Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

However, there were some elongated crystal translation vectors there that she would never have been able to design on her own. She copied them and put them into her dynamic dictionary.

The information from the Covenant troops from afar poured into her logic matrix, and now the meaning seemed a little coherent: heresy had penetrated into the inner temple layer; the cleanup operation was underway, and victory was certain; the holiness of the ancient sages Heretics will be burned, and the Holy Light will not be defiled.

She noticed that there was a certain urgency in these messages. It seemed that the famous confidence and calmness of the Covenant troops was not entirely without false elements.

Since these messages mentioned a heretic invasion, and these messages were sent a few hours before the Justice entered the Epsilon system, the Master Chief's conclusion is correct: there are still human survivors on Reach, most likely Si. Bada warrior.

Her correct analysis was based on the six-syllable signal, much to Cortana's annoyance. What made her even more angry was that she didn't come to the same conclusion.

She realized that her computing space was being used up to the point of danger.

Cortana returned her attention to the coding of the Covenant's artificial intelligence. This alien software bears a small resemblance to her. In the field of computer science, such a parallel evolution seems impossible. It looked almost like her own coding. It was just that it was copied multiple times, each time with minor errors due to flaws in the copying process.

Is it possible that the Covenant captured a human-made artificial intelligence and then used its replica widely on their ships? If so - why copy the code so many times? And why are there so many errors?

However, these questions cannot be investigated. The operating life of a smart artificial intelligence like her is about seven years. After that, because the contents of the memory are too closely related to each other, it will develop into a fatal infinite loop and eventually lead to a total collapse.

In fact, by then AI will suffer from a drastic decline in functionality from becoming too smart. They really think themselves to death.

Therefore, if the Covenant forces were using artificial intelligence created by humans, all replicas would be dead within seven years - there would be no reason to recreate those replicas. Doing so will not extend their lifespan, as all associated memory contents must also be copied.

She also thought about Ellie. Cortana was sure that Ellie's core matrix was damaged for some reason. Ellie thought she was hiding it well, but she didn't know that as an artificial intelligence, her little efforts could only deceive humans - but maybe that was enough. , Ellie must have wanted to deceive him, although Cortana didn't know the reason yet.

Huh, it's impossible for them. The distance between them is like a chasm.

Cortana paused to consider how many years had been lost from her life as a result of absorbing and analyzing the data on her halo. She pushed her intelligence to extremes in a pioneering computer system that must have far exceeded the limitations of her design. Did she lose half of her life by doing this, or even more? She shelved the idea for later. Her operational life would be even shorter if she and Case couldn't find a way to get operational troops back to Earth.

However, there was one thing she found strange: she executed a tracking program at the starting point of the alien artificial intelligence's replication path and found its replicator. This set of copied codes is so intricate that it actually occupies two-thirds of the memory space of this artificial intelligence, with large tracts of mysterious functions reaching deep into its core. Its branches extend into the system, spreading like cancer cells throughout the AI's body.

She couldn't understand any of it. However, it is not necessary to understand this code in order to use it.

Is it worth the risk to use it? Maybe. If the risk can be mitigated, she will copy parts of herself onto a separate system aboard the Justice. That way, if something goes wrong, she can delete the subsystem without affecting herself.

The potential benefits of doing this are huge. She might be able to fully regain her functioning abilities - even with the aura's data.

Two or three times Cortana tested the system she was going to rewrite: the life-support software that managed the lower decks for the Covenant. Since the lower deck was now clear of life, the life support system was of no practical use. She carefully severed that subsystem from the rest of the ship's systems.

She also re-examined her thoughts. This cloned software may be responsible for the mind confusion of the Covenant's artificial intelligence. However, her mind is being squeezed and almost nothing will be left, so the risk may not be too great.

So, Cortana launched the Covenant's file copying software. It began to move, undulating toward her. She immediately breaks all connections between the compiled component and the outside world.

The mysterious function touches her codes, enveloping them and breaking down the barriers she has put up.

It all happened in an instant, but she didn't stop the process. It was so much fun, she didn't want to stop it.

She felt in a trance that a certain part of her brain began to copy in a daze, gathering one by one to the new location of the Wushang Justice. This feels a little weird. The weird thing wasn't that she could be thinking about more than one thing in more than one place at once - she was used to multitasking. It was an unusual oddity—as if she had glimpsed something, wonderful and profound.

Copying ends. The copied code was once again deactivated and stored safely with the Covenant artificial intelligence directory.

Cortana runs her entire system; nothing else has been changed.

She checked over the newly copied system. It was in perfect condition, and apart from a few minor bugs in the software itself—which she immediately corrected—it seemed to be fully functional.

She activated the new system and made it subordinate to her original system, and the two systems ran in parallel - one using the Military Intelligence's English-Covenant Dictionary, the other using the alien artificial intelligence Covenant-English dictionary.

If this alien replicator can copy her translator, can it copy more of her?

No, she dismissed that thought. Copying more of her content is too risky and there are too many unknowns. Moreover, this is the enemy's code after all. In this complex algorithm, there may be many traps waiting for prey to take the bait.

Plus, making copies of herself does nothing to stop her mental deterioration. Those interconnected bugs have existed and will always exist, and each replication creates new bugs.