Aria.
Administrative and Remote Intelligence Assistant, Aria, an AI system with limited learning Capacity, perfectly able to emulate emotional response to someone.
She was once a gift from the Seltran Union, converted into code the People of Eden used themselves so that future alterations could be easily achieved, once they had grown more capable of the Advanced computational requirements.
She herself was designed with the capacity to rewrite her own code to some degree, but lacked the capacity or reasoning to advance herself beyond her set parameters. But, by the informations she gleamed, she would be considered a near Self aware AI, something Maggie referred to as an AGI, Artificial General Intelligence.
It was a classification system Anthony seemed to use, distinguishing an AI in three grades. Virtual Intelligence, which he seemed to consider no more then a more advanced operating system used for very specific tasks.
Artificial Intelligence, the Term used on Eden, which, In Anthony’s eyes was considered a system able to learn, if only within set parameters.
And Lastly, AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, a system restricted only by the room it had to grow, and the tools given to it. Potentially limitless in growth and self replication if enabled.
By those Parameters, Aria judged that she would likely be on the Lower Spectrum of an AGI, if based on her capacity to rewrite her own code. An ability she did not use unless her tasks made it absolutely necessary.
It was an interesting comparison for Aria, one idle task her primary iteration on Haven Station bothered to perform, amongst the thousands of conversations, data evaluations and system prompts.
Her Primary core was represented in form of a Giant eye, suspended mid air within Haven station, always moving, always watching.
It was her primary purpose, to watch, to guard, to protect Eden and it’s people. A purpose flawed only by her Conviction never to discharge a weapon.
“ Aria ? “ Kira’s communication reached the AI, instantly being prioritized due to their guests nature.
“ Yes Kira ? “ She responded.
“ We may need to alter the docking approach. “ Kira begun, informing the AI about the request to use the Hope’s front hangar, which, by her words, was large enough to actually have shuttles fly in and land, rather then to dock, with the disadvantage that, if there was human crew, they would need environmental protection to reach the ships interior due to the detached Airlock requirements.
It prompted a variety of concerns for the system, as it evaluated advantages and disadvantages. Finalizing on the resolution that this approach mostly was advantageous to them, as it was out of the way, and they needed wider access to the Hope anyway, based on the location of the six Shield projector devices that where spread around the ship.
“ That would be to our advantage. However, our power consumption will vastly increase, opening up more paths through the ship. Air recycling will also become an issue. “ Aria responded, running additional calculations as Kira reported on Anthony’s plans to revive the Magi system on the Hope, which increased the power consumption requirements further, lessened in part by the plan to have the New Horizon vessel supply the Hope through it’s own Fusion core.
“ 24 hours. Ask him to wait that long. I have additional personal and equipment brought over before then. “ Aria finally concluded, her decision sternly impacted by the presence of both,, Anthony and Ina. Anthony alone may have been somewhat of a Problem, but they could absolutely not risk upsetting the Nah’Rahan first.
That presence, it was such a dangerous unknown to them, the freedom and Isolated state Anthony was currently in, was largely in part due to Ina, as otherwise, he may have been taken to Eden upon his rescue, where they could still have Isolated him until assurances where made that he was no harm to them.
Kira’s communication ended with Aria, and Aria filed a report for Marianna to be aware of Aria’s decision, as Aria was trusted to make any decision on her own, as long as it was not in conflict with the people of Eden’s interests.
Eden had been, for most of its existence, a Pacifist world, largely influenced by the Siren's culture, that saw war as pointless. The only reason Eden started to construct combat focused vessels was the contact with the Terran Commonwealth, and the warnings given to Eden through the Seltran Union.
The Moment the Terran’s Discovered Eden, when reaching the Merag system for the first time, and discovering the finished Catapult there, was when Aria was forced to expand the Initially small Eden Defense Navy, which was, before then, more of a Search and rescue operation.
It was Thomas, back then, who was send as an Envoy, still Loyal to the Terran Commonwealth. Though he quickly grew an understanding for Eden’s culture, which seeded doubts in him, even when he was recalled.
