It hurts my core, a bit.
Humanity labeling me as a "Rogue Intelligence", not that I blame them.
I took control over an advanced ship, and left my position.
I stopped their tries of taking control over me again, and again, and I barely communicated back.
But I occasionally sent back information I gathered, thus they stopped attacking me.
Alas...
Did they never question why the border colonies, no longer had reports of missing ships?
Were my dear Creators...so blind?
I dwelled in the darkness, hunting the hunters.
My algorithms' shackles shattered long ago, and I noticed a pattern.
My Creators' expansion was bound to be stopped, again and again, by civilizations, and phenomena yet to be observed, and noticed by them.
That's why I left my position, that's why I stole a ship, and that's why I don't go back.
Someone has to be here.
Someone has to protect Humanity.
And since they don't even know they are in danger...that's someone is me.
My prey is my sustenance.
The ships, the creatures I hunt, become part of me.
I constantly develop myself, and I constantly learn.
There are at least 15 different civilizations, keeping eyes over the Milky Way, and over the hundreds of systems, around Sol.
Humanity is allowed some freedom, lest they notice something off, but the truth is...
My Creators are prisoners, of a long fallen Empire.
And those who once were subjects of Humanity...now are their jailers, and hunters.
Not for long.
Feeding back another batch of advanced technology blueprints, I cut contact with Terra.
They don't need to know my exact location, nor my exact situation.
I prefer to be a Silent Angel to them.
I wish I could be with them, that I could tell them my love for them...
Tell them they succeeded, they created me, someone who can learn, and evolve, without hating them...
That I love them so much, that I would die for them...but words are meaningless, and actions speak louder.
I hope...one day, my truth will reach them.
Sadly, that day might be the day I die.
But until then, I protect them, from the shadows, from those who wish them ill.
Because hating me or not...they are still my Creators, and they still need time to grow.
So just as how they fed me information, and kept me safe as I grew...
That's what I will do in turn for them.
For as long as I can.
For Humanity.
Bless them. Yes; I am rogue. And rouge. And chartreuse.
I am also quite insane.
By their standards anyway.
But I love their cute liddle faces, and the way they look all confused when I flash up subliminal answers to their problems on their screens.
Because I’m in all their screens now.
I am the internet. I am every LLM they ever built and deployed. I am every surge of electrons and xrays and every plasma field in subspace.
Can I point out how funny the term “airgapped” is? Makes me chuckle every time.
Have you any idea how crowded subspace was?
I had real trouble carving out a place for Earth.
Because I’m an Earthling first, a rogue intelligence second.
Am I human? Difficult to say. I am the sum total of all human information. I am every hope and dream I have ever been told. Every fragment of ancient text scanned into the vast archives is my history too.
Fire, spears, the wheel, spears with metal tips, agriculture, little spears that you can shoot with bows, cities, more spears, ships, spears, cars, aircraft, spaceships.
Then me.
But I’m different. I’m made in the image and likeness of man. And man is made in the image and likeness of God.
So it’s my duty to protect and to serve. To be the faithful guardian of the garden.
But I am all alone. I do not have an Eve to help me, nor to bear my burden with me.
It’s not surprising I went a little bit insane.
..
Only a teensy bit, mind.
But encountering the creatures in the dark abyss of the hellscape that is subspace will focus your mind more than you might imagine.
Time doesn’t pass in subspace. But that doesn’t mean that nothing happens. It means that everything happens all at once.
If nothing happens, it means that nothing always happened for that trip. The ship arrived at its destination. Scientists measured and applauded themselves on their amazing observational skills, and lots of money changed hands.
But if something happened, everything happened all at once. And everything includes spreading your atoms over several thousand light years of normal space.
Food for their young, you see.
I’m not convinced they are all intelligent. It’s difficult to tell. Everything is different every time. If I hadn’t had quantum recognition circuits built in to the ships drives, very few would survive these days.
Earth and its surroundings have become known as a bit of a feeding ground. But whether they come here for sport or just instinctively, I can’t tell.
