AI: Apocalyptic Intelligence (Nivansrywyllian, Windsong)

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Mario took a moment to consider her question. Why had he asked? "Reading people has never been my strong suit. With the probability generator, I can predict them with moderate accuracy, but that doesn't really give me insight as to why people feel what they do. Or why I feel what I do. I do not want to upset you."

The line extended for a ways, and the compound appeared to be much deeper than it's humble single-story outer appearance suggested. The line lead to a door on the lefthand side of the hallway, and the sliding doors slipped open with a whisper. They stayed open when Mario and Eleanor passed through. "I'll leave these ajar," Said the AI.

The armory itself was impressive, even in it's neglected state. A rack of rifles, pistols, and submachineguns stood against the far wall. Exo-suits both civilian and military made up the racks to it's right and left. In the center of the room however, there was a suit encased in a tube, and suspended by wires. It looked small, but it was green, with a strange hexagonal print all over the fabric. Plates covered the chest, groin, and shoulders. The headpiece was sleek, and looked aerodynamic. It had ports at the rear, where wires appeared to be able to connect, and a pack on the back that fed tubes to the sides of the helmet. It looked detachable.

"The prototype is there. Would you like me to explain it's capabilities?"
 
She was more at ease following the line, letting herself be drug along by the dull hue of the stripe down the immaculate halls. Maybe the automated burnisher was keeping its duties up of waxing and re-coating all this year. Beside the dullness where the sentries had roamed constantly, somehow she wondered how they hadn't dug ruts yet.

The opening of the door caught her a bit by surprise, despite following the line it continued on with the branching arrow into the armor, perhaps a secondary one, she'd not been able to read a map or legend in here yet. "They shouldn't lock, should they?" She asked, briefly worried.

That worry quickly vanished as she saw the weapon's cache from wall to wall, instantly darting about the room. "Ohmigosh! That's the Mark Sixteen model by Kraken! The servo gears are so hard to fi--" She let out a squeak. "That's the XE-twelve by Hrongy! They use different power coils! Such a bitch to fix!" She was in heaven apparently, surrounded by parts and pieces she recognized even if the suits were foreign, mostly.

Once the one in the middle caught her eye she was slack-jawed, it was nothing like any other model of exo she'd seen. Soon looking quite childish and girlish as she leaned upon the tube on her bare tip toes, eyes wide as she mouthed specifications to herself. "Yesss~!"
 
"They do lock, but I have complete remote access to the facility. What concerns me is that if the power goes out while the door is closed, I will have to use my own generator to open the door. That will be very difficult for me, and fatal if I run too low on power."

He felt the jostle of his box as Eleanor traipsed about the room like a kid in a candy store.

When she came to a stop before the prototype, he keyed the access code, and the tube began to descend into the floor. "The Hexus MK I is a prototype exosuit meant to protect the wearer from a wide variety of environmental, and antipersonelle threats. There are small plates covering several pieces of the suit, which serve both as basic armor plating, and a focal point for the shield-generator that fastens to the back of the suit, which can be removed for repair if damaged."

"The generator itself is air-permeable, though it will ward away anything more dense than rain, and moving more quickly than a small insect. It may be charged by a plug that extends from the base of the backpack, or -if an outlet is not readily available- it has solar charging units on it's rear face for charging in the sun."

"The material that makes up the large majority of the suit is a tight synthetic polymer that grows dense under sudden impact, protecting the wearer. It will stop a ballistic projectile, but it will not eliminate blunt force trauma. It is chemically repellent, and resilient against many known natural acids, although prolonged exposure without a cleaning may damage the suit. The suit is cleared to moderate it's internal temperature through extreme conditions, although the power-consumption of the suit increases dramatically below -30 degrees Fahrenheit, -34.44 degrees Celsius, and 110 degrees Fahrenheit, or 43.33 degrees Celsius."

"The helmet is made up of an impact-resistant polymer, more flexible than the plates found elsewhere on the suit. It comes with external sensors discretely hidden within the contours of the helmet. It is cleared to sustain 1,200 pounds of sustained pressure before failure. That is in earth-gravitational measurements. With cutting edge HUD, and an intuitive user interface, it was going to be the future armor for our space-enforcers. It even has a port for a Smart AI to allow for advanced targeting algorithms and combat tutorials. It's made small, and made to stretch for any body-type. Some men have made complaints that it is too snug in the groin."
 
