Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Travellers (Semi-Open RP between Tara and Catrin)

At her request, a chair formed underneath her, the AI then said, "I was simply trying to be concise. To give the longer warning; many species, such as the Terelains and the Xin'Ta'Faxi, have had great impact on other races and this has left deep feelings amongst varying species about them, from hatred, to apathy, to a sense of indebted honor. Whilst you may have access to many other archives of information on your travels, please bear in mind that Tara's entire life has been spent researching other cultures and you may never again come across such a collection of unbiased, objective and detailed information on the species of Senate Space again. This is why you should spend your time wisely; this archive is uniquely suited to your present needs." The AI paused for a moment and then said, "There are some places a person of your appearance - human - are not welcome, or at least disliked. Humanity is one of the youngest species in the Senate, but they have already been involved in numerous wars and they have only recently regained their independence after an invasion by Shinobi forces. You will need to be aware of such thing if you ever ventre near the territory of the Shinobi Empire or the Earth Empire."

Catrin sat down and looked at a nearby wall. “Thank you for explaining. Now I can arrive at my own conclusions, at least partially.” She breathed in, still not placated. “However, you say you were simply trying to be concise. That is well possible; however, explaining would have taken a very short time, and there was no need to act quickly. Therefore, no need to be concise.

It also means that you assumed that I will accept your deductions; yet, you know little about me. I can understand that you tend to be protective.“ She breathed in and relaxed a bit, giving the wall a wry smile, “and I suppose I need to deal with feeling like this, it obviously being a weakness. But, you're overestimating the importance of intelligence. It's only as good as the data it has, which means that its usefulness for non-exact applications is limited.

In other words, I'll never let you make decisions for me, because I have more relevant information about myself and my abilities, and if you make a fatal mistake, I'll pay for it. Moreover, being overly concise is condescending, because it signifies you're assuming your conclusions are so good there's no need to explain them – they're superior, after all, and the best ones anyone can arrive at, so any explanation might actually make things worse!” The end sounded distinctly ironic.

Catrin paused for a moment and frowned. “Hmpf. In conclusion, that was probably a stupid thing to say. Thank you for the warning, especially the expanded version, and please ascribe the irritation to the fact that I'm used to deciding the fate of whole universes, and, unfortunately, am currently here as myself. I usually sidestep the whole set of issues by pretending I'm someone else.”

She turned to the holodisplay and frowned at it, hoping that the symbols will start making sense soon.

The AI didn't say anything for some time after Catrin's little monologue. Eventually, however, it said, "My apologies, Miss Catrin. I shall endeavor to provide you with a greater depth of information in the future. It appears that over my existence I have picked up the bad habit of trying not to give too much information to people wherever possible, a habit picked up during my military days no doubt, but one refined by my time in the service of Mistress Tara. After all, I am sure you have noticed how eager and curious she gets, and I've long ago learned that giving her too much information, even in a warning, tends to do nothing but ignite her curiosity further... I've come close to losing her once or twice because of my carelessness in such regards... however, you are not Tara. You can obviously handle yourself quite well in a fight, and you a certainly old enough and wise enough that you don't want an old busybody such as myself telling you what to do."

For a time it was silent again, but then it said, "If you are having trouble reading the display, I can change it to one of the Galactic Trade Languages used as universal languages in Senate Space. These are designed to be mutually intelligble my numerous species."

Catrin kept looking into the holodisplay as the AI spoke, but obviously wasn't trying to read. She smiled a little at the end of the speech, and then shook her head at his offer. “Thank you... for understanding. Wisdom is a bit of an exaggeration,” she continued with a wry smirk, “but what I do is my responsibility, and the mistakes I make are mine to make. And if I happen to die...” she shrugged, “so what? Not living means being dead by default. You have to do what you can't not do, is the expression, I believe.

And Tara, it seems, can't not be a xenoanthropologist, and not being afraid when she is researching a culture is, believe it or not, an extraordinary advantage. It's a good thing that you're protecting her. However, you can't protect a person from what they are.

