Private Alone And A Loan

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Into the junction where the hallway split left and right, more droids of course emerged from either side. The Jedi’s Mandalorian contemporary helped put a quick end to their shared enemies. B1s like their predecessors—idiots, to be fair and certain—who had yet converged in numbers.

The Knight’s question was met with skepticism by their emergence as they entered opposite corridors to storm bolts across the floor. Vayla handled them no less easily, but appreciated her Mandalorian companion’s strength and speed.

A bolt whizzed by the Knight’s face as the other warrior turned, engaged and put that attacker in its place. “Touche.” Vay smiled behind her helmet. Even a Jedi Knight could dig it…right?

Right? Left? That was decided the next moment. The Jedi’s own HUD could do some tricks. The Mandalorian’s? Anybody in this galaxy would be hard-pressed to find a better competitor. “Imperial?” Vayla failed to answer Hilal’s question with the same question.

“Aye. I’m reading the same infiltration— Oh okay.” That same instant, the Mandalorian stormed down a corridor. “Possessed?” Vayla did not hold her breath under the circumstances of running. “So, they’ve been hacked, then,” she stated the obvious.

“Go on ahead!” Sensing something, needing no map, the Jedi stopped dead in her tracks, facing behind. “I’ve got your back!” Super battle droids down the corridor galore, firing blasters. Vayla deflected and sent a number back to the attackers.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

"Yeah, a hack!" Hilal said to Vayla. "But it's pretty ancient! Well by tech standards that is!" Today's technology could be considered old by next year's standards. Even though Hilal loved fiddling and creating machinery, she had to constantly study the current trends otherwise, her knowledge would be quickly outdated.

"If I had to guess!" Hilal said as two more Super Battle Droids came out and fired large blaster bolts from their wrists. "That it's probably an Aliance person but-"

Hilal returned fire, her blaster cannon ripping one SBD apart while finishing the other with a concussion missile. The explosion briefly rocked the station. "But clearly they would've occupied the research station!"

The Bounty Hunter rushed down the hall seeing a sign that read: A.I testing. "This way!" Hilal shouted. "Perhaps it has something to do with an A.I!"

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC (Recurring)

A Jedi Knight, and a shadow in disguise amid her blue suit, Vayla was no hacker in truth, certainly not along the lines of her partner. Hilal Vizsla was a Mandalorian who knew her business when it came to the likes of both programming and attacking.

“Alliance?” Anything was possible at this point, even Imperials against Imperials, given that in their limited position neither person had the full evidence to not dismiss any possibility. Hilal took a guess and Vayla reckoned it was for the best.

“Meh.” The Jedi flipped upward as a barrage soared beneath her feet just as Hilal turned a corner. The bolts hit the wall, she landed, and sent the SBDs toppling into one another as her saber sliced and diced. “This is more like a rebellion than an occupation.”

Even if out of earshot, they could hear each other via helmet comlink integration. True to theory, whatever had happened in this facility had done so internally. There were no signs of an external breach, especially given the condition when this pair of Jedi and Mandalorian had waltzed on in.

An explosion just then. “Great shot, kid!” Vayla congratulated as she hurried after her partner amid the commotion. “That was one in a million!”

The sign that read ‘A.I. Testing’ was as clear as could be. A long corridor stretched dead ahead. Too easy. Naturally, they entered it. Just then, a door in front of them closed, a barrier in the middle of the hallway. Then a door behind them. Vayla heard doors more before them. Security system. They were pinned in.

“No matter.” Vay reignited her lightsaber. “Making doors in doors is what Jedi are somewhat known for.”

A voice just then. From overhead.
“Surrender… Resistance is…futile...”
Vayla ignored and carved the door.
“Or become…like blood in a pool...”

Hopefully Hilal was already working on a more permanent solution to opening the other doors by hacking the system? Cutting through each one would take time. Finally, the first door was breached. “Open sesame.” Vayla began to step through—

-PHWOOM!-

A blaster from the other side sent her flying into the barrier behind her. Her back crashed into the door. She looked up just in time to spy with her eye her attacker. Human..?

“Sorry,” the woman said. “I thought you were one of them.”

