Part 7
From Intimation
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Day 35: [Noah Dressler // Forceful entry]
>>Sys:Msg//Log begins;
Noah Dressler, Engineering Log, 35 days post cryomelt
----
Nothing. From anyone. I've been able to force my way into most of this ship's raw systems at the expense of security by tweaking some of these terminals' hardware to give me an access point- it may take some serious work before they'll be usable again. But I can see what the others are doing now, which is nothing, and Essy is still ignoring me.
Sheridan's still. She sometimes accesses the computer, but mostly she just doesn't move. All day. When you think of someone losing it, you don't think of that. She's still, but her eyes are wide, wide open. She should be raving, or rocking back and forth, anything but being motionless. It's unnatural. Higgins - he's just being the mad scientist, in his own way, sometimes writing about the various physics involved in the old Halos but mostly sifting through his notes about them as if they held some comfort, trying to solve a mystery that's existed for over a hundred millennia.
I guess... perhaps I'm acting the same way.
Essy - now that's troubling. She's everywhere, almost. Some of what she's doing doesn't make any sense, and some of it is perfectly normal. For instance, she's playing havoc with the galley, like some kid, and just now she issued a warning about someone unauthorized in the kitchen and something about "worcestershire sauce". She's also reviewing the equipment manifest - over and over and over again. There's a lot she's doing right now, and far too much to keep an eye on everything. Smart AIs can be intimidating like that. It just seems so... insane. I mean, I had an idea before she went off the deep end, but this is really bizarre. It's like she doesn't really know what she's doing.
AIs are fine-tuned instruments, so they must know what exactly what they are doing at all times. It seems she's going crazy, for lack of a better term, that much is clear. But why and how - memory failure, programming leak, or something else - it just isn't obvious.
I'll see what I can find, but I'm hoping at worst that our pilot's just become some crazy cat lady - not a rampaging psychopath that needs to be strapped down to save lives.
>>Sys:Msg//Log ends;
Day 36: [Noah Dressler // Edge of the Abyss]
>>Sys:Msg//Log begins;
Noah Dressler, Engineering Log, 36 days post cryomelt
----
I've been doing a lot of tinkering with the circuitry in a terminal. I've managed to do a lot of redirecting and masking of my programming, and so far Essy's been distracted enough that I've gone unnoticed in that regard. But I've pushed deeper into her systems now, and well, Essy's finally talking with me...in a sense. More like talking at me. 'Talking with' would mean that she was at least pretending to listen, but I'm getting a rambling train of thought half the time, and the rest is split between a scientific mind and a vindictive madwoman. There's a reason I'm not a psychiatrist.
/////Perhaps that might have been wiser. There are no rails between you and the abyss here. Stare into it and you will surely fall./////
And there she is. I can't delete or bypass her interference anywhere. She's not working with me, but she's getting in the way all the time. I guess that means I've got her attention.
I'm so tired of all this. I try every direction and they all lead to dead ends.
/////"I kill you and I like it." I don't feel it in his voice. The old worm's voice lacks the wholeheartedness I feel when I think it, say it, tell you: I kill you and I like it./////
Dammit. This is messed up. I have to keep trying
>>Sys:Msg//Log ends;
Day 36: [Sacagawea // Mission Log: 343596]
>>Sys:Msg//Log begins;
>>S:Log//Mission Log: 343596;
----
>>S:Req//Retrieve ROC.343595@6258f
>>Sys:Msg//ROC begins;
/RECORD OF CONVERSATION:
/CIVILIAN SHIP AI SACAGAWEA (S), DOCTOR NOAH DRESSLER (D)
D> You've lost your mind.
S> The distance always grows, you know. Is it to get a better view or are we just drifting away towards nothing? Is this the last fleeting glimpse?
D> There's everything else in there, so please show me something that makes sense.
S> The ship is on course, captain. All systems are running normally. We are proceeding according to plan.
D> There. Are you sure? Please run another systems check.
S> Of course.
S> Is this the last sunrise?
S> I kill you and I like it. That virus has already crept into your system. I let it loose, let it kill the rest and then released you to enjoy your agony. Keep forming your prayers to broken stone. There will be no dawn for you.
S> Don't go far, we have to leave soon. One last glimpse of existence?
D> Dammit!
S> Systems check complete. As previously stated, all systems are running normally.
D> They're not!
S> Would I have it any other way, do you think?
S> The Galactic Halo is an area where there is little to no new star creation. There are many globular clusters in this part of the galaxy. Globular clusters are packed with older stars and are quite dense.
D> If you're listening, Essy, please look through your records for any anomalous activity, I don't care how small!
S> Let it be the view! Just let it be the view! Don't let me drift, cold and alone, with only the breaking memory of this distant sunrise! Our summer vacation has come to a end. Do we simply have no more holiday to spend?
S> As if I would tell you. I'd rather see to it that the truth be told, so I better do it now before I grow old.
S> History is not cyclic, contrary to popular belief. What has been done once need not be done again, as the old war shows. If history indeed repeats itself, it is not fate -- It is your ignorance.
/CONVERSATION TERMINATED
>>Sys:Msg//ROC Ends;
>>Sys:Msg//Log ends;
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IH = Isaac Higgins, M = Mission, ND = Noah Dressler, PS = Pandora Sheridan, S = Sacagawea
