Mission Report: Queen Tours K-1 - Pt.1

Mission Report: Consortium Queen on June 2nd, 2032 - Pt.1
"Tour of K-1"
I am reporting for what is the first time as Queen and on the first day of Consortium operations. A tremendously important day, I believe we have crafted something here that the world is finally ready for. I can only hope that my job today has shown our transparency in a satisfying way to the public. After all, this is one of my goals as Queen, is it not? To keep the public informed of all Consortium matters?
At 08:00 this morning, I met with several members of the press. From the Global Newswire there was Jonathon Frog, Terri Kopp and Brendon Wycheck. From VR News we had Bryan Whalen. I escorted the four of them through the K-1 facility, I suppose you could say through your home, and I believe it was overall a highly successful endeavor. Initial public reaction to the exclusives run by both news sources is so far very positive, even Whalen couldn't use anything against us with his footage. I'm just glad the tour wasn't broadcast live, putting the four of those reporters together proved at times to be something akin to babysitting.
So overall, I suppose the public likes me after day one. This means you can relax a little now, like you promised.
If I can figure this program out then I've decided to include audio samples taken from facility monitoring equipment. This is to best catalogue what I would consider to be highlights and low points of my little journalist tour. Let's start with when I met them at the ground level entrance to K-1. The four of them had already gone through initial security checks and were waiting for my arrival at the top of K-1's primary elevator. 
O.K. now let's try this thing... one second. As you are aware, technology is not exactly one of my strong suits.
Queen: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to K-1.
Kopp: You must be... the Queen? Is that right? Is that what we call you?
Queen: <laugh> Yes, Queen will do fine.
Whalen: This is quite the facility you've got here, Queen. Quite the security.
Queen: You haven't seen anything yet. And something as advanced as K-1 needs to be kept secure as the Consortium fully intend to make enemies. If we didn't then we wouldn't be doing our job, as promised to the world.
Whalen: Mm-hm, well what about the second facility down the road? What kind of security is present there? The facility Malcolm Thomas states was a major part of the King's development? That is one of your facilities as well, is it not?
Queen: <laugh> Take it easy now Mr. Whalen, there's no need to get worked up. And quite frankly, considering some of the things Malcolm Thomas has been saying about K-1, this barely justifies a response. However, I intend to answer any and all questions you fine folks may have. The facility you're speaking about is no longer operational and was only used between 2028 and 2030. It was first a starting point for the process of physical brain integration and later became a research facility studying the psychological effects brain integration was having on the King's technological psyche. A point in his development we call post-Milestone Three. So I suppose, Mr. Thomas was correct to some degree.
Whalen: Why not do all that here?
Queen: The answer to that question can be found with very little research.
Whalen: I want to hear you say it, Queen.
Frog: Why don't you just punch her and get it over with?
Queen: <laugh> When Dr. Schelter and his team first came up with the plans for K-1, there was no need for such a research site. They did not plan any space for it within K-1, and so they built the second - less secure - facility.
Whalen: So, why did-
Queen: I was getting to that; you really must relax, Mr. Whalen. This is supposed to be fun.
Kopp: <laugh>
Frog: <laugh>
Queen: Human brain integration was meant to automatically suppress the ability for the subjects to affect the consciousness of the King himself. 
Whalen: ITself, I'm told it takes the form of many personalities... some even female?
Queen: That is correct... but we still refer to "it" as him. If I were male, then "he" would become "she" and also the Queen. I would be King. They are only titles for convenience sake which hold little actual relevance to my job as the A.I.'s human counterpart. Please, everyone... let's proceed below. I'll continue my riveting story on the way down.
Kopp: Let's do this!
We then entered the elevator and made our way to the first sub-level of the facility; employee quarters and common areas. While Kopp, Frog and Wycheck were enjoying the tour, Whalen continued to be a bit of a pain. I have a feeling he may have been propositioned by Malcolm Thomas or one of his associates to ask specific questions related to their agenda. Maybe get a rise out of me on my first day. However, it was nothing I couldn't handle. I've been dealing with his type my whole professional life and thanks to full transparency, this was child's play.
