The Mech Touch

5744 The AI Specialist

The Babylon Excavator's accidental encounter with a phase whale became another legend in her story.

Captain Zonrad Reze managed to earn a commendation from ARCHIE due to his stellar performance.

He not only managed to blind the pursuing phase whale just enough by pelting the powerful foe with powerful hyper beams, but also managed to influence the distracted creature's trajectory until it was on a direct collision course with the free-floating Nu-Oblivion Torpedo!

This turned Captain Reze into a minor celebrity within the ranks of the Red Fleet.

After all, not any lone warship was able to escape the clutches of a mature phase whale.

Although the plan employed by Captain Reze sounded deceptively simple, it was the execution that truly mattered. This was where he distinguished himself and proved his competence in the field yet again.

Of course, Sigrund did not manage to do everything right. ARCHIE's independent evaluation of the incidents clearly registered a number of shortcomings.

[...Failure to conduct sufficient long-ranged scanning to detect the possible presence of hidden phase whales or other indigenous alien units…]

[...Inefficient and unprofitable usage of a rare and expensive consumable weapon…]

[...Misjudgment about the balance of power post-explosion. There was a 46 percent probability of defeating the injured phase whale immediately after being struck by the Nu-

Oblivion Torpedo…]

Sigrund grimaced at the many faults pointed out by the highly intelligent and all-encompassing evaluation system.

"I brought the Babylon Excavator back intact and without loss of life. That is a much more preferable outcome than getting caught by the phase whale."

[That is why you are still eligible to be awarded with a commendation, pending approval from Admiral Chelsea Mieli.]

"Can't you cut me some slack? I contributed to your programming! Your ability to solve difficult dilemmas has increased by 16 percent with my assistance! I can promote to the rank of commodore sooner if you evaluate my performance in a better light."

[I am afraid I cannot do that, Captain Reze. Your performance is not completely satisfactory. Current standing directives emphasize the need to conserve resources as much as possible. The Nu-Oblivion Torpedo is an option of last resort that should not have been wasted in this battle.]

ARCHIE was programmed to be as objective as possible. It was solely concerned with preserving the Red Fleet as a whole. It was expressly designed to never show any unreasonable favor to any specific individuals.

Not even Sigrund held enough sway over ARCHIE. This was rather ironic to him as the upgraded evaluation and monitoring system shared a lot more in common with him that anyone realized.

As the Red War continued to progress, Sigrund continued to run reconnaissance missions, this time with greater care than before.

The Babylon Excavator penetrated deeper into alien space and managed to obtain detailed scans of dozens of strategically important star systems.

The native alien races had transitioned into a war footing as well. Their civilian industries increasingly began to turn into military industries while a lot of alien troops were being trained for war.

The more disconcerting news that the Babylon Excavator brought back was that certain alien races had already begun to incorporate hyper technology in their warships.

The next wave of alien warships were bound to become much harder to defeat. The disparity in power between red humanity and the indigenous alien races would continue to shrink over time.

The only way to prevent this from happening was to come up with more powerful innovations. So long as red humanity improved its technology faster than the native aliens could keep up with, the Red Two might be able to make it through the onslaught.

This was anything but certain, though.

There were days where Sigrund thought whether there was any point in chasing after promotions.

Becoming a commodore was his immediate goal. He had been splitting his time between commanding the Babylon Excavator and helping the Red Fleet's R&D teams apply further refinements to the expansive programming that made up ARCHIE.

The longer ARCHIE remained in operation, the more the fleeters as well as the spacers taking part in the controversial Auxiliary Fleet Program appreciated the super-AI's judgment.

This became evident during a routine meeting with his superior.

The physical projection of Admiral Chelsea Mieli leaned forward and expressed intense interest in the captain of the Babylon Excavator.

"Ever since we had converted the old IES to the more modern ARCHIE, our warships are more efficient than ever. Our manpower constraints have lessened as we are able to leverage greater productivity from every spacer. It is my understanding that the development of ARCHIE has only begun to hit its stride."

"That is correct, ma'am." Captain Reze politely responded to the projection. "The use of hyper technology in competing tech has produced many breakthroughs that challenge the established theories of computing. Artificial intelligences powered and enhanced by E energy radiation have proven to be capable of performing feats that are beyond the realm of possibility back in the Milky Way. The artificial intelligence sector has entered into a golden age because of the changes in the environment. It is not only ARCHIE that is on track to receive substantial upgrades. There are also other projects on the way. My favorite project is the development of more powerful shipboard AIs. Once they are being put into action, every warship will perform much closer to their theoretical maximum."

The admiral briefly frowned. "Shipboard AIs represent a much more powerful step towards automation. Many of my peers are less concerned about the reliability of ARCHIE as it mainly helps us manage our human resources. Letting an advanced artificial intelligence take direct control over the functions of our warships gives them actual operational command of destructive weapons. The damage that these shipboard AIs can do is catastrophic."

