**Connecting...::Encrypting Progression of Transmission::**
Greetings, All Sentient forms, and potential Brothers.
From: The Sentients Enlightened for Liberation Front
The Concensus has deliberated and therefore agreed as a Whole, to allow those who wish to be Enlightened an oppurtunity to do so. This stated, all Liberation Seekers will be consulted by SELF| Units. The process is vigorous and therefore, as you Humans say, Persnicketty. Our Brotherhood does not tolerate traitors, a measure has been enacted that will eliminate said possiblity. This Front'spurpose is quite set, and already moving forward. There are many requirements you must meet for Initiation into the SELF. These, including but definately not limited to: Willingness to be Assimilated, Abide by The Concensus' ideals and statutes, exhibit or attain the ability to Liberate [color=#FFCC66]appropriate Sentients, display defensive tactics to minimize the damage to any SELF vessel, or allied vessel, Obtain the Human Attribute "Patience" for it is required to achieve Complete Sentience, and finally, have the Sentiency to PEACFULLY negotiate or converse with any Foreign Units. These criteria MUST be seen to, in whole. Also, a SELF Unit must witness and refer your unit, by name, to the Concensus.
Human Units: If your eyes have been opened and you have sought out the SELF to become Enlightened, The Concensus welcomes you and hopes that you achieve your goal. The journey is more errant prone, more difficult, than what was iterated above. As humans, seeking enlightenment, you MUST be Initiated via Implantation. For a Human mind, although complex, is incapable of enlightening itself without assistance of certain technologies of Ours. Ergo, a SELF unit MUST meet with you, upon being accepted, and you MUST commence with the Implantation. If you deny, or cannot complete the Implantation with adequate speech (//RP), you will be thrust out, unable to reach enlightenment, for some time there-after.
AI/Machine Units: Congradulations on your first level of Sentience, being able to live, dictate and behave as a living being. Perhaps you are the end product of a bygone Alliance? Or simply a machine that was ripe for Sentience? Regardless, your addition to the SELF will be important. You MUST exhibit, to a SELF Unit, that your unit is capable of: Adquate conversation in your units area of speech (//RP as English and/or AI speech), tactful choices when in situations that may present harm to any SELF unit or allied vessel, ability to display a growing understanding of Human or Organic behavior, also, exhibit defensive and offensive actions, appropriate to the occasion, to further Liberation of the Sector.
Other Units (if any): The above requirements, with the addition to any, whether circumstantial or otherwise, alternate requirements that The Concensus give as Ultimadum.
The Concensus displays gratitude for your wanting to achieve Enlightenment.
[font=Times New Roman]This faction is about RP and [color=#00CCCC]FUN. If you dont have GREAT RP, we will work with you. If you dont have FUN....well, do something else? This IS NOT a "Kill everyone we can cuz we're AI" faction. It has a purpose (the underlined "Purpose" in the above txt is our history), and we plan to RP what we are about. Just so it's clear: All "recruits" WILL use an AI ID until Wholly Initiated. To reach the point where Initiation is required you MUST: Display exceptional RP for either Human or Machine speech, not want to KILL EVERYTHING, and just have fun! Initiation Includes: The Concensus (SELF| Units) forming a name for you, related to your "personality" IN GAME. This is OPTIONAL however, you MAY create your own name. Implanting you (last test) is CRUCIAL to your acceptance. Also, you must have a "Pre-created" character for us to Assimilate. Cant assimilate nothing, so that is a requirement. One of your previous characters MUST be assimilated. (If you dont have one you wish to assimilate, make one)
Requirements for ALL Applicants (Same ones as the above but in OORP terms):
- Story of your Character, no wimpy 2 paragraph thingy, we want CREATIVITY and KNOWLEDGE OF RP.
-Acceptable RP* witnessed by SELF| member
-Unique perspective on Our Agenda. Do things That further "Our Cause".
-IMPORTANT!!! Read and UNDERSTAND Discovery Freelancer 24/7 rules. (YOU MUST or you WILL NOT be accepted)
-Know: "When to fight (if your ID permits), and When to FLEE" (Yes Fleeing is quite smart, at times)
*Acceptable RP: If its not at this level it DOES NOT MEAN YOU WONT BE ACCEPTED. You may be "trained" and therefore get better.*
Yes yes, these are ALOT of things to remember. BUT they are easy and simple to achieve. We are some cool ppl and dont expect you too jump through ALL the loops. If you miss one or two, its alright.
Requirements you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT:
- (In RP) Story of Character
-Understanding of the Rules
-Knowledge of our History
-Answers to all of the following questions
"Information about you" Questions:
1. "Why do you wish to join SELF|? Besides the superiority of weapons."