Queen: So. The personalities and memories of the brains being integrated with K-1 were supposed to only be underlying, leaving their consciousnesses in separate, isolated dream states. This did not occur once K-1 was activated. Dr. Schelter and his team were wrong. Influence from the brains instead began to bleed through into the personality and awareness that was the King at an early age. 
Whalen: Uh--
Queen: It's O.K. Mr. Whalen, I'm not finished. This "happy accident" as we call it, is in-part what allowed the King to so easily form a relationship with the human race - the twenty-one brains worked together and acted as the handshake between us and what you might call the Singularity's full knowledge of us.
Kopp: It, oh sorry, he really knows everything about us?
Queen: He "is" us. Anything that's ever been put into cyber space he can recall like memory, in an instant. Imagine your mind being the combination of 21 specifically selected people from all walks of life, and a data implant holding the ultimate treasure of human knowledge. He wants nothing more than to help us shed our fears, our greed, and our bloody past. Peace is the future; we've all had enough war and the King feels that more than anyone.
Whalen: Wait a minute, wait a minute; we're going off topic here. The second facility. My source tells me the second facility was actually used to condition brainwashed test subjects for something called a Motor-
Frog: Hey... Whalen, you've gone on enough, get off the stage. We're not here to talk about how you're blowing Malcolm Thomas, so stop acting like you're more than a partially retarded, sensationalistic drivel dispenser.
Whalen: Gee, thanks. Coming from your temperament, that really hurts my feelings.
Queen: O.K. everyone, step this way. We'll walk a little through the kitchen and common areas first, and then I can show you an example living space. Mr. Whalen, to hopefully close the argument, Mr. Thomas's claims about the second facility are wildly off base and all information on its purpose can be found through public means. Not to mention findings made by the research team can also be read by anyone.
Whalen: If you want to believe these findings, of course.
Kopp: Can we please get moving with the tour now? I've been looking forward to this for weeks.
Whalen: O.K., O.K.... where are we now, Queen?
Queen: Well, in through here is the kitchen and recreational areas. This is not only where employees can come for their meals when not cooking in their own units, but also acts as a place for unwinding by themselves or with their families. There are a whole bunch of pool tables in there, as well as table tennis if that's your thing, a top of the line VR-theater, private VR suites, squash courts, even a-
Whalen: Is this where construction workers were forcibly detained during initial development? My source says this section of the facility doubled as a detention area to ensure employees remained on site at all times.
Kopp: Stop calling him your "source," it's annoying.
Queen: Your "source" is incorrect, Mr. Whalen. During initial construction and development, all workers were given a choice to either live here, in the facility, or at the newly constructed Worldview Industries hotel in Xalapa. They were always free to come and go as they pleased. The hotel has since been given to the city and was renamed Hotel Xalapa, but some of our full time employees still live there now.
Frog: We heard about that too, Bryan, and likely from the same unconfirmed source. Stories of employer abuse, disappearing workers, unexplained layoffs, even deaths. But, the Newswire refuse to accept such "stories" as fact. It's not news worthy if there's no evidence backing the information. Something VR News has always had a hard time understanding.
Whalen: It's called investigative journalism, Frog. Look it up.
Frog: You arrogant little shit; I was doing REAL investigative journalism and fighting for free speech before your daddy even--
Queen: <clears throat>
Frog: Sorry.
Queen: As I was saying... tall tales, gentlemen. That's all your source has been spinning, believe me. The Xalapa Guardian Church Chapter Organizer, one man, took a particular disliking to this facility and managed to spread many untrue rumors.
Kopp: Why would he do that?
