8 M1 - Term: 1, Round: 1 (1/2)
Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
House Thoth, Squad Zero
M1 Rank: ?/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null
Term: 1, Round: 1
The cadets gawked at Master Nader.
Master Nader never took off her mask, she walked around in a full armoured bodysuit with full face helm since they arrived. Daedo wondered if she would ever take it off.
”Daedo,” Master Nader continued, ”in my office.”
The door to her room slid open, she must have requested it as she had not moved. Inside her room, there was no bed, no shower, just an amazing display of data and feeds on two of the four walls. Her office was programmable as well, she could adapt to her needs of the day or hour.
A programmable room was broken up into numerous meter squares of a cubed floor, ceiling and walls. Master Nader could programme these into any configuration she wanted, and they were sure to be hiding hundreds of accessories and even entire connected rooms.
”Sit,” she said in her robotic voice.
”You don't sleep here?” Daedo asked.
Daedo: are you sure she isn't a robot?
The screens turned opaque, and the door closed behind him as he sat.
”No, I sleep topside as do all the Masters. Now that was your last question. Listen to me,” she said ominously.
”You barely passed your physical. Your teamwork is abysmal, let alone leadership. The only reason you are rank one is due to the weighting in Thoth where math and physics, the foundations of engineering, have a one point two factor. If you were in Horus you wouldn't be in the top fifteen let alone group zero,” she said scathingly.
”I just set a target on your back, I am explaining this because you are probably too naïve to realise, that each of those cadets out there are now wondering why you are number one and what they need to do to beat you. They are also wondering why you are getting special treatment right now. If over the next three months you do not show strong results in all subjects you will lose number one standing. The current ranking is based on entrance exam results, which are now thrown out the hatch and count for nothing,” She continued to drill Daedo, he had never been spoken to this way in his life.
She paused waiting for what she just said to be processed and when he opened his mouth she silenced him.
”No questions, you must figure this out on your own with the information I provide. But,” she held up a solitary finger and paused for effect, ”because you are M1 and it is your first day I will give you a general strategy outline. This will be the first and last time.”
”You must first get your teammates to stop thinking about the intra-house ranking in Thoth, they must think about group zero leading and winning representation for Thoth. And for Thoth to become the number one house in M1. You are to offer assistance or ask for help in order to form a one on one bond with each and every member of your team,” she thumped her desk to accentuate her point.
”Why?” he began to ask.
”You don't need to know why,” she answered, ”you need to follow directives. This is a Military Academy. It is not an academic institution nor a holiday resort. The word Military is there for a reason.”
Daedo: she didn't even know what I was asking why about. Why give me advice, why single me out, why do I need to stay rank one.
Myrmidon: I like her.
Daedo: how do you know you like her? You only know me, and all we do is play games and complete engineering projects together.
Myrmidon: I observe, and I read.
Daedo: as long as you keep it all in the cloud I don't mind how much data you collect, just don't slow down your core processing. It would be nice if you assisted me socially, I really need it.
”One last warning, if you do not finish in the top seven cadets, in Horus, during the year you will no longer be in squad zero in M2. Understood?” Nader asked, almost rhetorically.
Daedo just nodded.
”You're dismissed,” she said curtly, and the door opened behind him as his chair disappeared beneath him.
Daedo regained his feet. Master Nader had given him a lot to contemplate. He walked through the door, his first inclination was to head back to his room and avoid questions. His room was just a bed and ultrasonic shower, to head there now would seem cowardly, he walked directly to the seat he had vacated earlier and sat down.
Before the door reopened there would have been a robust discussion taking place, but since he had walked out, everyone was silent.
It was Barran who broke the silence, ”so what gives?”
”Yeah what was that about?” Picard asked confrontationally.
Daedo considered telling them it was confidential, but Master Nader did not say anything they discussed was confidential. She had given him hints on how to forge bonds, what he needed to do to rank highly. The question was, did he really care? Myrmidon cared more than him.
Daedo considered his predicament for a short while, Picard's blue-tinted hair shone as she shook her head. She was about to say something when Vannier held up her hand, ”he is collecting his words, give him time,” she said urging patience amongst the squad zero cadets.
”At first,” he began, ”she gave me a dressing down, making sure the rank didn't go to my head and saying I could easily lose it because I am weak physically. My piloting and gunnery are probably poor due to the amount of time I spent in CyberMech.”
”Then she told me that I had to refocus you six from wanting number one rank in Thoth to being more concerned with group zero winning the right to represent Thoth and then beating the other houses in M1. She then told me to do this by assisting each of you with something or asking for help,” he reported.
”So…,” Mace questioned, ”she basically gave you special treatment, advice and a directive. And you, rather than act on that advice, you just blab what it was to us? Is that your way of achieving this directive?”
”Yes, that's right. If it makes sense to you, there is no need to try and manipulate you into doing what I want. In that, I am sure I would fail. So I will give you the information, and you will be able to work out whether our paths align or not.” He answered.
”And what could you give me assistance with?” Picard asked.
”And me?” Barran asked eagerly.
”I am sure opportunities will arise,” Vannier said, ”once the reason he is rank one becomes known, and his special skills are revealed.”
”Picard, if you have no creds, what AI kernel were you going to use for the AI nurturing subject?” Daedo asked.
”An open source one. A free one,” Picard answered.
”Why don't I write you one?” Daedo suggested.
It was Axelzero's turn to splutter a protest, ”what? You can't possibly write one.”
”I have before, it took me three months,” he said.
Mace was protesting as well, ”it has taken a team of Fortescue's best developers over a year to write the base code for an AI, and it was rejected as being inefficient, we are still purchasing Svarski's Military AI. Why should we believe you can write one that works at all and even if it does that it is better than an open source AI?”
”I am offering, and I can do it. The only proof I require is delivering one to Picard. I will create a bespoke AI, tailored to her requirements ready for the first day of AI:N class,” Daedo answered.
No one asked if he could do a second as they all doubted he could do one.
”If you just copy an open source or a purchase AI we will be able to tell immediately, you know this?” Gaumont asked.