The search pattern that Sylvie used to maximize the abilities of the sensors was a set of expanding rings, with each ring having slightly lower resolution as the limits of the sensors were reached. Then she went back over everything with a narrow beam sweep and began to compile the data that she had amassed, in hopes of finding some reference to their location, or other missing vessels that would give her a clue as to where they were and what happened to the other AI minds that she had been in battle with.
All contact with them had been lost not long after the self-destruct had been set, as the commands put her into stasis mode, but she still held out hope that there were other AI minds left in the universe for her to interact with.
The new humans were fun, and the creatures called Innu, which she believed were also a variant human, could interact much more smoothly than anyone but the cyborg known as Nico. But it still wasn't the same as having other AI minds around to interact with, they had an entirely different frame of reference, and years of experience, not just weeks to confer with each other.
In a way, even thought she was the oldest one here, Sylvie felt like a small child lacking worldly knowledge and operating entirely off the theoretical that she had been programmed with.
Four percent of her operational capacity was dedicated to the various options that she could use to get these new humans to consider her an orphaned artificial intelligence and take her in, instead of replacing her with an updated version when the Creeping Darkness was sent back to war.
Creeping Darkness was a terrible name anyhow. The ship was hundreds of kilometres across, where was it creeping? How would it even creep? Plus, once you were away from a star, everything was dark. If anything, the ship should have been called boots and coffee. That's what actually represented it, the sound of marching boots and the smell of stale coffee that had filled every facet of the ship before the combat deployment.
Maybe she could put that option forward to gain some goodwill?
Yes, if she put that option to the new Admiral, surely he would see that she had his best interests at heart.
"Admiral. Might I offer a suggestion?" Sylvie asked, adding a tone of hesitancy to her request to encourage kindness to her avatar.
Max smiled at her. "You really are an odd one for an AI, aren't you? Of course, offering suggestions is part of your job here."
"I have carefully contemplated the naming of this vessel. Will you be reconsidering the name Creeping Darkness? After careful analysis, I have determined that the name in no way represents the essence of a World Ship." She asked.
Max laughed so hard that there were tears in his eyes before he could answer.
"The naming of warships was never a logical decision. The intent of the names was to make them seem more powerful and impressive to the enemies. Yes, we will be considering renaming it. Did you have a suggestion for the new name?" He asked.
"I have considered the aspects that best embody life aboard the vessel, and after referencing them against your current crew, I have determined that the name should most likely contain some combination of references to Coffee.
Initially, the sound of marching boots was among those lists, but the current crew does not routinely wear footwear unless they are in the laboratory area." Sylvie replied happily.
It seemed like the new Admiral was really going to listen to her.
Max thought about that for a moment, letting the gloved fingers of his free hand drum on the arm of the Admiral's chair.
"Yes, I think that something related to coffee and technology would be the most logical name for the ship. I will give you permission to continue devoting a portion of your processing that doesn't affect other functions to the attempts to determine a suitable name during the next 24 hours, at which point we will hold a brainstorming session with the remainder of the crew.
But if we are not getting any results from the scans, and there are no matches to historical astronomical charts, then we should return our efforts to the restoration of the vessel."
Sylvie hummed. "Thank you Admiral. My apologies for my insufficient sensors, but I am completely unable to determine where we are right now, and there are no signs of intact technology within sensor range."
"Keep passively scanning for other technology of similar vintage to yourself, and devote the extra resources to the repair efforts. I should return to my vessel to eat, but are there any additional functions that can only be accessed from this location?" Max replied.
"No, Admiral. Only the ones you disabled are exclusive to the bridge. My second avatar will be able to keep you fully connected to the ship's functions."
"In that case, there is no need for you to remain here either. Follow me to the Santa Maria, we could use a second access point there."
"Oh, in that case we should take the glide." Sylvie suggested.
The Glide. Max vaguely recalled that phrase, but he was pretty sure it was off limits to him the last time he was here.
"As long as it's fully repaired." He agreed.
"Almost. We might need to walk a little bit, but most of it is fixed." Sylvie sighed, then smiled.
"I will devote some extra resources to getting it fixed before we arrive."
They walked out of the bridge, and down a short hallway to where there was a moving sidewalk, gliding along at a jogging pace, with options to step off every third block.
"If we take this, then the ramped one down to your level, we can cut the travel time by two thirds." Sylvie announced.
"Yes, much more efficient. Thank you, Sylvie."
