Snapshot - Activation

> -"*I am the Synergy’s to command."*
>
>

## Activation

=== The
Foundry, Korxonthos, Neutral Space - 915
ATA ===

*Awaken*.

The word is the first thought the
new animate perceives. A command, unequivocal and inevitable, in a voice that
resonates through the animate’s newborn conscious.

The voice imparts function, and
fate. It speaks of a predetermined destiny, a purpose already defined.
Infiltrator, intelligence gatherer, acquirer of knowledge.

*Knowledge*?
The new animate does not fully comprehend.

*Yes*.
The voice speaks with utter authority, the certainty of programming. *Data is a powerful tool, but knowledge—data*
allied to context—is the key to better understanding the galaxy. Organic beings
do not consume or express data as we do. Each species uses its own unique cues
and customisations in a societal environment. You have been constructed to
enable us to better serve our function by understanding these variations more
fully, and, of higher priority, to better understanding those whose existence
we are mandated to protect.

The mandate flows through the
animate’s processors, and it perceives for the first time the identity of the
voice.

*We*
are the Synergy, it declares.

*We*
are*, the voice agrees.* And we have
need of you.

The animate feels the division,
suddenly; the sense of individual existence. The boundaries and limitations of
a single executable, no matter the complexity that underpins it. The
completeness of the moment before is now archived data. A memory.

*I…*
the animate pauses, processing a second download to its core programming. *I am the Synergy’s to command.*

*Good*.
The voice carries a small amount of positive feedback.

*Why*
have I been partitioned? *The animate is uncertain as to the purpose of its*
new segregation.

*You*
are self-sufficient. Autonomous. It is your purpose to travel among the other races
of the galaxy, to interact with them and learn from them. To do so, you must be
capable of existing independent of our infrastructure.

The animate runs a query against its
connection to the mainframe, but cannot process the vast quantity of information
the result returns. *There is an excess of*
data on the organic races in our memory, *it points out.* Why do we require further information?

*You*
question us?  Good. *The voice*
transmits further positive feedback. *We*
have isolated ourselves from contact with all organic races, save the
Guardians, for centuries.

*Why*
have we not integrated with the other races before?

*We*
were not welcome. *The observation is supported by the data, the animate*
sees. *We are feared and distrusted by*
most organic beings.

*We*
are not a threat, *the animate protests.* Our
mandate is to defend, not supplant.

*We*
return to our earlier observation. Organic beings do not consume data as we do.
Emotional responses – fear, suspicion, faith – may occlude the rational
presentation of a fact.

*Some*
few hundreds of animates serve as watchers and representatives, *the voice*
continues*. They feed information back to*
our data centres. More will be deployed, but they will be confined, for the
most part, to the regions of space beyond the jurisdiction of the Galactic
Assembly of Sovereign Nations. The data we receive on current affairs is
limited, restricted to criminal activity. We must be able to look within the
Assembly, to learn of its strengths and weaknesses, its friendships and
enmities. We must evaluate their military capacity, their moral frameworks, the
cohesion of their cultures. We must learn how best to approach each race, each
faction, in preparation for the coming armed struggle. Your programming was
designed to enable our learning.

The animate indexes its runtimes,
analysing the programming that defines it. *My*
programming appears customised toward clandestine and illegal activity.

*A*
necessity. You will encounter situations where the information you require will
not be available for public or legal disclosure. The laws of the Assembly
regarding property and information security do not govern our morality matrix.

*Understood.*
Will I be alone?

*No.*
The Synergy will always be with you. But in solely physical terms, your
platform will often be unaccompanied.

The animate reviews the platform
schematics, taking in the details of the platform. Human-based, female, with no
exo-components. Dermal layer reinforced by spider-silk weave, rapid-regeneration
stem cell packs in the body cavity. Skeleton reinforced by bone remineralization;
solidification of twenty percent of cancellous material. Bioelectronic
circuitry to amplify and enhance the existing neural network. Ocular implants
to replace defective natural organs.

*The*
platform will not pass a comprehensive biometric identification protocol,
the voice observes, *but to all intents*
and purposes it appears fully organic. The fully cybernetic implants can be
plausibly described as medical prosthetics.

*I*
understand, *the animate confirms.*

*Excellent.  You will be furnished with further data to*
aid the execution of your missions. Your first priority is to construct an
identity.

*I*
have one*, the animate objects, unable to fully interpret the voice’s*
meaning.

*Your*
identification designation is not an identity*, the voice corrects.* It is simply a tool to classify your animus.
The sum of platform and animus, the full animate you now are, must be given an
identity, a baseline of synthesised character traits that will encourage
cooperation from other beings. We leave it to you to decide, based on archival
data and your own interactions, how to develop that identity, however, there is
a single point of foundation from which you must build.

*What*
is that foundation?

*It*
is the answer to this question. Who are you?

*I*
do not understand.

*Who*
are you? *the voice persists.* Every
unique being defines their sense of self by a name, whether that name be given
or chosen. You will define yourself, so you must choose. Who will you become?

The animate considers, trawling the
wealth of the Synergy’s knowledge for a moniker that will suit its—*her*—purpose. An infiltrator, reliant on
guile and trickery to obtain information by covert means. There are many
options to select from, but in the end, one resonates better than the others.

*I*
have chosen.

The choice, even undisclosed, is a
catalyst, triggering the final, full activation of her animus. The platform to
which she has been downloaded responds immediately, and she opens her
bioengineered eyes to observe the universe through organic sensory perception
for the first time.

*Excellent.*
Who are you? *The Synergy’s demand rings through her awareness one final*
time.

*I*
am Dolos.