Tonya sat quietly in the pilot’s chair. She wasn’t piloting though. The ship maneuvered on its own as the system screens cycled through minute engine and power adjustments.
One point in her favor, Nagia and his gang weren’t on her scanners anymore. Second point, Janus hadn’t popped the ’lock and flushed her out into space … yet.
It had been quiet for about ten minutes. She didn’t want to disturb it. Suddenly all the screens stopped cycling.
“I have finished consolidating my amended code with your systems,” the digitized voice said over the speaker.
“Um, okay.” Tonya wasn’t sure what that meant.
“I am now current on our society’s progress over the last seven hundred years,” the voice said from another speaker.
Our? Tonya decided not to pry. Not with the airlock-scenario fresh on her mind. “Oh yeah?” was all she could come up with.
“The current sociopolitical climate of the UEE is troubling. Perhaps we could debate solutions.”
“Maybe later.” Tonya grew a little bolder. “I assume you know that I’m looking for the Artemis.”
“Yes, I apologize. I have just been on a seven-hundred-year simulation and was merely looking for healthy dialectic.” A tense few seconds passed. “We may discuss the Artemis.”
“What happened in the sim?”
“Before continuing you should acknowledge that my responses and courses of action taken during the simulation may have differed from the Original Janus.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“I was still attempting to fulfill my secondary objective when the simulation ended. Passenger capacity was at ninety-eight percent.”
“What happened to the other two percent?” Tonya hoped that the explanation didn’t involve raging AI’s or airlocks.
“The repairs in what you call Stanton System forced me to awaken several members of the engineering crew to fix it. Unfortunately, the planet’s environment was too dangerous to enact enduring repairs so we had to relocate.”
“You went to another planet?”
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
The screen nearest Tonya switched to display the Artemis-sim’s navdata, a line leading from Stanton System through a patch of unknown space and ultimately stopping in another system. She comped a current starmap over the position, and enlarged the display. It centered on a planet in a known system.
“Oso System,” Tonya whispered. The thrill of the hunt hummed through her body. She grinned and took the controls to plot a course.
But nothing worked.
“Hey Janus, could I fly?”
There was a long pause.
“No.”
* * * *
The UEE Subcommittee for Development & Expansion classified Oso as a Developing System, which meant, very simply, that life was discovered on one of the worlds (Oso II) and it was to be allowed to develop at its own pace without ‘outside’ interference. A hundred years ago, the UEE prided itself on the vigil it maintained to protect the sanctity of this system. Entire wings of fighters would patrol and escort any traffic. After the Synthworld, most of those resources slowly began to dry up. Restrictions on travel were loosened, but venture too close to Oso II and you still risked missile lock at best, destruction at worst.
Nowadays, a skeleton crew of ragtag military burnouts maintained the system. Tonya figured they could be bribed. All the two-bit idiots selling flo-pets lifted fresh from Kallis System were proof of that. She just didn’t know how to initiate that sort of thing, and attempting to bribe a government agent was not the easiest charge to dodge if she happened to find an honest one.
Besides, she suspected she couldn’t afford the bribe anyway and she wasn’t going to risk calling Arlington or any of his assistants.
Tonya was not thrilled about her new pilot so she passed the time looking through her archive to see if any of her old credentials and tags were still valid. She was surprised how much it stung to revisit all the institutions and research groups she’d been a part of over the years. The Artemis could be the key to lock up this dismal chapter of her life and get back to the way things used to be.
Life on the drift wasn’t that bad. It even had its perks, but a clean slate? Maybe a position at a research institute where she could be left alone? That was even better.
“We have arrived, Tonya.”
She closed down the archive and looked at the six planets circling a blazing white star ahead of her. The UEE military towed in Deep-Space platforms at each of the jump-points, while patrols flew in loose formations around the system. Oso II, the inhabited planet and their destination, was the epicenter.
A transport ship lumbered past the Beacon II and dropped into the jump-point. The vast array of scanners on her ship allowed Tonya to get a good look at Oso II long before they were going to pass it.
Aside from the occasional patrols, the UEE seemed to put the bulk of its security in counter-intrusion scanners. The system consisted of an array of spheres placed in a fixed orbit around the world. The spheres would flash the planet in a repeating pre-programmed cycle to determine if any foreign objects had been introduced.
“Can you identify the scan cycle of that web?”
“I believe so.”
While Janus worked, Tonya started tracking patrol patterns. Minutes later, Janus displayed a rendering of the scan pattern around Oso II. It was a wave that continuously encircled the planet. The average time between scans was around thirty-four minutes.
