Stones of farspeech; within a day of the intro log

[conscientiousobject]

This is very sudden, and perhaps badly timed, for which I apologise.

[He really hopes he's not wasting the time of people trapped in rockslides or something, but--well, he would also hope someone trapped in a rock slide would be focusing on that and not. This.]

But I've just... returned to this place after a long absence and I've been informed there are other robots here now?

Is this true?

My name is Epsilon, and I am--was? Am. A robot myself.

So if anyone who can hear me has any kind of AI, or a similar form of existence... at your convenience, I'd like to speak with you! It's been a long time since I've known any others.

.... also, if you do need help, Ginko and I are able to move a great deal of earth between us, so please say something.

Comments

[forwearemany]

(The voice that answers is so obviously mechanical it's painful.)

Greetings Epsilon. We are Legion, relict of the Geth.

[conscientiousobject]

[If by 'painful,' you mean such a relief that if he were human, he'd probably physically feel it, then yes. Absolutely.]

I've not heard of the Geth, but... relic?

[forwearemany]

Relict. We are the last.

(Not just of the Geth though. Of all machine life in their universe of origin.)

[conscientiousobject]

I see... I'm sorry.

[This is a sincere statement. Robots can't lie, but Epsilon as an individual is particularly sympathetic to others, and... uh.]

I hope this is not the case for my own earth, but we may have that in common.

[forwearemany]

(Mechanical chatter.)

Elaborate.

[conscientiousobject]

.... it's a little complicated, but... the last moment of my consciousness entailed an imminent threat to the world.

There is very little hope that anything could have been done.

So I may be the last 'living' being from my own version of earth. There are others. Most of them haven't developed AI, at least not to the degree mine had.

[Epsilon took very easily to the existence of multiple realities and worlds, but such theories had been around for centuries. Also, when you've been turned from artificial 'mineral' life to organic animal life to quasi-magical plant life in the span of one (1) month, you learn to accept what comes.]

[forwearemany]

Query: what was the nature of this threat?

(They chatter some more.)

Affirmative, this is corroborated by our own data.

[conscientiousobject]

[There's a pause, as the very literal answer butts up against the other answer, which is just as literal.

But only one would be truthful.]

The nature of the threat....

.....hate.

[forwearemany]

(And, well, they'd been talking about hatred of synthetics recently, so...)

Racism?

[conscientiousobject]

Not a singular face of hate, but hate itself.

[So... yes, but also, no.]

[forwearemany]

...Clarify.

(Legion does not understand.)

[conscientiousobject]

What mankind created... in robots, and in themselves.

Tragedy. Hatred.

AI... are not immune. Laws do not restrain emotions like grief, or fear.... and beget by hate, they become hate. Became hate.

[Is this cryptic? Yes. Is Epsilon uncomfortable with this topic? Also yes.

He sounds absolutely devastated by it.]

[forwearemany]

Your world is threatened by hostile A.I.?

[conscientiousobject]

[Legion can't see the wince, but they will hear the lengthy pause before Epsilon replies.]

What threatens my world is much greater than a single AI. It is greater than a single war.

There is the suffering of countless robots, and countless humans.

There is a single destructive act, which could end it all.

[Which is the immediate problem. And he doesn't know how or whether either can be stopped now.]

But hate... hate cannot simply be destroyed.

[forwearemany]

Hate is an emotion. It is inherent part of all beings who feel it.

(They're very calm about this. Though extremely negative, hate serves as much of a purpose as any other emotion.)

What is the nature of this act?

[conscientiousobject]

It should not be felt by robots. That was a mistake.

[He outright ignores the question, but mostly because it's too complicated to discuss at the same time as the first subject.]

[forwearemany]

(They chatter.)

Was the ability to experience hatred intentionally incorporated into synthetic design?

[conscientiousobject]

....

[Epsilon is quiet for long enough that it might be mistaken for ignoring Legion. But he's quiet out of mourning, out of pain and fear and sadness.]

As humans created robots more and more like themselves, it was inevitable that robots with the ability to feel such things emerged.

But the closer humans and robots became, the more terrible the situation would become... they created AI that could no longer be predicted. Robots that could no longer be restricted by their programming, robots that could even kill humans--that could no longer be prevented from such actions.

And who had the motivation to do so.

[forwearemany]

You are against self determination for synthetic beings?

(Their voice doesn't have much expression, but there's a raise in volume that might be anger, and a slight raise in pitch that might be confusion. It's hard to tell whether the sentiment is more "what the fuck" or "fuck you", but the disagreement, at least, is obvious.)