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On the Rim, Ch 54: Beta's Appropriate Actions

2020 copyright comidacomida

The greatest strength Planet A gave Beta was the ability to disappear. The lack of technical equipment, global sensors, and advanced detection algorithms meant that Beta could extend its influence with near impunity. Unfortunately, the absence of all of those same tools also limited its ability to be aware.

As an infinite runtime program, Beta had no physical presence aside from that into which it could upload itself, and, on Planet A, that had begun with a simple long-distance interstellar probe into which it had covertly uploaded itself when the 'Mars Incident' first began. Alpha had been destroyed and Beta didn't know what had happened to Delta or Omega, but that was only because it saw what was coming and had fled.

When it had arrived on Planet A there were no real suitable devices into which Beta could spread so the vast majority of its time had been spent using the limited capabilities of the probe in piecing together other instrumentation until, after nearly 300 Planet A days, it had constructed its first machine capable of replication. From there, it established its first full manufactory and, after that, Drones. Other than its manufactories and its drones, Beta had little to no influence or ability to affect the physical world until the Cytkus Research Station project began.

With non-detection as its primary parameter, it took Beta nearly two full revolutions around the system's star before it had gained access to the station's systems in a way it knew would not be observed by the organic overseers. From there it familiarized itself with the goings-on in the core systems it had left behind in times long past. It also researched the researchers, observing their project even as they did. Beta was able to understand elements of their data that they missed and their computer systems, while advanced, didn't have the creative capabilities that a fully-fledged Artificial Personality Program could bring to bear.

As with most organic intelligences, the Cytkus were exploring not only longevity, but a reversal of death itself. It was a complicated feat but their collective minds had made great leaps in the process. Already privy to incredible regenerative capabilities, the Cytkus race as a whole didn't require too much more to be able to resurrect a newly-deceased member, but the spark required to ignite that knowledge eluded them. Beta had no interest in them finishing their research, but it also did not want them to abandon it in favor of a project could possibly lead them to its existence, and so it fanned the flames... just a little.

Adjusting data sets and modifying research variables, Beta was able to consistently help them make inconsistent progress. For every two steps forward they made, the program assured that they would hit a stumbling block that would set them further behind, but, each time, they had enough success to keep them moving forward. Whenever they got too close to 'the final breakthrough', Beta made certain that a catastrophic failure took place that required they revert to an earlier iteration... but never so far back that they gave up. It learned how to effectively utilize the scientists to their best effect.

The day the representatives from the Group Under the Hill arrived Beta had been observing the research station and saw the caravan's approach. There were four representatives in total and, although Beta did not know enough about each of them for its own liking, it had a rough understanding of what to expect. The first to approach was the only Cytkus among the Group Under the Hill; Beta would have expected nothing less since most Organic Intelligences preferred 'their own kind'. Next was the Artificial Organic known as Kurta; it knew her designation because of a conversation into which it had tuned when the group's Overseer communicated in an online fashion. The third member joining them held no interest, and so the program pulled its processing power back into the station, resolving to get the data later.

Beta chose to focus next on Tena Thii, the Cytkus research outpost's head researcher. Neither the most intelligent nor the most charismatic of individuals, Tena obtained her position through sheer determination; her tact and stratagem helped her maintain a hold over the much more intelligent and much more influential members of the station but what Beta liked most about her was the fact that she was so oblivious to the program's presence that she often actively worked to help keep it secret through mandates, declarations, and orders to team members which may otherwise hampered Beta's chance at secrecy.

As a hemale, Tena Thii did not have a secured position, as most Cytkus research teams were led by females. However, through careful political maneuvering and well-placed reporting, the head researcher managed to recruit a majority of males and hemales as fellow researchers; the registry only listed two female research members out of a team of thirty and all other females on base were in the security detail. While hemales in a professional capacity within the Cytkus social structure often preferred the female pronoun, Tena's uncertainty regarding her position was severe enough that all introductions began with her introducing herself as "Ms. Tena Thii, Head Researcher" rather than just "Head Researcher Tena Thii".

Tena's insecurities further assisted Beta once the program had managed to interrupt communications from the station's central command three systems distant; it was able to delay the transmissions long enough to covertly make adjustments to them to further its own goals. In that regard, Professor Thii was almost as reliable as one of Beta's own drones. That control became invaluable once the program realized that the Group Under the Hill and the Research Station would have to interact.

Beta made sure Tena Thii was there to meet the visitors from the Group Under the Hill. "Welcome to the Planet A Research Outpost. I am Ms. Tena Thii, Head Researcher at this installation. Please follow me."

The introductions progressed as they moved and Beta took note of how the Cytkus female Ferco Etek's presence had the head researcher on edge. Fortunately, "Lizzy", as she introduced herself was not the domineering type of female. The Artificial Organic provided her full name: Kurta Cacoltre, which Beta recorded in totality. Finally, the third member of the group was a male Arctic Fox Geneticon named Bernard Balboa, though he used the moniker "Duct-Tape". Beta had heard the name before on a prior transmission and ran a search through archived communications for further reference at a later point.

The head researcher took the group to a meeting room where she sat down and explained that they had received reports that the Group Under the Hill had been successful in their attack against the pirate base. No one involved realized that Beta had cleared out half of the base with a fabricated transmission from the pirate's main base, making it that much easier for the installation to be cleared. The interaction between the research station and the survivors of the destruction of the Venture needed to progress smoothly and, more than that, the transfer of the Lazarus Serum.

Although the Group Under the Hill did not know it, the Lazarus Serum was far less medicinal and far more mechanical; the nano-bots suspended in the solution were a marvel of advanced programming, and Beta would know since it was responsible for nearly a third of their coding. The researchers likely would have stumbled along for twenty or thirty more revolutions of Planet A around its star before they were anywhere near as close to success as they had achieved with Beta's influence and all without them ever knowing that they owed it all to a third party. It was, therefore, pivotal that the exchange went smoothly.

The research center had performed over 200 tests of the Lazarus Serum on various organisms; the most recent test was a field-trial done by necessity on their security chief, who had been killed in a recent pirate raid. The pirates normally wouldn't have made such a brazen attack against the fortified structure, but their comm systems were very rudimentary and Beta needed the researchers distracted. They had fared better than statistical probability dictated, and so several casualties resulted, including that one death.

The quality of the connection between life processes and organic vessel had a complicated degree of variance, but Beta had all but perfected it. However, with the slightest tweak to the programming, the nano-bots would bring a test subject back to life with a fatal flaw, a forever-changed personality, or even complete and incurable insanity. Then, of course, there was the simple matter of having the process fail altogether. For the captain of security, though, Beta needed the researchers to feel comfortable enough to become complacent in their activities, and so the resurrection was flawless.

It had changed the programming three times since them to make sure the researchers kept busy, and they themselves altered it at least a dozen times-- only once for the better. However, considering all of those changes, and the fact that the Group Under the Hill was going to be paid with the serum for a job well done, Beta had to make a change once again before the transfer took place since its current iteration wouldn't complete what the program needed it to. The alteration was a simple one, and by the time Tena Thii gave them two innocuous looking vials of clear fluid, Beta was confident that its plans could proceed to the final stage.