A Beacon Of Hope

Across the cosmos, across the stars, through nebulae and galaxies, a faint distress beacon calls. Unbeknownst to the simple program, it's message cannot be picked up by any but the most advanced receivers, for it is using an archaic encryption on a signal too weak for the message to even be audible to the human ear only a meter away.

The year is 8252 AD, and the weak signal is coming from a rock 0.5 lightyears away from a major nebula. The signal has for some reason not been released for the last few millenia, and is now dim. Upon the rock sits the charred, buckled, and eroded remains of what was once a science vessel. Within this pile of wreckage lies pieces of what could have been a control deck, a damaged beacon, and a surprisingly intact large, metal box. This box is black, with indents running along the sides in a complex pattern. Any who try to get readings will not get much, though their scanners may claim there is sentient life within.

An odd wind blew across the rock's surface as the Interfector's TARDIS materialized.  The Interfector had been on his way to pick up bits and pieces of useful technology from whatever civilization he stumbled upon.  His search for other Time Lords had frustrated him beyond belief so he left the task on hold while he busied himself with creating different tools and weapons.  

"Set in coordinates-" Before he could finish his command, his TARDIS beeped and an odd signal was displayed on one of his many screens.  "Well, that is new." His foul mood soon dissolved into curiosity that led him to explore the source of the signal. 

After swallowing an odd, green pill, the Interfector strolled out his chrome TARDIS and onto the rock surface.  It wasn't the most ideal place to be, but something told him the find would be worth the trouble.  The wreckage soon caught his attention and he found himself kicking through the scattered pieces and ruined wires. 

"How curious."  He spoke to himself when his grey eyes fell on the black box.  His fingers scanned it's surface, trailing over the indents as he studied it intently.  Pulling him his sleeve, he plugged in a short code onto the device on his wrist that soon shot out a white scan that the Time Lord ran over the box.  The readings that came turned up in response brought a baffled expression to his face.  Now the question remained if he should leave the box be or let out whatever was inside.

As the Interfector had approached, a small panel that had survived in the wreckage lit up. The dim light cast thin shadows across the desolate rock, and then the panel began to hum. After a few seconds the humming became higher and higher pitched, until the panel shattered, a few sparks leaping from it. In response to this, the box began to glow through the indents running along it, and a hissing can be heard as a small panel opens by a few millimetres on the top of the box. The panel looks just like the rest of the box, and it's protrusion from the black surface is barely visible. The indents along the panel seem to form a sort of handle, giving the impression that the panel is to be opened.

With a groaning and grinding, a familiar TARDIS materialized on the rocky surface. Once the door creaked open, Sonya's head poked out with a frown plastered on her face. While she was waiting for Thet to return from getting some chips for the two of them, his TARDIS suddenly came to life, displaying a distress signal and immediately responding to it. Apparently it was important enough for Lady to take off without Thet inside. Turning around, she grabbed the black leather jacket she had found in the wardrobe room and slipped it on. Stepping outside, she pulled the black door shut behind her and cast an eye around the area for anything that might have sent the beacon. She caught sight of some mass not too far in the distance in front of her and began walking, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket with a cheerful whistle. It had been quite a long time since she had really gone anywhere on her own, so if anything, she ought to thank Lady for taking off with her inside. Then again, she would have to face Thet later once they returned, hopefully he'd understand.
Sonya drew near the mass of twisted metal and froze before ducking out of sight behind a boulder nearby. "What the hell is he doing here?" She hissed under her breath, peeking out from behind it at the Time Lord she had recently met. "Yeesh, that man just doesn't give up, I swear if he's stalking me..."

With a curious but distrustful look, the Interfector took a step back and observed the box with a slight tilt to his head.  Reaching out a tentative hand, he grasped the handle and pulled it open.  He quickly leaped back, fully expecting whatever was inside to pop out and attack him.  All his senses increased in awareness.  This was one of the reasons his head turned towards the boulder Sonya was hiding behind.  He soon lost interest and turned back to the box, more concerned with it for the time being. 

"Come out, come out, whatever you are." His hand reached into his never ending back pocket and grasped the handle of his hammer, prepared to fight if necessary.

The panel opened easily and smoothly, now about ten centimetres from the box, attached to four tubes. Between the four tubes a soft, cyan, light glows. It's brightness wavers for a while, and then suddenly it seems to explode with light. After the flash has faded from your eyes, you can see that the box has opened completely, all six sides folded out with an odd light in the centre. It glows cyan, like the soft light from before, but is comprised of changing polygons spinning at different angles to each other, creating a complex 3D structure. It slowly bobs up and down above the unfolded box, and then a voice can be heard.
"Please explain the current situation, this node has outdated information."