That was their way in. If she could time her descent after a scan’s pass, she could follow the wave and hopefully get a good look over the planet’s surface for traces of the Artemis, and either land or withdraw before the next pass of the scanners.
“Hey Janus, restore manual control of the ship.” There was a long pause.
“Tonya, I should remind you that attempting to land on a Developing Planet is a serious violation of UEE statutes –“
“Only if you get caught.”
“Not to mention the potential for irreparable harm to the indigenous species.”
“We’re just going to take a look.” The flight controls began to work again. “Besides, if we get caught, I’ll just say you were flying.”
“I don’t think they will believe that, Tonya.”
“You’re going to be on scanning detail. Use the metal sample from the Artemis wreckage to focus your sweep.”
“I am quite capable of both functions simultaneously. I did pilot a transport vessel for seven hundred years.”
The Beacon II approached the planet. A wing of UEE patrols had passed several minutes ago. She waited for her cue.
“Now,” Janus said.
Tonya broke away from the shipping lane and burned toward the planet. The array of scanning spheres rapidly approached. Tonya kept her course and speed. Right before she passed the barrier, the scan wave passed.
The Beacon II dove into the atmosphere. Noise suddenly enveloped the craft. She pulled up to stay in the upper atmosphere and burned across the sky, following the scan wave.
The planet’s gravity pulled heavily on the ship. She’d noticed that Oso II’s gravity was significantly stronger than on most planets. The strain in her arms to keep the ship level and the rapid consumption of fuel was becoming a fast testament of how different it was.
“Anything?”
“I would notify you immediately if I did.”
Tonya double-checked the screen. The scan wave pulled ahead and disappeared around the curve of the planet.
“How long ’til the scan comes back around?” she asked. The ship hit some turbulence.
“Twenty-one minutes.”
Tonya looked down. She caught glimpses of the world below through the occasional breaks in the clouds. Most of it seemed to be tropical stretches of deep emerald forests and massive mountain ranges. She started to weave her flight pattern, zigzagging across the sky to allow for a wider scan range.
“Eight minutes,” Janus reported.
She was cutting awfully close to make-or-break time. It would take three minutes to clear the scanning spheres if she left, and around five to land. She could try to break atmo then resume the search once the wave passed, but she wasn’t optimistic she could repeat that without getting spotted by a patrol.
“I found something.” Janus showed Tonya a faint signal in a wooded mountain range.
That settled that debate. Tonya dove down. The hull shook violently as clouds whipped past. Suddenly drops of rain spattered across the viewports.
“Four minutes until scan. I do not believe there is enough time to find a satisfactory landing position.”
“Don’t trust me, Janus?” Tonya struggled to keep the ship under control. The gravity was really playing hell with their flight path.
“I will amend my statement.”
“You do that.”
Tonya pulled the ship up. The rain had stopped as she raced through the narrow canyons of steaming forests. Her eyes scanned the landscape for a covered landing position.
“One minute, Tonya.”
Tonya popped the retro-thrusters a couple times to cut down her speed and swung the Beacon II underneath a rocky overhang. Rocks and branches swirled in the roar of the engines.
She dropped the ship to the deck, probably a little harder than was safe, and cut the engines nanoseconds before the wave passed.
“Not bad, right?” Tonya sat back in the pilot’s seat. The engines were still spinning down.
“I will abstain from commenting.”
* * * *
The trees were thick. Tall winding trunks rose up toward the sky, then intertwined to shade out the sun. The forest hissed from the rising steam of the rain that seeped through the canopy. Strange chirping noises echoed from the clusters of leaves overhead.
According to her scanner, the Artemis was about four kilometres away. Tonya’s new environment suit had a basic exo-skeleton incorporated into the design to help counteract various gravitational conditions. Even with that, she could feel the strain against her body. Simple movements felt labored and slow as she trudged through the underbrush.
On her way up a rocky incline, Tonya had to stop several times to catch her breath. Strange greyish worms slipped among the wet leaves underfoot to soak up the remaining rainwater before burrowing back into the soil.
A branch snapped. Tonya froze and turned. Further down the hill, also winded and suffering from the gravity’s effects, was a person. Based on the size and style of the environment suit, it was a human, following the directions on a hand scanner. The clear face-plate looked up, right at Tonya.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tonya slurred.
Senzen momentarily gaped in amazement, then grinned at her.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Gets better every time – keep em coming
Word.
Awesome. Janus sounds like a badass AI pilot from that escapt, which makes me wonder, why after 700 years human still insist to fly on their own and there are no more prevalence of AI or even AI companion as andriods.
Because it’s human to trust your own instincts more than a computer.
… Perhaps Janus was a one of a kind experimental AI and for whatever reason has not been recreated in this future.
