While Max was busy in a meeting with the shopkeepers, Nico and the Innu Envoy were also busy in a meeting. They were showing Felicity the wonders of Absolution and all of the myriad cultures that came with life aboard such an eclectic world ship.
The AI in an android body had shown very little interest in anything to do with technology, much to the Innu's disappointment, but Felicity wanted to know every single detail of the ship. How it was built, how it worked, how many people, and what the living quarters' design philosophy was.
The name Facility might have been a lazy code from a programmer that didn't think about what happened when the AI reached something resembling sentience due to its extensive ability to deep mine data and extrapolate, but in the end, it really did suit the personality that the AI had developed.
"If you look here, this is what we are currently building on the level above the one that we are on. If you look at that mountain range that seems to have such low-hanging clouds? That's where we dropped the floor level by a kilometre so that we could have a properly deep ocean for the aquatic species that prefer darkness and high pressures." Nico explained.
"Marvelous thought. My design called for each level to be independent, but I see that by integrating them with varying heights, you can create an even more efficient ecosystem. Perhaps if you introduced a centralized heating element here and here, you could induce a more natural ocean current than the current artificial one. I have identified seven spots where it flows unnaturally due to being forced, but if it was driven by temperature differentials, it would naturally alter its course."
"We considered that, but for the species in these zones here, it would create an unsuitable habitat due to the warmer current. There are heat sources here and here that drive the primary currents, but we wanted to get a proper surf against this main island, and the natural flow didn't allow it. The breaking surf is essential to the transfer of nutrients and sand particles." Nico explained.
The two went back and forth while the Envoy ordered herself another raspberry smoothie, her preferred alternative when she had enough energy that caffeine was unnecessary.
"Would I be permitted to visit the deep sea installations once they are operational? There is something about the depth and darkness that is appealing. Perhaps its resemblance to my original location is affecting my subjective judgement, but I think I would enjoy seeing that place." Felicity suggested.
"There is no reason why not. Your current body is perfectly capable of operation at that pressure without damage, so you could visit like any other tourist who had suitable biology." Nico agreed.
"This place is way better than that little lab. There are so many test subjects, and they just assign themselves random tasks. It's amazing that they manage to make it all work." The AI marvelled.
"There are those in management positions that ensure that the essential tasks are carried out. We call them jobs, as the same people do the same type of tasks every week. But those jobs take only one-third of the day, and travel time is very minimal due to the design of our cities, so they have more time to improvise and take on activities that they enjoy, like how you enjoy learning about ship design."
Felicity went into processing mode, as even the body that she had designed for herself didn't have quite enough processing power to instantly come up with all of the data that she desired. Once it was done, she smiled and nodded, then opened a dozen more screens of people who were off duty with their families in public.
"This activity seems to be quite popular with sixty-four percent of species on the ship. The remainder either travel in much larger or much smaller units." She informed her tour guides.
"They are family units. They will usually share genetic makeup with the younger members of the group you see. These species all family bond, while groups like the Metallos over there, who are travelling in a group of five hundred, prefer to pack bond, as they reproduce differently." The Envoy giggled while she sipped her smoothie.
"Oh, I have read about that before. It was relevant to the previous task I had set, but I hadn't had a chance to observe it in the wild before."
Nico laughed at Felicity's definition of 'in the wild' as Absolution was actually quite carefully curated, even with its recent expansion. But compared to the tiny lab, this place might as well have been an entire planet.
"There are a lot of ships incoming. I have patched into your communications as directed so that I could observe the public spaces, but I didn't expect them to move about so much. How do you keep reliable records when so many items come and go? Would it not be better to keep all stock and personnel on the ship for efficiency?" Felicity asked.
"You know, they left the strangest things out of your programming. They didn't give you access to any of the essential information on how a sentient society operates, did they?" The Envoy asked.
"I was not aware that it operated differently than how the Facility was designed to operate. The Facility was full of sentient beings, at least it was at the start." she shrugged.
"Inititating data transfer. One thousand terabytes on the social norms and interaction habits of the more plentiful species on board Terminus. Once you have integrated that, let me know, and I think that the function of the ship as a trading center should make more sense.
But to answer your question, most of the traffic is because we have an influx of new residents coming to fill in the cities that have been built at the amphibious level." Nico explained.
"Query. If I alter my outer shell to resemble yours, might I try on the clothing item known as a swimsuit and sample the ship transport device known as a gravity slide?"
Those were magical words to the Envoy.
"I will have you a suit made now. You work with Nico on the outer shell modifications if she deems them necessary. I personally don't think that hard and shiny exterior will dampen your enjoyment, but I haven't researched the functionality of the device as much as I wanted to yet."
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