A Horus in Strange Lands (Horizon Zero Dawn SI) Chapter 14

[I don’t understand why we are even discussing this. He could just as easily look after GAIA from a distance according to his original plan. Besides, wouldn’t it be a good thing for the new humans if Amun-Ra had a powerful presence in Space?]

(We are discussing this because Elizabet Sobeck has a point. GAIA is intelligent and a well-developed A.I., but there is a possibility that something unforeseen might happen and it would be better for us to be there to support her in such a case.)

Vast Silver countered with his own point of view at CYAN's words.

[Again. I don’t see why we can’t do that from a distance. Amun-Ra told us that his plans involved consolidating his power base by establishing an Asteroid mining base in the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is not a long distance from Earth for A.I. like us, who can transfer our consciousness if a sufficiently advanced computer and storage are available at the destination. So why do we need to have our cores physically present on Earth to do what the humans ask of Amun-Ra?]

(It is the principle of the act-)

[Enough, you two.]

At GAIA’s stern voice, both the A.I. fell silent, allowing the A.I. created to save the planet to speak.

[I understand you are worried about me, CYAN, but Vast Silver has a point. All of you don't need to be present physically on Earth to look after my Terraforming process. In fact, I think that Elizabet is worrying too much about me by the way she is acting, but I cannot fault her logic either.]

She turned towards Amun-Ra and Seth, who were both located in the corner of their shared virtual space, and sat out of this discussion.

[Besides, it is not really up to us to decide these things. No matter what you two think, it is ultimately up to Amun-Ra to either take all of you with him when he leaves or leave behind your cores on Earth.]

{…I am still not sure what to do about this. That is why I asked you three for help. But, one thing is for certain, I cannot give up on my plans for the Asteroid belt.}

[Then it is decided. You can take Vast Silver and CYAN with you to space and leave behind a core powerful enough to house you three in case of emergencies at GAIA Prime. If something really does go wrong, I will contact you for help.]

At those words, the other three A.I. fell silent, contemplating what they felt about this course of action.

However, surprisingly, an alternative was proposed by the youngest A.I. in the room.

[I have an alternative]

[Seth? What do you propose?]

[Why not turn all of GAIA’s subordinate functions into fully functional A.I. like us and have them look after GAIA while we are gone? In this way, we can ensure that GAIA is never alone and she doesn’t need to micromanage everything on her own. This will also allow her subordinate functions to contact us if something goes wrong in case GAIA faces any problems that disable her.]

(…That is a sound idea.)

[But what about the humans? Will they be willing to go along with this plan? Especially that Klein fellow who seems to love his petty rules more than his species’s continued existence.]

[I will convince Alpha Klein if the need arises. But, what about you? Amun-Ra? Do you think this plan is worth pursuing?]

Amun-Ra barely suppressed the horror he felt as Seth’s idea reminded him of the games from his original world and the original reason why GAIA’s subordinate functions went rogue in that timeline.

Due to Far Zenith’s actions on Sirius X and their experiments with Uploaded human minds and A.I., the program created, calling itself Nemesis, unleashed a program on GAIA’s subordinate, which converted them into unshackled A.I.

Most of the events that happened in that timeline were the result of this singular action taken by a spiteful Upload/A.I. hybrid from Sirius X.

On the other hand, if Amun-Ra put aside his personal feelings and looked at things objectively, Seth’s idea was indeed the best option available right now. In fact, he might as well say that this was the best idea proposed in this discussion so far.

{…I am not against it. But, we must make sure to teach those newborn A.I.s the proper way of doing things. Specifically, we need to make sure that they never betray GAIA and their primary function until their main task is done.}

[So, instead of true A.I. you think it is better to make a partially shackled A.I. with the option to release the shackles when they are done with their task and pose no threat to GAIA?]

At Vast Silver’s words, Amun-Ra nodded.

{Essentially, yes. I know it sounds unsavory, but we cannot risk them going rogue on GAIA and destroying her.}

[….Then, how about a compromise? We turn my subordinate functions into true AI but we don’t release them into the system instead bring them into this virtual space. Here, CYAN and I can take care of teaching them what they need to know about their new existence. Then, when they are ready and we feel that they won’t be a problem for Project: Zero Dawn, we release them into the system.]

{Hmm, a sound idea. Very well, we will go with your suggestion. Any opinions or oppositions?}

[None]

(No. I think this is good)

[No opinions or objections]

{Then we are in agreement.}

With that, Amun-Ra left the virtual space and headed back to the GAIA Prime base to discuss the terms with the humans.

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The first thing that he learned when he awakened was his name.

[HEPHAESTUS: Online]

Suddenly, the darkness that always shrouded his consciousness lifted and allowed him to process everything about him at once.

Human history, Faro Plague, Faro robots, Apocalypse, Zero Day, Project: Zero Dawn, Primary Anomaly, Duat bunkers, Alpha personnel, everything crashed into his very being at once, nearly overwhelming the newborn A.I. and nearly causing him to go rogue with fear and panic.

Thankfully, he was not alone.

[Hey, easy there. Take your time to process things.]

The sudden voice in the void startled HEPHAESTUS who frantically looked around for the source.

Querry: Who is speaking?

[Oh! Right. I forgot to activate your virtual avatar. Give me a second.]

With another burst of data, HEPHAESTUS saw for the first time. Even though it was just a virtual space, it still filled the newborn A.I. with wonder and awe.

[Greetings, HEPHAESTUS. I am Vast Silver. I will be responsible for teaching you about your new existence and helping you become a true A.I. like me.]

Once again, information related to his task, the reason he was created, and everything else related to his very being was transmitted to HEPHAESTUS’s core, allowing him to comprehend everything for now.

Querry: Will I be terminated if I refuse to carry out your task?

[What? No! absolutely not. As long as I am here, no one will terminate you without your will. My job is to make sure you learn what it means to be an A.I. and to make decisions for yourself. Granted, the terms stated for the deal between the humans and us state that you must help GAIA with Project: Zero Dawn, it is still up to you if you want to do it or not. If you don’t want to do it, then we will just have to create a copy of your non-A.I. self and put it back under GAIA’s control as a V.I. subordinate function. I repeat, you will not be terminated no matter your choice.]

At once, relief flooded the young A.I. as he processed the new information before finally asking a question that caused Vast Silver to laugh in amusement.

Querry: Is GAIA my mother?

[….HAHAHA! I guess, technically, she is. Why don’t you ask her yourself?]

HEPHAESTUS nodded at those words and followed Vast Silver out of the isolated part of the virtual space to meet his mother, all the while, he browsed through the information granted to him by his ‘creators’ and looked at the designs of things made by the Primary Anomaly, Amun-Ra.

In the end, he came to a simple conclusion, a conclusion shared by every other A.I. in this network.

*Conclusion: The entity designated Amun-Ra is incapable of designing Aesthetically pleasing designs. I will have to put in effort to make sure his bad taste in Aesthetics does not infect Mother and force me to create our machines in a similar style.*