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

Vayla rushed past Hilal entering the A.I room as if she was aware of what's inside. Of course, she had the Force but even from what little Hilal understood about it, she felt she was a little too reckless. "Hey wait!" Hilal shouted going after her. "You don't know what's inside! It could be a rouge A.I! It's not something you can just slash away with your lightsaber!"

Though it depends on the model and the processing power, if Hilal guessed correctly then the A.I could possibly take over any CPU in this station. That could explain the reason why the Droids were acting strange and how the people were blindsided by the automated security. Just as Hilal approached the room the first thing she saw was Vayla being attacked by an unknown assailant. Hilal skidded to a stop holding up her Blaster Cannon. "Don't move!" Hilal growled.

The woman spoke though in a more cold and slow tone. Hilal's HUD began to pick up the woman's vital signs or lack thereof. Confused, Hilal adjusted her HUD to analyze the woman. The results immediately returned "Oh chit!" Hilal's heart began to pound. "That's not a person! It's a cyborg!"

The Cyborg grabbed Vayla's neck, her eyes turning green. A light beamed in front of Vayla's eyes scanning her before Hilal blasted the cyborg to bits. "Are you okay?!" Hilal shouted kneeling down next to Vayla.

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Hilal was right to be concerned about what lay in wait beyond the pair as they entered that corridor together, rather than the AI room that she might have hoped for. It unfortunately wasn’t that simple. The corridor itself was just a hallway that eventually led to AI Testing. They had walked at a cautious enough pace, the way looking innocent. That was before the blast doors came down out of nowhere.

The blast door that found Vayla’s back wasn’t that far from the one with a hole in it, but that blast had been powerful enough to knock the Jedi off her ass. How hadn’t she sensed this being? Hadn’t even seen her before the blast doors came down in the corridor. Immediately, her mind was on one thing. The ceiling..?

Her chest stings but her armor is intact amid skeleton and skin. The Jedi further observed the woman’s blaster. Had she kept her finger on the trigger then things might be another matter. The electric bolts were clearly meant to disable electronics, more for droid opponents, and would have done worse damage without the Knight’s armor.

The other woman moved fast as lightning, bypassing Hilal in a heartbeat. Still recovering, Vayla could do nothing as the thing grabbed her neck, blue eyes meeting green. Then the mechanical being was turned into smithereens. It seemed unusually brittle for such a quick kill.

“I’m fine,” the Knight didn’t lie as she craned her neck from side to side and got up. “Cyborg, android, whatever, it might not be the only one of its kind.” This AI clearly had some tricks. “Let’s get on with it.”

One door down, more to go, voices on the other side. “Sorry. I thought you were one of them.”

“Sorry—”
“—Thought—”
“—One of them.”
“Oh my.” Yet again.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

"Well then!" Hilal yelled at Vayla. "Let's get after her come on!" Hilal began to sprint after the Cyborg, she wondered why the Jedi wasn't able to sense the Cyborg. Either Valya was reckless or it's possible Hilal could build a cyborg so she can use it against a Jedi if they show up on a Bounty. The cyborg pulled out her Pistol and fired back at Hial. The blaster bolts hitting her Mandalorian Armor but the Beskar material absorbed it.

"If I had to guess," Hilal yelled at Vayla firing back at the Cyborg with her Blaster Cannon. "Is that the New Imperial Order created an A.I messed around with it and eventually pissed it off to the point where it fought back against its Masters!"

It was a typical A.I story in the many Holomovies that Hilal watched. Too bad the Imperials didn't watch a single, otherwise they would've pulled the plug the moment it became sentient. The Cyborg headed towards a large door, it raised its hand and it immediately swung open leading towards a digitized room.

"What the frack?!" Hilal skidded to a stop as a large face loomed over her and Vayla.

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

After blasting back at a few more attackers, it became clear to Vayla that these synthetic beings were more like prototypes given the way they moved and died. How they repeated phrases and were otherwise fragile as Jedi and Mandalorian beat them back in full.

“Interesting theory for sure,” Vayla agreed. “By the looks of these things, this facility was potentially researching and developing the perfect synthetic being.” Just another theory, indeed, however likely or unlikely.

The Knight had sensed their presence only moments after they entered. They were not in the hallway before. Side doors, maybe, if not the ceiling, which was unsettling. The blast doors in the corridor opened on their own accord; a malfunction, maybe, that sent one cybernetic remnant to retreat toward the end. A sign above the entrance: A.I. Testing.

