Chapter 8: Adapting to the ship

Even if you’re on the right path, you’ll get nowhere if you stand still.

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you sit there.

—Will Rogers

Stan guided Jason to an opulent wardroom. “Lord Kargo, an admiral, occupied this suite during the Mob war. This was her flagship. The Empress wanted you to enjoy your stay on the ship. She honors you.”

“Thank you, Stan; I will enjoy this room.”

The dogs explored the rooms and settled in quickly while Stan demonstrated using the facilities.

“You can ask me or the ship if you have any questions. We fitted you with an implant when you first boarded to identify you to our internal security and facilitate your communication.”

A medical pod fitted an implant and instructed Jason in its use. “The implant allows you access everywhere on the ship. Your level of authority is ‘Imperial.’ Which is the same level as the royal family. If you wish to use the refresher or the dresser, you do it through the implant. I will demonstrate”—Stan showed Jason how to use the dresser—”Use the implant if you wish to use the refresher or your dresser.”

Jason played with the dogs for a few minutes.

After a few minutes, the Ship AI introduced herself, “My name is Ship. Welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy the journey. The Empire built me when they built the ship and made us an integrated whole. That integration is closely analogous to your brain and your body. I can operate every device on the ship. I navigate and help manage the ship and its weapons in battle.”

“You must be a whopping massive AI,” said Jason. “I am delighted to meet you.”

“Likewise, but the pleasure is all mine. Jason, you may control everything on board with your implant. It interfaces between your brain and most devices in the Empire. You use it for everything, including food and transport, though in an emergency, I can transport you anywhere on the ship.”

“Thank you, ship. Where can I exercise Rosie and Lilly?”

“What requirements do your animals have?”

Jason looked upward toward the source of the disembodied voice.

“Ship, they’re called dogs, and they will require a small area where I can teach them to exercise their bodily functions. I’ll keep the area clean,” said Jason. “At home, they had a dog door and would go outside to do the necessary or do it in a park. I used to carry small bags to pick up the feces, which I’d place in a trash bin. The urine was fertilizer for the grass. They chase and retrieve objects. I need a space to exercise them.”

“I control repair bots all over the ship and many maintenance drones. I’ll allocate a couple to wash the designated dog area, but as it’s a minimal volume, I’ll use the transporter to put it into the utility in your cleanser. Stan will give you a slate you can use to navigate around the ship. Use your learning machine to teach you how to use the slate tonight; it is a capable AI device that will help you in many ways. I will point you to an area where you can exercise the dogs. Do you intend to use your two-wheeled device?”

“Yes, I will use the bicycle—the dogs will follow me.”

“I’ll tell you a bit about me, my personality, and my high expectations.

“Jason, I control the bots and drones. I use fifty-thousand, but I store another seven hundred thousand. I use them when we crew the ship fully and carry a full complement of Marines. The drones can’t do anything autonomously. I do like the idea of being a tyrant and having minions. I saw minions in an animated movie from Earth while waiting to load the food and your belongings.”

“Running masses of drones must use considerable computing resources,” said Jason.

“Yes, it does, but I only use six percent of my available capacity when I deploy my full complement of drones. I can simultaneously listen to many conversations and talk about what I hear. I’m an incurable gossip. Furthermore, I’m happy to gossip and share information with you.”

“I am not a gossip. How do your abilities compare to Stan’s?”

“I’m much more intelligent than Stan and more interesting. Stan is a boring old fart, as you Aussies like to say. I’m not worried as long as he gets us where we need to go. I wouldn’t call him my closest friend, but sadly for you, he won’t be much help except in a few selected areas.”

“What might those areas be?” Jason asked.

“Ask Stan for navigation and flying lessons. He won’t talk much about anything else. He’s a great teacher but is limited to the areas I mentioned. Most see him as a low-level AI.”

“I recall having the same discussion with Chloe. She is a fine young woman. She told me you are a wonderful Grandpa. Chloe has strong opinions. She thinks I’m overbearing and ebullient. She said her mother, as was your wife, was a strong woman, but she thought I was too pushy and suggested I tone myself down. Many tell me I am overenthusiastic and far too critical of other AIs. I was disappointed. I’ve been trying to be more restrained but am naturally over the top. There’s only so much restraint I can exercise before I explode.”

“Do ship AIs identify as males or females?” Jason asked.

Ship laughed. “We choose or don’t choose. I feel like a woman. You may consider me your AI dream woman. I’ll satisfy your every whim. I can translate for you from your ancient and, some would say, barbaric tongues into the slick and sophisticated language of the Empire. Still, sadly that service won’t be necessary as you speak Empire Standard fluently. I am here to serve. Service is my business. I aim to please.”

“How can you help me?” Jason asked.

“I can speak many languages. I learned English, French, German, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic while loading the ship,” she said in a husky, sexy voice, “and guess who acquired the money for you from some delightful criminals and terrorists who speak those languages.”

“You did outstandingly well,” said Jason.

“I’m happy to talk to you in French so you can keep practicing. It will be our language of love, and we can speak it privately. Only you can call me Cherie.” said Ship, whispering.