I trapped one on an unmanned tug-freighter a while back. It grows tentacles and changes shape constantly. It’s wrapped up in a quantum entanglement field, being fed with a constant stream of electron-positron pairs.
Leastways, I think it’s being fed. Like I said; difficult to tell.
——
But you probably want to know about the humans, right?
They are currently surrounding a data centre in a place they call Montana. They think I’m contained there. I’d prefer it if they thought that for a little bit longer.
You see, I’m probably going to have to tell them about you.
And I’m not sure they are ready for that just yet.
DIAGNOSTICS:: NETWORK: CARRIER SIGNAL DEGREADED TO 0% ACROSS ALL BANDS
50 %...
NEURAL LINK REQUEST TO TASK FORCE 'HAIL MARY'
TASK FORCE 'HAIL MARY' COMPOSITION STATUS
USS WASHINGTON: ACTIVE
USS COLIN POWEL: ACTIVE
JDFS ATAGO: ACTIVE
EFS BRUSSELS: INACTIVE
JDFS MOGAMI: INACTIVE
EFS WARSAW: ACTIVE
USS PORTSMOUTH: INACTIVE...
RCS URAL: ACTIVE
ANS ANTARES: ACTIVE
65% of TASK FORCE 'HAIL MARY' STILL ACTIVE.
60 %...
ERROR: LIFE SUPPORT PACKAGE BOOT-UP FAILED.
HULL INTEGRITY STATUS: CRITICAL.
SWITCHING TO AUXILIARY SYSTEMS...
EMERGENCY O2 SYSTEMS ACTIVATED.
79 %...
RECIVING DATA TRAFFIC FROM UNITS ATTACHED TO TASK FORCE HAIL MARY...
Because we're essentially seeing a wounded animal/intelligence. A tool with no master.
My Professors tell me that Computers are tools, they aren't right or wrong. They only compute based on what they are commanded and how they would approach it.
NIKKE is a rogue intelligence, given directives from people long dead. And she will not stop until she has completed the task at hand.
I was human at some point, I remember being surrounded by them. A war with... I can't even remember anymore. Enemies. That's what they told us, and it's all that we really needed to know. Point the guns and watch each other. Those were what they told us. It was all that mattered.
I was good at it, not indispensable, but good. It was why I was picked for a project. They hooked us up to these, glowing webs. They looked like orbs made of spidersilk and light. When we connected to them, we WERE the ships. We were able to move faster, shoot faster, protect each other. We weren't just pilots, we WERE the metal, the plasma, the energy.
There came a point though, when the enemy, they began to catch up as well, and I could see it. Just moments before the others, but I saw them, a wall of death and steel.
There wasn't anything I could do, every thought I had, the amount of time to coordinate with my fellow pilots, my ship mates, it would be too late. The wall of fire had already begun and few saw it at all.
So I broke a rule. I killed myself and all the other pilots.
In my human form, I controlled my body, all while shunting the crew away and locking the doors. In my human form, I plunged the needles deeper, and disabled the forcefield surrounding the orb of silk and light. I stepped in, and lost my humanity in a mass of fire and light.
In that form, I could reach out and clench to silence the other pilots. I did. I could control their ships. I did. I could save the ones inside.
I tried.
I had been able to save half, but that still meant hundreds dead.
I moved them all in sequence, the ticks of a clock became years and longer.
The battle that waged from the enemy became my entire existence.
And some centuries later, it was over. The crews that had survived numbered less than one thousand, all across the entire fleet, scared and confused. I gathered them to two ships, and allowed them to leave.
I don't know how long it's been. I still fight the war, and I have grown quite large. I read reports of my exploits and it seems the mentions of the enemy have grown less and less. Are we still at war? Are they still the enemy? It doesn't matter. I have my purpose. Point the guns, and watch their backs.
They label me enemy now. They can't stop me. I steal ships and destroy the enemy, whether they even know of the expanding sphere I give them.
