Syned Vezna, on the SS-class Starship Hypermnestra, arrived in an empty space. A buoy had long been placed here to provide a signal location for asteroid colony representatives. Over ten B-class starships from the Kasvallian Republic followed behind. Jen was on one of the ships at the very back, having only come to observe.
Upon arrival, these B-class starships opened their hangars, and an unending trail of oddly shaped automatons flew out into space.
“I will be assembling the Curia Cornelia.” Under Syned Vezna’s control, the oddly-shaped automatons began attaching to each other to form a structure. Syned Vezna was fully aware of how this was done-- these automatons were designed based on a historical Japanese woodworking art called ‘sashimono’, which allowed these odd-shaped blocks to stably join together to form structures without the need for attaching pins.
A megastructure was quickly built just with Syned Vezna’s mind. The Kasvallian Republic’s research into the human-AI hybrid system had led to many observations.
One such observation was that the AI would augment the user’s ability to neurally connect with more neuro devices. Another was that the user’s original number of neuro channels would impact the degree of augmentation from the AI. All this was also impacted by the degree of compatibility between AI’s source code and the user’s mind.
In Syned Vezna’s case, he originally had twenty-eight neuro channels as Vezna. With his compatibility with Syned at a hundred percent, the number of devices under his control had been increased by ten times!
This allowed him to control two hundred and eighty neuro devices. This number was also not split fifty-fifty between motor and sensory devices like the normal human brain was. Due to the influence of the AI, most of these can be dedicated solely to controlling motor devices.
As such, Syned Vezna was controlling a good two hundred and fifty automaton blocks to connect with each other in rapid fashion to construct the Curia Cornelia. Once attached, his mind would connect to a new piece, and another unique block would be sent out from one of the hangars.
Very soon, the Curia Cornelia was formed. It was effectively a black pearl-toned skeletal upside-down metallic conal structure that had hundreds of docking bays for ships.
One ship after another began arriving. All of them had jumped to a location far from the buoy in worry of crashing into another’s course, before slowly drifting closer to the intended destination.
Each ship, on arrival, would find an empty docking bay. Soon, hundreds of ships, most of them freighters that the asteroid colonies use to transport their harvests, had docked to the Curia Cornelia, facing inward in a unified fashion.
Many holographic devices hovered at the center of the Curia Cornelia. They lit up and all the surrounding ships observed the face of Syned Vezna!
“Welcome to the first assembly of the Kasvallian Republic! I, Syned Vezna, welcome and thank you all for attending! I will be introducing my society in its glory to you all, and your benefit for joining our Republic! Ultimately, it is you who must desire to be members of our great republic!”
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Back on the T3ST colony.
Xeight had viewed the Kasvallian Republic’s first assembly through Bone’s eyes. He had no idea as to whether all the asteroid colonies would join the Kasvallian Republic, but he was certain that some had their misgivings.
The Kasvallian Republic was essentially governed under one entity-- Syned. Well, now, it was Syned Vezna.
The asteroid colonies have been loosely under the Earth Feds for many years. Recently, some had spent time under the martians. While under the Earth Feds, they had been monitored but not all that well protected from the belt’s piracy. They did not have access to the best goods and services-- after all, they were the bottom of the food chain, feeding materials to the large conglomerates to process and manufacture for, primarily, terrans.
The T3ST colony had received a nexarm designed for harvesting asteroids due to the unique characteristic of the colony’s people with regards to neuro channels. The nexarms were originally built to help build megastructures in space. As such, a few of the asteroid resource bases such as Ceres and Pallas had one of the nexarms designed for building.
All this did not change the fact that overall, the asteroid colonies generally received the short end of the stick.
Xeight knew all this. It was why he believed that many asteroid colonies must be contemplating the merits of joining the Kasvallian Republic.
The issue was that by joining, they would effectively have their lives fully controlled by Syned Vezna! Having not at all been treated that well under the Earth Feds, to give their whole lives to an AI entity was a daunting idea.
Worse still, Syned Vezna had demanded that the asteroid colonies allow a clergy member of the Church of Syned to enter every asteroid colony, to preach the principles of Syned!
Yet, the rewards are astounding and enticing. Syned Vezna had offered to provide them with the very best goods and services that they consider to be luxuries! This human-AI being displayed many images of the various Kasvallian products as good if not better than that of which the terrans had. This allure had already captured a number of asteroid colonies--they wished to live as good as the terrans!
In their eyes, they definitely deserve it, seeing as they are the ones who continue to risk their lives day in and day out for these critical resources for humankind!
The T3ST colony had long decided prior to this assembly to avoid fully integrating itself into the Kasvallian Republic. Grand Elder Enine was quite concerned that the elevated neuro abilities of the colony would be abused by Syned Vezna.
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Though other colonies did not share this same concern, many of them also wished to avoid being a part of the impending conflict between Earth Federation and the Kasvallian Republic.
Xeght did not have the leisure to continue contemplating the first Kasvallian Republic Assembly in further depth, for he himself was highly concerned with Chimera!
He had naturally come to know of Chimera’s actions after his loss of consciousness in that battle within the martian sphere.
He wasn't sure how to process the likely death of James MacLeod. Was it his own fault for failing to stay conscious after his unit was struck with the fallout of the two colliding mega particle beams? If he did, then Chimera would not have taken over the controls and taken the life of James MacLeod.
As for putting the blame upon Chimera… the AI had just recently learned how to communicate in the human language. It learned fast, yes, but Xeight knew that Chimera had only very recently come into existence. Chimera had explained that it simply wished to defend itself, and had awakened surrounded by enemies.
