paradisalost | Log 008//: Questioning Things and a Riddle

[/Filter: Zelkova]

[with the way things had been procceding in Kite's life at Paradisa, there was one thing that he still didn't understand. Zelkova was from his future, so maybe he had the answer.]

"And with the turbulent destruction after the Wave only a void remains. From deep within the void arrives Corbenik."

Zelkova, w-what was Ovan's goal? W-why wouldn't he l-let me Data Drain the Tri-Edge AIDA?

[Filter: Zelkova/]

[/Filter: Colette]

I-I saw your f-filter t-to me, b-but I was u-under a Loss and c-could not respond and o-other events h-happend. Ah...I-I have not asked a-anyone i-if they would play a g-game with me yet.

[Kite pauses, realizing that Colette most likely doesn't know what he sounds like.]

T-this is Kite.

[Filter: Colette]

[Those filters done, Kite decides to adress the residents themselves. To those who know the AI, he sounds unusually chipper but that's because he's turned up his happiness files.]

I-I have a riddle for everyone t-today.

Over the Keel Mountains,
Meets an ape with human speech.
The ape asks,
"What clings to you?
Bear it—you cannot.
Accept it—you cannot.
But hidden—it is from you.
Recite its name."

F-filter your answer t-to me, 'Kite', w-when you t-think you k-know it. D-don't tell anyone else w-what it b-because that wouldn't b-be fair.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, that's a pity! I'm sorry to hear that. But an incomplete text is still potentially a very marvelous text, indeed - Dickens never finished the Mystery of Edwin Drood, and it's still absolutely captivating - perhaps even moreso than it would be if he'd seen it through to completion.

It leaves a lot to the imagination, doesn't it? The person who created The World based it on his views of the ending.

Just the ending? No basis whatsoever in the beginning or the middle? That's a bit preposterous. All worlds are encompassed by every point in time, not just the ones we prefer.

The World was a tribute to that woman, as Harold - the crator of it - was in love with her. The grounds for the beginning and middle were already finished in the story, so all that was left was the ending.

Oh, I see. I suppose that makes sense, then. ... Rather a strange memorial, I should think, though I can see the romanticism in it, after a fashion.

It is strange. Harold also wanted a daughter with her, so that was the other reason he had to create The World. A digital child, sort of like myself.

I see. .... You must feel connected to them, in a way, then...?

I cannot remember them. This person was my Loss.

[gently] Just because the memory is gone does not always mean the connection itself cannot remain.

I-it is d-difficult for m-me to feel something i-if I cannot access my m-memory files o-of this person.

[Kite pauses. Why did he start stuttering again?]

Is it? Or is that simply what you were programmed to think? Dig a little deeper, Kite. You might be surprised what you see between the lines of your coding.

T-the orginal Kite w-would have an e-eaiser t-time with t-this...I-I know their name. I-I do n-not know w-why they are important t-to me beyond t-the fact that they c-created me. T-they m-meant something to Kite....t-that's it. [the AI is starting to sound ligitmatly upset. more real. more human.

and that's what hurts.]

You're your own Kite, though, you know. It doesn't matter so much what he thought and felt ... you're free to have your own feelings, and opinions, too.

The original Kite you were modeled after may have provided the seeds for who you are now, and you can respect them as much or as little as you wish, but ... in the end, the only one who determines who you are ... is you.

I-I am m-myself....a b-broken AI, b-but I can f-feel happy without m-my files. D-don't know why I feel sad o-or happy without them. I think 'scared' i-is the term humans use. B-but is that normal? T-to feel terrified o-of how you change? Am I making the same mistake Harold made?

[it seems like Kite is just talking to himself at this point.]

[he listens to this carefully, and is silent for a moment afterwards, trying to think of how best to explain things]

Yes. Yes, change can be a very frightening thing, especially if it's unexpected. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad. I've changed who I am completely, four times over, now, and each time, I'm petrified, because I never know who I'm going to end up.

But ... the thing is ... eventually, given enough time, I come to like who I become. And that's the most important part of all.

[he flips his voice back so there's no sutter anymore. hopefully.]

Maybe it is because I have never had to use these files before. I have never truely felt angry at someone, sad at a passing, or understood things like family love. These things are not beyond me though. I was created to learn, to grow. Just like the Ultimate AI was.

Thank you for listening to me Doctor. Really. [and he does sound happy; not that creepy happy he started with.]

And grow you shall, I'm quite certain. [marvelous, MARVELOUS AI that you are]

You're quite welcome. I'm here, any time you should need me. And thank you for the riddle. I don't get nearly as much enjoyable exercise as I'd like, for what Poirot called his "little grey cells".

Log 008//: Questioning Things and a Riddle

Kite

Fifth

Kite, to end

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