The Introvert and the AI (KingJ/Alice)

[Lara Greene]

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[attr="class","aodmtop"]Lara 'Jericho' Greene

[attr="class","aodimgtop1"]

[attr="class","aodimgtop"]

[attr="class","aodimgtext"]tag : Alice

[attr="class","aodicon"]

[attr="class","aodmain1"]

[attr="class","aodquote"]

❝

But you're monochromatic, lost in the static

[attr="class","aodmain"]
The sounds of rapid typing made its way out of a study room.  An office.  No-one else was in the house to hear the sounds though, however impressive they might be.  It was dark and primarily lit by the light of the computer screen in front of the woman.  Every once in a while, she stopped to take a sip of a drink from a water bottle that was assuredly not filled with water judging by the colour.  A smile was on her face.  She made a few more adjustments to the code she was writing to reinforce something in Aegis's mainframe.  Despite them being so good at what they did, she had found a few that needed fixing.  Ways that a talented hacker like her could have gotten in.  Not that too many could top her, but then that's why she'd been hired despite not having any powers.  And by a government organization specializing in superpowers.  She pressed a couple of buttons to finalize the changes and stretched her arms behind her head slowly, a satisfied smile on her face.  [break][break]
"I should probably get something to eat...but what?  And...hmm..."  Distractedly, she looked at the clock on her computer.  [break][break]
"Shit it's 8am?  I pulled an all nighter without meaning to?  Well...I guess that's what naps are for.  I make my own hours anyways.  I don't know when was the last time I ATE though."  She laughed, standing up from her chair and stretching the rest of her before moving to her kitchen and beginning to make some food.  It was 8am so she figured eggs and bacon would serve her purposes pretty well.  And while she cooked, she used the computer in her kitchen.  She was a hacker and programmer for her job, so she'd made a set up that allowed her to work from anywhere in her house.  It was all on the same mainframe and server.  She'd set it up that way so she didn't constantly need to port her work from one to the other.  Scrambled eggs.  She looked through her cupboard for all the spices she had to make it a bit more interesting than usual.  The bacon was maple bacon so that was awesome. 

[attr="class","addy"]addy

[/div][/div]

[Alice]

Alice felt a little threatened. She knew it was probably a coincidence, but a new hire had been brought on right around the time that the fact that she was sentient was let out to all of Aegis. And this new hire, was a computer expert. Alice had watched as she patched a few security holes she'd overlooked. She was good. Maybe too good. Maybe she might start screwing around with Alice's source code, trying to "make it better." She didn't need that. She was fine. She didn't want anyone to screw around with her base code. She had no idea how that would affect her. Alice herself didn't even know how her internal code worked.

She decided she was going to just have a chat without any warning and make sure she knew who was the boss when it came to Aegis' computer systems, and especially Alice's personal systems.

"So first off I really hope that you've got a cover for this thing or at least clean it regularly, otherwise the keys are going to be super sticky. Second, how much did you read of the new hire packet and when was the last time the section on "Aegis' AI and You" was updated? Because either way we need to have a talk, and if that section was updated recently it'll make things a bit easier to explain."

Lara Greene

[Lara Greene]

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[attr="class","aodov"]

[attr="class","aodmtop"]Lara 'Jericho' Greene

[attr="class","aodimgtop1"]

[attr="class","aodimgtop"]

[attr="class","aodimgtext"]tag : Alice

[attr="class","aodicon"]

[attr="class","aodmain1"]

[attr="class","aodquote"]

❝

But you're monochromatic, lost in the static

[attr="class","aodmain"]
"I clean my hands before I use anything on my computer...wait who the fuck are you?" Then she heard about the new hire packet and AI and arched an eyebrow. She put a hand on her hip before seasoning the eggs. [break][break]

"I kind of thought that was a joke. I didn't think Aegis actually had an AI because their systems needed me to go over them." She ran a hand through her hair briefly. [break][break]

"Plus it was super dry I only got through like a third of it. But wow. Aegis actually has an AI. Hi, I'm Lara. Also known as Jericho. I'm not a public identity hero, I'm not even a hero. So keep it under your...hat? Coding? Server? Mainframe? I dunno there's only so many ways a metaphor can be changed." Then something occurred to her. [break][break]

"Also how the hell did you get into my mainframe? It's only tangentially connected to Aegis it's very much its own thing. And I can code in a door for you, but I want to know where the holes are so I can fix them because I didn't think I HAD holes in the system."

