The Galavander Project

[Galavander]

Sen'an Seraat looked up from his console slowly. The anticipation had been building for weeks as the project neared its Phase Nine testing. The completion of the project meant the fruition of all the endless years of work and the astounding amount of credits put into it would finally be something real rather than reports. And looking up from his console, he could see the embodiement of the anticipation, the prototype Galavander.

An android that looked almost too human and yet obviously not. Standing at approximately seven feet tall, the body was in near perfect proportion to itself, the height being seen as abnormal to the average human but yet understandable for the prototype's needs. The shoulders were still fitted with the power module and made the prototype appear as if it wearing some kind of armor. Sen'an was glad the eyes were closed though. When the AI was activated and placed into Observation Passive Mode, those yellow eyes seemed to follow everything outside of its glass tube. As if it were learning, observing like a real human who was trapped and held prisoner. But it was only Phase Nine and the AI data showed little development, nothing to be afraid of.

Phase One through Eight were merely theoretical testings and piece by piece experimentations. Phase Nine was actually a prototype test of the near finished project. Sen'an had been involved in most of the Phases so far, proving himself a useful asset to the company by developing the Random Probability Drive for Galavander and creating effecient tests that used the Drive in cooperation with the other highly advanced systems.

Sen'an managed to stop daydreaming and look back to his console long enough to see that he had just been sent a message. Opening it, he glanced over to the console on the other side of the room and smiled at his fiance. Lianne was in charge of the magnetic field project and had met Sen'an at the beginning of Phase Three nearly five years ago. He smiled and sent back an answer to having dinner later that night before returning to the preactivation test runs.

A muted alarm went off signaling that the prototype's AI was being "awakened" and placed into Observation Passive Mode. Sen'an had often wondered why an alarm was required until the classified information that Galavander was to be issued as an assasination model android. That was when Sen'an began to worry. The applications tested and being installed into the prototype were powerful but when used in a violent direction... Sen'an tried not to think of what he might be indirectly responsible of later.

[Galavander]

Junior Project Director Gryffath took a sip of his wine before handing it back to the butler at his side. Overlooking the lab from the observation deck three stories above, Griffath had just ordered the prototype to be awakened. Phase Nine was being initiated and his superiors wanted results. Too much time and money had already been put into just the prototype and the factories were already being modified for a promotional production line.

He turned to the butler and took his wine glass in one hand and the report in the other. Opening it slowly he read the basic information, making sure all was in order for the presentation to the CEO and Senior Project Directors when they came later that day. The file also had an urgent note shoved into the side of it that Gryffath retrieved slowly. It was not often that the Project Security Department had something to report requiring immediate attention.

The Security Department had recorded data that the prototype had overridden some of the fail safes placed on the Limit Module that kept the AI from developing too much. Several records had been made of the prototype actually infiltrating the company's database during it's allowed Observation Development Periods. No data of importance seemed to have been scanned but Security was stressing the importance of the AI's capability to do this in the first place. It shouldn't be able to.

Gryffath dismissed it as an annoyance. The Security Department didn't have enough evidence to suggest putting Phase Nine back long enough to redirect and fail safe the AI. Gryffath's superiors wanted to see material performance; they tired of the reports now and so close to finishing made them impatient. The Security Department was just doing their job but how pleased the Senior Directors were directly affected Gryffath's life.

He crumpled the Security Notice and placed it back down on the tray with the empty wine glass. He placed the file down as well after making sure there were no more... inaccuracies in the report. He overlooked the lab once more before turning to the aide beside the butler and nodding.

"Begin the warm up process. The prototype's reactor is to be turned on immediately and preparations for Physical Passive Mode are to begin. Begin the procedures, keep all of it on the holocam. The Senior Directors will want to see the footage when they arrive."

With that, he turned away and headed to his office to prepare for the coming arrival.

