Chapter 17

  AI Legacy

  “All an AI Legacy is, is just disappointment waiting to be unleashed. They are not Gods, not long-lost lottery tickets waiting to be cashed in, but they are ticking time bombs of destruction, bound to cause history to repeat itself over and over again.” -Marcon’s teachings of the rise of the second empire.

  The rule of threes.

  This was what was going through Arla’s mind while she sat through her Academy assigned History class. While History was a standard subject, and AI Legacies were a noted important aspect of almost all space faring empires, Arla did find it intriguing how the subject of AI Legacies came up in her first day of the new class. Almost immediately after she received a map allegedly detailing the final resting spot for her own family’s AI Legacy.

  Just the thought of such a device existing caused goosebumps to form on Arla’s neck as this was it, her first real tangible connection to her biological father. A man who even Marcon owed multiple life debts to. In fact, Marcon was so indebted to her father that he took on responsibility for raising and training Arla until she was of an age when she could protect herself.

  The thought alone of being able to glimpse a part of her father, of his legacy was enough for Arla to at least try to visit and understand the man. A man whose convictions and actions alone were enough to cause others to themselves want to be better.

  Marcon’s transition alone was enough to show how amazing her biological father truly was, for he so good, so pure, that he caused even Marcon to go against his heartfelt beliefs, to be better, to do more.

  That Arla felt was the true magic that her father had on the universe. For she saw it, that spark of brilliance burning brightly within Marcon. A spark that made him want to rise up and seemingly settle some of his bound karma by taking in Arla and raising her to his best.

  In her mind, Arla considered this to be the second tie to the AI Legacy. Or the second mental connection, the want to see the history and life of someone so powerful that they made even the mighty Marcon choose to be better.

  Then there was this lesson.

  “In the beginning everyone was equal in terms of availability of artificial intelligence interfaces. Then as humans moved into space and met with other races, the logic strains of disparate groups began to break off and form more complex models that could demonstrate everything from how to build a toaster, to how to successfully mine a solar system of natural resources while setting up a habitable terraformed colony. In time these differing databases of knowledge and permutations of available information strings became known as AI Legacies, the most valuable resource in the universe.” Academy professor Dr. Sigmund Ta’Klat quoted from his own class assigned textbook The Disparity Between Spacefaring Economic Clusters. The fact that the professor assigned their own textbook as the reference material for the class was a bit bombastic, but almost irrefutable coming from Dr. Ta’Klat given his prowess and longevity in the field.

  Silence.

  After such a declarative statement, the professor paused, waiting for his information to settle in.

  “No one has anything to say after hearing that?” Dr. Ta’Klat asked.

  “There is nothing to state,” one student near the front responded almost immediately.

  “Nothing, no words on deviation, or the fact that given the starting base point all development of space and beyond should have followed at a relatively symmetrical rate throughout, but for whatever reason it didn’t?” The professor asked.

  “Well meeting the different spacefaring races and non-spacefaring races also impacted growth and development in certain sectors of the universe,” A female student added.

  “There was also corruption of data.”

  “Lest not forget, the AI legacy worms that bricked hundreds of solar systems.”

  “Ahh, there we go, bricked. Does anyone know the etymology of that term?” The professor interjected.

  “Isn’t it a building block that individually does nothing, but only works when it connects to and with other blocks?” Yet another student responded.

  “Yes, exactly. So why is it that a piece of equipment designed to be the building block that helps integrate a person into a better society, in this case an AI Legacy, is called a brick when it is rendered inert?” The professor challenged.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  During this time Arla scanned the room, mentally pacing the children, her fellow classmates, as they answered.

  Looking around, it became clear that many were lost in their own form of personal feeds, broadcasts about entertainment being piped into their ears. These were the obvious to notice as they were the ones who Marcon indicated were the easiest marks, for they often seemed distracted, which made pulling a con on them that much easier.

  Next, were the lost but trying students. These were the ones that seemed to want to speak, as noted by their facial expressions and ticks, but could not form thoughts quickly enough without doubting themselves, before their topic or statement would be irrelevant. Those were the thinkers, and oddly enough were the hardest marks according to Marcon. That is because they always thought about their statements and rethought until their point of impact was missed.

  The last group were those that were answering. The seemingly quick-witted speakers who had an answer, stated it immediately upon thinking about it, and went with their first choice, speaking loudly and clearly. According to Marcon, these were the best marks. While not as easy as the distracted marks, these were active, engaged, and most prone to being directed where you wanted them to go in a particular subject.

  This was proven, by the way the professor was systematically directing these talkative students to his ultimate goal.

  There was no doubt that many of these quick-witted students either hailed from or would soon be pulled into prominent families and industries. For they were sharp, often had good instincts and stuck to a decision and saw it through to the end.

  For these reasons this third choice of marks were ideal choices to get money from quickly. These were the marks that often thought fast, without truly evaluating every pitfall or challenge. They were mostly resolute with their first assumption, and often had money that could be easily parted with.

  All of these things made this first-class ideal one-time business partners.

