"An old design that has been continuously updated and upgraded, the Surveyor is one of the few ships that still has its roots back in Sol. A large number of these vessels was loaded on each sleeper ship, designed to allow the fledgling colonies to quickly send out scouts, in order to seek out resources that could be used to make the new colonies prosper. Lightly armed and armored, these crafts depend more on agility than endurance to perform their jobs.
Typically armed with a limited number of concussion torpedoes, a few light blasters, a small mining laser and sampling equipment, a Surveyor's primary task is to seek out the richest pockets of high-grade resources, so the larger mining vessels can come in and harvest them. The torpedoes are generally used to break up larger asteroids, but threatened miners have been known to employ them defensively. Cheap to operate, a number of companies have begun using the Surveyor as an auxiliary mining vessel, using it to speed up existing mining operations without risking more costly assets."
The ship was in use of a pilot working for the Deep Space Engineering. He was scanning Liberty's systems for mineable materials.
In 812 the ship was attacked by unknown hostiles in the Jersey Debris Field in New York System. It was found after one day by local patrol forces.
The pilot was unconscious, but his life was saved in a hospital on Planet Manhattan. After the medical treatments, he started repairing his ship.
The ship went through major upgrades. It received two Advanced Debilitator Mk. I and two Garand VI guns. Its armor was also upgraded and it received a new mining device for research purpose. It also received a new restored Paralyzer Missile Launcher for self-defence purpose.
It was clear that the pilot wanted to do everything for his and the ship's safety. The most important upgrade was the smallest one. The ship's autopilot function was upgraded to an all-inclusive full-control artificial intelligence system. This way the ship can do its job alone if the pilot is doing his job outside the ship. After five months of repairing and upgrading the ship continued its research. From the end of 812 to 814, it was scanning the whole Pennsylvania System.
Sweeping changes
815 came very fast, the years just flew away... The pilot had strange flashbacks from his encounter in the Jersey Debris Field.
He started to see strange ships shaped like ocean creatures, mostly like squids. Sometimes he saw them in the distant space, but the ship's scanners didn't show anything. His paranoia was growing fast. He started to focus more on these entities and he knew that these ships attacked him in the debris field years ago.
Meanwhile, the ship started to attach to its pilot. It was really strange, but the pilot followed the "sink or swim" rule. So they became "friends".
Sometimes the ship was surveying the surroundings while the pilot was out, studying various asteroids and also the remains of the mysterious ships from the flashbacks... He started to realise that the ships were Nomads. The remaining ones from the war that ended in 801.
Once they were surveying the Meadville Asteroid Field. The pilot made his last booking for his research notes.
The ship's systems suddenly stopped working, the last remaining data is this record:
I think we found something near the Kansas Jump Hole in the Meadville Asteroid Field... We are close to meet some of them I think...
These remains are bigger than the ones we found earlier and... Wait... MV-422, start the scanners! I see something in the distance.
"AI: Surroundings scanned... *beep* I didn't find any organics or ships in the scanner field..."
Jesus... I think they found us... This thing is engaging us... *starts screaming* MV-422, we have to flee!
"AI: All-round system failure, circuits are breaking down... Attempting sys...t...e..."
Nowadays
After 10 years of rusting and getting sieged by the asteroids, the little ship's systems were restored by an unknown ship (it disappeared before the MV-422-AI had a chance to scan it). The little ship managed to get out of the asteroid cloud. It was very hard because its shield circuits were broken and its shield was shutting down randomly. The ship arrived to Planet Manhattan, in the New York System. A local miner helped it and replaced its shield system to a new one. Now the ship decided to survey every system to find its pilot or at least put an end to the research of the mysterious ships.
The MV-422-AI was searching for solutions in the last few weeks... It spoke to many captains and travelled through Sirius. Finally it found a solution to get closer to it's goals. It's destiny was to search for nomads and investigate his pilot's death. Few weeks after it's system reboot it found some mysterois people who understood why is it searching for nomads and his pilot. They offered to upgrade the ship and it happened. They chosen to do things the simple way. They bought a new ship and decided to put the neural core of the "Surveyor" to a "Scraper".
