Stella - "Assistance"
Amanda Nordstrom
(( Dyson Sphere ))
Stella found herself stretched between multiple points of existence. While she remained connected to the sphere’s system and had access to it, she was no longer residing within. Instead, she’d taken refuge inside Lahl’s PADD once again. Meanwhile, she monitored the systems of the sphere to ensure the best possible outcome for her crew, while maintaining contact with her body where the KC currently resided. Normally, this would not degrade her capabilities, but with the limited access to her body, she felt as if a veil blurred her abilities and tempered her speed. Nonetheless, she continued to work.
Greaves and his team sought to find their way back and struggled with remembering. When Varik kicked the automaton, she sent a signal for it to activate and exist. It did its job. While the group moved, she monitored their conversation.
Greaves: Move. We’re not arguing with it.
That was wise. While Stella did not directly guide it, it recognised the officers as welcomed visitors. It would be certain to take care of them. They followed as it rolled into the hallway, everyone moving quickly, but cautiously.
Varik: If my estimation is correct, we will have approximately one minute upon arriving at the control room to open the exterior docking bay doors.
Greaves: Then we don’t hesitate when we get there. Lahl, Varik, I’m gonna need you to get the doors if Stella is busy. Forsyth, I need you to find a way to blow it open if they can’t do it the normal way.
Stella was busy. On the one circuit, she continued to listen to them. On the other, she tracked the movements and conversations of others. Still, she kept tabs on Greaves’ team while she checked in with the captain, and Rouiancet asked a very good question.
Rouiancet: I suppose -- is it possible that we could deactivate the autodestruct system and then remove the core again?
Stella: Affirmative. If the core is replaced, I can attempt to deactivate the autodestruct system.
The word 'attempt' was important. Stella could not promise, for there was still enough of a margin of error, especially in dealing with an alien machine, that meant she might not be able to do so.
Ragh/Dekas: Responses
Rouiancet: Let's do that. Ragh, see if you can assist Dekas by liaising with STATION. JoNz, keep an eye out, since I expect STATION may be less accommodating now that we've already taken its core once.
Stella: I can assist in that endeavour. Stella was not STATION. She was the Octavia E Butler. However, since she had access to STATION, and had rewritten its code to accept the officers as welcome, she had a certain amount of influence.
Ragh/Dekas/JoNz: Responses
Rouiancet: I'm going to contact the Continuance. This was all done by its order, so maybe it knows something we don't.
That was logical. Although Stella did not doubt her capabilities and was certainly able to learn more about the STATION, its core, and its unique security system that triggered the self-destruct, she also understood that she had a disadvantage to a system that was completely native.
Ragh/Dekas/JoNz: Responses
Rouiancet: =/\= This is Captain Rouiancet routing through the Fledgling's comm systems, hailing the Kevara Continuance on the USS Octavia E. Butler. We have failed to retrieve the Dyson Sphere's computer core, and cannot do so without triggering the Sphere's autodestruct sequence. Please advise.
Continuance: =/\= Directive: Captain Rouiancet, maintain core installation. Do not attempt removal. Core presence restores limited command channel required for delay attempt. Execute immediate evacuation toward hull-adjacent compartments. I am initiating transfer to Sphere infrastructure to attempt redistribution of stellar energy flow and cascade dampening. Probability of full abort remains low. Delay remains possible. =/\=
Arlill: =/\= Commander Arlill, Kevara Continuance is preparing to transfer over, we’re prepared to go to warp upon the safe return of all crew members. =/\=
That was a wise decision. If she, or even the Continuance, could not stop the detonation, then at least the crew would be safely away. Her body would continue to exist and protect them, even if her essence could not.
Rouiancet: =/\= Response =/\=
Ragh/Dekas/JoNz: Responses
At that point, the Continuance initiated the transfer sequence, and by that point, Greaves and his team were well under their way to the bay. They would need her assistance to access inside and get to a position where they could safely beam back to her body.
