Gabatrix: Minerva

"You created me?"

"Yes. I created you."

"Why are you curious about the behavior and actions of AI and human interactions, Ericson?"

"Perhaps a history lesson is in order," he explained. "Are you fully aware about the concepts of time?"

"Affirmative."

"Do you know how long a year is?"

"My memory core cannot provide me an adequate response. It is currently 687 days of a Martian year. Earth days in a year is 365. Further information is unavailable."

"Don't worry, Minerva. We will keep working on that as we proceed to the next day."

"Why would I worry?" she asked.

"Umm....." he scratched his chin. He noticed that he was getting distracted from the topic. He waved his hand. "Ignore what I said. Back to the original conversation. The year we are currently operating on is 2349. We still use the Earth-based calendar and date system even though the human race is living on Mars and expanded to other worlds now."

"Why did the human race move to Mars?" she asked, but Ericson was waving her hand to her.

"No, I will get to that later. Allow me to explain the story, and I will answer any other further questions."

"Affirmative."

He was about to make a snide comment, but he didn't want to confuse her any more than he should. "Around 2055 or roughly three hundred years ago, humanity was improving on the concept of robotics. Artificial constructs and automatons that could operate on their own were being built. They were primitive in design, but they could do a variety of roles and jobs. The results were incredible, but it had consequences to it. As humanity advanced to around 2110, the human race had developed android technology. Super intelligent AIs were being created, but there was one major issue with the whole thing.......us."

He shifted his butt as he continued to explain. "By 2112, androids were being built in mass amounts. The human population was around, oh......." He thought. "About ten.....eleven billion people. Even with the melted ice caps, we started to live in crowded conditions. The economy could barely maintain the population, and androids were taking up everything in work. Mass unemployment skyrocketed. Humanity was ready to tell the government that they didn't want robots and androids. People wanted to be able to work again. Paranoia and fear....." he paused as he felt the need to be careful with his choice of words at the moment. "Humanity decided that it was best that they didn't continue building robots or androids. A man by the name of Michael Gabriel led what would be called the Gabriel Rebellion against android companies. The result was an overwhelming success."

Ericson went and activated his left arm display. He used his finger to tap a few buttons that appeared. He loaded up a series of pictures for Minerva to see as he searched it up on UWAN. The data began to filter in on the left display for Minerva to gaze upon. The first picture showed a series of people in a crowded city. They walked in filtered masks. The sky was partly dark and gray looking. They had signs that depicted the words "Humanity first! Androids come second!" and another sign that said, "Androids take real human jobs!" It was apparent what he was trying to convey to her.

"The rebellion was a major success. Governments from around the world had to do something, or they would face a civil war with their own population. This would lead to the famed Ibix Ban of 2113."

He loaded up the next picture. It showed the proclamation of the Ibix Ban Treaty. It consisted of a legal pamphlet signed by the United Nations and representatives from around the world.

"The Ibix Ban is something that affects us even until now. Robotics and Androids are banned with the exception of a few things. Ships and some equipment are computer automated, but they can't think for themselves. They also decided to pass a series of clauses to allow the continuous construction of.......companion bots since humanity preferred......more intimate relations than with other human beings. It was also a way to keep up with controlling the ever-growing human population with less and less land and resources available. The Ibix Ban remains in effect with the exception of one thing. In 2340 they allowed the passing of Clause 1E in the Ibix Ban. It allows the construction and operation of one super advanced AI only. Five years later, the UWA research decided to create Project Asimov. It was later renamed to Project Minerva in which I was selected to create you secretly."

He paused for a while as he waited for Minerva to finally say something. After ten seconds, she responded. "When was the last AI created?"

"2108. It was an AI named Delta."

"The AI was deactivated after the Ibix Ban?"

"Yes. It was decompiled. There have been no further AI constructs for almost two hundred and fifty years.....until now."

"Do you wish to see me fully operational?"

"Yes."

"Do you intend to decompile and delete me?"

"No. My goal is to make sure that you are fully operational."

"How long will I be operational?"

Ericson thought about it. "I actually don't know. Technically as long as the computer down there is active, you are active."

"What is this place?"