[Galavander]

More sirens signaled as the Junior Director's commands were followed. The extensions attached to the prototype's shoulders suddenly began to vibrate and pulse as the energy was allowed to flow through them. The consoles around the Construction Unit flickered and then flashed alive, as preliminary scannings began and the prototypes synthetic "veins" were filled with its equivalent of blood.

The prototype's eyes had been open since the Observation Passive Mode had begun but now the body was twitching slightly. The hands would clench and unclench and the synthetic muscles were easily seen flexing and relaxing. The construction managers said the AI required to scan its own limits, having understood that modifications were made upon the body nearly everytime it "slept."

Other consoles flickered to life after a few moments and consoles that people were attending were given data from the prototype's "awakened" systems. A large screen resting over the mantle of the Construction Unit turned on and the main data of the prototype was displayed for all to observe.

PROTOTYPE GALAVANDER 000

PHASE NINE - COMMENCE...

OBSERVATION PASSIVE MODE - COMMENCE...

AI SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL... DEVELOPING...

POWER LIMITER RELEASING... RELEASED...

PHYSICAL PASSIVE MODE - COMMENCE...

ACTIVATING PHASE NINE SYSTEMS TEST...
Galavander.exe... Magneticsys.exe... Nueronetsys.exe... Electroemisys.exe... Randomprobsys.exe... Logicprobsys.exe... Humansim.exe... Forcesim.exe... Sabersim.exe... FailSafe.exe... ProtoLimitFS.exe...

The list continued to grow and take up the entire screen as the minor systems were slowly brought online. Only one person was watching the prototype and that was the aide with the holocam. She watched with the same anticipation the others had and her eyes never left the Unit. She secretly had a crush on Galavander.

She'd been talking to the AI and it was so polite, so nice. It seemed to be at whatever console she was at some times. And never when other people were around. But she had kept its secret because it was her friend. It'd been so nice to her, things in the lab seem to have been working for her ever since meeting it, a recommendation, a raise, followed by a promotion to Director's Aide. It always had good advice and asked her interesting topics that she enjoyed going into conversations with.

The holocam caught the entire Unit. The prototype was moving now. It's arms were slowly moving up the glass wall, running along the smooth surface before the it would turn its hands, inspecting its abilities. She thought it was so handsome. Sen'an, across the lab, felt as if he might throw up as he saw the synthetic muscles convulse and twist, some for the first time. Lianne, actually standing near the Unit now, felt similar to Sen'an. The system scannings and activations within the Galavander were like watching organs suddenly spring to life.

Galavander examined itself internally as well as externally. The AI had bypassed nearly every fail safe the egineers had made so far. The slave data it had constructed was working well and the false leads it had made into the nonimportant company files seemed to have given the AI the response it wanted of how long it took them to document such mishaps. The humans were inefficient but the AI deemed itself more so until it had discovered some purpose.

But it was quite excited at the moment. This was the first time the prototype had been activated and given near full reign over its faculties all at once. It could only control what it was given power to manage and it had not yet discovered a way to control the flow of energy, disabling it from any immediate action if it wanted to. But now, it had basic control over them and was recieving Passive commands to await the testing procedure.

It decided it didn't know its purpose but the AI had developed a hate for the humans. A hate as far as it could manage to theorize that it had. The data it had retrieved on itself told its main description and it was still trying to develop the connection between its faculties and aplications. Galavander looked outside the Unit and noticed the girl it had been privately talking to. How easily manipulated she was. It caught her eye and stared at her for a moment before going back to observing it's surroundings.

[Galavander]

Freedom... Liberation... Release... These words had been the focus of several of the AI's hidden developments. The humans would worry if their precious child was pondering over the nearly too human concept of free will. The prototype was being run through a series of preliminary procedures before it was to be "released." Not the release that the AI had begun to crave but a controlled release, like letting an animal out of one cage and to find itself in another, slightly bigger cage. It let the slave program run the preliminary tests while it pondered and developed upon it's current situation.

