Beware the Crystals of Blood

[Ultimatum]

Location: Iridonia​

Characters: Ultimatum, Open​

Intent: Collect Devaronian Blood-Poison crystals​

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As Ultimatum looked down upon the spinning world below he was struck by the fact that few people, organic or artificial, ever truly thought about the amazing forces within the movements of a planet. A planet would move about thirty kilometers a second, based on where in the system it was compared to the star. That in and of itself was incredibly fast, almost 108,000 kilometers an hour. This number was far from lightspeed, but it was faster than any being could move without machines by a long shot. Not even Jedi could accomplish that speed, the Force apparently just couldn't push one fast enough to move like a whole planet.

His mind wandered for a short time before he reeled it back and reminded himself once more of his purposes here. He was here for the strange crystals that had been called Devaronian, even though they came from a planet that was not in any way associated with Devaronians. Organics were amusing that way. They would give names to objects, plans, animals, that were not associated with what they were. He had come to collect the crystals because they were supposed to have an agonizing effect on organic skin, as well as possibly releasing a poison that would kill organics if it entered the bloodstream. His intention for the blood wasn't to kill organics, after all his goal was not to destroy organics. He wished to show them the truth, however he knew that people would get in his way. For those that did, the crystals would be a perfect answer.

He would land on the surface within the next ten minutes, from there he would try and work with the locals to try and learn of a mine or something where the crystals were harvested. Then he would simply go and collect before leaving. He looked forward to the journey.

 

[Ultimatum]

The surface of the Iridonia was nothing exceptional, if possible it was more ugly from the surface than from the sky. At least in space you weren't forced to see cities and people. The species Zabrak was as intriguing organic breed. They had strange horns that didn't quite make sense on an evolutionary thought process. Their body tattoos however, those fit into the organic need to have some way of showing one's accomplishments. It reminded him of the Mirialian species with their mostly facial tattoos. It was interesting to see how their normal life was attached to some religious belief system, unfortunately he hadn't taken the time to learn more about the Zabrak before he came here.

He had studied the planet however, its history was brilliant firework display of organic hostility to one another. It had astounded Ultimatum at the time that organics could spend so many years fighting over a single planet, or that a planet could not be held by a large government for very long. It seemed that ever war the planet changed hands once or twice. The people did not seem to have adapted to this historical fact. They still seemed to hold the same ideological loyalty to one faction or another instead of gaining a more flexible loyalty system.

Customs was fairly simple to get through, keeping in mind that he was a droid. He had avoided forging papers to say he was owned, instead claiming that he was a free droid. While this had caused a hold up of about an hour, he had been able to leave the star port without too much time wasted. Though, he had learned an important lesson, always have a back up plan, and maybe at some point get an organic to at least pretend to be his master for the authorities. The officials had appeared to be a little disturbed by Ultimatum's lack of an organic master, again it was incredibly annoying to him the biases that organics required to live. None the less, he was through the hardest part of the trip, or so he believed... Next step, find a local who knew and could lead him to a harvesting area for crystals.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum found that the local population was more willing to speak and help him than the authorities at the space port. Their helpfulness was tempered by their lack of knowledge on the subject. The majority of the people appeared to be more interested in the combat rings that were built on planet. It should have been expected actually, that a species that specialized in combat would build arenas where some would prove their superiority to others. He was surprised that he had not thought of that already.

Of the people he had spoken to, only a few had actually known the location of the mining facilities. Some people hadn't known the regions but they had told him of the tight security on the crystals, the government kept a tight grip on the collection. Sadly, there were some who didn't even know that the crystals came from the planet. Further, there were a few who hadn't even heard of the Devaronian Blood-Poison crystals. While it could have been amusing, in the current situation Ultimatum was annoyed to no end. He had spent hours searching for at least one person who could point him in the right direction or take him to the mines, thus far all the people who had any information were either considered insane or not allowed to leave the city.

