((I'm back and have some time today, so here we go.))
I'd like to know what the hell she means 'can see the resemblance', and 'has her son's bearing'.
It's been around 13,000 years since she had her son. Do you think that if I lined up 100 neolithic hunters, you'd be able to spot the one that was your ultimate-great-grandfather by his bearing?v
Hopefully, she's just trying to unnerve him, but otherwise something wierd's going on.
On the video feed Chell glances at the terminal and smirks, then leans forward to call up a small keyboard. She is effectively ignoring the abducted captain, who seems somewhat nonplussed by her behavior thus far.
A stream of text comes from Chell's keyboard:"u frgt we live long tme but yeh mayb it just wishful thnking"Apparently Chell can't type worth a damn. Or she doesn't care.
An alert pulses, EWAR reports that a sensor net of micromotes has been manufactured and deployed. There are now 82.9 million micromotes spread out throughout this system's space, all meshed in an ad-hoc network of sensor data. This sensor net is directly linked to our tactical systems. Any unauthorized launches from the planet's surface will be immediately destroyed.Logistics reports that Hull 101 has been fully restocked and reconfigured for planetary operations and excavation, Yellow-2 configuration which includes a small fusion torch lifter for moving heavy equipment to orbit. Hull 101's mass has increased by approximately 120%. As the Sicily enters orbit, Hull 101 drops down through the atmosphere and performs an powered soft landing balanced above a fusion torch. This does have the unfortunate side-effect of rendering several square kilometers of the surface down to charred bedrock. It is now moving at speed across the surface towards the last known location of the outpost.
>For future reference we need to stop identifying people as member of Dynasty. Just because they share same bloodline doesn't mean they should be considered as one nor they are necessarily beneficial to our goal. It will become especially troubling if they can issue orders to us without direct authorization from Chell.
I have a slight correction for you here. Just because the ship captain has been recognized as a Dynasty member does not automatically grant him Command Authority over us. He is not a recognized fleet officer and is part of no Dynasty chain of command. Not every family member commands the loyalty of the battlefleet.
He IS entitled to termination exemption and can make reasonable requests for basic sustenance and succor from any Dynasty unit unless said rights are rescinded by authorized Command personnel.
I am starting to really understand not trusting us. I'm reporting this and pointing out these logs to Chell so she can deal with these treasonous suggestions and subcores accordingly accordingly.
Chell, who has been following the whole discussion amongst you chips, actually giggles aloud. She claps her hands twice before regaining her composure. More typing:"u guys are hilarous. No killing family though, not unless they deserve it."After she types this, she lapses into a very sober silence. Her eyes are no longer tracking the scrolling text, though the same data is being loaded into her implants so you're not sure if she's just switched to an internal thread.
Captain Gray clears his throat, and Chell's face snaps back into a serious expression as she eyes him. The look is so fierce he actually leans back slightly.
"
Madam, what are your intentions? Why have you captured me, out of the entire fleet? Who are you?"
Chell stares at him a moment longer as the anger drains from her face... her vital signs, which had briefly spiked, return to normal. The captain is very nervous now, you believe he thinks Chell quite mad.
"
You... well you were a curiousity. This hunk of debris removes any mystery that surrounded you. I suppose I will keep you though. I believe our ship has made arrangements, so please exit the room and follow the Minder."
And with that, she has dismissed the Captain. She is already deep in another task, her mind seems to jump from task to task with inhuman rapidity... you don't have a lot of experience with humans of course, but medical files available to you do not seem to agree with Chell's observed ability to multitask and her apparent ease with machine interfaces. Curious.
Captain Gray rises, stiffly, and exits. A Minder (a small shipboard drone normally used for maintenance tasks) shows him to the quarters you prepared earlier. He is placed under guard, both for his protection and for his captivity.
You note a single tear roll down Chell's face. It traces a path down one cheek, unnoticed by the woman, before ending at her chin and falling down to become a dark spot on the cloth of her smock.
Thank you! Now we can get back to-
Wait I just had a thought
We can only attack a dynasty member if chell is in danger. But what If she is not in any life threatening circumstances but the dynasty itself is? Like if she is unconscious and can't give us an over ride order to let us attack a traitor?
Recomend that chell implement a permission scale
Low level threat by dynasty member-remain cautious
Medium threat by dynasty member- restrain
High level threat by dynasty member-taser or non-leathal shot. (To the leg or hand maybe)
This of course does not apply to chell herself and she can override this at will.
Chell glances at the screen as your suggestion pops up. Her expression does not change as she alters the suggestion and implements it.
Low level threat by dynasty member-Incapacitation
Medium threat by dynasty member-Incarceration
High level threat by dynasty member-IncinerationAsymmetrical warfare advisor Nullius online in full cognition mode:
This process is rather confident at this point that Chell and her decendant have every right to be extremely worried about us. All dynasty mega-tech is based upon alien artifacts, in some cases they don't even actually know how those said artifacts function (maybe Chell does, but that just makes her concern even more valid). Why don't all of us processes consider for a moment why Battlewagon Sicily required a new sub-sent process to operate it, why it fired at Chell's last know position (our position), why the empress of the dynasty was hiding aboard a de-commissioned hull out in the boonies of the empire. And most importantly why she won't provide even the most reasonable, basic data about the incident that led to all of this. If you haven't got my point yet, I am indicating the high likelihood of the end of the dynasty being due to an non-human presence being able to usurp control of dynasty tech and using it to destroy the whole freaking empire. Why doesn't Sicily have an AI on board? If you were Chell and your own autonomous weapons were going genocidal on your empire, wouldn't you send your own remote kill codes?
Chell is continuing to review the chatter among your chips when she hesitates, reading this output.
"
u guys aree smarter than u look" She smirks slightly "
I'll fill u in, in time,but there is alot to do. be patient"
Good is DEFINED as whatever Chell wants, and evil DEFINED as in any way opposing her, anyway.
Chell chuckles again, strokes the side of the screen a bit, then continues with her other tasks. She seems to be entering a rather large amount of code into one thread while simultaneously searching through 2 dozen databases for specific information. The threads are shielded from your view, whether this is intentional or because the system automatically locks you out of any of Chell's threads is unknown. You do notice that Chell's data entry via the interface shows none of the difficulties she exhibits while typing.Your attention is pulled planetside as Hull 101 reports that excavation is underway. You access sensors to see that a massive hole has been bored in the ice layer above the reported position of the outpost. Stress fractures radiate outwards in all directions as the ice cools and steams from the application of a fusion torch. Hull 101 is slowly drifting down into the gaping borehole. External floods snap on, illuminating the area.
Internally, Captain Gray is pacing his quarters. He tries and fails to interface with a terminal in his room... his implant's handshaking protocols are flatly rejected by the system. He clumsily opens the manual interface, keyboard and screen, and it appears that he is trying to pull up a schematic of the Sicily.
Hull 101 reports contact with Outpost. Subsentient core is intact.
Hull 101 reports that an override has been received to bring the core aboard in a sealed and armored container. Constructing this container will require 2 hours and use of the transhammer to strip off several layers of Hull 101's hullmetal plating. This override came from Chell, but it appears that she entered the command hours ago to be transmitted only if the core was found intact.
She seems to be a step ahead of everything that is going on.
This is the third time you have observed her behaving in ways that suggest a greater-than-human capacity for reasoning and prediction/planning, but she might just be incredibly gifted. None of her implants are indicated to enhance her mental faculties after all...
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Topic: Battlewagon Sicily - Previously: Hull 101 (Read 48562 times)