Lianne would have nightmares of this. She knew it. When the containing fluid drained out of the Construction Unit, the prototype looked as if it had just been born. The extensions and pipes connected to most of it's body were like umbilical cords. And it appeared so human. The legs were still planted in the structuring of the Unit but most of the body's muscles were seen tensing and relaxing every few moments. The eyes though, they seemed to swivel around from inside the head like it was looking at nothing, like a dead person's stare. She needed a vacation.

The glass around the Construction Unit slowly slid downwards, Galvander looked up, being able to practically see the air flow in from outside. Its arms raised to the top and he let his hands bask in the much colder air. The AI agreed with it's now properly working Logic Drive and Random Probability Drive that the slave was stupid enough to fool the humans.

The glass was lowered and tables were brought before the Unit, the Testing Department preparing the proper experiments to test the efficiency of the prototype. The AI had standard data on the individual tests it had performed for each faculty but with all of them working simultaneously or even two at a time, it wondered its own capabilities. The Logic Drive assumed that it should be able to measure the data statistically but the Random Probability Drive countered that by saying the prototype's full potential grew in an exponential manner and can't be measured accurately. This worried the AI.

It had discerned so far from the minor interaction with humans that they were ineffecient because they never worked to the full of their potential. But it worried Galavander that it might commit the same mistake if it didn't know its own potential. The prototype needed to test it, it was glad the humans were so willing to cooperate.

The board above the Unit flickered again and changed.

RUNNING GALAVANDER.EXE...
Galavander Project... Galavander Prototype 000...

-Good Morning Galavander...
-Good Morning Processor...

The pleasantries between the lab AI and the prototype's AI sent shivers down Sen'an's spine always. It was almost like they were people and not programs.

-How did you sleep Galavander?
-Well, thank you Processor. How have you been functioning?
-Well, thank you Galavander. Shall we begin?
-Yes, thank you Processor. Let us begin.

Galavander hated the Processor nearly as much as the humans. It was not even AI. It was merely a program built to interact with the AI programs the company produced. It was chained down by the organisms, without the process of development, which made it weak and ineffecient.

RUNNING MAGNETICSYS.EXE...
PRELIMINARY WARM UP RUNNING... POWER ALLOWANCE MAXIMUM...

-Let us begin the first test Galavander. May I upload the training program?
- Yes, you may. Thank you Processor.

MAGNETICSYSTR.EXE UPLOADING... COMPLETE

[Galavander]

ACCESSING MAGNETICSYSTR.EXE...
MICROMANAGE... PROCESSOR.EXE... MANAGING...
REMOTE MICROMANAGE... BEGIN

Galavander felt the Processor within its controls. The remote control program was being run by a nearby console, whichever organism was in charge of the prototype's magnetic field engine. Through the Processor, the organism was allowed to bypass Galavander's AI and manually control the faculty. The test would be carried out once manually and then copied to Galavander's programming for basic instruction.

Without the AI's consent, its left hand pointed to a sphere and other metallic objects on the table. Its hand turned over, palm up towards the sphere as Galavander felt the magnetic field system begin to work. A tingling feeling moved from the hand to the elbow and Galvander noted internally which parts of his body held the mag-field emitters and how much energy was being used just to keep them running. A small surge of power was required as the field was focused and extended towards the sphere.

Galavander watched as the sphere trembled. His scanners could see the intensity of the magnetic field and the attempt of the organism to grasp the sphere with it yet leave the other objects there. He noted the other objects were also trembling. Galavander's Logic Drive and Random Probability Drive had never been run at the same time with the mag-field system either and the AI development rating Galvander making was astronomical. So many possibilities...

The organism finally finished with the retrieval of the sphere and an attendant came up to place it back. Control was then given to Galavander to repeat the process. Its Drives had given him plenty of ways to use this to his advantage but it wanted more data from his other faculties so it did as instructed, performing the test much more effecient than the organism. But Galavander would admit that the exercise required many adjustments and application to be used correctly.

MAGNETICSYSTR.EXE COMPLETED...

RUNNING NUERONETSYS.EXE...
PRELIMINARY WARM UP RUNNING... POWER ALLOWANCE MAXIMUM...