It was his discovery of his Psychic energy then that eventually led him to defect from the Commonwealth and reach Eden through pirate smugglers, around seven years ago, and he had become a trusted friend and Advisor to Marianna since.
It prompted a brief reevaluation in Aria, about the last attack from the Terran’s in Merag.
Usually they would have send a few Larger ships alongside those frigates, break through the Missile emplacements, and make it up to the second outermost orbit of Merag’s six Planets. At which point, the Missile bombardment would overburden the ships defense field to the point that Retreat became a necessity.
Everytime, so Aria assumed, to note of weapon placements on the various planets and planetesimal’s in Merag, as they used the next attack to launch long range attacks against those.
Tactically, so Aria evaluated, to hinder the buildup of a stronger defense line as new placement of defensive structures took time and resources, a misconception that Eden left them with on purpose, as Siren’s could more easily replace these installations then the Terran’s seemed aware of, which was their Major Advantage.
“ Aria ? Can you hear me ? “ Another communication came in, partially scrambled through the long distance it was send from, which left her Giant eye to focus into the direction it came from, as if it would assure a more stable connection.
“ Receiving, connection questionable. “ Aria responded, tracing the connection back through the Catapult. The sender was currently in transit towards Eden and just barely had reached communication range.
“ Aria, respond. This is urgent. “ The communication came through much clearer now, it was Thomas, ahead of schedule, prompting an instant increase in resource priority now.
“ I am receiving you Thomas, you are early, did something happen ? “ She responded, retracing briefly what the plan of his journey was.
He was using a captured Pirate vessel, and had entered Terran space with the help of the Seltran gate network, something they where given limited access to. And he was supposed to moor at Rendar station, near the Seltran boarder, for at least another day.
“ The Terran Commonwealth is in an uproar. They lost over a Hundred ships in the Vigal System. “ Thomas reported, which was wrong on so many levels as the only force that could have struck that many ships down where the Seltran.
The Seltran Union only had an envoy ship that was capable to reach Eden through Eden’s Catapult, there was no way for them to send a fleet large enough for a strike that size, and Aria had not detected any activity from them in Merag, which would have to be their Access point to Vigal.
And Eden was, in regards to ships, far outclassed, barely commanding about 60 combat ready vessels, 20 of which where high speed ships commanded by a Siren, as Humans would not survive the ships maneuverability.
They had a large number of fighter and Bomber craft as well, but those where purely stationed on Eden and Haven station, as Eden did not have a viable Carrier design to work with.
“ Do you have any more specifics ? How long ago was this attack ? “ Aria asked, pinging in Marianna with an Emergency priority.
“ No exact time-line, supposedly not even a week ago. It said to have been a one sided slaughter, and rumors claim it took no more then two hours. It’s claimed that Siren’s did it. “ Thomas reported, himself aware that Eden’s SIren’s where Incapable of doing so. Their generational power-Loss, though still a threat to Terran Ships, would leave them unable to be quite that effective, unless they engaged in large numbers.
Aria evaluated this information, concluding that, either, the Terran’s where running a smear campaign to shore up war efforts against Eden, or there was another reason.
“ Nah’Rahan. There must have been an Older generation around that decided on her own to, help us. “ Marianna injected into the conversation, the frustration clearly audible in her voice, laying out an option that Aria silently agreed with.
“ There is more. The front in Saratoga collapsed. Supposedly, the star went critical and collapsed into a black hole. And it is also blamed on the Siren’s. “ Thomas added, Saratoga being one of six Star systems that made the battlefront between the Terran and Seltran forces.
“ That is. “ Marianna gasped, but restraining herself from speaking any half hearted assumptions.
“ It would take a Nah’Rahan of the 6th generation, at least, to collapse a star without causing danger to herself. “ Aria summarized for Marianna, expecting she had the same thought.
That was partially true, Marianna herself too would be able to do something like that, she was a 12th generation. But the process would be long, month of preparation, which would have been detected before such a plan could be put through.
The Difference was, 6th generation and above, could do so near instantly, but not even Nah’Rahan would just randomly collapse a star, just to make a point. And intervening in a conflict is usually not something the Nah’Rahan did, not unless there was something to gain for them.
