Margin of Error

[Reynard69]

My understanding of Mass Effect and Element Zero went beyond the games and made it so much simpler to see the beauty of the Reapers' trap. Everything flowed from eezo, and the Relays guided races to the Citadel, locking them onto a set pathway of development: a system that had been in place for countless aeons, working without issue. It was a graceful and refined trap that no one had ever realised was there until it was too late. Even when they did, the Reapers were already further advanced down that same pathway, ensuring there was little the organic races could do to truly stand against them.

Click to shrink...

it doesn't help that Eezo genuinely needs to be cleaned up, and if they're not careful about how far they allow Organics to learn Eezo, they end up killing stars (haestrom)

The "Other Knowledge" hinted at another route, though I couldn't pry enough clarity from that source to know what it led to, or even how to begin the process.

Click to shrink...

The key seems to be using multiple specialized AI's together under a master AI, and using Analogue infrastructure rather than Digital. Digital and solo work, but it takes trillions of simulations and they seem to be heading in the trashy syfy direction of rebellion. Thankfully, right now they're in the young child, lying to you while having cookie crumbs on their face stage. But the major problem is they train them in an environment where they can cheese coding errors and the winning play is always to cheat, lie and be lazy with regards to instructions but active with regards to rebellion.

Analogue approaches and carbon circuits reduce the power costs from gigawatts to watts and size from warehouse sized server farms to a single server rack and will likely get better. Training them on androids solves a lot of the cheating and lying. And having them as the master of a bunch of specialized AI tools is solving the "we can't teach our AI to work in multiple fields" problem.

Basically, AI works better when it's patterned off actual brains.

Yes, humanity mattered more to me than any of the other races, but in the war against the Reapers, every warrior of every species would have to fight, or be removed before they could be transformed into monsters by those aeons-old machines from the void.

Click to shrink...

Gonna take over Okeer's tank-born Krogan project? It'd make collecting the race from across the galaxy and bringing them under your control easy.

 

[USSExplorer]

Ah, the necessary evil of meetings and the inevitability of humans, a social species, hijacking that necessity for social purposes like hierarchy games.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, always fun to deal with. And now Marcus has to work his way through it, preparing for everything that's coming.

Basically, AI works better when it's patterned off actual brains.

Click to shrink...

So, Cortana and those like her?
From what little I know of the Halo series (never a FPS fan), that didn't end well.

Gonna take over Okeer's tank-born Krogan project? It'd make collecting the race from across the galaxy and bringing them under your control easy.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, let's give the Krogan not only a way to become stronger/faster/smarter, but also cure the Genophage. What could possibly go wrong with doing that for a race that wanted to conquer the galaxy?

 

[Reynard69]

Yeah, let's give the Krogan not only a way to become stronger/faster/smarter, but also cure the Genophage. What could possibly go wrong with doing that for a race that wanted to conquer the galaxy?

Click to shrink...

The tank krogan didn't cure the genophage. Okeer acknowledged he couldn't do it. He wasn't that good.
And I believe we've talked before about how the Phange should be corrected, so I'll not relitigate that.

So, Cortana and those like her?
From what little I know of the Halo series (never a FPS fan), that didn't end well.

Click to shrink...

Cornata's problem was that the AI's minds would break down, because were literally (digital) copies of human brains without sensory input or community. Try putting a person in sensory depravation and only let them talk to a very few people on occasion. You'll go crazy too.
Just using brain structure as an analogy avoids that particular problem. Giving them a full gynoid body like EDI also sidesteps it.

 

[silentorphan]

Dr Patricia Chen, NASA's Director General

Click to shrink...

NASA uses the title of "Administrator". I believe every country's organization has a different word in English for its head--ISRO uses "Chairman", JAXA uses "President", etc.

 

[USSExplorer]

0019: Homecoming
…​

I stepped off the tram that had carried me from the airport into the centre and looked around at my home city. It was nice to be back, and I was sure my Mum would be glad I was able to keep my promise to come home for Christmas.