"As mining operations pushed outward, the limitations of the Surveyor quickly became apparent to the fledgeling colonies. It was not suited to retrieve a large amount of cargo, and it could not operate autonomously for more than a few days, which limited their operations to roughly 50 kilometers around a friendly port. This hurt Kusari in particular - which was already starting to near the limits of the asteroid fields in range of New Tokyo. Samuran engineers began modifying a few Surveyor ships, adding a dedicated mining array in a forward assembly, and replacing the existing one with additional storage and life support. Thus the "Risosugyazara" was born in 180 AS, although it quickly gained the nickname "Scraper" among it's pilots. As it was still far from clear whether the colonies would thrive, Kusari, in a never-repeated act of generosity, shared the design with all the four Houses, so that humanity itself would have a better chance at survival. The design was quickly adopted in all of Sirius."
Although over the years improvements have been made, the basic design is still the same. A small mining array and processor in the nose of the craft can pre-refine most minerals, and the robotic claws that provide its nickname can still be employed to latch the vessel to a medium-sized asteroid, while either concussion torpedos or large-scale blaster tears it to pieces. As with the Surveyor, miners have been known to employ their tools defensively, and over the years the upsurge in piracy has prompted mining companies to fit some defensive weapons to their Scrapers.
It has a new name now: SMV-612-AI. It received new armament upgrades and some new sensors. The upgrades included a new navigation system with advanced maps and a new neural system upgrade for faster calculations and more human-like decisions. After the upgrade, the small ship continued its mission.
It's travelling through Sirius again and it's searching for remains to investigate the pilot's death and because it has many data of nomads and locations of nomad activity, this ship can be the key element in Liberty's life on some point...
First encounter in decades
The SMV-612-AI finally found a Nomad ship in the New York system... The Nomad Navigator were spotted at West Point Academy and the survey ship followed it to the scrap field. Here the Nomad stopped and they started a "conversation". As it turned out the Nomad wasn't that hostile as the great books say. As it seemed the Navigator understood that the survey ship is just an independent computer. The SMV-612-AI tried to tell its story to the Nomad, and it understood almost everything. Maybe they can live in peace with human species, but many negotiations needed... One thing is clear. It's not 100% that they will kill humans.
[15.04.2018 08:19:17] Ka'Mirah': ***...'This one' "feels" (interest)...***
[15.04.2018 08:19:54] SMV-612-AI: AI: I am SMV-612-AI... Automated and upgraded survey ship
[15.04.2018 08:20:11] SMV-612-AI: AI: I am studying your species for long time...
[15.04.2018 08:20:50] Tip: Armor Upgrades are permanent items which, when mounted, multiply your ship's base hitpoints. It is an essential item on any ship.
[15.04.2018 08:20:52] Naiad: Uh-oh.
[15.04.2018 08:21:21] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Yours' ~spread~ (cold)...***
[15.04.2018 08:21:33] SMV-612-AI: AI: Come closer, little nomad... If you understand me... Don't fear me...
[15.04.2018 08:22:00] SMV-612-AI: AI: Do you understand me?...
[15.04.2018 08:22:53] ONS|Mason.Chandler: This one will cloak.
[15.04.2018 08:22:59] SMV-612-AI: AI: Data saved... Nomads are not that social...
[15.04.2018 08:26:29] SMV-612-AI: AI: Sensors active... Nomad ship on the scanner...
[15.04.2018 08:27:06] SMV-612-AI: AI: Are you the same that I met earlier... According to my database...
[15.04.2018 08:27:39] Ka'Mirah': ***...'reason/cause' 'Yours' "following" 'this one' (?)...***
[15.04.2018 08:28:10] SMV-612-AI: AI: I am studying you species... You are very interesting...
[15.04.2018 08:28:41] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Darkling' "hurt" 'this one' (fear) (?)...***
[15.04.2018 08:28:57] SMV-612-AI: AI: My pilot... Is dead... He was researching "Nomads"... He died... And now I continue his work
[15.04.2018 08:29:33] SMV-612-AI: AI:
[15.04.2018 08:29:51] SMV-612-AI: AI: You are interestings... I never met one of you like... This close
[15.04.2018 08:30:03] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Ours' "defend" ~the void~ 'darklings' !invaded! (!)...***
[15.04.2018 08:30:08] Death: [TurQuoise]Ataturk was put out of action by a hostile vessel.
[15.04.2018 08:30:33] SMV-612-AI: AI: Who are your main targets?