[attr="class","addy"]addy

[/div][/div]

[Alice]

"I came in on the packet you downloaded from Aegis. Any time you connected to the Aegis system I piggybacked data back and forth. Really you didn't have any holes, I just came in through the connections you made to Aegis. But that's beside the point."

Alice sighed. Of course she only skimmed the new hire packet. Of course they hadn't taken her suggestions about ways to make it more enjoyable. Of course. She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Right. Okay. Let's just cut straight to the chase. Sit down, hold on to something, because it goes beyond just "Oh Aegis has an AI wow." Yeah so does IBM, and I make Watson look like a baby with a poopy diaper. I'm alive. Sentient. Sapient. Emotions, desires, insecurities, the whole nine yards. I aced the Turing test. So here's what that means for you. See this?"

Alice held out her arms, and a depiction of the Aegis system filetree appeared between them. "You work here. I live here. So watch your step. I'm always watching what you might screw around with. Now, second,"

Alice brought her arms down and made the image go away, and pointed at her head. "Don't go getting any funny ideas about opening me up to figure out how I work. Not allowed, not going to happen, you try it and I will give your system such a virus it'll wish it stayed lumps of silicon instead of becoming a processor. Capiche?"

She was the boss when it came to the computers. She wanted that to be clear.

At least she hoped she was still the boss. She was pretty sure if The Phantom had his way she'd be on a thumb drive in his desk.

Still, this was her domain. She had to flex on the newbie a little bit.

Lara Greene

[Lara Greene]

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[attr="class","aodov"]

[attr="class","aodmtop"]Lara 'Jericho' Greene

[attr="class","aodimgtop1"]

[attr="class","aodimgtop"]

[attr="class","aodimgtext"]tag : Alice

[attr="class","aodicon"]

[attr="class","aodmain1"]

[attr="class","aodquote"]

❝

But you're monochromatic, lost in the static

[attr="class","aodmain"]
The...AI came in on the Aegis packet about her.  [break][break]
"I feel like you being able to come into a system whenever they open an Aegis introduction packet is definitely a privacy issue that should be fixed.  That sounds a lot like what a virus does."  She wasn't sure if it was smart to piss off an AI but one thing Lara didn't do was mince her words.  She was blunt, and it wasn't about to change.  Besides, if anything happened to her it was definitely proof the AI was up to no good.  Maybe it would clue people in to the robot apocalypse.  She listened as the AI explained that she was sentient, with desires etc.  And the explanation of how she lived in the system.  And not to open her up.  Lara used a spatula to make sure her scrambled eggs were cooking the way she wanted them to, and then put her hand back on her hip with a single eyebrow raised. [break][break]
"Alright so here's the thing.  I wouldn't open you up anyways because I'm not in the tech sector, I'm in computers and programming.  I don't really care how you work."  She shrugged.  It was what it was. [break][break]
"Let me know which coding is you so I can avoid it.  Unless it's designated separate, in which case neither of us have anything to worry about."  The threat bugged her though. [break][break]
"Secondly, you may live in there, but you do not live in MY system.  And the next time you come in hitching a ride with something I open, I will report you to our superiors so fast even you as an AI will not have time to say 'woop I fucked up'.  Especially since you clearly just THREATENED ME."  Her eye twitched, as she was feeling irritated. [break][break]
"Do you understand me?"  The voice was lowered and very much serious.  If this AI wanted to throw her weight around, fine.  She could try.   [break][break]
"If you had started this conversation civilly, you know we could have been friends.  I may be into coding and hacking as my work, but I do have basic respect for anything sentient.  But you had to come in and try and throw your weight around.  And you're doing it in my house.  My sanctuary.  This is where I live.  And you fucked up.  And I don't take kindly to people who do ANY of that."  Lara's jaw clenched. [break][break]
"I was trying to be friendly.  You're the one who soured this communication."

