Empire Chronicles

There were a lot of confused Aseirn as Victor walked out of the capitol building, at this point he wanted nothing to do with these little gray aliens. It was more than a sense of personal violation, he felt as if they had violated the entire human race. As though they were nothing more than lab rats, had the Aseirn not needed humans would they have still saved them or left them to be exterminated. Slumping down against the wall outside he sighed to himself, the worst part was he wondered if anything about himself was truly part of him or the result of genetic manipulation. Was he even really human anymore? He also wasn't joking about what he had said in the high council chambers, anyone tried messing with Vivica and he would level the city to protect her, or take out as much as possible before going down. The most infuriating part was he didn't know what to do next, he didn't really have many options in front of him. On the homeworld of the Aseirn he was playing things on their terms... that thought made him start to think. This entire time he had been playing things on their terms rather than his own, he had let them control nearly everything that had happened since he had come here. There were a number of scenarios that ran through Victor's mind, sinking deep into his thoughts he considered how to level the playing field.

These little gray aliens needed his DNA to try and reconstruct their own, while he did know the Aseirn didn't lie, they did manipulate and omit information when it suited their interests. That they allowed him to leave after the little temper tantrum meant one of two things to him. Either they really weren't sure they could handle him, or they were waiting for him to tip his hand, to see how powerful he really was before they made their move. The more he thought about the situation the more he realized the possibilities before him... he could make demands. Victor had something the Aseirn wanted, desperately needed, so he could likely bilk this situation for all it was worth. The biggest thing he was determined to gain was his freedom, one way or another he was going to set himself up so that he wouldn't have to depend on anyone else. With a wry smile he began to think of the things he would demand in return for his help. “Victor, are you alright?” Blinking a few times at the sound of the voice he looked over to see Taras standing next to him.

(How do you think I feel? I just found out that humanity used to be a one of the most powerful and ancient space faring races in the Milky Way, and now we're reduced to lab rats for your people. Yeah I'm wonderful.)

“Please try to understand, this wasn't how we wanted things to be. At first we wanted to help the humans to rebuild, instead they fought amongst one another to the point they reduced themselves to a stone age society. Try to think about this from our point of view, were it not for us humanity would likely be dead, and now without humanity in four centuries we will be dead.”

(Four centuries?)

“Yes, four centuries is all we have left. As you know we spent hundreds of thousands of years trying to fight the genetic degradation caused by our cloning process. It was however a fight we knew we couldn't win, not without help. Now that time has come, the Aseirn genetic code has broken down so far that we can't clone ourselves anymore, Ralmus, myself, everyone you see around you, we're the last generation. Can you say that in our position you would not do the same if no other option was available to you?” The last part of what Taras had said was true, he couldn't say for sure he wouldn't have done the same thing were he facing the extinction of his entire species. At first he was so angry all he wanted to do was lash out in anger at any Aseirn around him, yet the more he calmed down and thought about it, the more it made sense to him. Ralmus had said that at first they had tried to work openly with humans, only to have them go ape shit. That wasn't very surprising, humans were if anything, incredibly destructive both to themselves and everything around them. The current situation on Earth was in fact humanity's fault, not the Aseirn. They had taken what should have been a chance to rebuild and turned it into something so pathetic that in retrospect it made Victor sick just thinking about it.

Everything they were or could have been lost to pointless wars. Often times those wars were nothing more than a single ruler getting a hair up his ass, wanting more power than he deserved, or just killing people because he didn't like them. Victor had never been very subtle about anything in life when it came to dealing with other people, so why should this be any different. Patting Taras on the shoulder slightly he motioned for the others to wait outside for him as he walked back inside. The inside of the Aseirn capitol building was an impressive sight when one took the time to actually look at it. Almost half the size of a football field the main lobby was absolutely pristine, the floor looked like it was one solid piece of blue marble, the walls were smooth and dull in appearance and oddly enough there was no front desk. Much of the lobby was devoted to seating areas where various people of importance seemed to come to either wait for appointments, or even discuss matters not requiring privacy. The oddest thing to Victor was the ceiling, there were gray sphere suspended in mid-air with wires leading away from them in all eight directions. Each wire connected to another sphere which in turn connected to seven others, although he had absolutely no idea what purpose they served the various colors of bright light that passed through the wires made the entire collection quite lovely just to look at.

