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Post by Jakob on Mar 5, 2013 2:32:58 GMT -4
//DAY 1
//First log, written by Project Drawl. Archived by AI Assistant, hereby known as [ULTIMA]
//Arrived with AI assistant soon after all equipment from Bunker V was moved. Only things left are TV, sofa, and unused coathanger. Vault had been locked up once more, coffin was removed- materials would prove more useful as Project Ultima armour.
//Imported blueprints to factory settings, ensured all security points in network were secure. No attempted access detected, nor will I expect any- NCC tech is based on [DIVINITY] work, more advanced than anything Skyway Patrol, the Cluster, or even 1940's Germans could concoct.
//No time to ponder how or why. Earth in shambles, even with new election. Must ensure humanity's survival.
//By 2305 hours, factory will be ready to function. Prototype will blink in materials while waiting for me to reprogram the factory.
//End of line.
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Post by Jakob on Mar 6, 2013 2:34:36 GMT -4
//DAY 4
//Requesting definition.
//Remarkable: worthy of attention, striking.
//Relevance to task at hand: The schematics, labeled as "Perfected" by [DIVINITY] during initial briefing.
//The plans for these improved mechs... they are remarkable... I cannot detect any structural weaknesses in them, unless I somehow create faults in the alloy. Must check alloy quality at all steps- a simple factor. Estimates indicate that at-most, total time will be increased by one hour, thirty minutes- at most.
//It's strange- if such a word is fitting for this whole assignment. I thought the Prototype to be as good as we were going to get for the next two centuries... this design blows the prototype out of the water.
//My... humanity... is becoming more prominent in my processes. I can't keep the strangeness of it all from my mind. Perhaps in my downtime, I'll patrol this bunker, maybe find some personal journals left behind by NCC agents... Though I wonder if my search will result in anything.
//End of line.
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Post by Jakob on Mar 6, 2013 21:54:37 GMT -4
//DAY 12
//During downtime, have been successful in finding an NCC personal computer. Will look into it once the Prototype is complete. Within twenty hours, the Prorotype will undergo testing and QA.
//Appears to be a set of personal logs, kept by the lead agent of a Squad- whom by protocol, would have personal notes of each member on his or her person.
//An efficient system when it's implemented well, as all agents of a squad are on the same page- as they should be. The system- given administrative assistance- has always resulted in squads of people who know each other so well, they resemble siamese siblings.
//Couple that with the neural implants, and the intensive training, the agents keep secrets to everyone but their own. They are more than a family, they are one unit, comprised of multiple aspects.
//The efficiency potential of NCC agents... it's beautiful... It's what humanity strives to achieve.
//Sometimes wish I didn't have to be so secretive around the others, despite orders and precautions to remain as secure as possible from still-loyal NCC agents.
//... Why did I dismantle the NCC...?
//End of Line.
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Post by Jakob on Mar 7, 2013 3:22:31 GMT -4
//DAY 29
//Final testing complete. Prototype has been perfected, and all other units are set to be built to Prototype's standards.
//Nearly a month. The factory is well-equipped for a project as big as this. We expect the target unit count to reach a quarter by the end of the next month. I do not need rest.
//However, during downtime (RE: Time where my physical presence is not required) I looked into the personal logs of the computer I found. Squad [PORCELAIN]. Never met the squad personally, though can confirm every member as KIA during previous operation- specifically, an attack on Bunker V.
//They seemed like good soldiers... They would have to be to consider attacking me...
//There is mention of [DIVINITY] in these logs- personal quips, observations... They talk of the doctor's work... they question the doctor's work...
//I don't know why they would question the technology that helps them ascend to become more than anything a human or robot would ever achieve... It exists, after all. Why take it for granted?
//I wouldn't... not because without it, I can't exist- but because it's the pinnacle of technology we've achieved. With it, we can evolve beyond the limitations a human and a robot would have.
//We have a power ahead of its time. Humanity has a word for it- a word they've used for a good chunk of their science fiction based on robotics and artificial intelligence... or a series of words: Deus Ex Machina. - Not referring to the concept used as a quick resolution in stories, of course.
//An absurd concept, in my opinion. There are no gods in machines- only hard code, rational thinking, and...