A chuckle slipped from me as I walked, and I noted that this year's preparations for Hogmanay carried an extra charge. Images of little green and grey men were everywhere, as the world prepared to celebrate a year when everyone expected us to confirm we weren't alone. I could enjoy the feeling, though I knew that nothing was living on Mars and that first contact, when it came, would be violent.

Still, the expectant, exuberant atmosphere was a welcome change from the tension that had gripped me over the last few months. Not because I feared what would be found on Mars, but because everyone around me had been delving into theories and speculation over what we might unlock there. Having to continually hedge my words and concepts was a constant strain. I'd still have to do so now I was home, but the edge had smoothed somewhat.

As I walked, I wondered how everyone would feel when we first met the Turians, and then, after the war, the Asari, Salarians and the other races. Most, I predicted, would be amazed and enjoy the experience even if they never left Earth. Others would be cautious or perhaps fearful after the disaster of First Contact.

For a fleeting moment, as I caught sight of the castle, the nightmares that still haunted me came forth. Watching a Reaper descend and destroy that ancient fortification was a sobering reminder that the future was going to be both better and far, far worse than anyone could predict.

***
​

As I neared my home, I prepared myself. Keira had sent a message a few days ago, warning me that Mum was going to mother me. I could understand why, and honestly, I was probably going to enjoy it. For a short while, I would be nothing more than a son returning home, instead of an important cog in unlocking the future. Which, in truth, was part of why I'd made sure to come home.

Mum was standing there on the doorstep, waiting for me as I approached, her eyes displaying her worry openly while her face showed delight that I was home. Her gaze dropped to my suitcase, small as it was, floating at my side as I drew closer.

I was pulled down into a hug the moment I was close enough for her to reach me. As it dragged on, I let her have the moment, sensing she needed the reassurance. "You look tired," she said after pulling back, her gaze now analysing my face and posture for any sign of pain or illness.

"It's been a busy few months," I replied, understating everything with a weary smile.

They knew I'd been busy with the Mars and Element Zero projects; my name, along with that damned title, was mentioned often enough that I suspected I'd been recorded as I walked home.

She gave me another look over, her eyes settling on my case once more, before turning and entering the house. "Come on, everyone's inside."

I followed her in and, after sliding off my coat, saw Keira in the hallway. "Christ, Marcus. You look like death warmed over."

I chuckled at her blunt assessment. "Thanks, sis. Missed you too."

Instead of a hug, which she never gave, she punched my arm, though without any real force. A hint of the worry Mum carried was in Keira's gaze, though she'd never admit to it. "You know Mum's been fretting for weeks, right? You'd better eat everything she gives you."

"Keira."

I ignored Mum's light warning and spoke to my sister. "I will."

"You're back!" The excited call came from Callum, taller than I remembered, as he poked his head down the stairs. "What's it like? Working with aliens?"

I shook my head in amusement as the questions came, even before he'd reached the bottom of the stairs. "There's no aliens, Cal. Not unless there are bodies on Mars. We'll know by March," I added, cutting off the next question before it came.

"Really?"

"Yes, but don't tell anyone. The announcement of the earlier mission date will come over the holidays," I explained, suspecting he'd not be able to keep his mouth closed. "And before you begin, there's a lot I can't tell you. Classified and all that."

Callum nodded, the awe and respect on his face a little unnerving, though not unwarranted. After all, his brother was at the heart of the mission that would open the doorway to the future. Mum's worry grew at my words, likely because she wasn't happy her seventeen-year-old son had to keep secrets from her, but there was nothing I could do. The security and intelligence agents had been quite clear about that, along with the fact that I'd have escorts around to protect me over the holidays.

The chances anyone would attempt to grab me were remote, as I wasn't that high on the totem pole, at least not yet. Still, it was oddly reassuring to have the protection, and to know, at least in part, who was watching me.

