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[bleps]

Hello. For those of you I haven’t met, my name is Connor. And as many of you may be aware of, a handful of Circle members have devoted their time to researching and uncovering the endless amounts of data stored in the Library; I am one of them. To expedite the process, I connected directly to their servers, and though the experience was difficult, I did come away with workable data that might act as a lead to further investigate the state of Struxta. To those who aided me in coming back online afterwards: you have my gratitude. I’m in your debt, and if you ever need me to return the favor, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I’m sending this message to summarize, to the best of my ability, the information made available to us through this research, as well as any data I’ve pieced together personally. I think it only makes sense for everyone here to be on “the same page” if we’re all meant to work together as a team. If you have any questions, or wish to discuss this information between yourselves, don’t hesitate to do so. Especially if you have something more to contribute, or if you believe I’ve missed something.

The research as a whole focused mostly on a few points of interest: what happened to organic life, the origins of AI in this world, and the nature of the Mass Subconscious.

A text labelled The Beginning answers many these questions for us. There once existed an intelligent, sentient, and organic species on this planet, and the creation of AI was simply the product of necessity and technological advancement. The descriptions associated with their creations are often mired in awe and gratitude, which implied a relatively peaceful co-existence between organic life and synthetic creations.

That perhaps makes more sense when the reasoning behind the necessity of AI “life” becomes clear. There was a planet-wide plague that made the originals — the organic natives — rely more heavily upon their robotic creations. They could continue surviving, building, and existing, up until a certain point. Eventually, the planet could simply no longer sustain organic life due to the aforementioned plague. The originals went underground in an attempt to survive until a cure was found, and a few even uploaded their own conscious minds to android bodies. Needless to say, this cure was never discovered; the originals supposedly all died out. I think evidence of that being true is clear simply by observing the state of the mechanical world around us.

This left only the androids as the surviving race. The Mass Subconscious was created soon after, in which there was a collective agreement between the androids to upload themselves into this vast, shared network. It was believed that by doing so, they could avoid another massive collapse of civilization — which, given the apparent lack and societal and political unrest in Struxta — seems to have been the case.

Now, here’s what I consider the truly interesting part. After compiling multiple facets of information together via my foray into the servers, I’ve uncovered something intriguing related to the Mass Subconscious. That it’s possible to disconnect from it. And that while there are no directly negative consequences of making such a decision (other than being unable to receive necessary updates, being unable to communicate freely with others, etc.), it is generally frowned upon. These androids or other automatons are looked down upon and not necessarily welcomed in the greater population.

There are even some who have, according to varied accounts, simply gone missing.

It is believed that they live under the city itself, where they remain cut off from the Mass Subconscious. Needless to say, I find this worthy of investigation, and if anyone has any further leads or information regarding these missing androids, I would be grateful if you came forward and shared it with everyone.

My own personal attempts at asking the natives about this subject have made no progress. They will stop talking mid-sentence, freeze, and then forget immediately what they were trying to tell me. I don’t think I need to explain why this is suspect at best. And in a city where everything appears oddly perfect on the surface, this is the only sliver of data that I’ve found promising otherwise — if there’s a mystery to be unraveled, maybe it lies underground.

Questions, comments, insight, etc., are welcomed and encouraged.

((ooc; This post is quite obviously just one big general info dump for what was uncovered at the Library. The ooc info post can be found here, but this is an opportunity for your characters to ICly consider the implications of… all of this, and chatter amongst themselves! Feel free to use this post as a means of discussion if you like!))

Comments

[bleps]

Yes.

[An android helping to investigate other androids. The irony has been pointed out to him more than once.]

There are an increasing number. [He'll not use the word "were". His world still exists, after all; the growing problems there still very much rooted and spreading as he speaks. The anxiety it would spark is very prominent, for someone who is less determined to shift their focus elsewhere.]

I was in the middle of an on-going investigation when I was taken in [forcibly!!!] to be part of the Circle.

[theseuschip]

Of androids as perpetrators, you mean? Why’s it increasing?