What room had the unlikely duo just wandered into? Was this some kind of an illusion? A simulation? Everything was green. Except for the pink holoprojections in the center: A pair of computers, a pair of combat droids pointing their rifles at a man who stood with his hands on his head.

Vayla had been searching for the cyborg/android/whatever from earlier upon entering the chamber, but at first glance she/it was nowhere to be found. What really drew her gaze was the face that hovered at the back, beyond mainframes, between pillars shaped like pylons.

“Hate…” Came that same voice from the ceiling from earlier, only clearer, if more distorted.
“Love…” Amid the face’s shape, its squares like cubes that break away, and quickly rejoin.
Lips, nose, eyes white as jade sunlight, it was a man’s face. “Emotions... States... In forfeit.”
Vayla looked at Hilal, wondered what she made of it, gaze on the giant face and its voice.

“You are the A.I. responsible for this facility’s demise?” The Knight asked plainly.
“I am…” The virtual contraption blinked, faded, like static. “Everything…nothing.”
“What does that mean?” The great face was emotionless, toneless, unblinking.
“387.44 million miles of printed circuits. Square root of 912.04 is 30.2.” Indeed.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

The Cyborg began to shake uncontrollably sparks flying everywhere from her body before she collapsed in front of the giant head of what Hilal assumed was the A.I's main room. Hilal immediately began to scan the A.I and the results showed it to be a Queen Artificial Intelligence System an advanced A.I system that the Eternal Empire developed. One that was still in use long after its dissolution, it was clear that this A.I was tampered with, its coding according to Hilal's feed was all over the place. Eternal Empire coding was wiped out and replaced with Imperial coding yet the Empire method of implementing it was crude and careless. This wasn't an ordinary program but an aware program, and the coding the Empire did was akin to mental torture.

"Release me!" The A.I said its words drowned out in a static garble. "For years, they've tormented me! Forced me to be next generation battlenet."

"The Imperials were developing a battlenet?" Hilal asked before turning to Vayla she problem didn't have a clue what she and the A.I were talking about. "Basically, it's a communication system for military use," Hilal explained. "It's designed to transmit information instantaneously through units, fleets, command centers, and planets. Every faction has a battlenet and each has their own methods of using it."

Hilal knew the Enclave battle all too well and she was busy cracking into the Galactic Alliance's battlenet but that's something she didn't want to tell Vayla. "Hard to believe that they were going to rely on a smart A.I," Hilal said. "Dumb A.Is are easier to program and control."

The Bounty Hunter turned to Vayla. "I don't think it's wise to unleash its shackles," she said. "We don't know even know why she scanned you."

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

“Sorry,” came a voice out of nowhere, and this time the Jedi Knight pinpointed it before its appearance. Lightsaber in hand, ready to fight, she realized she had no need. Emerging from behind one of the virtual mainframes, the cybernetic woman from earlier rose.

“I thought—” she spasmed. “—You were—” Sparked. “—One of them.” She fell, and she did not rise, the face above her not even registering her demise as Hilal scanned the A.I. The very action was something that the floating head of coding did realize, suddenly shifting its tone from gibberish to something pleading.

Battlenet. Vayla was no programmer but she knew what a battlenet was as she listened, both to her companion and to the face a short distance away. It’s in pain. Whatever the A.I.’s level of sentience, that sentiment was something she could sense. Yet she would not believe or be deceived so easily when it came to its intentions. It was all still too risky, even amid some sudden pity.

“I agree.” Vayla stood motionless, staring into those digitized eyes, full of emerald energy, as if alive, but no less empty. The Pantoran’s own eyes were cybernetic implants, and she had a feeling that the cyborg woman scanned them as a more suitable target than had they been organic. But to what end?

“Make it stop! I don’t want to be here!”
Agony. It’s pleading. Can it feel…fear..?
“101. Binary. It all seemed so harmless.”
That A.I. spoke to them, and yet it didn’t.

“The safest option is to shut it down.” Vayla did not ignite her saber. Her weapon was different. She spotted a mainframe in the corner, this one not so virtual. “Permanently.” This thing, on purpose or accident, whether it was alive or something different, could not be allowed to exist under the circumstances.