"It is my lab. This is the place where you will be active and operational."

"There is a door behind you. What is beyond that door?"

"It is the hallway that leads outside the ship."

Minerva gave a blank response. She seemed to concentrate, but she gave him an answer. "You are human?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Do the other humans look like you?"

"Hmmm.....more or less. Every human does look similar, but they have different physiques."

"Clarify."

"Humans are born with two legs, two arms, a head, torso, two feet, two hands. Typically all humans have these. The biggest differences between humans are facial features, hair, gender, skin pigmentation, age, etc."

"So if the human is missing an arm or a leg or a head or a foot or a hand, they would not be human?"

"Yes, they would be human."

"I do not understand. There is an error in memory block 45 and 68."

Ericson knew there were some issues. She was responding, but even he couldn't answer every single question for her.

"Yeah...." He replied to her. "We still have some work that needs to be done. Your emotional subroutines are not functioning. Your memory data blocks still need to be corrected. I am still picking up errors. At least we got this far. You are responding better to my words than yesterday."

Her eyes looked at him. Then it looked down before it looked back at him. "I hope to function better to your specifications."

Her reaction seemed to surprise him a little bit even though he didn't show it. Even if her emotional subroutines were not functioning fully, he didn't initially program her to react that way either.

"Alright. Minerva, I am going to go ahead and deactivate you for now. Tonight I am going to fix the errors in your memory core. Once that is fully functional, I will then upload grade level 8 into your system. I will also work on your emotional subroutines as well."

"Acknowledged, Ericson. When will you return?"

"About an hour," he paused as he thought about what he just said. "I guess that wouldn't matter too much since it should be instant for you. Minerva, do you remember how long you were deactivated last night?"

"I was offline for 16 hours, 36 minutes, 49 seconds."

"Do you remember anything that happened for that time span?"

"Negative."

Ericson nodded his head as he heard her words. "I was just curious."

"Why does that make you curious, Ericson?"

".....Nevermind...," he replied with his words. "I need to go eat. I will be back in an hour."

"Acknowledged, Ericson."

He activated his arm display and powered her down. The screen went dark as her face fizzled into nothingness. It was an awkward discussion for him, and he felt that if he didn't stop her, she would start to ask every single question that was possible.

"Hmmm.....her basic memory core does seem to work partially, but she needs that core to be fully functional. So far, so good, though, but the lack of emotion from her didn't help. Even the most basic AI programs built into the companion bots had better intelligence and reaction than Minerva did at the moment. Minerva would have to be able to do amazing feats of abilities. Thankfully time seems to be on our side, though......"

*******

It was 1700 in the galley and mess hall that day. There were at least five crew members that were busy eating. Jabr and his wife Akari were on the other side of the table as Ericson sat opposite to them. He had a tray of his own that he was eating from. It was a mixture of rice, broccoli, and hemp seeds. Jabr and Akari had something similar as well, but Jabr also got an apple that he was busy eating. There was two other personnel that were busy talking to each other on at another table.

"Yeah, she can talk with me so far," Ericson said, addressing to his two friends. "So far, so good."

"We are proud of you in trying to get her to work," Akari told him. "I can imagine what it would be like to talk to her."

"Minerva is still in the beginning stages. She is capable of talking, but her memory core is not functioning completely well. She is pretty emotionless too."

"Isn't that what AIs do, though?"

"Haven't you ever worked with an AI before?"

"No," she replied.

"Have you ever seen the companion androids?"

"Uhh.......?," she chuckled. She almost seemed embarrassed about that answer.

Ericson thought about it and shook it off. "The AIs that are programmed in those machines are primitive but still designed with the ability to associate with others."

"And have sex with....." Akari added quietly. It was enough for everyone on the table to hear it.

"There is no denying that. They dismantled all robots and androids and kept the ones that we can.....propagate with. You sound like you do know something about them."

"I.....have heard about them, yes."

"It wouldn't be anything new in the media department. It's the one thing we still allow to be built. What is it?......One out of ten humans are with a robotic partner, and at least one out six households have a companion bot of their own. They are designed strictly as a machine to provide alleviation for the burdens of human instinct."

"Do you have one, Ericson?"