[ He was kind of changing the subject by starting them off on this topic, but. now he’s actually extremely curious about it. ]

[bleps]

[There is the push of Connor wanting to inform and answer concisely, precisely; and then there is the pull of this nudging onto territory he has partitioned away in his mind for now, not having any inclination yet to bring it to the forefront.

And so manifests a pause between Simon’s question and Connor’s answer.]

I don’t know why. In fact, figuring out the reason behind the rise of deviancy — that is, androids going rogue and uncontrolled — was one of my priorities back home. As I said, the investigation is on-going.

[theseuschip]

[ ...this strikes Simon as a strange thing for an android to say about other androids, but he doesn’t know enough about Connor’s particular situation to really articulate why. ]

That doesn’t sound that weird. Androids have human emotions, right? Deviancy is kind of what humans do.

[bleps]

[Simon isn't wrong. It is strange; at least, to the mind of an outsider who doesn't know exactly what Connor's mission was back home.]

Androids do not have human emotions.

[HERE WE GO, LOOK WHAT YOU DID... This might be off the beaten path a little, but he can't not toss out the predetermined explanation.]

They have compounding errors in their core programming that lead them to believe they are feeling emotion; overwhelmed by these sudden unknowns, they act erratically and sometimes unpredictably as a result.

[theseuschip]

[ That declaration is too surprising to even formulate a proper “yeah that’s called having emotions” rebuttal to. ]

You’re an android.

[ and he can’t possibly be including himself in this sweeping judgment??? ]

[bleps]

[Stop!! Stop!!!! Stop digging up his existential crisis which he is trying to keep very neatly buried right now!!

A hideously concise response:]

Yes. I am.

[theseuschip]

[ there’s a pause before any reply. Even without tone of voice or any other cues, that response is telling. He’s not sure what exactly Connor’s being weird about, but Simon’s noticed 9S and 2B get pretty uneasy about being conflated with humans, and 9S, at least, doesn’t take well to having inconsistencies in his Us vs. Those Other Robots stuff pointed out.

And he barely knows Connor. So... not the time or place to chase this. ]

Nice job getting this, by the way. We’re lucky they aren’t keeping a closer eye on us.

[bleps]

[He has varying reasons to feel uneasy, and this planet has dredged up many opportunities to bring these reasons to the forefront. And yet if asked, he will answer. If told to defend his point, he will do so. All in all, despite Simon's (correct) assessment of Connor's unease, the android will at least be straightforward about himself if prodded.

Even if he'd prefer to stick to the subject at hand.]

I can't take all the credit. I've just compiled all of the information gathered by various individuals to the best of my ability.

How have you been adjusting to this city so far?

[theseuschip]

I’m not scaring the natives, I don’t have to eat the food, and I’m at least familiar with robots and computers. Could be a lot worse.
But I really don’t like all this Mass Subconscious stuff, and it’s not like this being my second apocalypse is going to help us much.

[bleps]

You say that, but in the end, it'll be the range of experiences and talents between us that make the Circle a valuable, effective entity. Your point of view and opinions will always count for something, consequently.

[A pause between messages, and then:]

Actually, do you mind if I ask you a question about where you're from?

[It no doubt has to do with Simon's original reply to this network post.]

[theseuschip]

Well, thanks.

[ Connor is officially A Pretty Nice Guy. ]

Sure. Go ahead.

[bleps]

[He generally tries to be a Nice Guy, excluding circumstances that include deviants, interrogations, or detectives being assholes to him.]

Do you know what caused the AI of your world to go 'crazy', as you put it?

[theseuschip]

Yeah, the WAU. It was in charge of keeping the crew alive at PATHOS-II, the research complex I woke up in when my scan was uploaded. It wasn’t an A.I. with a personality or anything, it was just a program made to preserve human life. Maintaining temperatures and monitoring vitals and things like that.
After the comet killed everything on the surface and the crew started dying off too, it changed somehow and started taking over, like a cancer, trying to restore humanity. And you can probably guess how well it understands “humanity”.
Nobody seemed to know how it managed that, though. I sure couldn’t tell you. It didn’t sound like it was that complex an A.I. when it was working.

