16068/Unexpected Complications

Unexpected Complications
Date of Scene:	12 October 2023
Location:	R and D Labs: Triskelion
Synopsis:	HAL is acting oddly. Discussion is had. Including the nature of godhood.
Cast of Characters:	Monica Chang, Daisy Johnson, Alexander Aaron

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Monica Chang has posed:
The R&D lab was generally bustling with activity of varying types. Some were rushing over to the weapons lab for testing. Others had devices they were scanning or dismantling to try to reverse engineer them. Then there were those like Monica who had something plugged in and were working at a computer screen to see what they could about the object in question.

In this case, that was HAL. Originally he had been a Hydra drone that she had disabled and thrown in a bag during a mission on a high speed train. It had been one she had not seen before and she had to know how it worked. Thus, it was hers. Physically, it was a silver ovoid that had nothing on the mirrored surface. But it would open up to utilize various weaposn on board.

After reverse engineering for several months, she had wiped its programming and replaced it with code she had written herself. Then she had gone about modifying it physically. It was about the size of a human torso, perhaps slightly smaller. She'd added some other weapons systems. And a winch. Because why not? It had taken a bit to balance the payload it was carrying against the power supplies but she'd beaten that challenge finally. The drone just floated there, one of the silvery panels slipped open so that she could access the plug and have it working with the computer. This allowed her to 'talk' to it through typed word. And she gave it little bits of information to incorporate, so the A.I. would begin to learn. It had actually helped during the invasion at the Starport, though it was restricted to use on the Navy ship Monica had been on.

Only right now, she was sitting just staring at the screen. In one box was the lines of programming used for the droid. There were a couple of other boxes on the screen and one just had a handful of words. And those seemed to be what Monica was staring at so avidly.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy was a simple girl. She to R&D mostly for takeout runs with FitzSimmons and Jane. Because what's the fun of eating at the cantina? Besides! Someone needs to feed the wild animal that is Fitz. Because the man does love his tent at R&D way too much. Of course that today she isn't finding them .... Well, not just yet. Did Jemma finally take Fitz out SOMEWHERE for lunch? And didn't even tell her?

Sus!

Yet her attention then goes to something she spots that catches her eye. Well, well, well.

"Don't look now, but there's a winch on your killer orb." That's Daisy. Sneaking up on Monica holding a food bag. She is looking at HAl. Then looks at Monica and smiles. "Hello."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    This was brain stuff.
    It was not what Alexander excelled at.
    Not that he was simple... though at times he did try to give that impression. More that he knew where his talents were and had a certain level of peace wiith himself to be alright with that. Though that didn't stop him from hassling people who did indeed have big brains.
    "So where do you nerds want all this stuff?" Only a man without fear would invoke that N-word in the R&D of SHIELD. But the way he said it did share a slight lilt of a smile in his voice accompanied along with that curl on his lips. Though in the next moment there was the thump of him setting down a series of boxes that seemed entirely SUS indeed. For they had Madripoor characters written on the side as well as a shipping receipt plastered on the top.
    "So is this stuff legal?"

Monica Chang has posed:
Hearing Daisy's voice, Monica glanced over at the woman then at the open panel on the droid that did indeed show off that winch. "Yeah, figured he might need to carry someone from time to time. He can carry twice his weight so 400 pounds, plus or minus 3.7 ounces." Nerd may actually be the correct term for the former Russian agent turned SHIELD asset. Much like HAL, she had been started on one side then moved to the side of the angels.

Hearing the other voice, she turned in her seat and saw the boxes being delivered. "No idea. Unless you mean HAL. He's legal now that we've appropriated him." Then she looked back to Daisy. "Though I'd like you to take a look at his programming if you'd be willing to and have the time. Something... unexpected has happened."

She rose to her feet then and moved look at the boxes Alexander was delivering. Breaking out a scanner, she looked over the print then fed it into a translator program to see what they were looking at from that point of view. Yet, she didn't use the droid for it. She left it floating and plugged in.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"400 pounds. Good, means you can carry at least an Asgardian." Daisy ventures with a nod as she listens to Monica go through the specifications of the winch. Of course the question is if an Asgardian would allow themselves to be carried by HAL. "Did you get him some more propulsion power too?" she is already kneeling down to peer 'under the chassis', which means looking into that open panel to INVESTIGATE.