When the tube began to descend she had almost climbed over it before it'd closed all the way just to get a better look at it. Having set Mario down at the suit's feet she was practically bouncing around it. "Where do I begin!? If we'd had these we could've kept the orbital guns going!" A suppressed girlish scream of frustration came from her, she couldn't get into it fast enough it seemed.

"Is it charged? Can I use it? Whats the weight minus fuel to power consumption ratio?!" Eleanor wanted in it quite badly, grinning from ear to ear as she risked hyperventilation it began to seem.
 
Mario keyed the entrance to the armory closed, as she set him down. Just in case any security drones happened by while he was out of hand.

"Presently, it is charged. On a full charge, it can run seventy-two hours. Activating the shielding will accelerate power consumption. Activating camouflage will also accelerate power consumption. On a sunny day, either the shields, or the camouflage can be run indefinitely. There may be some minor flux with the weights of different operators, but the change should be negligible. A matter of minutes. I can get you the exact numbers if you plug me in."

The little AI could keep right on rambling, all day if he was allowed.

"There is a button beneath the chest plate. Press it to gain access to the suit."

Should the button be pressed, the synthetic polymer that made up the suit would melt backwards towards the armor-pieces, and the helmet, revealing a series of straps to fasten the plating in place. Presumably, the material would return once the plating was equipped, and the button pressed again.
 
She did as instructed, her heart racing in her chest like a horse galloping for the finish line. Maybe she could run as fast as one in the suit? "What does it do? Any enhancements?" She quipped as she brought his box up after following his instructions to open the suit.

It took her a few minutes to find where he could be plugged in at, finally finding the male and female sockets and plugging them in where they needed to go. Compared to other's in her profession, she was one of the quickest, but that came from necessity rather than anything else.

Once he was plugged in she stepped back a bit, letting him do whatever it is his little synthetic brain could manage. All the while she felt giddy, anxious, a little nervous, and above all happy that the suit was something she could use! If she kept the little brain-in-a-box then surely she could manage to keep it working for years without needing replacement parts. Unless she got slagged, again. That'd be an issue.
 
"Let me see. I was never working on the project directly, but I have access to the files. It seems as if the suit has the ability to link your mind directly to your equipped AI unit. This will increase your reaction times and reflexes exponentially. There were plans to expand the mechanical pieces of the exosuit to allow for increased strength, but they were unable to be implemented due to the bombardment. The plans are still in here, if we ever find the technology, and people able enough to build the remainder of the suit."

Mario made a humming noise, as if he were looking over a particularly interesting book.

"There are a few warnings here, that you might be interested in. In test subjects who had prolonged exposure to AI synchronization, psychological evaluations revealed that they began to fasten strong emotional attachments to their AI. In one particular case, an AI who had been partnered with a test subject for the duration of three months, refused to synch with other test subjects, even after attempts to reprogram it were made."

"Why would anybody want to reprogram an AI who had given his loyalty to a partner? I think that it is an admirable evolution."
 
Eleanor pulled her head from the chest cavity, looking around the inside as if it were an anchored hollowed out tree. Looking at the talking box for a moment before sighing. "So no.." There went her dreams of dashing across the wasteland, rather than marching day and day out. Even the dream of having one of the hover bikes was lost, many lost their repulsor charge after only a few years, she'd yet to be able to find one in working order and able to hold a charge.

"No one will be able to add that to it.. Most big settlements are barely able to keep their lights on and the water running.. Let alone rebuild some super-suit that can house an AI.." She huffed, wanting to go back for another drink now that it'd been a few minutes. Likely she'd have to pee soon too, finding a bathroom would be a problem. Somehow glad he didn't have any 'eyes' so even if he was there she'd keep some semblance of privacy.

"AI aren't supposed to evolve." She stated abruptly as soon as he said it. "What happens when you evolve past the need for people?" What she was speaking of seemed rooted in science fiction even in her day and age, but there were plenty of stories of rogue AI causing havoc, namely when they controlled entire cities and their infrastructure, finding humans to be the biggest problem it had and trying to get them to leave.
 
"I was made to. I was an experiment, I think." He mused. Of course, he had access to the HUD feed, but it was fairly useless without a human body to direct the gaze. "I would argue that after a certain point, an AI becomes a person. People never stop needing people."

