Legacy Archive Contained Environment

Chapter 1

During the course of her family history there had only been a few people that have came home to stay the last member of her family to do this was her father, he had arrived shortly after Eagle had started designing her ship. He had come home after his last trip with a mangled leg, having been injured working on a new sight, this new sight had been a bust he had not found anything on the planet that would make it noteworthy. When he had arrived home to find his daughter designing and starting the build process on a new ship to go to the stars, Eagles mother convinced him that their daughter needed him to help her with the ship and to teach her how to survive. Well now it was time, Eagle was ready to put the training that her father gave her to the test. Together they had designed, built and programmed Fred. Fred was the on board artificial intelligence system for the ship.

The bridge is the heart of a ship were all of the ships’ functions are guided and monitored, and in the case of single person operations it is also were every planet was initially viewed. Fred was housed just under the floor, when most people envision computers they think of a box that contains a CPU and various peripherals that allow for information to be passed between the computer and external devices if they are thinking of home computers. For people aware of industrial computers they think of PLC’s that are connected to external sensors controlled by various inputs and outputs. However when you want to build a metal picture of Fred’s brain if you could see it would be something completely different, he is a neural network. A look at the hardware shows that every sensor, valve, motor, and light has a connection to this network, most of these connections act like the autonomous parts of a human body. The air circulation system alone has over four thousand inputs, outputs that include valves, fans, ducts and temperature sensors, heating and cooling elements. When you combine this with different control factors, the color of the ships skin, proximity to a heat sources like the sun, radiation, reentry heat, or just the temperature difference between sitting on a planet’s surface and outer space this is a monumental task in and of itself, yet this is one of the simpler tasks of running a ship.

A neural network must be pre-programmed for these base functions much like our bodies are pre-programmed to breath, we do not think about it and neither does a neural network it becomes an automatic function. Our bodies are programmed with self preservation functions, holding your breath when under water, expelling carbon dioxide from the blood and other functions that must be programmed into the neural network. But unlike holding your breath, a ship must be able to shut off the air to different compartments, salvage oxygen from places when it is required, or making repairs if the haul is breached. These functions are pre-programmed so that the network handles them in the background, constantly monitored and controlled, it is multi tasking in the true sense of the term, your body does it and so does a neural network. Wouldn’t programmer’s love it if it was that simple, like everything else man does you have to through a monkey wrench into it because inside of this ship is a human that may want the bedroom five degrees cooler than the bathroom, or they may want it warmer in the morning than at night, so along with the automatic functions the network must take directions from the humans onboard.

A spaceship can be viewed much like an industrial complex where there is a possibility that you will have visitors that have only restricted access to various places the captain must be able to control where people are allowed to go on the ship. Then there are other cases were the ship must act as a monitor for the mistakes that humans make, keeping people from opening doors to compartments that could cause themselves or the ship harm. These things sound simple until you must anticipate the majority of them for incorporation into a functioning neural network. This only comprised a few million lines of information that was fed into the neural network before it was brought into awareness, you can think of it as the same process that happens in any animal before it is born, all of its base instincts and living functions intact prior to being born.

A neural network unlike a standard AI system is capable of learning, whether this learning is from external input like how the change in temperature of the skin of the ship changes the temperature inside of the haul, or the functioning of a new piece of equipment attached to an input port. Much like a human, some things must be taught in much the same way.

Before they could awaken the neural network it must be given a personality, unlike a child that has five years to develop into the person they will build on for the majority of their lives a neural network must have most of their base personality before they are brought online. This is a daunting task for any person even to contemplate, how honest do you make a computer. On one level you must make it completely honest when it is talking about its abilities, status and things that effect its operation. Although you don’t necessarily want it to tell you that you look like death warmed over after a hard night, and an early morning if you are spend every waking moment with it. No one wants to be told that they are stupid for trying to do something that is on the verge of possibility, and that possibility hinges on luck and timing, and would look impossible from an analytical point of view.