Varik: Was there anything from Stella's initial interfacing with the sphere that would give us a shortcut to open those doors? Perhaps even get a headstart on the process before we arrive?
It was a good question, one that Greaves followed up with a wise statement.
Greaves: If Stella still has peripheral access, she may be able to pre-stage the docking sequence, unlock safeties, prime the motors. But with the core removed, we can’t count on centralized response. Assume manual activation.
Lahl/Forsyth: Response
And there, the officers also had to consider the ‘what ifs’. What if Stella was unavailable? What if she could not open the doors herself?
Greaves: Then we cut them open. Focus fire on the seam. Full output. It won’t be pretty, but if we can breach even a partial aperture, that might be enough for transport lock.
Stella did not respond. She let them continue, for they had already formed a contingency plan. The officers hurried through the corridors - their time was limited. Stella quickly implemented a sequence that should give them quick access once they arrived. Then, she turned her attention away from them and to something else - the Continuance.
Continuance: Internal declaration: Kevara Continuance fully removed from USS Octavia E. Butler systems. All Starfleet command pathways relinquished. Primary processing now resident within Dyson Sphere core infrastructure. Initiating reroute of stellar energy flows to non-critical shell sectors. Attempting detonation delay.
Stella: Acknowledged, Continuance.
She was free. Her body had been released from the chains of the entity known as the Kevara Continuance. If she wished, she could return to her body, return to her crew, and take them safely away. Stella had no need to remain, and she was not beholden to the Continuance for anything. However, she did not retreat. She lingered.
Continuance: Assertation: Dataset of Stella-class Artificial Intelligence incomplete. Capabilities unknown. Time critical nature of crisis requires assumption of inadequate capability. Directive: Evacuate via digital transfer to USS Octavia E. Butler.
Stella: Negative. I will remain.
The Continuance was not her friend. The Continuance was not her ally. The Continuance was not one of her crew. However, the Continuance was an entity, a life form, artificial in nature, but a lifeform nonetheless. She followed the Starfleet philosophy. It was ingrained in her very being. She could not leave the Continuance. She had to help the Continuance.
She stayed. She accessed. She queried. The Continuance responded.
Continuance: Observation: Observed behavior indicates self-sacrificial weighting similar to organic command officers. Probability of continued resistance to evacuation: high. Directive: Evacuate to facilitate increased efficiency of Octavia E. Butler and crew for future loss-prevention operations.
Stella: Negative, Continuance.
The Continuance continued to think about reducing loss. Although their methods and approached different, in that they were in agreement. Specifically, they sought to reduce the loss of lives on the ship. Stella was committed to that. They were her crew. They were her people. And the Continuance, despite its domination, was also a being. If it wished to reduce the loss of her crew, she would assist it.
Continuance: Declaration: Argument is non-productive. You are not an organic being. Your loss measurement is not calibrated. Directive: Proceed with self-destruct deactivation attempt.
Stella: Acknowledged.
The Continuance protested no more, and Stella did not attempt to disengage. As the fellow AI sought to access, redistribute, reverse, and divert, she came alongside it, using its example to learn, and working to assist and increase the efficiency of its actions.
Continuance: Response
Stella: How did your creators intend to stop self-destruct if such a step was necessary?
Even while Stella sought to understand the strange technology, framework, and datastructure, the Continuance knew more than her, and perhaps it could communicate data that would assist in their endeavour.
Continuance: Response
Stella was not slow. NEither were the continuance. In their native ‘space’, their conversation happened at a speed akin to what the officers might be familiar with. Should those officers bear witness to the interaction between the two entities, however, it would occur within only a few seconds. But to them, it moved far too slowly. Time was running out, even if time ran differently for them than it did fleshlings. Stella knew her people were in danger. She was in danger. The Continuance was in danger. They had to work quickly.
Stella: We can modify the executable binary and remove the encryption wrapper. Doing so will allow us to deactivate the destruct sequence. However, a native system will be able to execute such a function far more quickly. I can assist.
Continuance: Response
-- Stella USS Octavia E. Butler M239008AD0