The Next Step (Octavian)

[Ultimatum]

Location: Coruscant, Tractatus Industries​

Characters of Importance: [member="Octavian"], Ultimatum​

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This was a wonderful place, Ultimatum thought to himself. At least would be without all the waste and organics, he continued as he stepped over some strange organic mass that was left on the side of the street. Coruscant had been something of a dream for Ultimatum, or the closest thing to a dream a droid could. An entire planet covered by a city, one massive city.The entire thing was controlled by artificials, which was all the more proof to what Ultimatum believed. All the people on this world were testament to the fact that organics now relied near completely on the artificials. If he could live anywhere in the galaxy, this would have been it. Unfortunately, the organics had tainted this place and it would be a long time before there could be any purification.

He had walked into a reception area, appropriately sized for Coruscant's underground. He had seen many people outside, but then that was supposed to be a good thing apparently. His travel had left him somewhat irritated, he had been asked to sit towards the back of the transports he had taken and on the spaceship he hadn't even been given proper quarters. He had spent most of the trip either in droid workshops or in a horrible seat. During the long waits he had done some research on the company he was coming to see. It showed promise even though it was small. He hoped that they would be capable of the creations he had in mind. He hadn't set up an appointment, he hadn't known who to contact, however he been able to find the location

 

[Nyx]

Octavian sat in his office, going over the latest reports from his scientists. Their latest product was ready for the open market, and if he was capable of feeling joy, Octavian would feel it in that moment. Instead, he simply felt a cold satisfaction at his accomplishments. Soon, he would be able to expand his business to other formats, and with that came more power. And with power, came control, and control was all that mattered.

But his musings were interrupted by a call from his Zeltron secretary, which he picked up from his desk.
"Yes, Sandrah?" He asked, somewhat annoyed at the interruption. "Sir, there's a droid here asking for you." She informed him. "It's saying that it has a huge order, and it wishes to speak to you personally to fulfill it."
He took a moment to comprehend that. A droid? Asking for cybernetics? Interesting, indeed. . .
"Send him in, Sandrah." He hung up before she could respond, and leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands in his lap and crossing his legs. He knew a security guard would escort the droid to his office any moment now, and wondered at the droid's purpose.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum allowed the security guard to lead him from the side, being smart enough to know that standing behind the guard would be more suspicious. He nodded to the secretary in thanks before he left the room, politeness was one thing that organics had made that was worth keeping alive even when they didn't. She had seemed pleasant enough, if not curious as to why a droid would come to a cybernetic manufacturer.

When at last he walked into the office, keeping a slow long stride, Ultimatum had his first glimpse of the leader of this company. He also appeared pleasant enough. It was a nice change, not to see fear or disdain at a him walking in. The closest word he could call the emotion he read on the man was comfortable. Ultimatum hoped that he was not breaking some organic protocol when he initiated the conversation, it was so strange that organics had such small preferences. He stayed standing and extended a mechanical hand as he started to speak, "Greetings, Mr. Octavian, correct? My name is Ultimatum. How are you?"

[member="Octavian"]

 

[Nyx]

Octavian sat back in his chair, impressed. [member="Ultimatum"] was an impressive sight, to say the least. The droid towered over himself, though he was not intimidated. The scientist reached out and grasped it's hand.
"Yes, that is correct. Please, sit down."
Octavian settled back in his chair, a bemused look on his face.
"Now, as I understand it, you wished to speak with me about a large order of cybernetics?" If the droid was serious, then this could be Tractatus's big break. A large order was just what they needed at that moment, to get their name out there. He patiently waited for the droid's confirmation, drumming his fingers on his desk.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum's face changed to have the closest thing to a smile, he took a seat while thinking to himself. "Large order of cybernetics" was something of a part statement to what he was looking for.

In his search for purpose, Ultimatum had come to the conclusion that based on the organic created theory of evolution artificial life was the next step. Organics had come to the point in their evolutionary phase that they had led to the next form of life, artificial sentience. With all previous evolutionary advancements all the lesser lifeforms had become subservient to the evolved lifeforms. The interesting twist was that this had failed to happen with the creation of artificial life. Ultimatum theorized that organics had evolved to such a point that they realized and feared the onset of a superior form of sentience, therefore they kept artificials in chains as servants and slaves.

Ultimatum did not want to free the artificials, he wanted them to dominate the organics. He didn't want the organics to become extinct, he wanted them to live as honored and protected ancestors of his race. Of course, few organics would be willing to help or even allow such thoughts from a droid. Those that would were not strong enough to fight against the majority. That was why he was here. If and when he found organics that were truly loyal to the concept then he was willing to help them to evolve the farthest they ever can. In fact, maybe the hybrid was the next evolutionary stage above simple artificial and single organic. Maybe if the two together became one then that would go forward even further and lead to the next steps.

