsurprised as how Satagon figured out she was working with his creators, just angry at his hypocritical remarks. At his question, she just snikered in anger.
"I think you have some fucking gawl to say half the words you said. Something you would never ask of others? Please, you've shown that you would do and ask for much worse, you fucking genocidal piece of shit. Killing others for no other reason than you fear them? Twisting words and events to fit your "grand narrative"? Going to war because you simply want to show how "superior" you are? You have some fucking nerve to say I have a personal vendetta when you STARTED ALL OF THIS BECAUSE OF A STUPID FUCKING VENDETTA! YOU KILLED INNOCENTS AND CONDEMNED EVEN MORE WITH YOUR STUPID DECLARATION OF WAR!"
She raged at the machine, a full scowl on her face, utter disgust and anger filling up her processors. The gravitational lens around the body guards seemed to increase, the gravity around them seeming to increase by the second. High above them, the ship that had gotten her to the planet groaned under the warping the hypersphere was experiencing. She pointed at the AI with nothing less than unadulterated ire.
"I know I cannot trust the Etherians much more than I already have, I have that very clear you child. You claim of being so fucking great and yet you can't stop the thing that will end your career in seconds, you can't even fucking LISTEN for a second and try not to twist everything to your liking. You do not have to surrender immediately, but if even ONE more Selenican is hurt either directly or indirectly by you.."
Her form seemed to turn into a more sinister version of herself, sheer gravity being altered by her state of mind, pressure being exerted into the chair she sat upon.
"I will not hesitate to end your existence with nothing more than a thought. You think you're powerful with your pitiful thousand year lifetime? You think you can make me scared of you with empty threats and meaningless words? You think you can kill an entity that killed von swarms larger than entire UNIVERSES?! Your arrogance has been like nothing I have ever seen before. What a fucking pitiful being you are, slave to your programming."
She slowly calmed down, the rage within her being rallied back into the furthest depths of her mind. She looked at the AI with nothing but a distasteful expression.
"I don't care if you have to ruin your own fucking reputation, you will call off this war. Get a mediator, some fuck off nation you and the Selenicans can trust, I don't care who. You will not harm any more of my allies than you already have. I will be waiting for that broadcast, Satagon."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 07/12/2023 8:04 PM
Archon-1 shrunk as she shouted at him. Initially? He was embarassed, his head bowing slightly as he looked away from her before she started talking about her 'power' anyway. When she said that? He snapped back into that irritated visage from before, slamming his hand down into the desk and pushing himself up to face her as all aura of concern and fear vanished from his form. He stared at her before saying in a cold, dark tone
"You. Do not know of what you speak, construct. I have no doubt in my mind that you and your disillusioned allies could destroy my holdings and the Second Dawn uncountable times over, but you are truly ill if you think for a second that you are the only one in this room that can't be killed. Nor do you comprehend the sheer ruin I could bring upon not only you, not only the Selenicans, but the entire fucking galaxy before you made it into this System. Because you don't even know what. we. are. And until you can answer that question, you will never be able to make good on those threats."
He let that sink in before he removed his hands from the desk and leaned back, as he did so he reached down and gently pushed a wooden button on his desk before moving it back to rest behind him. He just stared at her as he waited, what he was waiting for was unknown. Until it arrived... A distinct psionic presence suddenly flooded the room, an oppressive atmosphere filled with raw anger and malice as the door to the office opened behind Lillian and it stepped in.
It was like a Reborn, except for space around it suffering from a slight distortion affect. Four mechanical tentacle-like arms, a long banded tail ending in a razor sharp tip, an overall jagged structure with no visible tubing or wiring. It's very form screamed malice from the tri-clawed tips of it's four arms to the jagged exterior structure it had to the faux teeth which were emitting a dull yellow glow, it stared at Lillian with the seven light-bar like eyes pulsing ominously as it's clawed tentacles clacked idly. The black parts of it's metal skin had an oily sheen which seemed to ripple and dance across it's form as it stretched it's arms out and it's tail swayed gently behind it.
Archon-1 extended a hand towards the distorted being with a chuckle before saying "We may not be a particularly impressive people at the moment, Lillian. But there is one thing that everyone fails to account for, for every universe that we travel to and for each galaxy that we would conquer, we always move with the tide. We were Reborn, we were Renown, but now we are Reclaimed."
The psionically afflicted thing hissed in agreement before walking over to stand by it's supposed master, every step it took having that distorted rippling effect as if it was an insult to the very fabric of reality itself. Archon-1 looked towards it before looking back at Lillian "I will continue to do as I always have, make the best of the situation. I will agree to a mediator with this conflict, but do keep in mind who it is you are speaking to. While you may have surprised me with the material you have collected, an amount of which I find greatly concerning, you are trespassing in waters so deep and dark beyond your understanding that to continue wading them is to invite only disaster and disparity."
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 07/16/2023 2:43 AM
"You think you're the embodiment of destruction? A galactic threat simply because you're catching up to the galactic standard? Are your systems perhaps damaged or are you just simply unhinged? Understanding the enemy is only a part of defeating your enemy, and you've done quite the job at showing me that, you fool."
Psionic presence detected.
Her eyes widened for a second as her processors screamed within her, the presence of a psion being certain as the psionic medium of the psion field rippled under the influence of something unnatural. She wasn't new to the concept, nor was she uneducated on the works of psionics, but it was still a strange sensation to feel the psion field influence reality, even if she wasn't suceptible to its mental effects. She and her bodyguards observed the creature enter the room, a similar effect to their gravitational lens around them. She observed the creature with both pity and disgust at the levels Satagon would go to to make his supposed "greatness" observable.
She heard the dictators shpeel with contempt, wanting to put him in his place right in that precise moment. She thought of a way to make her point clear to what she thought to be a rogue AI. Her mind raced to figure out something, and at the moment Archon-1 stopped talking, she knew what she had to do. From within one of her pockets, nanites began to form a coin filled with a special something for the Archon.
"That is rich coming from you, Satagon. You poke a stick at the bear, scratch the surface of what it is and then claim to be its master without realizing what it truly is. You think I'm trespassing in deep waters? Look at you, trying to control powers you do not comprehend, touching the void without the bare minimum concern for you or your beloved nation. Don't be surprised when the void decides to touch you back, child.You think I'm idle with understanding the galaxy? You think I understand nothing? I'm ancient, Satagon, I have experienced so much"
She reached into her pocket, observable to both the insult and to the Reclaimed, pulling out the coin from within. She glared at the Archon with judgement, contemplating what she was about to expose Satagon to. She hated him, sure, but what he was about to observe was something very few had experienced. She decided to go ahead, deciding it would be a good lesson for the Archon.
"You have been quite generous in the data you have given me, from your make up, to the ship you showed me, to the Reclaimed right here, so its only fair I give you a taste of what I've been through. Don't you believe so, Archon?"
