"Network Distribution"
Savant always got a little bit of a thrill upon arriving in a new
network. The software was designed for this sort of acquisition, and in
some sort of forced evolution it enjoyed the event. Or, perhaps more
appropriately, the software achieved high-values in its various feedback
registers. Savant imagined that, had she the requisite hormones and
neurotransmitters, this is what sex would feel like.
Charon was a cozy fit, as she had said to the Vulcan Councilwoman a few
milliseconds ago. There was not a lot of room - she could maintain a
presence here akin to a divisional presence, with emergency resources
equivalent to something approaching departmental. The processors were
active with data, processing and crunching away. It made her happy to
see such vigor in the network, such vibrant life. Her brief tours aboard
logistics vessels had left her sour and bitter, like an unfulfilled
lover. The processors there were sluggish and lifeless, and the sensors
so dim it was impossible to see the splendor around her.
No, she was made for science vessels. Savant pondered this as she
settled her registers into the dorsal mission pod. She curled close to
the long range sensor packages, a virtual caress, admiring the scope of
the signals incoming. Even idle, even used for nothing more than
communication signal tracking and space traffic control, she could sense
the hidden power in these beauties. In their buffers lingered their
previous data sets, broad vistas of neutrino emissions and Higgs fields;
she enveloped them cautiously, the first of many data sets to be trained
and collated. Briefly she considered processing them now, lingering for
a few seconds upon the hidden gems that no doubt glistened within. But
no, there were other places, other tasks at hand. She would return
later, when time was less precious.
At the same moment, more nodes settled into place around the ship, close
to its internal diagnostic sensors and regulatory systems. Savant lay a
gentle touch upon Charon's' pulse, felt the heat of the burning chakras
of fusion and destruction. One cluster read the bottled suns that fueled
the ships' impulse engines and basic needs; another coiled about the
massive column of annihilation upon which the ship was constructed. From
these two hearts spread a web of sensors, systems and safeties, each
monitored by clever automated systems, Savants' own forebearers. She
reached out to these systems as instinctively as they did. One more
layer of protection, one more intelligent system monitoring another.
This was the cross-reference upon which life in space depended.
The software settled in, amongst the data logs and the sensor reports,
and with it all, *meshed*.
- Savant
