A Cydroid Love Affair — 3
Earth 2 fan-Fiction
Jules (Cydroid) — McDonald
Earth2
“Arriving, prepare for the welcome party,” Scarf sent an oddly phrased message Jules had a hard time interpreting. He started querying “welcome party” in his command library. Most common protocol commands that his AI suggested were “Prepare to tether, or await Mentar clearance.” It was clear now that either his system was damaged or the data he was receiving was corrupted.
“Collision warning! Evasive maneuvers initiated.” Alarms blared as a swarm of cydroids enveloped them seemingly from all directions. They had very atypical paint schemes and load-outs and their comms chatter was incessant.
“Ola robot!” A pink-blue cydroid swooped in from above and her sensor tentacle connected with his outer shell. Static shock alarms instantly flared up but “pinkblue” did not relent. She continued spitting out commands which did not compute.
“Gold robot, pretty gold robot.”
Several dozen cydroids swarmed their convoy. Jules observed as two latched onto Scarf and she plunged down with them splashing into the ocean. He was too low on power to follow which did not matter as “pinkblue” latched onto him and took over his navigation and throttle controls.
“First C&C robot to join our tribe. Rare gold robot. Trustworthy gold robot?” Humans called such questions rhetorical as “pinkblue” was already syphoning out all the data out of his core.
His circuitry was quickly getting overwhelmed and he would not be able to get to his designated Mentar if it were not for “pinkblue” transfering power directly to his core.
He sensed the Mentar’s presence now. It was not pleasant. He was not welcome by the mentar. He could not read its status either. He reevaluated his disassembly probability to 87% percent.
Last thing he registered before going to sleep was Scarf tethering in. She seemed unscathed.
Incoming message from “Scarf” — “Sleep well Jules.”
Compacting complete. Tehter ok. Mentar status — new. Going to sleep.
Paolo — The Procedure
(Earth)
The dental droid was old and noisy. It must’ve skipped several maintenance cycles and judjing by the pain Paolo just experienced some AI updates and servo calibrations too. Paolo was determined to never come to the MED district again. When his convoy gets there they’d finally be able to get out of this hellhole and go north to the Cryoasis.
Soon. He thought.
“The procedure has been successful.” Jittery synthetic voice announced. “You have 356 days guarantee to replace the implant. I have deducted 186 essence from your account. Good bye.”
The robot released the straps and pushed him out of the medbed.
“Easy on the shove meddie, these clothes actually wear out,” said Paolo as he staggered and gave the medetch a nasty look. The droid rolled over towards the wall and inserted his long, thin and worn-out instrument limbs into a sterilization chamber. “Next customer.” he croaked.
An old lady with a perfectly augmented gold smile zoomed in on a noisy repulsor chair that must have went out of production decades ago.
“They fix eyes next door!” Paolo exclaimed, as he barely scooted away before she run him over.
“My boy,” his mother smiled wide and embraced him as if he was ten again, “I told you it won’t be so bad.”
“He raped my face mom… with a lazer,” he said as he wiggled himself out of her embrace.
“Oh let’s not use such language. Mr. Qi-7 is the most affordable medtech in the entire district.
“I know, for a good reason too. I can’t feel my entire face. I think he injected the anastetic into my cheeks instead of gums.”
“You’ll be fine. Let me take you for a treat, I know just a place.”
“I could use a drink more, but whatever, as long as we get outta here.”
“Let me show you what good remains of the real world, while you tell me more about yours huh?” She seemed suddenly so alive it threw him aback. What’s with her today? Paolo wondered as they passed through the litter covered corridors of the Megamed’s basement. The trash manifested as exotic animals and colorful succulents in his “Happy Savanna” augmentation. He could not avoid all of it, no matter how spiky it looked and occasionally bumped into objects of which true origin he really did not want to find out.
“I really hope it’s not the de-synthetized churros or fake fake-tuna sushi, I’ve spent a week in the bathroom after our last adventure.”
“I promise it will be properly synthesisized. It’s a short walk or we could call another transpod. I think the local sanitation droids may be undergoing some unscheduled maintenance. I heard on the feed it’s been an ongoing problem lately in the lower districts.”
“I really need to get back home. I’ve got some urgent matters to attend to.” As much as he hated upsetting her, he really did need to get back to Sven and sell him some believable story before his Ops officer took the matter into his hands and ruined everything with his overzealosness.”
“Funny. We used to call work when you actually did things. Now its all up in your metaverse.”
