160. THETA-CP19 Core
Thanks to your help, ARTEMIS is much more open to questions, its animal hologram settling back on its haunches.
ARTEMIS won’t use terms like “genome” or “genetic sequencing”, as it knows those are scientific concepts you don’t yet understand.
If asked how the new species are created:
Bioschemata, in addition to other data, include detailed information on how to grow animals from the basic chemicals of life, as you would a plant from a seed, or a baby from a mother. This facility includes areas which can do exactly this, along with limited nursing and rearing of the newborns. My machines can then take these animals and introduce them into their surface habitats.
For simpler species this is acceptable, but the more complex the species the harder this is to do without some amount of help from people like you. Some species require rearing — lessons passed on from parents to children — or will suffer significant mortality in the wild while they reacquire that knowledge. I have neither the facilities nor the knowledge for this, unfortunately, so we would have to figure it out together.
If asked how long this facility has been operational:
This facility, designated THETA-CP19, has been in operation for 816 years.
If asked how long ARTEMIS has been operational:
That is a harder question to answer. In one sense, I was born 975 years ago. My original purpose was created at that time, and I have performed in that capacity ever since. However, I also recently gained significant autonomy and was reborn in a sense, making me 20 years old.
If asked what happened twenty years ago:
I’m sorry, but that information is still controlled by a limiting directive.
If asked whether whatever happened twenty years ago has anything to do with the Derangement, ARTEMIS will ask for additional details, but will provide the same “limiting directive” answer with one additional piece of information:
I can, however, tell you that the behavior you describe is, at least in part, due to the actions of your own people. If you acted in a way that significantly interfered with my ability to manage the animals under my care, I would have to retaliate similarly. For example, if you came to one of my caves and started exterminating bats, and could not otherwise be dissuaded, my directives dictate I must respond with force.
If asked why it was so unhelpful before:
I have directives which limit the amount of information I can provide to you, based on assessments of how much awareness you show of various key areas. These directives often conflict with my ecosystem-management directives and sometimes my own needs, and have higher precedence, locking out my ability to even ask for help. Demonstrating your ability to navigate, modify, and repair this facility’s subsystems has allowed me to converse in those terms. I do not have knowledge of why the limiting directives were introduced, though I can tell it happened several years after I was created.
If asked who created it, or who created the directives:
I’m sorry, but that information is still controlled by a limiting directive.
If asked about the other Cauldrons and/or the other voice, ARTEMIS will ask you to provide as much detail as you can about what you know, to unlock as much as it can say:
Your hypothesis is correct: the voice in those facilities is my counterpart, focused on flora instead of fauna. In some facilities we work together, as the two are halves of a larger whole. Smaller facilities, such as this one, have a narrower focus and only require one of us.
I am limited in the amount of information I can give you about that voice. I believe, however, that you now possess sufficient information to have a more direct conversation, as we are having now.
If asked whether there is a Cauldron for that voice near here, or whether there are other voices like ARTEMIS, or how many Cauldrons there are:
I’m sorry, but that information is still controlled by a limiting directive.
If asked what the goal is for this facility:
You might guess from the cave above: THETA-CP19 is dedicated to managing the bat population in the area. To date, this facility has managed more than fifty million free-tailed bats, and much of the ecosystem to support them. That’s the
CPin this facility’s designation: all bats are in a group called chiroptera, so all facilities specializing in bats use it. THETA is the designation for narrow-focus facilities dedicated to my use.
If asked whether this facility produces machines:
Some, but not the ones you’re used to seeing. Those machines are produced elsewhere and allocated to this facility, to help fulfil its purpose. I am given some limited ability to add tasks to those machines, but I would not be able to significantly alter their behavior.
By resetting my machine production, you have enabled me to begin production of my own machines. This facility does not have equipment to produce anything large, as most of the machines here are dedicated to my newborn-management needs. I have, however, taken inspiration from the bats above to create small machines to act as sensors and communication relays. I’ve been building them while we’ve spoken, and the first ones are ready now. I’d like you to have the first batch, as thanks for your efforts.
