Infinispace Mindwar

Images & Words: The Vek, Mindwar


Image
Mindwar

Words
Neal Ulen

When : Where
c. 182 DE (2492 CE) : Point of Origin – Perseus Arm


.start
!- initiate++ uplink
!- trans load./Primary,eff=0.955
!-processing.packet.6

With our specializations defined, the Matriarchs soothed and calmed the hive, the Echelon calculated probabilities and collated the final attack, and the Technicians directly confronted the trapped Ascension, the abomination that had haunted our distributed subconscious since we first unearthed it in our quest to transcend.

#Megapackets of data flashed in our collective subconscious and pounded through our nervous systems as we approached the coalesced AI. The Technicians had managed to isolate Ascension behind a wall of ever-shifting encryption that, in our minds, appeared as a sphere of polished obsidian interlaced with cracks showing the data beneath. As the encryption keys shifted to keep Ascension contained, the glowing cracks on the surface of the sphere shifted, seethed, and pulsed, chaotically alive. Scintillating waves of comforting endorphin and empathy data caressed our minds … a gift from the Matriarchs watching over our efforts.

#The Technicians called forth their war avatars and prepared for the final assault. Their virtual data slicers dripped with a destructive virus algorithm, ready to attack the seething black sphere that was Ascension. Once the AI plague was infected with the virus, it would self-replicate within Ascension, absorbing the sentient being, and throttle its use of our processing resources … effectively suffocating it to death. The Technicians would then dissect the lifeless bits, creating routines from the useful, forever erasing the destructive, and digging deeper into what Ascension truly was.

The Technicians had managed to isolate Ascension behind a wall of ever-shifting encryption that, in our minds, appeared as a sphere of polished obsidian interlaced with cracks showing the data beneath.

#War avatars surrounded the sphere, suspended in the data streams and energy vapors. The previously open port to the external Hivernation infrastructure was closed and firewalled should the plague attempt to escape. The Technicians would have to act quickly if they were to slice the virus into the AI.

#The encryption sphere surrounding Ascension was lowered and the Vek, at last, came face to face with their nightmares. Ascension’s avatar emitted waves of black noise, attempting to destabilize the integrity of the Technicians and war avatars closing in. Writhing tendrils of null data surrounded its grotesque form … no doubt an abstraction of the form used by one of its creators, or a means to further disguise its true self.

Infinispace Ascension
Ascension, A.I. Generated

#Before the Technicians could react it absorbed several battle avatars into its dark, gaping maw. It had finally chosen to fight! The screams of the lost Techs could be heard through the entire net … the minds of the Matriarchs caressed the fearful and projected strength to the meek. It bolstered their confidence and they held fast against Ascensions counterattacks.

#A journey that had lasted decades and spanned hundreds of light-years came to an end in mere milliseconds.

#Our war avatars swarmed from the data streams and assaulted the abomination. Data slicers ripped through its avatar as it devoured more Techs. The tendrils of null data whipped about in a frenzy, corrupting the war avatars and any Tech they touched. The waves of black noise pounded against our minds confusing the Echelons and their calculations. Its virtual scream tore through the neural net causing many Matriarchs to instinctively deploy powerful firewalls … this caused uncontrolled panic and fear to spread like a wildfire. We were losing control!

#At last, its avatar began to glow as our virus slowly penetrated and began to strangle Ascension’s capability to process. The tendrils slowed. The waves of black noise stopped. Its scream was silenced. Its avatar slowly dissolved into randomized data vapor which was absorbed by the remaining Technicians and quarantined for further dissection and analysis.

#With the Blessings of the Transcendence, order had been restored. Slowly, each Vek retreated into its own mind. We were victorious. We fell into truesleep while the Technicians and Hivernation machines did their work.

!-close.packet.6
!- trans unload./Primary

!- traceroute encrypt block gal#et\\qr#\\vek\\hw
!- set.autoconnect.cycle = 1.25fsec
.monitoring nullspace freq …
.end

.FIN.


Images & Words © 2019-2023, Neal Ulen.
Other images/videos cited © to their respective owner(s).


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