Sonya gasped softly and crept closer, ducking behind a bit of metal once she was close enough to see what it was clearly. "Hmm... It looks like an AI, but nothing like I've seen before. What the heck is it doing here?" She murmured to herself, not caring if the Time Lord heard her or not as she studied the object curiously from her position. "They must have kept it locked in there when the ship crashed, whoever they are, but still... It's either very valuable or very dangerous, the only reason to keep that thing in a box." Blinking her eyes, she tilted her head to the side and strained to hear what it was saying.

"Interesting.  You appear to have been in a shipwreck.  According to my TARDIS, it is the year 8252 AD.  But the question is how did this happen?  Who created you?  Who was hunting you?  Surly you must know, your readings are extraordinary."  The Interfector was surveying the specimen, tilting this way and that, walking around it slowly to take in every angle.  AI, that was for sure.  But what purpose did it serve?  What galaxy was it from? 

Turning his head again in Sonya's direction, he smirked.  "Do you talk to yourself often?"

"Yes, I happen to all the time in fact." Sonya huffed, straightening up from where she crouched behind the wreckage. "I'm the only one clever to talk to for miles besides the AI anyway." She added, casting a scathing glance at Interfector before resuming her inspection of the box with curiosity. "Find out anything interesting? I couldn't hear what it said from where I was." Crouching down again, she studied the box at eye-level, gently probing it with one of her fingers as she did. Once she realized it wasn't going to react, she let out a low sigh and straightened up to look at the Time Lord. "What are you doing here anyway? This piece of rock is a bit out of your area, isn't it? You know, considering your stalking the Doctor and myself."

While the two Time Lords talked, the blue light continued to slowly bob up and down, processing it's new information. After a while, it speaks again.
"An unknown vessel was chasing the ZSS Promise when I was locked down. A group of Zulak scientists, led by Greogor Fendok Higlarur Derin II. An unknown vessel, likely pirates. As for the information provided, I would like more clarification. Are you sure you are using the correct timescale? If so, this node must have been abandoned here for 2925 human years, which would imply that the Zulak have been wiped out already. And as my scans are likely to show when they are complete, the Zulak will still... oh. Clarification no longer required."
The blue light returns to it's previous state of bobbing and changing, though it seems slightly less luminescent. The distress beacon explodes in a small shower of sparks.

"Oh, please." He said with a scoff at Sonya. "I haven't bothered looking for you since our first meeting.  My TARDIS picked up the signal and I just had to see what it was.  Curiosity is a magnificent thing.  I assume the same happened with you."  The Interfector jumped back in surprise when the sparks set off.  Annoyance crossed his face and he straightened out his suit to try and regain his calm composure. 

"A product of the Zulak, are you?  Why do you exist?"  The question was not asked unkindly.  The Interfector was curious.   Possibilities of 'befriending' this intelligence were being processed in his mind.  He had researched AI with increasing curiosity and knew this would be the perfect chance to pick up some information of his own.

The blue light returns to it's normal level of light in response to the question, and speaks again.
"The intentions of my creators were 71% likely related to their attempts to survive the War, though I am uncertain in what way I could have aided them. I cannot be certain though, for the scientists didn't talk much about the universe, they were too busy adjusting and testing. What I know is what I was able to access in the main database."
One of the last two remaining panels from the control room lights up, showing a large compilation of knowledge, ranging from scientific to trivial. After a few seconds of whizzing through what must have been half an exabyte of information, the screen turned off again, though didn't explode.
"The database is large, but not always comprehensive. There is very little on what happened during the War." The light shifts for a second, before asking. "Why do you exist?"

Sonya let out a light snort, covering her laugh and passing a hand over her mouth before glancing away. "Right then, I'm not so hot for twenty questions, so I'm gonna go and... Wander." Raising a hand in salute, she stepped away from the AI and began inspecting the torn bits of metal scattered about, looking for something she could salvage and use later in the TARDIS. Crouching down, she picked up a piece of what would have been a circuit board if it wasn't shattered into hundreds of pieces and tossed it to the side.

The Interfector stared after her and rolled his eyes slightly.  He tilted his head in consideration of the AI's words and smirked lightly at the question, finding it very amusing.  "Well, I exist because I do.  If you are looking for the meaning of mine as I was yours, I could not tell you.  I suppose the living are suppose to find meaning themselves.  Annoying, is it not?"  He snorted to himself when he asked the being a question on emotion.  From what he has read, AI didn't feel nor did they understand it at the proper degree.

Sonya glanced over and shook her head, finding it amusing that the Time Lord could have a decent conversation with a computer program. Bending over, she spotted a small box hiding under a twisted sheet of metal. With a low grunt, she flipped it over and lifted the box up, dusting the soot and dirt off of it to examine the lock. Simple really, but only if she had the right tools with her at the moment. Shrugging her shoulders, she tucked it under her arm and wandered back over to Interfector and the AI. "Do you know the reason for being created, have they told you?" She asked curiously, eyeing the light with interest. "Or are you here without a reason now, I mean... You must know to some extent your abilities at least."

