It's Got What It Takes [Closed]

[Ugoto Chivaro]

CESTUS SYSTEM, ORD CESTUS
CESTUS CYBERNETICS HEADQUARTERS

Zothustro Quill sat at his desk, idly reading over his datapad. A lot of his work was mindless tedium these days, but that's what happened when the development of the J2 Droid Brain kept getting pushed back. Hannibal insisted that he needed more time to design the device. It was wearing more and more thin each day, but Zothustro had little choice but to continue to nod his head an agree. He was the CEO, sure, but his boss was that of the stockholders. And the majority, sole stockholder was Hannibal.

And maybe that Ovmar guy, but no one paid any attention to him.

The doors to Zothustro's office slid open, revealing Hannibal. The Fondorian was wearing a wicked grin and carrying a fancy briefcase. It should come as no surprise that Zothustro was immediately concerned. Hannibal could hardly stand sitting through most of their meetings, so whatever had brought him to Zothustro's office willingly must have been a pretty incredible development.

"Guess what I got." Hannibal said. He already began to open the briefcase as he walked into the office, getting closer to Zothustro's desk. The door slid shut behind him.

"<< What did you- >>"

Hannibal emptied the contents of the briefcase atop Zothustro's desk. A device that looked like a droid brain fell out, followed by a stack of papers held together by a band. Zothustro's eyes glossed over. What the hell? Was he looking at what he thought he was looking at?

"<< That's- >>"

"A CZ-HKD Droid Brain. Yeah."

"<< You bought one? Or one of their droids? >>"

It struck Zothustro as odd. Hannibal was usually far too prideful to even consider buying one of his competitor's (arguably superior) models. Even if it were just to tinker with them and improve the original design. There was no way he had gotten this legitimately.

"Pfft. Are you kidding? I hired Ovmar and some of his mook friends to sack the place. They brought me back one. And..." Hannibal indicated the stack of paper. "The blueprints."

"<< You're joking. >>"

"Read 'em and weep, bud."

Zothustro flicked through the sheets. It was all very technical. Engineer mumbo-jumbo. There was no way he could make heads or tails of it, seeing as he was a mere businessman. This was the only real method Zothustro had of determining this wasn't just some mere forgery. Hopefully this meant Hannibal was going to get off his ass and start producing the prototypes of this droid brain.

"<< Shall I contact the potential partners you suggested? >>"

"You betcha." Hannibal said, collecting the materials on the desk and sliding them back into the briefcase.

Finally, the real work could begin, and Cestus Cybernetics would take its rightful place in the galaxy.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

A verbose, daring, and moderately interesting offer had come to Silk's CEO personally. Moderately because Cestus produced little but grunt labor, interesting because the utility and value of their product lines had been steadily increasing since the company had first caught Selka's eye. As if there was some sort of precise, staged plan of escalation, using simpler lines to build working capital and consumer base for more ambitious mid-term projects, which in turn formed a foundation for long-term, ambitious droid products. This invitation, at a guess, heralded a significant step, so she'd come personally in a Pathfinder.

Fully automated frigate that handled like a light freighter. Minimum crew of two. She suspected Cestus would appreciate it on a level few others could.

The ship settled down, and she and her retinue disembarked.

 

[Lex-El]

CESTUS SYSTEM, ORD CESTUS
CESTUS CYBERNETICS HEADQUARTERS

[member="Selka Ventus"] | [member="Zothustro Quill"]

Cade was a very, very busy man. Business was booming, and the Guardian project had been a smashing success. Orders had been coming in through the woodwork, and he was already thinking about having to expand to more planets to fill the needs of his customers. Weapon sales were through the roof, and the slug throwers were now to the point that they were making profits for the company. Part of his success had been because of the company where he was currently standing at, and as he disembarked from his ship, he saw another person. Adjusting his glasses, before fiddling with his simple, silver ring, he made out the face of another powerful person in the galaxy.

"Well, isn't this spectacular," he said as he walked up to the two people exiting the simple freighter. "I wonder what the X'ting wants from us."

Realizing his lack of manners, he stuck out his hand. "Cade Lee, CEO of Blas-Tech. I'm assuming you're the head of Silk Industries?"

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Zothustro Quill"], [member="Selka Ventus"], [member="Cade Lee"]

Ayden was late, as was usual for his participation in meetings of this sort. It was unusual for him to be on time, and a dark day when he was early. When the offer had been extended, Ayden had been occupied with working out the details of a very special project. Normally he would have passed the deal off to someone else, but in this case it was exactly what he had needed. Given the nature of the project, Ayden opted to come in person to handle the matter of negotiations. Not that he was going to divulge what exactly he needed the droid brains for. Not unless he intended on walking out of the meeting a murderer.

When he found his way to the board room, he found several others already waiting. He recognized Selka Ventus and gave her a small nod, but failed to recognize the gentlemen in the glasses. Given the status of himself and Selka, Ayden was left to assume that this was another powerful corporate leader. "I see this is not an exclusive party. So what are we waiting on?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Ayden Cater"] | [member="Cade Lee "]| [member="Selka Ventus"]

Once the three invitees had introduced themselves and mingled sufficiently, a suitably large hovercar rolled up. It was not a fancy thing, only around for quick transport to and from the factory itself. Most Cestus Cybernetics factories, such as this one, were underground. The entrance to the factory was fairly spread out from the above ground complex, which was mostly warehouses, utility buildings, and housing for workers and other staff. This was specifically done to make it more of a hassle to infiltrate. On the down side, a collapse of the entrance to the factory proper would likely be catastrophic.

But that wasn't all that likely to happen. Hopefully. Better not think about it too hard.

