Oliver: Yep.
I'd say "giant robots", but what I've seen here has made me redefine that scale. Think... 20 feet tall. Tallest usually skirt about 25. Heavy mechanized infantry.
Some of them carry self-aware artificial intelligences. The ones in the Militia follow three protocols to the letter - Link To Pilot, Uphold The Mission, and Protect The Pilot, in reverse order of importance.
edited 14th Jul '17 9:24:02 PM by SpartyMcFly
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Oliver: "Uphold The Mission" is pretty important, too. Like you deciding to look like a dumbass rather than blow your cover.
Titans get outright neurotic about that stuff, but they're programmed to follow those protocols to the letter. You don't hear it every day, but there's a lot of incidents where Titans have thrown their Pilots to safety before engaging in suicidal tasks.
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Oliver: They still do that.
Hell, self-aware Titans still aren't the majority, even if they're fairly common. Most of 'em just use "dumb AI". Pretty damn smart, still, but the key difference is that the self-aware Titans can learn. Dumb Titans can't.
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Oliver: Yeah.
From what I'm aware things close to superintelligences exist - mostly in the Core Systems - but they're capped. Can't predict the actions of something smarter than you. Program it wrong and it'll probably make you into ice cream.
Not out of hatred. It just sees the matter that makes up you, and it thinks it can be put to better use doing something else.
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Oliver: The IMC... well, had something like that. Spyglass. But since Demeter apparently it split off from the main IMC. Or something like that. My guess is that they're having a civil war, but that still makes them bigger than us.
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Oliver: It's not Earth we're fighting.
Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation. Massive, massive supercorporate juggernaut. They funded the initial drive to colonize deep space, but when the expense became too much they pulled out.
Right until the Core Systems started badgering them, and they expanded back into the Frontier. They found everyone they sent out there, doing just fine on their own, and proceeded to state that because they'd funded those missions, they had a claim to the entire Frontier. Which meant that every citizen and every world was under the sole jurisdiction of the IMC.
edited 14th Jul '17 9:50:34 PM by SpartyMcFly
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Oliver: Yep.
People thought it was okay at first. IMC meant stability, supplies, protection... they even allowed self-governance for a bit.
Then news started breaking. Anywhere valuable resources could be found, the IMC had taken control of mining operations. Any settlers over resource pockets? IMC would evict them. Ship 'em off to other worlds.
Some people didn't take kindly to that - assholes coming around and fucking with their lives - so they began resisting the evictions. The IMC escalated to lethal force. Anyone who didn't leave got a bullet in the gut and a shallow grave.
edited 14th Jul '17 9:56:17 PM by SpartyMcFly
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."

Momonga: Yes. As amusing as it was, seeing you trip over your seeming inability to understand how an ice box worked got almost worrisome with how dedicated you were to the charade.
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