Episode VI: Beta Test Read Free Page B

crystal. So if she tried to attack you, there is nothing she can actually do. In essence, it would be like watching a holovid of someone trying to attack you," I explained.
    "I will do this, but you must take me to lunch with your mate after. I would very much like to meet her as well," Freyair replied.
    "I can do that, I will be working late this evening as it is, so taking Christy to lunch would be a good way to break the news to her," I said. "I need to finish an urgently needed software update for another AI."
    "Oh? If that is the case, then why do we not delay this while you complete the work on that? While I understand that this project has a high priority, it sounds like that update is needed now," she replied. "You can simply give me a call later and we can work out the details of my visit at that time."
    She was far younger than I had expected her to be, but I had to admit; she was pretty smart.
    ––––––––
    O ffice of Lord Doctor Cowan
    AI Programming Lab
    Alliance Apollo Base
    Selene, Earth's Moon
    Sol System
    ––––––––
    H aving just finished the software update for Susan, I returned to my office for a break. I'd completely missed lunch, and now it was almost the end of the day. The evening crew was about to arrive.
    Sarah had tested the rather large update for Susan in one of the old, Veranorian-built, main computers we had removed from one of the ships. We corrected two small issues on the fly, and the update was ready. Sarah had already made it available for Susan to download when she had the time - which in itself was an indication on just how over-loaded Susan was becoming.
    "Eric did you still want to speak to the Admiral about Susan invading GMASS?" Sarah asked me. She was still monitoring my activity so she knew I wasn't busy at the moment. I had never told her she didn't need to anymore.
    I smiled at her as she took form in my office. "I suppose I should, but I was hoping to have gotten Athena closer to being ready before I suggested a new task for Susan."
    "Well, this is more of a reminder than anything else. I can ask if he has a moment for you, right now he's actually back in his office and is only reviewing reports," Sarah replied.
    Coming to a decision, I nodded. "Yes, please see if he can see me before the end of the day, but be sure to let him know it's not an emergency like most of our meetings are. Also, please remind me to call Freyair about coming to the lab tomorrow. With any luck at all, we'll find the issue quickly and be able to get it fixed."
    "I will remind you, Eric. There isn't really that much left to do on Athena's coding; once this issue is resolved, you should be able to get her completed relatively quickly, based on your past programming benchmarks," Sarah said. "She is basically complete, although none of the modules are installed."
    I nodded. "That's true, so if we do get her fixed quickly, she'll be sitting around waiting for her crystal to finish growing. If we get the issue resolved, I will probably hold off doing a final compile on her until the crystal is closer to being finished. That way she won't have to spend any more time in dormant mode than is necessary. I know you, as well as the other AI we installed on the ships, reported no discomfort in using that mode, but I still feel uncomfortable forcing you to go through it. It feels too much like using an induced coma simply to store them."
    Sarah smiled at me. "You care about us, so your concern is understandable. However, based on the data gathered from the installations of the ship AI, I am compiling a report on the effects of an AI being dormant. Granted, none of us were in dormant mode for longer than a week, with Jonti being the one to spend the most time powered down. Although not conclusive, there does seem to be a small variance exhibited after power-up that could be considered to be equivalent to waking up rested after a nap. I'll give you the numbers in the report, but basically, even