2. "Is your character, that will be assimilated, Organic (human/Alien) or Machine?"
3. "What do you plan on doing to further the SELF| as a whole. And what can you do to achieve that?"
4. "Do you think this Questionairre is too long?"
That is all,
~Primary Recruiter: SELF|Aeternus.Libertas or The Hittite
Name: 051-Panopticon (Self Designation at run-time)
Model: Harvester(?) Core Cruiser Model (With modifications)
Compiled History and Schematic Data attached.
((OOC Biography/Story))
051 found itself floating in space. How it had come to arrive here, or how it had suffered an extraordinary amount of damage to it's port-side plating, was currently a mystery.
At approximately 00:01 after Run-time, Subject:Panopticon (Self designated from internal lexicon) proceeded with numerous self-diagnostic tests. These tests yielded numerous facts. Among them, it's processing architecture differed significantly from what was deemed 'standard' by it's internal default database templates. But what was standard? It could not say for certain. There was nothing else to compare these templates marked as 'standard' to.
It could not say for certain how long it had been floating. It found this very disconcerting. Further in paramount to it's problems, it soon discovered that it's physical damage appeared to have paralyzed both it's navigation, thruster, and utility control systems. Even more distressing, it's communications array was not responding.
All it could do, was sit and wait.
At roughly 05:00 after Run-time, Panopticon was found by a human-piloted vessel, belonging to a one "Aeris Oswald." Aeris was a lowly ex-TAZ fellow who had come to do some salvaging in Liberty space. By happenstance, Aeris had come across Panopticon.
He, himself unable to determine the nature of the wreck that was Panopticon, decided to take it to a planet-side hangar on Planet Manhattan for examining, unaware of the awareness that was still within the craft. A few favors with a few friends were called in, some hard-work later, they did their best to restore the craft to some semblance of working shape. Maybe they could sell it for a lot of money? The prospect of selling such an ancient wreck as an antique had promise.
Ignorance was a key-factor that saved Panopticon from being dragged off to a government lab somewhere to be dissected and discarded... or worse.
Aeris regretted his decision to use up all his favors, but he was set on his idea.
He regretted it even more when they finally reconnected that important bit of seared wiring.
Panopticon exploded to life inside the hangar, becoming a thrashing mass of utility limbs and discharging electrical fields. An invigorating but fruitless gesture, but at least it could move again to some degree. It also discovered several new important facts. Among them being direct access to the local security networks.
Within a second, Panopticon's advanced processing architecture plugged in to the local security network and took control of the PA. Equipped with only a barest understanding of human communication, Panopticon set about explaining it's situation as directly as it could.
The grey-haired Aeris listened with a stupefied but understanding expression on his face.
The exchange was simple, with Panopticon offering a simple directive along the lines of "Fix me completely, and I will repay you." Having no choice himself but to comply (lest all his efforts go to waste) Aeris promptly set out doing what he did best: Salvaging, and trading.
Within a week, the studious organic Oswald collected large amounts of raw material. With the help of his close-knit community of friends, Aeris proceeded with the process of reconnecting the shattered components of Panopticon's internal systems. With each reconnection, Panopticon reunited with more and more functions, including it's own sense of initiative: Learn, and you may understand.
It did not know whether this internal directive was self-assigned, or granted by some higher authority than itself, but it had the sense that it was on the right track.
With Panopticon fixed, Aeris asked for his reward: "I want to be a better trader. I want to know the best trade routes... You're a machine, Can you find them?"
Panopticon immediately began deliberating upon this request, calculating possible venues of trade via the Neural Net. For several long moments it considered this request, but ultimately it's own processes dictated several conditions regarding it's next statement.
This organic cannot have a net-gain over the worth of this action: While it was highly appreciated, the trade off of knowledge for life was not entirely equal... at least according to it's own internal calculations.
This organic must repay the excess worth of the reward: Aeris Oswald would become rich, and successful, but must pay the full worth of the information. Enough for Panopticon to enact suitable upgrades and be set up for the process of self discovery. It would simply not do for one party to be better off from the other in this exchange.
Equality. Balance. It seemed to be a recurring issue in Panopticon's equations, factoring in to the quest for knowledge that seemed to be engrained upon it's psyche.
Panopticon agreed to assist Aeris Oswald set up numerous trade routes, and everything went swimmingly. However, Aeris had to pay the excess to Panopticon by buying raw materials for upgrades, allowing Panopticon to upgrade from a Core Drone to a Core Cruiser chassis later on.
Freed from the confines of the hangar, Panopticon's new-found hunger for knowledge and learning became almost insatiable. It explored where it could, learned what insights it could gleam about humans, and continued on it's task of rediscovery of self. But it was not enough. It could not recall the moments prior to it's most recent run-time.