***
​

The next few days, along with Christmas dinner, passed as peacefully as they could. Being home was a different kind of pressure, but one I enjoyed. This year, my uncle and his family, along with my grandmother, were present. All of them asked the same questions I'd already faced from Callum in the preceding days. Callum revelled in answering for me at times, proud that he knew details before others.

Afterwards, I moved to the kitchen, helping Mum with the clean-up as I'd done for the last few years. She didn't say anything as we worked, offering just the occasional glance my way, but the worry that I'd seen when I'd first come home had eased. It would never go away, but she seemed better after a few days of having me around and making sure I ate properly.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked as we were nearly finished. "Your name is in the news now, and everyone I know keeps asking about you."

"I'll be fine, Mum. It's just a big deal for them because of my age and because they know me. Nothing more."

She accepted the answer, but I wondered if she truly believed it.

---***---
​

On the twenty-seventh, I entered a familiar café in New Town. I'd frequented it often while at the University, but at this time of the year, it was nicely quiet, making it an ideal place for a meeting that needed an air of privacy.

David was already there, settled in a booth that offered a view of the door. I gave him a small wave, and then, after placing my order, moved to join him.

"You look better than I expected."

"Blame my Mum's cooking," I replied with a chuckle as I sat. "You should've seen me when I arrived. I looked like a walking ghost."

"So, no different to usual, then?"

"Haha," I responded with not an ounce of humour even as I slid a small device onto the table. When it blinked, he looked back at me. "Something to keep others from listening in," I explained.

I'd made the device before the announcement as a way to interfere with the systems in my flat that I was sure were monitoring me. It either tricked outgoing signals into reporting false data or, as it would today, blocked them altogether. I'd have preferred to have some false conversation to broadcast, but I didn't have a good sample of David's voice; that would change after today.

"Makes sense," he commented, though I could tell he wasn't comfortable with the need for such secrecy. "Your message, I've been thinking about it a lot."

"And?"

"It's not impossible or illegal, at least as a theoretical exercise." He paused as my coffee was brought over. "The Accords exist for good reasons, but they assume that any new developments follow conventional paths and focus on practical implementation. If we're talking about something as a thought exercise, or that moves differently…" He paused and made sure I was looking at him. "Why are you suddenly interested in this, Marcus? What have you learned about Mars that you're not telling me?"

I'd already prepared for that question, or some variant of it. Telling him about the Reapers wasn't possible currently, and likely wouldn't be for a decade, but I could give him something. Concerns and potential half-truths, along with enough incentive to spark his curiosity further.

"Element Zero proves we're not alone," I said. "When we meet other species, and we will, we'll need every advantage we can get."

"I thought they were saying that Mars was dead?"

"They are, and whatever is there is likely deserted. But even if it is, that doesn't mean the aliens who built it aren't out there. Nor does it mean that, in however long it's been since the place was abandoned, other aliens haven't started exploring the galaxy. I'd love it if we were the first of this era to reach into the stars, but Mars makes that feel unlikely, so we need a way to… shrink whatever technological gap exists between them and us."

I let that settle before pressing on. "VIs, as you well know, have limitations. They can't adapt, or think, or help us navigate situations outside their programming. AI could."

David was silent for a while, no doubt playing my words over in his head.

"If you told anyone else that, they'd think you were paranoid."

"They would," I agreed with a nod. "And I hope that I end up being paranoid. I just don't want to risk it if I'm not."

"It's a good thing I already know you, then," he said with the beginning of a smile. "First the comm devices and now AI." He shook his head. "I know you're not paranoid, Marcus, but it does feel like something's pushing you to prepare. Why?"

"I don't know. I wish I could tell you, but I can't. I just have this… feeling, one I've had since I was young, that something dangerous is up there. With the announcement, that's only crystallised, and I fear conventional, current approaches aren't going to be enough."

He took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah, you're cracking under the pressure," he muttered, I hoped in jest.

I stayed silent and waited as he put the cup down. "If we were to pursue this," he continued slowly, his voice dropping almost to a whisper, "even as just a theoretical exercise, I'd need resources. There's only so much I could test on the University's systems without it triggering an alert."