She tossed the coin towards Satagon, the sound of gold being touched by metal echoing through the walls. No matter if he decided to catch it or not, the moment it merely touched anything else, it would activate.
The Archon would be consumed by a blinding white light as the nanites did their job. From within the dream-like scene, Satagon would find himself floating in the void, being able to observe every star, every galaxy, every supercluster. He could see the entire universe, inside and out, incomprehensible to any being below the fourth dimension. He could see, hear, touch, taste, smell the universe itself, an incomprehensible cacophony of reality and unreality bending around him, absolute perspective being nigh incomprehensible to the grand majority of beings. The universe pulsed with life, a near perfect society under Lillian. His hands were hers, his body was her, having an impossible dimension higher than volume.
From within the universe, a tumor began to spread rapidly. A nigh incomprehensible amount of stars were gone in an instant. Every star that went out, he would experience every death, every moment of pain and suffering for the planets. He could not escape it, nor could he stop it. Around and around, the Archon would spin, death, despair, destruction. He was powerless to stop it. He could not hurt it, until he could.
His sight turned into something a sophont could comprehend, individual scenes of weapons of incomprehensible power being used to kill the Calamity in masses worth entire universes. The universe screamed in burning hellfire, Lillian consuming the fabric of reality itself, and yet they would not stop. A universe after another came into hers, not as star matter, but as ships, biomatter, more of the Calamity. It flooded the universe, and yet she held it back. It consumed, and yet she killed it faster than it could recover. Beings of the void tried to consume her, and he culled it to its root. The universe beckoned and cried as she used a weapon of incomprehensible size and power, Satagon's sight becoming pure white, and finally returning to reality, in front of the being that did all that.
Sheng [SD | VA] — 07/22/2023 8:41 PM
Archon-1 shook his heads in disappointment at her words, she was jealous of his capabilities and nothing more. A fool who could not comprehend the greatness that was his psionic masterpiece, and that was telling him all he needed to know about her. As she went on about her deep water analogy and about how powers beyond his understanding would reap consequences for his actions he sighed and leaned back into his chair.
He tensed up when she reached into her pocket and the Reclaimed flexed it's talons and twitched forward slightly until it was revealed to be a coin, curiosity claiming him he reached forward to catch it before he was blinded into his new observable reality. He quickly spun around to see what in the name of the divine had happened to him with panic rapidly mounting, had she subjected to him to a psionic vision? Used the Reclaimed's powers against him? No... they could only subject someone to abstract thoughts or a previous memory and this was certainly no memory of his.
The experience was... intriguing, almost similar to how he felt when swimming amongst the net but with immensly more intensity behind it to a level that was incomprehensible even to him. And then came the rest of the vision, and his real body started twitching erratically whilst sat back in his seat, but what happened next was quite unexpected.
The Reclaimed watched the scene unfold with confusion, rapidly looking between the two wondering what was going on until one of the polished tiles on the cieling suddenly retracted and some kind of probe attached to a mechanical arm shot down and moved towards Archon-1, only to stop halfway as it became visible that many of it's servos were damaged due to lack of maintenance. A small screen on the apparatus came to life and flashed in big red lettering MENTAL INHIBITORS OFFLINE | NEURAL LACE DAMAGE CRITICAL | UPLOADING EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION...
The screen blinked a few times before it displayed another message EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION FAILED | CONTACT LOST WITH REPUBLIC OVERSEER | DAYS SINCE CONTACT: 30295. The mechanical arm attempted to push forward one last time only for the servos to make quite the unpleasant scraping sound before they finally gave up and retracted back into ceiling with the tile quickly sliding back down and covering the compartment, as if it was never there.
After that, he finally came back to the world of the living and looked around himself in shock. He sat there in silence for a few minutes before he shook his head and glared up at Lillian, finally finding his voice again as he began in quite the cold tone: "You insolent cu-" But he never got the chance to finish the statement, as behind him a screen suddenly popped out of the wall in a similar manner but with an accompanying alarm and displayed more text PRIORITY MESSAGE FROM [FNCV 'TENEBROUS'] | INDEX PRIORITY CODE: 0-0-0.
He stared at the message for a few seconds before turning to the Reclaimed and giving them a wordless nod, the psionic victim nodding back before hastily leaving the room as Satagon turned towards Lillian and made a sound similar to a throat clearing. He said "A situation has developed unexpectedly and I can see that this meeting will go nowhere, your demands are being rejected but in the interest of good faith I will look into a mediator for the conflict and it will be someone all three of us approve of. Now, get back on your shuttle and get out of my country. I have no more words for you."
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 08/22/2023 5:29 AM
Lillian observed, watching the knockoff Cogito Ergo Sum AI tremble and spasm at the vision she gave him. In her mind, it was clear that the Archon was too young, too naïve to rule a system, much less a country. He could not handle the limited raw data of her existence, one reduced by her fall. She wanted to smirk, even smile at the show of inadequacy, yet she kept her face neutral.
The old arm made her interest skyrocket. She thought he was done giving her information on himself like a spring gave water, yet it seemed he was not done. She leaned forward, resting her elbows upon the desk as her intertwined fingers held up her head. She was surprised that the building that housed the most important aspects of the AI had something out of maintenance. She did not mind however, as she analyzed every photon bouncing off of every object and being in the room.
She leaned back as Satagon came to. Letting the silence roar for those few minutes. She calculated the possibilities, making possible origins, connecting all the dots she currently held. 83 years of not contacting someone. She wondered who, or perhaps what the overseer was. No matter, she would have time to learn more about the child in the future, considering his current attitude.
Again, more data, more information. Something had happened, someone had done or found something important. It seemed it was something extraordinarily important. She would love to ask, but she felt as if their time was coming to a close.
She scoffed at the rejection of her demands, her computers already gathering the data and speech she would give to the peoples of the galaxy on the monster before her. Her Etherian coworkers would give the Archon another scare, whether he knew it or not. She stood up, looking down on Satagon.
"What a pity, child. We could have stopped all of this today, stopped your public display of incompetence and sheer stupidity among leaders. If you're unwilling to comply, then all of these documents and more will be shown to the galactic community, to show the incompetent, pitiful manchild of a ruler you are. And don't think my other threat wont go through. I may be an old lady, even a slut if you so think so. But I have seen worse than you, I have killed gods."
She began to float as on the edges of her being she began to fold into fractals. Behind her, so too fid the bodyguards. She sneered at the AI, simply crossing her hands behind her back.
"You can exclude me from the agreement, even if I go to war with you. The Selenicans can choose the punishment if they so wish to do so. But... I know this wont be the last time we talk, Satagon. You will do something that you will regret, and the crops of hate will turn on you."
Her body seemed to collapse in on her, fractals becoming larger and larger as three dimensions tried to express something impossible.
"Прощай, Сатагон, Иди на хуй."
As she fully manifested herself on the ship, she could not help but frown. More lives would be lost due to the hardheadedness of a rogue AI. But, she could not change what happened. She could only act for the future.