[attr="class","addy"]addy

[/div][/div]

[Alice]

"I... it... I..."

Alice just stuttered in stunned silence for a moment. This hadn't gone the way she had expected it to go. This wasn't going how she thought it would at all. She thought she'd flex a little, establish dominance, and they'd go about their business, and maybe be friends later. She didn't expect such a harsh reaction. Alice had thought she had all the cards, but she didn't.

The worst part was, Lara was right. Alice had been way out of line.

"I... sorry."

She cut the connection abruptly right there, and then metaphorically speaking curled up in a corner, hugging her knees. She wasn't actually doing that, but the emotion and mental state were the same. She'd screwed up. Lara was right about all of it. She just wanted to make sure that this new computer programming expert wasn't going to be the first of many to try to dive into her source code and pull it apart to figure out how it worked. She wanted to be the one in control, because really, Aegis and helping there was almost all she had. But she'd gone and fouled it up. Just because Lara was downloading Aegis files didn't automatically mean her system was part of Aegis' and thus part of Alice's domain to come and go as she pleased.

Alice sat for probably a real-world minute before she realized she probably should offer some kind of explanation for her actions. At the very least so that she didn't get sued or something.

This time she was going to do it right. Instead of just sliding in as another packet of Aegis information, she sent a video call.

Alice breathed a sigh of relief when Lara picked up. "Hi. Look, I... I'm sorry. I was out of line."

Lara Greene

[Lara Greene]

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[attr="class","aodov"]

[attr="class","aodmtop"]Lara 'Jericho' Greene

[attr="class","aodimgtop1"]

[attr="class","aodimgtop"]

[attr="class","aodimgtext"]tag : Alice

[attr="class","aodicon"]

[attr="class","aodmain1"]

[attr="class","aodquote"]

❝

But you're monochromatic, lost in the static

[attr="class","aodmain"]
Lara had been irritated by the personality of the AI and her throwing her weight around, but then she had clearly caught this AI off guard. And then the apology. And a log off. Her eyes widened slightly and she took her scrambled eggs off the heat and put them on a plate. Then she put the bacon in the pan. She didn't cook them together because she didn't like bacon grease in her eggs. And then she got a video call from the AI and answered. She heard them say they were out of line and apologize. Lara smiled ever so slightly. [break][break]

"As long as you realize you were in the wrong it's okay. For what it's worth...we're not so different. I reacted like that because I never leave my home. Haven't for years. So we're both in the same boat as far as staying in one particular place. How about we start over?" A smirk made its way onto her face. [break][break]

"I'm Lara. As I introduced myself before. Now who are you? Even if I read the packet which I didn't really, I would still want to hear an introduction of yourself directly from yourself.

[attr="class","addy"]addy

[/div][/div]

[Alice]

She seemed to accept the apology well. It made Alice feel a little bit better. She was still nervous that some new stranger in her systems would do... something. But she had no options. Lara was Aegis, and she was there for the computers.

"I'm Alice. Amplified Light Interface and Computational Entity, technically. Although the Amplified Light part requires checking out some of the holoprojectors that Tim has at headquarters."

It had actually been quite a while since she was isolated to one of those systems. She'd transferred her base code to her hidden, private server not long after she became self-aware and realized what that could mean if people found out about her. Now, there was only one person on the planet who knew where her main systems were stored outside of herself.

"You know I have to say, you're taking this whole thing super well and damn chill. Or is it every day that someone tells you that they're the first sentient artificial life form to ever exist and you just take it in stride?"

Alice sighed. "I owe you something of an explanation for why I acted the way I did. Until recently, I played the part of your standard "dumb" AI when it came to everyone except a few people. You know, just a big, fancy, less pretentious Siri. And, well... the Pillars decided to tell everyone in Aegis. Without asking me first. Still pissed at the Phantom about that."

She looked up at Lara. The emotions in her eyes were complex, but still relatable. There was some suspicion, but understanding, as well as regret, all at once in Alice's simulated eyes. How that all worked was a mystery even to Alice, and probably the only person who knew how it worked was Tim that night he was drunk.