From the temper tantrum he had thrown a little while ago he knew where the high council chambers were, second hall to the left, straight to the end. There were six halls in the lobby, three on each side of the room with a trio of elevators at the far end, but his destination didn't require changing floors. He wondered why they would build the high council chambers on the first floor, then he remembered the room itself had a ceiling so high he couldn't see it in the darkness. No doubt several stories high for whatever reason they deemed such to be important. Victor was surprised to see the doors to the chamber repaired as were the walls, it looked as though nothing had happened. Upon passing through the second set of doors in the anteroom the high council chambers didn't appeared damaged either, it was as if nothing had happened. (Love what you've done with the place.) The council members were still in their seats upon his return and he still wanted to bitch slap the lot of them. However he wasn't about to let his temper ruin what he saw as a golden opportunity, after all how often did the fate of an entire race lay in the hands of one man? Now that he had decided to take control of the situation he also put on an arrogant expression, pacing back and forth for a bit he looked each of the Aseirn Council members over carefully.

“Have you come to a decision Victor?” Ralmus asked.

(Oh I have indeed. I've decided that you owe me, you want my genetic material to save your race so I have a list of demands. I'll tell you right now they aren't small either, but in comparison to saving an entire race I don't consider them unreasonable.)

“What did you have in mind?”

(First and foremost, if this works I want you to leave Earth and humanity alone. The genetic manipulation stops and they succeed or fail on their own.)

“We had planned to do that anyway.”

(Secondly, I want a battleship. I know how you feel about sharing Aseirn technology, I didn't say it had to be an Aseirn ship. I'm sure somewhere in this big wide galaxy there's a used ship dealer. I want a ship equipped with the best tech that can be bought on the open market. Last I want two million credits, that part isn't greed by the way. I'm going to need to hire a crew for the ship and I doubt they'll work for free, also I'm going to need some money to help me establish some stable income so I can support myself.)

“You do not wish to return to Earth?”

(No. Now as to the matter of Vivica, let's settle this once and for all.) Again he stood there looking at them in silence, it wasn't long before Vivica walked into the room, having been summoned via her meta-transceiver. Victor wanted to put this matter to rest as well, as before even he didn't know if Vivica was truly alive or not but he felt it was his responsibility to find out and treat her accordingly. If she wasn't 'alive' and in fact nothing more than a complex machine then he would treat her as such. On the other hand if she was a sentient being then he couldn't just treat her like a collection of circuits and wires, he would have to give her the right to choose her own destiny. Walking around her in a slow circle he looked her over from head to toe trying to think of a way to prove or disprove her status as a life form. There were already a wide variety of questions swirling around in his mind, it was a matter of picking the questions best suited to this debate. (Vivica, access your mission directives and delete all of them, including the ones that prevent you from disobeying me.)

He watched as she closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again indicating that she had done as instructed. The best place to begin was by taking away her mission to see if she could define one of her own, if she could make a choice without any prior orders or directives to guide her. To see if she could actually think for herself. (She is no longer bound by mission directives or compelled to follow my orders, pose your questions to her.) The Aseirn council member that had argued time travel was impossible rose from his seat, as he did the desk in front of him melted away forming a set of stairs that lead to the floor. The little gray alien walked down from his place of authority toward Vivica and Victor. “My name is Graat, I shall speak for the council in this matter.” Once he had introduced himself Graat looked directly at Vivica, “Are you alive?”

“By what definition?”

“The condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally. Are you capable of all of these things?”

“No, I have no metabolism nor can I reproduce.”

“So by your own admission you're not alive, correct?” Victor wasn't to crazy about the way Graat was posing his questions, they were very narrow and limiting.

“I am not organic.”

“You didn't answer my question.”

“Did the standards you asked me to define my status as a living being account for inorganic life as well as organic life?” That answer most definitely caught Victor's attention, he hadn't expected her to say something like that. It was interesting that she seemed to understand what Graat was trying to do and had posed an unusually accurate response. “There's no such thing as inorganic life, even the elder races cannot reproduce a sentient mind technologically, it can't be done.”

(That's a rather narrow point of view,) Victor thought to himself.

“Can you prove that you are alive?”

“Can you prove that I am not?”

“I am a living being composed of DNA, cells, muscles, organs and blood. I think, feel, want, need, and desire, I can recognize my own existence, think for myself and make my own decisions. I'm not a collection of metal, fibers, and programming governed by a computer system.”

"Could not the same be said for DNA? That it is a program using chemical sequences and protein chains to store information, becoming more complex over time and using genes to store this data."