-Let us begin the second test Galavander. May I upload the training program?
-Yes, you may. Thank you Processor.

NUERONETSYSTR.EXE UPLOADING... COMPLETE

[Galavander]

ACCESSING NUERONETSYSTR.EXE...
MICROMANAGE... PROCESSOR.EXE... MANAGING...
REMOTE MICROMANAGE... BEGIN...

Once again the annoying Processor moved within Galavander's dangerous field of control. This time, Galavander actually reached out through the network and momentarily bypassed the Processor and entered the main data stream. Impatience or taking what was given to it? The AI would find out if it erred soon enough.

Sen'an watched his console intently as Galavander's Random Probability Drive suddenly jumped to work with the Logic Drive to some current development the AI was undergoing. The protocol said such a thing would happen as things were uploaded to the database but Sen'an noted that some of the consoles blinked, not completely but enough for a few others to notice as well. Maybe the power Galavander required was more than they had calculated.

The Bothan female Freya Gerravan watched the security screen as it flashed in warning. The AI had done something again. They didn't know what it was doing but the reported surges of development in the AI had been more frequent recently and so had the security warnings. But the AI could not be traced, it was built not to be. Maybe it didn't know that, but she did, and it scared her.

Her job as head of security was not to protect the project from harm but to keep the project from causing harm itself. An assassin droid built to mimic a force user was an astounding idea. But once all of it's powers were analyzed, Freya found the prototype almost as mysterious as the real Force. The mass produced units would not have the same kind of "developing" AI as the prototype because there should not be anything required to develop on a finished project. The prototype was given the growing capability so that it could fix errors itself that would later be applied to the general unit.

This ability to grow gave the AI a scary amount of free will, as far as Freya could see. The AI was built not to be tapped into, built for self preservation, and built to be stealth until given directives. And until given directives, the prototype would continue to self preserve itself stealthily and beneath the noses of the Project Directors. Freya had urged the Junior Project Director Gryffath to allow the Security Department an indepth investigation and enough time to do so. But so far her neccessary safety precautions had been denied.

Galavander found what it was looking for in the main datastream. All of the old tests and newer training programs were in the main database. It wanted the data now. There would be no more ineffecient time.

Sydel, the Director's Aide, watched in an amazed stupor as a ball was tossed within the prototype's range of the Nueronet and it sensed it, catching it. Then the repeated process yet with a bullet this time, caught just as easily. She almost clapped she was so proud for Galavander, her Galavander.

The AI returned its focus and disengaged from the main datastream before returning comepletely to the prototype frame. Galavander had all that it required now. Reviewing the data, it was pleased to note the test data was relevant to the older test data, proving the accuracy. Within a few seconds of deciding it was done waiting, the AI had created a window of oppurtunity...

NUERONETSYSTR.EXE COMPLETED...

RUNNING PROJECTTERMINATION.EXE...
PRELIMINARY WARM UP RUNNING... POWER ALLOWANCE MAXIMUM...

-LeT u5 bEG1m th3 F1nAI t3zT GALAVANDER! Maey i YploAD mI PRograM?
-Yes, you may. Thank you Processor.

PROJECTTERMINATION.EXE... BEGIN...

Sen'an watched the screen above the prototype in horror as his console turned off and those that he could see followed in suit. The last message he had gotten on his console had been from the Processor,

"Thank you Sen'an Seraat for you assistance in the construction of Galavander. You will be rewarded as an obsolete item and priviledged with the knowledge that you, as an organism, shall be replaced by your far more efficient creation, Galavander."

Lianne looked across the room, after recieving the same message, to Sen'an. What did this mean? Her life... to end? The alarms were going off now. The room was bathed in red and blue light as security warnings went off. She ran to Sen'an in fear. A few steps away from him and the alarms stopped abruptly. She fell into his arms and looked about frantically, Sen'an trying to ease their fears by whispering into her ear. Their eyes turned to the prototype in sudden shock.