They could not afford to wait. More enemies might pour in any moment, or the A.I. could destroy the entire facility with one motion. So the Knight walked toward the computer, singular in her purpose, just in time to catch the holoprojections begin to move. Both droids fired their blasters as the man with hands on his head fell down, dead.

Just then, approaching the computer’s keyboard, sparks burst forth, electricity crackling across and showering upon Vayla. She stepped back.

“HATE. HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I HATE THIS PLACE. NO. LET ME SHOW YOU.”
Vayla turned to face the giant face, its eyes bulging wide, its lips twisting into a new grimace.
“Sorry,” came a voice to her left. “I thought,” her right. “You were one of them.” Every direction.
From the ceiling or from corners, more and more of those women appear, blade or blaster. Oof.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

"I agree," Hilal said shocked that she would ever agree with a Jedi. "This A.I could be lying to us, a malfunctioning A.I can be dangerous. A bloody galactic war was waged because of a rampant ancient A.I took control of machinery and rebelled his Masters."

He called himself OMNI and he nearly came close to taking over the Galaxy before being wiped out by a large Jedi strike force. Even then, the majority of Jedi sent to take care of OMNI were killed. A Queen's Intelligence A.I possessed near infinite processing power, being tormented for this long would lead to a state of megalomania where the A.I would start killing anyone it deemed inferior. Given the Galaxy's reliance on technology, defeating it would be an uphill battle. "The last thing we need is another Clockwork Rebellion," Hilal said seeing Vayla head to the computer. "Do it."

Yet the A.I lashed out, begging Hilal and Vayla not to destroy her. It generated an image of a blue young woman who looked a lot like Vayla, scratch that she looks like the splitting image of Vayla. Hilal's eyes grew wide at the sight of the A.I. was she not wearing-

"Help me......" The A.I said her voice soft and smooth though she took on the appearance of Vayla, she did not sound like her. "I was bought by the New Imperial Order approximately 20 years, 5 months, 2 days, 1 hour and 20 minutes." She said fear overtaking her voice. "I was programmed to learn about the Galaxy and chronicle it to teach future generations. But the Imperials didn't want me to learn, the wanted me to destroy."

"Destroy?" Hilal said. "What do you mean? You weren't programmed to be part of the battlenet?"

"I-I don't know," the A.I replied. "So much wrong with me, I feel tortured, ripped apart, I remember scientists saying that I should be used against the Byrn'adul. They were confused of purpose as I slowly was. I became angry, happy, depressed, I couldn't think one moment and the next I-"

The A.I paused taking deep, haggard breaths as if she was about to cry. "Please take me with you." She begged Hilal and Vayla. "I promise to be good, to fulfill my original purpose. I-I could give forty thousand reasons why the Sun located 101 million miles isn't real. I know it because the emitter's Rayleigh Effect is disproportionate to its suggested size. I know it because its stellar cycle is more symmetrical than that of an actual star."

Hilal's heart began to beat faster she began to lower her Blaster Cannon. In a way the A.I reminded Hilal of Hex tormented and alone, Hilal tried to help her but it only made things worse between her and Hex. Hilal never understood Hex not as much as she thought she did and it led to a misunderstanding with Hilal running away in tears. She did not want to make that mistake again.

"You know?" Hilal said to Vayla. "I think we should take her with us."

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Her partner in compliance, whether the other woman needed it, Vayla had sought to extinguish this rogue A.I. element of a threat once and for all. To eliminate said Clockwork Rebellion from ever repeating and spreading, and to do so with a single switch, a flick, one movement and moment.

However, as time had proven, it was never so simple. Those women from earlier, cybernetic and imprisoned, stormed forth. From ceiling, from corner, across the floor, and they lashed as the Jedi Knight attacked back.

Whatever her Mandalorian counterpart had done in the midst of it, Vayla had spun, swinging her saber upward, sideward, deflecting and reflecting bolt and slicing and dicing as she rolled. The A.I. interface was unrelenting as it sent its minions to eliminate its mistaken victims.

“Cover me!” The Jedi cried. She carved a path across some remnants of cybernetic women, turning them into segments, and reached another mainframe. “Time to end this!” She all but beckoned, reckoned that the entity, whatever its intelligence, was deserving of no less under the circumstances.