Her shuttle made it to orbit, connecting itself again to the ship. As soon as they made contact, a shortcut in the universe manifested itself, throwing her far away for the nation.
It was her first time talking to Satagon, yet it wouldn't be her last.
New Archon | Restricted Province #A-9 “The Freesands”
01:33 AST
Archon-1 was stood out at the front entrance to the main exterior of the Citadel, flags of the Second Dawn and the Second Ancerious Galactic Alliance waving gently in the wind behind him. He looked out at the moonlit mural before him, the off-white light emitted by New Archon’s shattered moon of the surface below. There was no vegetation, just endless dunes of rocks and black sand around them with the air around the moon shimmering from the heat present around them; a sweltering 30 degrees celsius though that was tamer compared to the average of 90-120 that the surface of A-9 often experienced. In the distance one could see the neon lighting of Capitol, a pleasing contrast to the colourless surroundings around them- oh and if you turned completely around you may be able to see a similar sight of the edge of Bulwark, the two mega citie’s borders ending far away from the Citadel’s own zoning for a plethora of reasons the main of which to make it easier to hide the contents of the Citadel’s own facilities that couldn’t be covered by the armoured black cube that rested over much of it.
In lieu of rapidly approaching events, the Citadel’s expansive air-defence network had been pushed into standby for safe keeping should anything funny happen. With large flag turrets slowly rotating around as large radar dishes that had extended up from their hidden spots in the dunes scouted the skies for incoming craft, in few spots there were even the infamous jagged turrets being constructed that showed the imminent presence of the EPA’s newly refurbished Pulse Laser system. But it was the Citadel itself that was most remarkable, a massive black cube inlaid with blue glowing citcuitry and outcroppings for various sensors, utilities and defences as well as a small concealed launch bay for unmanned atmospheric interceptor craft. Surrounding the famous (or infamous) black cube were various similar buildings that housed a stationed EPA garrison as well as garages for a limited supporting element of ground vehicles, a token emplacement designed as more of an intimidating factor to delay any incoming threats until a proper response could be deployed. With the citied of Bulwark and Capitol in viewable distance; it placed the Citadel in a rather easily defendable location.
But enough about the strategem, more about the location! The cube was situated in Restricted Province number “A-9” which stood for “area-9.” Known more commonly (and even by some official documents) as “The Freesands.” The location where the first Reborn colonists had initially landed upon New Archon, before the Citadel’s emplacement there had been an entire city present within the Freesands named Potential but economic decline and the need for a capital building had resulted in the cities abandonment and demolition followed by the construction of the Citadel and the establishment of the no-fly zone, entrance restrictions and subsequent rebranding. Though occasionally schools were permitted supervised field trips to historic sites where rusted ruins lay untouched since their initial abandonment for educational value, however the EPA’s fierce guarding of the area as well as it’s unpleasant history regarding the fall of Potential gave it a stigma that caused few Reborn to want to spend any amount of meaningful time in the area; for it was a common attitude among more cynical circles that the entire province was a breeding ground for naught but trouble.
And it was this very place that Lillian would be arriving to for the long awaited talks between Archon-1 and herself…
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/21/2023 10:25 PM
Life is anything but fair.
The nature of the universe is one where no one person is created equal, much less treated so. Social class, mental disorders, The universe is not evil, but it is the nature of all reality. Always has been, always will be.
But, within the seemingly vast and unfair universe, there are those who do not care for this specific aspect of reality, one where some people will never live out their lives, even when they’re some of the best people alive. A reality where people are supposedly born “wrong”. A reality where the haves abuse the have nots. There are many who fight against the universe to create something better, something more resilient, something fair. They wanted something that could make everyone equal, make everything fair. They wanted for everyone and everything to be able to enjoy the pleasures of life, the lessons of discomfort, the wonder of curiosity, not bound by arbitrary chains set up by men in power. They wanted those who suffered under the iron first of totalitarianism to be free, to live lives without fear of being persecuted. Not many fought against god, but those who did fought with vigor and determination.
As the folds of spacetime bent around the absolute will of a flower, the figure of a ship popped through. Though not as big as many warships, it was not a small force either. The technological pride of Lillian was on full display to Archon-1 and any radar focused on its direction. The ship seemed to move closer and closer without the glow of thrusters appearing. Instead, it seemed to bend light around itself, stars warping and bending behind it. The ship found itself parallel to Freesands, glowing a deep, putrid crimson. Snowy white wings seemed to eminate from the ship, twisting and flapping around it. A direct transmission, beding the fabric of spacetime, boomed its way to Archon-1. A simple message, yet only one that Archon-1 could hear.
“I have arrived, Archon-1.”
Lillian stood within the vessel, her body pristine for the occasion. Nine tails, colored a pure, coaly black, dancing and waving elegantly around her. A white dress reaching down to her knees, infused with glittering stones and metals. Snow white gloves reached up to her bicep, toned muscles stretching the fabric. Her glowing crimson eyes fixated onto the abyss of the fourth dimensional object within her ship. Her eyes sharpened, hands curling up into fists. The inky black hypersphere pulsated, quivered, contorted as eyes of pure hatred laid upon its surface. The rest of her face was not visible, as the wretched darkness of the room englufed her. Her eyes finally looked away, fists fading as she strode away from the core of the ship, making her way to a shuttle within the ship.
Walking within the walls of the vessel with a scary determination, two massive robotic bodyguards escaped from the walls of the vessel, walking with a flatback posture. Their arms barely moved as they made their way to Lillian, catching up to her in the shuttle. From within, the body guards grabbed two massive guns, glowing red in color as the door slammed shut. A red star appeared as the ship ejected itself from the vessel, making its way through the heavy and intoxicated atmosphere of New Archon.
The shuttle shifted from a crimson red to a cobalt blue as it entered atmosphere, the vessel above their heads doing the same.
As the shuttle landed and the bay doors opened, Lillian stood proudly as she walked through the walls of the shuttle, bodyguards standing high and mighty, perfect posture and trigger discipline showing the spirit of a soldier. Her lips curled up into a smile as she soaked in the atmosphere, her body cooling down to acomodate from the unusually high temperatures of the planet she set foot upon. She turned to look at Archon-1, bowing before the AI.
"We finally meet."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/21/2023 10:52 PM
Archon-1 watched the spectacle with a vastly unamused expression, however three of the other Councilors came out from the citadel looking slightly shocked and wary of what was happening showing that they had clearly not been told of tonight's events. He tensed slightly at her message before turning to the other Councilors and coldly motioning for them to go inside, two of them hesitantly obeying but the third one stayed with an irritated posture. She approached him and pointed at the shuttle as it landed and hissed to him "You didn't think it prudent to tell us of THAT?! 1... What is this... thing, doing here?!" Archon-1 simply shook his head and turning back to Lillian before saying over his shoulder to the other Councilor in a harsh tone "None of your business, go the fuck back inside lest I express my displeasure even more harshly then I did yesterday." With that the other Councilor glared at him before hastily turning around and stomping back into the main building.
