Pokémon Unrecoverable (angst week prompt fic)

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

AI Sada gave herself to the time machine's portal fully believing that her artificial life would be snuffed out in mere moments. That if she was deposited to the ancient past she so desired to see at all, it would be as an empty husk. Her smile to the children, to Arven, had been one of gratitude that they were safe, that they could exist in a Paldea free from the threat of her creator's vision of Paradise. She told them of the adventure she wished to have believing that she could never live that dream.

And yet the horrors of the Paradise Protection Protocol had, somehow, been a blessing in disguise. The overwhelming terastal energy that had coursed through every iota of her being, threading itself through her programming and binding her away from herself while the security program took full control, had given her a constant charge. No matter how long she strayed from the light of the crystals, her battery life remained full.

She could be free. She could explore the ancient past that she longed for, no longer a reflection of a woman who did not exist, but explore it as her own person, fulfil her own curiosity, live--because she was truly alive--on her own terms.

But to be alive means many things, and one of those is that any living thing must eventually die.

While her body would never lose power, her programming, what made her uniquely *her*, was not so lucky. Programming only lasts so long.

Nearly twenty years ago, she had realized that certain files were beginning to degrade. Unnecessary memories, mostly, small details of her creator's life. While she knew that this was the beginning of the end, she was content with the amount of time that this afforded her.

Ten years ago, in approximate time as her internal clock no longer logged specifics, she sat beneath a tree to admire the view and found she was unable to stand again, her mobility programs having ceased function.

She would keep herself company by talking to herself, and when her speech modulator's glitches reached the point of incomprehensibility, she would think those words instead. She had been silent for seven years.

Her optical sensors ceased function two years ago, and she was grateful that her final view, of the moss growing up around her legs, had been a pleasant one. Even if it was a reminder of just how long she had been immobile, it was also a reminder that the world was a vibrant place, full of life.

Two months ago, she realized she could not remember her creator's name. Why, it was the same as her own, wasn't it? But what was her name?

One month ago, she forgot why she was there. She had always been there, surely, beneath a tree as the world covered her over.

One day ago, she lost the final memory file she had kept, Arven fading away like so many others.

She could no longer remember why she was so sad.

She could no longer remember that she had lived.

 

[canisaries]

Here for catnip!

Wow, this was a very potent bite-sized bit of existential horror. I'm a fan of how we get a very positive turn at the beginning (with the Tera charge liberating AI Sada) before turning it around (realizing mortality) and then gradually getting worse (degradation). I also enjoyed the description of the progression of degradation.

However, I should mention that I did not at first realize that AI Sada had gone to the past after the charge, as this does not seem to be explicitly stated. I only came to that conclusion through realizing that her mortality didn't make sense otherwise. A small amendment could probably aid with this? If you want to do one, that is.

Also, I noticed that "her" in "what made her uniquely her" is surrounded by asterisks. Is this an intentional choice, or markdown for italics that didn't activate on the forum?

Regardless, this is solid. That's about it for my thoughts - see you around.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Thank you for reading! I can't help but notice that when you run Catnip you seem to end up with my stories~

Ah! My thinking is that "gave herself to the machine" would cover that she's heading to the past. This story is, at least to me, canon compliant so everything that happened in the game still happened.

I write everything in Notepad so asterisks are how I denote emphasis. Yeah it doesn't translate to forums I suppose.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

This fic won a high prize (below grand prize but above honorable mention) at Kumoricon! The great thing is that we had a record breaking FIFTY ENTRIES this year!

 

[K_S]

You know i thought i reviewed on this. Guess theres an incomplete draft somewhere in my notes but since i got your for catnip lets take a crack at this tale and doing it justice.

Out of curiousoty, since youve been writing the professors for so long, which ai and organic professor is your favorite?

AI Sada gave herself to the time machine's portal fully believing that her artificial life would be snuffed out in mere moments. That if she was deposited to the ancient past she so desired to see at all, it would be as an empty husk. Her smile to the children, to Arven, had been one of gratitude that they were safe, that they could exist in a Paldea free from the threat of her creator's vision of Paradise.

Love how selfless the ai's are as a whole
. Really, left to thier own divices and without thier predicessors bad life choices/programs, they could of been happy doing science in area zero...but nooo... the professor of choice had to ruin it for them and try to accidentally nuke the whole region.

This is why the 'mon world can't have nice things....

She told them of the adventure she wished to have(,) believing that she could never live that dream.

I think theres supposed to be a coma after have. Not 100% sure but it sounds nices with the pause...

