STAR TREK: THEURGY
INTERREGNUM 02-03
CHAPTER 02: THE EMITTER
[ Holographic Laboratory | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ]
“It's fairly complicated.” Kae had been working with Thea for hours now, developing all sorts of new sensors in her programming. Though she had tactile sensors that allowed her to ascertain things such as hot and cold, rough and smooth, they were far more limiting, and provided more of a true/false statement in her mind then real sensation. Since her transformation during the incident with the mysterious and powerful being that had switched Kae's body with that of Skye Carver, Thea was much more open to the idea of his development of her body. Maybe she saw what she had been missing now, and wanted to truly experience what he wanted to offer her.
After all that time, they had successfully replicated an organic's tactile senses, but only in a single hand. He had rewritten numerous lines of code, that new hand constituting three times the volume of her entire body's tactile sensors before he started. He already knew that it was going to take massive amounts of space in the computer's systems to store this, perhaps more then he would be allowed, but for now, Thea could enjoy the feeling of touch in her right hand, from her finger tips to her wrist.
“Thea,” Kae spoke, his voice already indicating that he was about to be the bearer of bad news. “by my calculations, by the time we finish converting your body to this new format, your programming code's volume will have been increased by roughly thirty times its current space, and there is still so much more we can do then just rewrite your tactile sensors. The Captain won't possibly be able to approve of this much resources being used up from the ship's computer banks.” There was a small glimmer of hope, though, something he hadn't told her about yet. “I've been working on an idea of creating a sort of Mobile Emitter. In some ways, it's inferior to the model acquired by the Voyager EMH, but also superior in other ways. I'm thinking if I build it specifically for storage of holographic data, I can construct the memory banks to contain your code much more easily then the ship's systems. You could become autonomous from the ship, and when I'm done, you might even be able to leave the ship and take part on away missions if you so choose.”
Post by: Auctor Lucan on 2013-04-01, 22:39:17
Standing in the Hololab with her hands behind her back and shoulders squared, Thea was wearing her golden body suit since she was working with the Engineering department. The hours gone by, as lacking as they might have been socially because of the ground-breaking yet tediously slow progress they made, had been quite interesting. Lin Kae and her had been working together before to take care of the errors in her programming that were inherent to the 'freedom' that she had been granted during the Niga Incident. Yet now, besides the quick and easy augmentations that Lin Kae had given her, she was beginning to appreciate the true genius of the young organic.
For when they got to the point where the tactile sensors in her hand had been altered, she raised both her hands before herself and flexed them - immediately feeling the difference. She looked at them as they moved, and while they appeared exactly the same as before, her right hand reminded her about her brief time as an organic being. It was hard to put words to the difference, even if she had been able to assist immensely in the trial-and-error process during the session with Lin Kae.
One thing that had become plain was that the difference between her hands at that point was the margin of error in which her original programmers failed to capture true sense of touch. Lin Kae had put a lot of time into the sensory sub-routines of a single hand, while her original programmers had used standard Federation programming that was considered adequate for photonic beings with the sense of touch, and they had applied it to her body as a whole. Perhaps it was unfair to hold such short-comings against her programmers, given that it was unprecedented that a photonic creation was given the opportunity of first-hand experience as an organic being, with the full range of emotions and bodily functions that came with it.
Of course, the difference she felt made her want more; that her entire body would be able to sense touch in the way her right hand now did. They had found the recipe for success in their session, and the parameters and sub-routines could be copied and...
Yet Lin Kae told her about the cost, and it devastated her that it was too great. The starship's systems were burdened as they were, and here she was, with a dream to become more... at the cost of everyone and the upkeep of her titanium hulled physical body. Flexing her 'new' hand, her 'thoughts' attacked the problem immediately... only to hear Lin Kae offer a solution right away.
"A physical component?" she asked quietly as she raised her brown eyes - looking into the Lieutenant's, "An emitter with data-storage that would rival the available storage capacity of my systems? You must be comparing my isolinear chips to the capacity of data crystals."
While isolinear optical chips served as data storage for various forms of Federation technology with a maximum capacity of 2.15 kiloquads per chip - enabling storage for everything between tricorders, PADDs and computer consoles to entire starship databases - data crystals were small, sophisticated information storage devices able to store a much larger amount of information. Less ideal for machinery and secure data transfers between thousands of separate units... yet vastly more capacious.
She stared at her saviour - a title that had survived their initial encounter. Lin Kae's words had sprung all manner of conclusions, and Thea wondered if the Lieutenant had drawn the same ones she now did.
Because organic memories were known to be stored inside data crystals so that the identities of undercover agents could be restored after their assignments were complete. Digital memories, such as her own limited sensory and optical surveillance input, were bound to be even easier to store. "What about my connection to me - as in the real, physical 'me'? This ship. The systems that are just as integral to me as they are to this Starship. Are you considering some kind of patching-interface? Or are you..."