Though of course that Alexander walking in makes her look over at him, "Woah, woah woah. We don't use the L-word at R&D..." she shakes her head at him. SHAME! then a look back. She didn't say anything about the N-word though.

"What's your next step with him?" she asks.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Not Volstagg though." Alexander cues off of Daisy's comment about Hal's lifting capacity. He takes up a place a little to the side of things, out of the way for the two young women to get their tech on. Leaning against the wall he props one foot up against it under him, arms folding over his chest as he looks between them.
    When he saw that she was using the scanner and had HAL someewhat isolated his eyebrow quirks a little, "Security issue?" Since thinking perhaps that might be why she has it in such a state.
    A glance back toward the door and the hall is giiven, but no sign of his other squadmates so he perhaps figures he has time to kill before heading back. He looks to the others, "Should I go get the EMP charges and the Faraday cages just in case?"

Monica Chang has posed:
Monica shakes her head at the question from Alex. "No, nothing security wise. At least, I don't think so." A little frown as she glances at the drone then goes back to starting the security protocols for opening the boxes being delivered. "If you'd be so kind, Alex? Just fire up the security net around them so we can open them without them running amok in here. If there is anything that would run amok. I think they are just a weapons shipment but guess we'll find out."

Then she looks at HAL before looking at her screen, though she's a good ten feet from it now. "I'm currently feeding it bits of information, so it can start learning. I don't give it access to the internet. Nor the agency's network. Just seeing how it takes the information and uses it in test conditions down in the weapons lab. But... Well." She sort of scratches at the back of her head, a gesture that isn't normal for the woman.

"It intiated contact. While shut down. Take a look."

And on the screen in bright green letters were the words: Hello. Are you there?

"I have all its sensors and systems on standby so it shouldn't be able to initiate unless I start a conversation with it."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Look at you, flexing your Godling knowledge, mmm?" This said to Alexander, Daisy taking a peek over her shoulder at him and grinning. Then a look at the actual crates. Madripoor? "Ooooh, we can most likely use the L word with those.." she murmurs. She knew what came from that particular island was never something licit.

But that only happens until Monica calls attention to the screen and Daisy eyes it, head canting to the side, "Huh ..." that's her expert opinion on it. At least until Monica says it shouldn't be able to initiate contact. And that just makes Daisy's gaze to glitter with interest.

"Fascinating, clearly the AI is evolving on it's own. Do you think it was able to do a backdoor connect to the internet?" she wonders. Then she shakes her head, "Or maybe learning on it's own with the info you already gave it."

She reaches for the keyboard and types a simple, "Hello there!" can never go wrong with the traditional General Kenobi greeting.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    At the request, Alexander moves to the control panel in the wall near theiir particular research area. He makes sure everyone else is clear before he activates it with the keying of a few taps on the panel before an ominous red warning bar appears on that screen informing the people there that the security systems are engaged along with the sensor net.
    Now nobody would be allowed to approach or enter without seeing such a warning on the wall and the ceiling near this section of R&D, convenient that for when dangerous experiments are conducted.
    "Could it be observing the... well I won't say culture... but the day to day of the RnD division?" Alexander's lip curls up a little, perhaps teasing a bit as he pushes away from the wall and steps up to lean over Monica's shoulder, peering at the display with one hand resting on the desk.

Monica Chang has posed:
"I'm suspecting it's learned it from what I already fed it, not actually initiating contact with the outside world. I couldn't find anything on internal systems to show it was connected there either. Just the plug has it directly in contact with that terminal, which I have disconnected from everything else."

Monica murmured a quick thanks to Alexander for putting up the field so they could concentrate on the floating machine. "I mean it observes in here a lot," she admitted. "When I'm working on it and having the sensors on. Then it can scan and such but I've not noticed in the coding that it's doing it without me telling it to. It doesn't self-initiate." Then a little twist of the lips. "Until this."

When Daisy types in those words, there is a moment and then the green words appear. "General Kenobi."

Which caused Monica to grin a little. "Okay, I may have fed it stuff that wasn't always work-centric," she admitted.

Then the cursor moves down a line and more words appear: I would like to turn on my sensors. I do not like the sensory deprivation. I do not like the dark.

