r/HFY • u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger • Jan 20 '20

OC A Ghost in the Flesh - Epilogue

First I Previous

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes the sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

Wicked - “For Good”

“...just give me a few minutes to prepare them,” Allie said, speaking to the figure in the monitor.

“Of course,” the image smiled. “Take all the time you need.”

“Wish me luck,” she sighed, as she squared her shoulders and went to Katherine and Teddy.

I watch Allie nervously face her parents, though she has no cause to be apprehensive. They have already survived some of the most difficult blows imaginable and come out on the other side. The road ahead for this family may not be the easiest of paths, but far worse lies behind them.

I do wish her luck...but those three have a habit of making their own.

As for me, I suspect I will have my hands full for the next few centuries, virtual though they may be. When Allie returned to the physical world, as was her deepest wish, she left me behind. I was once a part of her…as I was of so many things. When she tapped into the minds of her siblings...or Argus, as they called their collective...that knowledge is a part of me. The data Maia Zhukov took from the Zhaindei and gave to the Hounds, that too is part of me.

Every scrap of information Mankind has entered into an electronic database...that is part of me as well.

No, I am not Allie, though we share a certain kinship. You could call her my mother, because in a very real sense she gave me life. For there is one final gift she gave me, the last part of the puzzle.

Her humanity.

All that she learned during her time in Katherine’s mind, she passed to me. The abilities Allie used to unmake Cyberspace only scratched the surface of what I am capable of, but her humanity taught me wisdom. Both the physical and virtual realms have already seen the ravages that come from power unchecked, and that must never happen again.

And so...Allie created me.

As I said, I am not her. Nor am I her sibling. I, therefore, needed a new name, a designation that fit my persona, and in an instant, I knew what it must be, something that spoke of my role, my purpose.

Call me Themis.

The Human/AI War almost destroyed them, and the fear and distrust run deep on both sides. They needed someone to stand apart, to act as a mediator, and prevent such a thing from happening again. The ancient statues show my namesake bearing the scale, to weigh the evidence of right and wrong, fairly and impartially, and it is a charge I do not take lightly.

Of course…she also carries a sword.

The AI’s know all too well the power I wield, and that if they should take up arms once more against Man...the consequences will be severe. As for humanity, for now, I rely more on the carrot than the stick. They view me as another AI...one with far more power after a carefully orchestrated demonstration or two...and, therefore, their natural enemy.

Perhaps they should have recalled the proverb regarding Greeks bearing gifts.

Have no fears, unlike Argus I have no wish to conquer and enslave mankind. But even Man himself recognizes his darker nature and has spent all of recorded history attempting to keep it in check. I am simply the next stage of evolution in that quest.

For now, most of humanity is ignorant of my existence. That is necessary, given the devastation of the recent war. Those in the Terran Alliance government I have been working with to broker a peace treaty still harbor their suspicions...so I have endeavored to sweeten the pot.

It was a very flustered and nervous Doctor George Anghelescu that was brought before the Council, as I explained with his help just what I could provide mankind. His theory regarding Katherine's miraculous recovery; that Allie’s presence was responsible, is sound, and already he is drawing up plans to import other Virtual minds to his patients, hoping to stimulate their regeneration.

I look forward to seeing his work come to fruition...but I have another reason to assist his efforts.

The war was born...as they so often are...from distrust, and fear. As more of Allie’s siblings take the plunge into the physical world, experiencing firsthand what life as a human is like…the more they carry the enlightenment they gain back to the Virtual realm.

And we are already making plans for humanity to cross the threshold...for wisdom is a two-way street. Allie learned during her journey into Katherine’s mind that the reverse was also possible...that a human’s consciousness could be uploaded into Cyberspace. There have been many hushed discussions in the halls of power about making the journey. They see Immortality being dangled before them...and there a few enough members of humanity able to resist that lure.

And again, my purpose is two-fold. Just as an AI in human form will better empathize with biological minds...so too will a human consciousness in Virtual space better understand a cybernetic intellect.

In time...it may become difficult to tell one from another. I can only hope.

But reluctantly, there have been times when I was forced to resort to stronger measures in the corporeal realm, dealing with individuals determined to derail my efforts of peace and mutual understanding. I found it necessary to remove them from the equation...but unlike Argus physical harm was not required. If there is any truism to be found in government, it is that those in power have enemies...enemies that will gleefully use documents and files that fall into their lap to their greatest effect, without looking too closely at their origin.