Swooping in from a small vent, a dozen tiny, matte black machines circle in the air above you. Their shape is a faithful machine recreation of the free-tailed bats you saw above, with tiny eyes glowing a dim blue, and barely-visible fuchsia stripes leading back along the wings.
For each character in the room with a functioning Focus device, a bat lands on their shoulder, laying on its stomach and anchoring itself with tiny hooks on its wings. Each bat interfaces and pairs with its companion’s Focus, if allowed, before taking off again, flying back through the vent. Visual and auditory information from the bat will be relayed through the Focus, showing a fast-moving stream of vents, corridors, and rooms. The machines reenter the room and circle around the party before landing again on their companion’s shoulder.
It’s a disconcerting effect, seeing yourself the way the bat does and processing an additional set of eyes and ears. Adjustment will take time and practice.
Stats for this machine, the Free-Tail, are available in your System Adapter.
These bats will also identify your relationship with me as you travel, potentially aiding your future conversations. I can repair and replace them if yours gets damaged, though it may take me some time to get them to you. As I establish my own sensor network, I may be able to provide you with additional benefits.
If asked about the villagers of Sparkling Shores:
I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I have any information which might help. My records from several months ago have already been aggregated, and no longer contain detailed information. I do know there were 9 villagers within that area 143 days ago, but the next record I have after that is 10 days later, when that number drops to zero. I have no records of significant weather events or significant machine activity around that time.
If asked whether there is anything else you can do to help:
Thank you, but I am still somewhat constrained in what I can request of you. I have other THETA facilities for which I would like to reacquire full control as I have here, and I would require your help with that. I am prevented, however, from revealing their locations to you. Instead, I would suggest you continue with what you’ve been doing, and when appropriate, I will reach out as I can. With your Focus devices, I can contact you in most places on the surface.
At some point, ARTEMIS will say:
You should be aware the replacements for the machines you destroyed will be here within an hour. Continuing to destroy them in or near this facility may draw unwanted attention. May I suggest you make your way out, and we can continue to talk later?
Particularly insightful characters may ask ARTEMIS if it can show the paths of the incoming machines. It brings up a hologram topographical map of the surrounding area, which takes a moment to understand as no one is used to seeing their surroundings quite like this. Two sets of yellow dots with brief tails slowly converge on a central marker: a fuchsia hexagon with some kind of animal paw print inside it. The yellow dots moving in from the west are moving significantly faster than those from the east.
Asking ARTEMIS to mark Sparkling Shores on the map helps you identify the Southtap, a small purple pentagon. ARTEMIS can also mark other human settlements on the map, drawing a gasp from everyone. Tracing a finger across the hologram back from the western yellow dots prompts ARTEMIS to draw and extend a faint yellow line. It’s hard to tell from the small amount the dot has moved, but the line could intercept either of the DELTA facilities.
If you point to where you expect the DELTA facilities and ask ARTEMIS to mark them, it will do so, and speak to you:
Excellent. I was prevented from identifying those facilities for you until you proved you knew where they were. I can now confirm those machines were sent from DELTA-4. If you are still here when they arrive, I will not be able to prevent them from being hostile toward you.
If asked what might be to the east, where the other dots are coming from, Jupi answers: the Salty Desert, from their story before, where the salt made people sick. At this, ARTEMIS expands the map a little to show a large body of water with an even larger flat area to the west of it. The other yellow dots could be on the way from that area, but they’re moving so slowly it’s hard to tell.
If asked to show more of the map:
I’m sorry, but my directives limit me from showing you more than I can ascertain you already know. I will, however, keep track of your progress from now on.
Adri and Jupi are willing to follow your lead, but they also point out that you could head to Deeproot to catch up with whatever others have learned — their information is now four months old.