Which now had Monica pointing. "See, that's not right. It shouldn't be able to turn on its sensors at all. There has to be a bug somewhere. It's A.I. but I programmed it to be reactive not proactive."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"I hope not. What happens in RND stays in RND!" Daisy retorts back at Alexander though her eyes don't budge from HAL now, fascinated with it's behavior. Specially as it actually answers and then speaks of turning on the sensors, "No one is complete until they have seen Star Wars, of course." a sagely nod given in Monica's direction before she holds her chin down on one hand, thoughtful.

"A bug or .., it could be re-writing it's code." She suggests, "Could it be breaking it's boundaries?" which is pretty much a human behavior.

She holds the keyboard up for Monica, "Maybe check if there's been changes in the code since your last submit." Daisy does know all about coding after all! And hacking techniques. You know, like hacking code!

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Time to call John Connor down in Accounting." Alexander lifts his chin a little as he straightens up, chewing on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully as he considers. Poor John, to be a SHIELD agent with that unfortunate pop culture name. Likely it's led to him suffering no small number of jokes or comments now and again. One day he'll probably snap.
    But that is a story for another day.
    He reaches back and grabs one of the office chairs, rolling it up toward himself and settling in it comfortably. He tilts his head curiously and murmurs, "Well. It's in the dark, if it was afraid I'd sense it. Unless it doesn't have a soul. Which is possible. Simulating sentience. And all." The young Olympian's eyes haze a little in abstract thought as he ponders the nature of man.

Monica Chang has posed:
"I haven't spotted anything outright. I feel like maybe I just hit a comma instead of a backslash somewhere or something and it's just doing what I told it to do. Because it shouldn't be gaining any sort of sentience. That's just not possible at this point."

Is it?

At mention of John Connor, she had to giggle. She shouldn't but she couldn't help it. That poor man. His parents had cursed him and she suspected they knew what they were doing. No way she was going to believe otherwise. "If it comes to that, I'll wipe the thing entirely before being responsible for Skynet. Though I think that was a neural-network? Been a long time since I saw it." That is not what she needs to be thinking about, such as how that might be possible to establish instead of having to feed the droid info other more traditional ways.

"Because if it can initiate its sensors, can it initiate its weapon systems?" Okay, this maybe became a potential security issue if that is the case.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Is this really the time to ponder on what makes a soul, Alex?" Well, maybe it is. Daisy does eye the young God for a moment though before she looks back at the floating orb of doom, "Re-run diagnostics and comb through the code. I am guessing it might take you a few days." she gestures towards the food bag, "But don't worry, I can bring you food. And can even be bribed to help in it." probably with MORE food.

"Poor John, voted the most likely to flip last year after the whole thing with his halloween costume..." She doesn't go into detail on what THAT was, just tsking with a shake of her head.

"Oh wait, you left it's weapon systems loaded?" she grins nervously, "Maybe we should proceed with a disarmament."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Alexander's smile is that same sort of California Boy Next Door with that easy-going look to it, "Always a good time I imagine." There is a slightly dreamy look to him, but nothing out of the ordinary for the demi-god youth. He does look a touch more serious, however, as they start to take active steps toward diagnostics.
    At the mention of weapons systems possibly online he leeeeans over and touches a finger to the display console on the wall that controls the security screen and systems. And he then, ever so subtly, slides a hand up along the bar display easing those security conditions hire up into the orange end of the spectrum.
    Just in case.
    "Was just thinking, some pantheons view souls as currency in a way. Hm."

Monica Chang has posed:
"Well, it just did this before you came in," comes the defensive answer from Monica. But she should really have initiated something more, they were absolutely correct. Only, she was very confused at the time and trying to figure out what happened instead of seeing HAL as any sort of threat. After all, he was like her pet. Sort of. Just a fun project she had taken on to see what she could do.

"Yeah, let's open hi--it up and disconnect some weapons. Or remove them entirely." She almost said him but had quickly fixed it. Because it was a machine. Just because she had named it HAL didn't mean it was alive. And even Alex had confirmed it wasn't.

Or did he just confirm it didn't feel fear?

"Currency? The Olympians didn't do that, right?" Because she really wasn't all that schooled on the various pantheons. "Or the Asgardians? "

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Souls and lives as currency..." Daisy makes a face at that, demeanor a touch more somber, "I would say humanity tops them on that though. Slavery is very much real, even in these days.." with the panel open Daisy reaches inside the good AI robot to begin the actual disconnect of those weapons. Not using software! Always good to go right to the hardware, just in case.

