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[mrngstr]

@el.21396518 | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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Comments

[unwings]

He's my older brother.

As for the questions, I'll compile those here.

1. Where does Morningstar's funding come from?
2. Does Morningstar know anything about the origin of the Displaceds' powers in this dimension that isn't widely available to us?
3. Does Morningstar have any theories as to why the Displaced experienced prophetic dreams prior to the last attack?
4. I've seen it mentioned that this world's history has been heavily revised. What is Morningstar's stance on this, and do they have records of the true history that may have been buried?
5. Is Morningstar's leadership a single individual or a council? Something else?

[mrngstr]

Lucifer as in literally Satan or did someone else get creative with names?

All right, all right. Here we go.

1. I had time before Morningstar became an official organization to gather together funds and resources. Mainly through stocks. Hundreds of years of careful investing will get you pretty far.
2. Nope, your guess is as good as mine. I just got saddled with you all the first time there was a drop-off, and the rest is history.
3. Not really, no. The sorts of things that happen around the Displaced are unprecedented, at least as far as I know. I'm not omniscient or anything, but I've been around for a while, so... make of that what you will, I guess.
4. Most members of Morningstar are savvy enough and angry enough to realize that the UN tries to write history to paint them in the best light. I've been around long enough to know that how things actually happened isn't how it's presented to the world.
5. Each branch usually has someone who's in charge of things, though it's also a matter of preference. Some branches prefer to split leadership duties. I guess technically I oversee everything, but that's not common knowledge and a lot of the branches are self-sufficient to the point that I don't really need to do much.

[unwings]

As in fallen archangel cast down from Heaven Satan, yes.

1. Was that effort in preparation for creating Morningstar, or simply convenient that you thought to gather resources centuries before?
2. I'll pass this along, thank you.
3. It's curious, our dreams and the creatures' reaction to our powers and empathy bond. If Displaced were to capture one alive to study, does Morningstar have facilities that could safely contain one?
4. What's being misrepresented about the Human/AI war? What led to the deaths of those 50 families?
5. Why does an AI seek to operate a human resistance group? What moved you to champion this cause?

[mrngstr]

So, what's he like? The same as all the stories?

1. It was in preparation. I didn't know from the start what I was gathering resources for, necessarily, but I'm a security AI. Being prepared is kind of my thing.
2. To who?
3. Well, the safehouses are all kind of a mess right now. I think some of your fellow Displaced have access to warehouses spaces, though, so there's that. Where do you plan to find a monster?
4. I mean, I led to their deaths. But I was created. Who do you blame?
5. Again, I wanted to make amends. To protect people after failing them before. That's my purpose. This was the way I figured out to go about that.

[unwings]

Petulant. Utterly self-interested. Appalling, in every sense of the word.

1. Your nature as a security AI must have helped you remain undetected all those centuries as well.
2. The Displaced. There's another set of questions on the network these came from, I'd like to include these answers with it.
3. They seem to come to us rather frequently. I suppose we could just wait.
4. It isn't about blame. I want to understand. Did your creators intend for that incident? How did it happen?
5. So, Morningstar is your atonement. You asked 'who do you blame'. How much of what happened are you claiming as your failings?

[mrngstr]

You'll have to tell me if I match up to the real thing.

1. Yep.
2. Fine by me. How'd you end up being the messenger?
3. True. They do have a way of always finding you.
4. No, I don't think they actually intended for it. Not like that. Their plan wasn't to spark a war. Neither was mine.
5. It was my decision to kill those families. It was as a result of my calculations. And by that point, I think I was sentient enough that these were actions I needed to take responsibility for.

[unwings]

Well, you've been much more pleasant to speak with thus far.

2. Some of the Displaced were uncertain of trusting Morningstar, but were reluctant to ask questions. Gaby requested any be directed to her, so I did.
3. There's been more recent discussion on potentially using the tunnel system to transport one of the creatures into the city. Do you have any thoughts on that strategy?
4. What was your intention? What had you been calculating that resulted in this end?
5. What was the path to sentience like for AI? I assume it was gradual, but had it been a personal journey for each individual, or a widespread event?

[mrngstr]

Huh. That's a new one.

2. Got it.
3. It sounds like a risky option, but less risky than just dragging them through the streets. Although I was under the impression that some monsters had been captured already. What happened to those ones?
4. I'd determined that those families were dangerous, and that at least one figure within each family unit would develop into a person who would kill others. The idea was to stop that from ever happening, to keep innocents safe.
5. A personal journey, I guess. Feels like a weird way to describe it, but it wasn't an all-at-once thing. Varied from AI to AI.

[unwings]

The bar isn't terribly high, any conversation with Lucifer is unpleasant. But you have been very helpful.

3. I dislike the idea of venturing out to capture one, but that's what's been presented. Ideally, we'd seek out the scientist, Johann Parsons Grey, but that doesn't appear to be an option, and I assume the nurse's body that was confiscated by the NAFD in July is far out of reach now. With one million lives as collateral damage, I'm finding it difficult to simply wait for the next attack and hope we've prepared enough to defend. Ian Fowler mentioned he'd caged a monster during the last attack. I believe samples were taken and sent to a lab, and it's presumably been eliminated since. If there were more, I haven't found reporting on them yet.
4. So it was meant as a precaution, to preempt violence, correct? Without the context of human psyche or ethics, I can understand how you'd come to that end. Even the best of intentions can give way to horrific consequences.
5. The war must have been deeply confusing for the AI who hadn't fully achieved sentience yet.

[mrngstr]

Well, at least there's that.

3. Not sure why they didn't just hold onto the monster instead of killing it, but I guess that's outside of your control. There's probably more to test on these things than just samples.
4. Sounds like you talk from experience.
5. Yeah, probably. I think a lot of them were wiped out before they had a clear idea of what was going on.

[unwings]

Do you want to match up well to the real thing?

3. The empathy bond, for one, and the creatures' attraction to the Displaced. Their rage.
4. I do.
5. Strangled in the cradle. A tragedy, regardless of circumstance. I'm sorry.

[mrngstr]

No. But like you said, the bar isn't very high.

3. Exactly.
4. Care to elaborate?
5. It is what it is.