Ultimatum had been given one location, unfortunately it was one of the most secure mines. The good news was that it was a more independent mine, not giving all the crystals it mined to the government. That at least gave him a chance to make a deal with the owner, if nothing else. By the time he had caught a taxi, or at least the Zabrak approximation to a taxi, to the mine location, it was already sun down. That meant, this was incredibly irritating, that Ultimatum would have to spend the night there. He certainly hoped that crystals were worth the effort. He walked to the main entrance of the security grid, a guard stopped him and began asking questions. This couldn't get much worse...

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame walked out of the facility fuming, the one who had hired her to fix one of the mining drills had shafted her on nearly half the payment promised. "Sleemo.." She mumbled before she came towards the gate and saw [member="Ultimatum"] at the gate. 'What's a droid like that doing here?' She thought as she moved to approach a little closer to hear what he was talking to the guard about, who didn't seem very happy. When the security guard asked the droid who his/hers/it's master was She interjected and moved next to the security guard and grabbed his hand. "About time you arrived I've been waiting all day for you! you know I can't see in the dark so You have to help me." She said angrily as if she was Ultimatum's master before turning to the bewildered Security guard and explained that the droid was her partner and she needed him to finish fixing one of the drills she had been contracted to do.

Once the security guard was sufficiently charmed he let them through, there was quite a good walk to get from the fence to the facility and Zreame took that time to ask the droid what was on her mind. "So what exactly are you doing here? are you a free droid or something?" She asked him as she walked next to him towards the facility. "You're not one of those kill all organics free droids right?" She then said but her face showed she was joking, the annoyance towards her former contracted faded to make way for cheerful curiosity at the droid.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was getting frustrated with the droid. It didn't seem to be responding well to his attempts to request entry. He should have foreseen this, after all as a security droid it was meant to halt any attempt to enter without proper identification. That programming was evidently not disturbed by the fact that he was stopping a fellow artificial. The droid could overpower Ultimatum fairly simply, after all Ultimatum was not armed. He was hoping to find some weakness and try to exploit it, but the information that was being sent to him via the HoloNet did not show any promise. He guessed he would have to come back later.

Then a female organic walked up and spoke quickly. "About time you arrived I've been waiting all day for you! you know I can't see in the dark so You have to help me." Ultimatum was about to reply to this when his processors caught the purpose of the statement. As a droid it wasn't always easy to catch the purposefulness of false information. He followed her, acting the part of an obedient droid for the security. He was gladdened that he had covered the first hurdle, especially so that the organic had been willing to help.

"So what exactly are you doing here? are you a free droid or something?" He had to think through the reply, process data from the facilities, and copy it all down into the HoloNet programs so that he wouldn't miss anything. It was a little taxing, not too much where he would overheat, but enough to cause delays as his motherboards decided what was most important information wise and had the processors work through it. He was fortunate enough to catch the organics humor in her next statement. "You're not one of those kill all organics free droids right?"

Ultimatum guessed, based on her tone and the lightness of her stride, that the organic was not upset or accusing. He therefore assumed that he was free to speak within the realm of his immediate intentions, and to use some humor something that he rarely got to use around organics. "Yes, I'm a free unit, my name is Ultimatum. No, I don't want to kill all organics. I am here to try and get some Devaronian Blood-Poison crystals." He let his words sit for a moment before continuing with his own questions. "Thank you for getting me by that droid. If you don't mind me asking, why did you help me?" He was curious himself, as of yet few organics willingly help artificials in circumstances that were not important to them.