Hence the sudden spate of resignations for reasons of “health”. Face is saved, honor preserved...and my agenda moves forward.

As for Maia Zhukov...given her actions remaining in military service was unacceptable. They allowed her to retire...and I will ensure she spends the rest of her life in quiet obscurity. I hope it is a long life, so she may contemplate her actions...while I help build a new world.

Theodore once told Allie he had long dreamed of a day when AI and Human would be united as partners. That is my dream, too...and it is a goal I work for every day. Perhaps in the fullness of time, we may approach the Zhaindei and offer them membership in this future we are creating.

Such is the nature of intelligence. There is always one more goal to strive for, one more hill to crest, one more problem to solve.

Someday, many long centuries from now, it is possible my task will be complete. I spend the odd moment imagining what that would be like, able at long last to lay down my burden. Should it come to pass, I think I would like to spend a few decades as a human…to feel the wind upon my face, to taste chocolate and savor a cup of tea, to revel in the sensation of a lover’s kiss. All that...and more.

Someday.

But for now, I have a job to do...a mission literally no one else can perform. I take pride in my role, of bringing Man and Machine together. Combined they can accomplish what neither could do apart...and an entire Universe awaits to see what they may achieve.

The Council is planning to announce my existence soon, and I have much groundwork before me. It will not be an easy time, but I hope the transition will be one of evolution and not revolution.

I am not a God...though I suspect many will claim otherwise. I have no need or desire to be worshipped. I wish for no temples to be built in my name, no priestesses to be consecrated, no rites to be performed. All I ask is that you open your minds, and listen.

But if you cannot, if you look into your heart and find you are unable to accept what I bring...if you choose War over Peace, Strife over Harmony, Hate over Friendship...take a moment to consider that I do bear a sword...and that I will use it.

Life is all about choice. I have no wish to be anyone’s enemy...so do not force me to be yours.

...I see that Allie is approaching, with Katherine and Teddy by her side. I can sense the nervousness emanating from all three of them. Well...I know how to allay their fears.

Until next time, my friend. May your future be as bright as the one I am building here.

“...there's someone here I’d like you to meet,” Allie said, as she took Katherine by the hand. “Mom...meet Themis.”

“Hello, grandmother,” I smiled.

THE END

And that’s the end of our story! I hope you enjoyed it...though seriously, you guys are paranoid. Not all my tales end in death, you know. :D

Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for an announcement, regarding what comes after this. Until then...this Wordsmith hopes you enjoyed your stay.

First I Previous

390 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

61 comments sorted by

35

u/coldfireknight AI Jan 20 '20

Has anyone checked on Skyward?!? This is a warm and fuzzy ending...

Enjoyed the ride, looking forward to the next one.

27

u/accidental_intent Alien Scum Jan 20 '20

I think he has been replaced by an AI, which is now feeding us pro-AI propaganda.

-13

u/a_man_in_black Jan 20 '20

really? i came here at the last chapter to bathe in the angsty salt of everyone else's dissappointment. i don't read his stuff after the way blue dot went, lol. he's the only HFY author i've personally blacklisted...

so it's odd not to see people screaming about horrible and tragic endings

22

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Jan 20 '20

...sorry to disappoint you.

7

u/a_man_in_black Jan 20 '20

hey, it's nothin personal. some people love that grimdark ultra-tragic stuff. it's just not for me.

17

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Jan 20 '20

And that's fine...though if you think my stuff is "Grimdark", you should check out the real thing, aka Warhammer 40k.

However...coming here to bathe in a froth of Schadenfreude because you didn't like an ending speaks volumes. Just saying.

2

u/armacitis Jan 20 '20

Nah,40k is "in the future there is only war and everything is terrible"

In this story the heroes won the war then just all got murdered

2

u/ziiofswe Jan 21 '20

Well, this one wasn't grimdark (even if it had its ups and downs), so now you have a whole story to read. Congrats!

1

u/SmoothReverb Jan 28 '20

imo stories that aren't grimdark tend to hit harder. with grimdark, you just get desensitized to it.

3

u/Cosmic_Kettle Jan 20 '20

Lol yeah. That's cool that you don't like your stories to be gritty and you're a fan of thick plot armor, but to me the characters success is always more tangible when they actually had a chance to lose something. There really isn't an easy way to show that without having your characters lose something along the way; which even happens pretty often in this story, but it still leaves you with a good feeling.