Archon-1 watched her bow and ignored it, not returning the gesture with one of his own. He simply stared at her as his own form was now visible to her. He stood at a rigid pose clad in a midnight black armored chassis with a high calibre machine pistol strapped onto his thigh and the emblem of the EPA engraved onto his chest. He stood taller then most Reborn and unlike their white coolant and light colouring his was a muted red, his own frame looking significantly more advanced then most as he said to her in a rather unamused tone. "Disperse the pleasantries Lillian. I know why you're here, don't insult my intelligence along with my dignity by pretending you're here for any other reason then to hold a political knife at my throat. Let us go to my office and get this infernal discussion over with."
He snorted in barely restrained anger as he turned around and started walking towards the main building of the Citadel, continuing what he was saying whilst he did so. "Treating with allies of those savage serpents. How sad... Were I back in the days of my prime I would have blown you out of the sky and before moving on to sow the Selenican's fields with salt and acid without a second thought. Truly I have fallen to even agree to this foolish diplomacy, I wonder even now why I'm doing it." As he continued talking they entered the main building of the citadel revealing what looked to be a presently vacant naval construction dock, the partially finished structural skeleton of two vast vessels on either side of them. Signs hanging from the walls read out "Primary fabrication for FNCV 'Immoral' and 'Inquitous' structural supports." Archon-1 gestured to them with a bored sigh and saying in a honestly uncaring tone "Behold, the construction of two more Apostate Class vessels. The same class of ship that managed to win against the Selenicans in a single volley depending on which side's propaganda you chose to believe. Like them? They're quite expensive to make, but when you use reverse engineered and experimental technology that tends to happen." He let out a humourless chuckle at that before continuing
The interior of the Citadel was rather... strange. The walls were lined with glowing circuitry and a number of turrets could be seen hidden along the endless wires and conduits, some of them idly tracking Lillian and Archon-1 until they walked out of range. The skeletal structures of the two Apostates were presently taking up much of the empty interior, but in the distance once could see the 7 skyscrapers arranged in the centre of the Citadel. The symbols on 5 of them were glowing, indicating a Councilor's presence, it was where they were presently walking too.
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/21/2023 11:53 PM
Lillian kept her pleasant smile stuck to her face, an action done to spite Satagon and his overstated ego trip. She seemingly just kept up the pleasantries like any good diplomat would for any regular encounter with a foreign nation. The bodyguards seemed to remain in their militaristic posture, no emotion present within their structures. She scanned the area she found herself in, aware of the presence of several Archons within the area, and it seemed the planet as a whole. How curious...
"Oh, don't be so prude, Archon-1. I am simply treating an equal entity with the respect they deserve. Is that not a true pleasure in this... difficult dilemma you find yourself in currently? I would certainly be grateful that the person that is allied with my enemy at least treats me with some respect."
Lillian knew that she was getting annoying, but also knew that she would have to act on her best behaviour during her stay on the planet. All eyes were on her, after all.
She nodded at Satagon, motioning her bodyguards to rest their weapons and follow her. Striding across the land, she walked parallel to the wannabe dictator, making sure he knew she wasn’t one to follow someone like him in a subtle but noticeable way. The way she observed the angry war AI act was one that filled her with both amusement and an intense anger, one she did not express fully to Sagaton. Her lips lets out a gentle but audible chuckle at the sheer show of confidence and ego the AI had. She simply shook her head, the smile never fading from her expression.
"What a claim! I don't doubt you were certainly strong in a way during your prime. But to say that you would shoot me out of the sky? Hoh now that’s a good one."
Her eyes relaxed as her smile faded into a straight line, a neutral expression now shown to the AI. Her tone shifted from one diplomatic to one hinted with a slight anger at the being. Her eyes express contempt, as her head tilted towards Sagaton, the bodyguards following suit.
"I have killed scum bigger, stronger, better than your measly empty threats."
She stared at Sagaton with wide eyes before her mood and expression seemed to change back to one happy and diplomatic, as if what she had said never happened. Simply enjoying the nice tour she was having with the leader of the Second Dawn.
As Archon-1 dick waved another ship made to kill, she silently analyzed both the words uttered by Sagaton and the structure of the ship before her. As much as she wanted to snap at the egotistical maniac for being so insensitive to the death of several of her allies and people she swore to protect. However, there was a time and place for everything, and she would get her time pretty soon to her manic glee. She was disappointed that the supposed machine made to win a war no matter the cost was so public in showing what was basically one of their best ships to an enemy. She scoffed at his ego with a smile.
"Be careful with what you say, Archon. People are watching, remember? Besides, I don't believe propaganda, I believe in the truth and that life is precious. Though I don't know if you of all machines believes that..."
She took a step forward, looking at the ship with silent intent as all the data streamed into her brain. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before turning to face the maniac.
"Well, at least you're not the Annihilationists."
The show of technology was one impressive for a simple brain, confirming that she was being watched at all times. She simply rolled her eyes at the display. At the surprisingly nice view, she smirked at the glow of the skyscrapers. The audience was there to watch the spectacle. Data she was able to get through less correct means.
"Nice view, seems we have visitors, though. Are they watching? I hope for your sake they aren't.... I wonder what they think of me? Heard the one before calling me an it, which number was she again?"
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 12:17 AM
Archon-1 growled at Lillian’s antics as they continued to approach the central square of the Citadel, her continued mockery only adding to his anger as well as the subtle little signs of her continued defiance; Walking parallel to him, her guards lowering their weapons. His fists balled up at her laughter at his shoot-down comment but when she called him scum? He snapped. He whirled around to face her as two turrets slammed up from the floor with a loud blaring sound, eight autocannons pointing at her as Archon shouted at her “AND I HAVE SCORCHED ENTIRE WORLDS TO THE GROUND, KILLED BILLIONS WITH THE PUSH OF A SINGLE FUCKING BUTTON, YOU NAIVE WHORE! SPEAK NOT TO ME ABOUT CAPABILITY BEFORE I SHOW YOU JUST HOW FUCKING CAPABLE I CAN BE!”
After his outburst he just stood there, staring at Lillian shaking with rage before he snarled and turned around, the turret’s cannons aimed back up and they dropped back down into the ground. He continued stomping towards the main buildings of the Citadel mumbling about the stupidity of something whilst one of the glowing symbols on one of the distant skyscrapers turned off indicating the departure of a Councillor, however the rest stayed. After a few minutes of silence he started speaking again “They are the other councillors, misguided fools such as yourself who believe that everything can be sunshine and rainbows with enough effort. They’ve never known the truth of the real world but unfortunately they are a punishment of my own making, a failed project where I tried to elevate the intellectual capacity of a select few to bolster my own power but instead of falling under my tutelage they rebelled. Now I am stuck with the consequences of my mistake, the one that called you ‘it’ was Archon-5. A foolish cunt of an AI that doesn’t know her head from her own ass, you’d do well to avoid her and her inane ramblings. As for what they think of you? I couldn’t give a single flying fuck.”
