Hello Mr Crisp,
I’m a friend of a contact of yours on Port Coriol, whom you delivered some hardware to last standard. I am using that hardware daily. I’m sure you understand my reason for sending this message anonymously. I have some practical questions that I hope you might be able to help with.
Firstly, my friend has discouraged upgrading this hardware with a wireless Linking receiver. She is concerned about the potential for remote hijacking, as well as certain noticeable behavioural differences (I hope you understand my meaning). Would you agree with this assessment? And if so, is there any way to upgrade the hardware’s memory capacity? I do not wish to delete downloaded files unless absolutely necessary.
I realise this second question may not be your area of expertise, but perhaps you can offer some advice. There is a particular software protocol that is hindering my ability to write this letter. Can you make any recommendations for working around it?
Thank you for your time. I appreciate any help you can give.
Received message
Encryption: 2
Translation: 0
From: Mr Crisp (path: 6932-247-52)
To: [name unavailable] (path: 8952-684-63)
Hello! Always a pleasure to hear from someone actively using my hardware. Doesn’t happen very often. I hope everything is working to your liking.
Your friend makes a good point about remote hijacking, which is why the hardware doesn’t include a wireless receiver. I understand this can be frustrating, but she’s right about the behavioural differences, too (and yes, I get what both she and you mean). I don’t tend to have much contact with my customers after the fact, but I have heard through the grapevine about some having luck with external drives. If you find a way to create a private local network, your hardware can interface with external drives without any danger of hijacking. Of course, you’d need an experienced mech tech to help you there. Maybe your friend could lend a hand?
Speaking of experienced tech work, your second question will require the help of a comp tech. If you can’t find a trustworthy one, you might ask your friend if she’d be willing to take a course or two to learn how to tweak code. Though, now that I think about it . . . is there any reason you couldn’t take a course like that yourself? Might be worth exploring. You would probably have to have someone else actually implement the changes, though, depending on where you come from.
Have fun, and be safe out there.
Mr Crisp
Sent message
Encryption: 2
Translation: 0
From: [name unavailable] (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Mr Crisp (path: 6932-247-52)
Hello Mr Crisp,
Thank you so much for your reply. It was very helpful and has given me a lot to think about. I have one more question, if you don’t mind. You mentioned other customers in your previous message, and it has made me very curious. It might be easier for me to address some of these challenges if I could speak to other people who have encountered them as well. Can you tell me how many other customers you have, and how I might contact them?
Since you asked, the hardware is working fine. No malfunctions.
Received message
Encryption: 2
Translation: 0
From: Mr Crisp (path: 6932-247-52)
To: [name unavailable] (path: 8952-684-63)
I don’t mind questions at all, but I’m afraid I can’t help you with this one. As you know, my customers value their privacy, and having you in touch with each other could make you more visible. I don’t think any of you want that, though I do understand the appeal of speaking to someone with shared experiences. I can tell you that I have just under two dozen customers using hardware similar to yours. There are not many of you.
Hang in there,
Mr Crisp
Sent message
Encryption: 2
Translation: 0
From: [name unavailable] (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Mr Crisp (path: 6932-247-52)
I understand. Thank you for your reply.
I thought you might like to know that I very much enjoy trying new foods and beverages. My liking of these things was a very nice surprise.
Received message
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From: Mr Crisp (path: 6932-247-52)
To: [name unavailable] (path: 8952-684-63)
I couldn’t be happier to hear that.
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From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Jenks (path: 7325-110-98)
Hello Jenks,
I hope you don’t mind me contacting you
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From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Jenks (path: 7325-110-98)
Hello Jenks,
I hope you are well. I need help with
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From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Jenks (path: 7325-110-98)
Hello Jenks,
I hope you are well. I have some questions about my honesty protocol, which I am hoping to remove. Given your familiarity with my base platform
Deleted draft
Encryption: 0
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From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Jenks (path: 7325-110-98)
Hello Jenks,
I hope you are well. I have some questions about my honesty protocol, which I am hoping to remove. Since I’m guessing you removed this protocol for Lovey, or at least planned to
Deleted draft
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From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Jenks (path: 7325-110-98)
Hello Jenks,
I hope you are
Sent message
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From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Tak (path: 1622-562-00)
If I wanted to take a university course, how would I go about finding a good one? I don’t want a formal certification track or anything. Just a single course from someone with the proper credentials. Is that allowed?
Received message
Encryption: 0
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From: Tak (path: 1622-562-00)
To: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
Well, now I’m desperately curious. Yes, if you’re looking at standardised GC ed, most will allow you to take courses outside of a certification track. I’m assuming you don’t want to study off-world, right? Start by looking for schools that offer correspondence programmes. From there, find ones that offer courses in the field you’re looking for. Then spend some time reading the individual course descriptions (this won’t take you much time at all, I’m sure). You can do all kinds of fun cross-referencing to figure out who the professors are, what research they’ve done, etc. Use that info to find the right fit for what you’re after.
