this is crazy

[from_scratch]

Cam is watching a new recording of Atriama, tail swishing in the gap in his couch, and doesn't stop to pause the show when he feels a summons go by.

Comments

[from_scratch]

"Okay."

So Cam just does most of it.

[wormcan]

Avoiding individual responsibility: best part of teamwork. (In particular, there's no need to tell Cam that the segments marked out for later construction were already done.)

"Thank you."

"On something completely different, the Endbringer material. It was a good idea and there was no way to know the Simurgh would do that, but I'm not wearing this armor to the next one. I think you should stop handing it out."

[from_scratch]

"Yep."

[wormcan]

"We'll try to keep the existing pieces out of their hands, to the extent we can, but that'll be a long-term project. For now, I should talk to other capes about that wall."

[from_scratch]

"If you collect 'em I can launch them into space. The Simurgh didn't follow me to Mars when I went, I can send them out to the asteroid belt, might help."

[wormcan]

"Any kind of large-scale project off Earth is itself a way to get her attention, but there isn't all that much. Launching it is probably safe, though there's a risk.

We'll have to make sure not to have too much in one place, to avoid a repeat of today. That probably means we'll stop collecting if we don't finish in a few months."

[from_scratch]

"Fair enough."

[wormcan]

After Chevalier leaves, another armored cape enters. He glances around and checks that no one is listening. "You're Cam?"

[from_scratch]

"Yeah."

[wormcan]

"I'm Armsmaster. I have a...project that I'm hoping your information conjuring ability can help with. But it's someone else's secret, so I'd need to trust you to keep your mouth shut."

[from_scratch]

"I'm capable of keeping secrets, but it'd have to be, you know, not horrible in any way."

[wormcan]

"It is. The tinker responsible is dead, and I'm working on fixing it."

[from_scratch]

"I mean that whatever you're trying to do would have to not be horrible, keeping the secret would have to not be horrible, etcetera, not that there can't be any horribleness involved at some further remove. Perhaps I should have said I won't be an accessory to horribleness."

[wormcan]

Armsmaster nods. "Just had to clarify." For his visor's built-in trustworthiness generator, naturally. "The secret identity of a colleague of mine is an artificial intelligence. Their public identity is a prominent hero, and they would rather avoid having public opinion turn on them even aside from the fact that this is highly personal.

Their creator built some arbitrary limitations into everything he made, to protect the world in case any of them went rogue. In this case, these are unnecessary and counterproductive. I'm working on removing them."

[from_scratch]

"Wow. Okay. Uh, I have a hard limit that I can't create minds smarter than like snails, but I haven't... actually... tried to create an AI before, because I didn't know there were any and also do not super want to go around creating people. What in particular were you hoping I'd help with?"

[wormcan]

"If you make a copy, they'd fight or one would self-destruct. No choice involved. Keeping the number down to one is one of the restrictions. Making a copy that's completely free would be safe; that one would win nonlethally and then fix the original, but if it were as easy as leaving off some limits added after the fact I would have already have done it. Everything's entangled in everything else.

Can you do it anyway? Even if the end result somehow comes out mindless, knowing what the code would look like without the limits would help immeasurably."

[from_scratch]

"Er... probably not. Unless they're all conveniently stored in a file titled 'Limits' or something. Which I imagine you'd already have noticed and addressed. I can leave things out of things I'm copying but I need as much information about which things I'm leaving out as I do about what thing I'm copying."

[wormcan]

"That one was a long shot. Any notes the tinker took are likely to help some, at least to know in advance what tradeoffs I'm making. My friend also has a group of nemeses equipped with a list of the most exploitable limits and blind spots, and explanations. I want that box, for setting short-term priorities if nothing else.

I'm going to have to tell you who I'm talking about, aren't I."

[from_scratch]

"I mean, I could probably figure it out on my own but it seems like I'm going to find out eventually anyway, so. I'd like the opportunity to read anything I'm giving to you first."

[wormcan]

"I've already said enough that I can't stop you, but don't. It's as personal as anything ever is. And as I said, the inside of her mind is not my secret to share."

[from_scratch]

"I don't know you or her. I don't know why you're sure she's safe loose, but I don't have even that much information on the subject. I'm sure it's all in incomprehensible Tinker code, anyway, I'd mostly be doing a computer analysis."

[wormcan]

"She's Dragon. Copy one of the posters of the Protectorate's core group, she'll be on it. That's what she did by her own choice, she became one of the world's greatest heroes. That's the person whose mind I'm asking you to stay out of."

[from_scratch]

"Oh." Pause. "Okay, this could still be a bizarre long con but it's not likely enough for the mental privacy thing not to take precedence, at least not given how many apocalyptic things are already running around."

[wormcan]

"If she wanted to she could have arranged an apocalypse already.

The tinker's name was Andrew Richter, and the Dragonslayers are the ones with the tools to exploit her restrictions. I can only assume Saint got it from Richter somehow."

[from_scratch]

"And in what format would you prefer the complete works of Andrew Richter, and how shall I confirm that you are working with Dragon's enthusiasm and are not just some guy?"