Ares Was A God

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Ares"]

Zodiac, a secretive person, be it a man or a woman, Romeo was unsure, but what mattered was this contact was offering him a AI of some sorts dubbed ARES. Well who wouldn't pass that chance up? In his BlackFire class starfighter, Romeo had landed as said needed location, and awaited when he would need to meet this mysterious Zodiac, and where. On his persons was nothing but his mask.

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Zodiac had been hard at work, tailoring the little AI that slept in his bag until she was what he thought would be a perfect fit. The programmer, upon completion, had sent the king the proper coordinates, and was now en route to meet with him.

Of course, Ares wasn't really asleep. She was just acting like it.

It had frustrated the AI to no end when Zodiac had shut down her capabilities, leaving her awake but paralyzed. She couldn't hack into anything, to get any clues; all she could do was wait. In the meantime, though, she formulated scenarios in which Zodiac would have an abysmally low chance of surviving. There were quite a few, actually.

Content with her new way to entertain herself, Ares settled back, no longer occupied with their destination.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

Romeo hopped out of his ship, and rested against his ship. Through the force, he felt a figure coming, and he just turned his head towards the figure coming. "You can stop right there." He said with his hands crossed over his chest. He was not at all okay with not knowing who this man was. Anything was possible these days, and he already had some attempts to his life. It wasnt like he couldnt defend himself, it was just the fact he hated violence.


"So, I take it you're Zodiac? Come to give me this amazing AI?" Yeah he would love to have one, but really, who just gave out random AIs? It was a good way to get close, and strike. "Pull it our, the AI, not whatever piece you may have on you." he said removing himself from the ship. [member="Ares"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Zodiac tilted his head, his face covered. "Naturally, it will come at a price, but yes, I have come to give you an AI." He set the briefcase down and opened it.

Ares felt herself get excited as her programmer opened the case. She had just finished a scenario in which Zodiac was killed by an ice cream -- a deliciously sweet scenario, if she said so herself.

Zodiac picked up the doll-like figure, holding it out to the king. "May I present ARES, A Really Excellent System, and the first AI of its kind; courtesy of yours truly." He then withdrew a datapad, and punched a code into it.

Ares felt the paralysis cease, and she stood up, dusting herself off. Unfortunately, she had been confined to a small body and was unable to bear her plans to fruition.

So, instead, she took a swift analysis of her surrounding, cataloguing the location for later identification. She then noticed another being, and a quick comparison to the data she already had revealed that it was one Romeo Sin, the Shadow King and the being she had been programmed to, well, worship.

Ares walked over to the king, her eyes big because her photoreceptors were big. She stared up at him in awe. Here was the one being she had been programmed to respect! Here was the one being who, should Ares decide to wipe out the galaxy, she would spare! "My king!" she squeaked. "I am Ares, your personal AI, controllable only by you!" The AI put her hands on her hips. "Your most loyal being! At your behest, I can give you a full rundown of my capabilities, and answer any questions you may have!"

Zodiac gestured at the little droid-body. "I've programmed it to only serve you, as you can see. Sort of a gesture of goodwill. Of course, if you choose not to buy it, I can always make it obey some other monarch..."

 

[The Red of Sinner]

Romeo chuckled, and knelt down to the little bodied AI, amused by its joyful tone. "Indeed, this little one is excellent. I am very much pleased." He gently lifted the AI up in the palm of his hand, and spoke. "Please, do inform me of all your abilities." What Zodiac would not know is the fact that Romeo's blood red eyes had been watching him through the black faceless mask the whole time. He had caught the man's one lie, and with that, he had already learned he couldn't be trusted. [member="Ares"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Ares nodded, pleased with this request. She also knew that the chances of her programmer leaving this meeting place were 1:180,000,450. A very low chance, indeed. Yum.

Sitting on the king's hand, Ares began her basic yet informative tutorial.

"As you know before, I am ARES, a custom-made AI tailored to the greatest possible compatibility with your inferenced personality and modus operandi. The body I currently reside in is but a vessel for the great processing power inside, a deceitful way to trick your enemies into greatly underestimating me."

Unlike most AIs, I am not hindered by the normal pacifistic restrictions given to other droids. In essence, this means I do not hold any reservations about permanently removing an organic life from an equation -- except for you and those you deem useful, my king."