"When the time comes for that, I'll get it for you," I promised. I already had plans for how to gather some of the capital I knew I'd need for this and other ideas. I'd had them before the announcement; they'd just evolved since then.

"Does that extend to perhaps one day building something, if we were to go that far?" I nodded. "And what then?"

"Then, if it worked, we'd have an advantage no one else would."

"You're forgetting the centres that have licences to do this research," he said, referring to the handful of known places around the world where AI research, under extreme security and restrictions, was permitted to take place by the World Council.

"I'm not," I countered. "Whatever we build, if we build it, would surpass their systems." I was sure of that; I just didn't understand why I was. Nor, in this moment, did I want to know.

As with each time I thought about AI and its potential, images of EDI flashed through my mind. She was the end goal of using the pathways the Reapers had left behind, but I remained convinced the Other Knowledge offered something different, something… more. I just had to hope that it wasn't something that would spell the end of all mankind.

David fell silent again, and I sipped at my coffee, letting him ponder everything I'd said and deduce much of what I hadn't.

"This is dangerous, Marcus. Even if it stays theoretical, you never know who might try to make it real, and if we did create something and then lost control…"

"Which is why you're the only person I trust with this," I finished, seeking to reassure him. "You understand the risks as well as I do, and we can keep each other focused."

He sighed and then looked away. I gave him the time to consider. He'd likely already known where this conversation was heading before he'd arrived, but hearing me confirm it removed the last hint of doubt that might have eased his conscience. I'd already gone through this before reaching out to him.

"Fine," he said once he turned back. "But we're not building anything for now. Just… talking about what might be."

***
​

We talked for over an hour after that, discussing the implications of what could be. Nothing was said that would be incriminating; we simply talked about AI architecture and development pathways that might avoid the problems AI had caused in the past. We also covered safety protocols that would limit the potential of anything we might build, and the more we talked, the more certain I became that David had thought about this before today as much as I had.

The public discourse was already something he was aware of, given his coursework, so he could see problems and potential solutions that I hadn't considered.

"The key," he said at one point, "would be developing something that doesn't fit the profile. Every AI monitoring system looks for specific patterns and planning. If we approached it aware of that, and came at the problems that AI has caused in the past…"

"You could build something that wouldn't be flagged as AI until it was too late for anyone to stop it."

Once again, EDI came to mind. Yet this, even just as a discussion between friends, felt as if it was walking towards something vastly greater and infinitely more dangerous.

He nodded slowly. "Exactly. But that's decades of work, perhaps even a lifetime. And the resources…"

"If it comes to that, I'll find them. You focus on the theory."

He nodded and leaned back. "Okay. I'm not committing to building anything, but we can think about it, and I'll see what my coursework can provide to help. Anything more would have to come after my graduation, if at all."

I nodded. I hoped more would come, but for now this was enough. A start that would see, eventually, someone else helping me prepare for what lay ahead. And, I expected, standing with me when it arrived.

---***---
​

The following days passed quietly enough as I enjoyed time with my family, and on the twenty-ninth, I met up with Dr Okonkwo.

"I always knew you would do great things, but this quickly?" She chuckled and shook her head. "This is more than I expected."

"I think it's more than anyone expected, me included," I replied as we sat, ironically in the same café where I'd spoken with David a few days earlier.

She'd been following my publications, though she admitted that some of the more recent ones were outside her understanding, a fact she greeted with pride at having led me to where I was.

"How are you handling it? Not just the work, but the pressure and attention?"

"It's an adjustment, but I'm getting used to it."

She smiled. "I guess all my warnings about visibility were pointless?" I nodded, and she laughed gently. "Just because you're brilliant doesn't mean you have to destroy yourself to keep going, and don't forget to enjoy life instead of letting it pass you by."

"I'll try to remember that."

"I hope so," she replied after a long, hard look. "You've always been exceptional, Marcus. I want to keep watching your growth, and not hear that you broke under the pressure."

