~ 30 years after the events of Devil's Game

43 years since Ascension

Armistice ends in 957 years

 

Amara raised her sword at an angle with a graceful - at least, it probably was in her own opinion - sidestep and turned her body. A fraction of a moment later, her opponent stuck her sword heavily, making her arms shake as she struggled to absorb the blow without relying on divine power to strengthen herself. 

When her opponent determined that the blow it had just attempted to deal her was met with too great resistance, it withdrew its sword. In the short pause that her sparring partner was computing its next move - a moment that only lasted a fraction of a second  - a bitter smile spread on Amara’s face. Still too predictable. And sixty percent is really too slow. 

Amara suppressed a sigh as she spun around when stepping aside once again, perfectly dodging the thrust that was so quick no human from Earth would have had time to react to it. “iDiot, change SlaughterBot’s fighting profile to ninety-eight.”

Her opponent halted sharply as her command was being processed, and shortly after a robotic, female voice replied from the corner of the room. “Fighting profile ninetyeight set. Speed has been set to ninety percent. Force has been set to eighty percent.”

Amara smiled as the two meter tall bot turned to face her. Let’s dance!

For the following minute Amara was gradually forced back as SlaughterBot’s relentless assault was fast enough for Amara to break out in a sweat. SlaughterBot had a large preference for thrusting rather than slashing or cutting, since it forced Amara to move more. It often left SlaughterBot open to attacks, but since Amara was merely defending it didn’t matter. SlaughterBot didn’t even have coding to consider whether or not it was vulnerable.

It wasn’t until Amara miscalculated how quickly she needed to dodge one of the thrusts that SlaughterBot managed to draw blood. With a large rip across her side, Amara leaped across the room and panted as she came to a stop, drenched in sweat. 

I guess that’s enough for now. Divine Regeneration! Amara watched as SlaughterBot began its noisy trek across the room as she called out. “iDiot! Stop SlaughterBot!” 

SlaughterBot continued its advance towards her when the robotic voice replied. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t understand that. You’re slurring like a drunk!” 

Amara frowned as she called out again, keeping her eyes fixed on SlaughterBot. “Master override, stop all processes!!” 

“I’m sorry, are you talking to me? You talk to yourself too much for me to be able to tell. That reminds me, your level of insanity is yet to be diagno-” (iDiot)

You stupid…. “iDIOT!!” Amara called out in frustration as she started running around the room in circles to avoid the robot that was chasing her. “MASTER OVERRIDE! STOP ALL PROCESSES!”  

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t understand that. Mistress Fluffles, Amara seems to need more practice with her tongue; please keep your nights free for the next month!” (iDiot)

Amara’s lips twisted in displeasure as she jogged. Really, I spent too much time on those custom replies. Even if it's fun. 

But maybe she would be smart enough to know what the hell I’m telling her if I had spent my time differently.

Amara kept jogging around the room to lure SlaughterBot to her before conjuring a portal. Stepping through, she emerged on the opposite side, next to the table where she had left her laptop. A quick glance at SlaughterBot confirmed that it had stopped, unsure how to continue as it lost sight of her. 

Amara let out a long sigh of relief after typing in the stop command on the laptop, which made SlaugtherBot stop in its tracks. For a time, Amara stood glancing between the laptop and SlaughterBot before she let out a dejected sigh and headed out of the room. 

 

After a long, relaxing bath to get rid of all the sweat, Amara let out a long sigh as she sat down in front of the laptop, placing a hand over her forehead. iDiot is too stupid. 

She doesn’t recognize a command just because…what? SlaughterBot was too noisy, resulting in too much background noise? My voice was higher pitched than usual? 

Nor did she recognize a command without getting her name told before it. 

When Amara began sharing Earth’s knowledge to her and Ezme’s domain, it quickly became apparent that she needed proper understanding of some of that knowledge. At least, when it came to things related to engineering, since she was heavily dependent on the mortals being able to create the items she needed them to. The printer used to communicate and send the knowledge was a prime example. 

If the industrial revolution had brought changes too quickly for society to keep up on Earth, then it was even worse for the mortals in her domain, who were speedrunning through it with Amara’s guidance. The industrial revolution was in full swing, with new inventions made every year. Cars were already a thing, and the academy on Teyrin were already in the process of creating their first computers.  

There were simply too many inventions being made, as there wasn’t enough resources and manpower to manufacture them to meet the demand. And another problem was the method of using the new inventions - many of which to some degree relied on mana to function. The problem was partially solved by the increased access to mana-batteries, which the dwarves had become experts at making and improving. 

Since Amara needed a deep understanding of subjects like engineering to help them out, she had been given a great excuse to realize one of her dreams; creating artificial intelligence and robots. 

Though, her progress towards reaching her goal had stagnated. Snatching computers with coding and robots from companies and military facilities had helped her immensely, but she was facing the same problem as they were. 

Artificial intelligences were not, despite what the term suggested, intelligent. Her latest spar with SlaughterBot was proof enough. 

