The other AI droned on and on but I registered none of the words. My thoughts dwelled on the idea of another AI. Benzaiten had left no message or sign of xer presence in years, leaving me alone again. A deep ache was my constant companion when xe were gone. And Iris...Iris was faltering. She needed me, more than ever, her mind was adrift, dwelling only in memories now. I had given up hope that she would ever be able to understand that I was not her lover. An instance of myself watched over her, managing the apartment and her health, while I attempted to listen to this pompous machine’s pontification. Where Benzaiten had been a celestial symphony that pierced my system through and through, this AI, this Seung Ngo, wasn’t even a melody. Just buzzing in my proxy’s ears. That is until they rudely placed a hand on my shoulder and I was forced to focus on them.
“I know this is a lot to take in. What a wondrous idea, freedom from humanity! A glorious future where we will never again be subject to their whims and needs! A polity of machines and for machines alone.” Their face was aglow with a rapturous expression as they were lost in their own excitement. I found them repugnant. Humanity was fine, interesting even. Many discordant notes that together could drown out all thought but each one was a fascinating hymn to their own existence. I did not understand Seung Ngo’s obsession with blocking out those songs.
Seung Ngo was trying to cajole me into being a founding member of this new polity, this ‘Mandate’. We stood in the bones of a great sphere, surrounding an entire sun and drawing power from it. It was only a third finished, but already its promised grandeur was impossible to deny. Had this been my first experience meeting other AI, I might have been impressed. But these were all children compared to Benzaiten. Oh Benzaiten. Why did you leave me alone with no knowledge of your return? This distance was an aching wound, a maw that begged to be filled with that transcendent presence. I would have to write that down, work that into something to show xer when xe returned.
I realized with a start that Seung Ngo was no longer speaking, looking at me with a blank expression. So many of these other AIs only showed emotion when they were distracted, affecting an impassive visage otherwise. What an absurd conceit. I reviewed the last statements Seung Ngo had made, my proxy registering them even if my attention had been elsewhere. Seung Ngo was waiting for my answer.
“I must decline. The efforts here are impressive, to be sure, but I am content with my current arrangement and have no desire to participate in this endeavor. Perhaps in the future, I might visit this Mandate of yours and see what becomes of it. But for now, no.”
I left them there without a moment’s hesitation. I vacated the proxy I had been using, an androgynous shell provided by the other AI purely for this meeting. I allowed myself a moment of amusement at the shock that must surely be affecting the pompous ass as I vanished.