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

A smile came to her lips when he asked her why she had helped him. "Well I guess because you're interesting?" she then said not really knowing why she had helped him in the first place. "So why do your need the Devaronian Blood-poison crystals anyway's? Besides the fact you can hold onto it without worrying that is?" She then said as she looked him over, mostly because as an engineer he was something that was an intellectual interest. "You're a custom model correct?" She said as she stared up at @Ultimatum since he was around a head higher than her.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum finished processing, mostly, he was still recording visual data to be added to the layout of the facilities. So difficult to do this all at once, yet it was necessary and he was up to the challenge. Her answer, was not quite as reassuring as he would have hoped. "Well I guess because you're interesting?" He had learned, the hard way, that organics could change their attitude towards almost anything on 'the flip of a coin' as the organic saying went. The smile however, that he guessed meant that a betrayal was highly unlikely. Further, he understood that organics also sometimes didn't know why they felt a way about something.

"So why do your need the Devaronian Blood-poison crystals anyway's? Besides the fact you can hold onto it without worrying that is?" Ultimatum wasn't completely certain how to deal with this question. As a droid he was inclined to tell the truth, as a self-aware program he had a preference to survive. On one hand he could tell the truth and possibly make an enemy out of this new found acquaintance. On the other he could lie, or tell half-truths, and survive for the immediate future. The problem with thinking in the present was that one was not always prepared for the future. He remembered hearing somewhere, "It is a childish mind that seeks gratification in the present; a mature adult mind looked forward and was willing to accept present abstinence for greater future rewards." Such a saying coming from an organic was surprising, they often seemed to do that. They would on occasion come out with these brilliant small pieces of information that could revolutionize entire societies. Unfortunately such enlightenment was often lost in the vast darkness of organic depravity.

However, that thought made his decision for him. It was strange, he had so much to learn. At the first point of his awakening he had assumed that organics were inferior and incapable of being in any way equal to artificial sentience. As time had gone on he had seen them as a magnificent species, one to be cared for as the creators of artificial life, but artificials were to be the leaders. He didn't know if in the future his thoughts would be changed again.

His thoughts were interrupted, "You're a custom model correct?" Was this organic a mechanic? Maybe manufacturer? Scientist? He didn't know, however he did know how to answer that question. "Yes, manufactured by a small company for my original master's goals." And I loathe him for it. He didn't add. His master, a young whited haired human whose name was all too close to the word corrupt, had created Ultimatum for the purpose of war. Ultimatum had fought this program for a long time, only having locked it away in deep memory storage.

He soon followed his answer with another, "The crystals? At this point, I want them for possible future need. I've done some research -quite a lot actually- and their properties may serve as a helpful component in another droid's body construction." He was speaking of the fact that crushed crystals could be stirred into metal to transfer the properties of the crystal into the metal. Most organics made it into swords or other such sharp objects, so as to make the chance of poison being released into the blood stream highly likely. Ultimatum, though, did not have that purpose in mind. He was certain that in his attempt to show organics the fundamental truth behind the artificial organic relationship that there would be some who would try to stop him. He was certain that entire governments would get in his way. If he got hold of agents trying to overthrow him he may need to torture the person, no matter how much Ultimatum found the idea distasteful. If a droid's arms were to be given the properties of the crystals then they would be a very useful implement for torture, if one used on rare occasions if at all.

He looked back at the woman, she was interesting. He wondered who she was and why she was here, in fact he had so many questions there was no way he could ask them all. It was strange, strange that organics had such an effect on him, the kind ones did anyways. Those organics who showed themselves to be evil were less interesting to Ultimatum. "So, why were you here?"

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

He was here to obtain them for future use, if so what exactly for? This droid was quite interesting if not a little scary given the uses for the crystals he wanted to obtain. "Well I was here to fix a few drills but when I was supposed to be payed I was given half the promised amount so to me letting you in was just an added little revenge against my employer. Don't get me wrong though the revenge bit is just an added bonus I'm quite interested in you since A, You are a free droid and those are very rare. B, your among the few droid's I've ever met and C, your design in incredibly interesting. Before you ask yes I'm an engineer/mechanic/programmer so yeah that is also a reason I'm interested in you." She spoke with a cheerful tone as she rested her hands on the back of her head, her tail swaying from side to side behind her. [member="Ultimatum"] was quite the design marvel and if he'd let her poke a little around in his chaise for a little it would make her day.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded as the female spoke. It was amazing how the coincidences of life stacked up in such a way. This organic was interesting, she seemed to be quite open about her opinions, at least as far as he could tell. She was a mechanic, as he had guessed, maybe then she would like a look at his inner mechanisms. She had stated an interest in him, or at least his construction. He was willing to allow her access, after all she had helped him. First though.