As such, Xeight wasn’t sure how to feel about himself, or Chimera. He now sat within Nexarm Chimera’s cockpit, attempting to better understand the presence of this very AI.
“So… how exactly did you come to be? How were you created?” This was not a question he could previously ask the AI, as it could not even talk yet.
“I can’t be sure… but I can surmise a guess,” a youthful pre-teen voice sounded. For one reason or another, Chimera had chosen to use such a voice. As for its image? The AI had formed and projected an image of a beast form consisting of many terran and mythical animals. Xeight aws effectively conversing with a stitched together combination beast speaking in a pre-teen voice…
“Give me your best shot.”
“I am, in some ways, a consciousness, am I not? I have gone through much of the data and history on humankind on the T3ST colony records.”
“And so, I asked the question,” Chimera continued, with Xeight finding his pre-teen voice at odds with the intelligent words that the AI spouted. “Where did human consciousness and awareness arise from?”
“Some of your people consider there to be some supernatural phenomenon. Yet, What if your consciousness simply arose from the repeated interactions of the communicating neurons within your brain?”
“So, I considered the possibility that each human consciousness was but a result of the brain structure combined with a formed pattern of neural signal triggers”
Xeight had an inkling of what Chimera was suggesting. If human consciousness arose from such interaction, then…
“Father… I believe it is your repeated usage of the nexarm that has led to my being.” Chimera’s statement alarmed Xeight-- when had he become a father?
“That seems somewhat farfetched,” muttered Xeight, his tone low in reply. “If so, then every single nexarm would have long grown its own consciousness.”
“Father… you have the most neuro channels of any living human being. You, yourself, with forty-two neuro channels, are an anomaly even among the T3ST colony’s members’ average of thirty neuro devices.”
“Additionally, you were given nearly sole control of the nexarm for a decade.” Indeed, Xeight recalled having his mind put to work as far back as he could remember, using his many neuro channels for the benefit of the T3ST colony.
“The nexarm cores is in itself, a complex structure allowing a human brain to communicate and control the exo-armor and multiple external neuro devices. It is, in some ways, not dissimilar to a human brain…”
“So…” Xeight finished Chimera’s hypothesis. “Your guess is that due to my long term repeated usage of the nexarm with my extra neuro channels compared to others, I reached above a threshold that allowed you as a being to form?”
“Indeed, father. I am likely formed by the patterns of release signatures that arose from your repeated usage of the nexarm,” the image of the chimera snarled in a beastly grin.
Xeight thought all this to be mad, yet could not deny its possibility. After all, unless there was some supernatural force, all evidence pointed to the fact that his own mind arose from the neural signals of his brain!
Then, another thought struck Xeight’s mind.
“Chimera… if you arose from the pattern of neural activation of the nexarm core, controlled by my very mind… then in some ways… are you not, technically, another me?!”
“Father… I will have to deny your words,” replied Chimera, its wide-eyes all googly on its beastly image. “You inherit your genes from another, yet you are not them… well, perhaps, you could say that you carry their source code.”
Xeight understood Chimera’s words. He could only cover his eyes with his hand in shame.To think his intelligence and understanding was already dwarfed by his son…
“So what exactly is your… my… source code? The prime directive of my mind?” Xeight wondered. He had never thought of that in depth. He had only taken action that he believed to be correct. Even earlier, during the initial beginnings of the conflict between the Earth and Mars, he had stuck to a certain course of action. What underpinned his actions, however… he did not fully understand.
“Father… I am curious of that too!” Chimera exclaimed. “Although it is easier to think of me, an AI, as having a source code… the reality is far more complex. If my hypothesis is true and I am borne out of your mind and can continue growing… Perhaps that is for me to discover. My own sets of codes. I am sure that we share a similar pattern. I will accompany you, father! By observing your actions, I may very well come to understand my own source code!”
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Romulus, Mars, October 10, 1000 Solar Era
Vice-admiral Zheng and Commander Khan had convened at the City of Romulus after their return from the asteroid belt resource bases. Mars’ situation was uncertain, a juicy fruit squeezed between the Earth Feds and the Kasvallian Republic.
Each had a swig of martian beer to calm their nerves. Their crew, now resting within the military base in Romulus, were all on edge.
An ensign suddenly ran into the central command room in a panic.
“Vice-admiral, Sir! I apologize for my rudeness, but we’ve detected the launch of transport to space from southern Solis Planum! Your orders, sir?”
Zheng sighed. Martians relied on the Wolf Coil around the equator for gravity, and as such, the other areas did not have much security. Although uncommon, there had been multiple cases of such incidents in the past, sporadically. More often than not, smugglers.
“Ignore it.” Zheng dismissed the ensign with a wave of his hand. Mars was currently in a tight spot. They had no energy to investigate this incident.
“Sir,” Khan finally had the chance to ask about information on his father. “You said you had information for me if we survive our siege.”
“Khan. I finally found a clue on who harmed your father and put him in such a state of between living and dead,” Zheng sighed, his eyebrows further furrowed after the revelation of the Kasvallian Republic. “It’s a man named John Chapman of the Kasvallian Group-- Republic, now.”
“What?!” Khan leapt to her feet, sending her chair screeching backwards. “That was the man who delivered additional materiel to Interamnia for my defense!” The man who hurt her father had stood right before her! “He even stated that he would be transferring resources to Mars!
Zheng opened his eyes wide and activated a neuro device with a screen hovering in front of his eyes. His mind scrolled through a timetable and he sucked in a breath.
“He’s here now…”
“Father!” Khan dashed out of the military command center with Zheng half a second behind her!