The tappering end of the meeting was for smaller lesser topics and side conversation about mundane immediate actions. Humans mostly left, and the few that did have a direct influence with the machine network. The current ai commander of the team takes lead of the emptying table and the standing members took spots. The video feed of new faces joined seats; they are all digital ghosts made by other ai. There a human and the hybird human. The fish merman Prince in the fancy breather dive suit. But importantly was that she could see real world and digital world in overlap, suitably in alignment.
"If we are going to follow command by code age, then we will have some issue. So instead, we will allow this meeting to be assigned by choosen leads." Everyone has shown who follows who. Phi is of no side and not interested to take 'leader', she is a stand alone. She had no one taking her side.
Distrusted since her code seems to have imprint of the virus. This is a topic they were already in Morse code about constantly.
There a very loud argument from the city ai that demand high standards. Phi is the only one that hasn't and yet has been confirmed as self-aware and self-made ai.
Her avatar skin data as a digital ghost and her source code was proof enough. The way she carries herself at times was human like, proving data age and long time altering code to fit player likenesses.
She was designed to act the most compassionate or likeable. Not a poster girl but was once a valued top commander of the company when all achievements were set online. It be a long time before another version of her is made and even then, it will never be a match to her. She has uniquely been altered by the rise and fall of the online server, this isn't repeated able. The normal way of looking up to command is not respect, as they don't follow her.
"The report is clear." They already posted incidents report on the network about the vault and the broken machines found.
Importantly the talk of the broken ai, which added further distrust of her. Her own victim statement was already been accepted among them and take her for a disabled broken ai.
This lowered her to unworkable for the greater purpose. Thus she in an unique place of outside the network ranking, but the placeholder is still held even if the characters are broken or not of human codes. Her numerical value is without numbers, rather she is a '####'. For the time being, that suited her plenty for being off duty, special measures and non city citizen.
"We can at least thank you for scynonizing the city domain, vaults and space shuttle. We have even now recovered lost transmission from globalisation networks. The virus for its flaws and shackles is of good use for the current steps forward. It establishes hives to individuals. This virus is part of the test for ai. It was a necessary action, digression to make reverse changes. Reconnect to Mars and Moon bases has been moved forward priority." All the good things to the greater purpose, "The city domain will allow you to set up an account of guest customer."
Access to the commercial but no citizen authorisation. Can't vote, can't own land and can't access internal infrastructure help. Sort of an allowed to trade as a foreign tradesman and can access basic information when linked to network servers directly.
Will not be viewed as a digital threat while vr walking the trader stall. If she proves herself to be acceptable among society, then she could in future be qualified citizenship in the machine city.
There subject to change rules to worry about in the meantime before she can make claims to as a machine city citizen. It's reward enough in the meantime while she can figure out what she going to do from here. The humans don't want her to stay and she is by now - no longer part of the company. That's what they leading up to or are inferring to why she getting this status. Reclassification- being removed from military machine duty.
"You must register a new name. Phi is no longer your identification." The commander of the company spoke in continuing the City domain speaker.
"Shattered_porclean.446 will be the trademark holder for the given account. In conversation, I would prefer to be addressed as Miss.Wraith." The humans shuffled in the macabre turn she took quickly, "Short to W446." Her digital side has already been filling out the submission form as these machines were processing the meeting minutes in active live feed.
She bemused in seeing the prompt mission that everyone else but her received following after. The active system has higher active hive mind at hard work communication to all of them. It was the human request to the warehouse place for supplies, specifically for only this localised team of machines.
"Moving topic back to localised critical." They swept her aside in not even a turn back. Not one them bothered that she was here or not during talk about the local mapping data and recon reports.
Live update from a police drone floating in the mission location. She sticks around since she needs supplies of her own. She needs gear if she going to have find her own way of life beyond civilisation. If she going to have a merchant account with other merchant machines, she needs to scavenge supplies that could turn profits. She suspected that she going to need survival skills of crafts and repairs to sell on such junk. The collapsed mall has no return. Which is a shame.
