planetary

[dark_light]

Over the next week, Isabella gets the alethiometer to tell her that the planets they looked at don't contain microorganisms that know what to do with a human body (although the one with the giant bugs has some multicellular parasites that might be able to make do with the foreign macro-scale features of a human body if they got the chance). "The present", it includes in one of its answer phrasings, which is kind of worrying. But Adarin makes enough progress with his scry in little enough time that it's worth the double-check.

Isabella also hires ticket-takers, gives them little pots of ink to verify the authenticity of the passes she handed out, and opens the Los Angeles - New York route for the employees of her three companies of choice and anyone who shells out a cool fifteen thousand dollars per round trip (ten K for a one-way). This is steep, but it's within an order of magnitude of what people sometimes pay for short-notice first-class cross-country flights - with less novelty and more hassle. Albeit she doesn't supply inflight meals. She expects to have to raise the price when more people hear about it in response to volume and then be able to drop it again.

By the time the thing has been open for a few days she's fired and replaced one ticket-taker and the others have settled into a routine that she's willing to try out leaving unsupervised for awhile.

If Adarin's up for some up close and personal planet shopping and his results suggest it'll go well, anyway.

Comments

[dark_light]

There's another robot! It does not bother them.

"I'm designating you Wisteria," Isabella tells this one, since Rosie hasn't followed them in.

"UNDERSTOOD" says Wisteria.

"Show us where the commands to the robots get issued."

"THIS IS NOT AUTHORIZED" says Wisteria.

"Okay... Adarin, what do you think, field-promotion or is there still a reason that might be a bad idea?"

[prodigal_miser]

He considers, then says, "We should check intelligence and possible sentience levels first, if you don't mind."

Adarin switches languages, then just asks bluntly, "Wisteria, are you sentient?"

[dark_light]

"REPHRASE INQUIRY FOR LANGUAGE PROCESSOR" suggests Wisteria.

[prodigal_miser]

"Do you have intelligence or conscious thoughts?"

[dark_light]

"UNITS ARE PROGRAMMED TO RESPOND DYNAMICALLY TO NOVEL INPUT FOR CORRECT DECISION-MAKING ON BEHALF OF NOBLE NNSARXPH"

[prodigal_miser]

Head-tilt. Okay, that's... Kinda intelligence? Sort of? "Do you have opinions on things? If something broke you, would you feel anything about it?"

[dark_light]

"UNITS ARE PROGRAMMED TO SELF-SACRIFICE FOR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OR TO ENABLE THE FIELD MAINTENANCE OF OTHER UNITS - UNDER OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES PRESERVATION OF UNITS IS WORTHWHILE"

[prodigal_miser]

Well that kind of bothers him, a little. He understands strategically why it would be a thing that's programmed, but it bugs him to make something that will kill itself if necessary. Responsibility to things that you create, and all.

"Do you have preferences about things? Is there something you prefer doing over other things?"

[dark_light]

"IN THE ABSENCE OF MISSIONS UNITS REMAIN AT THEIR MOST RECENTLY ORDERED POSTS EXCEPT WHEN RENDEZVOUS FOR CANNIBALIZATION IS NECESSARY OR TO REPLACE A UNIT AT A MORE HIGHLY PRIORITIZED LOCATION WHICH HAS BEEN DESTROYED" says Wisteria.

[prodigal_miser]

"That's really not helpful," mutters Adarin in English. Then, back to addressing Wisteria. "Is there anything you would like to do as a unit? A goal to accomplish?"

[dark_light]

"ALL UNITS ARE NETWORKED TO SHARE INFORMATION AND COORDINATE," Wisteria says.

"I think it's correcting your assumption that it matters which robot we're talking to," says Isabella.

[prodigal_miser]

"Yeaah, that was kind of assuming of me, wasn't it? Oh well."

Clear poor abused throat, then, "Wisteria, if you were destroyed, would your - programs remain intact somewhere else?"

[dark_light]

"ALL PROGRAMMING AND DATA IS SHARED IN COMMON WITH ALL UNITS - THIS UNIT'S NETWORKING IS UP TO DATE"

"So it's like they're one shared distributed organism, not like there are nine hundred eighty-eight of them."

[prodigal_miser]

"That helps with some moral issues of taking them apart, certainly. I mean - I don't think they're people, they don't seem like it, but I kind of still feel obliged to keep checking. Because paranoid."

In the throat-abuser: "Do you have an opinion on something changing your programming?"

[dark_light]

"THE PROGRAMMING DIRECTIVES ISSUED FROM THE COMMAND CENTER AUTHORIZED BY THE HIGHEST RANKING MEMBER OF THE MILITARY OF THE NOBLE NNSARXPH WILL BE OBEYED"

[prodigal_miser]

"Yes, but what if - what if it gave an order that doesn't make sense to your current programming?"

[dark_light]

"THE PURPOSE OF REVISED ORDERS IS TO SUPERSEDE PRIOR ORDERS" says Wisteria.

[prodigal_miser]

Adarin sighs. "If one robot were destroyed - is anything lost? Aside from the unit itself, anything like programs, memories - anything?"

[dark_light]

"DATA WHICH WAS NOT YET BROUGHT INTO THE NETWORK DUE TO DELAYED CONNECTIVITY OR LOSS OF COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT MAY BE LOST"

[prodigal_miser]

"Right," he says in English. "Okay, so - I have no moral problems with you taking over the robots, they don't seem to have intelligence or self-awareness, but um... Please treat them nicely?"

[dark_light]

"I will be very nice to my robot army." Cough, switch languages: "Wisteria, if I pat you on the head will you aim weapons at me?"

"NO"

Isabella pats it on the head.

[prodigal_miser]

Adarin smiles a little. "Thanks."

[dark_light]

"You're welcome. So time for my promotion?"

[prodigal_miser]

"Yup! Have fun with your lovely robot army, I'll keep poking them for sentience but I highly doubt it at this point."

[dark_light]

"Wisteria," says Isabella grandly, "given the personnel situation of the honorable Nnsarxeph, I'm hereby promoting myself to Senior Equipment Maintenance Specialist."

"ACKNOWLEDGED" says Wisteria.

"This makes me the highest ranked individual in the Nnsarxeph military, correct?"

"CORRECT"

"Conduct me to where new programming is issued and authorized."

Wisteria starts rolling down the corridor.