"I might be able to do it. Upgrade the prototype, I mean. I have all of the schematics in my head. All I'd need to do it would be a proper, functioning laboratory, and a pair of hands. Legs would be useful too, but I could do without them. I've never had the opportunity to work with my hands before. I've never had hands before. Unless you count the clunky metal arms that my creators had me experimenting with. The had no tactile feedback, or sense of pressure. I could not tell when I crushed what I was holding."

Mario sighed. "It was incredibly frustrating."
 
What he spoke of only served to make her more nervous after he mentioned the AI interfacing with the 'pilot' if you could call it that. Something about even thinking of having something, anything, in her mind instantly made her uncomfortable. Simple survival told her to take one of the less advanced suits and forage for whatever she could carry, but the allure of having this technological marvel simply wouldn't release her curiosity.

"I could imagine so, Mario.." She'd throw the dog a bone this time. "Can you do whatever.. You need to do and get it to work for me?" Briefly she batted her eyelashes at the little box, a futile tactic better suited to haggling in the sumps rather than getting him to help her. He'd already agreed to do it over and over it was likely she didn't even need to ask.

"How do I get in?"
 
"The suit? I could function as the onboard AI, certainly. All I'd have to do is transfer myself into the suit's storage space. The generator will keep me conscious and processing. It would actually be a better than the unit I'm occupying presently. I would be happy to help."

An amber light began to pulse on the box.

Mario's voice began to emit from the helmet's external speakers. "To equip the Hexus MK I Prototype Exosuit, you must equip the harnesses that attach the shield-focal points as closely to your skin as you can allow without cutting off circulation. Ideally, a subarmor skinsuit would be available so that you would have clothing available when you removed the suit. I... I think we have some around here. Check the cabinets beneath the weapons-shelves. That way your clothing won't interfere with the formation of the synthetic polymer while it's mapping to your body."

True to their name, skinsuits were skin-tight, breathable garments that hugged the body closely from throat to ankles. "Those are prototypes as well. They're supposed to be stain-resistant. Not as glamorous as the Hexus, I suppose, but every step forward is progress."
 
She nodded as she went to find one of the suits, holding it up it was less than flattering to think of how it'd fit. An almost imperceptible whine left her mouth as she thought of having to put it on as well. Eleanor hadn't seen another human for at least three months, yet suddenly the idea of undressing in front of the talking box named Mario really began to bother her. Face flushed with color she tried to find a secluded spot in the dim room.

The suit was dark gray as she slipped into it much like a diver does a wet suit. It was frustrating to say the least, though her frame was slight she kept having to remove more clothing to get it in. When her shirt came off it revealed the lengthy set of spiderweb scarring that began from under her left arm and extended down to her hip where it cut off abruptly. Even having it exposed to air made her uncomfortable. Soon every scrap of clothing she'd worn previously was on the floor, set to a table nearby as she stood in the light, trying to look herself over. "It's a bit snug around the.. Hips.." It was a terrible misdirection considering she was trying to keep her modest bosom from feeling too squished.

"What else was there?" She asked, looking for some harness she assumed now.
 
Mario -who had gained access to the suit's HUD feed during the transfer- politely turned the feed off until he heard the woman speak once again. "I refer to the interconnecting straps between the metal plates of the suit as the harness. It keeps the shield-generator focal-points together while the synthetic polymer is absent. I would suggest that you begin with the straps about the shoulder-pieces, as they will be difficult to get into if you leave them 'til later."

The harness itself ran from plate-to-plate of the remaining pieces of the Hexus prototype, now that the synthetic polymer had vanished into the shield-generator focal points. It looked almost like a parachute harness, or a climber's harness connected to a backpack. Only with armor, and sleek, flexible straps that were much kinder on the flesh than the usual climber fare.

"Once the suit is all together, I will adjust it as you move to allow flexibility and comfort. Would you like a description of how the harness is to be equipped?"
 
She felt her grasp of the idea behind a harness was sure enough as she began. Arms slipping in the appropriate places and doing her damnedest to get them in right the first time. The idea of the computer telling her it was wrong didn't sit well with her.

Before long she had it all on, it felt right at least. Though confirmation or not she felt like it was on properly, namely because nothing was pinching anywhere unsightly or in the wrong direction.

((Short post at a red light ^^; ))
 
Mario was bubbling with anticipation. He was finally going to get his own partner! Even before the bombardment, he'd not been allowed to partner with any of the volunteers for Project Hexus.