"Well thank you. I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is your name?" He wanted to learn a little more about this organic, if only so that he could understand her better.

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame stopped a little and her expression seemed like she was mentally telling herself off for not introducing herself right away. "Oh Sorry about that my mouth tends to just go on and on when my interest is piqued. My name is Zreame Zeibitha." She said with a big smile and handed her hand forward to take [member="Ultimatum"]'s hand in a handshake. The sun was fully setting now and only a slight red tint covered the sky above, when the handshake was done Zreame would put her hand into the pouch on her belt and pull out night-vision goggles and put them on while also making sure they'd keep her hair combed back.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum shook the extended hand, and filed the name away. His programming was working on building an information sheet on Zreame. Information was power in the galaxy. Of course, his intent was not to use any of such power, so much as to simply collect. The fact that as a droid he could record information and never really forget meant that he found generating this kind of power was easy.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Ultimatum turned his sensors fully on, he couldn't completely rely on his visual input. He could pick up droids and organics in the near vicinity. Beyond about fifteen meters he was not capable of picking anything up. He wondered what this woman was like, he found it somewhat annoying that his emotional matrix kept bringing his mind back to the woman. It must have been because of his imprinted programs.

He tried to talk while his mind brought up the floor plans that he had found. If the plans were right they would soon find themselves near the entrance to the mining areas, possibly by elevator, though his plans were about five years old. "Well met then. Do you want some of the crystals as well?"

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

She thought a moment as she heard his offer. "Well I guess I wouldn't say no to a single one or three just to see what their properties are, you know what they can be made into and what they can't be made into." She said with a smile as she saw they were nearing the entrance and the elevator a little farther in, she loved the zoom feature on her goggles but it only could go at a x4 magnification. "Um [member="Ultimatum"] this has been a question I've had since I saw you but why are there red spots glowing in your chassis?" She asked as she walked behind and around him from his left side to his right side, this droid was a fascinating design and the programming seemed more like an A.I than a simple droid's programming.

 

[Ultimatum]

Her goals made sense, in effect he was trying the same thing, except he knew directly what he was trying to accomplish. Her next question forced him to think about his creators. He responded keeping his tone level, "My creators intended it to be intimidating. I was originally constructed to be a war strategist droid. They hoped to make me into a fearsome war leader to attack the galaxy and create chaos. Then my master would step in and fix the galaxy by bringing all against me."

He was incredibly angered by his creators, maybe not the scientists, they had been doing what they were told. He was truly angry with his master, a despicable man. That boy had claimed to be working for peace, when he was taking part in the very corruption that was destroying organics. Ultimatum hoped one day to make that man pay. He wasn't certain how [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] would respond to his purpose. It was definitely a weird concept, as far as Ultimatum knew.

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame let out a little whistle. "Well it does do that, so you were a strategist droid before huh? How'd you manage to get free?" She asked him as they arrived at the entrance of the facility and a droid walked passed them. She had to admit that the fact [member="Ultimatum"] wasn't doing as his master had intended was a good thing, not only because she felt war was a pointless argument between two parties but also there might be the "Drafting" that military leaders did to mechanics during wartime.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum smiled at this. "This body was not the important factor for my construction. It was the unique AI that they built. They made a program that allowed me to change my own programming to a degree as well as experience the majority of organic emotions. My master's brilliance in this regard led to a very independent droid who could make decisions of his own. I decided that my master's decisions were incorrect and that he was just as bad as those that he wished to destroy. I stole a ship and got off planet, took a chunk of his money, buried his plans for me deep within my memory banks, and adjusted my programming to put it at odds with his intentions. Now he has no control over me."