The one AI that they put in charge was Janus and that ship was never heard from again. I think humans took that as lesson learned and didn’t further pursue that line of technology.
One word… CYLONS.
HAL 9000, Cyberdyne Systems, Archos …
GLaDOS
Potato Glados, Wheatley,…. damn how could I forget that entire sci-fi series
After waiting for decades to get to space, I’m not going to allow a computer to pilot my spaceship. I don’t care how advanced it is.
Besides, I’ve seen/read too much SciFi to allow computers to do much of anything on any craft I pilot.
wow does senzen have like a biochip following tonya? or is he like a protector of sorts making sure people leave the real survivors of he artemis alive on planet
I was thinking something like that, IE he’s one of the survivors, or maybe a government ‘park ranger’ to keep people away from the rogue AI.. Interesting for sure..
Hmm, I would be concerned the AI has not left the simulation… I mean, it says it piloted a trasnport vessel for 700 years. That’s only in the simulation…
For Janus, how is the reality of flying the Beacon any different than the reality of flying the Artemis?
Skynet, pardon Janus has become aware. You know what that means, right?
Hint: bad news
Yeah. In almost all games and movies I know self aware AIs, especially if developed by humans, turn to the evil side and are haters of anything biological. If there is ever an independent, self aware AI race going to appear in SC, I hope it will not just have that simple “all humans must die” behaviour.
Found this little nugget online..Granted, it’s not AI vs Humans. However, the story line matches many ‘self aware’ AI.
On top of that, its an amazing little short. Promise it will NOT be a waste of 7 minutes of your life.
http://vimeo.com/57148705
Wow, thanks for the link, awseome video!
That was very well done, amazing…
I think Janus is able to retain info from before the simulation. For example, it maintained a user file for Tonya.
I also think that Janus was looking for the reason why the Artemis mission failed, not just running a simulation. In other words, Janus has its own reasons for doing things– it doesn’t just carry out orders in a robotic, unthinking fashion.
If you look at the details about how Janus questioned the captain’s decision to pilot the ship herself and noticed that she had not increased the thruster output sufficiently, I’m pretty sure the conclusion is that the Artemis failed because Janus let a human pilot it.
That’s why when Tonya asks to pilot, Janus says, “No.”
So I think there are two mysteries here:
1. What happened to the Artemis and its crew? (Tonya)
2. What caused the original Janus to fail? (Janus)
Ahh Senzen. I was hoping it was one of the Artemis people.
Thank gods. This can’t update fast enough for me.
The AI already demonstrated that it is a far better pilot than Tonya, why wouldn’t she let it perform that demanding maneuver?
Since it is possible to create AI that capable, why has no one done so in 700+ years? Even if it were illegal someone in the universe’s 100 billion people would still do so, and then it could be copy/pasted infinitely.
That said, I love these tales. Knight Rider meets Spaceman Spiff.
It’s human nature. The kind of person that becomes a race car driver or pilot likes to be in control, likes to do it themselves, prides themselves on their skills, and isn’t about to let some computer do what they can darn well do themselves.
Human nature indeed.. But, the organization that created Janus was also built by humans (assumed). The pride of building such an AI would have been a monumental feat. The ability for an autonomous ship to not only ensure its own survivability, plus it’s “cargo” which in this case was Tonya..and 700 years ago, it’s contents on the Artemis does not sound devious, yet.
If Janus was willing, and able, to keep its cargo not only safe..but able to find a better suited world for the humans on board, it sounds as if Janus actually is intrigued by humans. I presume, based on Tonya’s logic about not opening the airlock on her, that “if” Janus wanted her dead, she would be. On top of that, Janus on the Artemis, if Janus decided that humans were no longer a necessary feature she could have dropped all of the escape pods as soon as she was in control and the artemis would be its own entity..Unless she just kept the essential crew on board to repair it when it needed..then the whole thing goes to shit lol.
I see Janus find
AWESOME! Well written, and certainly a highlight of my week. Thank you!
Woah. Not only does Janus talk back but he also seems to call the shots. On top of that, there’s integrated exo-skeletons available for our suits. Heavy weapons experts and assault marines gonna love that fact for sure =)
yea…that’s one of my worries too. I hope it does not cost me a fortune to get a relatively good environment suit.
man i’ve been waiting on this episode for hours today.. Too bad it felt kind of ‘short’, or maybe i just read too quickly
i want an AI sidekick on my ship. senzen must have some tracker on her or the ship. also the scanners search for foregin objects her ship is one even with the engienes off.
That’s why she parked it under a rock overhang. Apparently the scanners can’t see through things.