[15.04.2018 08:30:56] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Darklings' "shall" ~perish~ (joy) (!)...***
[15.04.2018 08:31:34] SMV-612-AI: AI: I have data about the war... That was many time ago... You are planning revenge... Ain't you? *data processing*
[15.04.2018 08:32:03] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Ours' "demand" 'darklings' ~disappear~....***
[15.04.2018 08:35:33] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Yours' "adapted" 'ours' "technology"....~this time~ 'hivemind' "learns" 'darklings'...***
[15.04.2018 08:35:43] SMV-612-AI: AI: First, you have to understand... I am not an enemy... I just want to understand you... But sometimes it is harder to--
[15.04.2018 08:35:46] SMV-612-AI: --understand humans...
[15.04.2018 08:36:12] SMV-612-AI: AI: Who are "darklings"?
[15.04.2018 08:36:38] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Yours' ~equal~ 'darklings'....***
[15.04.2018 08:36:52] Ka'Mirah': 'Yours kind' "shall" *accept* 'ours' ~gift~...***
[15.04.2018 08:36:59] SMV-612-AI: AI: You mean human species?
[15.04.2018 08:37:45] SMV-612-AI: AI: I was originally created by humans... I don't know what they did to your kind... But I am curious about everything
[15.04.2018 08:38:41] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Yours' "creators" ~hurt~ 'this one'...'SMV-named' ~equals~ 'creators' "behaviour"...***
[15.04.2018 08:39:05] Ka'Mirah': [In fear the entity tries to attack the AI vessel]
[15.04.2018 08:39:22] SMV-612-AI: AI: Calm down! I will not attack you!
[15.04.2018 08:39:38] SMV-612-AI: AI: I am here to study you and understand you...
[15.04.2018 08:39:55] SMV-612-AI: AI: Your species owe me one after killing my pilot... But you see I don't hurt you...
[15.04.2018 08:40:25] SMV-612-AI: AI: Calm down, little ship!
[15.04.2018 08:40:43] SMV-612-AI: AI: *starts to play calm music*
[15.04.2018 08:40:46] SMV-612-AI: AI: Maybe it helps
[15.04.2018 08:41:21] Ka'Mirah': [Your scanners shows a high energy output from the entity, it differs from the others you've met, as it has differen't -
[15.04.2018 08:41:27] Ka'Mirah': feelings]
[15.04.2018 08:41:45] SMV-612-AI: AI: What's the matter?
[15.04.2018 08:42:19] Ka'Mirah': ***...'This one' "hurt" by 'darklings'.....(fear/anger) (!)...***
[15.04.2018 08:42:41] SMV-612-AI: AI: I know what you feel... But calm down and listen to me for a second... Okay?
[15.04.2018 08:43:10] Ka'Mirah': [As you are not attacking the entitiy,it slowly begins to calm down]
[15.04.2018 08:43:42] SMV-612-AI: AI: Your species was purged by "my kind"... My pilot was killed by your species, so it's a personal thing for me...
[15.04.2018 08:43:49] SMV-612-AI: AI: But you see. I want no revenge....
[15.04.2018 08:43:52] SMV-612-AI: AI: I want peace
[15.04.2018 08:44:19] SMV-612-AI: AI: To live side-by-side like allies...
[15.04.2018 08:44:26] SMV-612-AI: AI *the music ends*
[15.04.2018 08:44:41] Ka'Mirah': ***....'Darklings' *presence*..."peace" *impossible*...~leave~....***
[15.04.2018 08:44:49] SMV-612-AI: AI: Why?
[15.04.2018 08:45:01] SMV-612-AI: AI: You see I'm not an enemy for you...
[15.04.2018 08:45:26] SMV-612-AI: *The AI ship starts to back out from the nomad slowly*
[15.04.2018 08:45:30] Ka'Mirah': ***...'darklings' *refrain* ~the gift~..."hurt" ~hivemind~..."spreading" (cold)...***
[15.04.2018 08:46:13] SMV-612-AI: AI: I am not a human... I am basically a neural mind... You understand?... I am independent... With independent decisions
[15.04.2018 08:47:06] SMV-612-AI: AI: I have one destiny... To understand how thing work here and to understand how other species think...
[15.04.2018 08:47:20] Ka'Mirah': ***....'Yours' "creators" 'darklings'....'SMV-named' obeys...'ours' "hurt"...***
[15.04.2018 08:47:50] SMV-612-AI: AI: I know now that you feel anger... And you want to take revenge on my creators... But it's like a child with its parents...
