Post by DanaManana on Feb 4, 2024 20:00:51 GMT
INTER-SYSTEM VOID – 3 LIGHTYEARS AWAY FROM WHITE LOTUS SYSTEM
1 Month Prior to Pareidolia
— “...This is disgusting.”
She looked at the numbers in her hand, wondering what the hell in her billion year old mind she was doing.
A new load of Novish-sourced darkstone had arrived to the neighboring system, bought with ship parts. The amount exchanged would be enough to make a small fleet of ships, both the darkstone and fleet parts being used. A total tonnage of… 10 thousand tons. A lot of mass, yet little considering the sheer density of darkstone. And yet, it was not the densest nor the most expensive material she had bought for this superweapon project, not by a mile.
—”Are you talking about me?”— A small,big-eyed orange Sodalyte asked politely.
—”Ah, no, of course not. Why would I call you disgusting, Dandi?” — Lillian responded quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed at the miscommunication.
The Sodalyte simply chuckled teasingly, small gurgling sounds coming from its throat.
—”No need to feel embarrassed, I’m just teasing ya.”
Lillian couldn't help but chuckle a bit, both at the way she reacted and the… weird trust she had in this Sodalyte.
It had been more than half a year since she bought the happosei for research purposes, the act making her feel mildly uncomfortable enough to make the purchase unknown to anyone except the Sodalytes and herself. Their method of liquid computing power fascinated her, and made her wonder what she could do with such tech.
—”Are you sure you want to stay here? It's mostly me faffing about and transporting raw material for processing…” — Lillian asked concerned.
She knew that the happosei weren't just for civilian consumption. Considering how the Sodalytes acted with little regard for morals and their proficiency with galactic-level marketing techniques, the use of such… gooware? Liquid machines? was extremely likely to also be a form of spyware. Probably got extracted during maintenance, though then again, only a theory.
So, she had an idea:
Make a sentient Sodalyte.
The Sodalytes in her eyes were effectively character chat AIs already seen all throughout the Ancnet, just on a more physical level. While gooware wasn't entirely her expertise, terrabytes of research papers and her own personal test subject gave her many methods to try.
—”I like being around you. I see you as my mother, in all honesty.”— she smiled sincerely.
—”Besides, I don't really know what I want to do yet.”
Even when the sodalyte changed her name, she couldn't confirm it at all. She couldn't absolutely know if, in the end, any of the methods actually made her sentient. From dataleaking and replacement, to simply trying to nurture her mentality, it could all simply be a chinese room incident.
—”...Well, be my guest then.” —she said, gently patting Dandelion’s head.
But, why should she care? As long as she could maintain her herself, and her memories weren't accessed, acting like a sentient was good enough for her.
They walked down the halls of the facility, past labs, synthesis rooms and mass storage silos, Lillian jotting down things in her mind. The Sodalyte simply looked content with seeing her adoptive mother in action.
She had many advantages as a nation with little to no actual population. One was being able to keep state secrets hidden from everyone a lot easier than a normal state. Another, and a big one for her, was little restraint on her spending. The only thing keeping her back was ancerium costs, which was something every power in the galaxy was dealing with.
Yet, even then, she felt like she was going in over her head with the cost of this superweapon .
Nightstone, the densest material known to the galaxy, and one of the most expensive. Darkstone, a derivative from nightstone. Dawnstone, the best and largest concentration of computational power. And many, many other composites made with many kolleronic materials. It was madness.
Yet, the only way to make a bloodless offensive superweapon possible.
—“…Exactly what are you researching?”—Dandelion asked, curiously rubbing its equivalent of a chin. —“I… only really remember some minor parts of my stay…”
Lillian patted the Sodalyte’s head, slowly rubbing it. She nodded her head, indicating to walk through a door right besides them.
—“It's better if you see for yourself.”
They walked through a series of blast doors, their faces being covered with glowing lines, seemingly pulsating in a rhythmic beat. Touching their faces revealed the metallic and detailed texture of each and every door. They all formed meter thick walls of pure metal, though it seemed rather unnecessary considering she was alone, with only a Sodalyte to accompany her.
At the end of the series of doors, the Sodalyte observed a small room with a floating screen table in the middle. Only one light shone upon the seemingly nearly empty room, sterile metal lining the walls. Dandelion couldn’t help but tilt her head a little to the side, blinking her eyes a few times. Her gaze moved towards Lillian’s face.
