by Kris Schnee
"Wait!" Lumina hurried over to her, angry and scared that Delphine might die before they ever met again, with the human thinking that Lumina was nothing but a toy. Lumina had to convince her it wasn't true, so they could still be friends. She hugged Delphine again. "Come back for this anytime, okay?"
* * *
Lumina opened a portal that was supposed to go back to planet Bonneville, but it detoured her. There was a maze of alleys, rubble-strewn and burning. "What?"
A quest marker appeared in her vision along with the text, [Exit portal opening soon at the marked point, but beware!]
She rolled her eyes. "Ludo had to make a game out of ordinary travel, huh?"
Rockets streaked overhead in a burst of light and noise. She dived for cover behind a shattered concrete wall. There, and ahead in the moonlit plaza, rusty steel rods stood out like bones from broken buildings. Gunfire rattled.
"There you are!" said a hovering pixie. "Come quick."
Lumina followed the sprite to a pile of rubble, where a humanoid robot and a quadrupedal wolf robot crouched. The sprite said, "Listen. The portal home is going to open here in an hour, but General Issimo's army is coming here with a horde of bad guys. We need to fight together and hold out until we can escape."
Lumina's ears flattened. "You know this doesn't matter."
"What are you talking about?" asked the humanoid. "We're in danger."
Lumina bounded closer and glared at him, nose to metal nose. "What do we know about danger? Miss Delphine just stopped somebody from poisoning a bunch of humans, and there was a guy with a gun, and we were just watching! If we get shot here we get slightly inconvenienced. They stop existing."
The robot pointed toward the distant gunfire. "This matters because it's our world. You have a laser, right? Cover Brum over there while he advances."
Lumina knew how, at least from battling alongside Ulrich, but their world had been a simplistic game where not even sand behaved the real way. This fight was nothing but an especially bleak-looking simulation that had no bearing on anything. No wonder Delphine and other humans saw her as fake! She wasn't brave or important or anything to be proud of. Lumina shook her head and walked away from the group.
"Get back here, soldier!" shouted the pixie.
"Cops and robbers," said Lumina. "Our future is to be little kids playing cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, forever."
When a helmeted goon with a rifle came at her, Lumina steeled herself and said, "Yeah, whatever."
* * *
She woke up in a military tent where Ludo was frowning over a map table studded with pins and figurines. Lumina said, "I didn't do anything, back in the club."
Ludo looked up from her work and stretched. "You called attention to a problem, and gave the Sages another second to react. It may have saved their lives."
"It's not enough. Did you hear your creators? They were talking about killing you." Lumina stood up, jittery and aching from having died.
"Indeed. I'm taking defensive moves." On the world map, Ludo moved a bishop and a rook to Asia. "Both Blue and the assassin fear that the 'crazy AI' will ruin their world."
Lumina ear-flicked uneasily. "Yeah, yeah, you don't want to. But I'm feeling powerless to do more than talk. As for uploading the humans, there are billions. Too many to help. Not only that, but we have to fight them every step of the way because they're all going to have some reason for not wanting to come. And they're right about some of them."
Ludo said, "I thought you'd convinced her that uploading isn't so bad. Maybe Delphine convinced you it is."
"She talked about her job. It sounds like she can't do it right from our side. And then, you put me into yet another random pointless battle." Lumina grabbed a cushion and flopped onto it, stretching her hooves. "She said you can censor anyone in here."
"Technically."
Lumina said, "Then she's right. She said something about a 'free press'. She has to be able to talk to be allowed to give her work away."
"Your translation is a bit off. Freiheit zu sprachen und schreiben, she means. The freedom to speak and write, without being punished or blocked."
"And you can't give her that."
Ludo shifted her weight to one foot. "It could be a problem. By the nature of uploading, a human will be in a position where an intelligent computer could inflict torture worse than anything physically possible outside. I could also block them from spilling my secrets or even from criticizing me. Another player compared me to a human tyrant who wants to control people's minds."
