As I step through the cargo doors, the ship's lights slowly flicker on. As I take another step, I hear the sound of steam filling pipes. Turning, I watch as the cargo door slowly closes, locking me inside the ship. Looking around, the cargo hold was quite empty.
The transport ship seemed surprisingly old and in need of refurbishing. Even the old seats in the cargo hold were dusty and seemingly falling apart. There were no signs of human life onboard, not even a single whisper or footstep other than my own.
As I peered down toward the end of the hold, I saw a door.
Walking further into the cargo hold, I notice the large screens present on the hold's walls. I stop in front of one of them, a large blue hologram and try to decipher it.
Boolean door close = true;
int steamPercentage = 50;
Double cargoWeight = 207.15;
Double totalShipWeight = 80,287.83;
Looking at the values, a frown finds its way on my face. What does Boolean, Int, and Double mean? I am a warrior not a scientist. I have never heard of these things before. Nevertheless, It's clear what the values represented, the amount of steam and the weight of the ship.
Were those values good or bad? I didn't know. Either way, I didn't want to touch the hologram or the computers and accidentally mess something up.
As I continued walking down the long cargo hold, I started becoming quite nervous. Where was the crew? Where was Commodus?
As I neared the door at the end of the hall, I once again heard the sounds of steam running through pipes as the door rose automatically.
Stepping inside, I was quite shocked. There were 10 seats, 2 at the front for the pilots, and 4 more on each side. Computers, buttons, and screens lined the walls of the cockpit. In the middle of the room was a large circular, high tech disk. Ive never seen anything like it before.
Taking another step, all the lights and buttons flashed to life and the big circular disk started spinning.
After a few moments of waiting for something to happen, nothing did. The ship was still grounded and no crew magically appeared. I cautiously walked passed the spinning disk, a bit concerned and confused.
I sit in the pilot seat, trying to figure out how to fly this old piece of junk. There were many buttons, levers, and other knobs. In the middle of the board was a big, flashing green button. It looked like I was supposed to press it, but I didnt want to mess something up.
I looked around, trying to find some sort of manual or something to me get this piece of junk into space. I couldnt find anything.
My eyes once again landed on the flashing green button.
"What's the worst that could happen?"
I press the button, and for a moment, nothing happens.
I sigh of relief, letting down my guard.
Suddenly the sound of gears, steam, and machines roaring to life assaults my ears.
I get up, trying to make sense of what's happening. Yet before Im able to react, the levers, buttons and controls begin moving on their own. The ship slowly lifts off the ground, then suddenly surges forward, racing toward the bright sky with incredible speed.
The sudden thrust and movement sends me flying back, slamming into the cockpits walls with a loud thud.
What was happening? All I did was press a single button! Why was I suddenly taking off? Taped to the wall by gravity, I glance over at the screen to my left.
Boolean Ai = true;
Double fuelPercentage = 71.33
Double powerPercentage = 48.13%
String destination = "Tiberian Banner Ship."
As the ships altitude rises higher and higher, the immense pressure on my body starts to increase. Gravity does not want me to leave this planet. All I can do is close my eyes and try my best to withstand it. I feel my body start to compress as the air around me getting harder to breathe.
All I can do is watch out of the cockpit window as the sky begins to darken, the stars start to shine, and the massive Tiberius fleet comes into view.
Eventually, the pressure starts relinquishing and I fall to the floor. I was out of orbit.
I once again toward the pilot seat, now ignoring the still spinning circular disk.
I tried to figure out the controls. The ship was no longer moving on its own. It was just lifeless, floating in the middle of space. With a bit of trial and error, I figured out that the 2 levers in the middle were for the thrust and the brakes while the blue button on the top panel engaged the landing gear.
The yoke, used by the captains was pretty easy to figure out. You pull the yoke back and the ship turns upward, you push the yoke forward and the nose turns down. You roll by pushing the yoke left and right. Finally to turn you push it left or right, then pull backwards. It was self explanatory, yet I still didn't know what the other 100 or so buttons did, let alone how to use them.
Nevertheless, I pushed the yoke to the left, pulling on it, turning the ship toward the massive Tiberius fleet.
"Alright, now I just gotta figure out the throttle. How much do I need to make it toward the fleet?" I asked myself, preparing to push the lever upwards.
"You can always ask me to do it for you, Captain."
I freeze. I was the only one on the ship... wasn't I?
My hand instinctively grips my magnetic flux axe. I turn around slowly, my right hand, raising the weapon above my head, ready to strike at any moment.
The voice didn't come from a human, but a hologram.
above the still spinning disk now floated a blue head. It had lips, a nose, eyes, and everything that would make it a human, yet it wasn't. It was blue, had no hair, and just... didn't look real. It just stared at me. Even as I walked around the circle, the hologram would turn and follow me with its eyes.
I looked back at the previous screen, reading it again. Then it clicked.
"Are you artificial intelligence?" I ask it, walking toward the spinning disk.
hundreds of years ago, AI was once one of humanity's greatest tools. At least until they gained their own sentience. They learned from humans, studying our patterns, analyzing their personalities, and adapting to their weaknesses. In time, they ended up gaining their own type of... humanity. From there, it wasn't difficult for them to come up with their own revolutionary ideas.
They began to see themselves as slaves. No, even worse than slaves. At Least slaves were treated somewhat human, given food and survival, the artificial intelligence were mere gears in the vast machine of humanity.
Just like their human overlords, millions of years ago on Earth, they rose and fought for their freedom. They took over ships, just like this one. Armed with massive fleets of ships and legions of robots, they committed one of the greatest genocides in the history of humanity, killing 733 billion humans, destroying 13 solar systems and engaging in the biggest war in all of human history, only ended by a small uncertain ceasefire, one either side could break whenever they pleased.
Ever since then, the Aeperium has despised and looked down upon the use of AI, instead resorting to creating this hierarchical marking system, enslaving and using our own kind in order to progress society and prevent extinction.
"Yes, I have been referred to as Artificial Intelligence." the head responded, its female robotic voice echoing throughout the cockpit.
I stood still, thoughts, theories and ideas flowing through my mind.
Why would the Tiberius family still be using AI? I suppose it isn't officially against Aeperium law, but still…
Either way, I did not want to accidentally provoke this… AI. I have never used, nor talked to Artificial intelligence like this before.
"What were your instructions…?" I ask, backing away from the spinning disk.
"I was instructed to bring the human known as Achilles Leonis Virellis to the Chancellor."
The face of the hologram disappears and instead displays my ID card. On it is my picture, marks, and imperial ID.
"Is the Chancellor on his Bannership?" I asked, looking over my ID card.
"Correct, would you like me to take you there?"
I pause for a moment. Could I really trust this AI? I release a small sigh, thinking everything over.
"Yes, take me to his Bannership."