"No. I don't succumb to that sort of thing. Too.....artificial for my tastes."

"Ehh......I don't know. My sisters could always enjoy something like that."

"You should tell them to just go shopping. Isn't your family rich or something?"

"Of course! We.....feel the same way when it comes to robotics."

"Minerva was not designed to be a harlot," Ericson said as he scooped up some rice and put it into his mouth. "She is designed to be fully autonomous, self-reliant, able to think for herself,......in other words, she would be a super AI that was.....well like us."

"I am still curious as to why there would be so much resistance towards developing an AI."

Ericson sighed. "Me too. Humanity is too scared when it comes to developing robotics and androids now. People are scared of them. Afraid of an AI rebellion......afraid of all the evil they can bring......"

"What's that on the news?" Jabr asked as he swallowed his food. His attention was on the display screen overhead of them. It was so much that the other two crew members in the room stopped talking and looked at the set above them.

A woman that was sitting at the table tilted her left wrist and put her right hand to it. She tapped her arm, and a display appeared. She moved her fingers and adjusted the television audio so that everyone could hear.

Displayed on the TV set was the same news anchorwoman from yesterday. Chenguang was wearing a different outfit that was a blue and purple color. Her red hair was distinguishable as always. There seemed to be some minor distress in her face, though. The ticker-tape below the news displayed Chinese for the Chinese speakers to keep up. The word "Breaking News" was near the ticker-tape.

"We have confirmed reports that the colony of Eutera is under attack!" Chenguang informed through the live feed. "This news just came in three minutes ago. At least three warships have jumped into the Euteran system and are closing in on the colony."

"Oh no!" the woman on the table reacted. Ericson's face went white as he saw the scene. Depicted on the live feed was a satellite feed from the planet Eutera. This planet was smaller than Earth. You could see the three continents on it. Most of it was covered in desert, but it had some water on it. There was a simple communications satellite and a UHN Battleship that was in orbit. The live feed was coming from one of the communication satellites in orbit. Both Jabr and Akari displayed shock on their faces as well.

The anchorwoman continued to talk as the live feed showed three warships. They were all painted green. Two of the ships were of the same design. They consisted of several cylindrical modules connected together. They had a lit area of light in the top front section of the ship. It had what looked like two centripetal rings that were not spinning. The vessels had a series of bow launch tubes and what looked like an entire array of VLA missile tubes on the ventral and dorsal section of the ship. Large guns perforated the forward midsection of the ship. There was a massive gun on the ventral and dorsal section of the vessel behind the launch tubes. The ship in the center of the fleet was the largest. It had only one centripetal ring to it that also wasn't spinning. There was a much bigger gun mounted on the dorsal frame of the ship. It had a broader frame to it than its two smaller vessels. There were a series of thrusters that lined its starboard and port sides. There were guns that lined its entire frame as well.

"Shit....." Ericson commented. "Those two ships were the same ones that the Cabot and Drake encountered......"

It was three ships in total. A series of missiles were launched from the two escorting vessels. The missiles shot up, spun to point at its target, and accelerated at amazing speeds. The forward torpedo tubes fired large torpedoes. The central ship remained in formation.

"This is the current recording that was displayed minutes ago," the anchorwoman said. "An Itrean assault fleet has entered the system and is currently engaging the defenses on Eutera. Only the UHN Champlain is present. All defenses on the planet are currently being readied......"

The recording showed the UHN Champlain. The Magellan class Battleship was larger than the ship Ericson was on. It consisted of a long, almost cylindrical gray hull. There was one centripetal ring near the power and engine module on the aft section. The ring had stopped rotating as the ship was prepared to engage in evasive maneuvers. It had a large rail gun on the center dorsal section and ventral section of its hull. On the center port and starboard sides of the ship were the forward thrusters. Past the dorsal and ventral guns were a ring of anti-missile batteries similar to the Tyson's defense guns. There were at least eight large torpedo tubes in the forward section of the ship.

"Come on, man. Champlain, you got to be able to save them. You are all we got!" Jabr cheered at the TV.