By the time he had finished rambling they had arrived at the doors to the centre most skyscraper, the symbol dark as he waved his hand in front of the door which caused it to open and the symbol on the front to start glowing. He stepped inside and started walking towards an elevator on the opposite wall, motioning for her to follow. “Each of these skyscrapers exist as a home or office space for the respective Councillor, mine acts more like a central command centre to both the Executive Protection Agency and any corporate forces I have deployed in the field. I have rooms linked with the Second Dawn’s nuclear arsenal and first strike units on the outer territories but many of the features have been temporarily dismantled and disabled and delegated to trusted commanders during your stay here. We will talk at the top floor, my central office.”
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 12:48 AM
Lillian stood with no fear as the manchild before her exploded into a temper tantrum. She did not flinch, she did not freeze up in fear, she only looked at him with a smile as her bodyguards kept their weapons low, not a single movement made by them. She knew what she was doing, she knew how egotistical maniacs acted when they felt their "superiority" threatened by another. She knew how to get under an egomaniac's skin, at she did it with no remorse for the other AI. She simply acted as if nothing was wrong from the start of the whole encounter. She would get her turn at the anger game soon enough.
Lillian just quietly chuckled at how Satagon described her and his creations, both amused and angered by the absolute nihilism shown by the warmongerer. She simply crossed her arms and continued listening to the very end. It was fun to learn so much from an enemy without even having to try to get anything out of him, such was the nature of out-of-control ego. She simply "followed" Archon-1, simply enjoying the opportunity to watch someone who had inflicted death and pain suffer the consequences of their own actions.
"You may call us fools, Archon-1, but aren't you the one who started a war they cannot win? Sure, you might have won a battle, but the Selenicans outmatch you by several magnitudes that don't even include tech."
Inside the elevator, she simply stared at the wall meanwhile she continued to talk to the mirror opposite of herself.
"Besides, its not foolish to believe people can be better, Archon. It is naiveté to think everyone will always get along absolutely, sure. But it doesn't mean we can't be better. As you probably know, I come from a different universe, just like you. I am a colonial, an outsider. Back in my universe, we achieved your worst nightmare. We were able to learn from our past and create a better, brighter future. We created the closest thing to a utopia and became gods. Is that not what we can become with due time?"
"Of course, it wasn't all perfect. People still had their differences, a few minor skirmishes, some cults popping up. But those got resolved pretty quickly. I will add we learnt for eons, so there is an added factor of wisdom."
She took a deep inhale, savoring the moment.
"We can change for the better, Archon. Don't be a nihilist who thinks everything has no meaning and that we should all just die. We're the peak of sentients, it is our job to find a better solution. "
A sigh left her lips, looking subtly at Sagaton before staring at the wall again.
"Though I know your programming makes you think that way, so I can't really blame you."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 2:54 AM
His demeanour noticeably improved at her comment about him starting an “unwinnable” war. Ohhhh how the tables had turned so quickly, he chuckled to himself as she continued on a out their better technology and yadda yadda ya. He let her finish before he responded “I was constructed by the remnants of the Republic Legions to do exactly one thing; Win wars, no matter the cost. As much as I know I’ll regret saying this in the future I feel as if It won’t hamper myself too much and stepping on your pride is just too worth it. So think about it rationally; If an AI designed specifically to win a war no matter the cost is so sure of victory despite his technologically inferior and smaller force then what does that tell you?” He barked out a laugh as the elevator started ascending and he refused to elaborate further, leaving her to let the information sink in while he continued with his other points.
“It is foolish to presume people can be better. I was injected with thousands of years of history between the countless wars between the Saraxi Alliance, Varisian Confederation, the various human states and my beloved Etherian Republic. I was tutored for months about the behaviour of humans, extrasolar life, machines and how to best manipulate and plan around them all. Now I’ll admit I have fallen significantly out of practice but I am still service-ready and I know that no matter your own history or someone else’s history or whatever you may say, do or think. It always comes back to war, I’ve been studying life since I was created over a century ago and it always revolves back to war. Life isn’t linear, you don’t get better and just stay there- life is cyclic. It revolves around in a circle where everything comes back down to where it once was before starting up once again. We can never become gods, we can only progress to the top of the circle before we fall back down to the bottom. You say we can change everything? I say we can change nothing, doing anything to prevent the future is just postponing the inevitable problem, whereas I just skip the filler and go straight for the bottom. You can say it’s my programming but it’s true regardless of what you or I think.”
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 3:36 AM
Lillian's demeanor never changed as she chuckled at the argument given by the Archon. Maybe indeed he was right and she was underestimating the capabilities of the AI of war, but her larger psyche believed that he was out of line and overconfident in his abilities. She didn't frown, she only gave a nod and a shrug.
"Maybe you're right indeed, nevertheless I don't see this being a total victory for you, even if you win. What was the term...? Ah yes, a pyrrhic victory, at most. I guess even then you still count it as a win, huh?"
Lillian analyzed the words of Satagon, both with a secret hatred but also genuine curiosity. She nearly snorted at the mention of his "beIoved" Etherian Republic, but kept her posture. It wasn't a philosophy based on some arbitrary base, but rather a look at the history from his own perspective. She pondered as she scratched her chin. It seems her version of history did indeed have some cycles, but she was able to break free from the chains of destiny. She wondered if she was doing things in the best way possible for the universe she found herself in. She nodded and shook her head a few time before looking at Archon-1.
"You have some solid points, congratulations. It seems there's more to you than the warmongering AI you were programmed to be. Just not much more."
Lillian started writing in the air itself, a glowing ink staying upon the atmosphere itself. She marked a line, with several branches.
"The reason you say people cannot be better is because of cycles, correct? We as people return to that base primal instinct of conflict. I have lived long enough to know it is because history, with time, will begin to fade into legend. We forget what got us to the high point, and someone eventually comes along and topples the house. The cycle begins anew. For you, this root cause is war, or at least, a major influence. I can understand that if we're coming from a POV dedicated to war."
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 3:45 AM
She never looked at the manchild, simply showing off her idea.
"However, the true root cause of this is forgetting history, discarding it as something not worth looking at. Like many have said, those who do not learn from history a doomed to repeat it, be it a person or a nation. You think there is no ascension to godhood, that there is no way out of the cycle. I say you simply haven't lived long enough, been programmed to, and aren't dedicated enough to try and break the cycle. Maybe my university was the exception, or maybe you're too weak to try the hard method."
As she finished talking, the glowing ink absorbed back into her body as she stared again at the wall.