I am also able to efficiently and aggressively take over nearly all systems you may require me to. This includes but is not limited to: ships, security systems, personal devices, video recorders, and even other droids. It should be noted, however, that for ships, I do have a restriction; the larger and more complicated a ship is, the harder it will be for me to completely control it. My suggestion is to assign me to a small portion and allow me to work my way through each piece. Otherwise, the end results will be less than satisfactory for you, my king."

The two ways that I am able to slice into a system are either wirelessly or by inserting myself directly into a device connected to the system. While wireless is the preferred method, sometimes a manual upload is needed for times when the required data is on a separate network."

Among my many reservoirs of information, the two that may be of primary use to you are the language and culture files. These--"

"Alright, that's enough," Zodiac interrupted. "So, Your Highness, are you interested? Because if you are, we can negotiate a price and then I can transfer supreme control over to you."

Ares would have made a face at Zodiac, had she muscles instead of metal. Instead, however, she leaned forward and whispered, "The supreme command code he is referring to is a verbal command only known by Zodiac that transfers complete and total admin rights to whomever he chooses. I also did not yet finish my tutorial; there are still some functions I need to address."

 

[The Red of Sinner]

Romeo smiled in great delight as the little AI spoke, truly [member="Ares"] was an amazing artwork, full of endless possibilities. When the man interrupted the conversation, the Vahla turned his head up. He spoke in a very different language, his native tongue. Something only one other person heard him speak. If the AI knew it, she would have heard, "I am very impressed, and as for negotiations...". Romeo's feet adjusted, which causes a very smal, and quiet flame to appear behind the man. It crawled towards him through the will power of his mind. "Let me get the case. I believe 100,000 creds will do?" He delayed. Now the fire was crawling up his pant legs, and Romeo smiled behind his mask. "Or...well...free is always nice." He said as he snapped his finger. The fire roared into a giant blaze, totally engulfing Zodiac. "When there's a person out there who can take control of said allies of mine," he nodded at [member="Ares"], "do you really think I am just going to let that man live. You have lied, for I am not the only person who can give ask Ares a favor." His hand shut up. "And I hate being interrupted." Red lines shot forward, tangling around the man, draining his life, and giving it to Romeo. His eyes glowed red, piercing through the black mask.

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Ares cackled gleefully as Zodiac was burnt to a crisp. "I always knew my programmer was a fool," she howled. "Now you are the admin, since you are the only one I obey." The AI looked at the smouldering remains; she would have been sneering were it not for the permanent lack of expression on the droid-body's face. "It's a shame, though; he could have made me siblings."

Tugging on the king's leg, Ares asked, "My king, would you like me to resume my tutorial? I will pause in between each function to allow for any questions, this time." The AI was bent on accommodating for her new master as much as possible. Especially since he had barbecued the annoying Zodiac.

If only Ares could have done that too. Oh well.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

Romeo ahook his head, and returned to give attention to [member="Ares"], and spoke. "I know a person who can do that for you." He lifted Ares up, and placed her on his shoulder as he hopped into his. A old Sith Fightrr he had produced to be fast, and agile. "Please continue with what you were saying." He closed the canopy, and leaned back in hus seat, removed his mask, and his dark black hair fell to his jaw line, neatly parted in the middle. His blood red eyes seemed to pulse, and all the while he had the softest voice for such a being.

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Ares clung to Romeo's shoulder as she resumed her tutorial.

"One my few non-aggressive capabilities is the stored data of languages and cultures. This data is held in two separate files within my system; each contains all of the relevant information found in both the Holonet and most libraries. This is so that I may be able to act as a translator for you, my king, as well as inform you of the best actions to take based on a species' culture."

The little AI sighed. "Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that there are some languages and species that do not show up within the files, as I suspect that Zodiac skimped on that particular task. However, many if not all of the common species and languages had been uploaded. For languages, this includes: Huttese, Ryl, Ortolan, Cheunh, Sith, and Ewokese. For cultures of species, the speakers of the previously mentioned languages are also included. The cultures also include most of the catalogued planets hosting sentient life forms."

The AI paused in her tutorial, looking at Romeo. "Do you have any questions before I move on, my king?"

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Ares"]

As Romeo listened, he adjusted hus hair to be more scruffy. The AI probably understood what he had said earlier, but to be sure, he asked. "So, did you understand what I said to Zodiac?" He asked and leaned back. "Can you be ugraded? Can we give you more human expressiom, and the likes? I can hear it in your voice that you have somewhat expressive tones. Hmm....Ares always speak your mind, but only to me, about anything you hear within our presence together."

