[video] i am not synthetica

[a_shadow]

[ Those who know Tex have probably noticed she's been gone for some time, and that she didn't participate in the last round of missions. Before she left, she was often to be found in the training rooms and workout facilities, even though she doesn't have any muscles to work out and can't gain any strength. Tex gains satisfaction in life from being sharp and a good fighter and even though most of her abilities require her systems to be in good working order and calculating her opponents' moves, she likes to stay in practice.

But not long ago, researching the UP and the government's role in the Legion, she discovered something that she felt required more personal investigation. This situation is the conflict between Colu and Robotica, and how the former world attempted to block the latter from being accepted to the UP. In fact, she was intrigued when she learned how the UP in general treats citizens of Robotica, because she herself could easily be considered a similar lifeform.

It's the things she learned on this trip, as well as the changes the Legion has gone through in her absence, that have led her to decide to make this post. Tex isn't typically one to engage the video function, but that's what she chooses to do this time. She sets the omnicon on a desk in her quarters and stands across from it to film herself. ]

This is Lonestar and I just got back from a pretty informative trip. I know I left pretty suddenly, and I'm sorry I missed the last round of missions, but getting back and learning about the stuff you all accomplished, I'm just thinking about what might be done about what I learned.

I don't know if you're familiar with the planet called Colu, but they pretty much consider themselves to be the smartest and the best in the whole galaxy. They think they're so great, but the interesting thing is they can't stand the possibility that mechanical sentience might be rising on other planets. In fact, they went out and tried to stop this from happening on a planet called Robotica. Robotica got into the UP through the Legion's intervention, eventually, but Colu has attacked them even since that happened.

Now I don't want to be too presumptuous, and I don't want to question the way we run this organization, but I'm wondering—why would we support Robotica getting into the UP and not sanction Colu for treating them the way they have? It's not like we're not willing to help arrest corrupt politicians when we see the crap they cause going on. In fact, from what I've learned, Colu is essentially responsible for attempted genocide of the life on Robotica. That was a long time ago, yeah, but people on Colu live so long some of the ones who tried it are still around.

And yeah, before someone says it, I have a bias. That doesn't mean I can't see this garbage for what it is.

Comments

[googledox]

My species found machine life a threat for two reasons. The first reason was due to my people's past mistreatment at the hands of the Computer Tyrants: my people's first -- failed -- attempt at creating artificial life. The Computer Tyrants deemed themselves superior to organic life, rose up against their masters, and took over Colu in an oppressive regime that killed countless sentients and led to the brutal enslavement of the entire Coluan race.

Even when they were defeated in a rebellion led by one of my ancestors, the Computer Tyrants caused further damage to my species by engaging in the widespread deletion of data and historical records. To this day, Colu hasn't recovered the entirety of its history and culture, though archaeology and data-archaeology have led to promising reclamation of small portions of what was lost.

My people were only freed within the last thousand years, which is a short time for a long-lived species, so they still hold a deep and abiding distrust and loathing for machine life. They refuse to acknowledge that the Roboticans are an entirely different species variant of machine intelligence and cling to their hatred.

The second reason is sheer pettiness. Colu's place in the galaxy as a broker of technology and scientific progress, which my species holds as its source of greatest worth, is only secure if Coluans can continue laying claim to being the most intelligent sentient beings in the galaxy. Machine life is a threat to that; my people don't want to acknowledge that they have been surpassed and made obsolete.

[tenzero]

Ah. That's...that's certainly a reason. Quite different from my own home, but I see. There's motive, yes, but I'm still quite uncomfortable with the idea of innocent machinations being targeted for centuries old grudges.

[That never ends well.]

[googledox]

My people are extremely prideful and...

[He makes an uncomfortable noise in the back of his throat, that maybe sounds like shame. It's not shame, but it sounds like it.]

...quite frequently unpleasant.

[tenzero]

I...understand that too.

[Perhaps a bit more than he'd like to.]

Unfortunately pride usually becomes a downfall.