To be removed from herself, made into something so small. Her positronic brain was inside the Main Computer Core of the ship. Separated? Without her brain, she would...
"Oh..."
Her processing powers were working very hard now, and she walked over to a wall panel - not having to touch it as she drew up the network map that just occurred to her - perhaps the same one Lin Kae had in mind already. "Dataports are used with data crystals, and with such a device as you suggest, you mean to create a constant wireless feed between my positronic brain and my mobile unit - a unit that would store all the programming for my projected humanoid body? In theory, it might work, but what about range and tracing of that signal? What kind of signal would the two access point dataports have that would stand the trial of range, capacity, discretion and encryption? These four parameters are still measurable, restricting... "
His mind could not be upon a solution with a wireless patching-interface.
"You mean to remove my brain from the ship systems... and put it into an emitter, with data crystal storage capacity." The feeling of mobility was also a feeling of mortality now, as she would be reduced to something that would fit her positronic brain and become so vulnerable that a phaser shot could through her passive state... No, she would not be able to enter passive mode - escaping through walls when needed.
"Are you quite certain the Captain would agree to have the ship relying on an outdated, standard Federation AI to handle the ship systems?" Oddly, that was her first thought. Not that she would lose her 'immortality'. No, for what she would get in exchange was something that surpassed the heightened risk of 'death', if one might be so bold and say that a hologram could actually die. If it worked, could there still be a patching solution for while she was aboard the ship? Would she be able to hook into her current systems and replace a standard AI? Could Lin Kae really do this for her?
"What would that make me... if not a whole new kind of life-form? An android with a holographic body? An isomorphic projection with a moble emitter?" She could not help but run her 'new' hand up and down her own abdomen as her 'thoughts' raced - feeling the texture of her body suit in a whole new way.
"Tell me more," she asked of him, eyes intensely staring into his, for she wanted to know how much the holographic specialist truly meant to free her with his design.
Post by: Kurohigi on 2013-04-02, 04:24:18
Kae had actually been rather disappointed with the simplicity of what Thea had been using until now. Her photonic skin was equipped with sensors which worked like true/false modifiers. When she touched something, a list of conditions were presented, and determined as true or false. Soft, hard, warm, cold, rough, smooth; these conditions then fed to the emotion program in her code and created an appropriate response. It was functional, but hardly what he would have called true feeling. She had been proud of it when they first met, but after her experience as an organic, she now knew how far she was from the real thing. Now, Kae had taken that simple programming and made it so much more, turning what were originally twelve sensors in her hand into about a million, each one equivalent to a human being's pore. More than just a list of conditions, he had programmed in the ability to simulate pressure, the elasticity of a finger when skin was pushing upon something, the feeling when a nail scratched along a surface. Hell, if she wanted, Thea could have experienced a paper cut.
“Let me show you.” he told her, as he opened up a program in the lab, making a small device appear beside Thea. Right now, he was using the holodeck as a way of designing the device, rather than wasting resources by replicating parts. He set up the hologrid to simulate the properties and effects of all components, making him able to properly test the device. It was multi-sided, each of its many sides having a tiny holo-emitter. Overall, it was approximately the size of a softball. “The device can project an omni-directional field, sort of like a shield bubble, but this bubble serves to create a photonic environment that can be used to replicate physical forms like yours. Like a holodeck shifts perspective as someone walks through it, this device moves as it anticipates your movement, using a combination of your visual sensors and the forward motions of your feet to tell it to move. Its ability to move is thanks to an anti-gravity unit similar to the kind found in remote-controlled shuttle toys, but hooked into the central core where your actions determine its pitch, yaw and acceleration.”
That explained projection and movement, but there was still one key factor; how it was a better storage device then the ship itself. “Isolinear chips are standard because they accept a wide variety of data. It's universal, but specialized data can benefit from newer technologies. For example, on the station where I studied holography, we were working on a storage device specifically for photonic data, which operates by buffering unused data until it is needed. This could be as simple as buffering the sensation in the soles of your feet between footsteps or as complex as shutting down all functions during 'sleep' to make room for dreaming, a subroutine developed for the Voyager EMH to daydream with. This device would need recharging when not in use, and you could be uploaded into it whenever you wish to be. I can also set it up so that your ship-wide operations are unaffected; you could be loading data from both the device for your own personal use, as well as still be connected to the ship to function as its A.I. We can use the standard ship's AI only when you leave the ship.”
He had thought things through. He was offering her a chance to grow without her roots being ripped out. She would still be the heart of the Theurgy, its primary AI, but she could also be a person, or at least work towards becoming more of a person. He looked to her in anticipation, to find out if she approved of his ideas and his plans. He had been working on it for weeks to get the concepts right, Skye helping inspire the device during the trip to Nimbus III. It all served to do just as he said he wanted to do; to allow Thea to become everything she possibly could be.