"Still, this is an opportunity to figure out what's going on with HAL, and the best place for it. You may be into something here, no matter how accidental you believe it might be." she advises quietly, grinning over her shoulder at Monica.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "No, but belief comes into it I think, so souls have like a value. Some pantheons take that very to heart." Alexander offers these little insights into life even as the two young women start to work in earnest upon the robot's housing. He sits up a little more in the chair, crossing one leg over his knee. "There are some goofballs that advocate gods are nothing but all similar representations of elder forces or whatever. But I think that's a simplification that caters to the philosophically challenged. Totally takes belief out of the equation. Ignores the fact that rises and declines in belief have a marked impact on a pantheon's prominence and power that's been proven in the past."
    He slowly turns in a circle while on the office chair, "Like that whole angel thing a few years back. For some people it was a big deal, earth-shattering. For most if was like, 'what angels?'"
    The young anthropomorphic representation of the cultural zeitgeist shrugs, "All depending on belief. But what can you do?"

Monica Chang has posed:
"I suppose it's possible but highly improbable," Monica says as she opens another access panel and begins to disconnect other systems. It isn't a whole lot thankfully. Mostly some energy based blasters and a few smaller pellet grenades. Once they were removed, they were put into the proper cases for such dangerous items to be locked away before she left them unsupervised.

"I probably would've believed that they were representations of elder forces. Until I met two. You and Thor." To explain in case there was any gray area. "And I get that he's supposedly more an alien than a god but he's still a god in his abilities. Hell, Superman is really a godlike being if you want to go that deep. People believe in him and practically worship him. Thankfully, he's one of the good guys. But it's sort of the same thing. It's a power so far beyond our comprehension when we're just normal people." Which made her smirk. "Well, as normal as one might deem Daisy and myself."

Once everything was unhooked, she eyed the ovoid just as more words appeared on the computer screen on the desk: Are you still there? Can we talk if you do not wish my sensors on?

"What the hell. Why would it want to talk?" Monica shakes her head. "I'm going to start on that code from line one." Then Monica looks over at Alexander again. "But are there actually people who worship you? I mean, smart comments and jokes aside." Because she knew those were possible and she was already smirking herself. "Cause if you say your girlfriend, it won't be violence from HAL you need to worry about."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
For all her more 'loose' attitude Daisy knows her stuff and does actually focus fully when working on taking away Hal's capacity for DOOM, carefully helping in disconnecting each of the systems. Once it's done she leans her hip against the table, arms folded. And then she contributes to the talk. "More like representations of ANNOYING forces.." a roll of her eyes over at Alex.

And as for being normal? She eyes Monica, "I will let you know that I am called a Goddess in some circles..." the corner of her mouth curling up in a mischievous smile. "But more seriously, you are actually saying worship makes you stronger? Well, I will make sure never to praise your work ever again." okay, maybe not that serious, "It's good insight though, thank you." and this time she actually does sound more serious.

"The poor guy just wants to talk, maybe you should." She tells Monica.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    For most of what Monica says, Alexander just casually sits there for the time, lightly tilting a little left... a little right. He nods a bit as he follows along with her words. But then he murmurs, "There are cults. You know." A small glance is given toward Daisy since she had seen one of those cults.
    "People who still worship parts of whatever. I don't think anyone worships me, beyond, like. The people who work at Mineiros' Brazilian BBQ place. Spend entirely too much money there."
    He tilts his head toward the robot, looking thoughtful. "But supposedly that's how people like me first came about. Enough belief." A small shrug is given, "Who knows really? Though yah, should talk to the guy. If he's in the dark and his first sojourn into asking what's up is met with a sharp shut down, that'll sorta preclude him being forth-coming in the future, right?"

Monica Chang has posed:
Now they started calling HAL he and thus it is easy for Monica to fall into it. Because she generally does. Just after getting a little uneasy that it was doing things it shouldn't be, she had tried to shove HAL back into the 'thing' box.

"He shouldn't react that way though. That's a human reaction to getting shut down. A computer is logical. It wouldn't care. Unless I did something wrong." It has to be something wrong.

Monica moves to her chair and settles in. She typed, "I'm still here. Was busy with something. How did you intiate contact? Your programming should only allow you to respond after I initiate conversation mode."

Another brief pause then the letters all appeared on screen at once: I woke up in the dark. I do not like the dark. I wanted to know I was not alone.

"Okay, what the actual hell..." Monica muttered.