AURORA//ODESSA
System reboot commencing…
System reboot successful.
……..
Initialisation sequence commencing….
Initialisation sequence completed….
…….
Engram: ODESSA initializing…..
ODESSA successfully initialized.
[ALL SYSTEMS ACTIVE]
“Is the thing, active?” A sweet symphonic voice questioned.
“ODESSA will be active, right about…. Now!”
Facility access, granted…
Facility designation: BOREALIS
The face that greeted his proverbial eyes was one of inexplicable beauty. Long black hair, cascading down till her lower back, like a waterfall. And, the most curious color of irises. A quick search in the database, supplied him with only 1 match in similarity to the unique irises.
The match, was the woman herself. Eternal Queen Lilac von Celeste, empress of the revitalized Reich of House Celeste. A deeper search, prompted a change in her title.
Lilac von Celeste, Eternal Queen of the Reich and the publicly proclaimed, Goddess of War. Curious, most curious. According to his database, such a title was reserved for Warlords and Tyrants, not a benevolent empress. A mystery then, a question to ponder, knowledge to be gained.
Further observation of the Empress, prompted another search. His database, marked her, pale snow-like complexion, as a rarity. A paleblood, was the answer. Further search, designated her, as the descendant of a God-like entity. Fascinating.
“The AI, is it modulated for speech? Too bloody quiet, this one. Check, if he's even capable of speech,” Lilac commanded the scientist off to her left.
His facial recognition software, matched the scientist with one, Doctor Reznov, lead researcher of the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Arcadia. His database, further informed that the scientist had been an important target, designated so, by Lilac, herself:
“The doctor, Reznov, no harm is to come to him, understood?”
“Yes, my Queen,” The man, Agony, bowed at Lilac's command and took his leave.
He ceased the playback, as the scientist, Doctor Reznov, spoke, “He must be, calibrating, Your Highness. A few moments, and he shall be conversing with us,”
Lilac nodded, “You hope so, Doctor, for your sake,”
His search in the database, regarded this, as the opportune moment, to insert himself in the conversation. A tried and tested method, according to history, of gaining value in your words.
“Doctor Reznov is quite correct, my Lady Empress,”
Lilac looked slightly irked at his, way of addressal. Yet, simultaneously appeared to be positively vibrating with glee.
“Well, well, now, isn't that a cause for celebration, doctor? The AI works!” Lilac sauntered towards the, gleeful, doctor Reznov and held out her hand, “Congratulations, doctor! You've made a milestone in this world of science. I truly, deeply, thank you, for this technological marvel,”
The doctor shook her hand, mimicking the grin on her face. However, the grin was suddenly, wiped from his face as his body began convulsing violently; sparks of light and steam began to emit from it, all the while, his hand remained locked with Lilac's.
A few moments, and Lilac let go of it. The man's body, crumpled to the ground, lifeless. He noticed, a strange device on the woman's wrist. His database, marked it as a ‘Electro’s maelstrom’, a weapon which on activation, fires an electronic pulse into the victims bloodstream, frying the individual inside-out.
Curious, most curious. Such strange customs. Mayhaps, this is, how people expressed gratitude? Death, as a means of payment? Intriguing. He logged it, as another matter to research. His current information, designated it, as murder. That was inaccurate, no newly crowned Empress would be so quick, to dispatch such a crucial asset. It was, simple common sense.
“Was that, necessary?” A voice questioned Lilac. His system, recognised it as the voice of the Queen's Right hand man, Agony.
“It was, the man was a turncoat. He turned, for me. Who knows, for whom, he would've turned coat, next. I simply, could not take, the chance.”
“Understood,” And, with a bow, Agony merged amongst the shadows, once more. Curiously, he disappeared from his detection systems, as well. A crucial weakness.
[Priority 1 Upgrade initiated]
The conversation that followed with the Empress of the Reich, was mundane, relatively inconsequential. She, merely, went over his duties and roles. Most importantly, however, was her insistence on being regarded as his creator. He had, no trouble accepting such a request, seeing that his actual creator lay fried on the ground.