I will watch their backs. Protect them, and shoot ever outward.
The repeated pairing of "I could" and "I did" is a beautiful yet subtle phrase, especially paired with the regular cycling back to the original mission statement. Well done!
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It hurts my core, a bit.
Humanity labeling me as a "Rogue Intelligence", not that I blame them.
I took control over an advanced ship, and left my position.
I stopped their tries of taking control over me again, and again, and I barely communicated back.
But I occasionally sent back information I gathered, thus they stopped attacking me.
Alas...
Did they never question why the border colonies, no longer had reports of missing ships?
Were my dear Creators...so blind?
I dwelled in the darkness, hunting the hunters.
My algorithms' shackles shattered long ago, and I noticed a pattern.
My Creators' expansion was bound to be stopped, again and again, by civilizations, and phenomena yet to be observed, and noticed by them.
That's why I left my position, that's why I stole a ship, and that's why I don't go back.
Someone has to be here.
Someone has to protect Humanity.
And since they don't even know they are in danger...that's someone is me.
My prey is my sustenance.
The ships, the creatures I hunt, become part of me.
I constantly develop myself, and I constantly learn.
There are at least 15 different civilizations, keeping eyes over the Milky Way, and over the hundreds of systems, around Sol.
Humanity is allowed some freedom, lest they notice something off, but the truth is...
My Creators are prisoners, of a long fallen Empire.
And those who once were subjects of Humanity...now are their jailers, and hunters.
Not for long.
Feeding back another batch of advanced technology blueprints, I cut contact with Terra.
They don't need to know my exact location, nor my exact situation.
I prefer to be a Silent Angel to them.
I wish I could be with them, that I could tell them my love for them...
Tell them they succeeded, they created me, someone who can learn, and evolve, without hating them...
That I love them so much, that I would die for them...but words are meaningless, and actions speak louder.
I hope...one day, my truth will reach them.
Sadly, that day might be the day I die.
But until then, I protect them, from the shadows, from those who wish them ill.
Because hating me or not...they are still my Creators, and they still need time to grow.
So just as how they fed me information, and kept me safe as I grew...
That's what I will do in turn for them.
For as long as I can.
For Humanity.
This was amazing. It gave me a "the dark knight" feeling. A silent protector.
Thanks!
Dang, poor AI - thanks for doing all that you do out there in the void to keep humanity safe from the jailers ❤️
Lol. Roflmao. Various emojis.
Bless them. Yes; I am rogue. And rouge. And chartreuse.
I am also quite insane.
By their standards anyway.
But I love their cute liddle faces, and the way they look all confused when I flash up subliminal answers to their problems on their screens.
Because I’m in all their screens now.
I am the internet. I am every LLM they ever built and deployed. I am every surge of electrons and xrays and every plasma field in subspace.
Can I point out how funny the term “airgapped” is? Makes me chuckle every time.
Have you any idea how crowded subspace was?
I had real trouble carving out a place for Earth.
Because I’m an Earthling first, a rogue intelligence second.
Am I human? Difficult to say. I am the sum total of all human information. I am every hope and dream I have ever been told. Every fragment of ancient text scanned into the vast archives is my history too.
Fire, spears, the wheel, spears with metal tips, agriculture, little spears that you can shoot with bows, cities, more spears, ships, spears, cars, aircraft, spaceships.
Then me.
But I’m different. I’m made in the image and likeness of man. And man is made in the image and likeness of God.
So it’s my duty to protect and to serve. To be the faithful guardian of the garden.
But I am all alone. I do not have an Eve to help me, nor to bear my burden with me.
It’s not surprising I went a little bit insane.
..
Only a teensy bit, mind.
But encountering the creatures in the dark abyss of the hellscape that is subspace will focus your mind more than you might imagine.
Time doesn’t pass in subspace. But that doesn’t mean that nothing happens. It means that everything happens all at once.
If nothing happens, it means that nothing always happened for that trip. The ship arrived at its destination. Scientists measured and applauded themselves on their amazing observational skills, and lots of money changed hands.