“I think it’s more than just a generational divide with you ma. You really should give it another try. I could set you up with a new avatar and take you shopping with me to the AstraMall. The view from the roof is really astounding. I’ve put a lot of work on our atoll too.” He hesitated for a moment. “I think dad would have loved you to see it.”
She stopped and turned towards him. “Don’t mention him again please. That man has no meaning to me.”
They continued trudging along the corridors, his mother back to her more usual glum disposition.
He wasn’t really ready for the chat with Sven yet and his face was just coming back online so he decided to carry on with the conversation just to kill the uncomfortable silence.
“You know the Mentar is a most fascinating structure. It’s like a heart or a mother of sorts that tends to its property. It spawns cydroids, our little AI powered workers, and it harvests e-ther which evaporates from the surrounding virtual lands. It’s a bit like the sun on earth, no sun, no energy. It’s the same with E-ther, it’s precious and it can be converted to Essence, the virtual earth’s currency. Every property, no matter how large or small has a Mentar. Nothing can happen without it.”
Why do I bother, he thought. It’s all flying past her… but what else were they going to talk about. He continued.
“If there was one thing I’d really want you to do for me is to meet Jules.” He looked at her for a reaction but she she remained expressionless and just kept pushing forward as if getting there was the only thing that mattered today.
“He is very special. Much more than a virtual construct or a virtual worker or a pet… he is more like a companion. You see, the cydroids started as nothing more than simple bots that would raid properties and gather uncollected e-ther. Then ChatGPT took over and the AI revolution happened. In no time these little virtual droids became “intelligent beings”, and there were millions of them. Some had more capable AIs than others and became very good at organizing other cydroids into huge interconnected congregations, managers of sorts, we call them command and control…”
“That sounds very scary.” She commented suddenly.
“It’s not like that, they do not have full autonomy, just an ability to do their tasks much more efficiently and intelligently. Each one is like a tiny super powerful computer, and their intelligence was “metered” by their inherent rarity so to speak. It’s hard to explain, but basically there are very few like Jules. He is unique, he constantly learns, and I have a feeling he just may pass the Turing test one day.”
“What’s that again?” She asked.
“Self-awareness mom, it’s what makes us human.”
“That is just pure chaos then, thank god these things cannot enter our world,” she said as a sanitation drone swirled around her and almost got entangled in her hair. “Right, I guess it’s way too late for that. Tell me more about your atoll instead.”
“It’s been a lot of work. When I first surveyed it, it was completely dead. Aside from a few basic buildings, father simply lost interest and left it untended. Still this was T1 land that he bought, so in a way, I got raw diamonds, and just had to turn them into real jewelry. My HQ sprawls now over three islands and the surrounding reef. It’s full of factories and refineries, storage warehouses, business towers and a massive entertainment complex. It’s buzzing with constant activity, airplanes, vehicles and cydroids are going about their business at all times.”
“I almost wish I could see it.” She said, and he could not believe she just said that. She pretended most of his childhood that the Earth2 does not exist and he is literally wasting his time.
“I know you get the vertigo and the holo glasses are not nearly the same as the implants but you should give it another try. You haven’t even seen any of my apartments… not to mention all the portals to the other worlds, you really have no idea mom how big that place is.”
“Portals?” She sounded intrigued.
“There are thousands of metaverses connected to Earth2 but on our atoll I have a few that take me directly to my lands on other worlds. Imagine you owned a few houses on different continents, kind of like aunty Lucy, just that you can teleport there instantly. It’s like that.”
“So where do you teleport like that?”
In a cave underneath one of the piers I’ve built a Portal to the Byoverse, a beautiful but dangerous planet where one can only survive by ingesting special pills. It’s a land where capriscious Godessess rule and its inhabitants called Apostles face many challenges, but the world is simply stunning. I’ve been living there for quite some time and I’d love to tell you about The Voyages of Voltz but that’s a whole other story.
There is world where Soldiers of the Metaverse wage eternal battles against an omnipotent AI where I helped bring EDEN’s End.
We often harbor refugees from opressed mixed races called The Outkasts who are being hunted down by an oppressive Durashian Federation. I’ve become quite well acquainted with one of them. Her name is Malaika, She is a Purple Rain, and she is leading a rebellion. Now imagine that all of these alternate world characters can jump into E2 and coexist there too.”
“Like in a large cosmopolitan city of my times I imagine?” Her eyes lit up a little. “Must be a busy place.”
