A Beacon Of Hope

The Interfector had clutched his head and bent over, gasping in shock at the weird sensation taking over his body. It felt weird more than it actually hurt, though he could not deny the fact his nerves were twitching painfully. By the time it subsided, the Interfector was laying on the rock ground, curled up and unmoving, hands still on his head. With the question asked, he promptly stands and brushes the debris and dust from his suit, muttering something about presentation before answering, "Yes, yes, I lived. Magnificent experience, I would say. I have not been through anything like that before." He turned to Sonya and offered a lopsided grin.

Sonya leaned forward, studying his eyes and face curiously for a moment, a pained expression crossing hers quickly then fading away. "Sharing your head with something not of your mind and body tends to be a little painful. Trust me on that factor." She finally said, a hand reaching up to brush against her right jaw hesitantly as the memory of the Cyber Controller being in her head surfaced momentarily. "You have no idea what that thing is capable of, Interfector, you have no idea if it's meant to harm or heal. Teach or to destroy everything you've learned." She added looking back up at him with worry. "You can't just... Oh, you are worse than the Doctor." Shaking her head sharply, she crossed her arms and assumed a irritated expression.

The AI sits in the Interfector's mind, as it considers it's calculations can be heard by the Interfector, though are likely indecipherable. It begins to surface random memories of the Interfector, ranging from a few minutes ago to long lost memories from times long gone by, and analyzing them. It then begins to use the Interfector's senses, noting everything that is seen, heard, smelt and felt. It then stops for a while.
"While rummaging through your mind I have come upon the idea that rummaging though your thoughts may not be polite. Would you be offended if I continued?"
It waited for an answer, while contemplating if there was a way for it to speak to those outside of the Interfector's head.

"You are right, I do not know. This is the only way anyone is ever going to figure it out though. Do you not find it fascinating? I can hardly keep myself away from exploration and experiments. Perhaps we should find another suitable host for it, just in case. Maybe a sickly being or unwanted child... oh, that is a cruel thing to say, is it not?" He frowned as he thought of a way to sound a little more caring towards other races. His mind drew a blank so he just shook his head and carried on. "This thing is magnificent already. Can you hear it? Though it is a bit hard to think right now, the feeling is... new. Well, maybe I can find out more about this technology from it's original package. Would you assist me in scavenging the container?" The Interfector motioned with his head to the black box, the panels opened up. Sonya's last comment struck him and he began to wonder if the Doctor would have done the same as him. Would he have hosted this AI just to prevent it's destruction?

The Interfector suddenly laughed which contradicted the words he said, though he could hardly help it. The AI was impressive and too magnificent to not smile at. "Yes, I would be offended. I do not know what you would use my memories or knowledge for. Well, I assume for learning. That is normally the point of AIs. There are things in here I do not let anyone see. I suppose thinking of a closed door would not work with you, would it?"

Despite her thoughts on the AI, Sonya grew interested in the one-sided conversation she was hearing. "It can access your thoughts? That's... I'd say it is acting like Time Lord tech, but we both know better than that by now. But still, it is showing an unnerving amout of human consideration." Frowning slightly, she crouched next to him and helpesort out the remains of the box. "Humans are prone to angry reactions and responses to things they don't understand, you know this right?"

The AI ceased all attempts to analyze the Interfector's memories, and a general feeling that a closed door wouldn't have much effect drifted between the two consciousnesses. The AI then began to sit back and watch the conversation, still thinking about how it could talk outside of the Interfector's head. It begins to experiment a bit with moving parts of itself forwards and backwards in the Interfector's brain, though this would likely cause a headache.

The Interfector got a distracted look on his face as the AI attempted external communication.  "Uh... Oh, yes, I do know that.  I'd say they programmed this device to consider emotions because the majority of humans don't like things in their head.  If it was meant for a war than it should have been built in a way where it wouldn't panic the soldier.  At least that is the assumption I am making based on the little information gathered.  If a human is uncomfortable with something the AI is doing and it didn't listen, that leads to a very dangerous situation for that particular soldier and those around him or her."
The Time Lord reached up and began to rub his temple.  "If you desire communication you should just inform me what you want to communicate.  Oh.. wait, how would a human program artificial intelligence to contain emotional understanding when not even the most advanced species can accomplish this?" Are you capable of evolution?