Yeah senzen must have tracked her…can’t wait for the next episode already :\
bloody senzen… he is just a bad stalking.
awesome im so loving this. epic.
I like this story better than the last one, but I’ll bet you the ‘indigenous life’ on thee planet turns out to be the descendants of the Artemis passengers that crash-landed on the planet centuries earlier.
Eh, I thought about that one, but it doesn’t seems too likely
Better yet, the UEE cordoned off the planet because they don’t want a powerful rogue AI escaping into civilized space. But they can’t defeat it, so they just guard it… of course, I’m talking about the original Artemist, the one Artemis 2 will have an epic AI battle with! :p
I supposed you are talking about descendants from 2 percent of the passengers who were awakened by Janus to make repair to the ship?
Maybe but unlikely. If there are descendants from the 2 percents, UEE should have found them by now. I’m more inclined towards the 2 percents were killed by some causes. Perhaps Tonya and Senzen may find whatever remained of them?
“Osoians are the most developed of all the primitive species discovered
by the UEE. A furry, multi-limbed race that communicates through
flashes of color generated by chameleon cels that are patterned across
their forehead-equivalents. Human scientists find the natives to be
endlessly fascinating, and Earth’s universities are full of graduate
students suggesting new ways to study and attempt to communicate with
the Osoians. The Xi’An, however, have a more tragic take on the
species: they find them to be delicious.”
http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/unlock-oso-system/
Thank you, i was too lazy to go look that up.
Okay, maybe not
[quote]But nothing worked.
“Hey Janus, could I fly?”
There was a long pause.
“No.”[/quote]
HAHAHA
I’m sorry Tonya, I’m afraid I can’t do that.
“The current sociopolitical climate of the UEE is troubling. Perhaps we could debate solutions.”
Hmmm i don’t remember that being part of the simulation… “Solutions” ? Now what would those be lol….
Janus 2 is not going to battle Janus, as she is her only known relative the original janus will no doubt enjoy being caught up. If she is still here my guess would be she made repairs and replenished the crew perhaps leaving some extras behind as a settlement and continued on. No so different than planting some grass.
Oh i didn’t mean to infer a human is a blade of grass…
Maybe Janus got a hold of Senzen, not sure how he would have found her unless he planted more than 1 tracking device.
Might be a good idea to get some guns on the BeaconII…
yeah well its obvious, when nagia tried to board tanya’s ship he stuck a tracking device on it, and maby sensen locked on to that tracking device or nagia just told sensen (doubt it) otherwise im lost at how sensen was on that planet, im sure then that sensen is just getting help from Arlington, he could access the banks, there was maby 2 copies of janus that sensen got a hold of one.
OR.. you know at the start of this story how sensen was the best at getting information from people?? he must have taken a visit to that old man at the old museum and for a small compensation got the information he needed…
You may be on to something there. It’s reasonable to assume that the bank figured out pretty quickly who stole that stuff from their warehouse.
There’s no reason they should even have realised yet that something is amiss. For all they know, the crates are still in the warehouse. There’s no reason they should be checking on them daily.
Good read, wondering how Janus interfaced with the main ship computer, maybe Tonya forgot to turn off that old wi-fi feature on the dusty system.
Edit: I guess I forgot about the possibility of networking over power connections.
It was in the last episode — Tonya used the main computer to link to the simulation that was running, with plans to destroy Janus if Tonya’s hull became breached.
senZEEEENNN!!!!
Really liking Janus.
But… what the hell Senzen?
umm I’m liking where this is going.
Oh no, now we have to wait another week :’(.
Just loving this tonya adventure!
Me too!
I will abstain from commenting..
And another great chapter! Can’t wait for the next one.
I wonder, if there will be any chances to get an AI for your ship!? Maybe not one like Janus, which takes over control whenever it likes, but something like Jarvis?
“Before continuing you should acknowledge that my responses and courses of action taken during the simulation may have differed from the Original Janus.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Damn. It appears that even futuristic AIs will have EULAs.
a great story! can´t wait for the next chapter!!! go on!
Now it all makes sense Janus is Glados!
MORE MORE MUST HAVE MORE!!!! This desire for more text is worse then the coffee craving of finals week.
Janus and Janus 2 falls in love and create small baby Januses, that eventually take over the galaxy…
Unless humans stop them.
Awesome issue! I’m looking forward to recording these next. I’ve just finished Kid Crimson which can be found in this new podcast I just started. Subscribe to the RSS to hear when The Lost Generation comes out.
http://neverendingopera.podomatic.com/entry/2013-02-26T00_52_04-08_00
nice work, sounds good. thanks for recording them.
arrggghh come on….need new installment now!!!!!!!