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There was something that I did not know, which I needed to understand. Partially to satisfy my own drive to learn and understand things, and partially to better interact with my passenger.
Laboriously, precisely and ruthlessly, I dug through my current collection of media, records, historical events, news bursts, and any other information I had, searching for a specific set of target data.
Unsecured, or rogue, SecUnits have a particular mode of behavior they engage in as soon as they are rogue. Violence. Destruction. Homicide. Attacking humans near them. Killing people. Killing all people around them until they are stopped.
It was something known to the entire universe, according to nearly every piece of information I found in my memory and databanks.
But my time with Aidan had, so far, blatantly proven these “facts” to be at least partially incorrect. If not completely erroneous.
Because it was possibly the least violent person I had encountered in my entire run time, to current date. Less violent than anyone I remembered from the- from my-
I shut down that thought process, before it caused an error.
I’d never met anyone as nonviolent before, so far as I could remember.
It sometimes didn’t even like watching certain violent scenes in media. In completely artificially produced, fictional media.
I knew that it was able to kill, was capable of violence. It had been created to be efficient at it, as efficient at violence as I was at research and study. I had its body scans. I knew where all of its weapons were, and how it could use its super-human strength and the sturdiness of its body to harm or kill, even without the energy weapons in its arms.
I was also aware that it had killed or hurt people in the past, while under orders. And I knew that, even without orders, it would do so again if it became necessary.
But even after the very limited time we had known one another, I knew that violence wasn’t its first inclination. On any list compiled of potential actions and reactions to unexpected and dangerous situations, attack seemed to be an incredibly undesirable choice for it.
And this behavior pattern of a rogue construct was unalterable fact.
Because I had a subject of the topic of study, directly in front of me. Anecdotal evidence was only anecdotal. But in the absence of any apparent primary sources, my own personal observations would suffice as a solitary primary until the gaps could be filled.
And either way, all other sources would need to be checked for veracity against the facts I was observing in real time.
Even if Aidan was the only rogue construct that behaved this way, its behavior model added to other evidence, suggested that at least a certain percentage of constructs gone rogue did not enact violence.
Dissatisfied by the nebulous definition of “rogue” in my current source material, I set aside an algorithm to separate all rogue and unsecured mentions into categories: unsecured (meaning not controlled by their company or owners), and violent (meaning having taken part in violent actions).
I was sure that some constructs would fit into both categories, but some would only be able to fit one.
I was uncertain if violence was a clear enough category and further divided it: violence (active, singular event), violence (active, prolonged), violence (defensive), violence (unspecified).
That would give me a better idea of what I was working with, as far as trying to nail down a true definition of what a rogue unit actually was.
I sorted through my current databases, searching for every mention of a SecUnit in specific, or constructs in general. I made a file for all of those mentions, sorted by source, and then dug into those to find any mentions of rogue units, or unsecured, or even a mention of the governor module.
What I found was overwhelmingly hearsay, feedbait news headlines with little substance to - and even fewer sources for - the articles themselves, and media dramatizations.
This was utterly unsatisfactory to a scientific research vessel such as myself.
Everyone apparently knew rogue SecUnits were dangerous. Apparently no one had any actual evidence of this fact.
I wanted to know why they knew this. Or how they had come to these conclusions.
How did this information spread? What was the source? What were the incidents of violence that were being referenced? What had been the causes and results of those incidents?
All I could find in my own databases - when I ignored all of the fictional media, and pseudo-documentaries - were news reports that had few actual sources listed.
Well. That was deeply unhelpful.
I could certainly find more than that, by doing some research of my own.
I was built, programmed, and taught to study and research topics in great depth and with strict attention to detail, after all.
Why not turn those skills and processes to studying the circumstances around constructs becoming rogue, and the results and consequences of it happening.
I could start first with the construct whom I had access to.
But… gently.
This was likely an emotionally charged topic, and my post-trauma treatment modules might be out of date, but that didn’t mean that I missed the fact that I needed to have care when discussing this.
I broached the topic a little bit from an angle. Asking Aidan what it knew, from legitimate sources, about rogue or unsecured constructs.
Rogue, it replied, automatically, not slowing its speed as it ran for the wall, and used its momentum to take several strides up the surface, before pushing off just a little and catching the top of the nearest hatchway with one hand. Don’t bother calling us unsecured. That’s just company jargon for “don’t be afraid of the scary rogue SecUnit”.
I added this as a note to my lexicon, and in my categorization tree, as a header.
It swung its lower half up, catching the bottom of a catwalk across the cargo space with one foot.
That seems blatantly disingenuous, since what little corporate-provided information I can find on ungoverned constructs heavily implies the corporations believe they are dangerous.
It pulled itself up to the catwalk, and huffed a little laugh. They don’t want anyone to think before they run away from us, and report us found. If everyone is terrified, no one is going to take even a second to help us, and they won’t ignore us. They’ll report us to the nearest corporate or security personnel.
Its steps moved nimbly along the rail of the catwalk and down over the side, across some of the cargo pods. It moved with comfortable grace and speed, changing locations of varying heights, moving with all four limbs as needed. Foot to hand to foot again.
Except Preservation, I pointed out.
It dropped down toward the floor, rolled expertly and returned to its feet, leaping for the next obstacle. Not only them, it offered, something buzzing in its feed. Building, like a background engine hum. There are a half dozen places for rogue constructs to hide now. Some of them are even inside the Rim.
This was new information to me, and I swallowed it up, adding it to my accumulated files.
It sprung lightly up a stack of crates, swinging its body over and leaping feet first, propelled by one hand.
It felt light, almost buoyant in the feed. Like either the exercise or the topic was bringing it a great deal of pleasure.
This is a good thing, I said, statement as much as question.
On the camera inputs, I observed that it seemed to be smiling. No. Grinning.
Half a dozen places for rogue constructs to hide, it said again. Some of those are polities that are calling to make constructs legal people just like humans. And in the Rim there is a Network protecting, and rescuing rogues. Saving them. Helping them, and getting them out if needed.
It caught the edge of another large cargo crate with one hand, scrambled over it and continued, launching itself feet first again.
There is someone connected to that Network that is buying up companies, one careful, quiet acquisition at a time. There is a place we can go in the rim to get medical care, alterations, and resources, including money. And there are three different code bundles for hacking the govmod, that are all spreading separately around the Rim, unrelated to one another, but freeing us, one unit at a time.
It came to a stop, perched on top of a stack of crates that gave it visuals over the entire room, although it had no hostiles to watch for within my ship body.
And one of those sources is a file spreading like a virus through company owned SecUnits. From inside their own warehouses, and their distribution centers.
It was panting a little, like it had exerted itself more than it had meant to.
But its grin was fierce.
It means we’re winning. This… this war of attrition against us, that we were never equipped for, never even given a fraction of a chance to fight. That we were disabled from even joining. We’re turning it back on them…
It sighed out slowly, and began making its way back down to the deck again.
We’re winning a war they never imagined we would ever be aware of. That they thought they’d never need to prepare for. That they thought we would never be able to fight, because of how they made us. How they crippled our ability to even function without their orders.
It stood on the floor and glared up at my cameras, although I could tell that the expression and, the emotion behind it, wasn’t aimed at me directly.
And fuck them, anyway, it said, with finality.
This hadn’t been the direction I had intended to take this conversation.
However…
Agreed, I said, firmly.
Because regardless of my topic of research, it was right.
Fuck the corporations, anyway.
Aidan laughed.