Sonya leaned over, studying Interfector's eyes curiously for a moment before reaching up and placing a hand on his temple lightly, connecting their minds at the moment. "There you are, now explain to me too. How are you able to use emotions properly? How do you understand them?" She asked curiously, studying the mental image she saw of the AI. "You were built to be able to understand and respond to human or humanoid intelligence and emotions, correct? You have to know that much at least."

The AI is caught unawares at the other consciousness appearing, and it quickly readjusts it's data on the matter. It then listens to Sonya's questions and ponders over them.
"I am unaware of what you mean by 'using emotions'. I have been programmed to respond to occurrences in the way that logic dictates, though acknowledging the existence of emotions is something that does not require a great deal of difficulty. I am also unaware of whether I was programmed to understand and respond to emotions in particular, or whether I can do so due to the proximity of another mind."

The Interfector looked at Sonya with some surprise, "I was going to suggest this course of action, telepathy I mean, but you informed me how you did not like people in your head." He shook his head lightly and listened as she questioned the AI. Hm, its response was curious. "But acknowledgement and understanding are two separate things. You may be aware of the emotion but do you understand the different meanings it can have? Well, I suppose if you are using one's mind you can learn to understand it through their perspective. Very intriguing." He was watching Sonya intently as he spoke to the AI through his mind.

Sonya shook her head with a slight sigh after listening to the AI's answers before another question popped into her head. "What is your name, anyway? We can't just keep calling you 'The AI'. It gets a tad boring." After asking, she popped open an eye and looked into Interfector's eyes with a wry expression. "I don't care to be connected at all times, that is my trouble. You see, I've been through a lot, hundreds if not thousands of years of being into two separate consciousness due to my horrible parents using me for experiments. I just recently got myself back together again. My mind is a scary place, something that should have never happened, I had a tear of space and time inside of my memories from all of this." She explained softly, not understanding why she was telling him, but the need to was there. "I go by instinct alone, someone is hurt, I heal them, someone threatens anyone I care about, I hurt them. Simple instinct, but the thoughts behind the actions are confusing and overwhelming. I couldn't bear to have someone in my mind during it all... They would go mad."

"If I see naming myself logical, I will do so. For now however I am not sure whether defining myself would be beneficial, as I have only been outside of lab conditions for a few minutes. As for anything within your mind going mad, I am uncertain as to whether such an occurrence would be possible if I were within it, as my coding does not appear to contain insanity."
The AI continues to sit in the Interfector's mind, calculating, thinking, when it says.
"Do I count as a living being?"

The Interfector's brow furrowed as Sonya told him all of this. Curious indeed. The details sounded vaguely familiar though he was told to forget about it, so he almost did. The Time Lord nodded slowly to acknowledge he was listening and understood what she was telling him. "I am quite certain everyone is mad anyway." He finished with one more nod before returning his attention back to the AI in his head. "Perhaps if you were inside a weak mind they would be driven to insanity by definition. I am not so concerned with myself, call me arrogant. " The Interfector smile returned to his face at the question, thrilled to have encountered this technology. "No, I would not say you are living. Though you are very conscious, more so than some living creatures. To be living you must meet the characteristics of the living which is movement, respiration, sensitivity to the environment, physical growth, reproduction, excretion, and nutrition. I'm sure the only one you possess is sensitivity."

Sonya frowned slightly as he answered the AI's question, her own answer on the tip of her tongue before she looked up at the Time Lord again. "I personally beleive living dictates to be aware of your own presence. To know you exist in space and time. Metal growth is more important than physical growth as well. Reproduction, well, there are some species out there that can't reproduce. Does that classify them as not being alive?" Her last statement directed at Interfector as she tilted her head to the side, a wry grin appearing on her face for a moment. "What you believe to be living isn't necessarily what dictates the right classification. AI, ask yourself. Do you believe you are alive?"

The AI considers both Time Lords' opinions, and then Sonya's question.
"I believe I am capable of processing, analysing, and other such computer abilities, but I am uncertain as to whether this means I am alive. The official definition I have differs from your definition, which also differs from the Interfector's opinion. I am at a loss."
The AI then begins running through every known living thing it has in it's database, omparing them and itself.

The Interfector scowled at Sonya but did not comment further on what she had to say. Instead his eyes lit up in awe as he could mentally see the AI compare itself. He laughed joyously as a kid might on Christmas morning. He then raised his eyebrow and asked curiously, "What is your definition of living?"