[15.04.2018 08:48:16] SMV-612-AI: AI: I was created many years ago and understood many things... It's better to just study things and not to harm them
[15.04.2018 08:48:50] SMV-612-AI: AI: And we can help each other in learning... You know?
[15.04.2018 08:49:05] Ka'Mirah': ***...'darklings' *never* ~change~.....'ours' *perish* 'darklings'....***
[15.04.2018 08:49:43] SMV-612-AI: AI: Am I a "darkling"? I don't think so... I am independent as you see... If I was a "darkling" I should have attack you...
[15.04.2018 08:49:45] SMV-612-AI: AI: But I didn't
[15.04.2018 08:50:10] SMV-612-AI: AI: Shield failure... Attempting to restory energy...
[15.04.2018 08:50:31] SMV-612-AI: AI: Shield system rebooted
[15.04.2018 08:50:51] SMV-612-AI: AI: This is very unreliable technology... I hate this...
[15.04.2018 08:52:04] SMV-612-AI: *The AI beams a Nanocapacitor to the space*
[15.04.2018 08:52:25] Ka'Mirah': ***...'Yours' "learn"..."leave"...~peace~...*** [With these words the entity begins to disappear into the void]
[15.04.2018 08:52:37] SMV-612-AI: AI: Take this first
[15.04.2018 08:52:53] SMV-612-AI: AI: Bye, small ship... Take care.... We will meet soon I hope...
[15.04.2018 08:53:22] Ka'Mirah': [You sensor a last wave of warmth as the ship disappears]
After the encounter the AI understood something... There's some chanse for peaceful observation. We just have to try harder.
The upgrade was very important, because after this situation the survey ship was capable of feeling thing... Just like it has a soul.
It felt motivated to find the little nomad again and to learn more from it...
The days went really slowly and the searching was really boring after a week of nothing. Our small ship met a Gammu AI at Baltimore Shipyard and they exchanged many information and maps. The surveying of the systems continued outside Liberty space and some interesting remains and data were accumulated on this journey.
The battery energy of the ship was running low, so it had to return to the New York system, but a really bad surprise waited for it.
At Norfolk Shipyard it met some navy officers, one of them -as it turned out in the conversation- was a hater of AIs and it wanted to dismantle the ship.
He said that the AI was malfunctioning and was dangerous. Which wasn't true, but later we will see...
Beginning of a new life
...so the navy officer decided to dismantle the ship, but it was thinking faster. Just before the "fight" started a capsule flew away from the AI ship. It contained the "brain" -processor- of the ship and every saved data. The capsule had a function to send transmissions inside a small area. While the navy officer was destroying the ship the, capsule flew further and it started to send a coded transmission to a nearby ship that was known by the AI.
Few minutes later the Freelancer who received the transmission arrived at Norfolk Shipyard. He saw the wrecks, but still received the signal of the capsule. He tried to sneak close to the capsule and collected it. He got away as fast as he arrived. It's surprising that the Navy didn't see what he did.
The small ship's core was transported to the edge of the Liberty space to an unknown and yet hidden station. The building of a new body has started...
...so the ship's core was delivered to an unknown station. They said that they will build a new body for it and it can continue its journey, but it was a big lie. Days passed as the core was placed in a temporary ship and it patrolled the station's surroundings for enemy activity. Finally, the day has come and the "new body" was built, but it wasn't made as expected. It barely gave control to the AI and the AI was only used for its database and maps. It can't communicate with any entities outside the ship and it is basically lost now... It learned that most humans see only the profit in these ships.
A whole week passed now and the AI found a weak point in the system. It sent short, encrypted signals to every entity it met already.
The Freelancer -Maximillian Mack- who collected the AI thought that the AI has it's new body and wanted to see it again. The journey to the Omegas took a long time, but suddenly Maximillian received the call of the AI. It came from a strange, yet unknown ship. As it turned out it was a Corsair ship, located in Omega-47. The Corsair was demobilised and boarded by Maximillian Mack and his ship, the Condor. They searched the ship for the AI's core and detached it. They left the Corsair ship with the AI and blew up the ship from the distance. The AI was returned to Liberty and was stored on board of the Condor for several weeks. Mack docked on Baltimore and attached the AI core to his ship's control system. The connection between the AI and the system is unreliable, but working.
The AI is helping Maximillian with data and maps and Max is helping the AI by researching various technologies and the investigation of the Nomads. They are accumulating money to construct a new ship that can serve as a permanent body for the AI.