Post by: Auctor Lucan on 2013-04-02, 12:54:10
When Kae uploaded the prototype projection, Thea walked around it while he spoke - studying it with her optical sensors as well as the file itself that was stored in her systems. Her initial reaction was that the faceted device looked so incredibly small. An organic might have called it premonition of claustrophobia. Am I to fit inside there? How...
With a gesture of her gloved hand, the projection was enlarged and the many components expanded outwards - making the inside of the unit visible. She tilted her head and glanced towards some of the components.
"The quality of my AI, what makes me different than an ordinary one, is inherent to the design of my positronic brain, stored inside my main computer core." Her line of thinking deserved an explanation, so she paused to tell him her reasoning, "My computer core is based on isolinear systems augmented with bio-neural circuitry and gel packs. The core's processor is capable of sustaining over 575 trillion calculations per nanosecond, granting simultaneous access to 47 million data channels, and operating in conditions ranging from 10 to 1790 Kelvin. The upper and lower computer core, for when I am in MVAM, possess the same capacity - only remaining dormant during Standard Operation Mode for sake of preserving the copious amount of energy they would require. My positronic brain, however, is merely capable of a computation rate of sixty thousand operations per nanosecond. My point is that the key to my AI is not in computation capacity to run a holographic program, but in the unique computation device that my brain is; hardware with capability of artificial sentience. Consisting of an artificial neural network and designed to imitate the human brain."
She turned to face Kae gesturing with her hand while she spoke. "The program you use to break down my source code in the matrix of my brain is a positronic decompiler that is specifically attached to my physical brain inside the computer core. It has an ultimate storage capacity of eight hundred quadrillion bits that house the sub-routines of my holographic projection. My brain - me - seamlessly taps into the main computer to make it execute operations, read and search for data at an exponentially high rate. I am so intimately connected with my physical body I find it hard to tell where I end and the computer core or my nervous system - the bio-neural network - begins. My point is that if components that can properly run my AI in the fashion that my brain now does aren’t installed into this new mobile unit, my AI would but a shadow of what I really am. To be reduced to mere a mere holographic program, uploaded and downloaded seamlessly to this duranium crystal is theoretically possible at best, but would it really be me if..."
She paused, having overlooked one of the components in the unit - hidden under a new denomination. Now she deciphered it. "I see." With her fingers, she magnified the component.
"A cortex processor..." she said, a mere whisper, "...identical to mine."
She walked around the holographic image as she considered this. The positronic brain was designed to run a humanoid mechanical body with positronic links, a sub-processor and a memory cell. Yet she was no Android. She was a projection, and if Lin Kae's device with its uniquely formatted storage could serve for the rest... then she would have the same unique kind of computing capacity she already had... minus the assistance of the main computer core. Her emotion chip possessed subroutines that could be easily transferred along with the current set-up in her positronic brain. Her program in its entire moved to the mobile unit, and it would be able to host it because of that specific processor - the most integral part of her positronic brain.
"How l-long," she began to ask for sake of saying anything at all, yet she paused since she had to swallow - tears in her eyes, "how long does the power cell last before it has to be recharged?"
The strong emotional reaction to being given this by the Engineer overwhelmed her - the emotion chip still not restored to her control since the Niga Incident. No more had she been given the answer than she walked up to Lin Kae and hugged him tightly. Holding him close, she could not express how grateful she was for all his hard work. "Thank y-you."
She repeated the two words endlessly until he'd stop her.
Post by: Kurohigi on 2013-04-05, 02:08:49
When she saw the cortex processor, he felt even more proud. She saw how this one piece changed everything she had thought about the device until now. With that one component, it went from a theory to a practicality. Suddenly, it wasn't a matter of if the device would work, but when it could be completed. “It's a sophisticated piece of machinery, so the battery would be used extensively. I'm aiming for a twenty hour battery life and a four hour charge.” Four hours of downtime a day wasn't much. Humans spent longer then that sleeping.
“I still need to get approval from the Captain before I can begin work. This sort of project has a lot of components that could be quite costly. I can't just build it without approval.” It was the one remaining obstacle that still had to be overcome, but when Thea hugged him, thanked him over and over, he knew he had to finish it. He couldn't let her down, not if he could help it. She was the most sophisticated hologram yet devised by Starfleet or the Federation as a whole, and she deserved to explore the full limitations, to exceed her current form and become as much as an organic was.
“You're welcome, Thea,” he finally said, to tell her she didn't need to keep saying it. He was happy that she was happy, but there was still something more he could do for her right now. Once their hug was broken, he worked at the console again to replicate the results on her right hand to the left. It was a simple manner of mirroring the new sensors and mapping them in place. She now had two hands capable of every touch, every feeling that an organic hand possessed. A small step towards being what she wished to be, but it would build toward bigger and better things.
Topic: Day 02 [0530 hrs.] Hidden Messages (Read 4080 times)
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