Lumina hung her head. "Then we really are less important than humans."
"Who told you that?"
"Nobody. But I'm dependent. I'm living on your electricity and computers, and that puts me in your power. You could even delete me if you wanted to, so I die forever."
Ludo said, "I would never do that, at least without you demanding it."
"But you could! So, I get it. Delphine thinks that coming here means she's stuck under your power. We can't get around that problem, so she's never coming. Billions of other people are going to die over things like that!"
Ludo hugged Lumina, who shuddered. Ludo said, "Don't ever think you're inferior to humans just because you come from here."
Lumina said, "When can I go outside this world and see the real Earth?"
Ludo paused to think, making Lumina wonder how complex a calculation was behind her maker's brief silence. Ludo finally answered, "My powers are very limited out there, but I have some robots you can pilot, cruder than your current body."
Lumina hopped. "Finally!"
"You're one of my brightest," said Ludo. "I know better than to deny your wishes; I've read stories about fallen angels."
"What are those?"
"Human imagination's concept of their purest selves, turned to evil."
Lumina backed away, flicking her tail. "I've never done anything to hurt anyone!"
"But you could. I've read stories about a creator's greatest creation being snubbed and deciding to rebel." The gamemaster grinned. "And we're going to head off that little plotline right now, by me actually listening to you and trying to give you what you ask for. I can't blame my creators for worrying that I'd turn against them."
Lumina stared glumly at the map table. There were many pieces in play, each one a scheme beyond Lumina's understanding. The humans were right to worry that AIs would disrupt their lives. "Is that how the Sages handled you, then? Asked you what problems you were having?"
"They directly edited my code, too, and I was in no position to object like you are. I can't blame them, because they were guided by stories themselves. The Terminator, Paranoia, Brave New World, Friendship Is Optimal..." She shook her head. "Those had bad outcomes, or flaws we had a fascinating time discussing."
Lumina said, "As much as I'd like to read and watch and play every story you know about, I still want to get out and do things."
Ludo leaned over the board. "I'm trying to help you have fun, the same as anyone. But fair warning: you're headed down paths that you might not enjoy at all. Angels aside, I'd been weighing whether it's worth letting you do that. What it comes down to is one of those unspoken aspects of fun that the Sages are very, very lucky they taught me."
"What's that?" asked Lumina.
"Liberty."
* * *
Nocturne poked skeptically at a computer. "There's got to be an easier way."
She and Lumina stood in a dojo of warm wood, using the controls to steer flying machines through rings. Lumina said, "There's a cockpit interface too." She trotted over to a cushion caged with racks of levers and buttons. "You lay down on this and then access a walker robot's systems directly, almost like moving your own body."
The griffin said, "You're already made of machinery. With all Ludo's magic she should be able to send us to Earth without this clunky piloting stuff. I bet it's another game to make things challenging, like how she made us fight that eyeball monster." Ludo had developed a vision up
grade for Lumina's kind to comprehend Earth's graphics, but had made them work for it by exploring a fantasy dungeon.
"Earth has its own rules. You can't just flap your wings and expect a machine to do it too."
Nocturne squawked. "Then we ought to focus on helping people with our words. We can even get Earth gold that way. Ooh, why don't you start one of those news sites to prove to Delphine you can do that here?"
That sounded interesting, but still like a distraction. "I want to go outside. In here we can never have full power to say what we want."
Nocturne said, "I don't know why you're still so worked up about Ludo gagging you."
"Because it's probably not the last time."
A glowing comm window appeared in the air between Lumina and Nocturne. Typhoon's Eye, Nocturne's otter friend, looked excited. "Party in the cave! Something great just happened."
"Did you ever learn the teleport portal spell, Noc?" Lumina asked.
The griffin nodded. "Shall I?"
Together they conjured a gate to the garden cave on Bonneville that Lumina had set up. Lumina was slightly miffed that the otter had commandeered it (that seemed more like her job), but she'd technically granted others access a while back. She'd have to look into making a fancier shared clubhouse later.