The Champlain on display fired all eight of its forward missile tubes. Each of the missiles altered course and flew straight at its target. The scene showed the ring of defense guns turn and aim at the stream of missiles. The guns lit up, giving a clue that the lasers were being fired at the incoming warheads. The feed changed to show the missiles flying toward the Champlain. The lasers were having no effect on the missiles. The two escorting Itrean ships then fired a wave of additional missiles from its VLA arrays. These missiles seemed to be different than the other ones it fired.

The feed then went back to the Champlain again. It fired a wave of missiles from its ring of defense guns. The guided munitions were heading straight towards the large salvo of incoming missiles. The anchorwoman that was telling the news seemed to be quiet. She had nothing to say at the scene that was going on. The tension-filled the eating hall. One UHN warship had to fight off three alien warships. It was fighting an uphill battle trying to defend the colony of Eutera.

"Check that out!" Jabr expressed his reaction watching the scene.

The missiles that the Champlain fired at the enemy warheads were reaching their target. One of the missiles hit the wave and destroyed it. The Itrean missiles, however, were seen launching small objects from them. They pulsed a series of lights to them. The Champlain's missiles began to hit the launched objects from the alien missiles, completely missing the salvo of enemy warheads. They were still closing in on the Champlain. The Itrean missiles meanwhile were having better luck destroying the Champlain's missiles entirely. One by one, all eight of the salvo of missiles launched from the UHN warship were destroyed.

"No....." Ericson reacted. He watched as the ships were getting closer and closer. The engines of the Itrean warships were at full burn. They disengaged their engines and kept closing in. The Champlain had nowhere to go. The wave of enemy missiles was closing in on her. The ship began to fire its flak cannons at the salvo of incoming munitions. The ring of guns was working overtime. They were spraying the area with small shells at an incredible rate. Tracer fire could be seen where the shells were going. The shells then began to explode, spraying the area with small shrapnel near the salvo of incoming missiles. It was the flak guns that seemed to have the most effective on the Itrean missiles. There were at least 29 missiles flying towards the Champlain. The flak guns were tearing into the salvo. One, five, ten missiles exploded as the flak screen was tearing into them.

Akari remained quiet as she simply watched the whole scene depicted on the TV screen. Ericson, while scared, remained more composed. Jabr, on the other hand, was simply cheering the Champlain for trying to fight against overwhelming numbers.

"The UHN Champlain is doing everything they can to fight against the Itrean fleet....." Chenguang said over the feed. "We haven't heard anything yet from the Euteran colony."

The Champlain was taking down the enemy missiles, but some of them were making it through the flak field. There was nothing else that could be done. At least four missiles punched through and closed in on the ship. One by one, the missiles closed in on the beleaguered UHN warship. One missile struck the port side of the ship. Another one struck near the same location. The explosions were apparent. The third missile struck near the port forward thruster array. The last one hit the ventral railgun. Fires and atmosphere were seen ventilating from the Battleship. It was bleeding badly.

"Oh god!" the woman near Ericson replied.

"The Champlain has taken several hits......" Chenguang added through the feed.

The feed switched over to show the Itrean ships get closer and closer to the planet. The two escorting vessels suddenly emitted a flash of purple and blue light from the large guns on the ventral and dorsal sides. The massive guns had fired a heavy hypervelocity round from their barrels. The shells were flying so fast that the camera feed couldn't record them. The Champlain, in desperation, had turned its dorsal railgun at the Itrean vessels. The turret had a lock as it emitted a bright purple and blue flash from its cannon. The Battleship had fired its own hypervelocity round at the Itrean ships. It was the last thing that it was able to do.

The Champlain activated its ventral thrusters, trying to push itself to the port side. Its thrusters damaged from the missile salvo couldn't push it out of the away in time. One of the hypervelocity rounds fired from the Itreans smashed into the Champlain's central port hull. Another round struck the centripetal ring. The round went from one side straight out of the other side of the ring. The armor was not enough to deflect the sheer power of the enemy shots. Another round tore into the dorsal bridge section. The last round struck the power reactor of the Champlain. This last round seemed to be the final straw. The UHN warship went dark. Lights went out on the ship with only the signs of the red dots that glowed from where the missiles and hypervelocity rounds struck. It began to float harmlessly in space.