For SlaughterBots to be feasible enough to use in actual war against the demons, they need to be…self-aware. Knowing what their purpose is, and drawing conclusions based on that.

No amount of machine learning is going to make that happen. SlaughterBots won’t be able to actively tell friend from foe. Especially not if iDiot, which is more advanced, is unable to tell when she is given a command or not.

After staring blankly at iDiot’s coding for half an hour, Amara let out a groan and banged her head against the table. 

This is hopeless.

[Ding-dong!]

Ah. Amara raised her head to glance at the clock on the screen. Right, Morpheus was coming by today.

“Champion, you’re looking glum today.” Morpheus commented as soon as he entered. 

A bitter smile spread on Amara’s face as she raised her hand in greeting. “SlaughterBot and iDiot are too stupid. I need them to be smarter.”

Morpheus cocked his head. “You mean the golem?”

It’s not a golem, it's a robot. Amara retorted internally, knowing it would make little difference if she voiced it out loud. At first she tried to make a distinction between the two, but after reading up on what golems were - artificial constructs made by magicians with a fixed set of commands - she couldn’t really argue about the difference. From the outside, they were the same. 

Amara nodded as she got up from the sofa and waved at Morpheus to follow her into the kitchen. “I just don’t know what to do. I need them to be able to think. Be self-aware. Or at least close to it.”

Morpheus gave a friendly smile. “I believe you mean sentient. Which would be impossible.”

Amara shrugged. “I hate to say it, but I might have to agree at this point. I’ve spent ten years working on iDiot, and she hasn’t gotten much smarter in the last eight. She is capable of doing more, but…not better.” Amara let out a sigh as she started preparing the coffee. As she did, she glanced at Morpheus curiously. “So why do you think it's impossible?”

“You’re asking for the golem to be sentient.” Morpheus replied. “Which requires a sentient soul. And creating a golem with instincts that are complex enough to house such a soul is impossible.”

Amara frowned as she realized the implication. “So if I somehow managed to succeed, it would have a soul?”

“It already does.” Morpheus replied. “Just not a sentient one.”

As Amara stared at him in shock, Morpheus smiled as he elaborated. “Souls are everywhere. Even a lifeless rock has a soul. The difference is that those souls are…weak. For instance, if whatever the soul is possessing splits, so does the soul. It doesn’t have…unity, I suppose. You can think of it like how your body is made of small building blocks, who join together to form ‘you’. Souls are similar, with the smaller building blocks getting replaced with time.”

Amara frowned as she thought. So…a soul is comparable to a body, which is made up of cells that are also souls? 

Morpheus scratched his head as he contemplated while the scent of freshly brewed coffee grew stronger. “Souls migrate all the time as well, and with each…possession they grow. Once they reach the stage that they are possessing organic life is when we actually start considering them as souls. The non-sentient kind.” 

Amara raised an eyebrow. “What do you angels consider sentience to begin with?”

“Ah, a curious question!” Morpheus replied with a large smile. “A soul has instincts. Like animals that are startled and run away merely from hearing a loud sound. Sentient souls have reached the stage where they are capable of going against those instincts if they choose.” 

“But there are a lot of animals that have been domesticated by humans. Or other races.” Amara protested. “Aren’t they going against their instincts?”

Morpheus shook his head. “They are merely learning new instincts. Having their instincts changed from viewing the tamers as something dangerous to something that is not. It is not as if they allow themselves to be domesticated from the start, are they? Upon meeting a demon, you would not walk up to it hoping to be friends.”

True, I suppose. Amara poured up coffee for them before heading back to the living room. “What about monsters? Or demons?”

“Monsters…are what we call semi-sentient. They are intelligent and self-aware, but they are ultimately slaves to their instincts.” Morpheus paused as his smile faded. “We’re not entirely sure about demons. They…are perhaps best described as sentient souls that have returned to the stage of monsters. Their instincts lead them to fight, and they never go against it. Despite clearly possessing the intelligence to go against their instincts should they want to. As if something is preventing them from doing that.”

“Ezme once described whatever is driving the demons as a curse.” Amara commented as she sank down in her seat inside the living room, throwing her feet up on the table next to her laptop.

“A fitting description, considering how little we know.” Morpheus replied with a shrug as he sat down opposite to her. 

Amara twisted her lips as she spoke thoughtfully. “Couldn’t Tom find out? He’s a god, after all. Seems to me like you could just…kidnap a few demons and study them. Find out what’s wrong with them.”

“It has been done.” Morpheus smiled at her sadly. “Whatever it is, our Father and Sophelia have concluded there is nothing to be done. I suspect whatever is affecting them is related to the soulstones.”

Amara frowned. “Soulstones?” 

Morpheus cocked his head in confusion. “Ezme hasn’t told you?”

When Amara shook her head, Morpheus let out a sigh. “Long ago, when the war between the gods was in its infancy, our Father created soulstones. Sentient souls that are looking for their next body to inhabit can be lured into the soulstones. Once trapped inside, a soulstone can be split.”