And yet the horrors of the Paradise Protection Protocol had, somehow, been a blessing in disguise. The overwhelming terastal energy that had coursed through every iota of her being, threading itself through her programming and binding her away from herself while the security program took full control, had given her a constant charge. No matter how long she strayed from the light of the crystals, her battery life remained full.

This sounds like an ai immortality ticket. But you got the physical longjevity of joints, circuits, what have you. I dont think this is going to be so cut and dried.

Also repairs... if something breaks you have to wait eons before the tools are available to start adlibing a solution...

She could be free. She could explore the ancient past that she longed for, no longer a reflection of a woman who did not exist, but explore it as her own person, fulfil her own curiosity, live--because she was truly alive--on her own terms.

It seems any concerns havent quite sunk in... at least shes enjoying herself?

But to be alive means many things, and one of those is that any living thing must eventually die.

Nevermind... hi mortality realization...

While her body would never lose power, her programming, what made her uniquely *her*, was not so lucky. Programming only lasts so long.

Nearly twenty years ago, she had realized that certain files were beginning to degrade.

I'm surprised she cpuldnt set up a program to do maintinance and restore them herself... i'm guessing lack of tech was the reason she didnt?

Unnecessary memories, mostly, small details of her creator's life. While she knew that this was the beginning of the end, she was content with the amount of time that this afforded her.

Ten years ago, in approximate time as her internal clock no longer logged specifics, she sat beneath a tree to admire the view and found she was unable to stand again, her mobility programs having ceased function.

Begining of the end indeed... its interesting to see her be so tranquil about it. Even as things get progresivle worse/more limited...still, is it selfish for me to wish we could of seen some of those adventures she had before things started to break down. Seeing an ai frolicking (in a probably stoic manner) in a prehistoric wonderland would of been fun...

She would keep herself company by talking to herself, and when her speech modulator's glitches reached the point of incomprehensibility, she would think those words instead. She had been silent for seven years.

The gradual loss of her functions makes me think of alzhimers personally. Theres something so inherintly tragic about this ai version as well...

Her optical sensors ceased function two years ago, and she was grateful that her final view, of the moss growing up around her legs, had been a pleasant one. Even if it was a reminder of just how long she had been immobile, it was also a reminder that the world was a vibrant place, full of life.

Two months ago, she realized she could not remember her creator's name. Why, it was the same as her own, wasn't it? But what was her name?

One month ago, she forgot why she was there. She had always been there, surely, beneath a tree as the world covered her over.

One day ago, she lost the final memory file she had kept, Arven fading away like so many others.

She could no longer remember why she was so sad.

She could no longer remember that she had lived.

Poor thing. I know she was accepting and stoic but its such a shame. I had a soft spot for the ai's duo.


Though on a les serious note i can only imagine the schenanigans if her bodys infrustructure survived, got dug up,and carbon dated. Itd be accidental confirmation of so many crack pot conspiricy theroys thats for sure.

As always thank you for sharing this butter sweet peice, it was a treat.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Regarding my favorites, I do favor the Turos because I played Violet, but I love all four of them.

Even if she could repair herself to live longer, I wonder if she would. In my head, the AIs can live a few centuries before their data decays, and by that point I feel like they'd be ok with their mortality. Of course this is all conjecture because the games won't tell us.

The AIs do express emotion. AI Turo is a little stiffer but it feels like that's because Turo himself was less expressive (both professors were rather dismissive of other people's feelings though). AI Sada has a very cute smile. So I wouldn't call either of them stoic, even if they don't present their emotions as unrestrained as most people. As far as her adventures, imagine that this version of her got to ride a Tyrantrum and then paint a picture of it like in the SVtember drabbles (though this one has a much different fate than that one, who ends up being awakened with a Soul-Heart. Oddly, this one probably could be but she would entirely be a vessel for whatever soul was already in it, since her body is still functional but her mind is entirely gone, so it would be more like a possession of a corpse and that's REALLY disturbing to think about so I'm making a decree that no this one is not going to be found and given a Soul-Heart just because that would be really unsettling).

Yeah I was going for a story of cognitive decline. One of the earliest concerns I had about the AIs and their fates was "even if they survive, computers don't die like organic beings do" and that they would suffer data decay all alone. So I finally decided it was high time to write about it.

I did once write a brief one-off where Geeta tells Arven that there's been a "strange statue" in the regional museum's holdings for a while and she never thought much of it until hearing about AI Sada, but I never went further with it than that.

Thank you for reading! It's always a joy to see what you have to say.