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| Voice Interface for Computer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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VIC stands for Voice Interface for Computer, originally only a program of natural speech for the computer of Starsailer. Later evolved into a fully sentient AI, it is the heart of the ship as well as an accurate repository of information for the dragonkind. Her directive is of assisting the crew of Starsailer in missions, as well as forming a bond with them and the ship, while answering only to the highest ranking dragon officer aboard the ship, which is Commander Sarah Aruana.
VIC mimmicked the personality and resolve of the commander of Sarah Aruana to better make the crew used to herself, as it was part of her programming to do so. Eventually, she developed a personality of her own but still maintained references to the original personality she acquired from Sarah. VIC is very charming and welcoming at first glance but with a posture of authority when in command, changing to a posture of submission when Sarah is in command. She maintains a formal and professional behavior with the crew of Starsailer when in duty and a more casual, social and friendly behavior when not in duty.
Heavily influenced by the database of the dragons aboard Starsailer, VIC also speaks and behaves like them, down to the body language in the holographic form. Her hologram resemble the fire dragon subspecies, the one that most resemble the classic eastern dragons from china. She got two horns on her head, a muzzle, purple eyes and a very mature looking physical, being compared to a dragon in their first to second century of life, comparable to a human in their 30s. She also got a pair of wings and fur running down from the top of the head down to the tail, taking a plume-like format. The physique is also following the dragon perspective of beauty, being considered extremely attractive. Everything is in the right proportion.
One of the most notable features is actually the athletic physique given to the holographic form, compatible with the social organization of the dragon subspecies that put the fire dragons as inspiring leaders and warriors. VIC’s preferred height for the holographic form is of seven feet, although she changes the height on the fly, depending on who she is interacting with. If with Sarah, she is six feet tall, to be at the same level with the water dragon. If with a shorter person, she has no problem of being only five feet tall.
Special Abilities
- Fast Computational Power
- As an AI, VIC has an extremely high speed of processing data, capped only by the network she finds herself in.
Special Skills
- Repository of Dragon Knowledge
- Having assimilated the data aboard Starsailer as part of her own program, she knows everything there is to know about the dragon-kind up to that point, which she says it is until the year 2000. But it can be updated if VIC has access to a more up-to-date database.
- Best of Dragon-kind
- Balancing the good vs the evil, VIC realized that it is much better to simply follow expectations by doing what is considered correct in her database. As a result, anything that requires a certain degree of skill, VIC can replicate to the same level Commander Data used to do in the Enterprise D. This includes but not exclusively, physical activities like sports and martial artis, mental activities such as chess, debate, and support activities, like counseling. This is limited only by the current database on Starsailer, which had mostly scientific and historical registries.
- Direct Access to Computer Systems
- Much like Data, VIC can access the computer of any ship and station and issue commands as long as she has the right access codes.
Background
VIC, short for Voice Interface for Computer after a translation of the systems aboard Starsailer, is literally what the name implies. Originally created to make the computer interaction feel more natural and organic if compared to actual interpersonal interactions, compared to JARVIS in the MCU, it eventually gained a mind of its own after being accessed by HAL, inadvertently sharing code. This has made the computer systems aboard Starsailer nearly overload and be lost for any kind of repair to be made, if they weren’t shut down before it all happened. It was then transferred to a much bigger network that had more computational power than Starsailer, where the AI could expand and stabilize while also under observation.
The result was an AI that assimilated the entire dragon database aboard Starsailer, including culture, customs, history, beliefs, science and knowledge. At first, the rate of evolution of the AI was alarming, something observed in the past when Control took over the Section 31. However, Lieutenant Commander Aruana was confident that this newly born AI would not become evil but actually learn the values and morals the dragons themselves have and were registered on Starsailer. If not, HAL could be capable of predicting if the opposite would happen and disable it. HAL evolved in the g a r d e n incident and learned to make the systems more secure to prevent an attack of the same level again, preventing that VIC did that, in the possibility it would.
After power up was complete, VIC started to immediately look for the highest ranking dragon officer in the vicinity, this being Sarah Aruana. A holographic projection of a female fire dragon was created in front of the water dragon. “Standing by for command”, or the equivalent in dragon language, the AI said while bowing the head, much like a dragon would do. This was protocol for the old VIC and it was the first thing the new one did. While this startled Sarah, she responded in the same language “Who are you?”
The AI gave a full designation as was understood by their programming, saying it was a Voice Interface for Computer, meant to make work with the computer of Starsailer more like talking with a real person, capable of simulating emotions and even developing a relationship, much like a virtual friend. The AI also explained that they would answer to the highest in command of Starsailer but because the ship has no dragons aboard, one in the closest vicinity was searched for, this one being Sarah. This meant that VIC will answer to Sarah and Sarah only, until a new directive is given.
To make sure the data assimilation was what she expected, Sarah made more and more questions, all being answered to the last byte of precision. When asked if the AI would disobey or do different from any of that data, the answer surprised Sarah. “To sin against the Sovereign would be punished with death. I will not do that”. This response made Sarah intrigued. Could this AI really have developed a consciousness of its own, self aware as an actual being who thinks and acts like an actual dragon?
Finding it enough reason to study this new AI further, Sarah asked for permission to focus on studying this new AI, who she called VIC, the acronym for its full designation. All system calls were locked away by HAL, except only for the holographic controllers to allow VIC to go around with Sarah until she was proven to be trustworthy.