Learning History

Posted on 25 Apr 2020 @ 6:14pm by Cor Ive & Ensign Kat Walker

670 words; about a 3 minute read

Kat was on her way to the lounge. It had quickly become her favorite place on the ship. So many people to observe, so much to learn! As such, remote projector charged and carried within the holographic projection, she made for the lounge.

Cor was just leaving as Kat entered, and he accidentally walked through her. "Oops, sorry, I didn...wait, did I walk through you?" Cor thought out loud, turning around.

"My apologies if the experience was uncomfortable." Kat halted and turned to face him, lowering her head to match her apologetic words. "My name is Kat, and I am a holographic representation, operated remotely by an AI."

"That's...cool, actually!" Cor said, approaching her a little closer, "better than anything my people could've made. We aren't very good with holograms."

The hologram was imperfect, in that it was too perfect. Nearly flawless skin, unrepresentative of an actual person. Unmoving, not breathing. Symmetric, flawless eyes. And an intermittent, subtle flicker, as her physical form was still in a state of severe damage and disrepair. She smiled politely as he approached, though then seemed to turn thoughtful. "You are not from this crew. Are you local to this area? Might I ask you a question, if you are?"

"I guess you could say I'm local, if I knew where this area is." Cor joked, with a chuckle, "ask away."

She gave a nod, then took a step back, in order not to startle Cor, as her holographic avatar shimmered and shifted, turning in to a tall and slender reptilian form, with long limbs, yellow slitted eyes and a forked tongue. "Does this avatar look familiar to you?" she asked, voice unchanged. "This is the default avatar in my database. I suspect this is what my creators look like, though I have no files on anything really before waking up on this ship in damaged condition and with low fuel."

Cor's eyes widened, "how in the revol..." he muttered, invoking the name of one of the Rokori gods. "I know your people! Well, I know of them." He wasn't sure if he wanted to break the news to Kat yet or not. He was surprised, however, that a piece of tech was surviving.

"Then, please, tell me about them?" The hologram shimmered back to its previous look. "I have no files at all, and would very much like to know where I came from."

"The Drul Anu..." Cor started, "they were amazing people, great at AI. The sun was beginning to go into Nova cycle, but they ran afoul of my people...there was a war. We detected the accelerated cycle thanks to the war, and before we could sign a treaty declaring peace..." Cor trailed off.

"I - ... I'm sorry, this is all confusing to me." Kat furrowed her brows, tilting her head slightly. "I only have files on my own operation, schematics, things like that. I don't know anything about suns or cycles or war, and am not sure what it all means."

"The people who created you are no longer in existence." Cor said, simply. "I'm sorry. It's not my, nor my people's, doing."

"I - ... That is a lot to take in," her voice was calm, and though her smile had faltered she did not actually seem very outwardly upset. "Are there more of me, do you know? Evo 3 type medium crystalline AI?" she asked, tilting her head slightly, expression calm.

"If there are any, I don't know of them." Cor said kindly, "I suspect they might have been destroyed as well, however I have no proof."

"Then, I am truly alone," Kat spoke quietly. "My apologies, but - I have a lot to think about. Thank you for the information," she furrowed her brows, before turning to leave again, her original plans no longer considered.

Cor stared after her silently, knowing the feeling of being alone. While he wasn't sure if he was the last of his own people--he was the only one here.

RSS Feed