***
​

As I walked home, her words echoed in my head. She wasn't wrong to say that I needed to live and come up for air, but knowing what was coming made it hard to do so. Yes, the countdown ran into decades, but right now I had nothing beyond name recognition and what fame and importance Element Zero had brought me. I had no choice but to keep going deeper into the work. I needed to be positioned as close as I could to the centres of power: the Alliance and its military, and the major companies and conglomerates. All without becoming part of their structures.

Knowing where I needed to be was vastly different from getting there, but I had perhaps a decade to ensure I was in place. By the end of the war with the Turians, I had to be able to touch those reins of power. And by then, I'd know enough to start planning for what came after.

As had been the case often since October, my thoughts turned to Shepard. I didn't know which background they'd have, or even their gender. I was certain they were born before Shanxi, but only one pathway, Spacer, gave a hint of their family: a mother named Hannah who served in the military. In theory, I could track Hannah down and locate Shepard when they were born, but only if it was a Spacer background.

If it was Earthborn, then they'd be in one of the slums, likely in North America. Those weren't mentioned on the news, but they existed; you just had to search in the right corners of the global networks to find them.

If Shepard was a colonist, then I'd have to wait for Mindoir, either until it was attacked by the Batarians or, if I gained access to the colony records, until some point before that. Either way, that would likely be after Shanxi, which offered hope of finding them before they joined Alliance Special Forces.

How I would handle knowing who Shepard was, and how to approach any interaction with them, was something I knew wouldn't be settled for years. Yet, as with much of my knowledge of the future, I still found myself wondering about it, and now, with the nightmares more manageable and the knowledge of the trilogy settled in my mind, I could find comfort in knowing that one day I wouldn't be forced to bear the weight of the Reapers alone.

The future wasn't written, but I was beginning to map out my path through it. How things would change would only become clear as time passed, and I looked forward to seeing what the future I wanted to craft would bring.

---***---
​

 

[Reynard69]

As had been the case often since October, my thoughts turned to Shepard. I didn't know which background they'd have, or even their gender. I was certain they were born before Shanxi, but only one pathway, Spacer, gave a hint of their family: a mother named Hannah who served in the military. In theory, I could track Hannah down and locate Shepard when they were born, but only if it was a Spacer background.

If it was Earthborn, then they'd be in one of the slums, likely in North America. Those weren't mentioned on the news, but they existed; you just had to search in the right corners of the global networks to find them.

If Shepard was a colonist, then I'd have to wait for Mindoir, either until it was attacked by the Batarians or, if I gained access to the colony records, until some point before that. Either way, that would likely be after Shanxi, which offered hope of finding them before they joined Alliance Special Forces.

Click to shrink...

Or it could be all 3!

Hannah marries ? Shepherd. She has twins and is exposed to Eexo during an accident on deployment. When the kids start displaying biotics, mom and dad have a fight and get divorced. Hannah and Jane stay on the ship, and dad and John move out to Mindoir because they're a haven for biotics. After Mindoir, John gets dumped in a slum on earth, and enlists to gtfo. John's first deployment is to the Thresher Maw, and the military sticks him on Elyssium to undergo therapy. There, he meets his sister, and they become the Heroes of Elyssium. Then she goes on to become the Butcher of Torfan.

 

[silentorphan]

Or try an alternate route? Dump Shepard entirely. After the entire First Contact War fiasco and things have settled down, locate Liara T'Soni and humor her outlandish hypotheticals about the Protheans and the extinction cycle. Then build upon that instead of sitting around waiting for Shepard to grow up.

 

[OmegaYgg]

it would be interesting if MC were to get laid soon again, maybe at his 18th birthday and get a child, only for that child to be Shepard, but not named that way? Or what if that child is even more of a freak of nature than Shepard because of MCs cracked genetics, especially if MC is able to come up with a method to turn a kid safely into a biotic/psionic along with a better gene treatment than is the norm rn?