The AI listens to Sonya's question, but seems to not know the answer itself. It begins to move around a bit above the box, floats up and down a bit, that sort of thing. However, after a while of doing this, it stopped, and then sent out beams of light around itself. The beams moved around a bit, settled upon the two Time Lords, and then disappeared.
"Upon investigation, I appear to have very little capability to move away from this box, which i presume contains my central processor. Those beams of light also appear to have been some form of scan, as I am now aware that there are two available processing units in which I can reside outside of my current processor, which is damaged."
The light goes back to gently bobbing above the unfolded box, occasionally pointing a weak beam at random objects in the debris of the ship.

"Two available processing units? Us?" Sonya asked sharply, backing up a step from the ball of light and holding her hands up in front of her. "Your saying you can... live inside of a body and function normally?" Shifting slightly on her feet, she shot a glance over at Intercepter, her shoulders lifting into a shrug. "I'm sorry but I just got my head back together after hundreds of years. I don't really care to have another consciousness in there with me." She added, slightly apologetic, in truth she itched to know what would happen, if she could learn anything more about electronics with it being in her head. But the thought of having something else in there with her caused the hesitation. "What about a normal computer? I mean, it would be a lot better than a living body, the computer wouldn't slowly be dying on you the entire time."

"Magnificent..." The Interfector breathed, a smile forming on his lips.  This being was absolutely stunning.  "How can you reside in a life form?  Do you injure or take over the host?"  His grey eyes were calculating once again, curiosity igniting from this new bit of information.  He cast a look at Sonya, wondering what she meant by just getting her head back though he did not ask. 

((bleh, short posts, sorry))

"Presuming that the two processing units it was referring to were you, which is likely based upon the work the scientists were conducting, I expect the scientists expected this would give them and advantage during the War. I am unsure what their plan for the end product was, but currently I am unable to incapacitate either of you in any way, whether that be injuring or completely taking control."
The light pulsates gently, then as it begins to consider something the shifting polygons within it spin and change faster and faster. They continue doing this for a few seconds, then it speaks again.
"It also appears that I cannot reside within a normal computing device either, and that combined with the fact that my current residence is decomposing due to it's current exposure to the elements means that I appear to be in peril."

"Your dying, and say this with a calm appearance." Sonya murmured in slight amusement before she leaned over to examine the box closer with interest. "Can you be moved? I'm sure a friend of mine would love to talk to you. Not toention create some form of residence for you." She added as an after thought, casting a look at the Interfector that dared him to say anything about her taking the AI. "He's rather clever, I'm certian he can think of something for you.

"Currently."  The Interfector scoffed with a small smile, finding the words a relief and unnerving.  "Oh, Sonya.  Finders keepers."  He turned his attention to the AI and shifted from foot to foot, calculating.  "I volunteer to be your host.  It would be a magnificent experience, one we both could benefit from, do you not agree?  You survive and I gain knowledge of your creation.  That is all I am really looking for: technological advancement."

His grey eyes turned back to Sonya, brows furrowed.  If she was referring to the Doctor there was no doubt he could find a solution.  But there was no saying how much time was left for the AI and he would not allow it to be snatched out from under his grasp.  The possibilities, and the risks, were all swarming in his head, though the Interfector decided the pros outweighed the cons in this particular situation.

"This node is grateful for the offer, and if you are certain you wish for this to happen then please place your hand on one of the panels of the box. I believe this may not feel pleasant, though I assure you I do not intend to inflict any harm upon you."
The unfolded box sits there, with the light hovering above it. Any of the sides that lay on the ground could be touched to activate the transfer, and the AI waited expectantly for the Interfector to move.

Sonya cast a scowl at The Interfector in irritation as he offered to house the AI , he was worse than the Doctor when it came to curiosity. Something you don't understand? Lick it, something that proves to be interesting? Let it inside your head. "You sure you can handle that?" She asked quietly, leaning over so she could talk to him in an undertone.

In response he turned his head over his shoulder, having moved forward after his offer. "Concerned for me?" He shook his head and chuckled lightly. "No, I am not sure. But there is only one way to find out, and I intend to. What could possibly go wrong?" He shuffled forward and reached out his hand, a look of mesmerization in his eyes. The palm of his hand pressed against one of the panels and he shifted in anticipation for the discomfort he was sure he would feel. It did not occur right away so he glanced back at Sonya with a smug grin, "It is not so bad- ah!"

As the Interfector places his hand on the unfolded box, the hovering light grows in luminescence, then disappears just as he yelps. The AI surges through his nervous system into his mind, flooding it with numbers and pictures and words and messages and lights and dark. After a few seconds the AI begins to collect itself up from the knowledge-strewn mind of the Interfector. After resting within his consciousness for a while, it speaks in his head.
"Have you survived the transfer?"