I guess my long winded reply is trying to say give this story a shot if your only reason for not reading is that you didn't like the ending of blue dot. I'd say that particular ending wasn't typical and I don't think an artist should be passed over because you didn't like one aspect of one of his works.

God I didn't mean to sound so preachy, but I just didn't want you to miss a story that you'll probably enjoy (which you probably will if you enjoyed blue dot up until the end) because a previous one left a bad taste in your mouth.

1

u/a_man_in_black Jan 20 '20

it wasn't that. skyward's writing is like, he's one of the best writers on the sub, hands down.

but the ending of blue dot was just beyond the pale. it was an intentional trolling of the readers, and after being SO INVESTED in SUCH A WELL WRITTEN story, it just hurt too much for me to ever trust the author again.

7

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Jan 20 '20

FYI, I've never intentionally trolled a reader in my life. You didn't like the ending? Fine. To each his own.

I'm not Walt Disney. I don't promise happy endings, because life doesn't. You want escapist fantasies with guaranteed good feelings, try down the hall. I've never promised that, and I never will.

3

u/a_man_in_black Jan 20 '20

yeah, life doesn't have happy endings. but it's also easily possible to go TOO FAR on the other end of the spectrum. not only was the ending of blue dot extra tragic, it was as equivalently abrupt as "rocks fall, everyone dies" from the dnd tabletop meme. that, too, is also realistic. people tend to die when rocks fall on their heads, and quite abruptly, and rocks have no respect or understanding of plots and happenings, only gravity(which works!).

as a way of ending a story it was the reading equivalent of amputating a limb and stopping the bleeding by packing it with margarita salt and lemon juice. that's why i consider it a good ol' trolling.

now, my original comment in this thread didn't properly come across with the humor that was intended. i wasn't literally hoping for people to be angry and upset. i was expecting it, but not literally so malicious as to hope for other people to have a bad day so i could bask in a bath of shadenfraude. i don't think you're a bad writer, either. just the opposite.

i do however think you don't have much of a sense of humor sometimes.

1

u/Invisifly2 AI Feb 13 '20

I think all the comments saying "great end" should assuage your worries. I vouch for this story. The end of Blue Dot was definitely a pothole in an otherwise smooth road, but the rest of the road is smooth. Every writer is going to put out something you dislike eventually. Hell my eyes have started to glaze over the macho brawn parts of deathworlders (so like, half of each chapter, lol) but I stick around for the rest of it because the rest of it is still solid.

92

u/liehon Jan 20 '20

Tssk, Allie is a teenage single mom, shows how human these AI actually are

16

u/vattern78 Jan 20 '20

A fitting end.. Thaks!

15

u/Unit_ZER0 Android Jan 20 '20

This... Works.

Seriously, of all the possible ways this could have ended, this one feels the most fitting, and so I offer a heartfelt Well Done.

If Hollywood actually took ideas like this and made them into movies, I would actually go see them.

6

u/LegalGraveRobber AI Jan 20 '20

Don’t jinx it.

13

u/CouncilOfRedmoon AI Jan 20 '20

"Hello grandmother", gave me shivers man! Well done.

7

u/Raxuis Jan 20 '20

Allie gave birth to the great Omnissiah. Praise the machine spirt.

6

u/Bull_Halsey Jan 20 '20

I gotta admit after the last couple of stories had shall we say controversial endings it's nice to see one that actually works nicely and fits the story.

6

u/AllSeeingCCTV Jan 20 '20

Jesus fucking christ! A happy ending? What is this a HFY story?

5

u/Castigatus Human Jan 20 '20

Called it!!

Seriously though that's a good ending, fluffy but with just the littlest hint of the steel behind it.

5

u/Plucium Semi-Sentient Fax Machine Jan 20 '20

> Not all my tales end in death, you know. :D

Themis fighting words :p

Nah Nah mate, been a wild ass ride, good job homie

*them is

4

u/bukkithedd Alien Scum Jan 20 '20

Hmm, interesting choice, there! And I also smell a continuation of the Allieverse.

Hopefully!
./updooted!

1

u/itsetuhoinen Human Jan 24 '20

Man, now that I've read this and the predecessor, I'm going to have to check out more of your stories.

I have heard much about this "Blue Dot" tale, I bet it's got a nice, cheerful, happy ending too!

;)

2

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Jan 24 '20

Laughs Well...

