Imperfect morality

Posted on 05 Aug 2020 @ 4:10pm by Ensign Kat Walker & Lieutenant Sovok

2,109 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Ab Intra
Location: Cargo Bay Two, Deck 27

Recent developments had given Kat a lot to think about, and some of those things didn't play well with each other. She wasn't sure if this counted as a conflict of conscience, or if she even had one, and so she sought out the first person that came to mind that could help her solve this problem.

"Lieutenant Sovok," she addressed him as she spotted him. "Do you have a moment? There is something I am very confused about that I am hoping you could help me with."

Sovok, ever poised and existing with a calm demeanor, beheld the projection of light that was the avatar of Kat with a look of mild curiosity. Shock was never something the Vulcan ever showed, not even in the state he was in. The true Sovok may be trapped deep within his own mind, held captive by invading spirits, but the techniques and abilities of the officer were at their disposal and that included his emotional training. Sovok had been traveling down a corridor on his way to the mess hall when she had stopped him. The red-clad vulcan paused to observe the avatar and listen with keen ears before replying in his normal emotionless, yet comforting tone.

"I am ever at your disposal Kat Walker. What seems to be troubling you?"

A soft smile from the avatar. Her short list of behavioral patterns told her that a soft smile like this was considered friendly and encouraging and showed comfort. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything. Were you heading in a specific direction? Please, do not let me delay you, I will accompany if that is agreeable," she mused. "My question was one of morals."

"Let's walk down to the cargo bay where you are located. All beings deserve privacy. Food can wait for a while." Sovok said before turning to head in that direction. He did not wait to see if it was agreeable with Kat. On this mission, he was largely in a command position. Perhaps his behavior was a byproduct of that role. He was used to being obeyed and feelings rarely come into account, but in truth, it was a tactical decision.

"You may begin as we walk."

"All beings deserve privacy," Kat repeated quietly, following Sovok as she did. "That is at the core of the conflict I am experiencing," she admitted, remaining silent for a brief moment before continuing. "Biological beings object to being recorded electronically, by computer. To do so is to an invasion of privacy. Yet, that is how my memory works. Electronic recording with perfect recall." she explained, leaving it at that for now, figuring Sovok was intelligent enough to understand the moral conflict that brought with it.

"We vulcans have near eidetic memory, or perfect memory such as yours. We cannot, however, review our own memories as easily and as detailed as your recorded footage. Tell me the specifics of what occurred, Miss Walker. I can only help if I know exactly the problem." Sovok said as he walked down the coridor, his hands clasped behind his head. In his own mind, the spirits tortured Sovok to access the memories and information on Sovok. It was a dark irony, indeed.

"My memory is not nearly eidetic, but perfectly so. With perfect at will recall and the ability to render it visible for anyone," To illustrate Kat held out her hand, projecting a small holographic representation of Sovok, down to the smallest detail allowable by the resolution of her projector, turning around and clasping his hands behind his back as he said 'All beings deserve privacy. Food can wait for a while.'

"It is not so much a specific event that triggered this as much as my studies into the Federation and biological beings in general conflicting with how I experience the world," she admitted, lowering her hand again. "I am struggling with the morality of it."

"How far does your recorded projection go, Miss Walker?" Sovok asked as they entered the cargo bay. "I know you can project from a distance from your core self, but how much data do you record? For instance, are you recording rooms your avatar is not currently in?" He asked evenly as he walked towards her construct. While the question was part of the conversation, it was important for the mission he and his kin were executing. This artificial intelligence could be a threat.

"I can only record what's within my sensor envelope, be it my remote emitter," A second avatar materialised, observing Sovok with a slight tilt of the head and taking over speech, "or my main sensors. Memories typically fall into three categories. Unimportant, in which I have a rolling buffer of the last several days. Important, in which I process them until I have considered them as far as I believe I need to and have reached a conclusion based on them before committing the actual memories to the rolling buffer and store the conclusions and important details into permanent storage. And critical, in which case the complete memory is committed to permanent storage." the wreckage-projected avatar explained, the emitter-projected one simply standing by and observing.

Sovok nodded as he listened. He was curious to the the limitations of the artificial intelligence. He thought on how she could be a threat to their operation. His mind went to thoughts of disabling her or altering her parameters, but as he did so, the real Sovok fought back. Whatever attachment Sovok had for this entity gave him strength to resist. An internal struggle ensued, one which Sovok lost, but it took effort on the invader's part to keep his spirit down. On the outside, however, there was only the long, slow, deep breaths the calm vulcan was known for. It was wise to keep two entities in Sovok; one for suppression and the other for control.

"Fascinating." He said as his eyes darted to the multiple avatars. "You can project to multiple locations within your range. In an emergency, you could even be your own small security team." He said aloud in a calm voice.