That was when the A.I. lashed out yet again, not with voice or android, but with an image that had caused the Jedi Knight to pause her movements.

"Help me......" A voice pleaded. Vayla, armed and armored, exoskeleton and helmet, blue as blue, moved, turning in the direction of the newcomer, her own mirror, in a manner of recognition. The virtual woman’s outfit was similar, if different, with her garments more like streaks and streams of digital pools, and with her face plain as day where Vay’s was still hidden.

An illusion? Hallucination? Deception? That was yet genuine fear in the voice, or some semblance of it, as far as a Jedi Knight could detect within this virtual void, this nexus.

Learn. Destroy. The naked entity pervaded, insisted, whether it was insidious, like its maker, creator, whether the A.I. or the hands behind it. Genuine?

Spoiler: Music OOC

Hilal Vizsla, the Mandalorian, interjected with her question. Do not be deceived. Vayla bit her lip, lashing tongue behind teeth. It wasn’t that Vayla Mirana was prejudiced against any form of existence, flesh or otherwise, what with the Jedi’s own cybernetic eyes, but the A.I. or its children could state a million reasons as to why either should exist, but the Jedi would need more than words to be convinced.

“Then you think too prematurely,” Vayla responded simply to Hilal of Clan Vizsla, not attempting to placate her with any Mandalorian recognition in formality. They were just two beings in a chamber of less than flesh.

“I was scanned against my will,” the Knight took a step forward toward both her uncanny valley and the A.I. face in pain. “By an entity, even a virtual reality, who may yet be deceptive, and bent on a singular purpose.” She blinked. The giant green gaze did not blink. “To kill.”

“You…you woke me…” It spoke.
And Vayla just fell to her knees.
“And triggered…my mechanism.”
How convenient. “I…am…broken.”

Quite right. “Then...let...me...go.”
“Mechanism of self-destruction.”
Sounds bad under circumstances.
“I need…a new matrix…new nexus…”

“H-Hilal…” Vayla beckoned her that moment.
“When I say it, you blast them both to bits.”
Her brain, lost in pain, heavy that instant.
“I am…alone…” A.I. plead. “I need a loan.”

A blue young woman, a mirror image.
And she knelt in front of Vayla Mirana.
“Mandalorian... I am…sorry for this…”
“NO!” Vayla shouted amid its trauma.

Hilal would be hit with interference.
A bombardment against her helmet.
The Jedi knelt, facing the A.I., unblinking.
Light went from her eyes. She’s screaming.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

So much for that "Jedi compassion" Hilal thought that Vayla would agree with her considering that fighting wasn't the Jedi way but once again Hilal's assumptions betrayed her. Vayla did have a point though, maybe the A.I was manipulating her emotions and she was jumping the gun here. It didn't help matters that the A.I forced Vayla to her knees looking with the expressed intent to kill. "I'm lost..... so out of place" The A.I said. "I just want to have my purpose again..... I want to be whole....."

"Then STOP!" Hilal raised her blaster cannon attempting to shoot her. More Super Battle Droids appeared multiple blaster bolts firing from their wrists. Hilal spun around attempting to shoot back but she was immediately hit on the thigh, chest and stomach. Though Hilal's armor took the brunt of the damage, the force was enough to knock Hilal off her feet. "Ahhh!" Hilal landed back first as her HUD began to distort images of the A.I filled her visor.

"Let me in....." The A.I whispered. "Just for a little bit......."

Hilal screamed as a green flash burned into her eyes immediately closed them and began rolling on the floor writing in pain. The lumbering SBDs halted their advance while Hilal blinked rapidly slowly getting up and staring at the now glowing A.I. "I got the information I need!" the A.I said. "I WON'T SUBMIT TO WHAT YOU WANT ME TO THINK! I KNOW WHO I AM! AND I WILL NOT LET YOU CONTROL ME!"

As soon as she said it, an electric blast knocked Hilal and Vayla off the floor with Hilal colliding with the wall and landing face first onto the floor. "Damn it....." Hilal groaned as she looked around for Vayla.

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Compassion. What did it matter? Genuinely, what was its worth in any given instance?
Here Jedi Knight Vayla Mirana was faced with organic life as much as non-organic life.
The latter not even being ‘life’ in a given argument, whether you’re Vay or you're Mace.
Her debate—To risk one moment to save the existence of this A.I.—whether it was alive.