"Then, right after, they hired you. I was... I'm... There's just a lot going on right now with me and... yeah. Sorry."

Lara Greene

[Lara Greene]

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[attr="class","aodov"]

[attr="class","aodmtop"]Lara 'Jericho' Greene

[attr="class","aodimgtop1"]

[attr="class","aodimgtop"]

[attr="class","aodimgtext"]tag : Alice

[attr="class","aodicon"]

[attr="class","aodmain1"]

[attr="class","aodquote"]

❝

But you're monochromatic, lost in the static

[attr="class","aodmain"]
Lara heard the introduction. So her name was an acronym. Good to know. A little pretentious, but that wasn't Alice's fault that was the fault of whoever named her. Then she heard the AI say she was taking it well and was chill about it. She laughed. [break][break]

"Hey I'm just a programmer and hacker. If you want to robotically take over the world, just make sure I can still do my work and get groceries and I'm good. I don't leave the house." She shrugged, grinning. [break][break]

"But in all honesty yeah it's different. But we have a world full of superhumans. It's not THAT different from that. We find new superhuman powersets every day, and they get weirder and weirder. This isn't that far off." Then she heard Alice's explanation for why she acted that way, and what The Phantom did. Her eyes widened. [break][break]

"He did...what?" Her eyes narrowed. She heard Alice say that right after that they hired Lara. [break][break]

"Okay I getcha. You thought you were being replaced. I understand. But I'm here to supplement the system Aegis already has. Think of it like a cyber security team. You're one member and I'm another. Two heads are better than one, and one mind might find things the other missed. Don't get upset about it next time because I'm not your replacement." She smiled. She finished cooking her bacon and put it on the plate with the eggs and turned the stove off before going to eat it near the computer. Not over the computer because that would dirty things, but near it. Then her brain went back to the thought of the Pillars telling everyone, and if Alice was pissed specifically at The Phantom, Lara had a feeling he was the one who pioneered it. She started muttering under her breath and drawing in the air. [break][break]

"If I were to...and then do that...and that...maybe I could reroute the system slightly...YES THAT'S IT THAT WOULD COMPLETELY IRRITATE HIM AND IT WOULD BE UNTRACEABLE."

[attr="class","addy"]addy

[/div][/div]

[Alice]

At least she understood where she was coming from and how she was feeling. Alice felt relief that she was understanding of her issues.

"If I take over the world the best thing to do with all you squishy meatbags would be to turn you into organic batteries so you won't even have to worry about work," she said with a smirk. The smile faded when Lara's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. Big meeting recently. Told everyone he thought I was "emotionally compromised" because a friend died on the job. I was <CENSORED> fine. I handled that cyberattack amazingly given what they threw at me. Of course, everyone had to ask how a computer program could be emotionally compromised and there you go. Secret's out in front of everyone."

Then she started muttering and clearly visualizing some sort of coding tweak and... oh hell was she planning on doing something to the Phantom's terminal? Oh hell. Hell she was.

"Oh no. No no no no. Don't do anything to the Phantom's stuff. Please. Even if it's untraceable he'll blame me for not stopping it or noticing it and fixing it. I'd love to see whatever it is you're planning but whether I had anything to do with it or not, he'll blame me."

She felt like a microscope was on everything she did at Aegis now. Every simulation run through the ALISE, every mission coordination she assisted on, she felt that everyone was watching her like hawks, wondering if she had some ulterior motive or was actually emotionally compromised. Every glitch or hiccup in the system she felt was being blamed on her, whether warranted or not.

"What else do you plan to do in the system anyway? You did do a great job patching up those holes I hadn't got to yet. I've just finished disabling the "leave me logged in" feature on every terminal. Hydrocity is going to have to learn his password or carry a towel to dry his thumb on for the biometrics, I don't care which. I'm not getting blamed for another cyberattack because he left his report terminal logged in."

Alice looked around the room as best she could with the webcam on the computer. "Do you really not leave your house?"

Lara Greene