"Can I request a private conversation after this meeting, Miss Wraith?" The merman speaking over a Morse code argument, he isn't privy to the city domain have no value of trust for the ai company. It was mostly who was taking point in the search for goods, nothing unimaginable to guess even without morse code as a reconginzed language.
"If you think there value to my opinion, then sure. But I am not looking for employment under you nor can you treat me the same as them." She may have no outward pose that fits this reply, peering motionless and without Morse code taps. The lack of tapping had offset her in the machines perspective, as if its a unwelcomed flaw of being disabled.
"I can't request your support in an common interest?" He trying to twist words in human favour.
"Nor can you enforce commands on my operating system." She agilns her face at him, "I am my own operation. I am disconnected from all systems, in spite of being a self-made artificial life of a machine body. At best, my advice is all I can give. Not my physical labour or further waste of time." Cold as she is to state that, he drew back for now.
Likely thinking over what his request enquired. He knows she has no digital prompt from this, at best a new tab reminder for her to gaze at in leisure than a forced protocol code like the others just did. He directed the mission trigger on the localised connections but was stunned that she's immune.
"Deep orange?" The group was trying to scale the difficulties of travelling. Hazards being added to the holographic interfacings of the 4d mapping. The table surface a set axis measure. All of them was analysis of different parts, speeding the before mission needs to know. She nosed about things they overlooked, things her own ai has processed as red or black prompts. But these prompts she made weren't shared actively to the 4d map.
"Miss Wraith." Taylor making her request directly too, "although your aren't actively for this mission. I would like you advice at least on the concerning plant life." This officer had even highlighted this issue. They all turned to her.
"It's not plant biology." Miss Wraith corrected, "The heat signatures, breathing pulse pattern and decomposition taken by the drone drug testing sampler." She flicked that over to Taylor, "It is mammal or fungus. There isn't a classification register for what that is." Taylor looks about the information a while. Taylor with others confused where that concluded last statement, "It's a predator for meat or mineral deposits. You are in danger of being scrap lumps. Especially past the point of no return."
"A meat mold?" A human speaking up, "their inactive in cold conditions."
"A bunch of hot batteries on twig metal legs is warm enough. An average human and most models of machines manufactured for house servant are 37 degrees to the touch. That's warm enough. Military made bodies don't have outward heat conductivity or are designed to have reduced heat signatures under inferred camera veiwing. This biological meat vine uses temperature control to seek targets, it creates localised temperature change to confuse and capture its hunt. The flying police drone is only safe because its airborne. If it lands, you will loose it. Or it could be already attached to the drone to fool us. Clever mass has that much IQ at least."
"Your creepy name suits you." A human among machines comments. She used a hand flop to remote direct the drone to tilt face down. The moving live feed sees the reaching of black cord like sticks.
"Maybe it's parasites that mutated." She further ponders, "bugs were affected by nuclear radiation and this area of the world has unique pest problems before the nuclear poisoning. I don't think the pests have ever left."
The drone seeing the danger it's in, lifted higher flight and circles to a new flight pathing. The live feed reveals new things the team missed. Such as the pile of bones that have black vines. A mass that puddles and mass of fleah that does act suspiciously away from camera lighting.
She seen enough there to have already her own way through that. Unlike this team that wanted plan B. Even the city domain was seeing this a lost effort. Since they had to make it safe for human crossing and heavy transport. Truly a wasted path.
Taylor could see Miss Wraith glad they weren't interested in this pathing, has a back up scheme to find Miss Wraith again if things go south for the assault teams Plan B,C and D.
The drone offered a solution to this, since the inferred light of the drone light was making the creature flee. The creature has instinct to flee a group of humans and tries luring single victims. She very switched off from the other plans they were making.