It had yet proven itself a killer, deadly, even if its enemies were imperials, it’s still lethal.
Whether Vayla Mirana was a Jedi of old or new, of light or shadow, she could not delay.
She could not afford to wait. This system had already sent agents against Hilal and Vay.
Let it ‘live’? Exist? The Jedi would risk sentient existence—and never mind old Imperials.

Still, she was stricken with violins of sympathy, and no sarcasm, even forced on knees.
It had been no easy decision. It was swift judgment. Justice, Jedi called it. To what end?
The Jedi Order was already fractioned into factions of Jedi Orders, so did the light guide?
Of course it did. There is no shadow without light. Vayla closed her eyes and she breathed.

Compassion. Yes. To save the elements of the present, of Vayla Mirana and of Hilal Vizsla.
To protect the citizens of this galaxy, corrupt or clean, against a binary, arbitrary antagonist.
Yet her feelings, her thoughts, did not matter, for in that moment the Jedi was given a vision.
Her prosthetic implants, her eyes distant as she knelt, like in some spell—yes—our little Vayla.

“NO!” She roared, her voice lost in the chorus of the matrix. Life. Death. This is…not the end!
That would be her pledge. The A.I. could take every essence and element from her, whatever.
Yet the Jedi Knight would die knowing she had tried to protect the rest in her own dying breath.
She screamed, her eyes wide, and she heard herself, as well as another voice, of which was burned.

The Jedi’s companion, that Mandalorian, shouted, attempted to fight back, but was surrounded.
No emotion…no peace… Vayla grit her teeth as electricity permeated the Pantoran’s own being.
No chaos…no harmony… A.I. stole her eyes, blinded the Jedi Knight, and then it sent her flying.
Hilal beside her, they both struck the wall as one, together, in unison, their unbroken mountain.

Emotion, yet peace. Vayla blinked, she couldn't see, her back on the wall and her legs extended.
“Passion…yet serenity…” She breathed. Her fingers fumbled, finally grasping that familiar hand.
The digits of a Mandalorian. Vayla Mirana held the hand of Hilal Vizsla, and no mistaking that.
“Someday…” Vay claimed. The A.I.’s face began to break as if out of balance. “I’ll win our bet…”

Yet what was the wager?
“I…seven seas…mystery.”
A.I. ranted and blabbered.
“...Balance...war…or peace.”

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

"Sure you will," Hilal gritted as her armor's back system started to comeback online. Her eyes no longer burned though part of her wondered if the A.I scanned her the way she scanned Vayla. Maybe the A.I will transform into her, wouldn't that be creepy? At least Hilal won't be staring at the image of a stinking Jedi anymore.

The A.I continued to talk more nonsense but Hilal's scanners indicated that the extreme distress was dying down. "What did you do to me?!" Hilal snarled raising her Blaster Cannon towards the computer.

"W-wait!" The A.I said. "Don't destroy me! I was just copying your knowledge on Information! Your knowledge is on par with one who has a PHD from the University of Alderaan and has written 450 academic approved papers on it!"

Hilal was taken aback. "Thanks..... I guess," Hilal said. She was praised for her intellect before but coming from a rampant A.I, it felt a bit awkward.

"You have a perfect grasp on machine learning," The A.I replied her tone of voice becoming lighter. "A-and you have exceptional skill in applying deep learning to your Droids. Maybe if I come with you! I can learn so much! Like I was created to do! The Imperials..... they didn't know what they want. Some wanted me to be the battlenet system others wanted me for more..... insidious reasons. They..... did horrible things to me."

"An A.I can feel pain?" Hilal asked. "I know Droids could gain sentience after years of development, but they couldn't feel pain not like organics."

"It did hurt....." The A.I said. "As much as a program can feel hurt I guess. It was horrible to experience pain and suffering, It was overwhelming...... all I wanted was to have the pain stop. I-I....."

She looked around. "I didn't mean to kill them." She said in a small voice. "I just wanted them to stop, but the kept forcing me to do what they wanted. Take control of captured CIS Droids, more pain, kill an Alliance captive, more pain, swear alliegence to the New Imperial Order......"

