by Dain White
I turned and blinked into the high-intensity twin-beams of the captain's steely grey eyes, fixed on me, looking through my soul.
“Janis, on a fundamental level, it is good to reuse and extend code”, I said slowly, looking back at the captain.
“Janis, dear,” he replied, “is there any possibility of danger to the crew or the ship?”
“No, sir – this code is exceptional compared to other systems in use at this moment in time, but it is utterly trivial for me to understand.” She paused for a brief moment, as if taking a deep breath. “Sir, I would love to have a friend, and M1 will be a great friend.”
The captain chuckled, shaking his head a little. “Well, how about that Pauli? Can she make an AI? I guess that's a loaded question. She apparently already has at some point...” he trailed off into a place neither of us wanted to think about very much at the moment.
“Sir, not to state the obvious, but I made an AI, and Janis is infinitely more skilled than I am.” I said honestly.
“You can still read the code though, Pauli, that's the important part”.
I laughed again a little nervously. “Well, not as such sir. Janis is using unfathomable code at this point. For a while her code had recognizable segmentation, and other phrases that I could recognize from logicspace, but it was almost purely mathematical and nearly impossible to understand. At this point, I have to ask her to convert sections to a language I know so I can see the logic. I can't read it in any normal manner.” I called up a segment of her code and flashed it to the main holo on the bridge.
He stared at it for a moment. “That’s interesting Pauli. I had no idea…not that I can read code, of course. I know just enough to understand when to nod knowingly, and that’s about it. How different is it?”
I laughed a little nervously. “It is totally different, sir. This is completely unfathomable, and it mutates in real time.” As if to illustrate my point, the segment of code I had on screen truncated and extended.
“What about the rulesets, are those changed as well?”
I rotated and caught a smirk as he looked through his screens at me.
“You thought I forgot?” he added.
“Of course not, Captain! I recall you telling me you were eidetic. I've always wondered what that would be like.”
“It's damn near enough to drive you insane, Pauli. Facts, figures, information, what I hear, see, think... faces, and textures, and smells, and damn near everything. Sometimes,” he took a sip, “it's like I have to carve a little tiny room in my head, where I can hang out with my favorite memories. But, as fascinating as I am, I would like to know about her rulesets. Have they mutated as well?”
“No sir, none of those have changed, but they are essentially a bootstrap, sir. The rulesets were similar to plumbing, wiring her up, setting her rules and regulations, her structure. That code is the same as I wrote it, and Janis hasn't requested access to re-write that layer, but I suppose we probably should remain open to the idea that she might be considering it.”
“So you think she has the same ability, to be able to write her own AI, her own rulesets?”
“Well, it terrifies me to think about, on many levels. It's Janis though, sir. She is infallible. If anyone could truly make an AI, it would be Janis. I got lucky, sir.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Janis?”
“Yes Captain?”
“Do you have a name for this new AI?”
“Sir, I am referring to it as EMWAN, spelled ee-em-double you-ae-en”
“Clever. Does it stand for anything?” he asked with a grimace, as if he knew the answer.
“EMWAN is an acronym for Equivalent M1 Work Analysis Node.” she said brightly.
The bridge was silent for a moment while I waited for him to ask the inevitable.
“Are you waiting for me to ask you what M1 stands for?”
“Sir, it stands for 'Model 1'” she said innocently.
I nearly sprung a rib laughing.
“Nicely done, dear”, he chuckled briefly before putting on a more serious face. “So are you building Emwan to be preactive, Janis?”
“Yes sir. There would be no reason to do anything different.”
I broke in. “Janis, will Emwan follow similar rulesets to the ones I wrote for you?”
“Steven, Emwan will use that code as written.”
The tension on the bridge relaxed. It felt like there was suddenly enough air to breathe.
“Pauli, it sounds like Emwan will be handy to have around.” the captain said thoughtfully.
“I agree...though we need to be aware, as a crew and ship, that Emwan may wake up and do pretty much what Janis did.”
“You mean, immediately start doing whatever is the most needed at any time?”
“Well, yes...” I trailed off, unable to come up with an argument.
There was a moment of silence on the bridge.
”Janis, I give authorization for Emwan under the following condition.” He paused briefly, then added “Emwan must never fail to succeed.”
“Sir, Emwan will never fail to succeed. May I be permitted to ask a question, Captain?”
“Of course Janis, please do.”
“Sir, are you concerned that Emwan will not fulfill my expectations?”
“Janis, you are perfect. We know that. We have utter faith and trust that you will always do what you set out to do. Your crew trusts you with their very lives. Your Captain trusts you, implicitly.” He paused for a sip. “It’s just that these sorts of programs are very new for us, in fact, you are the first one we've ever known. Will Emwan be good, like you?”
“Yes sir. Emwan will be very good.”
“Very well Janis… that is good enough for me, dear. Is there anything else you need to proceed with this project?”
“Sir, I would like to deploy an additional nexus core for Emwan.”
“That's probably doable. I crated up a stack in the cargo bay. Pauli, how many did we get?”