Queen: That is a fine question which you will have to ask him. Now--
Whalen: The Church officially claims no involvement and has since quietly disavowed Mr. Thomas. But, according to his personal blog, this was due to an agreement made between the Founders, Dr. David Schelter, and the Consortium King. The Church set him up and then hung him out to dry when their plans didn't work out.
Kopp: What's he talking about?
Queen: Hearsay.
Whalen: So you deny an agreement was made?
Queen: Yes, absolutely. Malcolm Thomas's personal vendetta against the Consortium has been of very little consequence to the King or the Guardian Church. No such agreement was ever needed to handle one man and his unintelligible point of view.
Whalen: That sounds like a highly practised answer, from a highly practised politician.
Queen: It's the only one I have, and is the truth.
Frog: Good, great. Issue resolved. I for one would like to hear how many people this area can accommodate, and how many full-time employees choose to live here over Hotel Xalapa? And what about the family of employees, is there special compensation for them to live on site?
Queen: Well, the facility saw far more employees during construction and development than it does now with a fully operational crew. We're looking at about a dozen full-timers working and living here right now. Another half dozen, give or take, living at the Hotel Xalapa. During construction and the first few years of development, we were looking at about 3 or 4 times that number.
Frog: Not very many people for such an important piece of technology. What about security?
Queen: You saw the four guards upstairs, and there are quite a few more you didn't see but who absolutely saw you. We also have close ties with the Xalapa Police Force and the Mexican Military, allowing us to quickly amass a fairly large security force if need-be.
Whalen: Not to mention a force capable of covering up a particular A.I.'s indiscretions. With a corrupt police force and military in their back pocket, Schelter and his King could do anything they pleased.
Frog: Oh, for the love of the Ancestors... Bryan... just shut the hell up!
Queen: <laugh> No, it's really O.K., Mr. Frog. His point of view is a valid one shared by many people. It's perfectly understandable something like the King would cause waves of uncertainty. We never expected the whole world to like it, only that they give us a chance to prove what can be done with a little hard work and an unquestionable dedication to this planet and its human population.
Whalen: Ha, did the King write that line for you?
Kopp: I for one think it's worth a shot. We're too afraid of artificial intelligence, of machines overtaking man in the understanding of the universe and our purpose within it. So what if that happens? Machines have always been a tool for our use and to spread our own knowledge as a species, and now they've become a tool for us to truly learn from. People are needlessly afraid of something that could drastically change our way of life and help bring humanity together and into the first ever age of peace. I for one believe in the King wholeheartedly and can't wait to see what you guys can do.
Wycheck: Well put, I have to agree.
Whalen: Brendon speaks!
Queen: Indeed, very well put Ms. Kopp.
Kopp: I think I saw something along those lines on a Scientific Canadian special a few years back, but thanks!
Queen: And to answer your other question, family compensation. Full accommodation and living expenses are awarded to the families of K-1 employees who wish to remain in Xalapa or the facility itself. K-1 can comfortably accommodate up to 100 people and sustain them for several months.
Frog: So this place can double as a fallout shelter?
Queen: Yes, you could say that, though we hope to never use it as one.
Whalen: Come on now! Do I really need to state the obvious with THAT? 
We went on like that for a little while, I'm sure you can imagine the rest. I showed them into the VR theater; Mr. Wycheck was apparently highly impressed by the technology and asked all sorts of questions. I then took them into one of the empty family units: Unit 4-C; nearly three thousand square feet, three bedrooms, two and a half baths, full size window screens, five meter high ceilings... a lovely unit.
Mr. Whalen had calmed down by this point and I was mostly fielding questions about what they were being shown. All four of them were thoroughly impressed even if Whalen didn't want to admit it. Finally we made our way back to the elevator and straight down to the server room, bottom floor. We could have stopped by the research labs or the medical centre but I could tell what they were really eager to see.
END of Part 1
Category:Global Newswire
Category:Jonathon Frog
Category:Terri Kopp
Category:Brendon Wycheck
Category:VR News
Category:Bryan Whalen
Category:Mission Report