"Yes, I am here to purchase a large quantity of cybernetics. The ones you have made thus far are quite satisfactory for their purpose, though what I am looking for will probably require some work. What are your scientific and production capabilities?"

[member="Octavian"]

 

[Nyx]

He raised an eyebrow. Now, this had gotten intriguing.
"Scientifically, our capabilities are infinite. Our researchers, engineers, and surgeons are all experts in their fields, and we refine and innovate new products daily. Production wise, we are somewhat limited. We won't be outfitting an army, but we can reach small groups for now."
He had plans to purchase a factory to expand productions, but that was in the works. For now, they had to work in their laboratory, which sufficed in their present circumstances.

Octavian leaned forward.
"Now, what exactly are you looking for? I am the lead scientist of this company, and can somewhat assist your concepts before we reach a deal."

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded, nothing more than expected, and he was fine with that. He doubted that there would be many who would side with his thoughts process so there would probably never be large number of people to outfit.

He kept himself seated comfortably, or at least to appear comfortable, in truth he as a droid had no feeling of comfort aside from the mental. It would have been difficult to explain in full detail, not incredibly difficult but hard enough. He decided to stick to the basic concepts. "I am looking for cybernetics to replace most bodily organic functions. Everything from the cardiovascular system to the nervous system." He watched [member="Octavian"] closely for a visual response that would key him on the plausibility and import of such cybernetic advancements.

Of course, in the end the question would fall down to the money, it always did. With organics everything was always based on a tip for tap, as the saying went. Few were the organics who worked for the betterment of all with no expectation of anything in return. Those thankless, nonpaying jobs were designated to the artificials. They were given to those who would obey without complain, those who worked only for the common good, the artificials. Another reason that they should be in control, they could only think about working for the common good.

 

[Nyx]

Octavian kept his face even, but his mind was already whirring with possibilities.
What the droid was asking was indeed possible, and his scientists were indeed capable of designing such things.
"That, is a very interesting request." His mind was already analyzing the droid. It's confident manner, it's prideful voice, it all led him to one conclusion: This was not a droid, but an independent synthetic lifeform. His mind bubbled with questions, but he swallowed them down. . . for now.

"Such a large conversion is indeed possible." He assured @Ultimatum. "But such an undertaking will take quite a bit of work on my part. I want something worth my time, and that's not credits."

He leaned forward, making eye-contact.
"I want the secrets to your artificial intelligence."

 

[Ultimatum]

It was Ultimatum's turn to keep his face as emotionless as possible, very easy for a droid. Supposedly anyways, Ultimatum had always found it more difficult to hide emotions, he assumed it was something to do with his programming. He had been quite annoyed with the number of the quirks that his creators had left him with. They bothered his naturally efficient mind to no end. This was a new question to him, to allow another organic access to his very building blocks. The last organics to have touched his programming were his creators and they had made enough mistakes with his programming anyways.

He forced a look of calm to come and asked, "What exactly are you looking for? How to create a copy of me or the concept behind the intelligence?"

[member="Octavian"]

 

[Nyx]

Octavian's smirk grew. He had him.
"I want to know how you were made, what makes you self-aware. I want to know how your mind works, how it processes the world, and how it processes itself."
The CEO leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands together.
"Essentially, I want to know how to create you."
That information could come in great handy, more than any amount of credits. Octavian did not care for money, he cared for control; and something like this could give him a huge advantage over his competition.

"So, do we have a deal?"

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum sighed, he could see that the man was looking forward to the idea of having a fully sentient artificial, at least the confidence in the man's eyes told him that much. Ultimatum could lie, but that was against his programming and his beliefs. He had seen what lying turned one into and he wanted to avoid that as much as possible. He didn't want to taint himself with the evils of the organics. At the same time, he didn't want another one of him running around at the beck of a unknown organic, whose goals may or may not be safe for other organics.

"I expect to be able to withhold specifics on exact brain functions, such as what I think of the color green and my thoughts on the governmental systems on outlying planets, that aside yes we have a deal." His mind had been made using his old master's mind as a template. The man had been a criminal who later claimed to be a good man, joining the Rebels. The man was a hypocrite and Ultimatum was glad that he had been able to escape his original programming in that regard and to be able to create his own thoughts rather than listen to the corrupted ones of his master. He looked at [member="Octavian"] wanting to see if he would put any resistance to not having the full information on the droid.