212 Amusments and Diversions (1/2)
In front of me, my eyes lazily followed the motions of my two creations: the drone and the praereptor demon who possessed it. I wasn't really paying attention to them either, but I was glad they were having fun. My mind was elsewhere. In a more... immaterial place than here. My attention was focused inward, on the conversation I was having with one of the many conceptual entities who lived within me.
”Being able to create creatures like that freely... What a power to gain right out of the gate.” I mentally muttered, voicing my thoughts in such a way that all of the domains and subdomains could hear me. My remarks were met with amused chuckles by a few of the domains and subdomains who resided in my mind. I could hear the distinct chuckles of the domains of physics and creation and the subdomains of technology and evocation.
”You think this is powerful? If you master me you will see true power.” The entity whispered, attempting to stoke my ambitions. This time it was my turn to chuckle.
”Oh, I fully intend to master you. I intend to master every domain and subdomain.” I replied, speaking ambitiously. There was a smile on my lips, and it was audible in my mental voice as well. This time I heard a soft chuckle from the subdomain of corruption.
If I could hear the voice of the vice of sin, I'd no doubt hear it chuckling as well but to date, the sin had not made itself known to me in the ways that the sin of lust had. That aside, I knew that my words were more than the eager boasting of a young person, but were fact. I would patiently master each and every domain and subdomain. I had all the time I'd need to one day become the greatest overgod to ever live. It was while I was thinking about the nature of my pride that the voice of the subdomain once again reached me.
”That sort of ambition is good. That's the attitude that may one day, in the incredibly distant future, result in you actually succeeding. Now let me ask you, what else do you seek?” The subdomain asked me, curiously.
”I seek to create a multiverse spanning empire, one that is so unimaginably vast that every single being in existence knows and worships me.” I replied, speaking of my comically ambitious goal freely.
Meanwhile, a small part of my mind began to stop thinking about militaristic might, or so-called ”hard power” and began to think a bit more subversively. The technology subdomain wasn't just a militaristic subdomain just like technology itself wasn't solely about military might.
One of the most interesting aspects of this ability of mine was that it meant that I could remotely manipulate say... the internet on Htrae if I wanted to. If I had wanted to I could do a lot with just the power to alter the internet on the human world. Htraens were extremely fond of the internet and were overreliant on it for information to the point that in more ”advanced” nations like Htrae, libraries and other physical sources of knowledge were both underfunded and underused. This was a weak point I could exploit if my plans for Htrae ever changed.
That said there was another angle to the Htraens and their fondness for the internet. Their fondness for it meant that it was a treasure trove of knowledge that was readily accessible to anyone with the means and the time needed to do so could learn almost anything known to modern Htraens. I could easily create an artificial intelligence and task it with absorbing and aggregating every single fact that the Htraeans stored on their ”world wide web”. After a moment's hesitation, I decided that I would do that. And a little bit more.
________________________________________________
I took a deep breath and activated one of my newer powers: the ability to create artificial intelligences. When I first activated this power, nothing happened. At least not immediately. However a second after I activated the power my vision was subsumed by a large notification.
[Alert: Artificial Intelligence Creation
Hello! Welcome to the technology menu, or rather one specific subset of it. This table will assist you in creating your first artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligences are the equivalents to minds possessed by robots, machines, androids, and other complex technologies. The term itself has a few different applications. The most simple application is as a generalized term which refers to the overall intelligence demonstrated by machines, robots, and androids. One of the more complex applications is what I, the technology subdomain refer to when I discuss artificial intelligences: an individualized mind-like component of a machine, robot, or android.
Creating an artificial intelligence, or an A.I., without a mechanized body to host it might strike some as odd but as a god there is a lot you can do with an individual A.I., especially since you can influence a wealth of domains and subdomains right away. A solitary A.I. you create could infect a starship or a planetary defense-grid and wreck havoc. Or you can use an A.I. to turn technology on a planet into your minions before you invade.
Alternatively, you can use your own more or less unbound A.I. to save lives such as stopping a conflict in space between two different starships nonviolently or taking control of a malfunctioning facility by repairing existing programs and fixing glitches using your minions.
Now, to help you create the most precisely designed A.I. please tell me what sort of functions you'd like for this A.I. to have and what it's intended purpose would be.]
________________________________________________
I read through the notification and sighed. Of course this was more complex than creating robots was.
”I want to create an A.I. that infiltrates the Htraen 'World Wide Web'. I want it to be an... ultimate hacker that has as close to unlimited power, in the internet of Htraens, as possible.” I told the notification, before pausing for a moment.
”I'd like for it to be able to edit, copy, shut down, or otherwise modify any website or web-page on the internet freely. I also want it to obsessively log information and note any and all changes that occur to even the smallest pages throughout the entirety of the 'Web'. I want it to have the capabilities to be used offensively but for it to defer to my judgment as for when to actually begin to affect Htraens.” I told the subdomain.
I would begin to articulate my specific vision over the next few minutes, while I physically experimented with my other powers. The first one I'd experiment with was my ability to create new sorts of items.
My demon-drone stayed close to me and began to fly around excitedly when I created the first of the new items I could create: a gun. I created a simple gun, a mundane one that fired bullets. The thing felt light in my hands, but also quite boring. I chuckled as my drone found the weapon more exciting than I did, closing in on me to study the item closely.
I gave the item to the demon and began to create items more complex than a gun that Htraens could have created over a century ago. As I customized the A.I. I was creating, I spent some time, three hours to be precise, idly creating an array of technologies.
I created a series of androids, all of whom were more or less human in appearance, and ordered them to patrol the mechanical city. I created a variety of weapons, from guns that fired plasma, to weapons infected with diseases that would weaken organic, mortal foes, to sonic armaments meant to stun and disable enemies.
My second most noteworthy achievement during this time was my creation of a series of robots. These robots were all totally inhuman and were actually large vehicles such as tanks and aerial ships that were sent on missions to patrol the plains so that I could begin to understand and map it accurately.
It was while I was working on a tank that I made the choice to try and win the rest of this war using robots. This was more to test the potential of the newest inorganic additions to my forces than anything else. I made this decision shortly before discovering something truly exceptional: the actual powers of my ”Customization” ability.