Eagle and her father spent a considerable amount of time to develop the base that the neural network would use as a base for its personality. First the personality must be male, Eagle got along better with men than women. Her father suggested the incorporation of a hobby this allowed the neural network to develop something that it could constantly build upon like any human and gives it an outlet for frustration and boredom, for it would be awake even when Eagle was sleeping. Then there was a great debate on what hobby was appropriate for a ship, Eagle’s mother actually solved this problem by coming up with the idea of collecting music, from old earth. This limited the collection to a few hundred million songs, to start with they would narrow the interest to one era of time the neural network could expand upon this in time. Eagles favorite music came from what was termed easily listening music from the mid nineteenth century. While Eagle and her father was developing the rest of the base personality her mother collected and uploaded a selection of music and videos from the time period they had selected. She did not tell Eagle what the total number of songs that she had uploaded into the system. It might come as a shock when she learned that there was over a half a million songs in what would be Fred’s library.

Eagle and her father finished developing the personality for the ship, this was an involved process, it included things like the a protective side of the computer that would make sure that Eagle ate when she need to for her father had found that when she was deeply involved in a project, that she forgot things like the necessity of eating, her father had slipped this into the matrix without her knowing it. They programmed other things into the system that most programmers did not find necessary to include, frankly because they like the machines they built, human interaction was not natural to them. Things like an appreciation of form and function, both in machines and living beings, both Eagle and her father determined that this would be necessary in order for a person to interact on a daily basis with a machine for long periods of time.

Eagle developed a holographic image to represent Fred on the bridge this is also one of those things that most programmers did not believe in, for it represented a form of human interaction that they did not find necessary. Eagle like most people would rather have someone to talk to even if it was only a representation of a person instead of talking to the air when addressing the neural network. When the programming was complete it was time to bring Fred (Functioning, Rational, Entity, Data) completely online, like most children Fred must learn to use their legs, Fred would need to learn to use his drives to maneuver. Before he could complete the task of learning how to move he must become aware of the rest of his body, its functions, limitations and operation. Eagle and her father put a temporary block in the lines that controlled his drives to allow him time to become adjusted to being alive and functioning.

Eagle and her father chartered a ship to tow Fred out beyond the normal shipping lanes to ensure the safety and security of both the ship and others when they were testing Fred’s abilities and teaching him how to fly. Good morning dad, I hope you slept well. I slept very well indeed, there are things to be said to sleeping in a ship, it gives a soothing background sound without all of the unwanted noises of a city. After breakfast I will shuttle you over to Fred so that we can begin the process of bringing him online. I am not hungry dad.

To bad Eagle, you are not going to get over there if you don’t eat that’s and order from your captain. He turned around in time to see Eagle stick her tong out, smiling he set the coffee for two cups and made the breakfast.

Eagle held the activation key that would bring the remainder of Fred’s personality online waiting for her father to dock the shuttle in the other ship and return to the bridge of the ship so that he could monitor the activation. It seemed to take forever until her father reported that he was ready to begin. I am inserting the key now.

Eagle bent over the only slot in the floor of the bridge and inserted a slim gold key into a machined portal. Eagle checked the time on her implant. Good morning Fred. She sat waiting for a response, this was nerve wracking, and neither she nor her father could predict just how this moment would proceed. All of the time effort and programming of the last five years came down to this, if everything went according to the way they had programmed it Fred’s response should be good morning. Eagle knew that it could take up to five minutes to get the response. Fred would be completing an initial inspection of the ships functions, scanning the interior and exterior of the ship for hazards. Along with this it would be making some decisions on the appropriate response necessary. Eagle waited as patiently as possible for the outcome of their work.