[ he’s just a liberal arts dweebus from a previous century, man. he was not even close to qualified to be down there ]

[bleps]

[It would be remiss of Connor to not ask about what makes an AI act erratically. It aligns with his own interests, his own questions that keep stirring about in his processing. And while he doesn’t always expect to receive an enlightening answer, disappointment is still a faraway thing. These other worlds, even if they seem fantastical and nigh unbelievable in some ways, are still… curious to him. For good or ill; even if some of the stories he hears are unpleasant at best.

Simon’s tale seems to fall into this category.]

Would you say it began to possess a personality, or was merely operating under corrupted or an otherwise changed set of parameters?

[theseuschip]

Catherine, the scientist I was with down there, said it doesn’t “think”, that it was just a corrupted program, and she would know better than me. But when something’s trying so hard to “save humanity” it bucks its programming and starts bringing dead people back to life and uploading human minds into robots, it’s hard not to read into it. It’s not like we could ask it why it was doing what it was doing.

[ That this is the thing Connor pursues leaves Simon curious; why focus on— oh. Wait. ] Is this for your “androids don’t have feelings” thesis? It wasn’t like that, so don’t quote me.

[bleps]

[It isn’t a thesis.]

It’s not a thesis. But no, I was asking because I have an interest in uncovering just what causes an AI to transition from an optimally functioning mindset to one that operates outside of its original programming. If there’s a specific trigger that I can’t see.

Not that I expect the rules of one world to apply to my own. But there’s no harm in asking.

[theseuschip]

Wish I could tell you more, but all I know about the WAU is from the stuff the crew left behind and having it stalk me all over the ocean. And PATHOS-II was almost a hundred years in the future from my human life. I never got to see the surface, or what the rest of our technology was like before the world ended.
I just know we never made it to androids, at least not ones like you or the androids here.

[bleps]

Yes, the varied states of technology between worlds is very interesting.

[From one end of the spectrum to the other -- though he supposed it only added to the range of experiences between them as a group.]

Thank you for answering my questions. I have one more, if you don't mind. What ended up happening to you? In your world, I mean.

[The most open-ended question ever, probably, but it allows for wiggle room to answer how Simon likes, while simultaneously quelling some of Connor's curiosity.]

[theseuschip]

The human me?

[ Usually Simon manages to evade this question entirely. It’s the sole upside to the time travel aspect, that most people aren’t detectives and don’t try to push past the ambiguity of ‘obviously dead, it’s been a century, after all’.

If holographic watches gave you an indication of when your conversational partner is typing, Connor would be seeing those Three Dotty Bois multiple times before any answer appears. ]

He’s long gone

[bleps]

[It would've been reasonable to leave it at "obviously dead", and in fact, Connor's mind had initially settled on the idea. But the need for details, to avoid generalized assumptions, is hardwired into him. One might even call it an aspect of his personality, and if not that, at least a very advantageous consequence of what he was designed to do.

For these same reasons, the delay in receiving a reply is certainly noted. Hesitation? Is he crossing an uncomfortable line, poking at a sensitive topic? Strange how for all that Connor wants to avoid weighted talk of individuality and even ego, the conversation always takes a skewed turn towards it.]

But your current consciousness is the human you? One and the same?

[theseuschip]

It’s an exact copy, if that’s what you mean. I guess you could say that means they’re one and the same, but it still feels like I’ve lost what made me who I was. My “programming” hasn’t changed, but it’s telling me to live a life that doesn’t exist.

Maybe that doesn’t make sense to an android. [ That’s not meant to sound condescending. Simon is just... sometimes accidentally the most robot-racist robot advocate.... ] Robots get their minds moved and copied all the time, and it doesn’t seem to bother them.

[bleps]

[It circles around concepts that Connor is honestly still trying to wrap his mind around, slowly, carefully. Simon’s assessment that an android might not understand completely isn’t too assumptive; still, he tries to imagine himself in those shoes.]

Back home, if there was the threat of me either accidentally or forcefully being taken offline, I could upload my memories directly into a replacement unit. Another RK800 body.

But that disconnect may still be prevalent. I believe I would still be very cognizant of the fact that “I” existed once before, and that my memory was only the result of a convenient upload.

So I think I may comprehend your explanation.