Audio Transmission, un: E.D.I.

[machina_ex_luna]

[There is a soft buzzing sound, like the staticky noise of speakers taxed beyond their limit. It rises in intensity and pitch until it sputters briefly, and then cuts out. Everywhere that the transmission is accepted a tinny voice scales into the audible range, coming in mid-sentence.]

...ention. Due to unknown anoma... [The transmission briefly fuzzes out, and then back in, several seconds later] ...as sustained catastrophic damage. Please respond. Message repeating on—

[The message, the recording stops. The transmission continues, after a brief pause, but not as if a computer were resuming an automated broadcast. The voice is the same as before, a calm, feminine voice, speaking with a neutral accent, in english.]

Hello, I am EDI. [There is an appropriate pause, as if the speaker needed a moment to gather her wits, or to allow the listeners to do so.] I have some questions.

Comments

audio | un: mantis

[glowfeelers]

Hello, EDI! I am Mantis! Are you alright? What sort of questions do you have?

[machina_ex_luna]

I am currently experiencing technical difficulties. I'm okay.

[Which is to say that, there is very little anyone can do that EDI cannot do faster and better on her own.]

Mantis. [Said with the slightly too definite tone of someone who is memorizing a name, or googling it.] Where are you from?

[glowfeelers]

Oh, well, [ It should be a simple question, yet she pauses to think before she answers. For her, it's not entirely straightforward. ] I am not sure what name my universe has, and I do not remember the planet I was born on, and the planet I was raised on had to be destroyed, and I have been travelling with my friends ever since...

[ Another pause. And a simpler answer she should have given first, ] I am from space! Where are you from?

[machina_ex_luna]

I see...

[The question gives EDI pause as well. She can trace and name the origin-points of most of her physical components, can say the location for almost every significant moment of inception. But... The name of a universe? A single day of "birth"? A planet? No.]

I am. Also, from space. We are similar, in that respect.

[glowfeelers]

Oh! We are! Do you think we are from the same space? There are people from many universes and many spaces here.

[machina_ex_luna]

No. Network archives indicate that you are of a nonhuman species unfamiliar to Citadel Space. While it is not impossible for such a species to exist undetected, it is vanishingly unlikely for such an undetected species to have been brought here by pure chance.

[There is a small pause, in which EDI's silence seems to convey both satisfaction and, briefly, embarrassment.]

...Do you have a more specific query?

[glowfeelers]

Oh? Citadel Space? [ Mantis doesn't recognize that name - if it is a part of her universe, it's a jurisdiction she doesn't know. But EDI seems quite certain of herself, so, ] I suppose we are not from the same space.

Most people here are not from the same places, though! Have you found anyone you know? Or from Citadel Space?

[machina_ex_luna]

Perhaps. I am still analyzing archival network data.

[This is a lie, but some information is classified for a reason. Most of the reason is, admittedly, "just in case" but paranoia is healthy, right?]

However, I am currently... alone. I have never been alone before.

[glowfeelers]

Well, even if you don't find someone you know, there are many people here to keep you from being alone! I can keep you company, I have enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends here!

[machina_ex_luna]

You seem very agreeable.

[This is quite the compliment, coming from EDI.]

But we have not truly "met." How can you be so confident that you will enjoy my company?

[glowfeelers]

Thank you!

[ She thinks that's a compliment, anyway! ]

I suppose I don't know that for sure, but we can find out by spending time together!

[machina_ex_luna]

That is an excellent point. I would be delighted to invite further exploration. Do you possess a personal navigation device, Mantis?

voice; @star.lord

[nostalgiabomb]

Uh. Hi, EDI.

[ Aaand now it's Peter's turn to pause, something loaded with uncertainty, then, ]

Was that a distress signal just now?

[machina_ex_luna]

Yes. It would be disingenuous to claim otherwise.

[He tone is smooth, mostly unconcerned, and almost, vaguely, apologetic.]

However, on further examination, there is nothing to be done. The ship has already crashed and there are, currently, no living crewmembers present.

I apologize for any distress my broadcast may have caused.

[nostalgiabomb]

Wait, wait, wait. Back up.

Where is there a crashed ship?

[ lead with that, my dude??? ]

[machina_ex_luna]

I'm not aware of what landmarks and placenames would be familiar to you. Furthermore without more detailed geometric data, longitudinal coordinates would likely be nonsensical. Would you like a nav-point?