If you'd be willing to consider a piece of advice – over-protectiveness can be just as detrimental as negligence. It makes people rebel against it, and that makes them even less careful. Of course, Tara is doing the same thing back to you, pushing you to be more paranoid by being careless. Either one of you can break the cycle, but for you, that would mean risking that she dies, and for her, that would mean risking not doing something she feels she must do. The fate of explorers is often death. It's impossible to live out one's purpose without facing the threat.”

Catrin smiled. “That is the nature of life. And perhaps it's a part of what makes organics so fascinating to you. Beings who've seen through all the illusions exist. They're sometimes called 'enlightened', or other things. Perhaps you should seek one out one day. I'm not one, but in the time I spoke about, when I wasn't trying to survive, I was disembodied and watching the evolution of sapient life on a planet and then later on, in the whole universe.” She smiled mirthlessly to herself, not quite speaking to the AI anymore. “The family madness manifested, and this was my hope to grasp the importance of others. See, I wasn't able to feel anything, and had very little regard for conventions. In the end, I experienced feelings of countless beings, watched their lives and learned. When I returned to my body... well, I was far from perfect, but at least able to function.”

She paused for a moment. “One of the most interesting lessons was that none of the things that seem to matter actually matter. What matters is living as yourself. Not what is sensible, or rational. Or long. As yourself.” Catrin smiled. "Keep the ones important to us safe, or allow ourselves to be hurt by letting them take risks?”

Suddenly, she lifted her head and gave the wall a bright smile. “What I'm saying is that if you somehow manage to be less paranoid, Tara will feel less threatened by the over-protectiveness and might start behaving slightly more sensibly. Not much, but a little. Maybe she'd even allow you to have defense systems,” she concluded with a wink.

Then, assuming that the AI would take quite some time to process it all, she turned to the holosdisplay and started figuring out what the symbols do. It proved to be easy now that she had calmed down, and she was browsing the ship's database before long. She was speeding up as she was becoming more comfortable with reading in this language. Having invested time into learning to speed-read, she was capable of reading a full page in about two seconds.

The AI was indeed silent for quite some time as he thought it over. Yes, his processing speed meant he could have analysed everything she'd said in less than a blink of an eye, but he'd decided to devote a few more complex strands of his programming to the conversation. She made a lot of sense, actually.

"Hm... perhaps you are right, Miss Catrin. I shall try to give Tara some more freedom, and hope that she in turn takes better care of herself." The AI's tone turned amused, "Though smehow I doubt it. She is rather set in her ways, is my Mistress."

Catrin looked up from a document about Terelain bloodlines and laughed. “Hey, I said slightly more sensibly. I have no doubt that it's Tara's nature to... shall we say ignore danger for the benefit of gaining knowledge. But maybe she'll do it more responsibly, if you give her the chance. You know, like give her information she needs to protect herself, not as warnings, but neutrally. She must be brilliant at processing these things, after all.

It's just her priorities that are a little mixed up. Making it out of a research alive seems to be somewhere near the bottom of her priority queue. Perhaps an occasional reminder that she won't be able to conduct any further research at all if she gets unnecessarily killed would serve best.”

The AI seemed amused by her assessment, "Indeed. I shall try this approach the next time she decides sh wants to go and study something dangerous... like the Saiv Empire... or one of those fringe cultures around the Near Frontier." The AI sighed, "Still, I can't help but worry about her. She just seems so... frail and innocent at times, like a child, not some thousand-year old scholar."

Catrin pressed her lips together. “Hm. I really doubt you'll manage to dissuade her from studying whatever she wants, but you can help her minimize the risks.” She smiled a little. “Of course you can't help but worry, but at least try being pragmatic about it. Focus on the results. If not letting her know about all your worries will make her safer in the long run, then, well, don't.

And Tara sets her own example of how thousand-year old scholars behave, and it's a very important one. Do you think I would be speaking with her at all if she wasn't so innocent?” She snorted. “Not at all. She's a genius. In your own way, so are you. I wonder what your conversations would look like if you switched your mindset from 'babysitting Tara' to 'being of assistance to Tara, the important and successful scientist, in areas where she needs help.'”

