comatose and refuse to respond to anyone, or she could kill the crew and the ship in any number of ways. No matter how she would react, it would be a nightmare," I replied.
"Why did you proceed with installation if this was a possibility?" Admiral H'sten of the 43rd Task Group asked.
Ced answered this time, "None of us saw this as even possible then. We did test the system in multiple ways to ensure function, and the AI units are shielded and shock resistant. I dare say, the crystal unit vaults are one of the most heavily armored parts of a ship. Now that we know more, we are bringing it to your attention so we can get the problem corrected as quickly as possible. We need these AI units. The last battle here showed how valuable these units will be to our ships and crews."
"What affect will this have on the medical version of the biocytes?" Matriarch Andress asked. Andress was Alyessa's daughter who had been elected to take her mother's place as Clan Therinate Matriarch.
"None, actually. Mostly because the biocytes don't use an AI. They can still develop a flaw, but in their case it only means they become non-functional and are simply purged. Only the crystals that will be, or currently are, using AI code are effected," I replied.
"This could be potentially disastrous to a warship. What precautions should we take until you get this issue corrected?" Vance asked. I could tell he wasn't happy, but he seemed to understand the situation.
“At present, none. We need to investigate and identify any and all potential threats to the processor crystals. That’s the reason for the experiments we want to run.
“Currently, all installed AI systems are working flawlessly. Each of the Engineers responsible for the systems knows how to shut them down in an emergency. There is no grounds for anything more than preparation.
“Rest assured that both my department as well as Dr. Ced’s teams and everyone else involved will be working on this issue to the exclusion of everything else. As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began taking steps to identify and correct it; the first of which was to inform all of you. As of this moment, this is our only priority,” I finished and took my seat.
Vance nodded and stood. "Gentlemen, please keep me informed of your progress on this. Now, moving on, we have a lot more to discuss. As you have all heard by now, Sol system is to become a major Alliance military and research base. We have been authorized to expand our facilities to include everything from capitol class shipyards to Marine and fighter pilot training academies and that's just the military part of this. We have also been authorized to bring Earth into the Alliance as a full member," he nodded to the new Ambassador. "But we will also be expanding our research areas as well."
"Sir, I'm very sorry to interrupt, but before any other plan gets put in place for them, I would like to put forth a motion that one of the planets in the Centauri System be reserved for the Shallan people," I said. Instead of being irritated with being interrupted, Vance looked curious.
"Not that it isn't a good idea, but I'd like hear your reasons, since the Shallans already have two planets at Galtar," Vance asked.
I nodded. "With respect, Sir, both of those worlds are infested with Aracs. To date, we have no way of clearing out that level of infestation. If they agree, I would suggest we try to relocate as many of the clans as possible, once we rescue them from the Synod, as well as the infesting hives. Giving them another option just seems like the right thing to do, and those worlds are the only uninhabited worlds we have at the moment."
Matriarch Andress got out of her chair and walked around the table to me. When I moved back to see what she wanted, she climbed into my lap and gave me a hug. She had tears in her eyes as she did so. "Thank you, Lord Cowan. Until we came here, no one has ever helped us as much as this group has. Until now, we
"Why did you proceed with installation if this was a possibility?" Admiral H'sten of the 43rd Task Group asked.
Ced answered this time, "None of us saw this as even possible then. We did test the system in multiple ways to ensure function, and the AI units are shielded and shock resistant. I dare say, the crystal unit vaults are one of the most heavily armored parts of a ship. Now that we know more, we are bringing it to your attention so we can get the problem corrected as quickly as possible. We need these AI units. The last battle here showed how valuable these units will be to our ships and crews."
"What affect will this have on the medical version of the biocytes?" Matriarch Andress asked. Andress was Alyessa's daughter who had been elected to take her mother's place as Clan Therinate Matriarch.
"None, actually. Mostly because the biocytes don't use an AI. They can still develop a flaw, but in their case it only means they become non-functional and are simply purged. Only the crystals that will be, or currently are, using AI code are effected," I replied.
"This could be potentially disastrous to a warship. What precautions should we take until you get this issue corrected?" Vance asked. I could tell he wasn't happy, but he seemed to understand the situation.
“At present, none. We need to investigate and identify any and all potential threats to the processor crystals. That’s the reason for the experiments we want to run.
“Currently, all installed AI systems are working flawlessly. Each of the Engineers responsible for the systems knows how to shut them down in an emergency. There is no grounds for anything more than preparation.
“Rest assured that both my department as well as Dr. Ced’s teams and everyone else involved will be working on this issue to the exclusion of everything else. As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began taking steps to identify and correct it; the first of which was to inform all of you. As of this moment, this is our only priority,” I finished and took my seat.
Vance nodded and stood. "Gentlemen, please keep me informed of your progress on this. Now, moving on, we have a lot more to discuss. As you have all heard by now, Sol system is to become a major Alliance military and research base. We have been authorized to expand our facilities to include everything from capitol class shipyards to Marine and fighter pilot training academies and that's just the military part of this. We have also been authorized to bring Earth into the Alliance as a full member," he nodded to the new Ambassador. "But we will also be expanding our research areas as well."
"Sir, I'm very sorry to interrupt, but before any other plan gets put in place for them, I would like to put forth a motion that one of the planets in the Centauri System be reserved for the Shallan people," I said. Instead of being irritated with being interrupted, Vance looked curious.
"Not that it isn't a good idea, but I'd like hear your reasons, since the Shallans already have two planets at Galtar," Vance asked.
I nodded. "With respect, Sir, both of those worlds are infested with Aracs. To date, we have no way of clearing out that level of infestation. If they agree, I would suggest we try to relocate as many of the clans as possible, once we rescue them from the Synod, as well as the infesting hives. Giving them another option just seems like the right thing to do, and those worlds are the only uninhabited worlds we have at the moment."
Matriarch Andress got out of her chair and walked around the table to me. When I moved back to see what she wanted, she climbed into my lap and gave me a hug. She had tears in her eyes as she did so. "Thank you, Lord Cowan. Until we came here, no one has ever helped us as much as this group has. Until now, we
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