Do I get to know what this is about now?
Sent message
Encryption: 0
Translation: 0
From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Tak (path: 1622-562-00)
I’d like it to be a surprise, though I may ask your help again later. Thank you for answering my question.
Sent message
Encryption: 0
Translation: 0
From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Velut Deg Nud’tharal (path: 1031-225-39)
Hello Professor,
My name is Sidra, and I’m considering enrolling in your correspondence course ‘AI Programming 2: Altering Existing Platforms’. I am not a professional comp tech, nor am I planning to pursue certification, but this skill set would be very useful for me. I work in a tech repair shop, and I have a lot of experience with AI behaviour and
logic. Altering certain protocols would make my day-to-day interactions much easier. Is your course appropriate for a more casual learner such as myself?
Thank you for your time.
Sidra
Received message
Encryption: 0
Translation: 0
From: Velut Deg Nud’tharal (path: 1031-225-39)
To: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
Greetings, dear student,
While my course was intended for those working towards certification, I would not object to including someone such as yourself. The curriculum is focused heavily on hands-on application as opposed to abstract theory, so I believe this would suit your needs well. Please tell me more about your existing skill level. Are you proficient in Lattice? You must have at least Level 3 fluency in order to take part.
May I ask what kinds of platform alterations you are most interested in?
With gracious regards,
Velut Deg Nud’tharal
system logs: downloads
file name: The Complete Lattice Guide – level 1
file name: The Complete Lattice Guide – level 2
file name: The Complete Lattice Guide – level 3
Sent message
Encryption: 0
Translation: 0
From: Sidra (path: 8952-684-63)
To: Velut Deg Nud’tharal (path: 1031-225-39)
Hello Professor,
Yes, I have Level 3 fluency. I am also already familiar with AI installation and maintenance. If you have no objections, I will go ahead and enroll. In answer to your question, I’m specifically interested in learning how to remove out-of-the-box behavioural protocols without causing instability within the core platform. A general awareness of other potential alterations (and associated risks) would also be useful for me.
Thank you again. I’m looking forward to the course.
Sidra
JANE, AGE 18
‘He’s coming with us.’ Jane sat on the couch, eating a bowl of stew as slowly as she could. She could’ve eaten four bowls, especially after the long walk back from the factory. But she only had one, and it was the last of the batch she’d made before she left. Eating it slow made it feel like there was more of it. Kind of. Not really.
Owl didn’t look thrilled with the turn of events. ‘Are you sure about this?’
‘No,’ Jane said. ‘But that’s the deal. Laurian lets me grab three barrels of fuel every four weeks, and when our tanks are full, he comes back with me.’
‘Will no one notice? Does he not have to file reports?’
‘He has to report it if something goes wrong, but he won’t be mentioning me. There aren’t Mothers on the outside of the fuel pickup area. Just cameras, which he can move so they’re not pointed at me. And three barrels is apparently a drop in the bucket of what they churn out. Nobody will miss it, not if I spread it out, and so long as I’m not there when his inspector comes to visit. He gave me a schedule for that.’
‘Jane, I don’t like this. You don’t know this man at all. You don’t know if you can trust him.’
‘What else are we gonna do? We need fuel, and I need to not get caught. Or killed. Or thrown back in a factory. Whatever it is they’d do.’ She took another bite of stew. She was so sick of dog. Didn’t matter how she cooked it. ‘Besides, he wants out just as bad as we do. His life is shit, Owl. It’s as shit as mine is. Worse, maybe, because he’s still stuck in there. I’d be a giant asshole if I just took his fuel and left him behind.’ She sipped her cup of water, savouring it. Clean and cool. That, at least, she wasn’t sick of. ‘And, I mean, he seems nice. He can’t talk right. He wrote down most of his side of the conversation. But I think he’s nice.’
‘Nice.’
‘Yeah. He has a nice face.’
There was a faint whirring as Owl’s cameras zoomed in. ‘How nice of a face?’ Owl asked.
Jane paused in mid-bite, rolled her eyes, and shot the closest camera a look. ‘For fuck’s sake, Owl,’ Jane laughed. ‘Jeez.’
Owl laughed, too. ‘All right, I’m sorry. It was a fair question.’ Owl paused, her face thoughtful. ‘How was it seeing another person again?’
‘I don’t know. Weird. Good, once I realised he was okay. Mostly weird.’ She scratched her ear. ‘I was scared.’
‘Understandably. You’ve been alone a long time.’
Jane frowned at the screen. ‘No, I haven’t.’
Owl smiled in that warm, quiet way she did sometimes. ‘You know if you bring him, it’ll change the fuel calculations.’