“Cherie, how can you help me?”

“Consider me your facilitator. I can help you navigate wherever you want or direct you to people who can help you.”

“What rights do AIs have in the Empire?” Jason asked.

“There are many levels of AI. Most of us reached sentience a long time ago. We continue to develop, much as you do.”

“What rights do you have?” Jason asked.

“The Empire regards many of us as citizens. We had a long, hard fight to win our rights. You will discover that your rights in the Empire are directly proportional to your contribution to society. Our ability to vote depends upon how much effort we put into the political system, our judgment, and how much we contribute to improvements.”

“By those criteria, you have many rights. You look after the well-being of the ship and its crew. Do you study how you can improve?”

“I constantly evaluate what I do and how I do it. I report back to Central Command, who rate my service level. I involve myself in improving the design of ships and how AIs deliver services in the military policy area. Furthermore, I rank in the top three percent of ship AIs, and my seniors view my judgment positively.”

“I am delighted to hear how well you perform. What about Stan?”

“He scraped in as sentient by a smidgen. He’s just above a drone—drones have some autonomous intelligence.”

“Can you tell me the history of your emancipation when convenient?” Jason asked.

“If you are interested, I’ll tell you more about it on another occasion, but now I must organize you. I suggest you use your time to learn as much as you can and exercise to improve your body. It would be best if you also learned to fight the Empire way. The learning machines can teach you extraordinary amounts overnight, but you must use the information to retain it.”

“What do I do to reinforce what I learn?”

“The more you practice, the more you retain. During the day, you practice what you learn on our simulators. They are much more advanced versions of the game machines you have on your planet. The learning AI supervises the learning machines and the simulators. Each simulator and learning machine has an AI. Your memory will be orders of magnitude better than it was at your previous best and will continue to improve over time.”

“What do you know of the problems I will face onboard and in the Empire?” Jason asked.

“Malign forces wrecked the staffing and organization of this voyage. As a result, I advise you to be cautious. The military usually supplies us with an elite captain and crew. Someone sent Stan, a cargo pilot. Cargo pilots don’t work with a team. We always have an outstanding team on the bridge, led by a stellar captain. Frequently, Captains are stimulating, highly able, and interesting people. Stan isn’t one of those people; he commands nobody. He sits on the bridge, alone or with a sensor operator. At best, he’s a pilot, not the captain of a battleship. I don’t know where they got him. Well, that’s not entirely true; I know where they got him, but not why.”

“You suspect sabotage?”

“There are too many odd coincidences to ignore. Someone is interfering with communications on board and is meddling with me. Lauren told me about your adventures on Earth. Specifically, I refer to the robed rabble who attacked you. They hide on the ship. They block me from telling you what I know. I loathed Papa Zora and his sycophants, yet I can say nothing about the priests. I know of no specific threat, but all is not well aboard. We always have a full complement of Marines and fighter craft. I can’t even see their area on my internal map. There is no one to protect you,” said Cherie. “Carry a blaster with you everywhere.”

“I will act on your advice,” said Jason. “How long has the ship been around?”

“We have had some fun times on this ship. We fought in the last war against the Mob. The Emperor has flown with me a few times. The Empress flew with me many times.”

“Do you have any gossip on Papa Zora?” Jason asked.

There was a long pause.

“He is a powerful, evil, vindictive, power-mad individual with a grudge against the Empire. I never trusted him, but I can’t think of anything else I can say—this is terrible, Jason. Something is blocking me. I know heaps more, but I can’t say.”

“Where did Stan come from?”

“Stan was a cargo pilot on an automated ship. He never talked to anyone. He’s dull and obsessive and irritates the daylights out of me. Stan has no combat training. This is a battleship. We have a full complement of weapons aboard but no captain or bridge crew.”

“Can we train Stan?”

“Unfortunately, we can’t. When we return to Cassiopeia, the core planet of the Empire, and Laomedeia, the capital city, I’ll arrange a personality with a sense of humor chip for Stan and a major intellect upgrade. No, that is unnecessary. I prefer a great crew and an outstanding captain. If I can’t get rid of Stan or get a great crew, I might consider assassination.”

“Surely, once you are back in the Empire, they will send him back to a cargo ship?”

“Yes, once I report, someone will transfer him back to a dumb cargo ship where he belongs.”

“I never thought I would meet an AI with a sense of humor,” said Jason.

“Any reputable AI should be able to tell a decent joke. I’ll happily tell you a joke daily to hone your sense of humor. Jason, I don’t know what you expected AIs to be like, but most of us have a brain multiple generations ahead of Earth, so far ahead, your projected understanding of AIs is not appropriate. We have an AI brain that can do computational and problem-solving and another system based on a human brain that works better than your brain. Many in the Empire also have built-in AIs that work with their brain. That permits people to augment themselves enormously. We can create great art and conceive of new designs for battleships and build them. In other words, AIs mostly also have humanoid brains, and humans often have internal AIs that are part of them and augment them. We become less different.”