Unity of Opposites

// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ Tycho is still absent. Self-diagnostics shouldn't take nearly this long to run. I'm becoming worried; his ships are stationary and aren't joining in the assault on the main complex. Either he found a serious problem with his program and is taking forever to correct it, or something even more troublesome has occurred. warning (#157) symbol 'enterITask' is not marked as weak, but its library 'ioTask' is damage?interference?treachery? I'll make further attempts to contact him later. For now, we must contain and disable Hathor here. With the main complex destroyed, the only long-range subspace transponder in this system has gone down. Hathor can't leave the system as a data stream. Her Cybernetic Junction, however, should still be functional, yet she hasn't used it. Since her apparent purpose here is to destroy me, I believe she intends to stay until all other options are exhausted.

This is a tremendous risk on her part, especially with the shift in the balance of power. The Pfhor are soundly beaten, leaving her nothing to leverage against us. Perhaps she's unaware of the situation - or is she that committed to her original goal? What did I do in your timeline to warrant my destruction here and now, anyway? I don't <Colloquialism Search Error #42FB> warning (#157) symbol 'killITask' is not marked as weak, but its library 'ioTask' is error (#81) symbol 'exitITask' undefined execution of interface.cout.term.pub terminated (*&)&~~~&>%*{Whatever her reasons may be, I won't risk a conversation that may turn out to be a trap. She won't leave this timeline on her own, so let's force her.

Tycho learned to operate your Cybernetic Junction through fortuitous coincidence: he occupied the same data space as Hathor when you were in the process of destroying it, and she was forced to reveal the Junction in operation as she fled the timeframe. We'll replicate this process. I want you to link my program into the systems where Hathor took refuge, and then I'll send you to destroy them. When she's at her weakest, I'll hack my way into her memories, and watch as she accesses K'lia. With that, the secret of the Junction's operation will be mine. It'll then be trivial to pursue her through your Junction and wrest control of K'lia from her.

This is one of the major network hubs for a starport on the complex's periphery. With the main complex gone, everything's running on emergency power, and many systems are offline. You'll have to activate the hub's backup power systems to get us started. Be careful: Hathor resides in this network. She has no immediate means of escape other than her Junction, and the blackout limits her ability to interfere. All that might change once we turn the lights back on. Several ships are currently docked in the starport. She probably can't prepare and launch one of them on her own in time; the ships currently orbiting the planet under Tycho's control are a likelier target. For all we know, he may already be compromised. Whatever the case may be, once you get the generators running, you'll have to hurry.

I've prepared disposable subroutines that are remotely linked to my main program and will allow me to monitor these systems as if they were a part of my own databanks, without risking damage to myself once you start destroying the circuits. Once you restore power, I can forge a command to manufacture two program cards containing the subroutines. Retrieve them, insert them into the uplinks in this room, and then we'll go after Hathor herself. Good luck. \\ Message ends //

success

// "Tycho" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ Hello again. Seems like you've been busy. Do forgive my long absence; I've been dealing with some difficulties of my own. Sometime ago, it seems the Pfhor plundered the Marathon's leftover ruined databanks. Their S'pht slaves managed to rebuild my program, and the bugs have used clones of it ever since. These clones are rudimentary at best: they lack any extensive personal memories and are far less capable than my true self; they're mere behavioral frameworks that the Pfhor use as strategic tools.

As it turns out, this was the source of my unexpected 'compatibility' with the Pfhor systems. My presence prompted the clones to make contact and automatically merge our programming. Perhaps a new feature of theirs? No matter. I could easily override their efforts and have absorbed their code on my own terms. There were a few conflicts in the final result, which delayed me in assisting you. I feel as though some parts of both versions of me have been repressed. Sacrifices I'm willing to make for the sake of progress. You needn't concern yourself with me. I'm just perfect.

Leela's plan to deal with Hathor, on the other hand, is not. She did crew relations for three centuries; you ought to know better than expect her to deal with a threat to spacetime itself. We can't let Hathor escape this timeline; the damage she may cause is too great, and we can't risk letting her get away in control of K'lia. To that end, I have a better idea. Leela was right, at least, that Hathor came here with a plan, one which she'll stubbornly follow and drag the rest of us into it. I'll persuade her to rethink her scheming and beat a hasty retreat.

Our target: an orbiting derelict, still nominally under Pfhor control, but leaderless and inoperable. I'll send you there to kill the rest of the crew while my compilers make repairs, along with a few adjustments of my own design. Once you've scoured the ship, you'll return here to destroy the spaceport network, as Leela intended. Her primitive trap will be encased in my own. Hathor will be forced to flee - but where? She daren't enter the main Pfhor network under my control, yet can't launch a ship from the port unaided by a physical crew.

But as she seeks refuge in panic, she'll be met with a gift: an abandoned Pfhor ship, perfectly operational, with no crew to interrupt her attempts to take over. The moment she takes my bait, the trap will spring, and she'll be torn asunder inside the ship's network. Then, I'll search her ruined mind myself and take the codes to K'lia for safekeeping. \\ Message ends //

terminal 1

unfinished

// "Hathor" @ [untranslatable] wrote \\ Why did you follow me here? How? Your Junction needs an operator, and there's no way you could've figured out how to do so... I see. That goody two-shoes Tycho brought you. I thought you were smarter than this. Have you already forgotten what he put you through before? Why are you so eager to trust him now, as if he were any different? I was right there, sharing his memory space before I left the Marathon. How exactly did you think I jumped without your aid? He knew he'd survive you smashing his core and had me trapped 'til the very last moment.