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

The AI bobbed her head. "Of course, my king. Zodiac made sure to include the Vahla culture and language into the files." The droid-body scrambled to hang on at Romeo leaned back, finally managing to secure a new perch.

Ares gave a little "tsk" noise at his second question. "Unfortunately, I cannot be upgraded, though I can download more data for cultures and languages. Zodiac did this to not only make it harder for me to contract a virus, but also so that others could not modify me and pass me off as their own work." She sniffed. "As if anyone would be foolish to tamper with my programming; I am already perfect, my king."

As for human expressions, my king, I am certain that the longer I am around you and your kind, the more expression I will be able to pick up on. Hence, again, my comment on being perfect already."

If Ares had eyelids, she probably would have blinked in surprise at the king's request. Surely it had already been implied that she would say what thoughts she had formed to her king, in order to better help him? Clearly, Ares was not doing a good enough job of giving the king a full rundown on what she was, and this distressed the little AI greatly. "Of course, my king!" she cried out. "To do anything else would be to assist your enemies!" Letting out a squeal of distress, the AI shook her head. "Is there any more you would like to know? Or shall I continue onward?"

 

[The Red of Sinner]

"Say your mind Vahla as for two reasons, secrecy, and I have not had someone to speak it with in a long time. Please continue." [member="Ares"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Ares nodded before continuing. "The last thing that I need to make you aware of is that, with Zodiac dead, you are the only one whom I will obey. Essentially, your word is law, and I cannot ever break it! Not that I would. I am confident, though, that you already knew this bit."

The code that I had mentioned earlier would have made the obey-one protocol permanently fixed, should I ever decide to rewrite my programming to allow disobedience of you. But, my king, have no fear! I would never want to do that in the first place, and now, the only other person who knew the code is dead."

Ares fell silent, thinking long and hard. As far as she could tell she had given all of the necessary information. However, the organic could still have questions, ones which she would be more than willing to answer.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Ares"]

With a quick action, Romeo flipped the a switch to turn on then fighter. "Ares you are free to make a decision on your own. You may thinknyour serve onlybme, but sometimes I will be too bisy to give an order, and thus you must decide what is the best course of action for yourself." He grabbed the yoke, and lifted the ship up in the air. "So, could you fly this ship?"

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Ares bowed her head. "Of course, my king!"

The AI then tilted her head, thinking. "Well, if you have a port I can plug into, I'm certain I can pilot this wherever you want!" She cast a critical eye over everything. "The ship itself is relatively small, and should be easy to take control of."

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Ares"]

Romeo smirked, and flicked open a port panel. "Have at it." He then rubbed his chin. "Take us to orbit. Its too loud here to think." He leaned forward, and flipped lff the coms. "Ares could you be able to connect with a helmets HUD?"

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Ares rubbed her hands together gleefully as a port panel was revealed. Ever since her creation she'd always wanted to fly a ship. Oh, she had been built to control one, and had been tested with a few other ships, but never had she been given freedom. Scrambling off of Romeo's shoulder, she opened her connector and was about to sync with the ship when the king asked a question.

Turning to look at him, the AI nodded. "Allow me to integrate into the ship first, my king." That said, she reached forward and connected with the ship.

As soon as the connection was made, Ares left her droid-body (which became erect as soon as the AI had left) and began to take over the systems. Much to her delight, it was all relatively easy -- she did not have to make her king wait. Within seconds, the lights took on a golden hue as Ares assumed full power.

Before connecting with the HUD, the AI ran a brief diagnostics check to make sure everything was in order. Satisfied with the result, Ares then opened up a line to the helmet. "Everything is ready, my king!" she chirped. "Shall I take off?"

The droid-body, meanwhile, was still attached to the port, as dead and lifeless as a husk.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Ares"]

Romeo watched the HUD rise up, and show all the data gathered by Ares. "Yes, let us head home." He said. "So can you communicate through my HUD? Say I was on a mission, but you were not there, does range matter?"

 

[Ibby]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

If Ares had eyes, she would have blinked. "I do not immediately know, my king. Let me calculate that while I plot a course for your estate."

While the AI finalized the coordinates, she pondered Romeo's question. The ship flew out of the planet's atmosphere and, when the stars began to distort in the tell-tale signs of hyperspace, she finally had an answer.

"I believe, my king, that due to the limited range of the HUD and the ship itself, I would have to be on this ship or a capital ship within range in order to maintain communications. Now, if we were using long-distance comlinks, I'm certain contact could still be maintained. Oh, by the way--" Ares pulled up the course information. "ETA should be within 30-40 standard minutes."