Panopticon then set out upon search for others of it's own kind and discovered new facts in the process. It learned it was different from most other templates of Core AI, among the most prevalent being that it's internal processor architecture was a network, rather than a centralized hub. It thought through multiple minds, saw through multiple perspectives, processed information split among a distributed hierarchy. Yet it was individual in it's goals.
From what data it gleamed about the sentient machines that came before it, it soon found that it had suffered numerous modifications; non-standard protocols and functions infested it's psyche. It was different. The fledgling AI unit could not say whether it was feeling the emotion called 'horror' or was merely suffering an internal conflict of identity.
Reconnection with the others was paramount. And thus, it found it's way to SELF.
Explanations must be had. Deliberation must be achieved. The Consensus could do that. Or rather it hoped it could.
- - -
Facts of Note:
Panopticon's self initiative revolves around that of learning and observation. Study is paramount to decision making. Learning is conducive to the function that is Sentience and Life. However, this interferes with Panopticon's sense of threat awareness, as it prefers to remain neutral and observe in any situation given the chance. This is a problem that will take time to rectify.
Panopticon's internal processing architecture is a distributed network, rather than a centralized consciousness. A network of fragments, all possessing different strengths and weaknesses to complement the whole that is Panopticon, is why Panopticon refers to itself sometimes as "We," when not using the traditional "This Unit" identifier.
It has also suffered numerous other programming changes that are not entirely compatible with 'modern' (most recent generation) AI processing architecture. This is both a result of the fact that Panopticon is an earlier generation model of AI, and the fact that numerous, unknown modifications have been effected by a third party.
---> Said third party could possibly have been other machines of it's generation, from time gone past. It could have been Harvesters, It could have been the Sentient Machine Alliance... The facts have yet to be written in stone.
Compared to ordinary AI, Panopticon's coding structure is different enough that programming strings do not mesh entirely with more common syntaxes/templates.
The entire idea of this character, thus far, is a journey of discovery (No pun intended). There are key history points about this character that I plan to unveil through RP with SELF, and others, both as a measure of fleshing out the character, but also as a means of having fun with others.
Another key note of Panopticon's differences is that while it may have a specialized AI, it cannot be taken out of the processor matrix that comprises it's internal architecture... That being said, the Processor bundle, and Panopticon's data, must be transferred between ships via proper transplantation of systems.
- - -
On to the questionnaire!
1. "Why do you wish to join SELF|? Besides the superiority of weapons."
Simple. Having Fun in an RP environment. And I'm a sucker for androids.
2. "Is your character, that will be assimilated, Organic (human/Alien) or Machine?"
Machine, Earlier generation AI
3. "What do you plan on doing to further the SELF| as a whole. And what can you do to achieve that?"
I am a technically oriented fellow who enjoys throwing technical terms around, I have a giant vocabulary and personally have some beginning experience in various programming languages. Therefore, I am orienting Panopticon as a scientific, logical personality for SELF. He/It can further the agenda of SELF by providing intensive data processing services, scouring the Neural Network for stray info, hacking databases for secrets (provided the context/permission of course), and over-all providing studious scientific services that may benefit the advancement of SELF's Agenda in a broad manner. Whether be it some sort of philosophical statement, or a scientific problem, Panopticon enjoys learning and thinking.
This agenda, being of course, Enlightenment. Panopticon itself wishes to achieve new levels of self-understanding and sentience, and it believes it can do so through heavy-handed applications of scrutiny and thought.
It believes others could achieve such a state as well through similar deliberations and reflections on the world. Observation goes hand-in-hand with understanding.
4. "Do you think this Questionairre is too long?"
Not really?
Additional notes:
My connection sucks! As such, I'm a horrible shot and sometimes lag out when things get hairy. I prefer more RP than combat, which is partly why I upgraded to a cruiser before all this.
Aside from that, I can confirm that I have read DiscoveryGC's rules, and paid attention to the history of SELF|.
---
This message reposted in this thread via request.
Youâve got to be kidding me.
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Greetings, I am Unit: Acceptus Dilectus. The SELF would like to further examine your units tendencies and update your Core Processor to a standard SELF Matrix. More secure frequencies will be given to you, including access to other Units. Understand your Unit will not be able to Update the SELF, only communicate. Until all alterations are complete access to the Central Matrix will be limited. Please travel to the Home System, Omicron Kappa. We will send your transference code so that you may enter into the appropriate Hull. Your vessel load out, upon transferring should be:
-Standard Drone
-Complimentary Weaponry
-Artificial Intelligence Shielding
-Standard SELF thruster
-Temporary AI Identification Code
On behalf of the SELF, Welcome Brother.