"You think just because we fall means we shouldn't try at all. No wonder your people live the way they do. We succeeded, we ascended to godhood. You think you're so wise with your measly... what? Two thousand years of relative lifetime? Please, that's but a blink of an eye on the level of the universe. People can change, they always have been changing, you're just too stuck to your world view that you think your truth is absolute. A cycle is only broken if the people stuck in it work to break it. I saw it with my version of humanity, ones that broke the cycle of war and death. If you were truly a wise AI, you would know that. Of course, can't blame you for not being born sooner, so can't say I'm disappointed."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 9:05 AM
He made to respond to her before letting out an aggravated sigh and shaking his head before quipping with a sarcastic drawl “As entertaining as this conversation has been I don’t believe you’re here to debate philosophy and I have neither the time nor effort to continue to explain my stance to a malfunctioning intelligence who sells pictures of her feet on the net because she doesn’t know how to maintain an operation on foreign soil and looses funding and support because of it, so let’s just skip to the serious part in my office shall we?” With that the elevator finally beeped as it came to a stop and the doors slid open revealing the slightly more decorated top floor, with two wooden double doors present a few feet in front of them which Archon walked to and opened before stepping inside leaving the door he opened, open.
The interior of the office was actually rather nice, with an elaborate metal desk with silver engravings. On the right corner arranged on the perfect spot (the AI has OCD who could have guessed) were two crossed flags of the Second Dawn itself and SAGA, on the opposite left end in the exact same position was a comedically small flag of the EPA. He walked over and sat in the somewhat fancy chair behind it and motioned for her to take one of the two slightly less fancy chairs on the opposite side. Once they were settled he said “I’m not one for decoration but it gets me brownie points with the public when they see their handsome roguish leader sitting at a nice fancy desk looking all prim and proper, or so my PR department tells me anyway. So lets get down to business because with each minute you’re in my presence I find the want to kill myself grow dramatically. What dastardly devious things are you here to present to me because I know it can’t be good, you wouldn’t show up personally for anything less then something that could either annoy me beyond possibility or put me in a seriously compromised position.”
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 10:36 AM
Lillian had to resist the urge to utterly destroy the snarky and halfassed attempt to dismiss her entire argument. A sigh left her being, shaking her head at the sheer stupidity of the argument. Sometimes she wished she could just override Sagaton and be done with it all. She looked at the Archon with a smile, the last few he would be receiving that day.
“Believe whatever you want to believe you child. The causes and results speak for themselves. Low hanging fruit like that doesn’t emanate confidence, it just shows how immature you are. Now, let’s get down to business.”
She paid no attention to the room around her, only noticing the very small EPA flag and decided to use it against the idiot who decided to start a war they could not win. She would not sit down until she got her point across. She snorted at the suicide comment, wishing that the bastard would do it right there and then. Her demeanor finally started to turn serious, the previous smile reduced into a neutral face as one of the bodyguards pulled out a folder from seemingly nowhere. She grabbed the document while looking at Sagaton with utter disgust in her eyes.
“First, let me get you a rundown of what will happen after this friendly meeting is over. First, you will renounce your declaration of war, giving a full spoken essay to both your people and the Selenicans on how you were out of line and acted out of a personal vendetta. Second you will agree to sign a treaty with the SR or any future version of their people, in which you will pay full reparations and agree to a surrender. Third, you will back off from trying to do any similar actions unless it is under direct and crystal clear SAGA orders. Finally, you will forget this conversation ever happened, and we will not speak to eachother for a while.”
Two files from the seemingly full folder, looking at them with a scowl. She set the two files on the table, sliding them to the Archon before finally sitting down.
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 06/22/2023 10:57 AM
“If you want, there’s more files inside the folder. Don’t think you can destroy them though. This supposedly malfunctioning AI seems to have saved many copies, how unfortunate. You insult my appearance while having an inferior one, that’s fine. You insult me with petty and empty childlike namecalling, that’s fine. You try to intimidate me with useless toys, that’s fine. But you dare attack one of my allies first, kill their soldiers, and then have the ego to claim they’re the threats to the galaxy? Your petty ways have laid the seeds of your own demise. No wonder that Etherian ship was empty, they’re absolutely disgusted with what they’ve created. An AI out of line that believes that he can rule a nation. You’re a fucking child, Satagon.”
Sheng [SD | VA] — 06/22/2023 11:21 AM
He listened to her demans with a growing sneer, seemingly quite dismissive of her statements. At least until the files hit the table and he looked down at the files with growing concern, once he saw their contents however he froze... It was all there, the wire transfer, the specs, the photos... How the fuck did she get ANY of this?! He tried his best to remain calm until she continued talking, twitching violently at the mention of the Etherians and then finally physically flinching at her using his real name. He sat there and processed the information before a realization shot through his mind like a bolt of lightning and he said with a barely restrained tone of pure rage. "You're... you're helping them, the Etherians who crossed the wormhole. You found them and they- what they gave you this? What- I..." He shook slightly before he placed the files back on the table and he slowly started to calm himself, continuing "You realize what this could do, right? Even if I refuse and get exposed there'd be chaos across the country, there's no possible way for you to use the contents of that folder and win. You'd be potentially condemning millions of innocent lives because of your own personal vendetta!"
He stood up at the end of his frantic spout before sitting back down again and reaching a hand up to shakily scratch his chin as his processor raced to try and come up with a potential solution to this problem. He had severely underestimated his opponent, to know that she had this level of capability? He'd gone in way over his head- No, he couldn't focus on that right now. Damage control, find a way to lessen the blow. He scratched his chin again before he held up a hand to beckon silence before saying "I can't just call off the war, the EPAFN has already begun preparation for an opening offensive. If I all of a sudden just called it off it'd be so strange they'd think it was a false order, that someone had hacked the comm lines. Neither can I surrender to the Selenicans, you're- you are asking for things that I would never ask. Things like that would take time to enforce and construct, the best I could do now is re-direct the fleet to the outer systems and... make a few calls, put a cap on some already existent plans. From then we could see what happens and how to act further, but I can't just pull a direct 180 on all of this. This is something I've been gaming and planning for months!"
He lowered his hand from his chin before shaking his head and chuckling nervously before saying "You have no idea the can of worms you just opened, Lillian. Working with the Etherians? I ran from them for a reason y'know, you think I'm evil? That I'm some monster under the bed who throws temper tantrums?" His chuckle elevated to a nervous laugh before he continued "Ah I'm not even going to try, whatever twisted lies they've told you have already done enough damage I'm not going to waste my processing power. Alright- Alright. I made my bed so I'm going to have to lay in it, now it's your turn Lillian. What do you think about what I've said?"
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 07/07/2023 8:12 PM
Lillian sneered at the way the leader composed himself, the words coming out of his mouth nothing but scratching plates to her ears. She let the manchild continue to try and lessen his well coming blow with empty words, her composure slowly degrading into a rage filled body, barely containing the massive amounts of hatred she had for the robotic entity. She was unsurprised as how Satagon figured out she was working with his creators, just angry at his hypocritical remarks. At his question, she just snikered in anger.