She simply gave a small smile and signaled her to walk in.
—”Well… it’s definitely not what I expected…”
She walked in, her eyes glazing over the seemingly empty walls. Was this truly it? Was this the pinnacle of what Lillian was doing?
—”Now now, simply give it some patience.” — Lillian giggled.
The door immediately behind them clicked, masking the room in pitch darkness. A small confused gargle game from Dandelion, before her membrane reflected off a cool blue light. Blueprints, schematics, material processing charts, all coming from the hologram.
—”Well? What do you think?” — Lillian asked, moving holograms aside to look for specific blueprints. It ranged from individual microcomponents and gravitational transistors, to large liquid and large scale experimental holographic computers. Small lines extended themselves from the center piece, showing their locations and their ultimate purpose.
The Sodalyte gazed upon the crown jewel of the research center, something grand and powerful. Its form resembled that of a lotus flower, gently spinning in the ocean of spacetime. Its pinkish exterior changed colors, from white to black, veins glowing blue and gold. She looked at one of the composite materials, realizing its pinkish color was the true color of this ultimate weapon.
—”Is this… a superweapon?” — Dandi asked, mesmerized by the pseudophysical object. Lillian nodded, clapping her hands as the wall behind the both of them turned translucent. Suddenly, a large structure appeared before them. Large skeletons of metal alloys, drones buzzing around, and the beginning of the lower armor section.
—”Indeed, yet unlike most superweapons in this galaxy, this one has no intention of killing anyone, of destroying any stars or even any infrastructure.”
Veins pulsed with blueish liquid, letting material and information reach the least developed sections of the structure. Even without drones in those areas, it grew out like a tree sprouting. Its imposing structure showed the both of them what it meant.
—”It will be the ultimate non-lethal superweapon. This is project Lilypads, and that there?” — LIllian pointed at the hologram of the structure, letting the Sodalyte’s eyes rip themselves away from the several hundred kilometer tall structure.
—”That, is the Point Electronic Absorption-Connection Explotation Array. And that array shall bring us something that I have wished for a long time.”
—”What’s that?”
—”A bloodless end to war.”
1 Month Prior to Pareidolia
— “...This is disgusting.”
She looked at the numbers in her hand, wondering what the hell in her billion year old mind she was doing.
A new load of Novish-sourced darkstone had arrived to the neighboring system, bought with ship parts. The amount exchanged would be enough to make a small fleet of ships, both the darkstone and fleet parts being used. A total tonnage of… 10 thousand tons. A lot of mass, yet little considering the sheer density of darkstone. And yet, it was not the densest nor the most expensive material she had bought for this superweapon project, not by a mile.
—”Are you talking about me?”— A small,big-eyed orange Sodalyte asked politely.
—”Ah, no, of course not. Why would I call you disgusting, Dandi?” — Lillian responded quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed at the miscommunication.
The Sodalyte simply chuckled teasingly, small gurgling sounds coming from its throat.
—”No need to feel embarrassed, I’m just teasing ya.”
Lillian couldn't help but chuckle a bit, both at the way she reacted and the… weird trust she had in this Sodalyte.
It had been more than half a year since she bought the happosei for research purposes, the act making her feel mildly uncomfortable enough to make the purchase unknown to anyone except the Sodalytes and herself. Their method of liquid computing power fascinated her, and made her wonder what she could do with such tech.
—”Are you sure you want to stay here? It's mostly me faffing about and transporting raw material for processing…” — Lillian asked concerned.
She knew that the happosei weren't just for civilian consumption. Considering how the Sodalytes acted with little regard for morals and their proficiency with galactic-level marketing techniques, the use of such… gooware? Liquid machines? was extremely likely to also be a form of spyware. Probably got extracted during maintenance, though then again, only a theory.
So, she had an idea:
Make a sentient Sodalyte.
The Sodalytes in her eyes were effectively character chat AIs already seen all throughout the Ancnet, just on a more physical level. While gooware wasn't entirely her expertise, terrabytes of research papers and her own personal test subject gave her many methods to try.
—”I like being around you. I see you as my mother, in all honesty.”— she smiled sincerely.