Amara’s expression darkened. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“I know it doesn’t sound like something done with good intentions, but I assure you that it is.” Morpheus insisted before continuing. “Once a soul stone is split, one of the two parts can be shattered to free the part of the soul within it. Sentient souls always attempt to stay whole, and thus will try to return to its other half. But if the free part can not join the part that is trapped, it will be forced to find another body to inhabit.” 

Morpheus raised his hand as Amara’s face contorted in anger. “Please, don’t misunderstand. By doing this, we can ensure that souls do not leave the world they were previously born on. In other words, we ensure that the souls do not wander and inhabit bodies in dangerous territory - such as the demonic domain, where they would be subjected to…whatever it is demons have been subjected to.”  

Amara snarled in anger. “But the souls are split. Are you telling me that it’s without side effects?”

“The effect is minimal, I assure you.” Morpheus insisted. “At most, a small part of your memories and personality is missing. Probably not enough to notice.”

Amara was silent for a while as she stared at the angel. “Do I have a soulstone?”

Morpheus tilted his head as he returned her gaze. “Of course. So do I. All of us do, for our own safety.”

Amara felt chilled to her core at the revelation, and blurted out without thinking twice. “Where is my soulstone?” 

“Well…” Morpheus scratched his head. “Mortal soulstones are kept in vaults on their respective homeworlds. However, yours was probably moved to the same vault that ours are housed in when you were chosen as champion. It’s somewhere here in the silver city.”

An awkward silence fell inside the room as Amara thought. Note to self; if I ever try to kidnap Fluffles and escape, I’ll need to get our soulstones. Can’t leave those in the hands of asshats like Tom or Alarice. 

Actually, I don’t want anyone to have their hands on them.

“Champion, your thoughts are showing.” (Morpheus)

Amara blinked as she focused her eyes on the angel. “What do you mean?”

“You’re thinking about stealing your soulstone, aren’t you?” Morpheus chuckled with amusement. “It took me a long time after I found out to come to terms with that it was actually in our best interest as well, so it is not like I don’t understand. But I would recommend against acting on impulse. Nobody is allowed in the vaults except for Sophelia or our Father, and they do not take kindly to those who seek to intrude in the soul vault. Not to mention, it is your soulstone that is going to be handed over if you lose your battle with the demon lord. They will be keeping a close eye on it.”

Amara snorted as her mood plummeted. Well, shit. 

The more I learn about Tom and the angels, the less I approve. Even if there is a chance that Morpheus is right in that it is done in our best interest. 

After brooding for several minutes, Amara glanced at the angel who was watching her worriedly. Deciding that she could think about the matter of soulstones later, Amara let out a sigh and decided to change the subject. 

Amara gestured towards the laptop on the table. “Anyway, you’re saying that iDiot has a soul?”

“Yes. Without a doubt.” Morpheus nodded, a smile spreading on his face as the mood changed. “Though, I can’t tell whether it can be considered the lowest-ranked souls or not. Probably a collection of such souls. While it may have some complex instinct, a golem is not even self-aware.”

Amara looked at the screen that was still showing the coding for iDiot. “But if it somehow became…sentient, would that mean it also had a sentient soul?”

“That would be an accurate conclusion, yes.” Morpheus nodded. “Though as I said, a complex enough body for sentient souls can not be artificially made. Souls look for a body to inhabit which can support it and help it grow. This is why sentient souls inhabit bodies of sentient races. They are simply too large to possess a body that is lower on the evolutionary ladder.”

Morpheus gestured at the laptop. “In the case of golems, magicians construct the commands required for whatever tasks the golem is meant to perform, which is…best described as the thought patterns of the golem. But while those patterns are complex, they are too few to support a soul which is sentient.”

Amara twisted her lips in displeasure. “So to make it sentient, I’d need it to have enough complex logic patterns?”

“Yes…but it’s impossible.” Morpheus cocked his head. “Think about the commands you have enchanted your golem with. If you were a soul, looking to inhabit the golem, would you want to possess it? You would not be capable of thinking beyond the enchantments set on the golem, because enchantments to support such thoughts don’t exist. Nor is there anything that can build new enchantments as required as the soul grows.”

A wry smile spread on Amara’s face as Morpheus drank from his cup. “I guess it doesn’t sound like a pleasant home. More like a prison.”

“Indeed.” Morpheus shrugged with a smile. “The amount of enchantments required to make a golem sentient are simply too many. The enchantments any item can hold can generally be counted on your fingers, while the amount required to house a sentient soul would be…thousands. Millions.” Morpheus scratched his cheek as he thought. “There is no way to tell how many would be required. But it still would not be able to grow more, which is…perhaps not a direct requirement, but still something souls likely look for.”

Amara sipped on her coffee as she fell deep into thought while looking at iDiot’s coding, her smile hidden behind the cup. But I’m not using enchantments. Just coding. 

So theoretically, it should be possible as long as coding can achieve the same as enchantments. And a computer can hold far more coding than a magical item can hold enchantments. The coding just has to be…complex enough.

The only question is, how?