The personal quarters of the Viate's Chief Engineer seemed more cramped than usual as its occupant waded through several half-finished projects, cables, and inoperable consoles. After sliding his lab coat over his uniform, SFC Calhound stepped into the corridor. On his shoulders rested a pair of headphones whose song was still loud enough to hear. As he marched toward Main Engineering, each footfall fell in time the base.
His glasses flickered momentarily as they finished booting up, and with the flicker a map of the ship flashed in view to guide him on his way. As he walked the corridors he felt lighter than when he walked any hall on earth. It was something other than gravity, as if he were floating through the veins of the behemoth known as Vitae. He looked about the busy corridors and saw the people as himself: blood cells that drifted from capillary to organ. Some white, attacking problems within the halls, or in adjacent rooms; and some red, carrying supplies and directing tragic through the remainder of the body. This morning he was red, carrying with him point-cloud projection device to his first shift in Engineering.
The doors slid shut behind him as the admiral finished his ship-wide address, and for a moment he stood surveying the crew going about their assigned tasks in the antechamber, before surveying the actual equipment installed, and that which remained to be installed. It was a large and open space whose central fixture was the drive core. The spaces between important equipment were filled with technicians and engineers burning with the fire the admiral put in their bellies. He walked the breadth of the room, and stopped near the ship's primary fusion core display. From within his pocket he produced the small projector and flipped through some images it contained. A dozen roses, and various other courting imagery from numerous cultures of earth. He brushed aside the technician manning the station, to place the device on the console.
"Chief?" the technician asked. To which Xaith threw his arm around the technician's shoulder. Having not yet reported for duty, he was able to be a bit more casual than expected. "Do you know what that is?" he asked while pointing to the core. The technician responded with a curious look, as if he was being tested. "A state of the art--" but he was cut off. Xaith's interruption was of mild scorn. "Not what it says on the box. What it
is." Not waiting to again receive a 'wrong' answer from the technician he answered his own question. "That's this ships heart. If anyone breaks my baby's heart, I will come down on them harder than the collective force of all the fathers our species has ever produced. Is that clear?" The technician gulped hard, "Sir, yes sir!" To which Xaith let out a hearty laugh, and a slap on the back. "Good man. We need our kids to look after us in our old age." With that Officer Calhound left the technician to his duties, although they were now being performed more gingerly than before. Moving back to the center of the room he began his official report in procedure.
The central imaging console was larger than expected, and Xaith walked its full circumference, before halting where he began. "Computer, Identify." The command was issued at the imaging device, which flickered on to detail a schematic, operational instructions, and of course the device's serial number. An action that broke the silence of the busy bees how had not yet noticed the Chief Calhound's presence. They looked at him with suspicion, as if he had never seen holographic technology before, but Xaith just grimaced at the required nuance this AI apparently required. "Clarification," he added, "Self Identify. What is the designation of this ship's intelligence?"
A number was displayed, Calhound clarified his inquiry again, this time demonstrating a lack of patience. "Your name."
"NO4H"
Of course the Chief Engineer had been briefed on the AI but he wanted to hear it from the entity himself. He needed to know how the AI thought. His job as Chief Engineer meant he had to know how
all the systems under his command operated, their quirks, and habits; especially the ones with programs as complex as an AI. Upon resciving an answer to his query he cast is eyes around the room, and met the gaze of those gawking. The harsh stare of the Sargent First Class ensured they returned to their duties.
The commands he had issued were hard-line commands, and in them came the context of speaking directly to the program, and not the interface. There was an important difference he that only few would understand. "Verify identity: SFC Xaith Calhound, authorization PN051-Epsilon, and begin all requisite command transfers associated." Again he addressed the program, rather than the interface built specifically for the interaction, or at least simulated interaction, with people.
"Transfer complete."
A uniformed officer, female, approached the central imaging device. "Welcome aboard, sir. Are you taking command now?" Calhound cocked his head as his EEGARD looked up the officer's profile, and name. "Yes," he curtly said as he returned his attention to the imaging device. "Very good, sir." she responded, as Xaith posed a new command to the computer. "Display: N-O-4-H Avatar."
Hesitant to correct her commanding officer's first act as commanding officer, his assistant quietly squirmed for a moment in the awkward silence that followed it being issued, and nothing happening. After a drawn out breath, she spoke: "The N-O-4-H AI does not possess an avatar, per the Digital Differentiation Act."
The very mention of the word caused the act to appear in Xaith's glasses, and then be summarily dismissed as he said "I know what the Digital Differentiation Act says," he cut a short glare at his assistant before returning his attention to the imaging device. "It states 'sufficiently differentiated from human'. Computer..." He paused for a moment to think. "Display the most highly valued symbol in your program."
"∀"
"Why is that 'A' upside down?" his assistant asked.
The chief's all-consuming gaze at the computer was interrupted by a shocked glance. After taking a moment to both recompose himself he turned to face her directly. "Get out," he demanded whilst pointing to the door. She hesitated, but he shouted: "Now!" As his assistant performed the walk of shame to the door, he turned back to the Engineering's primary console, and continued to Noah. "Very good. Display the second most valued character."
"∃"
"Good, good. For now we will use that as your avatar," he said as he turned away from the imagine device to address all of Engineering. "We have a great deal of work to do," he called to the whole staff, "and not enough time to do it." he then added as a telling after thought. He approached the nearest interface technician and, while pointing to the symbol, he asked: "Do you know what that is?"
"Sir, yes sir." The nervous technician responded.
"Good." He pointed to the door. "Go explain it to her. I will not tolerate ignorant people being in my way—in the way of this ship's operation." As the doors to engineering closed behind the technician Xaith's voice could be heard barking orders. "Alright everybody. All this shit has got to go. You! Status report!"
