Synthesis - James Swallow [65]
And now his starship was in the same place, and here he was plotting ways to undo that. Do I have the right? No matter how this came to pass, do I have the right to end it? For an uncomfortable second, he found himself thinking of his wife and the fraught pregnancy that had almost cost her life. A similar choice had been laid before them both then, a choice to halt a new life before it had the chance to form fully. He blinked and looked away, aware of Deanna’s passing glance on him.
“You have both been ‘uplifted,’ ” Tuvok was saying to Torvig. “An intriguing assertion.”
“It’s likely that was how the SecondGen came into existence,” said Melora. “The FirstGen built them as improved versions of themselves, gave them the ability to achieve a state of sentience.”
Vale snorted softly. “Like parents and their children.”
“And maybe, with all of the same behavior patterns. The tensions, fears, the hopes,” said Deanna.
“You think White-Blue did what it did because of Daddy issues?”
Troi glanced at Riker’s first officer. “It’s possible. You mentioned Lore. He was driven by the needs to appease and eclipse his creator. Perhaps consciousness follows the same psychological patterns, no matter if it springs from silicon or flesh.”
“Lore was a liar and a killer,” Riker stated. “He’s not a good example.”
“Even the names they use for themselves—FirstGen, SecondGen, the colors and numbers—all of these things have a meaning for the AIs.” His wife paused. “They call their kind the Sentries, which implies some kind of guardianship, a duty.”
“A sentry stands guard against a danger,” said Tuvok. “Logically, we can conclude that danger may be this unknown ‘Null.’ ”
“But what does a sentry protect?” added Deanna.
Riker pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “All of this is getting us off track. Melora is right, the damage has been done—but all the same, I want to see if there’s any way we can reverse it.”
“Any such attempt will likely cause the obliteration of the Titan’s new neural configuration,” said Tuvok. “We may be able to reinstate the original data structure, but the nascent intelligence there would be erased.”
“Find a better way,” he ordered, meaning every word. “If you can.”
“And if there isn’t one?” Vale challenged.
“We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it,” he replied. “In the meantime, what about the more immediate problems?”
“The repairs are proceeding ahead of schedule,” Torvig offered. “White-Blue’s assistance has been invaluable.”
“The sooner we’re done, the sooner we can leave.” Vale nodded to herself.
“We do have another pressing need, though,” said Melora. “The deuterium tanks are patched, but we need to refill them. The amount of raw slush we lost during the venting was substantial.” She looked to Torvig for confirmation, and the ensign nodded vigorously.
“The Sentry known as One-Five has offered to bring in a tanker drone from one of their refinery platforms,” Tuvok explained. “There is a Class-P world in the next orbital zone rich in hydrogen ice. It will be more than adequate to replenish our stocks.”
“But they won’t let us go get it ourselves,” said Vale. “We’ve got to be spoon-fed.”
Riker shook his head. Too many variables were coming together at once, and one more outside his control was not what he needed right now. He looked across the La Rocca’s cabin to the Vulcan. “Tuvok, I want you to assemble a team to go out and supervise the