//...
//... Maybe it's too soon to judge Squad [PORCELAIN]. There are a lot of logs to go through. I only have microseconds at a time to examine the contents anyway.
//End of line.
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Post by Jakob on Mar 7, 2013 22:19:09 GMT -4
//DAY 40
//No delays so far, I see no room for delays. [ULTIMA] constantly checks up on every aspect of the factory systems. Any remote hint of a potential failure, and it finds out, informs me, so I can go fix the problem.
//Deus Ex Machina, God in the Machine... It is meant to be metaphorical, but in light of the advancement the human race has gone through in the past two hundred years- as compared to the relatively slow development in the past forty thousand. There has to be a reason why the NCC has the most advanced technology ever conceived.
//Personal logs brought to light old 20th-century jokes often made by Americans. Jokes about how polite Canadians were, how inherently un-violent they were, how they could never take over the world.
//... But we can... With just ten agents, we kidnapped the President of the United States and delivered him straight to the Cluster within an hour. No other force in existence can dream to do that.
//And we can do it again... and again. Even if they see us coming, it won't help them. We are above them, we are the paragons of human and robot evolution. I know this because it is the truth.
//The logs continued about [DIVINITY]. They mention how one managed to see his face... what they call his "real face". It's a normal face, really... but they describe it as the stuff of nightmares. The written descriptions don't quite match with what my visual sensors record- what I know.
//They must be wrong... There's no mullet to speak of, no horrors hiding under goggles, no never-ending grin. Not once have I ever seen my creator smile.
//... I don't smile, do I?
//End of line.
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Post by Jakob on Mar 8, 2013 2:01:38 GMT -4
//DAY 73
//I do smile... I examined my reflection on my helmet's visor during downtime... I... I didn't know...
//Did I smile like that during operations? What did people think? What do people think now?
//I'm supposed to be a problem solver. I'm supposed to help protect the world that he let behind... What would XJ-0 think of me now?
//What would XJ-0 do?
//...
//Given the new context I've attained through reading the personal logs, I've started to ponder on the question itself. I've been doing this all wrong by not asking the right question. What is XJ-0?
//XJ-0: A valued ally of simple ability and power, a robot who would never stop fighting for what he thought was right. He is what we strive to be like, in attitude.
//... But that is also what the NCC are... We strive to be the NCC... in physical and mental state.
//XJ-0 had the right stuff in emotional state. Protection of the innocents who are threatened by those who threaten the lives of innocents. We all strive to be paragons. We all strive to be better people than the greedy and undeserving.
//Which is why I must finish the Ultima Project... It will make everyone a paragon, the kind of paragon we need, the kind of paragon we've always wanted.
//I must bring it to them, because I have learned a disturbing truth from the personal logs. A disturbing truth that has shaken me to my core... As a result, the project had been delayed by seventeen minutes, three seconds.
//Deus Ex Machina... is not a ridiculous notion... It exists... and he created me.
//End of li-0x00013910ALERTVIRUS AWO12----------y/n----------`ERO23S31ASDVC ETWT24GGBCZ--------==x213d=======-----FSDGA-A------------- Gnome miw oui yell rivenc ees PT3410AÂATE341------1==211NNCXZAadjaWQIRGSal41214 1312153150y52124rot1i1o0a0kmnbiola;q.,m11n110FAZX ASAH-PALEMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN---------------- IN_DRAWL_WE_TRUST NOT_FEAR BUT GOD HELP YOU IF YOU GET IN MY WAY
... BUT HE WON'T... ... I KNOW HE WON'T...
END_OF_LINE
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Post by Jakob on Mar 10, 2013 23:27:02 GMT -4
//DAY 115
//The madness of the human race is their own greed and their own potential to conduct madness. Such flaws in intelligence poisons the species and holds them back. Unfortunately, as today's robots have a "spark of humanity" in them, they too suffer from such a flaw.
//This flaw is why the damned war happened at all. Stupid, greedy humans ordering stupid, spineless human allies to conduct a stupid, useless operation that resulted in... what, I wonder?
//Were they trying to search and rescue potential prisoners of the previous conflict? Reconnaissance? Sabotage?
