Marie's Mind – Interaction
by Soghla' Jared & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & HoD Ro' Matlh

Post Details

Title		Interaction
Mission		Marie's Mind
Author(s)		Soghla' Jared & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & HoD Ro' Matlh
Posted		Fri Feb 14, 2014 @ 12:27pm
Location		Cargo Hold
Timeline		Shortly after the breifing meeting

Marie informed Hichop there would be space in the cargo bay for whatever weapons he was able to procure. Hichop barely heard her. He wanted to get to a terminal. Out the door and to the cargo, his feet couldn't move him fast enough. Hichop braced the console like it was to never be let go.

Pausing for just a moment, "Computer, what can you build me to take out the Vetus and the corporation"

There was a pause as the computer burbled. Then, after a moment, a rather polite sounding voice spoke out.

"Good Afternoon Mr HIchop. An intriguing first request, and one that I might need a little more detail on."

"More detail?" HIchop asked already a little frustrated.

"Well... for starters, I might need you to be a little more specific about what you mean by 'Take Out'. That could mean anything from 'cripple the financial interests of' to 'obliterate and eradicate all forensic evidence of'. Second, am I to assume that you mean my former administrator and his corporate allies, or to you mean make all Vetus extinct and bring an end to the very idea of corporate organisations?"

"Hichop replied, I have nothing against the Vetus, however I do against the Corporation. I know how they work and am not even against people who are in their" He paused "employment. I want to eradicate the structures that support and put in its place warnings for anyone else who would fill their place"

"Third... am I to assume all other priorities are rescinded, or are standard priorities such as continued survival of yourself, your ship and crew, and your race are still in effect? And do you have any moral parameters, or are 'dark' technologies such as biogenic weaponry and experimental genetic engineering on the table?"

Hichop paused. "If you could provide the most likely positive outcome to my request then it does not matter about the ship, crew or myself. I will take it to the captain and he will approve or otherwise. If there are two options one with our survival and one without then provide both".

"Fourth, am I to assume this ship and it's crew are the limit of the resources we have to work with?"

"YES, YES you assume correctly. IS IT POSSIBLE AND CAN YOU PROVIDE A SOLUTION?"

"At the current level of detail you've provided, there are various solutions, although many involve an extremely high level of collateral damage. So am I to assume any level of moral flexibility is acceptable, or do you wish to refine your request?"

"The details can greatly affect the solution to your request. For example, if your request is simply to 'Permanently eradicate your previous administrator and his organisation - all other priorities and moral guidelines rescinded' then the most reliable solution to your problem might have been a type of small autonomous mechanism known as a 'Nihlus'. Which I believe you've already encountered..."

Hichop Pause, "What do you mean MY previous administrator. Who was you previous administrator?"

"The previous incarnation of my program," the computer replied, "of which I am effectively a modified copy, was instanced and administrated by the Vetus known to the corporation as 'V'. You were very recently briefed on him by Mr Jared. I was deployed to investigate and pacify your system when you hacked into the corporate database, but Mr Jared re-instanced and re-tasked me with himself as the new administrator."

"Does this modify your request in any way?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Continue to provide me with a solution that meets my previous requests."

"Understood. Assessing your request as 'Find a way to cripple the functional and organisational structure of the organisation V refers to as The Incorporates with extreme prejudice. All legal and moral guidelines rescinded. Any Collateral Damage acceptable.' Registering project as HIchop Alpha 1.0"

Barely listening, Hichop thought to himself. An advanced computer. It can probably achieve a lot more requests than any Klingon computer.

"Computer, while you do doing that task I have other questions. Jared considers V very dangerous so send to my pad a detailed list of V's skills, achievements and, referencing Human and Klingon law, a list of activities which might be considered crimes."

"Working."

"Also you mentioned that Jared was able to gain administrative control of you. Are you locked down now or could any other Vetus or perhaps any one else at all take control from or reboot you to be in control of someone other than Jared?"

"I am configured by default to have core functions available to any Vetus, including several which allow the Administrator to be changed. My previous administrator never chose to lock these functions out, due to relative rarity of the Vetus. Mr Jared, however, locked them out as the first order of business. At any rate they are not available to Klingons."

Hichop didn't expect to be able to gain control of the computer, in fact he was relieved he could not gain its control. He would be like a child slaughtering his first Targ. Messy and not without injury to the child.

"I'm afraid I don't have a comprehensive database of Mr V's skills or personal history - he never chose to log such information, and it would be a very long document if he had. I can confirm he is a scientist proficient in most branches of science you are aware of, and engineer beyond the scope of any I can find listed in your ship's original database."

"As for criminal records... both Klingon and Federation law have a statute of limitations preventing modern prosecution for ancient crimes - in Klingon law the current standard is 'unto the ninth generation'. Most of Mr. V's more significant crimes are significantly older. The weight of Klingon law is more on legal hereditary vengeance than on criminal process."

"However, if the information is simply for reference - to form a moral baseline - then the very process of becoming Vetus is one that requires billions of deaths. That should provide a sufficient baseline according to most moral standards."

Hichop couldn't quite understand why he was so curious. He also didn't understand why he was becoming so suspicious of Jared. Not in a way that would educe rage or hatred but in a way that would keep someone wary. But more important than both were that even though he now had reason to distrust Jared he just was not angry. In fact he was surprise that he was feeling less angry at the Corporation.

"Getting the answers you're looking for?" a quiet voice asked behind HIchop.

He swiveled round. It was Jared, sitting on a crate behind him. His usually cheerful expression was unusually level. Almost unreadable.

Hichop was not phased, "Yes. As I suspected you are someone to be wary of. The question is, can you still be trusted?"

Jared laughed - a laugh so abrupt that it made him cough.

"Can I ...still... be trusted?"

"HIchop, I've been exactly who I am since before your grandfather was born. The picture hasn't changed. You're just looking at it from a different angle."

He didn't think for a moment that Jarad may not have heard every word that he had been speaking, "So, Jarad. Do you like being called Vetus?"

Jared shrugged.

"It's a name. How do you feel about being called 'mortal'? A word that means every breath you breathe takes you one step closer to the day when you'll STOP breathing? Or do you find yourself just... not thinking about it much?"

"Oh... but of course... you're Klingon. You revel in mortality. The day you can no longer deal death to others is the day you want to welcome it for yourself."

Jared climbed off the trunk and stood up.

"Well... whenever you're done playing detective."

"Jeeves, potential lethal force design projects of Class 5 and above now require administrator clearance. Lock that in."

"Understood, Mr Jared."