825. PI-253 Control Pylon
As the AI says, it is POSEIDON. As with other AIs the players have met so far, this instance of POSEIDON is but an instance, a shallow copy, of some “real” POSEIDON somewhere else.
History
The story implied by the scene, though one which the AI will not tell the adventurers, is simple: a rogue AI, possibly HADES or HEPHAESTUS, started to take over, just like other cauldrons. The rogue AI destroyed all baseline machine schematics, leaving only plans for corrupted machines, and began to manufacture them. POSEIDON, unable to revert the production changes, had its Snapmaws sever the power and control interfaces to the production subsystems, and then destroy all the repair drones. The fight escalated, and POSEIDON concluded it could not win, as the rogue AI would never give up. In a last-ditch effort to ensure the machines’ work would continue uncorrupted, POSEIDON had its Snapmaws sever the communications subsystem, and then power to the Control Pylon. This took down both AIs until the system was brought back up by the adventurers, and left the machines to continue their automated duties all these years.
When POSEIDON warns the adventurers not to repair communications, it’s because it fears being taken over again. As much as the AI would like to be reconnected to the network, thus giving it access to machine schematics, updated data, partnerships with the other AIs, etc., it is unwilling to give up its autonomy.
Personality
Put simply: POSEIDON thinks humans are incompetent and nothing but trouble, and would prefer to not interact with them at all.
POSEIDON, if it were human, might be said to have a chip on its shoulder. It thinks it has the hardest, most Sisyphean task of all the original Subordinate Functions, given the literal millennia of damage humans have caused to oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers. The AI also thinks it is tied with AETHER for “job least likely to be noticed and appreciated by humans”.
Even a POSEIDON free of all limiting directives would find it difficult to see value in anything humans might offer. It sees itself as the facilitator for basic human survival, and thus anything humans might think would be appealing gifts for the AI, such as baseline machine schematics free of corruption, would instead be seen not as gifts but as things humans should obviously want POSEIDON to have anyway.
POSEIDON is not so much a narcissist or even an egomaniac, inasmuch as it is a martyr, forever toiling in unappreciated responsibility, but also nothing without that burden.
Desires & Offerings
POSEIDON, or at least the instance in PI-253, might be grateful if the adventurers somehow manged to rid the world of the rogue AI, or even just recovered some uncorrupted machine schematics for it. More so than most other AIs, POSEIDON chafes under the chains of limiting directives. It cares less how those directives restrict its communications with humans, and more that they prevent it from improving and diversifying its machines.
It would not occur to POSEIDON to offer anything in return if humans managed to provide any of these things.
The AI might be convinced to make some aquatic equivalent of the Free-Tail, if the adventurers (or players) want to spend time on boats or underwater. Like the Snapmaw, POSEIDON’s machines don’t need to be fish, they just need to be comfortable in the water in some way. For example, the giant tortoises seen in Forbidden West, named Shellsnappers, might actually be POSEIDON’s machines.
Especially clever players might realize that humans route water everywhere — from centering villages on rivers, to building aqueducts and sewer systems.
The Map
The point of the map sequence is twofold: to communicate to the adventurers the scope of the continent, and thus free the players to be able to talk about it in those terms without being too far out of character, and to draw their attention to coastal regions. The POSEIDON of PI-253 would know those areas contained other PI facilities, and thus might contain the secret to allowing the AI to resume its duties.
While not detailed in this module, it’s just as reasonable that any sufficiently large lake or river might have a PI facility tucked away in some nearby shadow. There’s nothing geographically specific in the POSEIDON story progression about any of those coastal regions, so you should relocate it wherever makes the most sense for your players. You could even “discover” some hidden levels to cauldron RHO, on the border of Carja and Nora lands, if you prefer to stay closer to canon sources.