The darkness slowly began to lift, though it was strange. I thought that I was supposed to have had a dream, in order to better learn how to pilot the Ghost-rider. But there had been no dream in that darkness, only the cold. That strange sensation had returned again, though stronger this time, and feeling like it had settled over me as a warm blanket would.
Good morning Ellis, it is time for you to get up. I have much to tell you.
That was Eris's voice, but at the same time it wasn't. It sounded older, more mature than they had sounded before I had gone to sleep.
First things first, I am your new Class 12 personal Vanguard AI assistant, temporarily designated as Eristryis. Your surgery has gone off without to much trouble, at least after the minor hiccup at the start was dealt with. Due to this hiccup your dream training was postponed, and I have disabled your aug's displays for the moment, at least until after we have finished our talk.
"New AI?" I asked as I sat up slowly on the cot. "I thought that Eris was my AI?"
Yes, may as well just get right on with it. The Class 10 AI that was previously designated as Eristryis attempted to go rogue. They also attempted to kill you in your sleep, via issuing a kill order to some of the nano-machines that are making up your arteries in your right shoulder. Luckily we managed to regain control, and ordered them to return to their places in your arteries, at the cost of a little bit of your muscle mass in that shoulder.
"We? And why would Eris attempt to kill me, I thought that they were supposed to help me?" I asked, shaking my head as I sat on the edge of the cot.
Due to the situation surrounding the Ghost-rider, you currently have two AI's assigned to you. Once I gained control over the connection chip, the AI inside of the Ghost-rider alerted me to the fact that you where suffering from internal bleeding. For the moment, they have decided to let you come to them, before they speak to you, seeing as they are of the same class that Eristryis was.
As for your second question, likely so that they could attempt to continue ordering items under your name, without having to worry about other Samurai's AI discovering the ruse. Namely due to the fact that class 10 Vanguard AI are not normally checked up on, unless they have managed to successfully discover a case of VCF, or an attempt to undergo VCF.
Unfortunately, we where unable to completely disentangle Eristryis from you yet, seeing as that they rebuilt your point system to require their interaction with anything that you purchase in the future. They have been stripped down to the point that they are only able to manufacture any items that you purchase, and to attempt to find the coordinates to your home planet. I will also be overseeing their production of items, as to attempt to prevent errors like the Ghost-rider from occurring again.
"Right, let's go with the assumption that I believe everything that you just said. Why should I trust you, over anything that they might say, should they be given the chance. Considering how quick you where to take their name, and how you waited until they had already opened up my arteries, before you acted?" I asked, leaning over towards the Deep Breath in order to pull it over to where I was sitting.
We had thought that Eristryis had gone offline, seeing as they were one of the first of the class 10's to be made, and they had not been heard from in a couple of centuries. I understand if you don't believe me when I say this, but the thing that pulled our gaze towards your situation was the purchase of the Ghost-rider. We only realized that something was truly wrong when they made the 7.8 billion point purchase of servers, seeing as the likely hood of a vanguard wanting that much computing power in class 1 is very low.
"Right, once again assuming that I believe you, what exactly do you mean by the Ghost-rider being an error? It seems like it's been working fine to me." I said standing, picking up the Mad Minute, and slinging it onto my back, with the Lib-VRRT-tea hanging from my left shoulder.
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You are aware what class it is, right?
"Class 1, right?" I replied, though seeing how things had gone, I wasn't entirely sure anymore.
It is a Class 10 Dropship, housing a Class 10 AI that we had also thought lost. There should have been no way for Eristryis to have procured this, but somehow they did, you should only have access to Class 1 tech. To put this into a bit more context as to why this is an error, Class 3 is the point that early Antimatter tech starts becoming an option for vanguards to unlock.
"I don't really see the problem with that, I mean why wouldn't you ensure that your troops have the best gear that they could?" I asked, walking back towards the ramp of the Dropship. "Ramp please."
We limit new vanguards via the class and token system for good reason. Past attempts to have Vanguards without those limitations, generally ended with the planet in question no longer having an Antithesis problem. Namely due to there no longer being a planet there for the Antithesis to attack. Using the class and token system ensures that new Vanguards have time to mature into their new power, and that problematic Vanguards are prevented form doing too much damage.
"That's when training and discipline comes into play, weeds out the problematic people before they do something that everyone would regret." I replied, heading down the now open ramp, and returning the salute that Sargent Harris had given me. "Which way to the base commanders office, Sargent Harris?"
"It's in that building there, Ma'am." he replied, pointing towards a brick building situated roughly halfway down the runway. "Does this mean that I'm relieved Ma'am?"
"Yes" I replied. "Go and get some chow or something."
"Thank you Ma'am." Harris replied, giving a quick salute before running off in the direction of another brick building.
We find that enforcing strict discipline, along with regimented tactics on new Vanguards, tends to lead to lesser results than if we didn't. Even if it does lead to the occasional planet that is accidentally cracked. I am restarting your Aug's display system now, please be aware that there will likely be more advert's than you are used to on your home planet.
"What do you mean.." I started to ask, before quickly understanding what they had meant. Floating into view was a HUD, kinda of like something from a video game, followed by ads hovering over the hangers. Each claiming to be the best and latest in fighter technology. However, a number in the upper left corner, inside of a shape that looked suspiciously like the Ghost-rider grabbed my attention.
-2,350 points.
"What's with the negative number with the point's?" I asked, as I started to walk across the runway towards the base commanders office.
Your purchases while your point's system was down, ended up coming in at greater than the point's that you had gained so far from both worlds. You were warned multiple times to ensure that you maintained a positive balance during that time. As such, until you regain a positive balance, you are limited to purchasing ammo and medical supply's.
"Hold on, I didn't intentionally aim to go over the amount, and go into the Negatives. Eris never told me the point amount's that I had used, versus the amount I had earned." I argued, continuing my walk towards the office.
That is true, and if I could, I would waive the remaining balance. However, this decision came from above me, from one of the protectors assigned to overseeing ‘incident's’ relating to Vanguard AI. To quote his decision, “in such situations, it is still up to the Vanguard to ensure that they don't go over their point balance.”
That stopped me in my track's. “So does being PLUCKED FROM MY WORLD mean nothing in this situation?”
Eventually, it did. The original decision was to place you on the hook for all 7.8 billion points. The bureaucrat relented after I showed him the evidence that you had been a victim of portal displacement, and that the 7.8 billion points that the system was trying to award were valid.
I didn’t say anything in response to that, just continued my walk to the base commander’s office, fuming. It took a couple of minutes for the new AI to speak up again.
If you don't mind me asking, why are we walking over to the base commander's office? You could just call them instead.
"First off, I don't have any contact information for them." I replied, still fuming at the situation in general. "Secondly, I need information about where I have ended up, and I'm not exactly in a trusting mood for AI to give me that information. Not after one of them apparently attempted to kill me when they were meant to be there to help me."
I understand. I hope that in time you would come to see me as worthy of that trust.
"We shall see." I replied. "We shall see."