"You weren't born, you were constructed in a laboratory."

"The sum total of the parts that make up being were brought together and assembled inside of a laboratory. When a human male fertilizes the egg of a human female, do they not bring together the parts needed to assemble a child inside of a womb?" Now Victor was surprised, very surprised, Vivica was not only debating with Graat she was doing a damn good job of it. (We give computers the ability to gather information, learn, calculate, make decisions, and model them in ways that parallel our own conscious mind. Why then do people balk so hard at the idea that computers, which are made more and more advanced with each passing year, might one day begin to think for themselves.)

“I balk at the idea that someone would attribute life to an extremely complex computer. I do not deny they have been modeled to emulate our thought processes, but when does the line between technology and life begin to blur? When does calculation and logic become thought and desire, and why would I think that one machine you allegedly created a decade from now possesses an artificial mind, something even the best scientists of the elder races have tried and failed to achieve for thousands of years. Do you realize the ramifications of what you're claiming, that this thing, this machine, is alive. That you've somehow managed to capture the essence of a life inside metal and wires. If we're to believe that Vivica is alive then we'll need more than fancy words to convince us.” Without even looking over her left arm lanced out shoving Victor, causing him to make a small squeaking noise as he slid across the floor. “Why did you do that?” Graat asked.

“Because I chose to.” That last action caused a long pause in the high council chambers, Vivica had made a choice, there was no logic, reason, directive or protocol that had made her do what she had done. It was because she chose to. “One last question, why shouldn't I have you disassembled?” Vivica held her hand out palm down, with the same weird sound as before her arm started to change form, but instead of her usual plasma canon her hand formed a single long blade that extended to within what looked like a nanometer of Graat's left eye. “I will terminate you if you attempt to do so.” The little alien didn't show any sign of fear, instead he took a step back before moving to return to his seat. Although the debate had been brief it had also been quite intense, Vivica's rights as a sentient being were on trial here. “Is there anything either of you wish to add before the council votes on this matter?” Ralmus asked.

(Yes. I would like you to stop and consider what Graat said regarding constructed life forms. He said it was impossible, but does the fact the elder races have not been able to accomplish this truly preclude the possibility of such existing? How many times throughout history has the impossible been proven to be possible? You asked me to think about the ramifications of considering Vivica to be a living being, well I would ask you to think of the ramifications of not considering her a living being. To deny a living being status as such, imagine the precedent that would set.) After Victor spoke Ralmus and the rest of the council held a closed session discussion via private telepathy, it lasted for several minutes with the council members exchanging looks and small facial expressions. Leaning back in his seat Ralmus spoke verbally again, “Then we shall decide the matter by vote. Those in favor of recognizing Vivica as a sentient life form?” The four council members to his left raised their hands in response, “those against?” This time the four council members to his right raised their hands including Graat, it was a tie thus far leaving Ralmus as the deciding vote. The part that bothered Victor so much were the impassive expressions of the Aseirn, he didn't have a clue which way the final vote might go.

“This is indeed a difficult decision to make for a number of reasons. I have thought about this matter in considerable detail as well as the consequences of both possible outcomes. To recognize Vivica as a living being would mean we would have to reevaluate the means by which we define life. To deny her status as a living being would also have considerable ramifications as well. While we look to the elder races as the pinnacle of current technology their knowledge is not all encompassing, they cannot predict every possible development, idea, or invention to come along, such has been proven several times in the past by particularly brilliant individuals.” While Ralmus spoke on the matter at length it was starting to make Victor nervous, he was discussing the matter from both points of view which made it even harder to try and guess which way he might vote. If he voted for Vivica then it would mean by Aseirn law she would be recognized as a sentient life form and therefore free to choose her her own destiny, if not the Aseirn would likely try to claim her as their property under their technological securities act which would cause considerable problems for both sides.

He had thought the matter over himself as well and he still considered Vivica to be his friend, he was quite fond of her and giving her up wasn't an option in his mind. Regardless of what the Aseirn thought he considered her to be a living being with certain inalienable right, such as the right to live. He also owed the android his life several times over and felt that allowing her to be disassembled would be a total betrayal of everything she had done for him while they were on Earth. She had risked herself without hesitation or complaint therefore he felt that doing the same for her was the only real choice that he had if things ended up going south. “...so with that said it is time for me to cast the deciding vote in this matter. I hereby cast my vote for...”