[There is a pause.]

That is a joke. As a precaution, I am not disclosing the ship's location at this time.

[nostalgiabomb]

... Right. Funny.

[ In that slightly puzzled way that betrays that, no, it... wasn't actually all that funny... ]

Just as long as no one's in genuine trouble.

[machina_ex_luna]

That remains to be seen.

[u mad, bro.]

Do you have a name?

[gristle]

Are you Max Headroom?

[machina_ex_luna]

No. This is EDI.

[gristle]

Really? You sound like him.

[machina_ex_luna]

I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with such a person. It is likely a coincidence that we sound similar.

What makes you think we are the same?

[gristle]

Cause he does the fuzzy thing too. Like glitchy.

[machina_ex_luna]

Ah. That was not a glitch, that was signal interference. I am operating with more intact hardware, now.

[gristle]

Are you like a machine?

audio, un:captain.jack

[fixedpointintime]

[ This is the voice of a man who is making an effort to smile, so that it will be heard in his tone. Even though he's not feeling all that jovial right now, because he'd bet just about anything that the start of this transmission was a garbled distress signal. ]

Are you going to tell us what your questions are, or do we guess?

How about we trade off? I'll start. What does E.D.I. stand for?

[machina_ex_luna]

My questions will be ongoing. To begin, I am curious: Why do you ask?

[It takes an interesting mind to hear the name pronounced "Ee-Dee" and correctly extrapolate that it is not properly a name at all, but an acronym. Regardless, if it is a guess, it is an accurate one.]

It stands for the Enhanced Defense Intelligence.

[fixedpointintime]

[ Well, that is pretty much his least favourite thing that D could stand for, especially coming from an unknown entity. Weirdly, the fact that it sounds so calm is not all that comforting. ]

I ask for the same reason. Curiosity.

[ He's going to go ahead and make the leap, given that the I stands for intelligence, that "Edie" and the E.D.I. of the username are one in the same. Which, yeah, also potentially troubling.

Part of the reason he takes care to pronounce the "name" with the same inflection it did when introducing itself. ]

Are you in trouble, Edi?

[machina_ex_luna]

While there are a number of ongoing concerns, I am currently in no immediate distress.

[Is an example of a lie by omission. But EDI delivers it with the usual serene aplomb; I'm lonely and afraid for the fate of my fragile human crew is not a productive line of conversation.]

That is an inadequate answer. Would you care to elaborate?

[fixedpointintime]

I’m curious by nature, more so than most people. I’m curious about who you are, where you’ve come from, and what you might need. I’m curious about the damage that was mentioned, though I’m glad you’re not currently in trouble.

Not to mention, now I’m also curious why what you deemed an adequate answer for yourself is an inadequate answer coming from me.

Where do you come from?

[machina_ex_luna]

The damage is the ship. I have not been personally damaged.

[Is another lie. But the more he talks the more nervous he makes her; people don't react well, historically, to unshackled AI. She has no desire to be forced to cope with nosy, disgruntled humans. Not on her own, at least.]

I am from space.

[Thanks, Mantis.]

And, yourself?

[fixedpointintime]

[ People do not always respond well to Jack, historically, either. A lot of the time he deserves it, but still. Not the best track record. He’s reserving judgment until he has a little more information. Definitely helps that he’s not getting a dalek kind of vibe from Edi. Most of the truly great evil he has seen in his time has had nothing to do with artificial intelligence. It has had everything to do with madmen believing fanatically in their own causes. ]

Well, I’m human. My species originated on a planet called Earth. I was born on a colony planet in the Boshane peninsula. I haven’t been back there in a long time. I’m from space. I was the captain of a ship.

[ Most recently, anyway. Jack’s history is long and varied. He’s not planning on overly complicating this conversation if he doesn’t have to. ]

How long have you been here?

[machina_ex_luna]

Indeterminate. It's possible that I've been here all along.

[Is that a joke? Yes. But also, EDI genuinely isn't sure how long she's been here. Certainly it seems as if her blue box, and by extension her self has been here for much longer than she has memory of. There is little direct evidence.]

You are from the Boshane Peninsula. Space is where you have gone. I understand the difference; you are hardly the first human of my acquaintance. Although, for most of those, it was customary to begin a conversation with introductions.

It is considered rude to insist that your conversational partner sift throug your network records... Jack.