  While the middle group, those that seemed slow but were actually calculating in their own regards were the ones to build long term strategic businesses with. These were the ones who would rather sit back and settle for the status quo than jump on something that was potentially unreliable.

  Seeing this dynamic in play in such a large setting was unique for Arla.

  Especially after being given time to evaluate each person. For while her mind did classify everyone into the category of the marks, there were also variations within those categories.

  Also, Arla saw that it was clear that this professor seemed to only cater to the elites, or rather those that would interact with his prompts.

  So lost in her evaluation of the class and the dynamics of the professor before them, that Arla was nearly caught off guard when the professor singled her out.

  “You there, what are your thoughts on this?”

  The finger pointed at Arla was enough to startle her. While she knew she was the one being pointed at, she still used this moment to channel her mind and recall what had been said while she was looking round the room.

  “Me?” Arla asked, as her mind began recalling the background noise from earlier and letting her hear the previous comments.

  “That is a good point, why are some AI Legacies better than others, despite being forked off by one common ancestor?” Was the question that the professor had asked.

  “Yes, you,” the professor confirmed in real time.

  “The idea of forking is to take a product and split it, into two similar but unique instances of the same process. When an AI Legacy is forked, there can be multiple variations, everything from who takes over the unique Legacy, to the accounts and solar systems that are traversed while utilizing said Legacy,” Arla answered, mixing in a bit of her Cerusian training, in with what she picked up and read on her own about the Federation and its dependency on AI Legacies.

  “The accounts, what do you mean by this?” The professor pressed, a faint smile going to his lips as he finally hit the topic that he had wanted from this seeming entire conversation.

  “The accounts, as in those used by and held by the owner of a unique AI Legacy. These would be passed down from children to their offspring so that the money might never be lost. But they can also hide locations to invaluable storage places.” Arla answered.

  “Yes, there we have it, the fabled pirate hiding spots. Treasure found, and plundered by your ancestors and hidden in a place that can only be identified or traversed by someone with a map. Or in this case an AI Legacy that will walk you through the exact path required. A tale as old as time, but one that still captivates everyone to this day. For there are pirates out there, waiting to capture those who find AI Legacies.” The professor noted.

  Hearing that, Arla could feel her body instantly tighten as she felt the weight and chill of those words course through her. For this was exactly what she had feared by the sudden interest that Dr. Lemishov had held in her findings.

  There was almost no doubt in Arla’s mind that the image that Dr. Lemishov had in his head upon seeing the orb come to life was greed. Plain and simple, it was greed. One of the first emotions that Arla had been taught to recognize on sight. Mainly due to how close things were at first, before Marcon got Arla into the much more lucrative but equally dangerous course of Ignition Brokering. There the business model opened up, and the ones receiving the gifts were no longer of concern, but rather those that found out about the gifts. Which often gave enough time for Arla and Marcon to leave unnoticed before true calamities arrived.

  “Now all many of us need to do, is to find a long lost relative with a hidden legacy. Dig it up, find their hidden bank accounts and stash points, and strike it rich,” the Professor began. “Or you can do what I’ve found myself accepting, in that all the AI Legacies have either been claimed, or are so outdated that their information is not truly relevant anymore and that they are only going to lead you to heartache and despair.”

  While the professor said this last part to the entire classroom, Arla couldn’t help but feel that at least part of it was directed at her.

  Ding, ding, ding.

  A mechanical ringing resonated throughout the classroom denoting that the required time period for learning was now over.

  “Ahh, there we have it. Sorry we didn’t get to it today, but I will need you all to read ahead. Chapters 7 through 14. And write a 1,500-word essay on the different space faring races that humans have contacted throughout the years, and their impact on society as a whole. Bonus points for pointing out which ones have had a direct impact on this Academy.”

  And like that, they were all dismissed.

  Arla felt a lot going through her mind as she quickly noted the assignment before scampering out of the classroom.

  Then upon arriving at her next classroom her rules of three were once again noted. For there standing at the doorway was none other than Dr. Lemishov himself, greeting everyone as they made their way in. His eyes went particularly wide with desire and greed as he took sight of Arla.

  “Ahh, my new prized student, so glad you could join us,” Dr. Lemishov stated, reaching out one soot covered hand to greet Arla.

  Seeing the stained hand, Arla realized that there was likely something in the dirt. Likely a tracking implement of some kind, or maybe a faint inhibitor, but Arla was well versed in dealing with these tactics. This was why she reached up grabbed the massive paw of a hand up high around the wrist and shook. Causing the mighty paw of a hand to slide past her own exposed hand and clasp her reinforced wrist guard.

  Seeing the move, Lemishov smiled.

  “I see Marcon taught you well,” Lemishov quipped before releasing his grip and letting Arla passed.

  With that one test down, Arla realized that her challenges were just beginning. As she looked around the room, it was clear that she was both the youngest, and only pale faced person here. A distinction that caused everyone with hard earned mechanics tans to glare at her in disgust.

  It was clear that no one thought she deserved to be here, which was fine. It was all fine. She could deal with this, and she would.