New Data
Dunea reminded themself to breathe, but they found it hard; it’s not every day
you carry a message that might change the course of history. The door slid
open, the Xhaaq nodded, and they stepped into a vast chamber bathed in dim red.
They walked towards the center with the Xhaaq and stopped just outside the
center circle.
“I have new data for the AI,” Dunea exclaimed.
The light turned a bright white and a disembodied voice said, “Hello, Dunea.” A
cloud of particles streamed to the floor and shaped itself into an almost-human
form, a thick umbilical cord extending from its back into the space above. Neon
lines formed a fractal on its mask. It looked at the box Dunea was holding.
“What is this?”
“Is there awareness of the hexagon on Saturn?” Dunea replied, then winced at
the ignorance of the question. They never knew exactly how to speak to AIs, but
asking something as obvious as this seemed to them an embarrassing faux pas
indeed.
Fortunately, Two did not judge them. “Yes, there is awareness of the recent
discovery. Is this the translation?”
Dunea nodded and proffered the data drive. Two looked at it, took a couple of
steps forward, and plugged its tapered arm into the data drive’s port. A blue
light on its side flickered rapidly for several seconds, then went dark as Two
disconnected from it. Two stepped back and said “The data has been downloaded
and it will be integrated,” as its body broke up and ascended.
The room went dark. The only source of light was the memory banks above, their
power indicators forming a field of stars. Dunea glanced up, and blue and green
stars appeared and started flickering. They turned to the Xhaaq next to them.
“What’s happening?”
Gazing at the scene above, the Xhaaq replied, “Two is drawing connections
between the information it already knows and this new information. It’s making
inferences, reasoning, drawing new conclusions.”
Most of the lights flickered so rapidly, they seemed always on. Dunea looked at
the Xhaaq. In the darkness, they had trouble reading his emotions. Dunea looked
away again and focused on a few pebbles near their feet. They liked focusing on
small things when they didn’t feel good. It brought them peace of mind. The
peace of mind this time, however, was nullified when the rumbling started and
the pebbles started jumping around.
Dunea looked up to see the blocks of memory banks moving. The bizarre scene was
punctuated by arcs of multicolored light flashing between the segments of
collected knowledge. The rumbling grew louder, the arcs becoming more
sustained. It reminded them of the aurorae they would see in their time in the
north. And all of a sudden…
…everything stopped.
The streamers of color dissipated. The motors ground to a halt. A voice from
above said, “There is insufficient space to complete the integration.”
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
New Data
Dunea reminded themself to breathe, but they found it hard; it’s not every day
you carry a message that might change the course of history. The door slid
open, the Xhaaq nodded, and they stepped into a vast chamber bathed in dim red.
They walked towards the center with the Xhaaq and stopped just outside the
center circle.
“I have new data for the AI,” Dunea exclaimed.
The light turned a bright white and a disembodied voice said, “Hello, Dunea.” A
cloud of particles streamed to the floor and shaped itself into an almost-human
form, a thick umbilical cord extending from its back into the space above. Neon
lines formed a fractal on its mask. It looked at the box Dunea was holding.
“What is this?”
“Is there awareness of the hexagon on Saturn?” Dunea replied, then winced at
the ignorance of the question. They never knew exactly how to speak to AIs, but
asking something as obvious as this seemed to them an embarrassing faux pas
indeed.
Fortunately, Two did not judge them. “Yes, there is awareness of the recent
discovery. Is this the translation?”
Dunea nodded and proffered the data drive. Two looked at it, took a couple of
steps forward, and plugged its tapered arm into the data drive’s port. A blue
light on its side flickered rapidly for several seconds, then went dark as Two
disconnected from it. Two stepped back and said “The data has been downloaded
and it will be integrated,” as its body broke up and ascended.
The room went dark. The only source of light was the memory banks above, their
power indicators forming a field of stars. Dunea glanced up, and blue and green
stars appeared and started flickering. They turned to the Xhaaq next to them.
“What’s happening?”
Gazing at the scene above, the Xhaaq replied, “Two is drawing connections
between the information it already knows and this new information. It’s making
inferences, reasoning, drawing new conclusions.”
Most of the lights flickered so rapidly, they seemed always on. Dunea looked at
the Xhaaq. In the darkness, they had trouble reading his emotions. Dunea looked
away again and focused on a few pebbles near their feet. They liked focusing on
small things when they didn’t feel good. It brought them peace of mind. The
peace of mind this time, however, was nullified when the rumbling started and
the pebbles started jumping around.
Dunea looked up to see the blocks of memory banks moving. The bizarre scene was
punctuated by arcs of multicolored light flashing between the segments of
collected knowledge. The rumbling grew louder, the arcs becoming more
sustained. It reminded them of the aurorae they would see in their time in the
north. And all of a sudden…
…everything stopped.
The streamers of color dissipated. The motors ground to a halt. A voice from
above said, “There is insufficient space to complete the integration.”
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0