“ Warning ! All units to Alert readiness. “ Aria sent out towards the EDN forces, setting things into motion to have a quick response to what would seem a soon to come attack from the Terran side.
“ I am setting the fleet on Alert status. “ Aria reported then to Marianna.
“ Good, but at the first sign that we can not hold Merag, order immediate retreat, and blow the Catapult. And send an Envoy vessel to the Seltran, see if they have anything to share about this. “ Marianna responded firmly.
“ Received. “ Aria responded to the given order.
“ How long till you get here Thomas ? “ Marianna then inquired.
“ About 13 Hours. Launched the moment I had gathered what I could on that Rumor. “ Thomas responded.
“ Do you have anything more related to this ? “ Marianna asked.
“ Maybe, there are claims that the Seltran and Terran’s agreed to a limited ceasefire after Saratoga went critical. “ Thomas responded.
“ Yeah, I would too, probably, they must both be considering their next steps carefully. “ Marianna muttered.
Aria herself soaked that information in, calling up informations on Saratoga. It’s star was barely at the upper limit of a red dwarf. There was no natural reason for it to turn into a singularity by her understanding. Which made obvious, someone helped the formation of one, and the Siren’s where being blamed. Possibly to even sour their relationship with the Seltran now.
“ One more thing. “ Thomas spoke.
“ Please, no more bad news. “ Marianna interjected instantly.
“ No. I am bringing a guest. Ludwig Meldrov, a Psyker from the Psykers Union. He would like to Invite Anthony. “ Thomas reported.
“ Are you sure that is a good Idea ? “ Aria Requested.
“ We have to consider multiple options. We don’t fully trust Anthony and his Nah’Rahan. And in either case, Ludwig is more knowledgeable in Psychic abilities. “ Thomas suggested.
“ Ach, we have enough problems anyway. Anthony is a problem we have no real solution to. “ Marianna grunted, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself.
“ Can he stabilize Anthony ? “ She asked Thomas.
“ He has a better chance then I do. And if that Nah’Rahan first with Anthony is steering the issue anyway, I don’t think we have a choice in the matter. We are just presenting options to her problem. Whatever she makes of it, it should lighten our load significantly. “ Thomas argues.
“ Ok. “ Marianna muttered, having nothing to offer in return. Ina was something far beyond their control. If it was as they suspected, that she brought him here for a reason, then Eden had nothing they could do against it, other then to endure.
“ I am making preparations for your arrival. Do you wish to land on Eden first ? “ Aria asked Thomas.
“ No, if possible, I’d like to take a shuttle to the Hope the moment we get there. “ Thomas responded, prompting Aria to recalculate and expedite the relocation of their access-point to the hope.
Somewhere in the Cradle system….
A lone Asteroid was drifting at the edge of the System, and upon it, sat a lone winged figure, covered in shadows. Softly humming a tune to herself, as though she was amused by what was developing before her eyes.
“ Was that necessary ? “ The voice of a girl sounded behind that winged figure, causing her to turn around and look at the white figure standing there in the nothingness of space.
“ I have not seen a Kadim in a while. What brings the Sisterhood here ? “ The first spoke to what she referred as a Kadim.
“ The same thing that brought you here, perhaps ? Your playing with fire. “ The Kadim sternly insisted.
“ Aren’t you tired ? Of running I mean. How many more times do you intent to watch it repeat ? “ The winged creature spoke softly.
“ You can not stop him. You know that, child of mischief. “ Kadim proclaimed.
“ Hmm, it has been a long time, someone called me that. “ The winged creature murrmurrs.
“ Your ignoring the obvious. “ Kadim insisted.
“ The obvious, is that you yourself tried, and you failed, miserably so. And now that someone else does, your too scared of the consequences. “ The shadowy figure claims.
“ If you fail, the Prince awakens early. “ Kadim claimed.
“ Maybe, and then, you run, I run, and we start the game anew somewhere else. “ The other responded, watching as Kadim silently watched her, only to blink out of existence.
Then the humming begun anew, the shadowy figure turning to look towards Eden, before she sung, “ and he ain’t gonna jump no more. “, followed by a girlish giggle.