Zothustro eased himself out of the car, which lacked doors. Again, it was a simple thing. More of a cart. He steadied himself on his cane before moving for each of the CEOs, going to shake each of their hands as he spoke. Insectoid chittering was drowned out by the translation device that acted as the clasp of his cloak. It droned on in an artificial monotone.

"<< Greetings, everyone. >>" He said. "<< I am Zothustro Quill. I trust you all have a basic notion of what I am to show you here, but are there any pressing questions that you have? >>"

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

Ayden shook his head after looking at the other two corporate heads. "I understand the basics of Cestus' operations and product lines. I assume you're here to showcase the J2 Droid brain. What are the advantages to the J2 over the J1?" It was a small question, but Ayden figured it was something to get the ball rolling. Perhaps while speaking, Zothustro would get the tour underway. He had no idea what the other two corporate heads had in mind for their products, but Ayden was keeping a lid on his. If the J2 proved to be as exceptional as it was being sold as, then it would be immensely useful for his project.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Zothustro Quill"] [member="Ayden Cater"]

Selka -- and it was Selka now, the genuine article -- followed along with the tour, maybe less comfortable on center stage than 'Selka Ventus' usually came across. Je'gan hadn't integrated his copy of her so well as he'd integrated her with his copy of himself and the other. As a result, last month's Selka had been more outgoing, more incisive. So if this iteration felt less confident in the Force, there was a reason for that.

"I'm told your droid brains are more prone than most to developing certain types of personalities or what might be considered emotion-based behaviors. Does that stay true with the J2, or has it been removed -- or made a feature?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Ayden Cater"] | [member="Selka Ventus"]

"<< The J2, in simplest terms, is an improvement of the J1. >>" Zothustro explained, ushering the three businesspeople into seats on the cart so the tour proper could begin. "<< The integrated microsynapse system has been built upon further by other experts, and the materials utilized in the processor itself upgraded. The J2 brains process information faster and more effectively than any other, within the same size and price range, presently on the market. This includes the J1. >>"

Cestus did not accomplish this by throwing as much money into materials as possible. Rather, they did more with less, and insead improved upon a little-known system infreqently utilized in droid brains. The result was the J2, and it spoke for itself. It could also literally speak for itself if a vocabulator was attached. Once everyone was aboard the hover-cart, it took off at a moderate pace for the main structure. It loomed innocently in the distance, evidently built with security more in mind than style. It would be a ten or fifteen minute drive.

Zothustro continued speaking, addressing Selka's question. "<< Any droid brain will develop a fascimile of sapience and personality if it runs for a long enough time. It remains an unintended feature. It simply depends on the type of droid, how active it is, and how fast the brain works. Aside from memory wipes, there is no way to prevent these things from developing. Cestus has taken the liberty of installing inhibitors to somewhat slow the process, but it will never-the-less occurr in enough time. Because the J2 processes information at an increased rate, and the models of droids it is implanted in tend to be more active, they will develop personas more quickly, even with inhibitors in place. Some customers opt to remove the inhibitors entirely, but this is generally rare. >>"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

"That satisfies me when it comes to the brain, Mister Quill. I've been watching Cestus' product lines as they escalate in ambition and capability. Your J2 outstrips most of the bodies you've built so far. I for one am curious what comes next -- where you're going with this. I'm interested in the day you make a body and a program set that tests the J2 to its limits. I want to know what that looks like."

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

"What if the droid brain is being utilized for a purpose that is put in jeopardy if the brain begins to assert a personality and independence?" Ayden asked rather bluntly. "Some projects don't need a full-fledged sentient droid to operate. Some projects simply need a mechanical overseer that can handle the millions of computational needs in a way only a droid could. Is the J2 not optimal for such work? If the personality emergence is unavoidable, what's to stop the droid brain from ignoring directives? Are there shackles in place to prevent such an event?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Ayden Cater"] | [member="Selka Ventus"]

"<< We presently have a medical droid in circulation that makes ample use of the brain, though it is far from our most ambitious in regards to what is to come. >>"

Zothustro decided not to let slip that the next droid (which hadn't yet been released at the time of this writing) would look a lot like a mechanical X'Ting, minus a pair of arms. Most units of the impending Talos series were based off the insectoid species that inhabited Ord Cestus. Needless to say, Zothustro was confident that the final product would more than outshine current models of battle droid.

All in due time, though.

"<< The J2 is, with absolute certainty, the best droid brain you can choose for such a thing. More menial work that does not require creative responses, such as raw computing as you describe, will take much longer to result in sapience. As we've calculated, our Z4 Cargo Loading Droid would need to move freight for approximately two centuries straight for a personality to emerge. From what you've described, I don't anticipate rampant droids will be a problem. I will consult our experts and see if they can provide an approximate number, or at the very least a sound memory-wipe schedule. >>"

Zothustro might have squirmed a little just then as Cater mentioned droids ignoring directives. It was a touchy subject, and one he would have preferred to avoid. However, lying to either of these astute businesspersons or avoiding their inquiries was completely out of the question. Zothustro Quill would conduct this business like he conducted all of his business: honestly, and by telling it like it is.

Hopefully that would pay off. Hannibal thought it was stupid.

"<< There are lines of code in place to prevent droids from disobeying direct orders from its registered owner, as with all droids. Droids that achieve high levels of sapience typically also gain control of their own programming routines. They either rewrite their rules or find loopholes. In any event, I do not believe you are in any danger of having this happen to you if you utilize the J2 for what you describe. Frequent memory wipes may not even be necessary. >>"

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

Satisfied, Ayden nodded. It was sufficient for his task. "Then you have a deal, at least from me."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

"Silk's people will be in touch to work out the particulars, but there'll be a deal that works for both of us."