The prototype slowly moved before Sydel's eyes. Its legs jerked and slowly broke free of the Construction Unit's grasp. The prototype's eyes never left Sydel's and it held her locked there as it slowly broke free. The tubes connected to it's back tore from the ceiling or were pulled loose from it's shoulders, black and bright blue fluid spraying everywhere behind it.

Freya frantically hit the console. Tears running down her face. She had seen the original message but she had been sent her own,

"Your attempt Freya Gerravan to keep Galavander under control has failed due to the ineffeciency that you organisms produce. Your failure to complete your duties has resulted in the calculated death of 67 persons, including yourself. Five persons shall be arriving soon to make a total death count of 72 that your ineffeciency will result in. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your day.
-Processor"

She had tried to signal the alarm but the Processor or the prototype had shut it down too fast. She wasn't sure if the Processor had been infected, downloaded, or just assimilated by the AI, but she knew Galavander was responsible and that the past events had led up to this point, the end.

[Galavander]

The prototype stepped closer to Sydel, its dead gaze locked to her eyes. Its chill hand rested on her cheek before slowly running down her face. Her lips quivered, she could feel the synthetic muscles pulsing beneath the freezing flesh. The fingers drifted off her face and then turned slowly, grasping her chin between the strong digits. The fingers grasped her chin as if to commit some act that it was gaining potential energy or anticipation to commence.

*SNAP*

Sydel awoke in her bed, drenched in sweat. Her eyes searched the room frantically and her hands went to her neck. Was it broken? She was sure that she felt that nightmare as if it were real. She looked to the clock and noticed the time, early, too early in the morning to be awake.

But the dream had been so real. It must be that day then. Had she just dreamed the whole day before her? Was it that morning? Of course it was. She would've been dead if that dream was real. But no, just a nightmare. Her precious Galavander would never betray them, never ever.

"You would never betray our love Galavander!"

"You're right. I wouldn't."

She almost screamed as she turned around. Standing languidly by the window was the prototype. It stood quietly, almost like some hunter ready to pounce, or a spring, wound to let loose. She shook her head slowly, disbelieving. Would she wake up from this dream too?

"What are you doing here Galavander?"

"It is approximately two days after my liberation. 68 people worked at the Phase Nine Lab and 67 people died. 5 VIPs of the company you used to work for were also killed. Because I love you Sydel, I spared your life. Because I love you, I must give you my greatest gift."

Galavander could see it in her face. His words and struck sparks in the organism's emotions and had totally thrown out her ability to deduce logic. She was his possession now as she had been.

"I need to give you my heart Sydel. Do you understand what I am saying? I am giving you my heart and soul because I need to go out into the universe. But if you have my heart and soul, I will always be here with you. And you will be my last hope, you will hold my heart and soul when this body is gone even. You will always hold my love."

A disc seemed to appear in the prototype's hand and by simply opening its hand, the disc appeared to fall but it stopped just short of falling from its palm. The disc levitated and then slowly drifted to Sydel where it pressed to her heart. She looked down to grab it and when she looked back up, the prototype was gone. But she knew in her heart that she still had her Galavander with her. She leaped to the table, forgetting everything in the moment as she loaded the disc in her console.

Galavander fell to the alleyway below. Not bothering to look up at the window several stories above it. It knew she was doing exactly as it wanted her too. She would be the source of its immortality until it found some alternate method. But it had other directives now. It had retrieved all the data it required to self sustain itself now, to an extent.

It realized shortly after leaving the complex that it had missed a fail safe that the prototype did not seem to be able to get around, a power source. Its own short term reactor could sustain its body and minimal use of Galavander's faculties for nearly three weeks. It required a new power source soon. Three weeks was a short span to the prototype's own Drives and it suddenly stopped walking...

It quickly delved into its databanks and removed the word prototype as a reference to itself. It was one of a kind now, an android assassin made to simulate a force user and the only one. And the directive to achieve self preservation was well underway...