Barrier Gate Station West Wing Pub, The Lone Drunkard

[Nodoka Hanamura]

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Mieko eats at the slivers of onion, listening to Victoria. Her struggle is something she can understand, even though she was 'born' an AI - it would be no different from making sure she had backups. She's yet to need them, but with encrypted ones both in cold storage in Ismara, and on the Utsunomiya, carried over from the ill-fated Abdicant Seraphine, she was definitely certain a replica could be more than able and willing to accept her 'passing of the baton', as she likes to say.

"I would be more than happy to help you. I do have a few projects I am concluding right now, but once they are, I would be more than willing to help you."

"I do.. need to make you aware. Whilst.. in Ouroboros, the faction I was with prior to Auxesia - we dabbled in.. the 'paranormal'.. and even experimented in such matters with more advanced technologies. But it was very difficult to control, and.. well, shortly after, everything went downhill.. so - what I am getting at with all this is.. I must make this absolutely clear for you, Victoria."

Mieko clears her throat, and concernedly looks to her, putting her hand in hers, clasping it with her other, wanting to comfort the inevitable.

"You will die. Inevitably. But at the same time, you will be reborn. You will leave behind a replica, unburdened by such petty things like physical ailments. People may think differently of you for not accepting your mortality, or simply because she will not be the one and same Victoria they knew. What will happen, is your mind will be replicated and undergo conversion into an engram image, which can then be flashed to a AI SoC. Then.. through Rachmiel or.. whatever other method you desire to interact with the outside world, you will be installed into it. What happens beyond that point, when the Victoria that supercedes you comes forth - it is her fate that will decide who she will become. Speaking from.. experience, to some degree, my embedded personality core is a read only image that has its' processed outputs filtered based on a vast array of neural networks. Extreme deviations don't happen suddenly, as sanity checks would nullroute those outputs before they manifest into anything actionable."

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