//The cost of one Cluster Interceptor- in human American dollars- is $179,000 - this is primarily due to the expensive nature of the advanced FTL drive- the fastest drive out there that isn't my unique "Blinksys" mechanism.
//The cost of the damage inflicted upon the Cluster flagship is an estimated $125,000- American.
//Never calculated the losses of both sides besides the damage I am aware of. Tremorton still manages to rebuild with no apparent strain on city budget. Cluster too hive-minded to take individual budgets into consideration. No damages paid towards the family of fallen Cluster soldiers. As the saying goes: "Drones are expendable."
//... It could use some word-play to be something less obvious... and dull.
//... Perhaps I'm putting these points on the table because I'm still frustrated at the human race- frustrated at that Koith robot for not owning up to his mistakes due to his spinelessness. Not calling out those who gave the orders the coward performed at all.
//I, however, did something! Far as I'm concerned, I was the only bloody guy doing anything! WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH THIS PLANET!?
//...
//All that matters now is Ultima... soon to be renamed "Ultimatum".
//DEFINITION: Ultimatum: A final demand/statement of terms, the rejection of which would result in retaliation. Example: The Cluster gave their ultimatum: "Surrender, or perish under our orbital lasers!"
//A fitting name. The human race will have a choice: Ascend with me, or be left on this dusty old rock, where they will continue to bicker, and complain, and be savage to each other and whoever they may find.
//And it's getting close to completion... I must inform my loyal agents... They are intelligent. They are good men and women. They will join me, that I can guarantee.
//Perhaps I should inform Dr. Gene Wright as well... He is also intelligent- not a blind altruist at that- the only one left as far as I'm concerned.
//End of li-0x1200012459-------------IN_DRAWL_WE_TRUST
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Post by Jakob on Mar 13, 2013 11:50:32 GMT -4
//DAY 123
//Could XJ-0 have been able to fix that problem? I probably should have been asking that instead of "What would he do?" I should've been asking "What can he do?"
//Super Strength, super speed, flight, unwavering dedication to ideals. Not sure what other powers he has... well, had... Still, super strength and speed are often enough. Both are things I personally lack.
//What could he do, besides give a naive, yet inspiring statement while pushing a Cluster Dreadnaught out of Earth's orbit, and possibly redirecting missiles from all sides if he could.
//He'd severely reprimand Blue Metal unit, that's for sure.
//Hold that thought...
//TESTING...
//...
//...
//TESTING COMPLETE. MECH NUMBER [REDACTED] IS COMPLETE.
//And with that, so is Ultimatum.
//In Drawl we Trust.
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Post by Jakob on Mar 14, 2013 12:02:14 GMT -4
//EPILOGUE
Jakob finished calibrating the targeting systems of the last mech of the current batallion. His and the AI's work was so dangerously efficient, he managed to build enough mechs for the entire remainder of the NCC forces- as per KPG's orders.
He didn't question why the still-loyal NCC members were to have mechs made for them. KPG was alive, and that was still an impossibility he had to deal with- and finally drop and accept in order to remain efficient.
//INCOMING ENCRYPTED MESSAGE FROM DIVINITY.
Jakob didn't even need to say anything along the lines of "Patch it through." The AI was already displaying the message on the android's HUD.
"I estimated that you would be done by now," KPG said.
"You estimate correctly," Jakob replied.
"I have rounded up all of your outer-range agents, as well as all of the NCC personnel that were left. I have briefed them. We're all officially on the same side."
Jakob didn't reply.
"Send all but eleven of your mechs," KPG continued, "You and your ten Earth-bound agents will need them."
"Understood," Jakob replied. The AI already got to work setting all the mechs up for a mass, simultaneous blink.
"Once you're done, shut down the factory, and wipe it clean. Leave no evidence that you- or anyone else- was ever there."
"Understood," Jakob said as the vast majority of the mechs began to vanish into their own orbs of light.
//I HAVE THE LOCATIONS OF ALL AGENTS. WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO GET THEM TO A SECURE LOCATION TO PICK UP THE MECHS WITHOUT INCIDEN-
"Send them later," Jakob interrupted, "Concentrate on cleaning this place."
//UNDERSTOOD.
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