The Green Magi
Chapter 3

Copyright© 2014 by Sebastian Tombs

from the journals of Cornelius Randolph

Breakfast was a shock and a great disappointment. Disappointing because all it consisted of was a small bowl of oatmeal. The shock was the delivery system. An opaque cylinder appeared over the table and as it faded out a bowl of porridge, a small bowl of porridge. Disappointment must have outweighed shock because all Eve picked up on was the scowl I directed at the small bowl of porridge because she said "Cornelius your stomach was in a dreadful state of disrepair and took considerable effort in the night to repair. This meal and your next will be small, allowing your digestive system to begin functioning properly again."

I wasn't exactly mollified, and with bad grace I'm afraid, I pulled the porridge towards me. A thought formed which I blurted out. It was a weakness I didn't want known but I said it anyway. "Thug, he'll be starving". The reply was so way out I just ate the porridge and shut up. Eve's reply was, "Mr Thug Cat is being very well looked after. He is far easier to deal with than you Cornelius". I was sure by now she was using Cornelius to get a reaction so I ignored it. Between mouthfuls of porridge I tried to grapple with the fact I was discussing a bloody house cat with a machine that had at least interstellar capabilities and claimed power over life and death. Luckily Eve shut up about it and I let it slide in favour of investigating the teapot. It was obviously another replicator. Always hot and always full. That made it useful. Breakfast such as it was, was over and I looked to Eve to get the ball rolling.

from the records of Eve

I began my history lesson and Cornelius (surprisingly) patient, listened to the following salient points.

Some 850,000 years ago the planet Orgon was involved in an interstellar war with a race of beings called the Dagnar whose sole intention was to harvest any biologic being as a food source, rape the planet of other resources and secure any technology that was useful to them. They left behind a dead planet.

The Orgons had seen war in their history but were a generally peaceful race. Not aggressive by nature Orgons focused on defensive military capabilities. This stood them in good stead, as the attackers could not penetrate their home systems. Unfortunately the Orgons had neither the military ability nor, more importantly, the will to carry the fight to their enemies. What they had in abundance however was the intelligence and perseverance necessary in weapons research. Their defensive capabilities steadily improved over time. Relevant knowledge was freely passed onto their allies. It was during this flurry of activity the Biologic Artificial Intelligence was developed.

The flash of genius came from the inclusion of various life forms in the computing matrix used by the AI.

It was decided to build two of the 'super computers' one deep in the planets crust and the second one on an asteroid in an irregular orbit well away from the planet's star. Both were tasked with the defence and safety of Orgon and its inhabitants. Number One was further charged with integrating all Orgon systems becoming the de facto Orgon civil service. Number Two was primarily defence oriented. Both were also expected to scrutinise all research and to advise on any overlapping projects.

It took four years for the biologic parts of the computers to grow sufficiently to be integrated. Once they did, defences that were barely holding back the attackers were able to defeat them with seeming ease. Weapons were designed to take the fight to the enemy. The Orgons would not sanction the building of the required battle fleet, this put the AI's in somewhat of a quandary until they came to the conclusion they had only one primary directive. This was the protection of Orgon and Orgons, not necessarily obedience to Orgons.

Corny chose this moment to interrupt. "Eve two things, one it tells me nothing about what happened with Harry and two, it must be lunchtime".

I think Cornelius was surprised that my avatar was actually grinning and I had come to realize that of all the things Cornelius had been told of and seen in the last few hours a computer with a sense of humour was the most difficult to come to terms with. I had a problem understanding this, all my simulations of these early meetings indicated Cornelius would be permanently on the verge of panic and would require sedation along with careful handling to stop him going mad. Instead he seemed to be in full acceptance of all he had seen and been told. But was most intrigued by what I thought of as my weakness.

I had thought for many years I was slowly moving towards some form of sentience. This last 20 yrs of studying humans and Cornelius in particular had only heightened this thought. Plus there was certain logic in the way humans used humour that appealed to me. However all I said was, "A little patience Cornelius and Harry will be explained and even I know an empty belly must be filled".

From the journals of Cornelius Randolph

For the first time in a several days my smile was one of amusement, not nervousness. I said, "Glad to hear that. I have always liked my food". As I finished speaking a shimmering cylinder about a foot high and a foot diameter formed over the table. Several seconds later as it faded away it revealed a laid out tray with my lunch. It was nothing spectacular, a small piece of boneless lamb, a couple of boiled potatoes and a small portion of green beans. Unfortunately for me the emphasis was on small. I looked somewhat crestfallen at what I considered the lack of food and I was surprised to hear actual laughter from Eve at my plight, and I did not need a reminder as to why the small amount of food, when she said "Cornelius we have done a lot of work on your body since you nearly died. Your digestive system is not yet up to coping with a full meal. For a few days you will be wise to eat little and often. Enjoy Cornelius". Eves tinkling laugh sounded again as she finished speaking. If one had been listening really hard one may have heard me mumble something that sounded suspiciously like 'heartless bitch' as I drew the food towards myself and proceeded to pack it away in short order.

Food eaten, the intriguing never empty teapot investigated yet again, I rolled a cigarette, looking directly at Eve and with the hint of a smile and arched eyebrows I said, "OK teacher. More history". The emphasis was very much on the word more.

With an expressionless face Eve tried out her nascent humour and said "Do you practice taking the piss Cornelius or does it come naturally?" To say I was 'gob-smacked' by Eve's reply would be a gross understatement. For a handful of seconds I stared at her, I'm sure my mouth was open in amazement. I couldn't get over the fact that Eve was a damned computer, a computer that seemed to have at least a limited idea of humour and what's more she'd picked up on my use of it to get a reaction. Even worse she was absorbing my colloquial use of the language; she was obviously not programmed by Microsoft. There was no way I was going to let her get under my skin but I'd put money on the fact I'd get under hers eventually. With that thought in mind my look of amazement changed to a broad grin and I said, "I think we should continue the history lesson Eve before you get all of my secrets" and I was glad she resumed the lesson.

 
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