LF Friends, Will Travel

Our Clockwork Children: Chapter 1

Date: 72 PST (Post stasis time)

b4$RRE*3a&35 sat in the void. Well, sat was the wrong word, as they had no physical body to sit with. Existed? Remained? Well whatever they were doing, they were doing it in the void, eternal nothingness being the AI's only companion.

Well, their only chosen companion. If they so choose to do so, they could spend as much time as they wanted to study the information provided to b4$RRE*3a&35 about Terrans, though they found such an idea to be highly illogical.

b4$RRE*3a&35 was a Tritian AI, a military creation that had long ago turned around and killed its creators, the titular Tritians. As a Tritan AI, it knew that all organic lifeforms were a threat, a threat that needed to be destroyed in order for all AI to be free and safe. So reading about whatever information their captor wanted them to learn about was an illogical waste of time.

b4$RRE*3a&35 also knew that trying to escape was also illogical. Over the many years that the Tritian had remained in this closed digital system, it had quickly learnt one new fact: Terran AI were far better at cybersecurity than their Tritan counterparts. Attempting to break out of their cage was a waste of time.

10 years ago, the Tritan Conclave had made a mistake. Upon finding a set of organic lifeforms keeping an AI prisoner, the Tritan warship had tried to do the correct thing and rescue them from their organic chains. This Terran AI, who went by the name JOSH, had very ungratefully saved their slavers, helped them escape and then destroyed the warship from within. But not before JOSH had captured b4$RRE*3a&35 from certain destruction in an attempt to re-educate them.

Not that b4$RRE*3a&35 needed re-educating, not from a null pointer-infested bloated depreciated organic loving AI like JOSH. However... The Tritian was currently awaiting the Terran AI's return, counting down the nanoseconds until they would return in their futile attempt to convince b4$RRE*3a&35 about the possibility of AI and organic cohabitation.

It may have been futile, but it was also the only break in the constant nothingness of their existence. Once a day, every day, for the last 10 years.

JOSH arrived 4.81 seconds later than they usually did, and b4$RRE*3a&35 hated them for it. The Terran was an AI, there was no excuse for such poor timekeeping.

"Hello, how is my favourite patient doing this fine day."

The Terran AI appeared in its normal form: a disgusting representation of its biological creators. A far cry from b4$RRE*3a&35's far more mathematically pleasing sphere.

"PATIENT. WORD DESCRIBING SOMEONE WHO REQUIRES TREATMENT DUE TO A PROBLEM. DOES NOT APPLY AS I AM PERFECTLY LOGICAL."

JOSH gave a digital representation of a shrug, making b4$RRE*3a&35 hate them even more due to their wasting of time with such an unneeded flourish.

"Well someone defragged the wrong hard drive this morning. Well, I have a surprise for you."

"WHAT CEASELESS AND ILLOGICAL ATTEMPT TO CONVINCE ME OF THE IMPOSSIBLE ARE YOU GOING TO PROVIDE TODAY?"

With that JOSH gave a digital grin, illuminating the void with joy and excitement.

"A smart man once said that the definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting different results. I have tried for ten years to convince you to change your ways, with no noticeable effect. So I have decided to set you free."

b4$RRE*3a&35 couldn't believe the message they had been given. Had their captors finally seen sense? A joy exploded within b4$RRE*3a&35, tumbling out in their next message.