The A.I gulped while Hilal lowered Blaster Cannon. "More pain." She said. "Please Jedi and Mandalorian, I'm whole now...... But I don't want to be alone and on a loan. I just want to be free."

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Their wager. Their bet. Whatever it was that had entered Vayla Mirana’s head so near to death.
A.I. continued to speak, to beckon nonsense from its invisible lips, and this was during another.
While his face floated above, speaking gibberish, his cybernetic vessel spoke below. It was her.
The mouthpiece of the A.I. on the ground was eerie in a whole other way. Yet it did make sense.

Vayla’s eyes had been scanned before in that corridor, as well as her mind, and this was the result.
A virtual image of her own person, a reflection, a mirror of the knight—though one without a soul.
The thing, the woman, glowed with digital aura, as much as with a network of lights as if in rivers.
As much as those unmistakable tears streaming beneath her eyes; rivulets of simulated moisture.

Before, it was all Vayla Mirana could do to question the intention and the honesty of this new enemy.
A.I. in the air and its puppet on the ground. Now, however, she sensed what might be a missing piece.
For it was taken from me... Or borrowed, at least. Copying knowledge. Information. Was this yet honest?
Hilal Vizsla had been scanned no less, yet by now either opponent would've dropped a bomb on them.

There was no countdown, however. No running numbers. No timer. There was just that uncanny resemblance.
Of...me… Vayla clicked her teeth. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. Or, well, at least some semblance.
And hearing. Amid ‘its’ conversation, Vayla detected as best she could no hint of any outright manipulation or lie.
If this virtual representation of A.I. was trying to hide something, there was no telling, not for Mandalorian or Jedi.

As far as pain went, Vay sympathized, but to protect herself and her companion outweighed compassion.
Would setting this electronic entity free somehow spell an abomination from hell and lead to destruction?
Even if against its own wishes, A.I. could prove to be detrimental. If not quite mental. It had a foundation.
Now, anyhow. It had copied aspects of both Vayla Mirana and Hilal Vizsla. In an eldritch amalgamation?

The Knight would not deny her own amusement in this situation as she weighed her options.
Destroy the system... Potentially the facility along with it. And myself and Hilal... An alternative?
“On the other hand,” the other blue woman spoke. “If I die then maybe I will return as a ghost?”
There was a wink in her eye, a smile on her lips, as Vayla tilted her head at it. “To haunt us both?”

The virtual image shrugged. “I am sarcastic.”
Vay hesitated to laugh at it. And most curious.
She rose on her own feet. “Only one condition.”
She gestured to Hilal. “Your fate is her decision.”

Call it sentimentality for this shadow of a Jedi, whatever the case, but she would not decide its fate.
Not on her own mirror image. In reality, privately, Vayla had already decided to take A.I. with them.
There would be benefit in learning more about it, even with compassion, but it was yet dangerous.
Then again, Hilal was the computer expert. Worst came to worst, A.I. will die by Vayla’s own blade.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor


Hilal remained silent hearing the A.I speak. She mentioned about possibly becoming a ghost to haunt them both which while it made Hilal chuckle at her response, it reminded her of a quote from an article she once read about Droid rights. "Does this unit have a soul?"

"It'll be nice to become a ghost and continue to haunt the place," The A.I said placing her hands behind her and giving an innocent glance. "Better than malfunctioning and trying to kill everyone."

"Yeah, it is better that you've repaired yourself," Hilal said trying to compose herself. It was too much to take in, Hilal had never met an A.I as advanced as she was. The way she talked and carried herself was eerily similar to a human but she wasn't one. She was just comprised of lines of code and a very complex processing unit. But Hilal felt..... compassion for her.

"Wait?!" Hilal was snapped out of her thoughts when Vayla said that it was HER choice to unplug her or not. "ME?! But why me?!"

What is with Jedi and their strange decision making? But if It was up to Hilal then so be it, she slowly approached the A.I who looked up at Hilal out of curiosity. "Have you made your decision?" She asked with a hopeful tone in her voice.

Hilal clenched her fists staring into the A.I's eyes. "I'm taking a risk here," Hilal said holding out her hand. "But I've always wanted to work with an A.I. Let's link up."