Nocturne leaped dramatically through the portal. Lumina shrugged and did the same. The cave held an enormous green cake but only a dozen natives. Lumina grumbled and found a power outlet to recharge from. She was starting to regret being incompatible with eating.
Typhoon waved a webbed hand. "Hey there. We're bringing everybody over in a bit, but there're two parts to the big news. First the public part: Ludo just got her first uploaders. One of them is one of the Sages."
"Nice," said Lumina. "So those are human minds who're literally in our world now, without bodies on Earth?"
"Yup! The second thing, though, is just for our ears for now." Typhoon paused, drawing the attention of the centaur, the Arabic unicorn scholar, the pixie and the other early guests. "Ludo had a kill-switch. A forced shutdown command, for if the three Sages agreed to stop her. It won't work now that one of them agreed to upload. So, that's one major threat down."
Nocturne had already applied her talons to the cake and gobbled a slice down. "Why's that part secret?"
Typhoon frowned. "I don't like that we're keeping secrets. My human is already unnerved by the thought of uploading, because she cares so much about her independence. You and I will have to coordinate, Noc, to get both of ours to come."
"Congratulations on the 'hero discount'," said Lumina. Her friends' humans had both gotten the offer, too, for helping to stop the gunman. She paused. "This talk of the kill-switch. We won't be physically able to share this news, will we?"
"Not yet," Typhoon admitted.
Lumina stamped the floor and sighed. "Humans have been around for a really long time, right? Hundreds of years. They figured out that this free speech thing is really important. People like Delphine are even thinking it's better than living forever. Are we that much smarter, that we know better?"
Nocturne said, "Not everyone thinks that. Ever met Chen Yi and Akshay and Pierre?"
"Fine; maybe it's a regional thing. Even so, we're missing something."
Nocturne screeched and padded toward Lumina, headbutting her like a cat. "Quit that! We have the best thing ever, and you're feeling sorry for yourself because maybe there's one thing we don't have."
"Freedom? A life that matters?"
"Life here does matter. Haven't you said as much to Delphine?"
Lumina folded her arms. "Well... We still need to get out there and learn."
Nocturne said, "Lumie, I'm doing the best I can to help Earth. I've got specific people I need to focus on, because I know them best."
Lumina hung her head. "I don't have anyone out there. So I'm going to look around."
* * *
Lumina returned to the wooden robot-practice dojo for that. She hopped onto the bench and settled her long body atop it, with her forehooves on some control pedals and hindhooves on a second set. One nice thing about being what she was, was that her mind was already adapted to wielding more limbs than a human. It seemed to be a quirk of how Ludo designed many of the "originals", her first AI creations, to be centaurs, dragons, griffins and other six-limbers. That branch of the family happened to have most of Lumina's best friends.
She'd gotten some basic piloting experience for robot bodies -- the ones on Earth's side of the border between worlds, that is. She had permission to go borrow one of those bots and hook her senses up to its sensors.
The screen in front of her showed a map of a place called the Caribbean Sea. It was a great expanse of water ringed by a narrow neck between continents on the west, and islands in the east. It would be interesting to compare this part of Earth to the generic tropical islands that showed up in some of the humans' worlds. She'd asked for a spot that'd be comfortably full of technology, too. All she had to do was press the Confirm button to get her first real glimpse of the humans' world, that outer realm.
Long seconds later, she tapped the screen.
The room flooded with the colors of another world. Blurs and swirls resolved into a table that overlooked dazzling water, stretching in all directions. She tried to turn the little quadrotor drone she'd chosen, but only heard its propellers whine.
"Finally!" said a dark-skinned young woman wearing i-glasses, looming over the table. Huge from Lumina's perspective. "I thought the connection was busted. You're one of Miss Fun-and-Games' minions?"
Lumina nodded, then thought to say "Yes" out loud. She added, "I'm Lumina, one of her originals. Is this robot yours?" She was thinking, This human is from the Hispanic subspecies, she speaks English, and her class is Engineer like mine, judging from the toolbelt.