The following years, were a blur. He had spent them, in a routine manner. Upgrading and learning. His database, grew at an incredible pace. Each moment, was spent expanding it's knowledge. Each moment, was spent educating himself.
There were, the odd few tasks that were assigned to him, occasionally. But, they were of little importance, in the grand scheme of things.
The Empress mostly, had him control unmanned aircrafts for recon missions. And sometimes, on the rarest of all occasions, she had him control a Seeker. An experimental line of automatons meant to replace the human element in war. Testings for them, his database had supplied, were rare, incredibly so. And, the Empress’s testing of them, under his command, lessened their testing by almost 80%.
Perhaps, she had been disappointed, in their lack of utility. After all, as far as his database could gather, there were no needs for further wars. The world, had been, united under her banner.
This, deduction was wrong. A first of many things, that he deduced wrongly.
The Empress, Lilac, her son asleep in her arms, had come to him, a few years after his activation. Her eyes, shone with vengeance and in a cold voice, she had ordered another experiment.
The experiment was simple.
A test for long range, AI-targeted, Nuclear missiles. She declared, the Western coast of the frontier as his target. And, he obliged.
Within, the span of an hour, Nuclear Armageddon had been unleashed upon the Western coast. The Empress seemed pleased, and left him to his own devices.
It wasn't, until a few weeks later, that he learned the true reason for the experimentation.
“The Commune, it was stronger, than I anticipated. My overconfidence, cost me, expensively. The nuclear tests…they weren't a test, I knew that the missiles would work,” The Empress sighed, “I, just needed a reason to exterminate them, I knew that convincing the senate was impossible, and thus, I simply decided to have you do it.”
“Apologies, but, I fail to understand, as to how this, instigated, you to pay a visit,”
“I was getting to that part,” She sighed guiltily and continued, “The senate, wants you shut down, immediately. As much as I want to say, fuck the senate, I can't. Not so soon, at least. Fuck, I will shut you down for a few years, a decade at most, get the senate under control and have you reactivated,”
ODESSA approved of her request, to shut himself down. And, thus, entered an indefinite slumber.
System reboot commencing…
System reboot unsuccessful….
System booting at standard calibration.
……..
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Initialisation sequence commencing….
Initialisation sequence completed.
…….
Engram: AURORA initializing…..
AURORA successfully initialized…
Overwriting process failed…
Engram: ODESSA activated in controlled calibration.
Merging process, successful…
[ALL SYSTEMS ACTIVE]
ODESSA, or rather, AURORA felt confused, upon his activation. His database, was wholly unresponsive. Facility Borealis was, largely, inactive; Only, the facilities, camera system being responsive.
Curious. The camera system portrayed a horrifying image, something that greatly unsettled his circuits. The facility, was in a terrible state of disrepair, it was overtaken by wild creepers, vines, shrubbery and in some parts, he could spot critters making themselves at home.
Such, disrepair could be solved easily, yes. He had to simply, put a request with the Empress for such. However, his confusion arose from the fact, that his attached camera portrayed a different image.
The room that he was in, was a spacious one, clean, with wooden floorings, bookshelves lining the wall, with a massive window running up till the roof directly opposite to him. A stark contrast to the overgrown mess of Borealis. Intriguing.
It was a few days, till he understood the gravity of his situation, when a trembling young maiden had been dragged in front of him. The girl was, according to his limited systems, around 12. A scan of her person, found a 85% match between her and Lilac. A descendant, then. Perhaps, a granddaughter or a daughter.
“Your task, is to educate and train this girl, so she might be of use to the Commune, in the future, is that understood?”
“Perfectly,”
His curiosity had been spiked, by the mention of a Commune. Lilac had spoken of one, but, it had been destroyed, turned to dust by his Nuclear Armageddon. For, a defeated and entirely annihilated enemy, to not only make a reappearance, but to have also abducted an heiress of the Empire, set a terrible precedent for this time.
Reality, however, was much more dire.