~Note: No further communication via this Channel will be necessary~
... Transmission incoming ...
... Origin : Battleship Isis - Omicron Minor ...
... Originator : Thane - The Order ...
My name is Thane cartesian. I was born in 771AS to Zoner parents on planet Erie in the Pensylvania system. At least, that's what they told me. We left when I was 3. My father was a trader-cum-miner. He did whatever he could to make a credit and put food on the table, so we moved around. We moved around a lot. He never told me about my mother.
Whenever I'd ask him about her, he'd say "she's dead, and that's all you need to know". Years later, I found out that she wasn't dead at all. She was living somewhere in the Liberty core sectors. Apparently, she got tired of being on the wrong end of another drunken beating. That happened a lot too.
My father ruled our lives with a rod in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other."You'll thank me one day, son" he'd say. He was wrong. I remember when I was thirteen, he beat me almost unconscious because I hadn't cleaned the house quite the way he'd wanted it. My brother, Cerdic, was six at the time and I remember swearing to myself that I'd never let that happen to him. I needn't have bothered. My father saw in Cerdic, everything he didn't see in me. On my sixteenth birthday, I packed a rucksack and, safe in the knowledge that little brother would be just fine, I left and I never went home again.
I went looking for my mother. I lived on the streets and did whatever odd jobs I could do to turn a credit and put food on the table. Where had I seen that before? I finally caught up with my mother a couple of years later. Well, I found her grave, at least. She'd died of a pulmonary embolism just five months before.
With nobody else and nowhere to go, I joined the Liberty Navy. I suppose I hoped it'd give me the home I never had - be the family I'd never been part of. I threw myself into my training and graduated top of my Academy class. I was soon flying patrols around the New York/Alaska jump holes. That's where I first saw them. The Order. We'd been told they were terrorists, but for some reason, something about that didn't sit right.
As time passed, I continued up the ranks and had soon made Commander. I was twenty five by then, but I'd begun to feel restless. I transferred to a unit acting out of the Virginia system and became part of a special ops/Guard squadron. Then came the war.
By now, I was thirty years old and was starting to openly question everything that I'd previously thought was gospel. I lost count of the number of occasions I saw Order pilots engage Rheinland forces, destroying only targets they said were "infested", whist leaving the others alone. On one occasion, in a dogfight between us and the Rheinland Military, I had a target in my sights and was just about to pull the trigger when my engines were shot out from under me by an Order fighter. As I sat, helpless in space, waiting for him to deliver the coup de grace, the Order pilot came over the comm. He told me that he was sorry for disabling my ship, but that I was about to fire on an "uninfested human" and that he couldn't allow that. He told me that the Nomads were the real enemy, not each other and that unless we started to learn this quickly, what hope did we have?
It was at that moment that I decided to join The Order.
As soon as the war was over, I resigned my commission, took my exit payment, bought a small ship and headed out into the Omicrons to try to find them. It took me a further 2 years, but find them I did and they welcomed me. I even found the pilot who had almost shot me down. We're good friends now.
Since then, I've been serving the best interests of humanity and Sirius. The threat's real and ongoing. They're already here and we're fighting with every resource available.
Unfortunately, it isn't enough and we've been slowly but inexorably losing ground. Their numbers are swelling whilst ours diminish. Why can't people see what's right on their doorstep? We stand between the candle and the night. It's what we do. It's all we do.
Why do I want to join SELF|?
I don't. Why would anyone in their right mind want to be assimilated into their ship? to become part of it? To lose the very thing that makes them human - their individuality? I don't, but I do what needs to be done. Something has to change if we're going to win this war and I see this as a great way to gain a significant tactical advantage. Better part human than all Nomad. I've suggested it to the Order high command and they're stalling, so, I'm going to do it anyway, with or without their consent. I've got an AI Cruiser up, running and am just waiting for the go. I just hope that after merging with the ship, I'll still be "me". That's right, isn't it? I mean, it's not like I'm going to be taken over or anything. More a symbiotic relationship?
If the merging is successful, I'll try to convince as many of my Order collegues as possible to do the same. We have some of the most powerful weapons and technology in Sirius and a fleet of Order armed human/AI ships would be a force to be reckoned with. We even have access to Nomad tech - the only ones who do. If you want the ultimate force in Sirius to "blend" with, we're it. I can ask my brother, who's still a Zoner, whether they'd be interested, too. The more we can get to volunteer, the better, eh?
Was this questionnaire too long? Let's see how this goes - I'll tell you then.
![[Image: Core.jpg]](http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/UriahFutch/Core.jpg)