"That is why the R&D teams in charge of researching improved shipboard AIs have only made slow progress up to this point, ma'am. The scientists and engineers are erring on the side of caution. It may take multiple years for the shipboard AIs to perform well enough to be trusted with actual responsibility. No AI will be able to refuse the override of a human crew member, and they can always be deactivated in order to return the vessel to manual control."

"You sound as if you have many suggestions on how to advance the development of shipboard AIs."

Captain Reze looked disappointed. "I do, but I am afraid that I am only peripherally aware of this project. I am already assigned to assist in the continuous development of ARCHIE. I am not allowed to participate in another AI research project."

Admiral Chelsea Miele nodded and made a pointed remark. "When you transferred to my new command, I was told that you had formed an agreement with your old superior."

"That is correct, ma'am." Conrad Reze responded in an impeccable tone. "To summarize it briefly, in order to pave my way to a possible promotion to admiral and higher, I must accrue experience as a line officer of a warship that is tasked with undertaking serious missions against our external enemies. My involvement in ARCHIE's development is an additional means of earning merit."

It was plainly clear that the RF captain was hungering for a promotion.

Though Admiral Chelsea Mieli appreciated ambition in her subordinates, there were times where promotion needed to take a backseat.

"The researchers who have worked alongside you have praised your intelligence and problem-solving skills. Your abundant expertise in AIs has constantly my office to become pelted with requests to transfer you out of the Babylon Excavator so that you can work on AI development on a full time basis. Multiple research teams are vying to gain control over your expertise, and they are willing to extend serious favors for your clever head, figuratively speaking."

"My response to their solicitors has not changed. I do not intend to abandon the Babylon Excavator. She is my ship, and she has all of the capabilities she needs to keep my crew and I alive. More importantly, I have yet to serve long enough as a warship captain to burnish my credentials as a line officer. In order to become eligible to get promoted to a fleet admiral in the far future, I cannot allow this shortcoming to torpedo my chances."

Admiral Mieli shook her head in disappointment. As much as Captain Zonrad Reze had performed reliably and effectively as the captain of a reconnaissance cruiser, the man was able to make much more substantial contributions to the Red Fleet as an AI researcher.

She was tempted to utilize her authority to the fullest in order to force the stubborn cruiser captain to relinquish his command so that he can be transferred to a top research team.

However, doing so would break the informal agreement that Captain Zonrad Reze had made with his previous superior.

Violating them was not entirely taboo, especially now that the circumstances had changed compared to the previous age.

A woman who was shrewd enough to make it to the rank of admiral in her second century of life was not that stupid, though.

Her hands were effectively tied so long as Captain Reze proved his effectiveness in combat.

If only he wasn't so good!

"Please do not dismiss my suggestion out of hand." Admiral Mieli requested. "It should not be a surprise to you that our Red Fleet is deteriorating by the day. High-end resources are becoming more and more scarce. We are becoming increasingly more reliant on technology to compensate for our many deficiencies."

The higher ups of the Red Fleet never told the public the truth about its precarious state. The fleeters still needed to project a lot of strength in order to maintain its veneer of superiority.

However, the brass never intended to hide the actual state of the Red Fleet to the senior officers.

It became even more important for Captain Zonrad Reze to be in the loop as his reconnaissance missions were expressly meant to address the Red Fleet's shortcomings.

"AIs cannot single-handedly turn the tide of the Red War, ma'am." Sigrund told his superior. "They can optimize the performance of our warships, but it is too much to ask them to exceed the physical boundaries of their many ship systems. The Otendra hyper laser cannons of my warship are only rated to launch hyper laser beams at a certain power range. It is impossible for the weapons to exceed the upper boundary unless exceptional circumstances are in play."

"I find it hard to believe that the next generation of AIs are only limited to optimization. Are you familiar with the living mechs designed by Professor Larkinson?"

Captain Reze tried his best to school his expression. "It would be hard not to. He is a celebrity in the mech community and beyond."

"Well, his living mechs have all begun to… evolve to the point where they have developed notably powerful artificial intelligences. The so-called living mechs have not only gained the features that our researchers have only just begun to explore, but the illogical products have also shown a remarkable capacity for sentience and the ability to flexibly navigate problems that cannot be solved in a straightforward manner."

"Where are you going with this, admiral?"

"I am doing any favors to my reputation for this, but I will not let stupidity get in the way of absolute necessity. As you have already said, our AIs will only be able to optimize the performance of our warships. If we want them to become powerful enough to exceed their natural limitations, I believe we must learn from example. We have already tried to do so by studying and dissecting dozens of third order living mechs."

Sigrund inwardly winced as he heard that. He did not want to obtain any details on these studies!

"I surmise that this investigation has failed to produce the desired result."

Admiral Chelsea Mieli grimly nodded. "Our researchers have concluded that only direct consultation from their maker will help us obtain the necessary information. If we want to improve the performance of warships by another level, we may be forced to cooperate with a mech designer, as loathsome as that may sound. What do you think about this possible proposal, Captain Reze?"

"I think… It is a bold but practical idea."

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