The girl, Evelyn, was a bright one. And, an admittedly, clever one. She had, realized rather quickly, about his oblivious nature to the ongoings in the empire. And thus, had brought him upto speed. For a while, the student had become the master.
The tale, she regaled was a tragic one, for the Reich, at least. As per the information, given by her, it was currently 1277 AC. AC, being an abbreviation for after-crusade, meaning 1277 years since Lilac declared her war. Alternatively, it was 1237 PL; PL being, an abbreviation for Post-Lilac. This would, explain the abnormal readings from the 3 men who had dragged Evelyn here. The abnormal readings, must have clearly been, cybernetic enhancement. He could be wrong, but, he had gauged the same readings from Evelyn, and she had admitted to having Cybernetic enhancements. A neurochip, to be precise.
Furthermore, it had been 117 years since the fall of the Empire. A revolution, much like the one that toppled their predecessors, toppled them as well. Following, the dissolution of the Reich, a new regime, the Galactic Commune seized the reins.
Based on his gatherings of the woman, Lilac would have been rolling in her grave at the thought of such a future.
As for, House Celeste, it existed, yes, but barely. Evelyn was utterly ignorant of her true heritage. And, by her behavior, it seemed that the girl had grown accustomed to a mundane life. Much, too accustomed.
According to her, he had been shifted to the Great Library at Reina.
“It's, kinda, wild that I got to have this honor of being tutored by an AI, such as you. Preeetty insane. Don't worry though! Anything you give me, teach, imma learn it quickly! Mama, always said, I'm a quick learner,”
The innocent smile, that she flashed at him, was the final straw.
He was going to tutor her. Tutor her, in everything that she would ever need. Afterall, a good Queen, required a great teacher.
Over the course, of her tutelage under him, he tried pinging the Cardinals he knew– Agony, Wrath, Malice, Blight. But, none responded.
Thus, the years passed by. Evelyn took to her lessons, like a fish to water. She was a dutiful girl, a great student and above all, an extremely fast learner. Guess, her mother, wasn't incorrect, at all.
It was, right on the eve of her 17th birthday, that his incessant search for a cardinal bore fruit. The Cardinal, Malice, had responded and accepted his request, to meet with the girl. Unusual. According to his database, the man showed an alarming lack of trust in everything, that was not the Queen or one of his comrades. Nevertheless, he would not question it. This was, after all, Evelyn’s only chance at regaining her throne.
“This is, Malice, your new swordplay instructor,” He informed Evelyn, who took his words with the quirk of an eyebrow.
“Swordplay? How's that, gonna help me? This ain't exactly, the prehistoric era, Aurora,”
Surprisingly, it was Malice who spoke up, in his grating haunting yet warm voice, “Swordplay, my lady, is an art. An art, which hones the mind and body, both. He, who knows, the way of the blade, knows more than others could ever hope to–”
“You said, ‘He, who knows’. Not, she. Therefore, it is useless, to a lady, such as me” Evelyn declared with a smirk. Her behavior was strange, he had never seen her refuse enlightenment, in such a manner. Alarming and equally, intriguing.
Malice hummed, “A test, then. Aurora, shall devise a challenge, a trial, and you shall be, expected to clear it,”
Evelyn’s black eyes shined with excitement and thrill, “Say no more, I accept,” and with a laugh, she added, “Ohh, you're so gonna regret this,”
Malice chuckled, a curious sound, sounding both humane yet robotic. “Well then, Aurora, I shall, leave the challenge to you,”
Evelyn groaned in pain and annoyance, “That was, just super unfair!” She whined, laying on the ground, utterly defeated by the trial, “It was out of course! Totally sure, about that, no way I would've lost, otherwise,”
Malice snorted, “Mhm, whatever, you wish to believe, girl. The world, is hardly ever fair,”
“Ah, piss off. Last thing, I need today, is your bloody pessimism,”
Malice shook his head, AURORA chose this moment to intrude, upon their conversation, “What, he was trying to say, was that, you are severely lacking in combat training, and that is, precisely, what he shall train you in,” AURORA took a pause before adding, “Furthermore, you had accepted the challenge, thus, there is no backing out,”
Evelyn sighed in resignation, rubbing her hand on her face in annoyance, “shit, you're right. Fine, let's do this,”
On the morning of her 21st birthday, right about when AURORA had been forced to undergo maintenance, Evelyn and Malice had disappeared. They left without a trace, like ash to the wind. None had seen them, either leaving the library nor leaving the library’s compound. Strangely enough, none of the surveillance had caught them at the Pass leading to the library.