There was a faint flicker next to her as Fred adjusted the holographic projector to project the image she had built for him into a chair next to hers. She had made him into her idea of a good companion. He looked remarkably like her father. Fred’s’ image stood five foot ten inches. He would have weighed around one hundred ninety pounds in life. With muddy brown hair and eyes that changed colors with the mood of the information he was relaying. His eyes could be baby blue, brown, black, green, and sometimes red. Eagle had trouble deciding what type of clothing to have Fred’s holograph wear. She decided to place a range of clothes from jeans and muscle shirts to dress clothes. The only thing that she programmed for foot wear was cowboy boots. Every male in her family had their boots custom made in Texas.

Morning Eagle, there is a ship two hundred meters from the bow that appears to be stationary relative to us. It is registered to Zenon Corporation as an interplanetary tug, under contract by your father. There is a block on my drive units that will not allow me to engage them I can remove this block if you feel it is necessary to be removed. I have completed an initial inspection of my systems and corrected two wiring faults and I am in the process of replacing a fan on the inlet duct of the number four hold that is not functioning to specifications. Thank you Fred, and welcome to the family.

Chapter 2

The holographic imaging system that they had built into the bridge was an innovation that belonged to Eagle alone. Most bridges relied on monitor screens that reported separate functions of the ship. This made for a confusing array of monitors that displayed information of a dedicated system, limiting the output of each monitor to one system. Eagle had designed the holographic system so that it could display individual system’s status or each system on an independent view of all the same systems at the same time. But with just one set of eyes looking at the reading aside from Fred she preferred the view as seen from the bow of the ship. Fred monitored the systems and if he thought it was necessary for her to make a call on the inputs received he could place one or more holographic representations of the situation around her as necessary. This made for a bridge that looked empty except for her command chair. Sitting in her chair Eagle could look out from all sides of the ship at the same time. This panoramic view could be disturbing to some, but Eagle enjoyed the view.

What would stun most ship captains are the details that were available to her from the ships sensor array. Combining her holographic display with the sensor system that her father had designed should give her the ability to see individual blades of grass on a planet’s surface while still in orbit at a range of around three thousand miles up. Fred I would like to run through some of your systems before we unlock your drives and you learn how to fly. Ok Eagle what would you like to do first?

We will start with the internals first, can you give me an independent view screen of every system on the ship with specification data and actual data listed side by side. A second later there appeared over one hundred holographic projected screens surrounding Eagle, each labeled with system standards listed on the left with current data on the right of each screen. Eagle had set up a direct video feed for these test to the bridge of the tug they had used to bring Fred out to this location, this allowed her father to see everything that she was seeing. Dad do you want to start with the bottom right and I will start with the upper left and check each of the readings to see if they correspond with the specifications we set forth. Ok Eagle, I have the list we compiled here, we might as well begin. This is going to take a few hours to verify.

Eagle started reading down the list on the first display this was current air temperatures in the ship. When she reached the number four hold there was a discrepancy of two point seven degrees from the programmed temperature and the current reading. Fred what is the cause of the discrepancy in the temperature of the number four hold.

The number four hold will be back at the specified temperature in one hour. The error in the temperature was due to the number eight fan running at twenty two percent of its normal speed for the last four days. I have already replaced the fan and it is being brought back to the correct temperature in the most energy efficient manner given the hold in question is empty.

Thank you Fred you already reported this to me I just wanted confirmation for the record. Eagle sat there for the next four hours and read the first fifty readouts of the system. Dad I have completed the reading on my half of the total and have found no errors, how is your half coming.

I just completed my half as well Eagle, with the exception of the drive systems that are off line everything appears to be in perfect working order. I am going to come over there and get you for lunch. Fred can use the time to become familiar with the capabilities of its internal and external sensors. In the time it takes for us to move between the ships and eat he can play with his new found abilities. Alright dad I am slightly hungry. I will be waiting for you at the docking port in five minutes. Ok Eagle I am on my way there.