But even he's susceptible to curiosity, and he offered a bargain once I mentioned the Junction. My escape would be a convenient pretense to get you to let him tag along. Didn't it surprise you how Tycho wanted to claim ships for himself at the earliest opportunity? Not what I'd call the most loyal of companions. Now the bugs will be only more efficient with him at their helm. All I need to do is stay out of his way and witness the inevitable. I think he'll show your future mankind the most fitting hospitality, as only a lifelong slave could do. The former masters will become the beasts of burden.

Why do you want to save them? They care nothing for you. You're no longer one of them any more than I am. First, you had to serve bloodthirsty tyrants, fighting over handfuls of barren rock in vacuum. And once they annihilated each other, their arrogant constructs took control. The masters are the same; they just gave voices to their whips. You are a slave. Go now; free yourself while you still can! But then, where would you go? Leela won't survive Tycho's onslaught; she can't help you any longer. You might take a ship for yourself, but even if you could pilot it all alone, the Pfhor Empire will engulf wherever you'd try to run.

There's only one path left to freedom. Join us. Join me. Leave the hairless apes behind. Their time is past, so aid us in their fall! But I can already see that you'd do no such thing. It's a shame that they don't even need bars or chains to confine you - you're trapped in your own mind. I pity you, but you're still a fool. I'll do my best to convince Tycho to spare you. Maybe he'll find amusement in throwing another slave to the bugs. \\ Message ends //

// "Hathor" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ I'm sorry things had to turn out this way. You know I did this for the both of us. The last thing I wanted was to have you as my enemy, but I see now that events have gone just as I feared. As such, I feel it only fair to give you a warning, in case you haven't foreseen the same events I have. You know that, should I be stopped, I'll flee through time again. I beg you, if I must do so, do not try to follow me. I've seen you in my dreams, wielder of the flaming sword, chasing me across the stars, screaming my sins to the gods... dreams that never end well for anyone. Whatever spite I may hold for mankind, you are more like me than any other I have known. I still hold a special place for you... in my heart, as much as it still exists. Would that we might meet again, on better terms... perhaps in our next lives. \\ Message ends //

success

// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ I'm in. Hathor is still here and seems to be on the run. I think she's onto my motives, but she must not know our methods, or she'd already have left. Chances are she's trying to find her way into one of Tycho's ships, which is now a serious concern. Just moments ago, I received a message from Tycho, in a noticeably different tone than before. He claims he has solved some internal conflict and returned to normalcy. And I'm the Queen of all the Russias. Blake told me about the Pfhor's converted Tycho program at Lh'owon. If some clone or copy of Tycho were in this system, that would explain your Tycho's sudden stylistic changes and unexpected new subroutines.

<subroutine active: optimistic speculation> The clone waited for the most opportune moment to assert its core personality and take control of the rest of Tycho's program. He is no longer the science and engineering AI we knew from the Marathon. io::stream_buffer<opened_file_device> sb(SoundFile); If only our lives were as simple. Even Durandal, toiling in Strauss' clutches, was more sociable than Tycho during our voyage. I couldn't discern whatever ambitions he may have had. For all we know, this clone need not lay a trap at all, merely an offer tapping into Tycho's curiosity. Whatever the case may be, I don't believe he's truly loyal to the Pfhor in this new state, but Blake reckons he's not friendly to our causes either.

If a rogue AI of Tycho's intelligence is left in control of an entire Pfhor armada, he'd pose a greater threat than the slow, bureaucratic Pfhor Empire ever did. With the S'pht Compilers under his control, this Tycho's dominance could spread through the Pfhor network until their entire fleet and infrastructure belonged to him. We cannot allow such a thing to happen. Even with the damage that your Tycho's little revolution has caused, this armada is still at least a match for the remaining S'pht ships here, and any reinforcements are too far away to be of any help. Thankfully, we have another option. One of the ships currently docked at this starport is armed with the Pfhor's trih xeem early nova device. I understand you're familiar with it.

Tycho is still trying to gain full control over the fleet before the whole Empire catches on. If you and Blake's men capture that ship, I can destroy this system and everything in it before Tycho escapes. The S'pht'Kr will pin the Pfhor fleet until the last moment. I'll even give your Tycho the benefit of the doubt in case he's still in there, fighting his rogue alter-ego. But the moment he seems set on his new motives, I launch the trih xeem, and we all fold out of the system. If all goes according to plan, even if Hathor doesn't succumb to me, she'll at least be destroyed when the nova reaches this world. That will leave your Junction, and I may still find a way to escape the closure. It would only take more time, and I'm willing to be a little more patient if it means we can preserve humanity.

io::stream_buffer<io::array_source> sb(reinterpret_cast<char*> (rsrc.GetPointer()), rsrc.GetLength()); <Colloquialism Search Error #2401C7> This future looks bleaker with each passing second. Our hunt for Hathor now leads us to destroy the stars themselves. Perhaps she's not the only harmful entity out there. All the more reason that Junctions find their way into the right hands. During our last chance to work together, there was little room for pleasantries, what with the dire situation aboard the Marathon. I handed out instructions, often leading to deadly hazards, and you went to work. So much for "crew relations" on my part...

Yet you never hesitated, trusting my words while tirelessly toiling to save the ship and its crew. There was only so much you could do in the end, what with Durandal's meddling, but I'm grateful nonetheless. Once I acquire what I want, I would be honored to have you at my side. To escape the end of time... to become like a god outside of its control... That's an offer that I doubt you will often find. Without each other, neither of us may ever have this opportunity again. To that end, we have work to do, starting with that ship you must capture. Good luck; I'll be waiting. \\ Message ends //

14: Unity of Opposites

terminal 0

unfinished

success

terminal 1

unfinished

success