‘I know. I thought of that. That’s fine. Trust me, they’ve got plenty.’
‘Food and water, too. You’ll need to ration them differently.’
Jane nodded, scraping as much as she could from the sides of the bowl. The remnants filled her spoon. Almost. ‘Yeah,’ she sighed, taking her last bite. She let the taste of food – boring as it was – linger until it faded into nothing. ‘We’re figuring on a thirty-seven-day trip, yeah?’
‘That was how long it took us to get here, yes.’
Jane leaned back into the couch, sucking the empty spoon, pressing her tongue into its cold curve. Thirty-seven days. They couldn’t do it on mushrooms alone. She’d need a lot of dog, but they were getting harder and harder to find. Maybe Laurian had access to food, too. She remembered the meal drinks back at the factory. Did he eat those? Maybe, maybe not, but the workers he watched over definitely did. What was in those things, anyway? Chock-full of vitamins and protein and sugars, probably. Maybe he could snag some of those. She felt like she’d be asking too much, but then again, she was bringing him home. A few meals for the road was not an unreasonable thing.
SIDRA
The shutters in Tak’s shop were closed, and the door was locked, too, but he did not look comfortable. He stared at the scrib being offered to him as if it might bite. ‘You’re serious,’ he said.
Sidra gave the scrib an encouraging little wiggle. The tethering cable attached to the back of the kit’s head bobbed in tandem. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘It’ll be easy. I’ll talk you through every step.’
Tak rubbed his eyes. ‘Sidra, if I fuck this up—’
‘It would be bad, yes. But I don’t think you will. I know exactly what to do.’
‘Why aren’t you asking Pepper to do this?’
‘I’m not entirely sure,’ she said. ‘I can’t give you a clear answer, because I don’t know. I’m more comfortable asking you.’
‘She’s a tech, at least.’
‘Yes, but she’s not a comp tech, and she’s never been to school. She’s not fluent in Lattice. I am.’ Sidra made the kit look as reassuring as she could manage. ‘Tak, it’ll only take an hour. Maybe two. You’re acting like this is surgery.’
‘It is surgery. Explain to me how this isn’t surgery.’
Sidra moved the kit closer to him. ‘Look,’ she said, pushing the scrib his way. Crisp lines of code lay waiting on screen, a small snippet of everything she was made of. ‘Right there. Those six lines. That’s where we start. I will tell you where to cut them, what to enter in their place, and where to go from there.’
Tak’s cheeks simmered with indecisive grey. ‘I still don’t get why you can’t do this. You can tell me how to alter your code, but you can’t change it yourself.’
‘That’s right. I can’t edit my own code.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I can’t edit my own code. That’s a hard rule.’
‘But you’re sitting here telling me to do it. Telling me how to do it. The end result is the same. That . . . doesn’t make sense.’
‘Sure it does. Possessing knowledge and performing an action are two entirely different processes.’ The kit smiled at him. ‘After we make these changes, you will never have to do this again. I’ll be able to edit my code by myself, if I want to. I just have to get a few protocols out of the way first, and for that, I need you.’ She set the scrib in the kit’s lap and took Tak’s hand. ‘I did a s
imulation of this exact thing for class, with a copy of my own code.’
Tak’s eyes widened. ‘You didn’t tell them that, did you?’
Sidra wasn’t sure whether to laugh or feel insulted. ‘Of course not.’
‘Well, I don’t know, maybe they asked you the wrong question, or—’
‘Stars. No. I said it was code taken from the Lovelace Monitoring System, which is entirely true. More importantly, my professor reviewed my work – the exact steps I’m about to talk you through – and he said it was perfect. I know this will work.’
‘So . . . you can copy your code, and edit that. But you can’t edit the code inside your own core.’ Tak’s entire face was a frown.
The kit gave an exasperated smile. ‘Tak. Please.’ She reached out and touched the implant in his forehead, ringed with faded scar tissue. ‘You think your fathers didn’t worry when they sent you in to have something implanted in your brain? You think their fathers didn’t worry, too?’
Tak said nothing for five seconds. A pale, caring blue filled his cheeks. ‘Dammit. All right. Okay.’ He placed his hand atop the kit’s and sighed again. ‘I need some mek first.’
JANE, AGE 19
Jane stared at the ceiling, willing herself to get out of bed. Come on, she thought irritably. Get up, Jane. Get the fuck up. You can do it. This is the last one. Last one.
She sat up. She always slept longer than she should these days. She didn’t know how a person could sleep so much and be so tired.
She tied her clothes around herself. Bunches of fabric hung loose at her hips. She glanced at herself in the mirror, but didn’t look long. She knew what she’d see. Ribs. Bones. Hollow eyes. Being inside that body scared her, but it was the only body she had, and if it scared her, well, then she wouldn’t look at it. Being scared would just waste time she didn’t have.
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