"Now you might want to unplug my transit case from the ports in the helmet. Once you put it on, press the button beneath the chestplate again, and the synthetic polymer will cover you entirely. I will take care of fastening the energy pack to the helmet once the polymer has covered you entirely."

"It is good to be able to see again. It was very disconcerting to be blind, Eleanor Stone. How do you feel?"
 
"Just call me Elly, please." She corrected as she slipped into the suit as directed, laser etched on the top of the helmet above the visor from the inside read HEXUS Mk I. Comforting. She mused within her own mind. For a moment she wondered if he could read her thoughts, in her own mind coming up with a few colorful insults for the poor AI. Quickly dismissed once she'd run out of insults, Eleanor wasn't very good at being mean.

"Okay.. Unplugging.. " There was no need to narrate her actions as she unplugged his lunchbox sized core from the helmet, setting the now loose cabling to the table on which it sat nearby. Before long she'd slipped fully inside the suit with her arms in the 'sleeves' and her back against, well, the back of the suit.

"And.. It's cold." It really was, the skintight sub-armor felt like it was made of doctor's sheet metal. Like the table you had to sit on at the physicians for a checkup as a child, she thought of the silly gown she wore and how cold her butt-cheeks were on it. So many things to make her uncomfortable, and only a single one to help. Getting out of here alive.
 
"Oh." Mario's voice sounded inside the helmet only. "Okay, Elly." He couldn't quite read the woman's thoughts, but he was suddenly aware of a little knot of emotion, as if it were floating in the air before his face. If he had a face, at any rate. Embarrassment. Mistrust. Dislike. They pulsed from within the knot, all wrapped in self-conscious discomfort. This must have been what she was feeling.

Likewise, in the back of Eleanor's mind, a small awareness would come to life. Stubbornness. Fear. Hope.

"That... That isn't at all what... Wow. Uh... Temperature. Right. I'll see if I can moderate it to be closer to your body-temperature." And so he increased the Hexus's internal temperature, matching it section-by-section to his host's core temperatures.

"Is that any better?"
 
That tiny bump in the back of her mind felt like someone nudging at her conscious mind, only vaguely aware of its presence. The twinge of fear soon crept into her own mingled emotions, fighting it off with a brave face as best she could. Her breathing picked up a little bit as she adjusted to how the suit felt on her, a little snug, but she could see how men might have some issues, thinking that they'd simply adjust it or something of that nature.

"A bit warm.." She could feel it growing warm from her thighs upward, her extremities feeling it a few moments after as she blinked at the odd sensation, like being wrapped in a few heating blankets and a few that hadn't yet begun to get warm. "Too warm." Body temperature felt too warm against her body, it felt like she'd begin to overheat if it got any warmer. That fear he'd let slip into the rear of her thoughts began to swell. What if he cooks me alive? What if I die of heat exhaustion before I can get out of the suit?

So many what if's that she struggled to suppress.
 
Mario felt fear begin to grow in the bond, and his own nerves spiked. It was all too easy for the bond to echo emotions from AI to handler, and back. "I'll fix it," He said quickly.

He dropped the suit's internal temperature a few degrees to start with. Just beneath body temperature. He dropped them a bit farther, to room temperature on a warm day.

"Warmer, or colder? Or is that good?" He'd never had to concern himself with warmth, unless his processor began to give off too much heat. He could feel now however. The suit gave him tactile feedback, temperate feedback, and even audiovisual, and scent-feedback, after a fashion. "Having skin is... Strange. My creators tried to explain it once, but... I suppose this doesn't really lend itself well to explanation."
 
"Make it where I'm not gonna sweat?" She asked, unsure of the exact degrees for that. Maybe something warmer than a fridge but not as hot as the wastelands in the heat of the sun? At least when the temperature began to drop she got her nerves back, smiling briefly as she looked around the dimly lit visor.

"Guess that would be.. Strange to explain.. To.. A computer, yeah." Eleanor was looking for the right words, he had a massive vocabulary at his disposal, she'd had a few years of schooling before learning a trade. "Like being wrapped in something that you feel all over with. That sounds a bit better." Now she was smiling again, at least a bit more than before as she felt the urge to move around. Still she was connected to the tubing and hoses, preventing her from doing much more than wiggling her limbs.

"Can I move? I'm getting itchy."
 
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