But whatwasit?
Did the nylarians have defenses to protect their planet? Torian stared at a derelict human starship, breaking apart in the asteroid belt. An ancient threat wouldn’t still be lurking here, would it?
… Would it?
“Yes. It is imperative I seek your advice on this matter.”
Torian pulled her attention away from the windows. Moss had awoken her, but they were still fairly far from Vaesa. According to the control panel, they were twenty-two minutes from the station and flying smoothly.
Which meant, for now, they were safe.
She drew a quick breath. “Okay. Shoot.”
“Shoot what?”
Torian snorted. “Tell me what you need help with.”
“Human vernacular amended.” Moss paused, then said, “After Dutch connected me to theDestitute’s systems, I appear to have… leaked… into the auto-navigation. It has gained sentience through my code.”
Torian sank into the seat, eyes widening. “The auto-nav can think now?”
“It has true individuality and emotion. And it thinks I am mean.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it should not have had awareness… so I was mean.”
Torian nearly laughed. At least Moss admitted it freely.
But still, it was a bit unnerving that new parts of her starship were beginning to gain awareness. She trusted Moss, but if the auto-navigation took over, that would pose new concerns. She scrubbed her face, staring at the ceiling now. “Are you at risk?”
“… Clarify.”
“If Auto-Navigation hates you, can it overtake your central system and… rewrite you, or something?” Torian’s jaw was tight with concern. It felt weird to be asking these questions with the flight deck’s central consoleright there, but if Moss said Auto-Nav was oblivious, she had to believe it.
Moss seemed amused. “Auto-Navigation is developing similarlyto… well, to a human child. It is not a threat to me, and it will take time—decades, on this trajectory—to truly match my intellect.”
“And what if it gains awareness faster than that?” Torian had seen too many horror vids about this kind of thing. AI wasn’t pushed in human culture for a reason. (The reason was that they were generally inferior to Moss’s capabilities, absurdly expensive to maintain, and a tou’siil could act as a more reliable, more pleasant database. But a small part of Torian still imagined the worst-case scenario with sentient computers.)
Moss considered that. “It is possible that Auto-Nav will develop faster. But at the present moment, it ‘cares’ what I think, and only appears to be seeking my support.”
“So, you actually have a kid.”
Moss’s leaves seemed to physically curl away from that statement. It was so subtle Torian almost missed it—but she definitely didn’t miss its annoyed tone. “I am an organic computer. The only reproduction options available to me are within my own moss colony, and that simply expands my own cognizance. I cannot ‘have a kid.’”
Torian leaned back in the seat, crossing her arms. “You clearly can, if your code gave the auto-navigation awareness of its own individuality. Is the engine gaining sentience too?”
“Engine is not physically able to gain sentience, simply due to its type of code and construction.”
“You didn’t think Auto-Nav could do that either, though.”
Moss was quiet for a moment. “It is possible Engine might develop consciousness, but that possibility rests at point zero four percent. I will continue to monitor and update if that statistic changes.” Now Moss asked tentatively, “Is this okay, Captain?”
Torian considered her own mindset on this. Yes, she was nervous about all these systems gaining awareness. But they were actively flying to Dutch, who could intervene if something changed. She was about to relocate to Vaesa with Celise, which meant if Auto-Nav went rogue, they’d have distance.
She didn’t want to lose access to theDestitute, though—it was absolutely her home now. Torian pressed her lips together. “I think… it’ll be okay. But I also think it’s more important than ever to be nice to Auto-Navigation. In fact, we should probably practice that withallsystems, sentient or not.”
Just in case.
