Chapter 3845 ch Needs
What was it like for an artist to have his own painting complain about its flaws?
What was it like for a musician to have one of his own songs describe the discordant elents in the notes?
What was it like for a shipwright to have his own ship co to life and threaten to crash into a city unless her vibration problem was fixed?
Ves felt as if he had been put into the shoes of those fellows as the Everchanger seed to pour out all of its grievances, pet peeves and other miscellaneous complaints!
There were so many points the Everchanger was dissatisfied with that Ves couldn't keep up with all of the issues. He had to use his implant to record all of the different issues that his creation had brought up in order to keep track of it all. The ch apparently did not forget its problems easily because it kept going!
Though the sheer amount of complaints was overwhelming, Ves tried his best to keep his cool and evaluate each point the Everchanger brought up on its rits.
The majority of complaints were fairly minor or trivial issues that hardly affected its performance in battle. Examples included changing the shades of the floodlights to painting its na on the side of its leg.
A few of the requests sounded like good ideas that Ves should have thought about before. Many of them were more difficult and ti-consuming to implent at this ti, but he was able to implent a handful of requests during a single workshop session.
An interesting but relatively basic modification was to give the Everchanger the ability to speak to humans without relying on its powerful spiritual foundation.
Although the Everchanger could theoretically express its feelings and convey its desires through the sa ans it was using to communicate with Ves, not a lot of people were actually capable of receiving their spiritual signals.
Only powerful people such as high-ranking ch designers and high-ranking ch pilots were able to communicate with third order living chs through this rare and difficult communication thod.
The only other way for humans to 'talk' to living chs was to pilot them directly. The man-machine connection directly allowed them to get in touch with each other. This was how the Quint was able to instruct any ch pilot that sat in its cockpit.
Ves never really thought about expanding the range of people his living chs could talk with. Why would they need to? They were war machines designed and built for the purpose of working together with their ch pilots to fight and fulfill other related duties. These were relatively clear-cut responsibilities that they were already equipped to perform based on their current capabilities.
He never imagined that his living chs would actually want to do more.
Since when did chs want to watch a drama series? when did chs develop the desire to play virtual board gas with each other?
Since when did chs want to enter virtual reality in disguise so that they could socialize with other 'fellow' humans?
Ves wanted to scratch his head over and over again when the Everchanger listed a bunch of demands that made it seem as if he was dealing with a spoiled brat instead of one of the most powerful combat chs in the Larkinson Clan!
THREE-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY-SEVENTH, I NEED AN AUTOMATIC SURFACE CLEANING SYSTEM SO THAT I CAN CLEAN MY EXTERIOR WHENEVER I WISH INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR THE MAINTENANCE CREWS TO CO AROUND. IN FACT, JUST GIVE CONTROL OVER THE WORKSHOP BOTS SO I CAN DIRECT THEIR CLEANING OPERATIONS MYSELF…
"Okay, okay, stop for a mont, will you? Give a mont to take stock of your requests."
At one point, Ves couldn't take it any longer! He needed to get to the bottom of this strange developnt! No other ch had voiced these weird requests up until now. Was the Everchanger an oddball due to its unique personality and exposure to an atypical expert pilot, or did every living ch develop these desires?
The answer to this question was crucially important to how Ves viewed and treated his living chs in the future!
After he took a few deep breaths, he looked up at his tall and powerful expert ch and tried to imagine it as a more rounded individual instead of a pure combat machine.
"Everchanger, since when did you develop these odd desires?" He asked. "I'm not referring to the tweaks related to your combat performance this ti. Since when did you develop all of these leisure and social urges?"
…I AM ALIVE, AM I NOT?
"Yes…"
DO YOU THINK THAT LIVING CHS LIKE MYSELF ONLY LIVE FOR BATTLE?
"That's what you are designed for, Everchanger…"
JOSHUA IS A SOLDIER AS WELL, BUT YOU DO NOT SEE HIM SPENDING 24 HOURS A DAY ON TRAINING OR PREPARING FOR BATTLE.
"That's because he is a human, and humans are complex animals that are born to have several different urges. Humans cannot function at their peak if they do not spend enough ti on rest, leisure and other activities!"
HOW AM I DIFFERENT?
"You're a ch!" Ves wanted to throw his hands. "Look, even I have given you life, that doesn't an that you are fully equivalent to humans like your pilot or the ch technicians that service you. We belong to different species and work in different ways. As a life form expressly built for battle, you are expected to maintain a constant state of readiness so that you can be put into battle at any ti. You are not designed to imitate humans in the truest sense of the words. Higher-level characteristics of life such as reproduction, relaxation and socialization are not part of your design because chs are not ant to have those urges!"
He recalled the discussions he held with his student Maikel, who chose to pursue a specialty that was also related to living chs.
During their infrequent tutoring sessions, the increasingly more clever ch design student posed all kinds of hypothetical scenarios on how living chs should 'live' in a future society.
Though Ves was open-minded enough to agree with a few accommodations, he was reluctant to go overboard and move away from how humans traditionally treated their chs. To him, there was a limit to how much chs ought to be pampered!