The AI seemed to consider her idea, "Hm... well, I was never really designed as a babysitter anyway... very well, Miss Catrin, I shall attempt to follow your suggestions as I am able." The computer then formed its hologram, which walked over to her, "I have been considering the basic format of my holographic interface. It seems rather... bland. I've not had much occassion to use it, but I find myself dissatisfied with this default. I was wondering if you might hep me in altering it to be more efficient at communication, or at least look a bit better."

Catrin raised her brows, quite surprised that the AI actually liked the idea, then she nearly giggled when she realized what wording the AI used. She had thought of the possibility of the conversations ending up being more boring, but hopefully not. She ended up just nodding with a semi-amused expression. “That seems like the best course of action for now.”

She got up to face the hologram when it walked over, and rubbed her chin when the AI made his request. “More efficient at communication? Do you mean with facial expressions and gestures? Would you be able to perform those?” She thought for a moment longer about the 'look a bit better' part. “If you want efficient communication, you might want to look like a living organism, perhaps with some simplifications to make it look a little artificial. Are there any beings whose looks you really like?”

"It is something I have only recently thought of, but I would suggest starting with a Terelain, as that is the species I interact with most. I would ask Tara for advice but... well, I think she might laugh at me." The AI said, "I can perform gestures and facial expressions, quite convincingly in fact, which I think would help me in communicating my meanings."

Catrin nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. Hm. Perhaps we might try, and if you're not satisfied, I can try acting as an intermediary to give her your request? I'm sure she would help you if she understood you were serious. Let's do our best for now, though. I suppose your gender preference is male? Or it doesn't matter? Or genderless? Is it even possible with Terelains? I've never seen a male, so I don't know how big the dimorphism is.”

The AI chuckled, "It is certainly possible, and yes, I think male would be preferable... hm, here." The vague humanoid shape of the hologram changed, growing a little taller and broader, next the texture changed until it looked as if it was covered with fur, albeit fur that was still plainly holographic and blue, the head was still featureless, however, a tail appeared from behind the Hologram, so that it now looked definitely like a male, except without ears or a face.

Catrin instantly switched into a 'do not laugh whatever happens' mode at seeing the AI's appearance. She nodded solemnly. “Good. Have you considered changing the colour? Or are you already satisfied with the body, and wish to proceed to picking a face?”

The Hologram shook his head, "No, I think blue fur just looks... unnatural and silly. I'll change it to brown fur, as a default until I can tweak its appearance to suit me better." Almost as soon as he was finished, the blue fur changed to light brown, darkening on the shoulders and stomach. The AI had also apparently fiddled with a few more settings, and the fur, and the rest of the body, seemed much more solid and real, "There." The AI said with some satisfaction, "Much better. Now I need a face."

Catrin nodded. “I like this one much more. Is the face a difficult part for you? Or can you just randomly pick one, then tweak the facial features until you are satisfied?”

The AI nodded, "Yes, I have a large number of faces in my memory banks to model my own upon, many of them drawn from historical files. If I was arrogant enough I could even design myself to look exactly like Terel himself!" The AI shook his head, "But I'm not going to do that. So, I'll upload a face, you tell me what you think of it and then I can use your input to inform my modifications."

Once he was done speaking, the AI set to work on his first face. Two furry, pointed feline ears appeared on the sides of his head, perked upwards, next two crystal blue eyes appeared in their proper places, cat-like as well, then came the nose and the mouth full of sharp teeth, twitched into a slight smile. The face itself was rather handsome-looking, for a feline anyway. "Hm, what do you think?" The AI asked, "I took this face from an old painting of one the founding king of the Third Kingdom, from when he was young."

Catrin smiled a little. “I think you look handsome. What do you think? Do you like the shapes of everything, and the colour?”

The Hologram seemed to straighten at the compliment, "Why thank you... hm, well, I'll probably make a few tweaks. Maybe change the face a bit so I don't look too much like the old king. He's still alive, a Revered Elder by now, and it would rude to take on his appearance."

Catrin nodded. “That sounds good. How about changing the eye colour, maybe to brown? That would go well with the fur. And... hmmm... ear shape? Facial bone structure to, say, narrower?”