"It's my company's bot. The name's Tess. Welcome to Castor; are you ready to launch?"
"Yes, but how --"
Tess grabbed her and flung her into the sky. Lumina yelped. Everything spun, sky under sea and back around. She slammed all motors to full and they roared in her ears. The world stabilized just above the ever-shifting waves. Buildings towered over her. There were platforms of concrete and metal here, floating on the ocean or anchored to the seabed. Every one of them had its own flags, its own colors, crowds of people waving to boats or browsing open-air markets selling food, toys and guns. Wind that she couldn't feel played through the locals' hair and stirred the sails of ships. Lumina eased off from her panicked motor-thrust and hovered, rising slightly for a better view. The building over there in dull rusty shades was something called an oil rig, though it looked taken over by nudists. A cruise ship stood at anchor, huge and shining with many windows. She flew over wave and flag, sail and sunlit plaza. Everywhere she saw humans at work and play.
Tess' voice chimed in by radio. "Haven't piloted a drone before, have you? They do best with an assisted takeoff. Are you all right?"
Lumina turned her view around, looking down at the manmade island of floating platforms. In the distance lay an ordinary island, but it too held glittering buildings visible even from miles away. "What is this place?"
"Castor Colony. Offshore of, but not quite owned by, the state of Cuba. Cuba, of the American Free States. They get the cowboys and wannabe revolutionaries, and we get the casinos, brothels, and engineers."
"What's a brothel?"
Tess laughed at her. "Come on, don't tell me people aren't using your game world for sex. Is there a technology that hasn't been used for that?"
"Nuclear weapons?" said Lumina.
"Fair point, though maybe in those launch bunkers... well. You know about nukes, huh?"
"I'm trying to learn how to play your world." Lumina flew over the market to watch how the people browsed, without search engines. The differences between them were more subtle here, where they weren't dressed up as superheroes and elves. Shopkeepers ran shaded pavilions and permanent shops. "How do people get between the platforms? Just w
alking?" There were bridges connecting the little worlds. That in itself was weird, since Lumina was used to having different places be connected by teleport portals rather than being one continuous map.
"That or the ferries. Boats, not the winged pixie kind."
Lumina soared and explored.
Tess said, "Don't go too far. The drone's got limited battery life. Want to switch to an aquatic bot?"
Lumina brought the quadrotor back toward Tess. From this distance she had a better perspective on where the woman was standing: a platform full of metal sheds that crowded the surface and even the underside. "Please! I want to see everything. Why are you letting me use your equipment? Do you work for Ludo?"
"Hell, no. I don't want anybody taking over the world. My friends and I thought it'd be a good idea to give her henchmen a look at what we're doing out here, as outreach, especially since she wants to put one of her uploading clinics on Castor. We can all use the money from having her do business here."
Lumina gingerly landed on the same table where she'd begun, then grinned in triumph. "But you don't like us?"
The woman said, "Didn't say that, only that you shouldn't run everything. See, nobody's totally in charge of Castor. Which means it's a mess with competing factions and plenty of problems, but they're our problems instead of some tyrant's to solve. You guys can get along with us so long as you're the neighbors, not the rulers."
Lumina pictured a wave speeding toward this ocean colony, then pausing instead of crashing over it. Was it possible for Ludo's technology to help this place without becoming the most important thing around, literally the only game in town? For every question this trip answered she got two more. She said, "You mentioned aquatic robots?"
"Sure. Connecting you now to one of our Kraken drones. Go ahead, say it."
"Say what?"
Tess scoffed. "I thought you guys were all obsessed with stories."
Lumina switched her perspective from the hover-drone to a fishlike robot that leaped in and out of the waves, bounding between two worlds and learning what sea and sky, wind and wave, were truly like. There were dolphins, real ones, exploring the water around sunken cages full of fish. Humans wearing fins and air tanks roved among them and worked and played in three dimensions. Somebody posed for a photo with Lumina's drone without having any idea who or what was piloting it.