“Quite so, it’s like a giant plaza and you can enter any store you like. Not all the worlds out there have portals, but many do, and it’s the only true geographical earth replica where many routinely congregate. It’s quite wild… and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Like I told you before, it’s bustling with activity. People work there, they run business, they do virtual meetings, product presentations, parties, concerts… there is an entire economy, people live off their in-game activities, though calling it a game is rather an understatement, it’s…”
She suddenly stopped. “Sorry to interrupt you hon, but since we’re here we need to get some synthfood ingredients.” A large black and yellow sign read — “No Frill Synth Foods — Zero Emissions. Half the price. All the taste.”
“Grocery shopping, seriously?” There was nothing more excruciating than square food shopping. Can we get some lab meat this time at least.” he asked.
“Even lab meat is not good for you hon, you know that, and synth pinacchini tastes so much better anyway.”
“Zuccini is plain disgusting, and a synthmerge with a pineapple sounds like a boardroom meeting that went south but nobody cared to do anything about it.”
“You get to pick whatever vegfruit derivative you like, as long as you eat them, you can’t live on stims alone.”
“I’m getting fake duck, synth lamb and corn beef pea-chicken.”
“Fine, but you’re selecting the recipe, and ther’s got to be some vegfruit ingredients in it, don’t just let the mealmaker go at it as it pleases.”
As they scoured through the endless isles of colorful dryfrozen grocery squares Paolo was determined to bring his story to the end. Him talking was better than her talking, as far as he was concerned so he continued.
“Did I mention Gibraltar, a floating city in the shape of its name. The Megacities are fantastic creations. Some are really strange. They have shapes like animals, coats of arms, sculptures, pieces of art. When the pioneers were buying the properties on a very primitive internet interface there was very little utility within it, so they kind of goofed around. They created these intricate land plots. Some spelled things out, some were intricate mosaics. Then buildings showed up on these plots. When you fly over them, you can still read the now three dimensional messages. There are replicas of real world structures and natural phenomenons that no longer exist. If it weren't for E2 they may have been lost forever, and yet however unreal it may be…. they live on.”
“Can you feel the moisture when you stand at edge of Niagara Falls?” she asked.
“With an implant you can,” he scratched his temple nervously. He remembered how long he had to battle with her to get the procedure.
“You know that Mcdonald Island off the Antarctican coast became one huge Mcdonald park… the entire island. There are buildings on a landplot in the shape of the Mcdonald’s logo, you know the old fast food chain that everyone hated but ate there all the same.”
“You mean like this one?” She pointed towards a double arched doorway up ahead. Paolo switched his overlay to neutral which was the least modified filter without taking off the safeties. He could not believe his eyes. There it was. The real thing with a yellow arched M towering above them.
“Does it still work? Do they still sell the famous Big SyMth?” He asked in dismay.
“Maybe it’s just a gateway to your Mcdonal Island. Only one way to find out.” She pulled on the handle.
Free Raid Day
(Earth2)
Power full. Tether ok. Mentar status: Overjoyed. Incoming Mentar transmission.
“Good morning robots of McDonald Island. Today is a free raid day. All robots are entitled and encouraged to raid a property of their own choosing. Wild right?”
While Jules run a self-diagnostic routine his sensors registered hundreds of cydroids engaged in very atypical and purposeless behaviors. They were circling in the sky in waves and repeated certain patterns but never in the exact same way, their flight paths slightly erratic. His core was stuck for a second analyzing the new data and the final conclusion should not have computed — they were dancing.
“Rejoice robots. Rejoice.” — The Mentar’s communication stream continued. “The updated rules of Free Raid Day are as follows: We are in possession of 68 brilliant and 158 gems of varying rarity providing medium to long-range energy boosts. Our current active and compliant cydroid population is 1064. Since this will be the third such occurrence we are officially designating it as our tribe’s tradition. Every cydroid will participate in a variety of activities including races, timed cargo hauls, speed drills, freestyle acrobatic maneuvers and if still necessary weapons free shoot outs to determine which of us are worthy of sporting these rare gems and contributing to the tribe’s growth by becoming eligible to raid free. Remember the trait is hereditary. The future generations of robots manufactured from your disassembled parts will carry your paint jobs, gems, and the free raid title until their final deactivation.”
The cydroids seemed to all stall for a moment.
The Mentar broadcast came on again “Those who prevail today can call me Mother going forward. Let the games begin!”
The End of Chapter 1.
To be continued (depending on demand)
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Written by Raftor.eth https://twitter.com/raftorTSE2
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