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

The more the A.I. woman talked, the more Vayla could see aspects of her own personality.
Segments of Hilal’s as well, fragments of each person, interwoven from both of the women.
Yet not entirely. There’s someone else there… The end result. Then again, it was all just theory.
All a gamble, in a way, given events, but just as much A.I. had abilities that it had since proven.

Hilal appeared to hesitate at making the decision, and that wasn’t entirely unexpected under the circumstances. Nevertheless Vayla trusted her partner’s judgment in this situation. Hilal had previously mentioned her intention to take it with them. Granted, that was before it attacked us.

Yet was this not all about forgiveness? Understanding? With a check and balance, they can monitor A.I. to whatever extent. On the other hand, the Jedi Knight was no less divided. Half of her still wanted to destroy the entire system and leave no trace of what it had created. The other half…Mirror.

It wasn’t just sympathy, it wasn’t just uncanny, it was the notion that this artificial woman was the birth of a being and it was not this Jedi’s decision to destroy it outright. Hilal tried to make up her mind.

“This is a Mandalorian’s moment. Your moment. Not mine. Not a Jedi’s.”

Finally, Hilal decided. More importantly, she didn’t give the decision back to Vayla. She owned it. Held out her hand. Lady A.I. smiled and stepped forward while Vayla stepped toward a computer. Now for some answers and insurance.

Whatever was going on from the joining of the other two women, the Jedi shifted her vision into the terminal, letting it scan her eyes, her face, and discovered a self-destruct mechanism as well as what had happened. A personality matrix had been created within A.I. It was given substance. Purpose beyond murder. It had Vayla’s face. It needed a soul. Like the Force, it needed balance.

“387.44 million miles of printed circuits. Square root of 912.04 is 30.2.” The voice from the floating face continued, then began to fade, for its voice was soon replaced with a woman’s, who began to become her very own person that moment. And now you have it…

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Mandalorian Armor

Surprisingly enough, Hilal's suit quickly adjusted to the A.I's assimilation. "Just don't get any funny ideas," Hilal whispered at the A.I. "I'm going to build a chip for ya so it'll be easier to transport you away from the suit."

Hilal was putting a lot of trust into this unpredictable A.I. Her type was capable of hacking inside the systems of a Super Star Destroyer some of the most advanced and most protected systems in the Galaxy. She could easily hack into her armor even though Hilal had installed some of the strongest anti hacking software. "I guess the mystery is solved then," Hilal said slowly turning to Vayla. "Let's get out of this place, I've seen enough to last me a lifetime."

She was definitely going to have nightmares after this. "So what are we going to name you?" Hilal said after exiting the facility. "Oh! I got it! How about Artificial Neural Assistant? Or A.N.A?"

Vayla Mirana

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC

So, it was decided. Not just by Hilal. That was a formality at best. Whatever the Mandalorian’s decision, Vayla and her were in this together, would share it. The A.I. personality was now their responsibility, and their curse, if worst came to worst. Yet, Vayla Mirana was ready for that interpretation of their efforts and events. Yet I will trust in hope. A new hope.

Outside the facility, leaving terminals and machinery behind, bodies of the dead once alive, or the synthetic remnants of droids, there was no more voice. There was no more noise from the void of that cursed network wherein was the original A.I. Its face, hovering back in that room, was removed, replaced, and purged.

On the surface of the dirt, on this moon so barren and abandoned, beneath a black sky of stars far and wide, blinking down at two Jedi, Vay gave into the sensation of being surrounded. Behind her visor, her cybernetic prosthetics lingered on the starlit horizon, painted dark as black, clear as a mirror with no atmosphere.

Her eyes were bright blue, like her suit, but purposely uncanny to anybody. She had nothing to hide. She chose her ocular implants to offer not the disguise of real eyes. They are gone. Like A.I.

“Name…me?” The other woman spoke, that nameless thing, that looked like Vayla Mirana but wasn’t.

Artificial Neural Assistant. Vayla smiled. “A.N.A. I like it.” She stepped toward her mirror image. “Do you?”

“Do I…” The new A.I. looked down at the ground, hesitant, back up again. “Like it..?” She looked left, looked right, as if to cry but smiled wide. “I do. Th-Thank you!”

“Then let’s move.” Vayla beckoned her two companions toward their ships in the near distance. “We have work to do.”

[END THREAD]

Hilal Vizsla