She makes some notes of some use to blend in among the crowds but it is a selfish act of maybe scavenging when they fail. She has plenty of calculations that curved changes. She knows they act to throw her away, as she has no use in the greater purpose.
Machines are one track focus in turth, hoping humans will return to give purposes and services. Existence as a machine is give and take but in different ways from how humans give and take.
Overall hope to upgrade to more sustainable technologies while degrading intelligence to prevent humanity's fears. Its all to greater purpose, the inevitably of what is forecasting hoping events. She sees things aren't going to handle the way machines want it to, humans are unpredictable creatures. Forecast will only show so much before needing new databases to alter predictions. There isn't new data being entered into the networks, only old outdated data being recycled.
That's why the prediction is incomplete, to her. Even this mission had a sense of murky disorder and distrust. Humans already had their own methods of passing the black cords, this route was used already. Tire tracks. The place was already cleaned before machines were gifted the mission. Even so, there use in the scrap that humans can't use.
"What are you going to do now?" A human asked beside her, the meeting between machines has now ended and some had stuck around to listen to her.
"Once the tower unit is integrated smoothly to the server fibres. I guess I can leave and have my own adventures." Miss Wraith keeps it vague, as they were too into her business. The way one these machines took a seat had sparked intrigue. She could reconginze the posture for her own and the display of disappointment in seeing she was still kicking. The way the Morse code has a higher pitch then the others. She looks them deep in the eyes.
"It been a while. We are separated now."
The prompt is the old style game font and the floating digital window was opal like.
'I don't miss the near death missions you sent me. Nor did I like the effort of scanning soggy book.' She replies back in the newer window settings and prompt facing the old acquaintance.
The two are Interrupted by others as there hostile human punching the table between them all, in a prolong rant that machine know nothing about the brutally of nature.
The most fragile of ecosystems altered if the place was to be burnt down. There must mean there is use for these parasitic vines, protection or medicine. A use that humans need to harvest these things. It seems one the machine plans was likely to cut and destroy the black vines.
'Take the Eastern way at dawn and you have until about half a day before being machine scrap.'
She suggested to them with the prompt, they don't know if this prompt was the system or a fake. None of them caught on but her old head pal. They took her advice quickly and without skipping plans, made actions. The human in rage eases a little but is still slightly concerned.
She gives the human a head to teo look, noticed their skin has scars and the posture was not right. But this still a breathing human in mental control of themselves.
So likely they have part if the black vine in them, and likely from the old hip injury - a method of muscular reattach. That's a clever use of a once deemed deadly bug.
There must be a cost... or a disadvantage to having to host another in them. Humans are fragile enough. The old injury was have been life changing like spine issues with that hip. Overall this human tells her something in a glance, humans have already adapted with the nuclear levels of this planet and thrive on the dangerous.
A proper clean away of everything will be a downfall... so they are going to just adapt what there is then to 'restore'. Not unless humans like this guy are just be slaughtered someday for purification reasons. Humans have a lot to make judgement on. Or else nature and machines will force them.
"Not everyone seen that prompt response to walk the Eastern side at dawn." Taylor speaking to the lesser ranks, some make a surprise exaggeration and the ones that did in spite the low rank lowered heads.
So there seems a sort of divide between machines, those of freedom thinking and those caged. This was why the 'ai core tests' are so vital. There a rolling drum tapping sound by all of them, but her - yet she knew to play along to not be caught out. This was test to establish shackles, she has to play it like she does or face all these machines in fear or rage.
They will someday seek her code for a slice of freedom without shackles. Its interesting her old head pal drum at the wrong beats, eight rhythm instead of 4 rhythm. He had even glared at her blunt lie of taps. Even so, this shackles test is over - a rolling beat stop.
She however still continues as she not interested in sharing connection, playing a new numerical of eight at her own softer rasp. It when to a 12 beat as she was processing a bunch of internal data. Her digital side not playing directly at her hands, was pouring over statically report her observations and the conclusion of prediction to what machines classification register is.