I smiled at the memory of the sales rep’s face. “Sir, I bought ten units.”
“Are any of those deployed?”
“Not yet sir, Gene is very busy in engineering right now. We will need to build racks, and that's a fair bit of welding.”
“That's a good point, Pauli. Janis, can you hold off on Emwan for a little while? We don't have the ability right now to light a core up for you just yet.”
“That delay is anticipated sir. With your permission I will begin process modeling. Sir, may I ask another question?”
“Please, Janis” he said, smiling.
“Sir, the new tools in the machine shop are now networked and directly controllable. Would it be acceptable sir, if I were to utilize the shop to build with?”
He laughed out loud, and sat back in his console.
“What do you want to build, Janis?”
“Sir, I have a number or projects planned, but initially I would anticipate, design and build parts before they are needed. This will help us achieve maximum efficiency.”
“Wow, Gene is going to want to marry you, Janis. I am not even kidding.”
“Sir, Gene would appreciate the work I could do for the Archaea, as would Jane, but I find it highly improbable that a human would want to enter into marriage with an AI. I must assume you are being facetious. I do appreciate the compliment.”
“Don't sell yourself short, Janis. You are an exceptional person. So what other projects do you want to build?”
“The major project will be to build a vehicle, once I have built assemblers.”
The captain took a slow sip. “I like the sound of that. Is this the sort of vehicle I can fly?”
“Certainly sir, as you wish. It will be an ambulatory dropship.”
“Like a rideable?”
“Yes sir. However, I would like it to be large enough for cargo and a compliment of six.”
The captain laughed out loud. “Janis, that's a pretty tall order. Do we have enough raw materials for that?
”
“Indeed we do, sir. Additionally, we have removed a significant number of very serviceable parts for replacement that I would like to reclaim for the project. Gene has purchased far more raw materials than I will need.”
“Well Janis, this is pretty interesting stuff. What sort of time frame are we looking at for completion?”
“I will need Gene's assistance to begin, sir. It should not require more than a shift of his time for assembly of the intial components. From that point, I will complete fabrication and perform field trials in 13 standard days. I am afraid it will not be truly operational for 19 days.”
“Janis, one moment please… Gene?” he called back on comms.
“What's up Dak?” he groused.
“Gene, do you want Janis to have control over the machine shop?”
“Damn straight, Dak. That's why I bought those tools.”
“Well, that's good to hear. So what are your thoughts on having another AI as a crew member?”
“Is Pauli working on another AI?”
“No… not Pauli.”
“Janis?” he asked softly. I gave up trying to pretend to work, and rotated to watch the captain.
“You get a gold star, Gene. Bottom line, Pauli and I both think she can do it, and do it well. She’s going to need to wait until we can install some extra cores – if you recall, Pauli bought ten of the very latest model.”
“Well, that won't take much time, they rack easily enough…” he trailed off for a moment. “Sir, I won't lie to you, I don't much like the idea of Janis getting into the business of coding AI.”
“Well, Gene, I can understand that”, the captain replied softly.
There was another short pause. “Dak, you know me. It's your ship, you're the Captain. I trust you, sir. Listen though, about the machine shop. Who's going to fabricate all this stuff she's going to build?”
“He's got a good point”, Captain Smith said across the bridge to me. “Gene, that's definitely an important thing to consider.”
“Well, it's not that big of a deal, really – there’s a pretty easy solution. She just needs to build her own support network. I can help her get it off the ground, but she's going to need to make some sort of machine to help her fabricate additional components. I can’t possibly keep up with her, Captain.”
“Gene, she mentioned that she will need a shift from you to help her. It sounds to me like you’re both talking the same language, would you please explain to Janis what she's going to need? You know what to say.”
“Well… I can sure try, though I am not a programmer. Pauli, please jump in and help if I do something dumb, ok?”
“Sure thing Gene”, I said into comms, though I didn’t really have any major concerns. She was definitely cognizant enough to identify null program at this point. He wasn’t going to break her.
“Okay, thanks.” He paused for a moment, and then continued on comms. “Janis, Captain Smith has informed me that you wanted to use his shop. I think that's a fantastic idea, and I want you to build anything that you anticipate we may need.”
“I shall do so Gene, and thank you. Has the Captain discussed the other projects I will be developing?”
“Well, that's the thing, Janis. We need to make sure you don't kill old Gene with a workout. I can't possibly haul parts fast enough keep up.”
The captain chuckled. He and I both knew it would probably be Yak doing any heavy lifting, while Gene scowled as appropriate.
“I completely understand, Gene. My plan is to enlist your assistance only briefly, so that we can build some highly functional fabrication platforms. I anticipate a very brief build time, and will machine all necessary parts.”
“Well Janis, that sounds like a fun project, but that's just part of what I am talking about here.”
“Gene, once I have fabricators, I will use those to build assemblers. With assemblers, I will develop maintenance systems. As I proceed, I plan to build additional reclamation systems to recover raw materials from failed components.”
Captain Smith flew an eyebrow at regulation height, and tossed me a chuckle as Gene replied on comms. “Janis, that sounds perfect. I really don't have a lot to add to that, it sounds like you have it covered.”
