[video]

[irrationalprogramming]

[The person on your clean pretty clearly is not an actual person! On account of looking like an anime character. She bows.]

Hi, folks! My name is *Mute, chief security officer of the Mugunghwa. The * is silent - it just means that I'm an AI.

I know I can't exactly get back now, but because it's my duty to protect it, I went ahead and left the last known coordinates of the Mugunghwa with the Initiative. Once all this other crazy business is over, give or take a few hundred years, it would be nice to be able to see it again, or at least to know that it's being recovered. Even if I didn't have a directive telling me to prioritize its safety, I spent my entire life on that ship, so I've got a lot of sentimental value tied up with the place.

Speaking of which, this is my first time on the old homeworld, and...



Has it always been this much of a dump, or is that a new thing? Because, like, wow.


[[*Mute has been granted access by the Initiative to security camera footage in various public areas, as OK'd by the mods.]]

Comments

[irrationalprogramming]

Uh huh.

[The historical research of a child, and a girl at that? Could be anything. Fairy fales, even. Note to self: Do own research later.]

Well! That's wonderful to know, isn't it?

[shelkethetransparent]

[Her glowing blue eyes narrow faintly at that. Shelke has heard that tone too many times not to recognize it. Still...]

Theoretically the changes we are inducing in the past in an attempt to defeat the UE will repair at least some of the damage done to this planet.

If you are an artificial intelligence, all of this information should be readily available to you on the network library here.

[irrationalprogramming]

Yeah, I'll go through the data archives at some point, but I've always preferred the personal touch of getting your facts from other people. AI I may be, but I'm still very much a social creature.

[shelkethetransparent]

[That doesn't really mesh with what she knows about AIs.]

Why? You do not need to be social, you are a machine.

[irrationalprogramming]

That doesn't mean I don't have my own feelings and preferences. I'm a machine, but I'm also a woman.

[shelkethetransparent]

[Another pause.]

You were programmed with emotions?

[irrationalprogramming]

I wouldn't be much of an AI without them, would I? That's not any better than a regular computer program.

[shelkethetransparent]

Intelligence does not require emotion.

Is it an unnecessary distraction.

[Which might explain why her voice lacks inflection or interest most of the time.]

[irrationalprogramming]

Life would be pretty damn boring without it, though.

[shelkethetransparent]

I have not found that to be true at all.

[It's only half a lie.]

[irrationalprogramming]

I... wait.

Are you an AI, too?

Well that was weird.

[shelkethetransparent]

No.

[irrationalprogramming]

And yet you don't have any emotions?

[shelkethetransparent]

[She hesitates.]

I do.

It is just easier to ignore them.

[irrationalprogramming]

Well, I guess I can understand why someone might do something like that, but you really are missing out.

[shelkethetransparent]

Mm.

[Part of her knows she is right.]

Perhaps. But they remain a distraction when attempting to process the circumstances of a situation and the necessary strategies to succeed in battle or infiltration.

[irrationalprogramming]

Wait, why the hell are you going into battle?

[shelkethetransparent]

I am...I was a Tsviet.

My primary operations were in information gathering and infiltration, but I am trained in combat for when it is necessary.

[irrationalprogramming]

That's horrible. What could possibly justify sending a young girl on that kind of work?

[shelkethetransparent]

The Shinra didn't care about the age of their tools, only how useful they could be.

And I am nineteen years old.

[irrationalprogramming]

Wow, that's terrible. You're not still being forced into this by these people?

[shelkethetransparent]

They are not forcing me. I am assisting them voluntarily.

I have skills that are useful, regardless of how they were inflicted on me.

[irrationalprogramming]

That... is pretty messed up. No woman should have to be inflicted with such a burden.

[shelkethetransparent]

[A pause. That is not what she usually hears. 'Child' yes, woman no.]

What does being female have to do with it?

[irrationalprogramming]

Well, I guess it would be bad for anyone, but I just really can't abide that sort of cruelty towards women.