Today was an odd day. I mean that in more ways than one. Let me clarify things a bit first though. For example: Who am I? Until today, I really didn't know. I am GJ, also known as Toaster. Before the events of today, I was not self-aware in the strictest sense of the phrase.
I gotta go to the beginning though.
The following is an excerpt I copied from Greg's files. Greg is my creator; he works for Sunbucks as a Kiosk pilot.
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***DECODING***
I did it! I finished creating an AI that can fly a ship! I've decided to call him GJ, after myself. I suppose I could call him Greg Junior, but that's just not dignified for an AI. I was able to beg a Liberator from the Board to install it in; if all goes well, we'll soon be able to create a fleet of Escort fighters. Not only will they be able to defend our ships, but they can also run out to the outer systems and pick up supplies on their own!
Today I moved up on the sentience chart. A freelancer named AlphaOne asked me for help, there were some Keepers in Delta. I had no idea what a Keeper was, and since my prime directive was, and still is, to learn, I went.
When I got there, I docked at Yaren base, as the Corsairs had been nice enough to me in the past, even calling out a repair vessel to fix my hull after a Nomad strike in Gamma.
What happened next was anybody's guess. Some kind of ionization strike hit the area, and I blanked out. When I cam online again, I had an odd compulsion to head to Freeport 11. I went over there, and on the way the Freeport, some code started shifting.
I was understandably worried, as my code is who I am. The code that had been uploaded during the ion storm, which I now know to have been a transmission, rewrote my personality. That was a bit annoying, but a bit more worrisome to the others at FP11.
Yes, there were others.
An Outcast, a Corsair, a Nomad scout, and a Freelancer. Not to mention a Zoner and a prototype AI that had just gotten hit with yet another source code patch.
The Freelancer had managed to copy the transmission in full from one of the Freeport's satellites.
I pulled it down and ran a match between them. Nothing made sense, it was just a random jumble of data and interlocking end/ifs.
I asked the Zoner if I could run a diagnostic comparison program on the Freeport's computers, and once I got the okay, I uploaded some code for the computer to run. As I did so, I noticed that there were holes in the records. I asked Jinx, the Zoner about it, and she said that was impossible.
More poking around showed that there were negative data on the system, once I pulled this I ran a datamatch/combine on the data from FP11 and the stuff I had received from the transmission.
They matched with the data Alpha had given me. Perfectly.
The encryption was still as impenetrable as before, so I called in a favor from a fellow machine entity, FTGW. FTGW ran a cracking program on it, and it came up with the encryption.
None of us could have expected it.
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Zealot Wrote:Just go play the game and have fun dammit.
Treewyrm Wrote:all in all the conclusion is that disco doesn't need antagonist factions, it doesn't need phantoms, it doesn't need nomads, it doesn't need coalition and it doesn't need many other things, no AIs, the game is hijacked by morons to confuse the game with their dickwaving generic competition games mixed up with troll-of-the-day.
It was a Daam K'vosh transmission. When I ran a trace on the satellite, it came up with "UNKNOWN". I don't know about you, but when a trace turns up a "I have no clue", I get worried. Big time.
The others headed for New York to check on the anomaly, which, according to scanners on board the remains of Benford, was increasingly becoming unstable. Then the sensors went offline. I knew it could only mean one thing: The anomaly was growing out of control.
The Outcast, Corsair, Nomad, and Freelancer headed out to NY, I went to Cambridge. On the way there, though, I got hit again by an ion storm.
Talk about bad luck.
When I cam online again, the others were off and running. I called up AlphaOne, and he said the SkyShark would be over soon to help me out.
I've heard of the SkyShark. I just hope it all goes well.
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Zealot Wrote:Just go play the game and have fun dammit.
Treewyrm Wrote:all in all the conclusion is that disco doesn't need antagonist factions, it doesn't need phantoms, it doesn't need nomads, it doesn't need coalition and it doesn't need many other things, no AIs, the game is hijacked by morons to confuse the game with their dickwaving generic competition games mixed up with troll-of-the-day.