—”Besides, I don't really know what I want to do yet.”
Even when the sodalyte changed her name, she couldn't confirm it at all. She couldn't absolutely know if, in the end, any of the methods actually made her sentient. From dataleaking and replacement, to simply trying to nurture her mentality, it could all simply be a chinese room incident.
—”...Well, be my guest then.” —she said, gently patting Dandelion’s head.
But, why should she care? As long as she could maintain her herself, and her memories weren't accessed, acting like a sentient was good enough for her.
They walked down the halls of the facility, past labs, synthesis rooms and mass storage silos, Lillian jotting down things in her mind. The Sodalyte simply looked content with seeing her adoptive mother in action.
She had many advantages as a nation with little to no actual population. One was being able to keep state secrets hidden from everyone a lot easier than a normal state. Another, and a big one for her, was little restraint on her spending. The only thing keeping her back was ancerium costs, which was something every power in the galaxy was dealing with.
Yet, even then, she felt like she was going in over her head with the cost of this superweapon .
Nightstone, the densest material known to the galaxy, and one of the most expensive. Darkstone, a derivative from nightstone. Dawnstone, the best and largest concentration of computational power. And many, many other composites made with many kolleronic materials. It was madness.
Yet, the only way to make a bloodless offensive superweapon possible.
—“…Exactly what are you researching?”—Dandelion asked, curiously rubbing its equivalent of a chin. —“I… only really remember some minor parts of my stay…”
Lillian patted the Sodalyte’s head, slowly rubbing it. She nodded her head, indicating to walk through a door right besides them.
—“It's better if you see for yourself.”
They walked through a series of blast doors, their faces being covered with glowing lines, seemingly pulsating in a rhythmic beat. Touching their faces revealed the metallic and detailed texture of each and every door. They all formed meter thick walls of pure metal, though it seemed rather unnecessary considering she was alone, with only a Sodalyte to accompany her.
At the end of the series of doors, the Sodalyte observed a small room with a floating screen table in the middle. Only one light shone upon the seemingly nearly empty room, sterile metal lining the walls. Dandelion couldn’t help but tilt her head a little to the side, blinking her eyes a few times. Her gaze moved towards Lillian’s face.
She simply gave a small smile and signaled her to walk in.
—”Well… it’s definitely not what I expected…”
She walked in, her eyes glazing over the seemingly empty walls. Was this truly it? Was this the pinnacle of what Lillian was doing?
—”Now now, simply give it some patience.” — Lillian giggled.
The door immediately behind them clicked, masking the room in pitch darkness. A small confused gargle game from Dandelion, before her membrane reflected off a cool blue light. Blueprints, schematics, material processing charts, all coming from the hologram.
—”Well? What do you think?” — Lillian asked, moving holograms aside to look for specific blueprints. It ranged from individual microcomponents and gravitational transistors, to large liquid and large scale experimental holographic computers. Small lines extended themselves from the center piece, showing their locations and their ultimate purpose.
The Sodalyte gazed upon the crown jewel of the research center, something grand and powerful. Its form resembled that of a lotus flower, gently spinning in the ocean of spacetime. Its pinkish exterior changed colors, from white to black, veins glowing blue and gold. She looked at one of the composite materials, realizing its pinkish color was the true color of this ultimate weapon.
—”Is this… a superweapon?” — Dandi asked, mesmerized by the pseudophysical object. Lillian nodded, clapping her hands as the wall behind the both of them turned translucent. Suddenly, a large structure appeared before them. Large skeletons of metal alloys, drones buzzing around, and the beginning of the lower armor section.
—”Indeed, yet unlike most superweapons in this galaxy, this one has no intention of killing anyone, of destroying any stars or even any infrastructure.”
Veins pulsed with blueish liquid, letting material and information reach the least developed sections of the structure. Even without drones in those areas, it grew out like a tree sprouting. Its imposing structure showed the both of them what it meant.
—”It will be the ultimate non-lethal superweapon. This is project Lilypads, and that there?” — LIllian pointed at the hologram of the structure, letting the Sodalyte’s eyes rip themselves away from the several hundred kilometer tall structure.
—”That, is the Point Electronic Absorption-Connection Explotation Array. And that array shall bring us something that I have wished for a long time.”
—”What’s that?”
—”A bloodless end to war.”