Vreta leaned back somewhat on the bench and hummed to himself. There were a few, long seconds of silence from him as he ruminated on the situation, which he filled by finishing off the rest of his food. Inwardly, he wished he had been given the chance to study the Cradle in-depth before all of this had happened. The Rothians had been trying to gain access to study the Cradle for many years, and had made some generous offers in that time. If his people had the time for proper research, he had no doubt they could have come to understand it. In his mind, Humanity simply was not yet advanced enough to comprehend what they had in their possession. 

Once he was finished with his roll, he turned his head back towards Freyr. Despite his opinions of Humanity’s usage of the Cradle, he did have to admit that her reasoning was quite sound. She had come to potential conclusions even he had not considered. Granted, he was working with much less direct experience with the Cradle. 

“Your proposals are reasonable. Really, they could be correct.” Vreta finally replied. “An immature AI, one based on learning algorithms, that had not yet been given enough data to mature would match the behaviors we have seen. But why would there be a learning AI within a supercomputer as advanced as the Cradle, I wonder? In Rothian history, there was a time when our most potent AI required a period of time to collect data and learn. However, we have come to the point where we can create AI that are both exceptionally capable of learning, and are mature from their creation. I have to imagine that the creators of the Cradle would have been capable of the same thing. Unless..well, I suppose the theoretical limits of an AI that begins immature are higher, in the long-term. It would have to be quite an important project to justify the inconvenience, though.”

Once again, Vreta sighed. “Like you said, though, this is all just theory. Speculation. Regardless of the nature of the AI or its purpose, more needs to be learned about it. And the Cradle in general. People have been killed. Terrorists, soldiers, and innocent civilians alike. It is clear that this intelligence, whatever it is, does not discriminate with its victims, and I do not see any reason to believe it is going to stop. And your world, Outremer…perhaps this is just my impression, but your world is exceptionally intertwined with the Cradle. If your people lose control of the Cradle, I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that the society you have built here could come to an end. It is past time for games; it is my opinion that your people should seek aid from the Rothians. I am fairly certain my government would be willing to help.”