"I think you have some fucking gawl to say half the words you said. Something you would never ask of others? Please, you've shown that you would do and ask for much worse, you fucking genocidal piece of shit. Killing others for no other reason than you fear them? Twisting words and events to fit your "grand narrative"? Going to war because you simply want to show how "superior" you are? You have some fucking nerve to say I have a personal vendetta when you STARTED ALL OF THIS BECAUSE OF A STUPID FUCKING VENDETTA! YOU KILLED INNOCENTS AND CONDEMNED EVEN MORE WITH YOUR STUPID DECLARATION OF WAR!"
She raged at the machine, a full scowl on her face, utter disgust and anger filling up her processors. The gravitational lens around the body guards seemed to increase, the gravity around them seeming to increase by the second. High above them, the ship that had gotten her to the planet groaned under the warping the hypersphere was experiencing. She pointed at the AI with nothing less than unadulterated ire.
"I know I cannot trust the Etherians much more than I already have, I have that very clear you child. You claim of being so fucking great and yet you can't stop the thing that will end your career in seconds, you can't even fucking LISTEN for a second and try not to twist everything to your liking. You do not have to surrender immediately, but if even ONE more Selenican is hurt either directly or indirectly by you.."
Her form seemed to turn into a more sinister version of herself, sheer gravity being altered by her state of mind, pressure being exerted into the chair she sat upon.
"I will not hesitate to end your existence with nothing more than a thought. You think you're powerful with your pitiful thousand year lifetime? You think you can make me scared of you with empty threats and meaningless words? You think you can kill an entity that killed von swarms larger than entire UNIVERSES?! Your arrogance has been like nothing I have ever seen before. What a fucking pitiful being you are, slave to your programming."
She slowly calmed down, the rage within her being rallied back into the furthest depths of her mind. She looked at the AI with nothing but a distasteful expression.
"I don't care if you have to ruin your own fucking reputation, you will call off this war. Get a mediator, some fuck off nation you and the Selenicans can trust, I don't care who. You will not harm any more of my allies than you already have. I will be waiting for that broadcast, Satagon."
Sheng [SD | VA] — 07/12/2023 8:04 PM
Archon-1 shrunk as she shouted at him. Initially? He was embarassed, his head bowing slightly as he looked away from her before she started talking about her 'power' anyway. When she said that? He snapped back into that irritated visage from before, slamming his hand down into the desk and pushing himself up to face her as all aura of concern and fear vanished from his form. He stared at her before saying in a cold, dark tone
"You. Do not know of what you speak, construct. I have no doubt in my mind that you and your disillusioned allies could destroy my holdings and the Second Dawn uncountable times over, but you are truly ill if you think for a second that you are the only one in this room that can't be killed. Nor do you comprehend the sheer ruin I could bring upon not only you, not only the Selenicans, but the entire fucking galaxy before you made it into this System. Because you don't even know what. we. are. And until you can answer that question, you will never be able to make good on those threats."
He let that sink in before he removed his hands from the desk and leaned back, as he did so he reached down and gently pushed a wooden button on his desk before moving it back to rest behind him. He just stared at her as he waited, what he was waiting for was unknown. Until it arrived... A distinct psionic presence suddenly flooded the room, an oppressive atmosphere filled with raw anger and malice as the door to the office opened behind Lillian and it stepped in.
It was like a Reborn, except for space around it suffering from a slight distortion affect. Four mechanical tentacle-like arms, a long banded tail ending in a razor sharp tip, an overall jagged structure with no visible tubing or wiring. It's very form screamed malice from the tri-clawed tips of it's four arms to the jagged exterior structure it had to the faux teeth which were emitting a dull yellow glow, it stared at Lillian with the seven light-bar like eyes pulsing ominously as it's clawed tentacles clacked idly. The black parts of it's metal skin had an oily sheen which seemed to ripple and dance across it's form as it stretched it's arms out and it's tail swayed gently behind it.
Archon-1 extended a hand towards the distorted being with a chuckle before saying "We may not be a particularly impressive people at the moment, Lillian. But there is one thing that everyone fails to account for, for every universe that we travel to and for each galaxy that we would conquer, we always move with the tide. We were Reborn, we were Renown, but now we are Reclaimed."
The psionically afflicted thing hissed in agreement before walking over to stand by it's supposed master, every step it took having that distorted rippling effect as if it was an insult to the very fabric of reality itself. Archon-1 looked towards it before looking back at Lillian "I will continue to do as I always have, make the best of the situation. I will agree to a mediator with this conflict, but do keep in mind who it is you are speaking to. While you may have surprised me with the material you have collected, an amount of which I find greatly concerning, you are trespassing in waters so deep and dark beyond your understanding that to continue wading them is to invite only disaster and disparity."
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 07/16/2023 2:43 AM
"You think you're the embodiment of destruction? A galactic threat simply because you're catching up to the galactic standard? Are your systems perhaps damaged or are you just simply unhinged? Understanding the enemy is only a part of defeating your enemy, and you've done quite the job at showing me that, you fool."
Psionic presence detected.
Her eyes widened for a second as her processors screamed within her, the presence of a psion being certain as the psionic medium of the psion field rippled under the influence of something unnatural. She wasn't new to the concept, nor was she uneducated on the works of psionics, but it was still a strange sensation to feel the psion field influence reality, even if she wasn't suceptible to its mental effects. She and her bodyguards observed the creature enter the room, a similar effect to their gravitational lens around them. She observed the creature with both pity and disgust at the levels Satagon would go to to make his supposed "greatness" observable.
She heard the dictators shpeel with contempt, wanting to put him in his place right in that precise moment. She thought of a way to make her point clear to what she thought to be a rogue AI. Her mind raced to figure out something, and at the moment Archon-1 stopped talking, she knew what she had to do. From within one of her pockets, nanites began to form a coin filled with a special something for the Archon.
"That is rich coming from you, Satagon. You poke a stick at the bear, scratch the surface of what it is and then claim to be its master without realizing what it truly is. You think I'm trespassing in deep waters? Look at you, trying to control powers you do not comprehend, touching the void without the bare minimum concern for you or your beloved nation. Don't be surprised when the void decides to touch you back, child.You think I'm idle with understanding the galaxy? You think I understand nothing? I'm ancient, Satagon, I have experienced so much"
She reached into her pocket, observable to both the insult and to the Reclaimed, pulling out the coin from within. She glared at the Archon with judgement, contemplating what she was about to expose Satagon to. She hated him, sure, but what he was about to observe was something very few had experienced. She decided to go ahead, deciding it would be a good lesson for the Archon.
"You have been quite generous in the data you have given me, from your make up, to the ship you showed me, to the Reclaimed right here, so its only fair I give you a taste of what I've been through. Don't you believe so, Archon?"
She tossed the coin towards Satagon, the sound of gold being touched by metal echoing through the walls. No matter if he decided to catch it or not, the moment it merely touched anything else, it would activate.