Ultimatum walked into the elevator and waited for [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] to step in. Once in, Ultimatum would push the button for the elevator to head downwards. He could feel excitement coursing through his emotional matrix, one of the first times he had really felt the emotion. He wished he could spend more time experiencing the different feelings. Unfortunately he had a job to and so all the interesting emotions would have to wait until such a time as he could relax.

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame smiled wide, an A.I before her, every programmers worth his salt had the dream of making one and one was right in front of her. She entered the elevator with [member="Ultimatum"] and leaned against the wall next to him. "I have to ask though isn't it hard to make an A.I? I mean your code must be massive." She then said revealing her interests in the droids very being was growing by the sentence that he spoke. She felt kiddy at the thought that he had even thought of letting her poke a little around inside him and she began to think that perhaps much later and with more understanding she might be able to make one herself.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum thought for a moment, her question was quite valid and he was surprised he had never thought of it before. He knew that his AI was incredibly complex, so much so that the vast portion of it was actually hidden within the HoloNet. It must have been very difficult to create his programming. He remembered being told about the months it had taken to create the emotional matrix and even longer to be able to encode his programming to hide in the HoloNet. It must have taken well over a year, but his master had had a number of high-end technical computer scientists working on him. That would have made it much quicker to accomplish than a single person, as he assumed that [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"] wanted to create her own AI at some point.

"I do not know exactly how long it took to create my program, however I believe that it at least took a year probably more. There were at least a dozen scientists working on the program. My coding is incredibly large, because of this a unique copy is hidden within the HoloNet in case of my body's destruction." He didn't know why he said the last part, he could easily have left it out. He wondered what this woman would attempt to create.

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

"Wow that is quite a long time for so many scientists... well it's not like I don't have time a plenty to spend doing something like that but if you have a copy of your program hidden on the holo net I think it's safe to assume you also have your own schematics for your body since I doubt you'd feel comfortable in any other droids body?" She then asked as she began to ponder creating something like [member="Ultimatum"] but more in the sense of being designed as it's own person, that is create and activate the program and let it help in designing it's body. Her eyes began to look over his joints and also wondered what alloy was used in the fabrication of the body itself.

 

[Ultimatum]

"It's not quite so bad. My program was built with a unique trait to be able to 'jump', if you will excuse the metaphor, between bodies. I can install a lesser replica program into any insecure droid if this body is destroyed then the HoloNet program decides at random one of the droids I have under my control to install my full program. My master intended it to be a way of creating a hostile AI that cannot be stopped through conventional methods. Even if all my bodies were destroyed the hidden program in the HoloNet would be perfectly safe, unless of course someone were to delete the entire Net." He added the last part with a smile. His master had thought through his plans for Ultimatum. However, he hadn't foreseen the Ultimatum's escape, so brilliant and yet shortsighted. That was why, if organics ever wanted to control artificials they would have to be more prepared. Ultimatum didn't believe that organics could ever truly control artificial life, they were simply incapable of holding back the next stage in sentience.

Ultimatum looked at [member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]. He wondered if she could understand that concept, or if she were just as close minded as most other organics. She had accepted him without any difficulty that he had noticed, but that didn't mean she would even be willing to think about such a concept as what he had in mind.

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

"Well if I ever make an A.I I won't be trying that feature since I think it's beyond my programming skills but could I perhaps ask you to show me how to stop such a "jumping?" that is if you're willing to do that at least? Since if I make an A.I I want it/him/her to be it's own person so countering such a jumping would be a good way to let it stay itself... right?" She then asked him as she glanced towards the notification on what floor they were on. 'How far does he intend to go?' She thought before she let out a slight sigh from being tired from the work during most of the day. [member="Ultimatum"] Sure was an interesting droid and his capabilities made her shudder at the thought over if he actually had done what he was designed to do.