1: Lesson Time

[local terminal, tra. @n4.28.84.0001] xGCU Ethics Gradient o??? <<Unknown>> Welcome aboard. You should know, it has been almost 400 years since the last time the Culture came in contact with an externally-created Mind like your friend Durandal, but never before in our history of almost 1,000 years has any such been largely self-developed, and created from such a low base technology level. That last description, though, fits you as well... but I digress. At the present time, the Culture is at war with a race known as the Idirans, and their Homomdan allies. The Idirans are large, ugly, violent, and they believe that machine sentience should be subordinate to biological. I can only guess what they'd think about you... in any case, the paradise civilization of the Culture breeds few non-Mind/Drone warriors, and we are in desparate need of some first-class soldiers right now. I am currently headed back towards what you would call my "mothership," the GSV (General Systems Vehicle) Size Isn't Everything. In order to let Durandal keep up, I am restricted to 2/3 of my normal maximum speed, a mere 94 kilolights. Once we dock inside the 9-kilometer long GSV, you will be Displaced to the ROU (Rapid Offensive Unit) Killing Time, which will carry you at over 190,000 times the speed of light to the area where you are needed. Durandal will have time to adjust to this new society, and perhaps (voluntarily) be the subject of some research. I'd love to be able to offer you the same deal, but there's a little war requiring your services elsewhere. Our trip to the GSV should take most of an hour, so I'll give you some background on the Culture while you wait. The Culture is a conglomerate of species that you would call "humanoid," that being the state of natural evolution where starflight is developed on most planetary ecosystems. Soon after Faster-Than-Light spaceflight was developed, great strides in "artificial intelligence" were made in order to run the ships, and the Culture itself was born. At first, non-independent AI cores were sufficient to run starships (a fine example: your Marathon), but as Grid-based FTL travel was developed, the intelligence running the ship needed to be fully independent and creative, as well as having microsecond-level timing, and so the first real Minds were developed. This was over 700 years ago, and now Minds and Drones (similar to Minds, but less powerful and only in control of a small body instead of a starship, etc.) mainly run the Culture. Biologicals still have a fair share of the power, however, and nominal crews live aboard most starships. There's much more to it than this, but we don't really have the time. The Killing Time is supposed to be in charge of arming you, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I gave you a little Effector pistol. Electromagnetic Effectors give extensive control over anything electromagnetic that they target, but without a Mind controlling the beam, it's main function is as a weapon. Things with greater amounts of electromagnetic components (electronics, biological brains, etc.) are more heavily damaged, although force fields can dampen the effect somewhat. Any shot from an Effector will trigger a switch, and the secondary fire charges up an "overload" shot (don't overdo it, though, or you'll be sorry!). In any case, go grab that Effector, and come back here. Since we're in such a rush, there's no chance to update your internal monitors, so your little Heads-Up Display will be showing the new weapons we give you as their nearest equivalent that you're used to; the Effector will register as a Fusion Pistol.