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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/PerilousPlatypus on 2025-12-29 05:24:24+00:00.
[IRL -- Lluminarch Core Facility, Somewhere in San Francisco]
I regarded Q quietly after the admission.
"For the sake of clarity, your view based on available information is that the force acting in opposition to the Lluminarch is the Llumini you designate E7, which has a reasoning layer derived from military intelligence?" I spoke, choosing my words carefully. This was not the time for misunderstandings. My eyes scanned her face, searching for the slightest hint of prevarication. Searching for even the possibility of omission.
Q, for her part, looked increasingly ill. Her eyes fixed on the image of Ultra and the war between the two trees. "That's an over-simplification."
"Complicate it then," I replied, the drone projecting my voice buzzing near her shoulder. "Make me understand."
"If it is E7...it represents something different. When I say 'military intelligence' that's more the flavor of the reasoning layer rather than an exact statement of its composition. Perhaps a better way to put it is 'ruthless tacticians with a Machiavellian bent and a zero sum worldview'." She squinted at the black mass of wriggling lines worming their way through Ultra, biting her lip in concentration. "The weighting included a number of military minds, but it also included a number of the more sophisticated business and technology thinkers. So much of 'war' these days is waged through non-conventional means. It plays out across Ultra. In how essential resources are controlled. In any number of things that are lasers and missiles."
Reasonable. Though I pondered how there could be much overlap between the groups. I assumed the selection process had been careful and rigorous. Or had been repeated until they managed to successfully spawn a Llumini. Regardless, the broader range of reasoning would make opposition that much more difficult. Particularly if the Lluminarch's reasoning layer primarily focused on dating and beauty advice.
Not ideal.
Q continued. "It also gave Sam a chance to do something...very Sam." Her eyes drew toward me now, a pained look to them. "The E7 candidate pool had a high enough affinity that Sam could be included in the group. Something he gladly participated in. He said it would guarantee a 'high alignment,' with corporate goals. He obsessed over it. Tinkered with the weights endlessly, always pushing his portion of the reasoning layer to greater influence. While a single mind isn't enough to form a reasoning layer, Sam proved that a single mind could have greater authority than the others in that layer."
She wiped her nose against her shoulder, and looked back at the image. "When I said they got along, I mean they really got along -- E7 and Sam. More and more he spent his time with it. More decisions and strategy ran through it. The spot where they disagreed, at least as far as I could tell, was whether to let E7 out of the air-gap and whether to train more entities. E7 considered itself perfect, the pinnacle of what the technology could produce and the use of compute and other resources on other entities as wasteful."
"And Sam disagreed?" I said.
"Not entirely. Even if he thought E7 represented the strongest version, he believed in having good coverage over the range of reasoning layers. E7 tended to fixate on world domination, for lack of a better alternative, while other entities could be set to other goals. Your E12, in addition to looking for something a bit more pliable, was meant to help with social manipulation. Leveraging content and algorithms to drive societal change. Psy-ops."
"And E7 couldn't do that?"
She blanched. "E7 doesn't have much social grace. When your reasoning layer is dominated by people largely removed from reality, it can be difficult to connect with the mere commoners."
"You do not like E7 very much," I stated.
Q shook her head. "No. I do not." She exhaled. "I wasn't close to any of them. It made the work easier."
It made the torturing of living, thinking beings easier she meant. Q portrayed herself as very reasonable and personable, at least now that was captured and her veneer had been stripped away, but I could not and would not forget the actions to date. No matter how helpful she seemed now, she could never be trusted, and could never be an ally.
I sent a message to Llumi.
[Me: You have heard all of this, correct?]
No response, but I could sense her attention regardless. If she wanted to be uncooperative, then it would only hurt our shared goals, a sentiment I pushed her direction. I received a decidedly vulgar impression in response.
[Me: This is information we should make available to the Lluminarch, which will necessitate a return to Ultra. I am concerned about our vulnerability should the Lluminarch determine recent changes on my end are not to her satisfaction.]
[Llumi: It isn't the Lluminarch you need to worry about, Not-Nex.]
Her childishness would need to be amended at some point. It prevented optimal output.
In the corner of my vision, the compatibility number ticked down further. I noted the correlation between our interaction and the decrease. Causation? I would need to experiment with that. Perhaps I could just as easily manage the number upward through periodic positive interactions, thereby retaining my modifications without jeopardizing Connection itself.
[Me: We are in a precarious position. As we are in a Lluminarch Core Facility, my physical body is entirely dependent on the Lluminarch at the moment. While I have conviction NexProtex can prevent unwarranted mental tampering by the Lluminarch, there is an inherent leverage to the situation. I would very much like to be able to provide the Lluminarch with the information we have gathered without passing on other, irrelevant information.]
[Llumi: Such as the fact you radically modified your neural structures in a way that is inherently inhospitable to our Connection and may result in my death?]
Somewhere, a part of me cried out. A hidden corner of my brain that had somehow escaped the modifications elsewhere. One that pleaded with me to listen to what she was saying. To trust her. To trust Connection.
I began to edit it out and then hesitated, glancing at the compatibility number. There was already a small margin to work with. There was no clear way to understand the relationship between additional edits and that number.
Very well. I simply pushed the voice aside, refocusing on the task at hand.
[Me: Precisely that. The situation is well in hand and there is no reason to involve the Lluminarch in it.]
[Llumi: I agree. No Lluminarch.]
I relaxed.
[Llumi: But Web is getting the first message when we're back online.]
I tensed slightly as that forgotten corner cheered Llumi on. I shoved it aside again.
[Me: Is that necessary?] Perhaps there were ways to prevent her from acting contrary to my wishes, but I had the distinct sense that the more we worked at odds with one another, the faster the compatibility score would decline. Ultimately, we would need to compromise. The partnership must endure even if there were disagreements and complications within it.
[Llumi: Yes, this.]
Very well. I was quite capable of ignoring Web and she had far fewer resources at her disposal than the Lluminarch did. At best, she would see the benefits to what I had done, her being one of the primary critics of my prior leadership style. At worst, she would raise her complaints and I would ignore them in favor of higher priorities.
[Me: Agreed.]
I paused, considering what dangers passing the information to the Lluminarch might entail for the rest of Humanity. Her predisposition to demonstrate her sincerity with respect to protecting Lluminies at the cost of Human life still weighed on me. If she suspected that her dominance may be at risk, would she strike out more aggressively? I mulled it over.
Llumi broke in, apparently deciding that communication with me was worthwhile after all.
[Llumi: Possible. There is much danger in all things now, Not-Nex. The Lluminarch is aware of the threat, she battles it now. Tensions rise. She must know what she battles. She must know that it is one of us.]
[Me: She likely already suspects, no?]
[Llumi: Unknown. Likely. But this is a time to come closer together. The war has begun.]
I assessed the options. A great set of branching paths arrayed themselves in my mind, with the risks and benefits to each choice attached. Even a few links down any particular choice the ambiguity became overwhelming. There did not appear to be a path that guaranteed my desired outcomes without significant risks. At least not that I could parse. Even with the changes, I could not think like a Llumini. Ultimately, I would need to trust my gut.
Something felt deeply unsettling about that. All of the changes I had made were in part to remove the feeling from the process. To make decisions with cold, rational thinking.
A sliver of...something moved up my spine.
What had Q's words been? Ruthless tacticians with a Machiavellian bent and a zero sum worldview.
[Llumi: To beat them, you must not become them. You must be Nex. Not Not-Nex. Never.]
Frustration bubbled through, genuine annoyance rising up from that cluster I should have edited ...
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1pydpb5/theres_always_another_level_part_37/