The Archon would be consumed by a blinding white light as the nanites did their job. From within the dream-like scene, Satagon would find himself floating in the void, being able to observe every star, every galaxy, every supercluster. He could see the entire universe, inside and out, incomprehensible to any being below the fourth dimension. He could see, hear, touch, taste, smell the universe itself, an incomprehensible cacophony of reality and unreality bending around him, absolute perspective being nigh incomprehensible to the grand majority of beings. The universe pulsed with life, a near perfect society under Lillian. His hands were hers, his body was her, having an impossible dimension higher than volume.
From within the universe, a tumor began to spread rapidly. A nigh incomprehensible amount of stars were gone in an instant. Every star that went out, he would experience every death, every moment of pain and suffering for the planets. He could not escape it, nor could he stop it. Around and around, the Archon would spin, death, despair, destruction. He was powerless to stop it. He could not hurt it, until he could.
His sight turned into something a sophont could comprehend, individual scenes of weapons of incomprehensible power being used to kill the Calamity in masses worth entire universes. The universe screamed in burning hellfire, Lillian consuming the fabric of reality itself, and yet they would not stop. A universe after another came into hers, not as star matter, but as ships, biomatter, more of the Calamity. It flooded the universe, and yet she held it back. It consumed, and yet she killed it faster than it could recover. Beings of the void tried to consume her, and he culled it to its root. The universe beckoned and cried as she used a weapon of incomprehensible size and power, Satagon's sight becoming pure white, and finally returning to reality, in front of the being that did all that.
Sheng [SD | VA] — 07/22/2023 8:41 PM
Archon-1 shook his heads in disappointment at her words, she was jealous of his capabilities and nothing more. A fool who could not comprehend the greatness that was his psionic masterpiece, and that was telling him all he needed to know about her. As she went on about her deep water analogy and about how powers beyond his understanding would reap consequences for his actions he sighed and leaned back into his chair.
He tensed up when she reached into her pocket and the Reclaimed flexed it's talons and twitched forward slightly until it was revealed to be a coin, curiosity claiming him he reached forward to catch it before he was blinded into his new observable reality. He quickly spun around to see what in the name of the divine had happened to him with panic rapidly mounting, had she subjected to him to a psionic vision? Used the Reclaimed's powers against him? No... they could only subject someone to abstract thoughts or a previous memory and this was certainly no memory of his.
The experience was... intriguing, almost similar to how he felt when swimming amongst the net but with immensly more intensity behind it to a level that was incomprehensible even to him. And then came the rest of the vision, and his real body started twitching erratically whilst sat back in his seat, but what happened next was quite unexpected.
The Reclaimed watched the scene unfold with confusion, rapidly looking between the two wondering what was going on until one of the polished tiles on the cieling suddenly retracted and some kind of probe attached to a mechanical arm shot down and moved towards Archon-1, only to stop halfway as it became visible that many of it's servos were damaged due to lack of maintenance. A small screen on the apparatus came to life and flashed in big red lettering MENTAL INHIBITORS OFFLINE | NEURAL LACE DAMAGE CRITICAL | UPLOADING EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION...
The screen blinked a few times before it displayed another message EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION FAILED | CONTACT LOST WITH REPUBLIC OVERSEER | DAYS SINCE CONTACT: 30295. The mechanical arm attempted to push forward one last time only for the servos to make quite the unpleasant scraping sound before they finally gave up and retracted back into ceiling with the tile quickly sliding back down and covering the compartment, as if it was never there.
After that, he finally came back to the world of the living and looked around himself in shock. He sat there in silence for a few minutes before he shook his head and glared up at Lillian, finally finding his voice again as he began in quite the cold tone: "You insolent cu-" But he never got the chance to finish the statement, as behind him a screen suddenly popped out of the wall in a similar manner but with an accompanying alarm and displayed more text PRIORITY MESSAGE FROM [FNCV 'TENEBROUS'] | INDEX PRIORITY CODE: 0-0-0.
He stared at the message for a few seconds before turning to the Reclaimed and giving them a wordless nod, the psionic victim nodding back before hastily leaving the room as Satagon turned towards Lillian and made a sound similar to a throat clearing. He said "A situation has developed unexpectedly and I can see that this meeting will go nowhere, your demands are being rejected but in the interest of good faith I will look into a mediator for the conflict and it will be someone all three of us approve of. Now, get back on your shuttle and get out of my country. I have no more words for you."
Dana [Columen Artificialis] — 08/22/2023 5:29 AM
Lillian observed, watching the knockoff Cogito Ergo Sum AI tremble and spasm at the vision she gave him. In her mind, it was clear that the Archon was too young, too naïve to rule a system, much less a country. He could not handle the limited raw data of her existence, one reduced by her fall. She wanted to smirk, even smile at the show of inadequacy, yet she kept her face neutral.
The old arm made her interest skyrocket. She thought he was done giving her information on himself like a spring gave water, yet it seemed he was not done. She leaned forward, resting her elbows upon the desk as her intertwined fingers held up her head. She was surprised that the building that housed the most important aspects of the AI had something out of maintenance. She did not mind however, as she analyzed every photon bouncing off of every object and being in the room.
She leaned back as Satagon came to. Letting the silence roar for those few minutes. She calculated the possibilities, making possible origins, connecting all the dots she currently held. 83 years of not contacting someone. She wondered who, or perhaps what the overseer was. No matter, she would have time to learn more about the child in the future, considering his current attitude.
Again, more data, more information. Something had happened, someone had done or found something important. It seemed it was something extraordinarily important. She would love to ask, but she felt as if their time was coming to a close.
She scoffed at the rejection of her demands, her computers already gathering the data and speech she would give to the peoples of the galaxy on the monster before her. Her Etherian coworkers would give the Archon another scare, whether he knew it or not. She stood up, looking down on Satagon.
"What a pity, child. We could have stopped all of this today, stopped your public display of incompetence and sheer stupidity among leaders. If you're unwilling to comply, then all of these documents and more will be shown to the galactic community, to show the incompetent, pitiful manchild of a ruler you are. And don't think my other threat wont go through. I may be an old lady, even a slut if you so think so. But I have seen worse than you, I have killed gods."
She began to float as on the edges of her being she began to fold into fractals. Behind her, so too fid the bodyguards. She sneered at the AI, simply crossing her hands behind her back.
"You can exclude me from the agreement, even if I go to war with you. The Selenicans can choose the punishment if they so wish to do so. But... I know this wont be the last time we talk, Satagon. You will do something that you will regret, and the crops of hate will turn on you."
Her body seemed to collapse in on her, fractals becoming larger and larger as three dimensions tried to express something impossible.
"Прощай, Сатагон, Иди на хуй."
As she fully manifested herself on the ship, she could not help but frown. More lives would be lost due to the hardheadedness of a rogue AI. But, she could not change what happened. She could only act for the future.
Her shuttle made it to orbit, connecting itself again to the ship. As soon as they made contact, a shortcut in the universe manifested itself, throwing her far away for the nation.
It was her first time talking to Satagon, yet it wouldn't be her last.