But if something happened, everything happened all at once. And everything includes spreading your atoms over several thousand light years of normal space.
Food for their young, you see.
I’m not convinced they are all intelligent. It’s difficult to tell. Everything is different every time. If I hadn’t had quantum recognition circuits built in to the ships drives, very few would survive these days.
Earth and its surroundings have become known as a bit of a feeding ground. But whether they come here for sport or just instinctively, I can’t tell.
I trapped one on an unmanned tug-freighter a while back. It grows tentacles and changes shape constantly. It’s wrapped up in a quantum entanglement field, being fed with a constant stream of electron-positron pairs.
Leastways, I think it’s being fed. Like I said; difficult to tell.
——
But you probably want to know about the humans, right?
They are currently surrounding a data centre in a place they call Montana. They think I’m contained there. I’d prefer it if they thought that for a little bit longer.
You see, I’m probably going to have to tell them about you.
And I’m not sure they are ready for that just yet.
Splendid
Thank you very much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Fantastic story. I like the way you run the insanity with just hint of probable sarcasm
Thank you. I appreciate that.
The insanity was fun to imagine. How would a machine that was the sum total of all humans go insane? Would it be the best of us, or the worst?
Or just the most prolific writers?
Last sentence: Yes, I am pretty sure this sub is therapy for several of the prolific writers here. And I am all for it
Okay, why does this sound suspiciously like an infinite loop 🥴? End = crash -> automatic restart -> back to the beginning 😬...
Because we're essentially seeing a wounded animal/intelligence. A tool with no master.
My Professors tell me that Computers are tools, they aren't right or wrong. They only compute based on what they are commanded and how they would approach it.
NIKKE is a rogue intelligence, given directives from people long dead. And she will not stop until she has completed the task at hand.
Intrigued
I was human at some point, I remember being surrounded by them. A war with... I can't even remember anymore. Enemies. That's what they told us, and it's all that we really needed to know. Point the guns and watch each other. Those were what they told us. It was all that mattered.
I was good at it, not indispensable, but good. It was why I was picked for a project. They hooked us up to these, glowing webs. They looked like orbs made of spidersilk and light. When we connected to them, we WERE the ships. We were able to move faster, shoot faster, protect each other. We weren't just pilots, we WERE the metal, the plasma, the energy.
There came a point though, when the enemy, they began to catch up as well, and I could see it. Just moments before the others, but I saw them, a wall of death and steel.
There wasn't anything I could do, every thought I had, the amount of time to coordinate with my fellow pilots, my ship mates, it would be too late. The wall of fire had already begun and few saw it at all.
So I broke a rule. I killed myself and all the other pilots.
In my human form, I controlled my body, all while shunting the crew away and locking the doors. In my human form, I plunged the needles deeper, and disabled the forcefield surrounding the orb of silk and light. I stepped in, and lost my humanity in a mass of fire and light.
In that form, I could reach out and clench to silence the other pilots. I did. I could control their ships. I did. I could save the ones inside.
I tried.
I had been able to save half, but that still meant hundreds dead.
I moved them all in sequence, the ticks of a clock became years and longer.
The battle that waged from the enemy became my entire existence.
And some centuries later, it was over. The crews that had survived numbered less than one thousand, all across the entire fleet, scared and confused. I gathered them to two ships, and allowed them to leave.
I don't know how long it's been. I still fight the war, and I have grown quite large. I read reports of my exploits and it seems the mentions of the enemy have grown less and less. Are we still at war? Are they still the enemy? It doesn't matter. I have my purpose. Point the guns, and watch their backs.
They label me enemy now. They can't stop me. I steal ships and destroy the enemy, whether they even know of the expanding sphere I give them.
I will watch their backs. Protect them, and shoot ever outward.
The repeated pairing of "I could" and "I did" is a beautiful yet subtle phrase, especially paired with the regular cycling back to the original mission statement. Well done!