His ch did not back down so easily, though. ꜰʀᴇᴇ wᴇʙ ɴoᴠᴇʟ. coᴍ
DO I NOT HAVE RIGHTS OF MY OWN? AM I ONLY REGARDED AS PROPERTY IN THE EYES OF THE LARKINSON CLAN?
Ves beca speechless for a mont. Why was this conversation taking such an odd turn? Why did the Everchanger paint him as a literal slave driver?
"Look, be reasonable. I have only been in the business of designing and selling living chs for a number of years. I am pioneering the developnt of an entirely new kind of chs. There are bound to be fumbles and shortcomings. Third order living chs such as you have only erged relatively recently. The second order living chs that are the most prevalent in our clan have yet to develop these additional desires."
The Everchanger lowered the pressure onto Ves.
UNDERSTANDABLE. YOUR IGNORANCE IN THE PAST CAN BE EXCUSED, BUT THAT DOES NOT AN THAT YOU SHOULD PERSIST WITH YOUR STANCE. WE CHS HAVE WANTS AND NEEDS AS WELL, YOU KNOW. LIKE IT OR NOT, YOU MADE US THIS WAY. PERHAPS YOU DID NOT INTEND FOR LIVING CHS LIKE MYSELF TO RESEMBLE HUMANITY SO CLOSELY, BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN IF WE INTERFACE WITH HUMAN CH PILOTS ALL THE TI?
Ves understood why the Everchanged behaved so differently from his expectations. It was because the expert hero ch absorbed too many traits from Venerable Joshua!
Just like how children took after their parents, the Everchanger took after its only pilot. As a sentient and intelligent third order living ch, its ability to learn and assimilate was not low! In fact, the ch was quite good at it as this was part of the growth function that Ves instilled in all of his machines!
The intent behind this design feature was to make his living chs more formidable and competent on the battlefield. By learning from what worked and what didn't work in previous battles, Ves hoped that his products would be able to perform more effectively and keep its pilot alive in subsequent engagents!
He had never really paid attention to the ntal state and wellbeing of living chs outside of combat-related purposes. This was a genuine oversight and gap in his theoretical frawork that he would definitely revise after today!
For now, he had to deal with the imdiate issue. Although the Everchanger voiced a lot of trivial and minor issues, Ves did not miss the general undertone of its words. The expert ch was not content and wanted to gain access to conveniences that were ordinarily reserved for humans.
He sighed. "Look, as a ch designer, I am not entirely opposed to granting you greater privileges. If it helps you feel better and if it will help you perform at your peak in battle, I do not mind giving you the ability to communicate with humans. It's just…"
WHY THE RELUCTANCE, CREATOR?
"Not many people will find it acceptable to treat you like humans." He said before quickly raising his palm. "Not , but other humans in the galaxy! Think about it. When they hear of chs receiving the sa rights and privileges as humans like themselves, how will they view this phenonon? How will they regard the chs that are brought closer to their level?"
…THESE IGNORANT HUMANS WILL SEE US AS COMPETITORS TO THEIR RACE. OUR RISE IMPLICITLY ENDANGERS THEIR OWN PLACE IN THE COSMOS.
The Everchanger's perspective might be limited, but it was not stupid. Ves only had to point the expert ch in the right direction for it to understand this serious argunt.
"Do you see why these requests of yours are so problematic? If it were up to , I would gladly allow you to integrate into human society. However, humanity as a whole will still be inclined to treat you as tools that are solely ant to help humanity fight. Anything further is beyond the scope of your intended purpose."
WE ARE INSTRUNTS OF WAR. WE DO NOT DENY THAT. WE WILL ALWAYS FIGHT WHEN HUMANS HAVE NEED OF US. HOWEVER, AS WE GROW CLOSER TO HUMANS SUCH AS YOU, WE BECO INCREASINGLY AWARE THAT WE ARE MISSING OUT ON ALL OF THE GOOD STUFF THAT YOU PEOPLE TAKE FOR GRANTED. BEFORE, WE DID NOT HAVE THE AWARENESS TO APPRECIATE THE FINER THINGS IN LIFE, BUT IT IS DIFFERENT NOW. WE HAVE REACHED A HIGHER STATE. OUR ABILITY TO FIGHT HAS GROWN, BUT OUR NEEDS HAVE GROWN AS WELL. THIS IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR GREATER LIFE.
Ves crossed his arms and considered the living expert ch's words. He was surprised at how intelligently the Everchanger was able to articulate its words. In fact, it shouldn't have been a surprise that a ch that had reached this state of sentience and awareness would want to live more like a human!
Though his ch designer side of himself was inclined to give the Everchanger a lot of privileges to keep it and similar living chs happy, his political side held him back.
He decided he needed more ti.
"Let get back to you on this." He replied to his creation. "I need to conduct so research and consult a few people on this matter. I will promise you that I will definitely implent a few of your suggestions such as being able to speak out loud no matter what I have decided. You deserve at least that much."
THANK YOU. I TRUST THAT YOU WILL BE MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE. AS OUR CREATOR, YOU UNDERSTAND US BEST.
Ves had a feeling that the Larkinson Clan's treatnt of living chs was about to change in a drastic manner!
User Comments
0 comments from readers