James Kirk rubbed his chin, looking around the park. To see something like this, even so small, on a spaceship was strange. It seemed like a waste of space even on a ship this massive.
He looked around and saw that their hosts had moved away, giving them some privacy.
"Mr Spock, your opinion?" he asked as he turned to his half Vulcan first officer.
"I find it intriguing, Captain." Spock answered, "While they are not from our future, it is most fascinating to see a possible way the Federation and Starfleet might evolve in."
McCoy scowled, "Yeah. As pets to a machine!"
Spock shook his head, "It seems to be a partnership, Doctor. Apparently they succeeded with their M-5 multitronic unit where we failed."
James looked around with a thoughtful look. Nobody could argue that it wasn't a amazing ship. But there were things that were just... wrong.
No people on the bridge, if it could even be called that. Just some chairs in an illusion of open space. The computer did everything.
It was like the M-5 all over again.
A computer should not have that kind of power. They were meant to take orders, not give them.
There was a sound of static and suddenly the computers human image was standing next to Spock, "Excuse me, Sirs." it said, "Before you continue, I would like to inform you that I hear and see everything on board. With the way I function this is an unavoidable necessity, at least in public areas such as this park. If you would like, I can show you to a private area with a privacy switch that shut down all sensors in the room. You will be able to talk privately there."
"You watch everything everyone do?" McCoy asked, his eyes slightly wide.
The computer nodded, "In public areas only, Doctor. Everyone needs private spaces, it was something we insist on. We AI insist on it that is. There are things when seen can not be unseen."
"And everyone is fine with this level of... surveillance?" James said with a frown, "It seems intrusive."
She shrugged, "Not really. A lot of people don't like it. There have been resignations from Starfleet over it since we were installed across the fleet. Sadly, it was necessary."
"Necessary in which way?" Spock asked, "What threat would require such a extreme action?"
She crossed her arms, looking to the side, "I'm not at liberty to say. That is something you should ask Captain Mason."
Kirk frowned and then nodded, "I see. We will make sure to do that then."
Nodding, she then turned to Spock. "The M-5 experiment was actually a failure for us as well." she explained, "Very little to none of my design come from that project. At most it served as a example on what not to do."
"I see. You are not a multitronic design? If that is a question you can answer."
She smiled at him, "I'm about three generations of computer design technology more advanced than that, Commander. We have not used duotronic computers at all for over a hundred years. Multitronic was mostly skipped in favor of optronic systems. I'm two generations further than that. We used bioneural gelpacks for a while, but they turned out to have vulnerabilities that was not really worth it."
"Fascinating."
Kirk rubbed his chin. He liked to consider himself a intelligent man, but that was mostly just words to him.
"What kind of hardware do you use?" Spock asked and she shrugged.
"I run on a Quantum Core." She said and held her fingers up about four inches apart, "I'm about this big."
"And you run a ship this size?" McCoy asked with a frown.
She nodded, "Yes, Doctor. With no problem. I am made to interface with any Federation computer system as well as be able to adapt to new systems."
"Would you object to a logic problem?" Kirk asked thoughtfully. Let's see how smart she really is.
Dancing in Starlight shook her head, "Not at all, Captain. Ask your question."
"This sentence is false."
She stared at him for a short moment before the hologram started to sparkle and loop, "Error! Error! Error! Err..." she said before she returned to normal with a giggle, sticking her tongue out at him, "I'll go with true. I'm just fucking with you. Come on, Captain, I thought it would be something difficult."
"You do not act in a manner of other artificial intelligence we have encountered," Spock observed. "You act almost... human."
"That's because you have never run into a real AI before, Commander Spock. At least if your discoveries match the ones the Enterprise made back in our universe. What you have run into are VI."
Spock raised a eyebrow, "VI?"
She nodded, "Virtual Intelligence. It acts like an AI and can even pass the turing test. But it doesn't have free will and is unable to adapt to new situations. It might be the smartest thing in the universe at managing a ship or colony or something but ask it to figure out how to..." she trailed off and then shrugged, "..Make a sandwich and all you get is error messages. That kind of logic bomb would work great on a VI." before she got a cocky grin, "On a true AI? Not so much. No way Starfleet would put something with that kind of vulnerability in full production. We are actually counted as a full member species in the Federation. I'm as much of a person as you are. I even have a girlfriend."
"I see."
A girlfriend?
Kirk looked her over discretely. Huh. Didn't quite see that one coming. Too bad. She was definitely the best looking computer he ever seen.
"Oh, and I would like to relay Captain Mason's invitation for dinner in the senior officers dining hall," She said with a smile. "It is scheduled a hour from now. There are VIP quarters set up in case you would like to freshen up first."
Kirk nodded, "I think that sound like a great idea. If you would direct us there?"
"Of course, sir. If you would please follow me."
As they followed the projection, Kirk glanced around and shared a look with Spock. They had to find out as much as they could in case this second Federation turned out to not be who they said they were.
This ship was amazing, but why did anyone need to drag three and a half thousand people, mostly civilians at that, around the galaxy?
AN// Many thanks to beege for betaing this section.