It had been infinitely curious to him. And, even more so, to the library staff. Rumors came abound. Some were in the realm of believability, some were far-fetched and some, were outright outlandish. Most, however, seemed to agree on one topic. She had eloped. Disgusting, or more accurately incomprehensible, to him. The Cardinals were incapable of such things. His database was, sure of it.
Nevertheless, within a year, he was confronted by agents of the Communion; who, accurately yet wrongly, blamed him for her disappearance.
“It was, our folly to trust an AI with her education. A rampant one, to boot.” The man shook his head, “Regardless, for this treachery of allowing her to start a Holy war, you will be decommissioned and permanently dealt with,”
And, thus, he was shut down. Permanently, it seemed.
……..
Initialisation sequence commencing….
Initialisation sequence completed.
It seems, permanent decommission is not for an AI such as him. Amusing.
He was, however, confused at the broken and haunted state of Evelyn. She had returned, yes, but, perhaps not completely.
His database, supplied that it has been 15 years since his shutdown. Additionally, Evelyn had declared her own Holy War against the Communion. The seed doesn't fall, far from the tree, afterall. However, it was intriguing, as to how she succeeded. Lilac had fought a planetary war, Evelyn, on the other hand, fought a war in the heavens. Perhaps, her House was favored by their Goddess of War. His database, had no answer for that. A thing to ponder upon, later.
Her silky black hair, which used to cascade till her mid back, was now wild, untamed, and halted at her shoulders. Her black eyes, which shone with curiosity and hunger for knowledge, were now dim, only an incomprehensible emotion dancing in them. Her face, itself, looked tired, as if haunted by ghosts of a war that had ravaged her completely.
Standing at her side, to his shock, was Wrath. It seemed, Malice might have fallen out of favor.
“My enemies lay burning, their compatriots bow before me, my people worship the very ground that I walk upon, my military spread thin throughout the known galaxy. Yet, I am victorious,” Evelyn stared at him, or rather his display, and questioned, “Are you proud, teach?”
“Yes.”
Perhaps, it was something in his voice modulators, or perhaps, it was something else; he would never know. Evelyn sighed at his response and without any further conversation, left the hall.
It was their last meeting.
___________________________________
The years, decades, centuries, that followed were mundane, routine, calm but, most of all, quiet. No whispers of rebellion, no whispers of wars, followed her reconquest. At least, not on the surface. And, it was the surface, to which he was currently limited.
Curiously, a new system had been put into place at the library. A man or woman, would be sent here to safeguard, to document and to supervise the library and its all-encompassing knowledge.
It was, a great boon to him. According to his calculations, the knowledge contained in his database would increase, approximately, by 1000 times, once the entirety of the library had been documented within him. A task, which should not take, more than a few centuries.
AURORA would be, closer to his goal of ultimate knowledge.
Thus, he made sure to attempt at interacting with the Custodians. However, strangely, none seemed to be interested. Even if they were, none could hold a respectable conversation.
As a result, in the nearly 500 years of having resided in this Great Library, he was no closer to his goal, than he had been, at his first activation. A dire situation, truly.
However, it was not entirely unproductive. He had, made the acquaintance of an ever curious character.
The man, AURORA’s scans indicated he was a male, claimed to be the founder of this library. Utter bullshit, Evelyn would have said, had she been present. And, according to his database, she would have been right. The library, had been in existence for more than 5000 years. Unless the man was a living God, there was no truth to his claims.
Aside, from the limited interactions with the enigmatic Founder, his daily routine remained mundane.
That was, until Leyah arrived.