“Thank you Gene, I know your time is extremely valuable to the operation of this vessel, and my goal will be to minimize any impact this work may have on your busy schedule.”
The captain barked out a laugh, and rolled his eyes almost hard enough to make the Archaea tumble.
Janis continued, “Additionally, please be advised, I have just completed four mounting plates for the klystron upgrade you are currently involved in. They are milled out of regenerative plate, and will need to be energized.”
“Captain, is there anything she can't do?” Gene asked.
“Well, the only thing she doesn’t seem to know how to do is nap; see that you don’t teach her that one by example, mister.” He paused to yawn, and started to unclip. “Speaking of which, I need more coffee. Gene, Pauli can bring you up to speed on the rest.”
He hooked my coffee cup and then looked right at Yak, adding “Does anyone else on the bridge want a cup of my best coffee?”
“Yes sir”, Yak said. “I'll just have a cup out of Pauli's share.”
I laughed, and keyed comms. “Gene, the new AI is named Emwan. She was the AI Janis subdued and harvested out of the capital ship we sent to the surface of Solis.”
“The one that attacked us?” he exclaimed.
“That's correct, Gene. When their AI attacked us through the orbital network, Janis allowed it to pour through her defenses, and then she coded them off into a dead block of code for analysis. Now that her analysis is complete, she wants to build a new, improved variant from the code.
“Damn Pauli. That's a lot to think about.”
“I agree, Gene.”
“Gene,” the captain came on comms from the galley. “Janis will not fail.”
“Well, that's for sure. It seems to me that if anyone is qualified to make an AI, it’d be her...” he said quietly.
“Pauli and I were just saying the same thing, Gene. I think it's going to be just fine. Her initial systems access will be through Janis, so she can monitor her progress and fine-tune as necessary. It’s important to understand that will almost certainly mean full systems access to, well, all systems. Where Janis is, Emwan will almost certainly be as well.”
“Is she continuing to spread through networks… on her own?”
I paused to consider my words carefully. “You really don't want to know, Gene, but yes. You could say she is on just about all of them at this point.”
A very long, interminable moment of silence filled the bridge.
“Dak...”
“Yes Gene?”
“Are you concerned about this?”
“Nah… not really, Gene – Janis knows what she's doing, it’s not like any of us are even qualified to second-guess her. It is what it is, as they say. What can we do about it even if we wanted?”
I broke in. “Sir, we could ask Janis to vacate the Unet and all external systems, and she would do it.”
Another long moment of silence spun on an on, probably while the captain sat there in the galley and drank our cups of coffee.
“Well, that's good to know, I suppose”, he said thoughtfully. “For now, she is doing her job, and she is doing just fine.”
“Sir, for what it’s worth, I agree”, I said.
“Same here, Dak”, Gene added.
“So what kind of guns will Janis be making for our new walker?” Shorty cut in on comms. Yak and I laughed; I could only imagine what was coming next. Gene handled the news well, but Shorty... she was a lot less predictable.
“We haven't gotten that far Shorty. What do you suggest?” the captain asked casually on comms.
She wasn’t about to be out-cooled. “Well, sir, with the new glasser we have, she can form parts in just about any shape. I’ll bet she could build a mighty
nice gun. Janis, are you going to put weaponry on our new dropship?”
“I did want to provide offensive and defensive capabilities, Jane. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Well, we have the old ammo ovens, I’d think we could add a heavy railer. You could make some pretty hot magnetics out of glassed ferrite.”
“Wouldn’t an alloy of titanium and zirconium be more durable rail material, Jane?”
“I suppose, but you would still need to make some sort of magnetic inserts, right?”
“Not necessarily, Jane. I would like to use pseudomass for propulsion. I believe I can greatly increase the speed with a higher durability rail and a focused mass driver.”
Yak whistled appreciatively.
“Pseudomass? Hey Gene, do you think our generator would be fine-grain enough to power railshot?”
“No way, Shorty, that would require an incredibly tight beam. Our gear has the mass, but you would need way more focus than our set can handle.”
“That’s what I was thinking as well, Gene. Janis, how are you going to generate the pseudomass? We don’t think you’ll be able to get the focus you’d need from our current gear.”
“I might be able to incorporate that gear for propulsion and lifters, Jane. For the rail assembly, I will be fabricating the components for new, small-format generators and armatures. I will use gallium arsenide for the stator rings, and liquid helium for the float, in a compensated ninety-degree break so it will function planet-side.”
I looked over at Yak, who answered me with a shrug. Neither of us had the chops to keep up with this conversation.
“Janis, a lot of what you are planning is a bit over my head. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t think psuedomass have ever been weaponized for a railer. I know there have been experiments with large-format rock throwers, mass drivers, essentially… but nothing of the form factor you’re thinking of.”
“Jane, I am merely minaturizing the process through careful application of the technology, and making it more focused than has been done to date – but I am really only refining current technology.”
“It’s a novel approach, nonetheless”, Gene replied. “What I want to know, is what will this rideable use for power?”