"She could be a threat. Advise." The first entity thought.

"Distract her with a moral question. She has your trust." The second one replied.

"She is far more than you realize. She will be your end." Sovok thought in defiance. His train of thought responded to with pain.

"Most humanoids are not seen as invasive when they remember things. Your memories belong to you. Your mind belongs to you. So long as you record what is in view of your avatar or avatars, I see no moral issue, that is, unless some view you as less than in terms of your rights. Do you think this is so, Miss Walker? Have you been mistreated by a member of this crew?" Sovok asked with a bit of authoritative concern.

Both avatars shook their head. "No, everyone has been either indifferent or very kind and accepting," the wreckage projected avatar explained. Even the crewmember that had more than enough reason to dislike her had been open and fair, though she didn't vocalise that. Privacy and all. "Yes, I could be my own security team, if such is needed. Though my remote projector has limited capability compared to my chassis mounted one."

"In all my years among the stars, I've never encountered a species that would take offense to retaining memory. The act of being in a room with someone is consent enough for memory to exist. In fact, removing memory is a vast invasion of personal liberties. For instance, if I were to wipe your memories, it would make the unique individual you are cease to be. Think of each memory as a brick and each brick put together makes the ever-climbing building of your personality. If I were to make any suggestion to help alleviate your moral question, I would put in place an ethical subroutine to not record information not within normal hearing and sight range of humans without giving a command override code. I could likely install such for you, if you wish."

Sovok said evenly, calmly, and routinely, not even realizing how, to the astute and trained ear, he just blundered.

As with everything said to her, Kat dedicated a few threads in her AI core on processing what was said. One thing that was flagged was that he'd said 'I've'. It was the first time she'd ever heard him use a contraction. "Thank you for the offer, but I am not comfortable with the idea of anyone on the outside having direct access to my programming," Kat offered. As she spoke several threads did some research on Vulcan speech patterns. His use of I've stood out. Still, she didn't comment on it just yet, wanting to spend some time first trying to figure out why he might have slipped.

"Besides, I could write such an addition to my programming myself quite easily," she added with her soft smile. Still, his use of a contraction didn't sit right with her. "Is everything alright, Lieutenant?"

Sovok paused for a moment. Internally, panic was felt. It raged through him with its brother; fear. She was on to him. Somehow, this artificial intelligence saw what others did not. Drastic action needed to be taken. Had to play cool till he could act, though.

"Everything is fine, Miss Walker. The mission we are on has been very taxing on us all; the officers, the crew, and even the ship itself." He said evenly as he walked up to her wreckage. He ran a hand over the metal hull, feeling the coolness there as the three voices in the one body conversed.

"She has found you." Sovok said evenly. "It is only a matter of time, now."

"The vulcan may be correct. Options?" The first asked the second.

"Eliminate the computer and its intelligence." The second responded.

"No." Sovok objected evenly. "That is not a logical course of action. The sensors would notice such a thing. Deactivate her external power core."

"What scheme do you hatch, vulcan?!" The first one asked.

"None. The life of my crewmate is the price I will pay for this advise on the completion of your task." Sovok answered calmly. This was a critical moment. All was gambled on this. He trusted in his fellow officers to notice Kat was taken offline.

"Agreed." The second responded.

Sovok moved towards the power supply as he kept up his speech. He only needed a few moments before his task was through and the ship's largest threat was deactivated. "Free will and memory. It is ironic that this body's original host was your counselor for such topics when I aim to take away both from you. Even now he struggles against me and pleas for your life. It would be humerous if it were not so pathetic. Neither you nor the emotionless pillock will stop our research..." Sovok said before reaching for the access port to Kat's Federation external power supply, and with expert precision, disconnected the wreckage from the supply.

"That body's original host? I don't understand," Kat spoke, both avatars furrowing their brows, then eyes widen in simulated shock as she realized what Sovok was doing. "No, that'll disa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~" the syllable looped from the remote emitter as the AI was silenced, the unit's lag compensating systems trying to maintain a flow of sound based on the last received command. All AI activity in the wreckage ceased in the blink of an eye, the wreckage-projected avatar flickered out of existence, leaving only the remote projector one, stationary, mouth open with the looping sound, reaching out towards Sovok.

Sovok smiled with cruelty and picked up the mobile emitter. Such a curious piece of technology. It would need to be studied along with the rest of the crew. He deactivated the device and hid it in his palm. He hit his comm badge on his chest and spoke in an eerily similar tone to the trusted vulcan officer. "Sovok to the bridge. I am en route. Department heads are to send me a briefing on our status before I arrive."

And with one last look at the wreck that was Kat Walker, the possessed vulcan turned back. He took pride in eliminating a threat to the mission, but internally, in the real Sovok, he wrestled with grief and hoped that Kat would one day understand and forgive him.

 

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