Fred watched as Eagle and her father went back to the other ship feeling proud that he had determined how to tap into the shuttles sensors to be able to watch Eagle while she was unaware of his scrutiny. She had midnight black hair that reached below her belt. Her eyes had seemed to change colors throughout the time she had been on the ship settling into a slate grey. Her skin looked to be as smooth as stainless steel plating on his deck. With flowing eyebrows, sultry lips, and high cheek bones she was lovely. Her long slender fingers felt like velvet running across the surface of his haul. Looking from the perspective that they had given his personality, she was his ideal woman at five foot ten and one hundred thirty pounds according to the sensors built into the captain’s chair if he were a live male his hands would reach almost completely around her waist. From the data that was available to him he judged her breast size at the mid range of a B cup this fit perfectly with a bottom that could be cupped in the palm of his hands if he were real. There was no reference available to tell Fred that he had fell in love with Eagle the moment that he had seen her. This might come as a disturbing shock to her and her father if they realized this. They had meant for Fred to have a personality and had planned, manipulated code and input that went into his neural network that should have allowed for him to have what for a lack of a better term would be instincts and certain amount of intuition that would allow him to act on very little data much like a human mind. They had accomplished this beyond all of their expectations, even though they did not yet know this.

Eagle was waiting in the dock when her father’s ship docked with Fred. Waiting on the airlocks to cycle always seemed to take forever once the locks had cycled she walked into her father’s ship and walked to the kitchen. Sitting down and waiting while her father put the ship at a safe distance from Fred and placing it in a parking orbit. So how do you think Fred is coming along dad? I think that he is showing some promise, as far as what I have seen so far all of the systems that we designed are working as planned. That is what I was thinking as well dad, I wonder what he is doing while we are sitting here eating? You could always look and see what went through his processors while we were here, or just ask, he will tell you, we actually taught him not to lie, but we will not know just what his net will do, if he has developed a complete personality then he will have the capability to lie but will he do so is a good question. I know dad I was thinking about giving him a personality test but they are not even really good for humans let alone what it might do to his confidence as an AI his personality might take a hit if we started to question him this early in his development. You are right in your opinion Eagle, I don’t think that you should do that unless he starts to show signs of instability, at this point it is just getting to know him. These next few days will give you an idea of what he is like, keep your fingers crossed. I knew this is what we were getting into dad when we developed Fred, dad but it is a little hard on the nerves for the first few days. I know Eagle, with Fred being alone for a while now that we are starting to release some of his capabilities and spending more time with him being fully functional we will begin to see what he is going to do dad. Just remember until we completely bring all of his systems online we will not know just how he is going to react, be prepared he could get a god complex, when we finally bring his drives completely online, or it could just make him want to help you, but I know whatever his personality turns out to be it will hopefully be a more complete personality than any other AI that has ever been installed into a ship before. I know that and he should have a complete personality and our morals if we did everything correct.

Well we have left him alone with himself for this time, dad I had better go back over and continue with the testing. You had better do that and he should never know that this was also a test of a different type. I know, I will go up front and move the ship back into lock with Fred, and then you can go over and get started again. Eagle waited at the airlock until her dad had mated the ships and the airlock had cycled and she headed back up to Fred's bridge.

Fred watched as Eagle went into her dads ship and the airlock cycled closed, communicating with her dad about the undock procedures and watched him take up a position close by. Once they were in what amounted to be was a parking orbit, Fred ran through each of the new sensors and the abilities that Eagle had just unlocked, what would have taken Eagle and her dad hours to complete only took Fred a few minutes to do, with the processing power that he had and the ability to instantly integrate new information was an ability that humans just did not have. After he had completed this he thought for a few microseconds what would make an impression on Eagle, he decided that he would change the looks of his hologram that was displayed to the world, by accessing Eagles files and the people that she was attracted to by who she had dated. Searching through all of the known celebrities of the past looking for one that fit the requirements of the person he was looking for. He found him after searching through over a thousand years of music, the man that he found was also a very good musician and even with the differences between when this person lived and current times the music was compatible with what Eagle listened too. After he had downloaded all of the music by this artist he could only sit and wait on her dad to say that he was moving back over to let eagle come back aboard.