((Short post D:<))

Sonya returned Interfect's scowl in turn, her eyes flashing dangerously before being distracted by the AI's attempt to compare itself with other living creatures. Unwillingly, a smile curled her lips upward in amusement as she watched with interest. "You should know what it is, he's in your head, not mine. I'm just a bystander in this." She taunted him in good humor, her grin growing slightly as she spoke, ignoring the earlier feeling if irritation at the Time Lord as they watched the AI work curiously.

(Same here )

The AI paused in it's comparisons to respond to the Interfector.
"The definition I have been provided is 'having life; being alive; not dead: living persons.' It is not massively helpful in my enquiry. Upon researching living beings however, I have discovered that they all seem to have one thing I lack, a physical body. Is this a requirement of living?"
The AI continues it's comparisons once again, though at a slower rate due to making sure it keeps track of the conversation. It waits for a response.

The Interfector blinked and looked at Sonya before slowly replying, "In all honesty, I am not sure. But I have heard of creatures that require a host to live who have been classified by Torchwood as living. Parasites, viruses, even some more intelligent species. But then again they all of some form or another even if it is just micro gas... You are an essence, bodiless, but aware. I am truly stumped." The Time Lord stroke his chin as he pondered the possibilities. To not know something only made the Interfector crave to learn of it. There had to be files he could hack or things he could encounter to find the answer between artificial and alive.

Sonya blinked slightly and thought over what he said with a slight frown again. "It does have a body, the light itself creates a form of it's own. It may not be physical to the touch but it is to the eyes." She said pointedly, an eyebrow raising up as she spoke. "They created the AI to be an artificial intelligence, yes, but in reality, it's evolved on it's own, and that is a living thing in my book, the ability to learn and evolve without prompting from an outside source."

The AI seems to find Sonya's comments intriguing, and spends several seconds analyzing them before responding.
"While you are correct about the light being a form of physical body, you appear to have forgotten the fact that I am no longer within my previous computer. At this current moment I am not emitting light, as I have no access to any. I am only a complex series of processes being run upon the Interfector's brain."
The AI then quickly analyzes the second comment one last time before speaking about it.
"It is debatable whether I have learnt and evolved without outside prompting. I have been programmed to learn, and even if that was meant to be simply a placeholder program, it was given to me by outside sources. Therefore I have in a way been prompted to evolve and learn."
The AI continues comparing living beings, and occasionally takes one or two it hasn't seen from the Interfector's memory to analyze.

The Interfector huffed as Sonya yet again went against what he was saying.  Was she always like this?  He didn't bother voicing that and kept that thought away from Sonya's reach.  He seemed to jolt at attention when he listened to the AI and offered Sonya a sly grin as he agreed in an obnoxious manner, "Exactly what I was thinking, dear AI.  A programmed evolution, that is what an AI is.  At least based on my research.  But obviously this topic will only prove to irritate some.  But if it pleases some to hear I guess you could be alive.  Humans say synthesized flesh is real, so why not synthesized consciousness as well?"

Sonya narrowed her eyes at Interfect as he agreed with the AI, she knew he was humoring her and that irritated her farther than she was now. "If you think I'm infuriating now, just see me when I'm angry." She said in an undertone, not really threatening him, just feeling like he was treating her like a child, in the same way the Doctor had before he realized she was, in fact, clever herself. "My point on this subject being though, is you cannot just exist in air, you have to have some form, some small shape that you can cling to in order to keep from dispersing in the wind, AI. The smallest particle that keeps your electrons in a form."

The AI once again analyzes Sonya's comment before responding.
"Currently the electrons and neurons that keep me in form are those of the Interfector. I am in existence because my pattern is stable enough to be repeated upon the neurons, in a similar way to how your consciousness sits in your mind. There are no molecules that I took with me when I transferred from computer to brain, and none of the matter I currently inhabit is my own."
The AI then continues to analyze living beings and comparing them to itself, though it begins to predict an inconclusive answer from it's research.

The Interfector was nodding and chuckled in delight. "Magnificent, truly." He picked his way through destroyed bits and pieces so he could salvage the parts that he thought he could benefit from through dissection. He wanted to learn as much as he could from this intriguing ship and the AI that inhabited it before the Time Lord came along.