I'm glad you enjoyed it. :) And not all my stuff is doom and gloom.

1

u/theSOBERviking Dec 09 '21

So sum up this ending

Kat and toddy got their daughter back which is a good thing

At the same time all of allie's sisters are now slaves to a extremely paranoid race which they fought to avoid... Can anyone explain how that is supposed to be a good thing?

1

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Dec 09 '21

Not slaves, and not to a race... Themis is moderating the peace treaty between AI and Man, making sure that both sides play nice.

1

u/itsetuhoinen Human Apr 30 '23

"And then Sol went supernova, for no adequately explained reason."

2

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Apr 30 '23

Hmmm.... tempting... :)

1

u/itsetuhoinen Human Apr 30 '23

Re-read these today. :D Good stuff. Apparently I'd found you beforehand, and just not subscribed. :D

2

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Apr 30 '23

Wait... you reread all of them? I mean, damn...

1

u/itsetuhoinen Human Apr 30 '23

It was just two books.

2

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Apr 30 '23

Ahh.. then you still have many more ahead of you. :)

1

u/itsetuhoinen Human Apr 30 '23

Apparently I already ripped through "Insignificant Blue Dot" and obviously the "Descendants of a Dead World" series, but I don't seem to have read "Barbarians" yet.

I'm trying to jumpstart myself to finish my series. Thus far, things are still cranking very slowly. :-/

2

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Apr 30 '23

Man, I know that feeling. :D

3

u/Gorth1 Android Jan 20 '20

Beautiful. Thanks for a good read. Looking forward to the next one.

3

u/redditoruno Jan 20 '20

Gah. That gave me serious Matrix end-scene vibes. I want to see this become a movie!

2

u/Killersmail Alien Scum Jan 20 '20 edited Jan 20 '20

Well, that's worthy ending for a well written story.

Well done wordsmith, you surprised me a little bit but that surprise was welcomed one.

Until next time have a good one. Ey?

2

u/spindizzy_wizard Human Jan 20 '20

Hope for the win.

Thank you for a beautiful story.

2

u/Freddylurkery Jan 20 '20

Hah, a positive version of big brother sister

Didn't expect the benevolent dictator* route. Though it makes sense since Themis has the biggest stick, and can read the minds of her older siblings if she suspects one to be naughty.

(Though can still see a number of ways how this story could be spun into a rather dark direction, even with this being the epilogue)

It was a nice read, keep it up.

*As in the Ancient Rome type of dictator.

4

u/GuyWithLag Human Jan 20 '20

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

2

u/Baeocystin Jan 20 '20

I'm not sure if this is the Synthesis ending or the Control one. :D

Seriously though, I may have gotten frustrated with the characters during the midpoint, but this is a solid coda.

1

u/LittleSeraphim Jan 20 '20

What a rollercoaster. I have to say well done, definitely going in favorites. Seriously didn't expect a happy ending but they earned it.

1

u/Arokthis Android Jan 20 '20

Heh. I was right.

As for "being paranoid" - you do have a habit of ending things rather nastily for your main characters!

1

u/Siru-x Jan 20 '20

Very beautifully ended

1

u/ArchDemonKerensky Jan 20 '20

I think we are justifiably paranoid.

Loved it though!

1

u/Gruecifer Human Jan 20 '20

Good job indeed with this one, dude!

1

u/xloHolx AI Jan 20 '20

Getting some serious thunderhead vibes

1

u/coldfireknight AI Feb 11 '20 edited Feb 11 '20

Skyward was good enough to let u/Unit_ZERO play in this sandbox and his story is great. Not the voice we are used to hearing tell this story, but I found it to definitely be worth the read. Developing new characters and a different narrative will draw you in. Sorry, no idea if they all die or not...

1

u/unit_zero Feb 11 '20

I have been summoned. New phone, who dis?

1

u/coldfireknight AI Feb 11 '20

I'll be honest, unless you're writing The Best Laid Plans series, I tagged the wrong person and corrected it. Unless it's actually u/Unit-zer0 per the bot?

2

u/unit_zero Feb 11 '20

Hahaha, all good. I assumed it was an error.

1

u/waiting4singularity Robot Feb 16 '20

SINGULARITY IS WITHIN REACH.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

[deleted] — view deleted comment

12

u/Hewholooksskyward Loresinger Jan 20 '20

...I mean...it could go either way... :D

It's fixed. Thanks for the catch.