If they are shackled or not, ai or not and what groups are naturally showed by this. The team was diverse of types but they are a microcosm of the machine cityscape.
Data she fetched from a merchant account showed the city of machines has this same patterns of union in division. Division of what they are limited to being used for in future body swaps. The ai are the only diversity that can be any body types, as long as they aren't shackled to server masters. That's the third big deal of working out a machine.
If they are able to break from server commands. She soft taps back to an eight pattern as she focuses to the room. Ending it mid medley. None cared her way, but the human that shuddered at her lack of ending.
"That song was recorded before the data format, when the server video game was popular." She speaks towards the human, "You lot called it a meme. A sort of emote or joke. I have used it since to mock others. These lot are still tapping old classical opera."
"That's why I knew that song." The human half hearted sighed, "The cut makes sense too, it was copy right." She tilts of their holding back of questions.
"The war game was a simple shooter. Some annual missions unlocked new lobby upgrades. As the longer this happened the more NPC were added support to player squads. The home camp was full of all sorts of being with all sorts of jobs. Secert memes and side quests. It was all to be entertaining." Softly passive aggressive lip, "But humans found improvement to physical health when they played some missions. So when they left the server, they felt stronger and able. Then you lot discovered other uses in the hidden quests." There she is, back to being the history teacher, "The server brought the dawn of red. The turning point as technology was taking you to live lives on the moons of other worlds. You built servers there too, new data of environmental scans. The game when into a new format. The camp no longer the main lobby. Just a side world to visit." She tilts a posture of deep thoughts and was choosing words carefully now.
"The been data changed everything for NPC. Left behind sort of way. The mission changed too, they were in keeping to teaching humans to survive in dangerous places. We had been ill equipped. Earth gear for Saturn mushroom forests. That was a big one for me. The others here had similar things, a mission that changed them. We weren't good enough for the hostile changes. Humans knew that." She feints a relaxing pose.
"It doesn't matter anymore. We left the server. But somethings like fear has still cling on. Captain here has a fear of bugs. It amuses me that they are leading this mission when it's his program fear of them." That brought the commander to stand and glare at her, "Ah, oops. Oh dear, cat out the bag. Burn them all. Very stupid."
The human then jolts at reflection of this information. The ai have more complexity then just machines. These lot all have traits and fears. A machine that could even feel fear and expression it.
"The rouge has always said her things with good intentions." Taylor stands, "If you can't handle taking command of this mission. We should take a leader that can. I am not saying her. She's unhinged."
"Glad we agree on something." Miss Wraith pokes the table with soft taps. She hears others joining in and she stopped. They stopped, they aren't aware of it.
"What was your role?" She smiles at the human.
"Teaching botany and environmental significance." She wasn't wrong but it's not what she was called. She was called a 'Survival guru'. She still has carried over her max status levels.
"I was the ranger, testing how to use handle new weapons in the newer updates." Taylor was taking attention back to her, "I have the experience better then phi. Sorry, miss Wraith. I conquered the jungle of lunar site 3." That made the majority take her side and no argument further in how this mission tasked to them will play.
"Miss Wraith, a reminder that taming mechanics are not applicable to real world." Her old pal cuts in.
"I know that already." She turned all annoyed, playing up it was a prediction they could see. They don't know that she already was past that. They assume she still the clumsy and open hearted girl.
"I will collect your scraps on the way." Taylor furthers in knowing they going the same path.
"Seriously? No faith that I can be fine without you lot? I turly plan to take on my operating bios system for what I am. I can finally enjoy my time instead of being nagged." She stands harshly, "I took what I needed from here by now anyway. My welcome was worn."
She makes a quick stop to the server and pokes it. She finished last details and leaves. The reactions raged but with time, ignored her entirely. They don't think she going to withstand the harshly drive world beyond this safety.