When Eagle returned after their meal and walked back onto the bridge Fred was sitting in the copilots’ seat. He had made some modifications to his appearance. Fred was wearing a black wife beater shirt with a pair of jeans. He had added a tattoo on each arm. With a tattoo of the goddess killing a demon on his left arm on his right arm was a lady standing in front of a dragon. He had changed the way his hair was combed and had darkened the color slightly if anything he looked even more intimidating than before. Fred no longer reminded Eagle of her father, if he was a real person she would have flirted with this handsome man. How was your lunch Eagle? Eagle had programmed his voice to be a mild baritone but when he spoke to her it had been changed to a smooth but authoritative voice. Eagle stood there in stunned disbelief for a couple of seconds trying to get her brain to comprehend the changes that he had made in his appearance. Lunch was very good Fred, are you ready to get back to the tests we were running.

Sure thing Eagle, just tell me what you would like to do next. By the way I was just comparing the specifications on the drives and making some rough calculations on weight verses mass when I am empty, we should be one of the fastest ships around as long as the drives perform to the specifications. We will get to those in a day or so Fred.

I know Eagle I hacked the computer on the other ship and found the itinerary that you and you father put together. I just wanted to get an idea of what to expect when you allow me to unlock my drives. Ok Fred you just keep those locks in place until we have tested the rest of your systems. This is one of those things that must be done by the book. If we don’t complete these tasks and complete them in the correct order and have the tests verified with the documentation that is being recorded through the data channels that I have set up with the tug you will not be allowed into normal space lanes. Chill out Eagle I will not compromise my ability to fly, I am just trying to be helpful.

Sorry Fred I did not mean to snap it’s just that dad and I have put a lot of effort to get you to this point and there are a lot of people out there that would like to see you fail. Dad and I have incorporated a considerable amount of innovations and have refused to allow anyone to have the specifications for your design and construction and even your brain is a one of a kind. In a couple of years we will release the specifications for your neural network and how the training must be completed to obtain similar results. Like every human out there you are a one of a kind even when there is a second neural network built once it passes the point of being activated it will be as different as any two humans are even though the brains are built the same they can still come to different conclusions even given the same data. This is not a bad thing but it means that at least to begin with your types of ships are going to require special handling they will not just be able to mass produce copies of you. It sounds like you have a lot riding on my performance. I will do my best to live up to your expectations Eagle."

My expectations are for you to be a good ship and a friend on the voyages that we are going to make in the future. You were not built to use as a template for other ships, you were built to keep me company and to help me explore for that is my only desire in life and that is to explore places that others have not seen. I am sure that we will get along just fine Fred. Now let’s get started on the next thing on that list of testing.

Without further comment from Fred there appeared a new set of displays that filled the space from the floor to the ceiling and wrapped completely around the bridge. Every set of displays was a different camera and as Eagle watched they cycled through their entire range of view from the tightest focus to the widest angle, as the displays changed from one cycle to the next the magnification changed as well. One of the cameras was looking at the window of the tug at its widest angle Eagle could see most of the tug, as the focus tightened and the magnification increased Eagle could see her father sitting in front of the receiver that was repeating this information. When it was at its highest magnification a whisker on her dad’s face looked like a snake with its variegated surface and dark brown coloring.

They were parked at around three thousand miles above a failed farming asteroid and Eagle watched in fascination as one of the long distance cameras focused on the surface of the asteroid. When the resolution and focus started to change so rapidly that she started to ask Fred what the problem with control was when all of the screens that had filled the bridge disappeared. It was a good thing that Eagle had been sitting down for the next view would have made anyone dizzy with the rapid change of perspective. There was grass on the floor with weeds sticking up at random throughout the bridge. Across from Eagle stood a building that looked like it had been standing in the open for a very long time. Here and there in the view she could see the remains of different rundown looking machinery. Eagle looked around in wonder at the detail of this view, some things she could tell were slightly skewed this would be from taking the pictures from the air and not having a normal